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

Thursday, 17 September 2020

BBC News

• Rail replacement services 'humiliating' disabled peopleDisabled rail passengers say they are left "humiliated" by inaccessible replacement bus and coach services.
• 'No confidence' in Birmingham's home-to-school transportSome children with special needs were dropped at the wrong schools, Birmingham City Council said.
• Cardiff bus station: 'Impatience growing' over delaysCardiff has been without a bus station since 2015, but plans for a new one have been plagued by setbacks.
• AI-driven robot Mayflower recreates historic voyageThe Mayflower Autonomous Ship will collect data on marine life, including sampling for plastics.
• Plug-in hybrids are a 'wolf in sheep's clothing'Although marketed as a green option, the cars cause more polluting than is claimed, campaigners say.
• Uber's self-driving operator charged over fatal crashThe safety driver of an Uber autonomous car is charged with negligent homicide.
• Chris Grayling to advise ports operator in £100,000 roleThe former transport secretary's part-time job is with the owner of Harwich and Felixstowe terminals.
• Duty-free changes 'damage' NI airports, airport chief warnsCurrently plans to allow duty-free sales between Britain and the EU will not apply to Northern Ireland.
• Snake used as face mask on busA passenger said she thought the man was wearing a
• Hundreds of trains to benefit from £55m upgradesSouthern, Gatwick Express and Great Northern fleets will be equipped with new technology.
• Boeing's 'culture of concealment' to blame for 737 crashesThe firm hid details from the regulator and pilots which led to two fatal crashes, a report finds.

Financial Times

• Boeing hid design flaws in Max jets from pilots and regulators Congressional report into why two 737 aircraft crashed within months of each other finds aerospace group cut corners
• BA to drop controversial ‘fire and rehire’ plan for thousands of staffAirline’s chief abandons move to introduce pay cuts on top of 10,000 redundancies already announced
• Coronavirus and globalisation: the surprising resilience of container shippingAlthough the pandemic has brought chaos to the global economy, many lines are making more money this year than last

The Guardian

• Safety driver charged in 2018 incident where self-driving Uber car killed a womanArizona prosecutors decided the company was not liable in the crash, the first death of a pedestrian involving a self-driving vehicleProsecutors in Arizona have charged the safety driver behind the wheel of a self-driving Uber test car that struck and killed a woman in 2018 with negligent homicide.Court records show that Rafaela Vasquez, 46, on Tuesday pleaded not guilty in the death of Elaine Herzberg. Continue reading...
• Boeing 'gambled with public safety' in run-up to two deadly crashesCost cuts and lack of scrutiny contributed to 737 Max disasters, say US politiciansBoeing jeopardised the safety of passengers by cutting costs on the development of the 737 Max and escaped scrutiny from regulators before software flaws contributed to two fatal crashes of the aircraft, according to a report by US politicians.The US manufacturer was forced to ground its bestselling plane after the crashes of a Lion Air 737 Max in 2018 and an Ethiopian Airlines jet in 2019. The crashes killed 346 people.

The Huffington Post

• 'No Ships' Chris Grayling To Be Paid £100,000 A Year To Advise Ports Company

The Telegraph

• A simple saliva test could replace quarantine and unlock travel – so why won't the Government act? [subscription]ur travel companies are struggling for survival and the UK hospitality industry is on its knees. Our cancer centres are full of vulnerable patients urgently needing complex treatments. So, what’s the connection?

Times Online

• ‘Culture of concealment’ led to fatal Boeing 737 Max crashes [subscription]A “culture of concealment” at Boeing and a desire to put profits before safety were among a litany of failures that contributed to two fatal crashes of the 737 Max, a congressional report has concluded.
• Boeing’s failures are laid bare in inquiry into 737 Max crashes [Subscription]A “culture of concealment” at Boeing and a desire to put profits before safety were among the failures that contributed to two fatal crashes of the 737 Max, a congressional report has concluded.
• Hydrogen plants will power buses with clean energy [subscription]Emissions from buses, bin lorries and gritters could be dramatically reduced in Scotland under plans to build a network of hydrogen stations.
• Fall of Ferguson shipyard leaves dozens of firms shortchanged [subscription]Dozens of businesses will be left thousands of pounds out of pocket by the collapse of the Ferguson shipyard.
• Number’s up for e-scooter pests [subscription]Hire scheme bosses are fitting identification plates to put a stop to antisocial behaviour

Reuters News

• Alstom cuts offer for Bombardier's rail unit by $350 mln in firmed-up dealFrench train maker Alstom said on Wednesday it has lowered its offer to acquire Bombardier Inc’s rail business by $350 million, but the two still expect to close the deal to create the world’s second-largest rail company earlier than expected.

City AM

• Alstom reduces offer for Bombardier rail unit by $350mFrench transport giant Alstom has announced that it will buy Canadian firm Bombardier's rail business for $350m (£270m) less than The post Alstom reduces offer for Bombardier rail unit by $350m appeared first on CityAM.

Bristol Live

• Will Bristol be carbon neutral in 10 years?The council has set a target for the city to be carbon neutral by 2030 - eliminating all carbon emissions, not just territorial ones
• Bristol Airport lodges appeal against refusal of expansion Bristol Airport had until September 19 to lodge its appeal against North Somerset Council's refusal of its expansion plans

Cambridge News

• More changes coming to Cambs roads in bid to encourage walking and cycling A long list of plans affecting every part of the county has been drawn up

East Anglian Daily Times

• Our roads are there for all users – and don’t need to be a battlefield!It is a feature of the world we live in today that opinions (amplified by social media) have become more entrenched, in many cases more extreme, and that far too often what should be a rational debate can end up as a rather unpleasant name-calling exercise.

Other Regional Press

• Steve Brine MP in support of Southampton Airport expansionWINCHESTER MP Steve Brine has spoken in support of the expansion of Southampton Airport in a debate in the House of Commons.
• Airport urged not to appeal decision against expansionCouncils have called on Heathrow to abandon its bid for a third runway, as the UK's busiest airport prepares to appeal a legal decision preventing its expansion.
• Cycling 'may even become more dangerous'A surprise new pop-up cycle lane scheme has been slammed by angry residents and business owners.
• Plans to ban vehicles from Whitby's Swing Bridge labelled 'nonsense'The scheme to pedestrianise the iconic bridge is one of a number being put forward in a bid to access government funding

C.N.N.

• Why San Francisco International Airport is turning off the loudspeakerThe Covid-19 pandemic has brought plenty of changes to airports, from sanitizing stations to mandatory mask wearing.

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• Transport for London reveals cost of pandemicTransport for London (TfL) said its advertising revenues plummeted by 90% during the most challenging financial quarter in its 20-year history. The Covid-19 pandemic meant companies cancelled contracts to advertise on the London Underground network, TfL said in a financial report. Bosses said coronavirus had caused a
• Mayflower autonomous ship launchesOcean research non-profit ProMare and IBM (NYSE:IBM) have announced the completion and launch of the Mayflower Autonomous Ship (MAS) – an AI and solar powered marine research vessel which will traverse oceans gathering vital environmental data. Video News Release: https://youtu.be/n8wPUCPX6ss Following two years of design, construction and training of its AI models, the new fully-autonomous trimaran was today lifted into the waters off the coast of Plymouth, England ahead of its official launch tomorrow. Designed to provide a safe, flexible and cost-effective way of gathering data abou...
• British Airways owner IAG to cut more flightsBritish Airways owner IAG is cutting more flights over the next three months as it adjusts to the continuing collapse in demand for air travel. IAG, which also runs Aer Lingus and Iberia, said quarantine restrictions meant capacity this autumn would be 60% below 2019 levels. The group said it had seen a

New Civil Engineer

• £10bn rail enhancement pipeline to be ‘reassessed’ for post-Covid worldSchemes in the government’s £10bn rail enhancements pipeline are being reassessed to see if they are still “justified” in a post-Covid world.

Rail Business Daily

• Nexus unveils colour scheme for the £362m new Tyne and Wear Metro train fleetA vibrant yellow colour scheme for Metro’s £362m new train fleet can be revealed for the first time, as Nexus launches a major public consultation on its interior design.
• National Composites Centre partner with Network RailThe NCC (National Composites Centre) has partnered with Network Rail to investigate, design and build a composite footbridge.
• London’s deceased from Euston’s St James’s Gardens to be reburied in Surrey’s Brookwood CemeteryHS2 Ltd, working with the Archbishops’ Council of the Church of England, have agreed with Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey for reburials as a result of excavations at St James’s Gardens to take place there.
• GTR and Porterbrook announce £55 million fleet modernisation programmeGovia Thameslink Railway (GTR) and Porterbrook, the owner of trains leased by the operator, have announced a five-year, £55 million programme to modernise the Southern, Gatwick Express and Great Northern ‘Electrostar’ fleets, 270 trains in all.

Rail Technology Magazine

• Heart of Wales line to partially reopen following storm damage From November, passengers will again be able to travel on a section of the Heart of Wales line, which runs from Shrewsbury to Swansea, as Network Rail has set out the timescales for repairs to the line after two major incidents within a month. Following extreme weather in August, damage to the...
• £10m boost for Gatwick Airport station upgrade Platform extensions, across three stations in West and East Sussex, have now been completed by Network Rail through funding from the Department for Transport. Constructed in support of a new timetable during the £150m upgrade of Gatwick Airport station, longer trains are now opening their...

Railnews

• GTR and Porterbrook unveil £55 million fleet modernisation Trains built just five years ago are among those set to be upgraded at Selhurst Depot as part of a £55 million fleet modernisation programme announced by Govia Thameslink Railway and leasing company Porterbrook.

Railway Gazette

• Alstom signs Bombardier Transportation sale and purchase agreement with revised priceINDUSTRY: Formal signing of the sale and purchase agreement for the acquisition of Bombardier Transportation from Bombardier Inc and Caisse de dépot et placement du Québec was announced by Alstom on September 16.

Other News Sources

• Omnibus ahead of the game on open dataModule helps operators submit BDOS data   Transdev Blazefield is using the new system   Omnibus is launching a new module to help clients to provide seamless, compliant timetable data for the Bus Open Data Service (BODS). From its launch in the Autumn, clients will be able to produce TransXChange 2.4 files in accordance with the BODS profile, giving customers the benefit of a three-month window to refresh their timetable data prior to the 31st December deadline. Omnibus is also advising operators that they can submit data now, before the September launch of the new facility, as the c...