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

Wednesday, 15 April 2020

Government

• UK space technologies to boost NHS Coronavirus responseA new drive to fund space-enabled technology and services that can strengthen the NHS response to coronavirus has been launched by the UK Space Agency
• Government provides construction sector certainty by confirming 'Notice to proceed' on High Speed 2HS2 Ltd today marks next step for the project, issuing ’Notice to proceed’ on Britain’s new railway’.

BBC News

• US airlines to receive $25bn rescue packageAid was expected but the companies had baulked at some of the terms.

Financial Times

• Cargo: the new passengers on planesAir transport remains a viable option for importers and exporters
• Wizz Air cuts fifth of workforce and reduces wagesCarrier warns profits for year will be lower due to losses related to hedging
• Stelios complains to regulator as easyJet row intensifiesFounder urges FCA to act as he presses airline to cancel multibillion pound Airbus order
• National Express taps emergency loans and scraps dividendTransport group obtains £600m from government to help it weather crisis
• Heathrow/airports: plenty of runwayFlight growth has never failed to resume after a crisis
• US Treasury reaches deal to prop up airlines$25bn in aid to pay staff comes in form of grants, loans and warrants 

The Guardian

• US government agrees on $25bn bailout for airlines as pandemic halts travelPassenger airline companies are receiving direct aid as part of the $2.2tn Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security ActThe US government agreed a $25bn bailout for the beleaguered airline industry on Tuesday as the coronavirus pandemic brings travel to a virtual standstill. Passenger airline companies are receiving direct aid as part of the $2.2tn Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (Cares Act) economic relief package passed last month in order to allow them to continue paying salaries and benefits to employees in the coming months.

Times Online

• More electric cars ready to go but buyers still wait for months [subscription]Motorists face delays of up to nine months to drive a new electric car despite a sharp rise in the number of vehicles being imported.

City AM

• Renault quits China partnership to focus on Nissan allianceFrench car giant Renault has scrapped its joint venture with Chinese firm Dongfeng Motor Group due to weak sales at the loss-making partnership.
• Coronavirus set to cost the world's airlines up to $314bnThe coronavirus pandemic will cost global airlines up to $314bn (£249.6bn) in revenues, industry body the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has said.
• Oil prices slump back below $30 as record production cuts fail to cheer investorsOil prices slumped this afternoon on the back of fears from investors that the record production cuts agreed yesterday would The post Oil prices slump back below $30 as record production cuts fail to cheer investors appeared first on CityAM.

Network Rail

• Key rail upgrades completed on West Coast main line over Easter weekend​Network Rail has completed a range of essential upgrades to the West Coast main line over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend.

Birmingham Post

• Rail planners ensure power stays on during flood repairsGB Railfreight recognised for work with Drax and Network Rail

Bristol Live

• Airbus furloughs workers at Filton siteProduction teams are currently on an Easter break
• Anger as First Bus drivers get 'shower curtain' protectionThe RMT union branded the First Bus measures "inept"

London Evening Standard

• Virgin Atlantic plane ferries cargo of vital PPE from China to UKRead our live updates on coronavirus HERE Coronavirus: The symptoms

Manchester Evening News

• Joy as lifeline bus service to Greater Manchester's most isolated village savedA lifeline bus service to the most-isolated village in Greater Manchester has been saved. Campaigners in Mellor, on the outskirts of Stockport, are celebrating after the 375 service was spared the axe following a U-turn by transport chiefs.

Wolverhampton Express and Star

• Network Rail still considering Walsall sleeper factory appeal optionsThere has still been no decision from Network Rail on whether it will appeal the refusal of a controversial sleeper factory planned for the Black Country.

Yorkshire Post

• HS2 given green light to enter construction phaseThe Government has given formal approval for the HS2 project to begin the construction phase.

East Anglian Daily Times

• Proposals for £90 increase to bus transport for 16-18 year olds at college and sixth formPlans to increase the cost of school transport by £90 for those aged 16-18 are set to be decided next week – despite more than three quarters of parents saying it would have an impact on them.
• Fears raised over new train maintenance shedGreater Anglia is hoping to operate a new 24-hour maintenance shed next to a port in Essex.
• Passenger numbers fall by more than 95% “ and Network Rail welcomes dropThe number of passengers using London’s Liverpool Street Station has fallen by 95% since the introduction of the lockdown on March 23, according to new figures from Network Rail.

Lancashire Telegraph

• Burnley bus driver's plea to people riding on buses because they're 'bored at home'A bus station manager has begged people to stop and think before using public transport after witnessing passengers travelling on buses 'because they are bored at home'.

Other Regional Press

• Fresh call for Shrewsbury to be pedestrianised as lockdown sees air pollution dropThe air in Shrewsbury town centre has "been wonderful" according to a former councillor, who thinks the area should be pedestrianised.
• This Stoke-on-Trent community has been left without a bus service after operator axes routePassengers have told how they will have to fork out for taxis after their lifeline bus service was axed.
• Coronavirus: London bus drivers handling cash ’is a killer’Bus drivers handling cash during the coronavirus pandemic “is a killer”, a trade union official has warned.

New Civil Engineer

• Dutch look at Amsterdam to Paris hyperloop linkHigh-speed hyperloop technology could cut the journey time from Amsterdam to Paris to 90 minutes, according to a study.
• Lockdown is chance to rid industry of cost hikes and project delaysThe coronavirus-driven pause in construction is an opportunity for the industry to finally rid itself of cost overruns and project delays, according to Pell Frischmann director Joe Burns.
• Government releases strategy to ’safeguard’ local rail linesThe government has released its ’community rail development strategy’, which it says will bolster community rail groups and their interactions with train operating companies.

Railnews

• Shovels now set to hit the ground as HS2 gets full go-aheadTHE Government’s high speed line developer HS2 Ltd has been given permission by the Department for Transport to start the detailed design and construction of Phase 1 of the new railway between London and Birmingham.
• Tuesday essay: the end of franchisingThe era of risk-taking rail franchises appears to be over. In this week’s essay, Sim Harris tries to predict what will happen now.

Other News Sources

• Rail tech company secures £111k NatWest funding for service disruption appA London rail technology startup has received a six figure funding package to launch an app for railway operators.
• HS2 contractors get notice to proceedIt’s the greenest of all the green lights that HS2 has received from government to date – notice to proceed.
• Huge boost for industry as government green lights HS2Notice to Proceed orders issued to four main teams behind civils work
• UITP Policy Brief examines impact of change in urban mobility demandThe aim of the Policy Brief was to better understand how new mobility services, such as e-bike sharing schemes, might impact urban streetscapes and city spaces.
• The Sustainable Bus Update: volume threeWithin our third Sustainable Bus Update, we summarise the most recent and standout sustainable bus purchases and developments from across the globe.
• The story of how a neglected Yorkshire railway closed by Beeching was given a new identityThe uneconomical coastal line was closed during the Beeching axe period in the 1960s, and by 1972 all of the track had been removed. The route remained as a designated greenway for walking, cycling and horse riding and was named the Cinder Track.