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

Monday, 02 August 2021

BBC News

• Coronavirus: New rules for fully jabbed US and EU arrivals beginPeople vaccinated in the EU or US will not need to isolate when coming to the UK from an amber country.
• No Covid traces found in railway stations or trainsHeavily touched areas like escalator handles, ticket machines and benches were swabbed for the virus.

ITV News

• Southeastern to run more trains from September ahead of expected demand increaseRail operator, Southeastern, is to put on more services from the twelfth of September - ahead of an expected increase in demand.

Financial Times

• Electric vehicles: recycled batteries and the search for a circular economy The explosion in demand for EVs has spurred a quest for alternative sources of key metals such as cobalt and nickel
• Virgin cruise ship set for debut after investors keep it afloatThe €600m Scarlet Lady will feature immersive theatre, a tattoo parlour and a sexologist on its adult-only trips
• Clouds lift as confidence returns to battered aviation industryOptimism slowly spreads with highest number of planes in sky since start of pandemic

The Guardian

• JetBlue ready to launch low-cost New York to London flightsUS-based airline aims to tread where others have failed – and in the teeth of the Covid pandemicA low-cost airline service with a brand new business class cabin, flying London to New York? As Frank Sinatra might have said: if you can make it there, in the teeth of a global pandemic when the US bars British citizens and advises its own to stay put … well, you can make it anywhere.On 11 August, nonetheless, JetBlue will launch transatlantic flights that could rattle one of aviation’s normally most lucrative markets. The airline, one of the biggest in America but without the global presence of th...
• No traces of coronavirus found in tests at major English railway stationsTrains and stations in Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool and London free of surface and airborne particles. No traces of coronavirus were found in tests at four major railway stations and on intercity train services, Network Rail has said. Places passengers regularly touch, such as escalator handles, ticket machines and benches, were swabbed, while hour-long air samples were taken.

The Herald

• ScotRail report backs major cuts to Scotland's rail networkTrade union bosses have lambasted recommendations for “disastrous” service cuts, ticket office closures and job losses on Scotland’s railway.

The Telegraph

• Turbulence at Heathrow as third of top team exit [subscription]Three members of the executive committee quit as the airport struggles with Covid travel restrictions
• Travel news latest: Quarantine scrapped for fully vaccinated US and EU arrivals [subscription]Double-jabbed travellers from the US and most European countries can now travel to the UK without facing self-isolation after a rule change came into effect at 4am this morning.
• Electric car owners wait ten years to recoup upfront costs [subscription]Which? found the higher price of electric vehicles is discouraging one in three drivers from switching
• Baggage boss warns of airport chaos amid shifting rules [subscription]Swissport boss warns that 'cancellations will be inevitable' with handlers unable to keep up with changing schedules
• Hydrogen revolution means the end of the line for diesel trains in rural beauty spots [subscription]Drive to cut pollution and hit carbon targets will see older engines replaced with new, green technology that ‘won’t ruin the countryside’

Times Online

• ‘Extortionate’ Covid travel test providers face axe [subscription]The most expensive coronavirus testing companies for foreign travel face being struck off a government list of providers after criticism over “extortionate” prices.
• Ferry builder Ferguson Marine is doomed, says former director [subscription]Scotland’s nationalised shipbuilder is doomed to fail once it completes two overdue and over-budget ferries, a former executive have said.
• Giant 3D printer can get HS2 back on track [subscription]The HS2 rail line will be partially built using giant 3D printing technology under plans to cut costs, disruption and emissions.

Mail Online

• Senators finally unveil $1TRILLION infrastructure bill: $66B for railways in largest spending since creation of Amtrak, $55B on clean water to replace every lead pipe in US and $7.5B for network of electric vehicle charging stationsAfter much delay, senators finally unveiled a $1trillion infrastructure package Sunday night that includes historic funding for railways, clean water and electric car charging stations.

Sky News

• COVID-19: Tests at England's major railway stations and on trains reveal no traces of coronavirusLondon Euston, Birmingham New Street, Liverpool Lime Street and Manchester Piccadilly station underwent two rounds of testing in January and June.

Yorkshire Post

• 'Levelling up promises being broken' as doubts grow over HS2 reaching YorkshireSouth Yorkshire Mayor Dan Jarvis has said the Government “once again appears to be reneging on its promises to level up the North” as doubts grow over whether HS2 will ever reach Yorkshire.
• Starting HS2 eastern leg construction from Leeds deserves consideration - The Yorkshire Post saysThere have been long-running doubts over whether HS2 will ever reach Yorkshire and the fact that planning the route of the so-called eastern leg is currently on ice, while preparations continue to bring the high-speed rail line to Manchester on the other side of the Pennines, undoubtedly adds to the uncertainty.

Other Regional Press

• Striking visitor information centre opens at Coventry Railway StationA NEW visitor information centre has been officially opened outside Coventry Railway Station to help visitors arriving for the UK City of Culture and the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
• Glasgow southside residents vote on new railway bridge design to replace iconic Strathbungo crossingThe well-known and much loved Glasgow south side footbridge will be replaced in the summer of 2022 because it will not be suitable when the line is electrified.

New Civil Engineer

• Arup selected to lead all-island Ireland rail reviewIreland's all-island strategic rail review will be led by engineering consultancy Arup.
• Major rail improvements get underway across ManchesterRail engineers started major improvements to track and railway bridges between Manchester Victoria and Stalybridge and Manchester Victoria and Rochdale this weekend.

Other News Sources

• Network Rail looks to reduce the cost of signalling through a data-driven right first-time approachMatt Weingarth, Principal Innovations Engineer, shares details about how Network Rail’s Target 190plus programme is working with industry to develop and use data and tools for operational and design solutions in signalling. In this article, he explores how these technologies will speed up how we deliver and maintain the railway, improving overall experience for customers and employees.
• One month to bid for slice of £4.2bn transport pie for West Yorkshire's mass transit dreamWest Yorkshire council workers are bidding for a slice of a multi-billion pound government fund which leader hope will help fund the region's long-awaited and much-delayed mass transit system.
• Rail users to mark 40th anniversary of Honeybourne Station's re-openingThe Cotswold Line Promotion Group is meeting to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the re-opening of Honeybourne Rail Station.