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

Friday, 17 June 2022

BBC News

• Rail strikes will drive passengers away, Grant Shapps saysTrain strikes will drive passengers away and threaten rather than protect rail workers' jobs, Grant Shapps says.
• Government set to miss air pollution goals - reportPeople cannot easily find out how dirty the air is where they live, the National Audit Office says.
• Greater Manchester capped bus fares could start in September, mayor saysAndy Burnham hopes to bring in new bus fares across Greater Manchester a year earlier than planned.
• London transport network failing to meet bailout savings, minister saysTransport for London must find £400m of savings as part of its latest Covid pandemic bailout deal.
• Ferry cables blunder blamed on new managementFormer shipyard owner Jim McColl says problems that added £8.7m costs occurred after nationalisation.
• Gatwick cuts summer flights after staff shortagesThe airport says it will lead to a more reliable service, after a wave of cancellations and delays.

Department for Transport

• Building a better railwayAppeal to rail unions and workers to not risk the future of the rail industry by striking, but rather work with government to reform our railway.
• Aviation resilience planningStrategic risk group set up to identify possible interventions to alleviate flight disruptions and improve the resilience of the aviation sector.

Financial Times

• Air Force One: how Boeing's prestige project became its albatrossAerospace group reworked presidential aircraft after former president's tweets, but then took $1.1bn in charges
• Transcript: What does the future of the car look like?In an interview at the FT’s Future of the Car summit, Volvo Cars’ CEO Jim Rowan explained how the next wave of technology will transform personal mobility
• In charts: e-transport momentum slows in tandem with CovidAfter the first lockdowns, data suggested commuters were changing their transport ways — but old habits die hard
• Transport secretary warns UK rail strikes risk thousands of job losses Grant Shapps calls industrial action ‘incredible act of self-harm’ ahead of walkouts next week
• Gatwick to cancel hundreds of flights over staff shortagesLondon airport to scale back operations in July and August in effort to tame summer airline chaos

The Guardian

• Grant Shapps tells rail staff not to ‘risk striking yourself out of a job’Unions accuse transport secretary of threats and intimidation of workers, and government of trying to make political capital out of the strike
• For hydrogen power to be a climate solution, leaks must be curbedUnlike carbon dioxide, hydrogen does not have a direct effect on climate – it affects other pollutantsWe are taught at school that hydrogen burns to produce water. This is part of its image as clean fuel. But new analysis is providing warnings for the engineers who will create and operate our future energy systems.In 2021, the UK government launched its hydrogen strategy, providing a roadmap to kickstart a hydrogen economy by 2030 that visualises a future where hydrogen could be powering the boilers that heat our homes, fuelling our transport and providing heat for chemical and steel productio...
• Gatwick reduces summer capacity to prevent repeat of jubilee chaosNumber of flights in August will be below pre-pandemic levels to ensure those on sale are ‘deliverable’Gatwick airport will reduce its summer capacity to ward off potential chaos, after dozens of last-minute cancellations wrecked the travel plans of holidaymakers over the platinum jubilee and half-term holiday.London’s second busiest airport will limit the number of daily take-offs and landings to 850 in August – about 50 more than the average in early June, but more than 10% below its pre-pandemic maximum. Continue reading...

The Telegraph

• Remote working will win the battle over rail strikes, says Grant Shapps
• Train strikes: Network Rail map reveals only routes running

Times Online

• Gatwick set to cancel one in ten flights during summer holidays [subscription]Up to one in ten flights will be cancelled at Gatwick airport over the school holidays under plans designed to prevent further chaos for holidaymakers.
• Agency workers will replace striking rail staff, Grant Shapps says [subscription]Walkouts are ‘an incredible act of self-harm’, minister tells workers

City AM

• Letters: Travel travelling in the wrong direction[Re: Brexit not cause of travel chaos, says UK minister, June 14] The airline industry has had a rough time this year, often being unable to fully capitalise on the rolling back of travel restrictions and consumer optimism about taking to the skies. While staff cuts, perhaps a necessity due to the pandemic, have shrunk [...] The post Letters: Travel travelling in the wrong direction appeared first on CityAM.
• As commuters face days of disruption, we need to build a modern transport networkFor a year now, e-scooters have been zipping around London since they were first rolled out as part of a trial last June. It’s hard to comprehend how much urban transport has changed since then. There are the sweeping, existential issues of climate change and the role of transport emissions, there is the political and [...] The post As commuters face days of disruption, we need to build a modern transport network appeared first on CityAM.

Sky News

• Rail strikes: Ticket holders to be paid full compensation on strike days, Grant Shapps saysGrant Shapps has said the planned strikes are "going to cause misery" and urged workers: "Don't risk striking yourselves out of a job. Don't pitch yourselves against the public. Let's fix this situation and get back to building a better railway."

Birmingham Mail

• New Stirchley railway station - plans, pictures and why it's called Pineapple RoadPineapple Road is one of three new railway stations being built along Birmingham's Camp Hill line

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• Arriva bus strike: no deal reached after four-hour talksTALKS between Arriva and Unite to resolve an indefinite strike over pay have broken down.

Bristol Live

• Bristol Airport passengers turn South Bristol streets into "giant unregulated car park"Local councillor criticises bosses for second time in six weeks

Daily Post (North Wales)

• 'It's an embarrassment' - Plaid Cymru MS Mabon ap Gwynfor demands improved north to south rail linksIn an open letter to Transport for Wales and the Welsh Government, Mabon ap Gwynfor calls for an improvement in north to south rail links

London Evening Standard

• TfL funding row rumbles on as Grant Shapps says savings targets have not been metThe transport funding row between the Government and City Hall picked up on Wednesday as Transport Secretary Grant Shapps accused Transport for London of failing to meet the savings targets imposed as part of its current funding deal.

Wales Online

• Drivers angry over proposed Severn bridges blockadeAnyone who 'thinks this will make the government reduce the tax on fuel is living in cloud cuckoo land'

Other Regional Press

• Off-grid bus station officially opened in TelfordA bus station powered by wind turbines and solar panels has been opened.
• Rail strike in Yorkshire and how it will impact train servicesThe train strikes are said to be the largest since 1989 with 50,000 workers expected to walk out

C.N.N.

• Lyft agrees to $25 million settlement with shareholders over safety-related allegationsLyft has agreed to a $25 million settlement with shareholders over allegations that it failed to adequately disclose threats to its reputation and business ahead of going public.

Coach and Bus Week

• TfL proposes bus network reshapeTfL issues proposals it says are aimed to mitigate the effect on passengers as much as possible while fulfilling Government requirement for savings
• Euro Switch onAs reported in our news pages this week, Switch Mobility has launched its new European city bus, the e1, at the recent Paris trade show. Launched barely a year after the company’s transformation from Optare, and in the wake of a growing market for electric bus products in the UK and India, the 12m long battery-electric single-decker e1 is its first fully electric bus designed specifically for the European market.

New Civil Engineer

• DfT to identify multi-modal National Freight NetworkThe Department for Transport (DfT) will identify a National Freight Network (NFN) across road, rail, maritime, aviation, inland waterway and warehouse infrastructure, with a long-term goal of removing barriers to allow a seamless flow of freight around the country.
• TfL advances plans for DLR and Overground extensionsTransport for London (TfL) has confirmed that it is moving ahead with plans to extend the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) and the West London Orbital (WLO), part of the London Overground.

Route One (Bus and Coach)

• Pelican commences £2m work on new Yutong support facilitiesPelican Bus and Coach has commenced work on a new showroom, office and workshop facility in Castleford to support the continued growth of the Yutong brand in the UK.
• Optibus debuts Operations module to mitigate depot challengesOptibus has debuted its Operations module, which it says is “the first real-time, cloud native solution for mitigating driver staffing challenges and optimising depot operations.”
• Alexander Dennis ‘looking ahead’ with brand identity refreshAlexander Dennis (ADL) has announced a new brand identity to emphasise “agility and innovation” as it continues on the journey towards zero-emission mobility.
• National Express continues 50th anniversary celebrationsNational Express (NX) has marked its 50th anniversary as it continues to continue to rebuild its white coach network post-COVID-19. The business says that in May it operated 70% of pre-pandemic mileage and will expand that further with more service introductions in June. 
• Some Welsh SME operators ‘concerned’ about bus franchisingPlans to roll out franchising across the Welsh bus network have left many small- and medium-sized operators in the country “very concerned,” the Senedd Climate Change, Environment and Infrastructure Committee heard on 26 May.
• England bus service adjustments post-BRG ‘inevitable’, TSC toldThe bus industry in England outside London will “inevitably” see adjustments to service provision after the Bus Recovery Grant (BRG) Extension support mechanism comes to an end on 4 October, the Transport Select Committee was told on 8 June as its inquiry into the National Bus Strategy (NBS) for England one year on continued. 
• Buta Atwal to retire from Wrightbus at end of 2022Wrightbus Chief Executive Buta Atwal (pictured) will retire at the end of 2022. He will be succeeded in the post by Jörg Hofmann, who will join the Ballymena manufacturer from the London Electric Vehicle Company in September to allow a smooth handover.  

Other News Sources

• Hydrogen powered bus makes appearance in Winchester city centreA HYDROGEN-POWERED bus made a clean, green appearance in Winchester on June 16 to mark the Adapting Services to Address Climate Change Conference being held in the city’s Guildhall.
• Rail workers risk striking themselves out of a job says Transport SecretaryThe Transport Secretary has warned rail workers that they risk
• What is each train operator planning to do during the rail strikes?AHEAD of next week's rail strikes, here is a breakdown of each train operator's plan.