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

Wednesday, 02 September 2020

BBC News

• Northern to 'reflect new normal' in rail timetableThe rail operator will increase services, but says it is dealing with Covid-19's

ITV News

• Northern railway bosses warn commuters to prepare for 'the new normal'Northern railway bosses are warning commuters to prepare for 'the new normal' as new timetables are set to be put in place later this month.

Financial Times

• Activist hedge fund urges European shift to rail from flights and ferriesOceanwood writes to ministers in UK, France, Netherlands and Belgium arguing move would cut emissions

The Herald

• Scottish transport giant hails UK Government Covid rail deal extensionFirstGroup will run the Great Western Railway franchise until at least June 2021 under the Emergency Measures Agreement after the Department for Transport opted to extend the deal.

The Telegraph

• Government signals temporary 'nationalisation' of train services will continue until next summerThe Emergency Measures Agreements created to help railways survive the pandemic will stay in place

Times Online

• Good riddance to the fantasy of a privatised railway [subscription]et’s stop pretending that the railways were ever really privatised. When they were broken up into two main parts, the infrastructure and the operating companies, in the mid 1990s the idea was that they would be at the cutting edge of capitalism, subject to market forces and the discipline of the private sector.
• Taxpayer to keep GWR on rails until summer 2021 [subscription]The rail company GWR is to continue on taxpayer support until next summer, it has been announced.

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• Coronavirus causes 'serious' issues' with driver training in rail industryRAIL services in West Yorkshire are expected to return to more normal levels later this month - but there have been warnings that social distancing measures are causing "serious" issues with training drivers.

London Evening Standard

• FirstGroup secures extension of the Emergency Measures Agreement for GWRFirstGroup on Monday said the Department for Transport has exercised its option to extend financial help for Great Western Railway, in move that will help the rail and bus firm ride out the virus crisis.

Wales Online

• First close-up look at scene of utter carnage after inferno engulfed derailed diesel trainThe major operation to remove the derailed wagons is about to start

Other Regional Press

• Table service rolled out on Avanti West Coast trainsTrain users who frequent Coventry Railway Station will be able to get food and drink delivered without having to leave their seat - as Avanti West Coast has introduced a delivery service on-board its trains.

Train Operators

• Greater Anglia ensuring people can return to work, school and college safely by trainGreater Anglia is reassuring people that they can return to work, school and college safely by train.

British Trams Online

• Edinburgh Waverley masterplan looks at improved tram linksAnyone who had ever been to Edinburgh Waverley Railway Station and then looked for onward transport connections will be well aware that the location of the station has meant that it isn’t the easiest task. But a new masterplan is seeking to solve some of these problems as well as creating a “station for the people”. While a lot of the masterplan need not concern us on these pages, there is brief mention of the trams.

Business Live

• Emergency support for operator of South Wales to London trains extendedFirstGroup has welcomed the extension of its emergency measures agreement for its Great Western Railway franchise

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• FirstGroup release statement regarding the Extension of Great Western Railway Emergency Measures AgreementFirstGroup are pleased to announce that the Department for Transport (‘DfT’) has exercised its option to extend the Emergency Measures Agreement (‘EMA’) for Great Western Railway (‘GWR’) until at least 26 June 2021. On 30 March 2020 FirstGroup announced that they had signed an agreement with the DfT to continue operating GWR until March 2023, with a possible one-year extension.    At that time, FirstGroup also announced that the franchise would run under EMA terms for at least the first six months in response to the coronavirus outbreak. That ...

New Civil Engineer

• TikTok video sparks rail worker safety probeA video of rail workers sitting perilously close to the tracks when a train passes has sparked a safety probe.

Rail Technology Magazine

• FirstGroup granted extension of the EMA for Great Western Railway The Department for Transport has reportedly extended financial help for Great Western Railway. The company FirstGroup, which runs the GWR trains Paddington to Wales and the likes of Cornwall and Devon, has said the Emergency Measures Agreement (EMA) has been prolonged until June next...
• Solar-powered scarecrow used to keep trains on time in Manchester A solar-powered scarecrow that sends out the calls of a hawk is being used to scare away birds that have been causing delays to passengers travelling between Manchester and London Euston.   Significant numbers of birds have been causing damage to the electric arms of Avant West...

Railnews

• Emergency Measures extended on Great Western Railway The Department for Transport has extended the Emergency Measures Agreement on Great Western Railway from 20 September to at least 26 June next year. The EMAs protect franchises from the financial impact of the pandemic.

Railway Gazette

• Digital coupler ‘opens door to automation’Speaking during a demonstration of prototype couplers at the DB Systemtechnik Minden research facility on August 31, Sabina Jeschke, DB’s Board Member for Digitalisation & Technology, said that the technology ‘opens the door to comprehensive automation and digitalisation of rail freight’. This would significantly increase the capacity of marshalling yards, she continued, which ‘means a digital revolution for freight on rail’.

Transport Network

• Mind the Gap: Network Rail trials distancing appA new social-distancing app is ready for industry-wide deployment after a successful pilot with Network Rail, its developers have said.

RMT

• RMT responds to Govt extension of emergency measures on GWRRMT responds to Government extension of emergency measures on Great Western Railway

Other News Sources

• Rail link for HeathrowHeathrow Southern Railway Ltd (HSRL) – the private sector venture set up to transform the rail network serving Britain’s busiest airport – says the UK Government’s launch of a new ‘Acceleration Unit’ should make resolving the issue of a new public transport route to Heathrow Airport from the south a top priority.
• Train passengers urged to put rubbish in the bin after litter dumped at Ulverston StationTRAIN passengers are being urged to put their rubbish in the bin after items of litter were dropped at Ulverston Station.