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

Tuesday, 21 November 2023

BBC News

• Buses should be exempt from Welsh 20mph law, report saysBus lanes should be exempt from the new 20mph speed limit in Wales where it is safe to do so, according to a report.
• Buses should be exempt from Welsh 20mph law, report saysBus lanes should be exempt from the new 20mph speed limit in Wales where it is safe to do so, according to a report.
• Cheltenham bus lane cameras to be switched onA town is switching on new cameras to stop motorists using bus lanes.
• Clean air zone: Senedd to debate M4 pollution chargeWelsh Conservatives push vote to scrap road charging proposals from Welsh clean air law.
• Belfast Transport Hub: New images show progress of central stationBelfast Grand Central Station, the new £200m bus and rail centre, is due to open late next year.
• Talks start in bid to halt First Bus drivers strike in GlasgowAbout 1,200 drivers in Glasgow are due to strike for seven days from Friday.

Financial Times

• Record airline profits fail to lure back investorsAirline shares are languishing below pre-pandemic levels as high fuel prices and economic risks weigh on sentiment

The Guardian

• Tesla may have picked an unwinnable fight with Sweden's powerful unions | Martin GelinThe first ever strikes and a solidarity blockade against the US carmaker could force it to rethink its entire anti-union modelFor the first time anywhere in the world, workers for the US carmaker Tesla have gone on strike. It's not a coincidence that this strike is happening in Sweden, which has one of the strongest labour movements in Europe. More than 90% of workers are protected by collective bargaining agreements, and the system has strong backing among employees and employers alike. With good reason: the Swedish labour relations model has sustained relative industrial peace between wage-e...

The Herald

• Scottish Government-owned Prestwick Airport posts profitPrestwick Airport, which is owned by the Scottish Government, has unveiled its fourth consecutive annual profit, boosted in the year to March by a surge in passenger numbers.
• Scottish Government-owned Prestwick Airport posts profitPrestwick Airport, which is owned by the Scottish Government, has unveiled its fourth consecutive annual profit, boosted in the year to March by a surge in passenger numbers.
• CalMac 'on assumption' delayed ferries won't be ready in winter 2025Scottish Government-owned CalMac is planning for the future 'on an assumption' neither vessels at the centre of Scotland's ferry fiasco will be in service in the winter of 2025.

The Independent

• Spark EV battery production to prevent decline of UK car industry, MPs warnA report by the cross-party Business and Trade Committee stated that hundreds of thousands of jobs are at risk.

Times Online

• Meeting planned to stop ‘nutty neighbours’ closing remote rail halt [subscription]A meeting has been called to find ways to reopen Scotland’s most remote railway station after it was closed by “nutty neighbours”.
• Batteries shortfall ‘jeopardises 160,000 jobs’ [subscription]Up to 160,000 motor industry jobs and more in the supply chain are at risk unless the government resets its priorities in the production of batteries.
• SNCF sued over lack of gender-neutral titles on French trains [subscription]French society is not ready for gender-neutral titles, according to the state rail operator SNCF, which is being sued for asking passengers to choose between

City AM

• Boost EV battery production to prevent decline of UK car industry, MPs warn Electric vehicle (EV) battery production must be incentivised to prevent the decline of the UK car industry, MPs warned.

Daily Record

• Ferguson Marine workers 'deserve certainty' over shipyard's future after SNP minister rejects investmentEXCLUSIVE: The GMB union said workers at the Port Glasgow shipyard were blameless for the CalMac ferry fiasco.

Mail Online

• XR's 'plot to paralyse Heathrow': Eco-mob founder tried to fly drones near airport in bid to force the Government to abandon plans for a third runway, court is toldRoger Hallam wanted backing for the protest, launched under the name Heathrow Pause, to go viral and shut down the airport while also triggering arrests, Isleworth Crown Court was told.

Birmingham Mail

• 'Every driver to save £440' as Government makes major roads announcementHuge investment to improve the condition of crumbling roads

Birmingham Post

• Projects across Wales getting £111m from UK Government's Levelling Up FundThe seven projects in Wales getting funded include £20m towards a new waterfront mixed-use development in Barry
• Government action on EV batteries needed to prevent decline in car industry, MPs warnA cross-party group of MPs launched its investigation into battery production as the Britishvolt project foundered earlier this year

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• Bradford vehicle company plunged into administrationWorkers in Bradford and Brighouse face an uncertain future after the companies they work for went into administration.

Daily Post (North Wales)

• 10 months of roadworks on border motorway near Cheshire Oaks The project is due to be completed next summer and will include a section of road heading to and shopping complex near Broughton
• Bus lanes in Wales 'should be exempted' from 20mph limit to make driving less appealingTaxes and motoring charges should also be hiked to drive a switch to public transport, an influential think tank believes

Northern Echo

• Jets fly from RAF Leeming in UK, French and US exerciseA joint UK, French and US exercise saw fighter jets from all three countries being deployed from RAF Leeming in North Yorkshire.
• Go North East strikers lobby Canadian stakeholderThe ongoing Go North East strike is continuing and a delegation has been sent to Canada to put pressure on the company through a major stakeholder

Wales Online

• The city road that's painful to drive down because of the number of cars in gridlockIf you've ever driven down Cardiff's Leckwith Road at at any number of different times of day you'll probably have experienced the pain of driving on one of the busiest roads in the city
• Cardiff's congestion charge should be £3, report saysPublic transport changes are needed and money has to be raised to pay for it
• 'Bus lanes should be exempt from 20mph law', claims new reportIt could encourage people to use public transport rather than cars

Other Regional Press

• Binley cycleway branded a 'failure' by readers as plans for final stretch redesigned for third timeReaders took to the website to share their views on a new cycleway from Brinklow Road to Dorchester Way to link to University Hospital
• TfL 'misled public' on the benefits of the ULEZ', reportsLeaked drafts have revealed that the TfL 'misled public' on the benefits on the ULEZ.
• Everything you need to know about compliant diesel cars in 2023A huge amount of drivers in the UK have been anxious to upgrade a non-compliant car or van to one that will pass emissions regulations such as ULEZ in Greater London, and the other Clean Air Zones around the UK.

Railnews

• Report claims possible rethink over National Rail Contracts The government is said to be poised to reintroduce a degree of commercial freedom in National Rail Contracts, with the intention of allowing operators to increase profits. It has been reported that the owners of operators are urging the government to loosen the tight restrictions of the present contracts. These were introduced in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic which led to the conventional franchises being suspended in March 2020 and then cancelled in September. The need to attract more passengers and increase earnings was emphasised by transport secretary Mark Harper last week.

Green Miscellany

• There’s nothing new about motoring miscreants as first ULEZ vandals prosecutedIn 1935, a young boy fishing in a pond at Swanwick, Hampshire landed eight 30mph road signs – roundels that had recently been installed across the country to enforce the new national speed limit. It’s not clear whether the vandal was caught, but nearly 90 years later a small mob of motoring miscreants is back at it – this time… The post There’s nothing new about motoring miscreants as first ULEZ vandals prosecuted appeared first on ETA.

Other News Sources

• Council responds after extra funding announced to fix roadsAs previously reported by the Gazette, on Friday, November 17, transport secretary Mark Harper set out the allocations of an £8.3bn national long-term plan.