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

Tuesday, 21 April 2020

BBC News

• Virgin Australia slumps into voluntary administrationVirgin Australia has confirmed it has entered voluntary administration - making it Australia's first big corporate casualty of the coronavirus pandemic.
• Coronavirus: Jaguar Land Rover furloughs half of workforceAbout 20,000 workers are affected as the car giant's executive leadership team defer salary payments.
• Coronavirus: Banning cars made easier to aid social distancingCouncils in England can now ban cars from streets more easily to allow space for social distancing.
• Climate change: 'Bath sponge' breakthrough could boost cleaner carsA new aluminium-based material could make hydrogen-powered cars more practical and less expensive.
• Coronavirus: Airports 'at risk' of closure as flights drop 90%Most remaining services are for freight, supplies and repatriation of people from overseas.
• Coronavirus: Branson offers Caribbean island to secure Virgin bailoutSir Richard Branson pledges Necker Island as collateral to help get a UK government bailout for Virgin Atlantic.

Financial Times

• How coronavirus brought aerospace down to earthThe industry has been one of the hardest hit, with contracts cancelled, production halted and pleas for big bailouts
• Bailout interest rate for US airlines is as low as 1%United reveals more details of taxpayer funding it will use to cover payrolls during pandemic
• Branson pledges to mortgage Caribbean home to help businessOffer comes as Virgin Australia goes into administration after failing to secure bailout
• Coronavirus pushes Virgin Australia into administration Country’s second-biggest airline becomes its highest-profile casualty of the global crisis

The Guardian

• Air pollution may be ’key contributor’ to Covid-19 deaths – studyHigh levels of air pollution may be “one of the most important contributors” to deaths from Covid-19, according to research. The analysis shows that of the coronavirus deaths across 66 administrative regions in Italy, Spain, France and Germany, 78% of them occurred in just five regions, and these were the most polluted.
• Can I get a refund or extension on my railcard for lockdown?Do you know whether there is likely to be a partial refund or time extension for senior railcard holders due to the travel restrictions in place as a result of coronavirus? I have searched for information, including the senior railcard web page, but had no luck.

The Independent

• Richard Branson says 'this is not the end for Virgin Australia' as airline enters administrationThe airline is continuing to fly as it seeks fresh investment

Times Online

• Legalising electric scooters could pose threat to pedestrian safety, government warned [subscription]The legalisation of electric scooters on British roads could pose a “significant” threat to pedestrian safety, the government has been warned.
• Online shopping helps put more vehicles on the roads than ever before [subscription]The number of vehicles on the road exceeded 40 million for the first time last year after the popularity of online shopping brought a big increase in delivery vans.

City AM

• Richard Branson warns Virgin Atlantic needs coronavirus loan to surviveVirgin Atlantic owner Sir Richard Branson has warned that the beleaguered airline will need government financial support in order to survive the coronavirus crisis.

Mail Online

• Will the unions let London get back to work? TfL and rail firms brace for war with hardline bosses as they try to get trains and Tubes back up and running after lockdownTransport bosses are bracing for war with unions to get London Tubes and buses back up and running to full capacity when the coronavirus lockdown is finally lifted.

The Mirror

• Cost of car insurance rockets to an average of £809 despite lockdownMost people aren't using their vehicles at the moment but that hasn't stopped an average increase of £47 in the past 12 months as insurance shoots up
• Virgin Australia goes into voluntary administration putting 16,000 jobs at riskBritish businessman Sir Richard Branson - whose Virgin Group owns 25 per cent of Virgin Australia - has promised "this is not the end" for the airline which has cancelled almost all flights during the pandemic

Network Rail

• Southend rail services transformed as £46m upgrade is completedNetwork Rail has installed a new overhead wiring system on the Southend Victoria branch line in a £46m upgrade to improve reliability for key workers currently using the line and in the long term when passengers return to work.
• Key freight routes in focus on Scotland’s RailwayEvery day during the coronavirus crisis, more than 14,000 tonnes of products - including food and medicine - are being moved across Scotland’s rail network.
• New training centre for railway signallers opens after just four weeksNetwork Rail has taken just four weeks to transform an old depot in Newport, south Wales, into a state-of-the-art training centre to ensure it has enough skilled railway signallers across Wales and the west throughout the coronavirus crisis.
• Keeping the lights on - Network Rail fully reopens one of most important freight lines in Britain after unprecedented repair operationNetwork Rail reopened one of the most important freight lines in the country after an unprecedented 24/7 operation to keep the lights on.

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Why Holyhead Port needs government cash and what may happenSome freight services continue between Wales and Ireland

London Evening Standard

• Richard Branson warns Virgin Atlantic will collapse without Government support as he defends himself over bailout backlash Billionaire Sir Richard Branson today warned Virgin Atlantic will need financial aid from the Government in order to survive the coronavirus crisis as he defended himself amid backlash over a bailout request.
• Transport for London to place staff on furlough scheme during coronavirus pandemicFollow our live coronavirus updates HERE
• Virgin Australia slumps into voluntary administration amid coronavirus pandemicVirgin Australia has gone into voluntary administration after failing to secure a government bailout due to impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.

Leeds Live

• First Bus denies ‘lack’ of protective equipment for Leeds driversThere are claims of a "continuing lack of PPE" for bus drivers across the region

Reading Evening Post

• Major upgrade on Reading to Gatwick Airport train line completedEngineers spent 10 days over the Easter holidays replacing track and upgrading signalling equipment

Other Regional Press

• Cash boost for heritage railway targeted by arsonistsA century-old heritage railway attraction hit by an arson attack and then a global pandemic has secured its future with vital funding.
• Fuel prices plunge but motorists not getting full benefitPetrol prices have fallen 11p a litre in the past month, but the wholesale cost of fuel has fallen much further, according to the AA
• Jaguar Land Rover furloughs half of UK workforceThe car giant confirmed that all roles 'not critical during this temporary period of disruption' had been furloughed

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• Coronavirus: APPG survey to understand industry's Covid-19 experienceSir Mike Penning MP, Chair, All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Road Freight and Logistics, has written to CILT members to complete a short survey to allow the Group to better understand the industry’s experience of the coronavirus outbreak to date, what support the Government has already provided it is using, and what if anything Government can do to help additionally.  All responses will be kept strictly confidential. The survey will close on 27th April 2020 to ensure that any action from this questionnaire can be taken siwftly by government.  The APPG on Road Freigh...

Rail Magazine

• Simpson: more electrification vital to decarbonise rail freightFurther electrification is vital for rail freight to decarbonise, says Rail Freight Group Director General Maggie Simpson.
• Public leave transport network open to key workersThe number of domestic rail journeys being made is down 95% compared with 12 months ago, according to Rail Minister Chris Heaton-Harris.
• ScotRail and Caledonian Sleeper agree to EMAsCaledonian Sleeper and ScotRail have followed their English counterparts in accepting Emergency Measures Agreements (EMAs) negotiated with the Scottish Government. They will last for a minimum of six months.

Rail Technology Magazine

• £46m upgrade completed for Southend rail services A new overhead wiring system has been installed by Network Rail on the Southend Victoria brand line in a £46m upgrade to improve reliability for key workers currently using the line and in the long term when passengers return to work.   The new wiring takes the system, that was...

Other News Sources

• Running full rail services againThere were various stories in newspapers yesterday and today - some more speculative than others, some the result of off the record briefings by government departments, some of them contradictory - about government plans to lift the lockdown, including proposals to restore full rail services as early as Monday 11 May.