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

Thursday, 14 January 2021

BBC News

• Covid-19: Passengers told to check train times as routes cutServices in England are being cut from 87% of normal levels to 72%, the Rail Delivery Group says.

Financial Times

• Pledge to level-up UK questioned after northern transport budget cutsTfN’s budget slashed by 40% by government and more than £100m funding for contactless tickets cancelled

The Guardian

• UK rail services to be reduced to 72% of pre-pandemic levelsRail services in Britain will be reduced to 72% of pre-pandemic levels over the next few weeks, and passengers are being asked to check before they travel that their service is running.

Times Online

• Beijing’s bullet train aims to go 1,000 km/h [subscription]Assuming there are no leaves on the line, a train being developed in China will be able to travel the equivalent of London to Edinburgh in a little over a hour.

Belfast Telegraph

• French police stop ski trip group from boarding Eurostar in LondonThe group was pictured carrying at least one large bag of winter sports equipment.

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• New Northern train timetables will see reduced services and capacityNORTHERN is joining the rest of the UK rail industry by introducing amended timetables from Monday.

Newcastle Evening Chronicle

• Transport officials warn Transpennine Express rail services will be cutThe East Coast Main Line doesn't have capacity for all the services that train companies want to run

Yorkshire Post

• Fears for Northern transport funding as Department for Transport reveal cutsPlans to roll out contactless technology across the North’s transport network are in jeopardy after the Department for Transport have revealed funding cuts.

Sunderland Echo

• New bid to extend Sunderland Metro services to Washington by reopening mothballed rail lineTransport campaigners are launching a new bid to persuade the Government into backing the reopening of a mothballed train line.

Other Regional Press

• GWR cuts off-peak services between Bristol and London as Covid-19 hits staffGreat Western Railway has been forced to cut some services from Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington because of staff shortages caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
• ScotRail train breakdown nightmare left Highland passengers on Glasgow-Inverness train stuck in ‘freezing’ carriages between Aviemore and Inverness for almost eight hoursA NIGHTMARE breakdown left rail passengers stranded in “freezing” conditions for eight hours in the middle of the night - “without food, blankets or heating”.

Railway Gazette

• Hitachi fleets to be fitted with updated brake pads and discsUK: The Class 800/801/802 inter-city trainsets supplied and maintained by Hitachi are to be fitted with a new generation of brake pads and discs which has been developed by Knorr-Bremse to improve brake system performance and reduce life-cycle costs by facilitating longer maintenance intervals.
• High speed train order increasedCHINA: China State Railway Group has awarded the Bombardier Sifang (Qingdao) Transportation joint venture a 297m yuan contract to supply a further two eight-car CR400AF high speed trainsets by the end of June.

Other News Sources

• Researchers produce lightweight grab-poles with anti-microbial property for public transportSince the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic many people have been, or may feel, hesitant about taking public transport, due to the perceived risk of picking up germs from areas such as the grab-poles on trains, buses and trams, which are the principal point of contact.