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

Sunday, 30 January 2022

BBC News

• Levelling up: Sheffield and Wolverhampton chosen for government regeneration plansIn Sheffield, there are plans to focus on the Integrated Rail Plan electrification and upgrades for journeys between Sheffield and London.
• Red diesel: Builder says law changes will cost £200,000HMRC said the new restrictions on red diesel were designed to help meet

ITV News

• Manchester mayor Andy Burnham asks government for more time to make changes to Clean Air Zone planGreater Manchester's Metro Mayor has asked the government for more time to make "major changes" to the controversial Clean Air Zone plan because he doesn’t think the area will achieve clean air targets by 2024.

The Herald

• SNP Government urged to act after Scotland's air pollution levels soared in 2021THE SNP Government has been urged to act after air quality legal limits were breached last year – bouncing back from a historic low in 2020 due to the pandemic.

Times Online

• Rail cuts stay as £16bn subsidies withdrawn [subscription]Fleets of trains will be axed as the ’different world’ after Covid causes drop in commuting and puts industry in crisis
• Crazy new cycle rules will fuel road rage [subscription]as the Department for Transport gone quite mad? Judging from your report “Cyclists pedal to middle of the road under new Highway Code” (News, last week) I think its conception of what roads are for is different from mine. I thought they were to enable us to get from place to place.

Mail Online

• Train timetables will NOT return to how they were before pandemic despite millions heading back to the office as ministers wind down £16bn emergency bailoutTrain timetables will not be ramped back up to pre-pandemic levels as the government terminates a £16billion emergency bailout.
• Cyclists accuse drivers of being 'ignorant' of new rules tell bikers to ride in the middle of lanesLawyer Nick Freeman, known as Mr Loophole, has criticised the new code as lacking 'common sense' claiming they could make pedestrians and cyclists more vulnerable.

Bolton News

• Council tax Mayor precept will rise to pay for police, buses and fire serviceMETRO Mayor Andy Burnham plans to add £22 onto council tax bills to pay for bus reform, the fire service’s response to terrorism and improvements to 101 police calls.

Manchester Evening News

• How Greater Manchester's Clean Air Zone compares with schemes in Bradford, London, Birmingham and NewcastleIn Greater Manchester, plans to introduce a Clean Air Zone where the most polluting vehicles will be charged up to £60 a day have sparked a massive backlash.
• Council tax hike of £22 to pay for police, buses and fire serviceLabour mayor Andy Burnham has proposed a 7.1 pc increase on his part of the council tax bill for all Greater Manchester residents

Get Surrey

• Smart motorways are unsafe according to 95% of SurreyLive readers in our surveyPart of the M3 has already been converted while the M23 smart motorway works have also largely been completed

South Wales Argus

• February start for work to reopen dock feeder canal in Cardiff city centreWORK is due to begin in February to reopen a dock feeder canal running through the centre of Cardiff.
• Blaenau Gwent bus services branded a 'shambles'A DELEGATION may travel down from Blaenau Gwent to Cardiff Bay to discuss “the shambles” of a bus service in the county borough.

Other Regional Press

• Network Rail casts doubt over new Twyford station planCold water has been poured on a proposal to build a new train station for a prospective 2,500 home development in Twyford.
• Pandemic blamed for turning Deeside Industrial Estate Park and Ride facility into £2million white elephantA £2 million Park and Ride facility which opened last August on Deeside Industrial Park has remained largely unused because of the pandemic.
• Hopes of extending the Borders Railway to Hawick have suffered a blow, councillors claimFears are growing of a 'significant delay' to any extension of the Borders Railway after the publication of the Scottish Government's 20-year transport strategy.
• Low fare scheme for buses in Cornwall introduced by councilCornwall Council has welcomed the first in a series of low fare initiatives that it hopes will help make bus travel cheaper, easier and more attractive to new passengers. 
• Heathrow Airport: How to avoid the drop-off charge in time for February half-termThe charge was introduced on November 1 2021, with airport bosses insisting it is an attempt to improve the air quality around the airport

Other News Sources

• British Steel rails to keep North Yorkshire Moors Railway runningNearly 300 tonnes of Scunthorpe rail are set to be installed at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR), helping keep services running on the heritage line.

News from Europe

• Fare reduction support programme for public transport gets another 15 METhe transport authorities will receive a total of 15 million euros to strengthen the Programme of Support for Fare Reduction (PART), due to the decrease in passengers of public transport during the pandemic, according to a diploma published on 28 January.