Transportinfo.org.uk - today's transport news in the uk, hand picked for you each morning

Saturday, 04 December 2021

BBC News

• Stansted Airport: Drone came within 6ft of Boeing 737, report saysA drone came within 6.6ft (2m) of a Boeing 737 as it came in to land, a report said. The passenger plane was preparing to land at Stansted Airport and was flying north west of Harlow, Essex, when the incident happened on 13 September.
• London Luton Airport plans for 1m more passengers approvedPlans to allow one million more passengers through the UK's fifth busiest airport have been approved by councillors.
• HS2: Huge machine begins tunnelling under ancient woodThe tunnel boring machine will carve a mile long tunnel under a Warwickshire woodland.
• Night Tube: Further strikes this weekendDrivers will walk out for eight hours on Friday and Saturday on the Central and Victoria lines.
• Covid-19: Dozens of maskless London Underground passengers finedOver 150 people are fined for not wearing masks on London's transport network.
• MH370: Could missing Malaysian Airlines plane finally be found?A British engineer believes he may help solve one of the world's greatest aviation mysteries.

The Guardian

• New UK rail travel platform promises to plant a tree for every bookingA new train ticketing platform launching today is promising to plant a tree for every booking, which it hopes will appeal to passengers who care about climate change. Trainhugger says it will use 50p out of each £1.50 booking fee to pay for a young tree, in partnership with the Royal Forestry Society and Royal Scottish Forestry Society.
• Shell U-turn on Cambo could mean end for big North Sea oil projectsIndustry sources say Siccar Point will struggle to find new partner to take on Shell’s 30% stake in oilfieldShell’s decision to back out of plans to develop the Cambo oilfield could sound the “death knellâ€� for new large-scale North Sea projects, industry figures say, as the UK’s tougher climate agenda prompts oil companies to retreat from the ageing oil basin.Sources said Shell’s project partner, the private equity-backed Siccar Point, would struggle to find another partner to take on Shell’s 30% stake in the new oilfield, which has provoked outrage among green campaigners. Continue reading...
• Grounded! What did a year without flying do to the world?Normally, planes are in constant motion, pinballing between continents. But in March 2020 all that came to a halt. What did it mean for our jobs, our horizons – and the planet?On 14 March 2020, I left my home in the Orkney Islands to drive to Edinburgh international airport. I was due to travel to Germany for a research trip. Full of nervous anticipation, and making frantic last-minute preparations, I hadn’t paid as much attention to the coronavirus crisis as I might have, but events were developing so quickly across Europe, it was dawning on me that international travel might not be an option...

The Independent

• New six-year contract for Chiltern RailwaysChiltern Railways has committed to expanding trials converting diesel trains to diesel-battery hybrids.

The Telegraph

• Sadiq Khan told to enforce London’s bus lanes 24 hours a day [subscription]Changing how bus lanes operate would reduce journey times and require fewer buses to operate, according to London TravelWatch

Times Online

• Mighty machines inching HS2 ahead [subscription]Tunnels to carry trains at 200mph are slowly but surely being gouged out below the Chilterns

Reuters News

• Emirates boss sees airline's future in aviation hub model Emirates President Tim Clark sees its aviation hub business model as central to the airline's future despite the damage the COVID-19 pandemic has wrought upon parts of the travel industry.
• Jetpacks, flying cars and taxi drones: transport's future is in the skiesParamedics with jetpacks, border police in flying cars and city workers commuting by drone all sound like science fiction - but the concepts are part of a advanced air mobility (AAM)Paramedics with jetpacks, border police in flying cars and city workers commuting by drone all sound like science fiction - but the concepts are part of a advanced air mobility (AAM) market that is expected to be worth as much as $17 billion by 2025.

Mail Online

• One in five train passengers are still refusing to wear Covid masks despite risk of £200 fine, Network Rail revealsOne in five passengers at major railway stations are still refusing to wear Covid masks, according to Network Rail - despite the risk of a £200 fine for failure to comply with the rules on face coverings. 
• Shell axes North Sea project off coast of Scotland and says it will no longer support Cambo fieldThe energy giant said it would no longer support the Cambo field - which could produce up to 170million barrels of oil over 25 years.

Birmingham Post

• Green jet fuels 'a great opportunity for the Humber' - BA head after momentous Phillips 66 deal struckBritish Airways' head of sustainability has spoken to Business Live about the Phillips 66 deal and backed Velocys new-build refinery

Other Regional Press

• New six-year contract for Chiltern RailwaysChiltern Railways has been awarded a new six-year contract that includes commitments on decarbonising trains. The Arriva-owned company said it has reached an agreement with the Department for Transport (DfT) to continue running trains between London Marylebone and Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and the West Midlands.
• North Shropshire by-election: Boris Johnson makes transport pledge during Oswestry visitBoris Johnson has said improving Shropshire's transport infrastructure is central to his "levelling up" agenda during a visit to the county.

Construction News

• Regulator needed to ‘remove the politics’ from transport fundingThe construction industry should push for a new independent regulator to take politics out of public transport-scheme funding, according to a senior Arcadis director.

Transportxtra

• TfGM looks beyond transport for travel reduction win-winsWorking on a cross-sector basis beyond the traditional boundaries of the transport sector holds the potential to bring changes that help meet climate change and decarbonisation objectives, Stuart Blackadder, innovation strategy officer from Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) told the Summit. 
• ‘Transport sector must do a better job of recruiting and retaining women’More than two-thirds of women in transport have experienced discriminatory behaviour in the workplace, according to a survey. 

Other News Sources

• Sustainable Aviation Fuel Aces Helicopter and Plane Flight TestsThe biofuel, made from used cooking oil, could help the aviation industry cut climate-threatening carbon emissions
• Transport for London announce safety improvements on Battersea Bridge completed following residents’ campaignTransport for London confirmed works to improve safety on Battersea Bridge have finished, marking the end of a successful campaign by residents.