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

Monday, 23 November 2020

BBC News

• Free rail travel for domestic abuse victims extendedTrain companies in Britain will continue to offer tickets to those fleeing domestic abuse until March.

Financial Times

• Ineos and Hyundai strike hydrogen deal Carmaker may buy fuel from chemicals group as shift away from petrol prompts drives new supply chains
• Delta casts doubt on NY-London Covid ‘air corridor’Airlines struggle to establish routes that can be exempted from stringent coronavirus quarantines
• TfL boss warns Crossrail faces mothballing without government bailoutCommissioner Andy Byford says project needs £80m of immediate support to avoid a ‘Doomsday scenario’
• Aviation chiefs intensify calls for testing despite vaccine optimismBA, Delta, Airbus and easyJet say move to replace quarantine with pre-flight tests should remain priority to boost air travel

The Guardian

• UK cross-party group to lobby for Covid funds in areas that depend on airportsLeaders around Gatwick and Heathrow request ‘aviation communities fund’ to help local workers‘Our communities around Britain’s airports are being devastated’Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageA cross-party group of national and local politicians will this week lobby the government for emergency funds to tackle the impact of Covid-19 on workers whose livelihoods rely on airports.The aviation industry has been identified as one of the business sectors hardest hit by the pandemic – costing the local economy of Hounslow, which neighbours Heathrow airport, a total of £1bn o...
• Regional disparities in electric car-charging points revealedLondon and the south-east received 45% of new charger capacity in the past year, analysis showsLondon and the south-east have benefited disproportionately from the installation of new electric car charge points in the last year, amid a push to be ready the UK for the ban on internal combustion engine cars in 2030.The two regions together received 45% of new charger capacity in the year to October, well in excess of their 27% share of the population, according to a Guardian analysis of Zap Map data which shows charging points across the UK published by the Department for Transport. Continue rea...

The Telegraph

• Each new cyclist costs Government £5,000, research suggestsThe Department for Transport has pledged to spend £2 billion on cycle lanes across the country over the next five years
• Rail nationalisation goes full steam ahead [subscription]The private sector has been left almost powerless to influence major reform on the railways

City AM

• HS2 is a shot in the arm for the post-pandemic economyIt is no exaggeration to say that 2020 has been one of the most difficult years in modern history for The post HS2 is a shot in the arm for the post-pandemic economy appeared first on CityAM.

The Mirror

• HS2 rail contracts set to trigger boom for British steel firmsEXCLUSIVE: UK steel firms are in line for a slice of the £12bn worth of contracts being advertised this week

Bolton News

• Bus franchising plans still on the table despite pandemicBUS reform is still on the table across Greater Manchester despite the pandemic.

The York Press

• "We need to keep cars out of York city centre" CITY centre spaces are for people, and that includes people with disabilities. But many of the problems which wheelchair users face, in accessing our streets, are caused by pavement parking, something which car campaigners ignore, and this is a significant problem in York.

Yorkshire Post

• University of Leeds' Institute for High-Speed Rail and System Integration asks for Government support to restart workTransport developers are asking the Government to intervene with financial help to secure the future of a Yorkshire-based rail research project seen by experts as “game changing opportunity for the UK”.

Other Regional Press

• Speed limit at the Oxford end of the A40 will be reducedPLANS to reduce the speed limit on a main road into Oxford from the west have been described as 'nonsensical'.
• Electric car charger roll out begins in Oxfordshire car parks MORE chargers are being built in Oxfordshire to meet the growing demand for battery-powered cars.

New Civil Engineer

• Heathrow Southern Railway prospects boosted by Cummings departurePlans to build a southern rail link to Heathrow have been buoyed by the departure of the government’s former chief strategist Dominic Cummings, according to those looking to build the route.
• Atkins among five firms shortlisted for Network Rail station design competitionNetwork Rail and RIBA Competitions have revealed the names of five firms shortlisted to compete in a design competition to “shape the future of Britain’s railway stations”.
• Transport minister ’expects’ HS2 northern section to be built in full at the same timeBaroness Vere, who is minister for roads, buses and places, has told NCE that she expects construction of High Speed 2 (HS2) Phase 2b to go ahead in one go despite plans revealed earlier this month to split the route into multiple bills to be passed in Parliament.
• ORR CEO John Larkinson on building a better future for railThis year has brought many new challenges for the railway: an unprecedented drop in passengers to numbers last seen in the mid-nineteenth century, emergency franchise contracts and increased government subsidies; all are ushering in a new kind of railway.

Railnews

• Monday essay: Should the state pay our fares? THE Department for Transport is paying National Rail operators who had been running franchises until March this year to keep going. The government takes the revenue and pays the bills, and the deficit so far has reached £4.2 billion. But does this amount to renationalisation, and should the state simply pay the fares as well? Sim Harris has been looking at the figures.
• Crossrail could be mothballed as TfL financial crisis continues The delayed project to build Crossrail under central London may be held up once again – this time by the Covid pandemic. It has been reported that the new transport commissioner Andy Byford has written to the Department for Transport™s permanent secretary Bernadette Kelly, warning her that the continuing financial straitjacket at Transport for London means that Crossrail is now in need of £80 million if work on the project is to continue without interruption. Mr Byford has also warned that without this funding, he could ˜relinquish responsibility™ for Crossrail, which is now expected to cost...

Other News Sources

• Crossrail 'could be mothballed'London’s Crossrail project, already three years late, may end up being ’mothballed’, it is being reported.
• Bid for funding to transform Chester station into 'millennial gateway'Cheshire, North Wales and Wirral seek £20m for rail improvement schemes