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

Wednesday, 22 April 2020

BBC News

• Camera tech catches motorists using their mobileCameras which can spot motorists using their phones while driving have been officially rolled in New South Wales, Australia.
• Climate change: Switch road cash to broadband, adviser saysThe UK government’s climate change adviser is urging ministers to reconsider plans for road-building and switch the investment into broadband. The government plans £28bn worth of new roads to relieve congestion.
• Coronavirus: Manchester Metrolink 'may be mothballed without bail out'Manchester's tram network is losing millions of pounds every month, regional mayor Andy Burnham says.
• Coronavirus: Insurer to give £25 refunds as cars and vans sit idlePressure mounts on other motor insurers to offer refunds as people stay at home during the pandemic.
• Coronavirus: 'First Ryanair agreed to a refund, then it didn't'Consumer group Which? says the many of the UK's biggest airlines and travel companies are breaking the law.

ITV News

• Keighley bus honours fundraising hero Captain TomThe Keighley Bus Company has dedicated a bus in honour of Captain Tom Moore who has so far raised millions for the NHS. His courage has captured the hearts of the whole nation – and now his name will be appearing all over his hometown in Yorkshire!

Financial Times

• Daimler and Volvo team up to create €1.2bn fuel cell companyJoint venture aims to bring hydrogen-powered trucks to market in second half of the decade
• Virgin/Richard Branson: of alms and the manCarrier must jump through the same hoops as other applicants to merit state aid

The Guardian

• Richard Branson's bailout plea proves there's no one more shameless | Marina HydeEyeing up the public purse from distant shores, Britain's Best-Loved Businessman is truly one of the global super-elite. Motorboating enthusiast Richard Branson is playing a particularly idiosyncratic game of Monopoly. He would like to mortgage his private Caribbean island. In return, you, the taxpayer, have to buy him Mayfair and Park Lane, all the greens, all the yellows, all the reds, and stick a hotel on every one of them. Also, if Richard lands on Super Tax or Income Tax he doesn't pay them. And if he gets the Community Chest saying pay hospital fees, he refuses and sues the hospital.
• UK petrol prices to stay steady despite global oil price slumpRAC says motorists likely to miss out on cheaper fuel as filling stations try to stay afloat. British motorists are likely to miss out on petrol prices below £1 a litre despite an unprecedented oil market crash triggered by the coronavirus lockdown. The price of petrol could fall from £1.10 a litre to 98p after the collapse of global oil prices. But the RAC motoring group said it expected petrol forecourts to try to hold their prices to help them stay afloat during a slump in sales of petrol and diesel due to lockdown restrictions on travel.
• Planes grounded by coronavirus pandemic sit idle at airports around the world in picturesAs travel restrictions in response to the pandemic savagely cut the number of flights, airlines are scrambling to find places to park their redundant planes.
• All big UK airlines and travel firms denying refunds, Which? findsUp to £7bn owed for trips cancelled because of coronavirus - but operators fear bankruptcy if they pay out. All of the UK's biggest airlines and most big holiday companies are systematically breaking the law by denying timely refunds to customers for travel cancelled during the pandemic, researchers have found.Consumer groups have warned that the sector risks permanently losing public confidence in booking travel, with Which? finding 20 of the UK's largest operators are illegally withholding refunds that should be paid within 14 days.

The Telegraph

• Admiral gives 4.4m customers refund on car insurance [subscription]Admiral also announced a further £80m set aside to reduce prices and help customers as they deal with the coronavirus lockdown

Times Online

• Government faces court challenge over £27bn roads scheme [subscription]The government is facing legal action over its £27 billion road-building programme amid warnings that the scheme will undermine the UK’s climate change commitments.
• Poor chargers hinder use of electric cars [subscription]Long journeys by electric car are being hampered by a poor-quality charging network, according to research.

Birmingham Mail

• Inside Birmingham Airport as coronavirus leaves just eight flights a weekFlight tracking website Flightradar24 recorded just eight departures from Birmingham Airport last week

Birmingham Post

• Travel firms 'breaking the law by delaying refunds' says Which?Holidaymakers 'have no idea if or when they'll see their money again' according to consumer group

Bristol Live

• Bristol Airport announces furloughs and may make 'difficult decisions'The international airport has gone from 151 flights a day to eight tracked departures in a week

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Why petrol and diesel prices aren't falling amid plummeting oil prices in Covid-19 pandemicThe last few days has seen oil prices hit record lows but fuel prices have not shifted

Edinburgh Evening News

• 'Pop-up' cycle lanes and widened pavements for Edinburgh and GlasgowThe measures are to provide more space for riders and walkers to be able to social distance.

Bucks Free Press

• 'All works should be halted' - Council react to HS2 go-ahead during coronavirus crisisBuckinghamshire Council has reacted to news that the government has given the go ahead for HS2.

East Anglian Daily Times

• Freight companies want improvements to rail lines from FelixstoweRail freight companies operating trains to and from the Port of Felixstowe are to step up lobbying the government and Network Rail to improve the cross-country route from the region to the midlands and north of England.

Kent Online

• Southeastern to lease 30 new trains from South Western railwayThe county's main train contractor has announced it will lease 30 new trains from South Western Railway.

Other Regional Press

• Coronavirus: Transport for Wales working round the clock to keep trains clean for key workersTRANSPORT for Wales is working around the clock to ensure the safety and wellbeing of key workers who are using their services, as part of its response to the coronavirus pandemic.
• Transport for Wales sees 95 per cent drop in passengers due to outbreakTransport for Wales has seen a 95 per cent drop in passengers due to the coronavirus crisis.
• Weymouth's charter boat industry to receive no support during coronavirus pandemic WEYMOUTH and Portland's charter boat industry is calling on chancellor Rishi Sunak for support amid fears the industry is on the brink of collapse.

Train Operators

• SCOTRAIL: Customer notice: do not travel unless your journey is absolutely essentialScotRail is providing an emergency rail service as part of the national effort to deal with the current public health crisis.
• GREATER ANGLIA: Keeping rail stations and facilities open during Covid-19There may be fewer trains running and far less people travelling, but there are still jobs on the railway that just won’t wait.

C.N.N.

• Chinese airlines offer insanely cheap deals to lure back travelersFrom offering tickets at the cost of a vegetable to multi-seat discounts, Chinese airlines are rolling out a series of insanely cheap deals to attract travelers in the run-up to Labor Day, the first big holiday since the nation came to a standstill due to Covid-19.

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• Senior leaders launch Highways Sector CouncilThe Highways Sector Council (HSC) has been formally launched. HSC has been working with government to support the highways sector during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Council, a partnership of private and public sector organisations, first came together in September 2019, and has recently been recognised by the Secretary of State for Transport. Partners include the UK’s leading highways contractors, local authority organisations and national agencies. The Council has been created to help transform delivery in the highways sector, using a unified voice and approach so the industry can work i...
• Coronavirus: CILT and leading road transport industry bodies write to PMCILT, along with the Road Haulage Association, Cold Chain Federation, British Association of Removers, Association of Pallet Networks and the Transport Association has sent a joint letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, requesting extra help for the profession during the coronavirus pandemic.  The joint industry body letter asks for further support to prevent “widescale business collapse that could reduce capacity by as much as 50%” and offers a number of suggestions to ease the pressures being felt by UK supply chains.  The letter says:  We would like to take this ...

New Civil Engineer

• Rail industry critical of its own lack of innovationInnovation is key to the rail industry but more needs to be done to introduce new methods, according to a Rail Industry Association (RIA) survey.

Rail Advent

• New rail freight service launched by DB Cargo UK and CEMEXDB Cargo UK and CEMEX have announced that they have launched a brand new service this week.

The Business Desk

• Metro Mayors in plea to government as transport networks face ’mothballing’The region’s metro mayors have outlined a path to recovery from the coronavirus pandemic – but warned they both need urgent Government help to stop key transport services grinding to a halt.

Other News Sources

• Everything we know about the new HS2 tunnel being built through the heart of LondonTransport may not be the main thing on your mind at the moment as most of us are staying at home during the coronavirus pandemic but future projects to change the way we travel in London are still underway.
• Metro mayors call for light rail supportThe Treasury is understood to be considering whether to financially support light rail systems in England that have been hit by the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
• Treating trains like planes would revolutionise our railwaysRailway licensing isn’t a bold, radical or exciting alternative, but a rebadged version of franchising, or nationalization-lite, but with the same faults.
• Huge sink hole is 'putting lives at risk' as repair work halted by councilA huge sink hole measuring five metres in diameter, which has closed a road for more than two months, will not be fixed anytime soon, says the council.
• Cost of potholes hits new high as authorities spend millions to tackle the problem POTHOLES are still a chronic problem, says the body for road maintenance companies.
• Coronavirus: Brighton and Hove bus drivers give thanks to the NHSBUS drivers have shown their support for the NHS by parking their vehicles in a special formation.