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

Friday, 14 January 2022

BBC News

• Bennerley Viaduct reopens to public after £1.7m repairsA Victorian railway bridge is back open to the public after more than five decades of dereliction.

ITV News

• Freight train derailment blocks high-speed services to and from London St Pancras InternationalA derailed freight train is causing disruption to high-speed passenger services to and from London St Pancras International.

Financial Times

• Delta to share profits with staff for first time since pandemic beganSecond-half recovery prompts US carrier to award $108m to employees, despite overall losses in 2021
• Airline stocks: taking flight, despite Omicron turbulence The industry has endured a rough fourth quarter, but there are signs of clearer skies ahead

The Scotsman

• ScotRail's new era under full Scottish government control may get off to a confusing start – Alastair DaltonIt’s prompted by the extraordinary but welcome level of detail ScotRail has provided in seeking to justify reducing most of its ticket offices’ opening hours, in stark contrast to the far less clear way the train operator will be run when it returns to state control in April – and the downright confusing term “Scotland’s Railway”.

Times Online

• France ski resorts lifted by easing of travel curbs [subscription]border closed to holidaymakers from the UK on December 18 as ministers in Paris sought to prevent the spread of the Omicron variant, but since the decision was made the number of Covid cases in France has soared. The country recorded more than 360,000 new infections yesterday.

The Mirror

• Public transport crisis as 17% of bus routes at risk after Covid financial lossesBus and Metro services have suffered financial losses due to Covid-19 and passenger numbers fell by 95 percent in some areas. The loss of busy bus routes will also hit pensioners and students hard

Nation. Cymru

• Major works completed to prepare South Wales Metro for electrificationMajor works have been completed on the South Wales Metro rail project to prepare it for electrification.

The York Press

• Train firm LNER looking to inspire 'Tomorrow's Talent'A YORK-BASED train firm is aiming to inspire the next generation of rail industry employees about the world of work with the return of a work experience programme.

Yorkshire Evening Post

• Northern's rail carriages cleaned almost one million times in one year as network fights CovidHard working Northern Rail employees cleaned the rail operator's carriages almost one million times in 2021.

Plymouth Herald

• Plymouth to Tavistock railway link 'moving up the priority list'The much-wanted reopening of the Tavistock to Plymouth rail link has moved up the list of priorities for rail projects.

Other Regional Press

• Network Rail gives update on Gobowen station system worksNetwork Rail is currently renewing the signalling system at the train station which has led to the main road and the station car park being closed from Wednesday until Monday, January 17.

Coach and Bus Week

• 24-hour bus lanes trial set to become permanent as bus journey times improveTransport for London (TfL) has announced that it intends to make its trial of 24-hour bus lanes permanent, after it found that extending bus lane hours on London’s busiest roads cut journey times and helped reliability.
• Air Products secures 15-year hydrogen supply contract with Go-AheadAir Products is to supply liquid hydrogen to fuel Metrobus’ 20 new hydrogen vehicles as Go-Ahead negotiates a potential order for a further 34 buses from Wrightbus
• Scottish transport trend data shows slow recovery in user numbersMonitoring by Transport Scotland (TS) of transport trends during the Covid-19 outbreak has shown a small increase in use compared to pre-pandemic levels over recent weeks. The information gathered by TS, which is used to help determine Scottish policy in relation to resilience and response to the outbreak, provides a snapshot of travel across main modes when compared to a pre-pandemic baseline, which for most modes is the same period in 2019. The figures use data from a variety of sources, including the DfT’s National Travel Survey, data published in Scottish Transport Statistics, and data collected by operators across the transport networks.

New Civil Engineer

• Understanding city infrastructure is the first step to electrifying transportTransport discussions at COP26 last November largely centred around an expected shift towards electrification. And while the idea of humming along efficiently in electric vehicles is nice, this will not provide a complete solution to the challenges we face.
• Port of Liverpool campaigners furious at latest “snub” from DfTThe Department for Transport (DfT) is "actively obstructing" the exploration of alternative solutions to the controversial Port of Liverpool access road, according to campaigners against the current project who described the latest response as a "snub".
• East West Rail links with industry, academic and accessibility leaders for advisory groupLeading lights from industry and academia have joined an East West Rail Company (EWR) advisory group to aid development of the major rail project between Oxford and East Anglia.

Rail Business Daily

• Work starts next week on new transport hubWork will soon begin on a new transport hub for Porth in Wales. The project to create the Porth Transport Hub will see site setup start next week, with completion set for spring 2023.
• Hitachi enters into new partnership with digital sensor pioneersHitachi has entered into a deal which will mean it can offer a real-time monitoring solution as part of its digital freight service.

Route One (Bus and Coach)

• Scottish coach industry included in further support packageThe coach industry in Scotland will be eligible for further modest Scottish Government support after it was confirmed as one of six sectors that will benefit from an up to £9m package to mitigate the Omicron variant’s impact on tourism.
• Wales bus franchising: 2023 suggestion ‘not strictly true’The Welsh Government has said that suggestions that scope will open in summer 2023 to re-regulate bus services in Wales through franchising schemes are “not strictly true.”
• Merseytravel chooses Omnibus for cloud-based schedulingMerseytravel, the transport delivery arm of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, has chosen Omnibus’s cloud-based solution for its timetabling and scheduling software.
• Metroline launches its first battery-electric bus in HertfordshireMetroline has put its first battery-electric bus outside of London into service. It comes as part of a renewed agreement with Hertfordshire County Council.
• Duncan Cameron confirmed as First Bus Scotland MDDuncan Cameron has been appointed Managing Director of First Bus operations in Scotland on a permanent basis. He has acted as interim MD since May 2021 when Andrew Jarvis was elevated to the post of Portfolio Managing Director as part of the group realignment of its UK operating companies.

Other News Sources

• Greater Anglia makes further changes to its weekday timetableGreater Anglia has made further temporary changes to its weekday timetable, which began on Monday January 10, in response to fewer passengers travelling.
• Council seeks £16m from National Bus Strategy for roadbuildingStoke-on-Trent City Council (SoTCC) is seeking £16 million of National Bus Strategy for England funding towards roadbuilding, its Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) has revealed. 
• CPT refreshes brand as coach travel TV campaign to launchThe Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT) has revealed a refreshed brand that will make its public debut on Monday 10 January with the launch of an industry-wide television campaign to promote coach travel christened Get Back on Board.
• Action group against HS2 warns project coming to Cheshire is still 'very much a reality'AN action group against HS2 is striving to remind people the multi-billion pound project coming to Cheshire is still ‘very much a reality’.
• ‘Government has let Leeds down for 30 to 40 years’ over rail, council agreesThe leader of Leeds City Council’s Conservatives group has criticised his own Government’s integrated rail plan, suggesting it was pointless improving journey times if there was not enough space for trains on station platforms.
• Crossrail – when will it open?The Elizabeth Line is set to open in the first half of 2022. No specific date has been set out within TfL’s Budget.
• East West Rail links with industry, academic and accessibility leaders for advisory groupLeading lights from industry and academia have joined an East West Rail Company (EWR) advisory group to aid development of the major rail project between Oxford and East Anglia.
• Firms readied for £82m HS2 systems integration roleHS2 is looking for a firm to take an £82m railway systems and systems integration role.