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

Friday, 02 July 2021

BBC News

• East-West Rail project: 'It's going to cut us in half'Residents of the small Bedfordshire village of Lidlington talk proudly about their thatched-roof pub, beautiful woodlands, lake popular with birdwatchers and their unique position at the bottom of a steep winding hill. But there are fears it could be divided in two under plans for a new rail link. How have the villagers reacted?
• How airlines will stop you losing your bags in the futureIn 2019, 25.4 million bags went missing, costing the industry billions of dollars - can big data solve the problem?
• Greater Manchester Clean Air Zone criticised for private car exemptionThe plan for Greater Manchester is criticised for not including a key source of
• Nissan announces major UK electric car expansionThe carmaker will build its new all-electric model in Sunderland, alongside a massive electric battery plant.
• Wallingford station: Historic railway canopy finds new homeA historic canopy over a railway station platform that was in danger of being junked has found a new home.

Financial Times

• Richard Branson poised to beat Jeff Bezos into space Virgin Galactic brings forward founder’s first trip to nine days before rival’s Blue Origin mission

The Guardian

• Richard Branson aims to beat Jeff Bezos into space by nine daysVirgin Galactic founder has announced he will take off on board the next test flight on 11 JulyVirgin Galactic’s Richard Branson is aiming to beat fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos into space by nine days. Branson’s company announced on Thursday evening that its next test flight will take place on 11 July and that its founder will be among the six people on board. All other passengers are company employees. It will be only the fourth trip to space for Virgin Galactic.The winged rocket ship – the first carrying a full crew – will launch from New Mexico after the US Federal Aviation Administration g...

The Telegraph

• Longest countdown to liftoff is over as female aerospace pioneer, 82, joins Bezos rocket crew
• HS2 hit by second legal challenge over £2.8bn train contract [subscription]Siemens has filed legal proceedings a year after the Prime Minister hailed the German giant for investing £200m in a train plant in Goole

Times Online

• The Times view on Nissan’s new gigafactory: Battery Power [subscription]The decision is a welcome vote of confidence in post-Brexit Britain

Birmingham Post

• North East space sector tops 1,000 jobs and £88m to economyThe importance of the sector to the regional economy has been highlighted in a new report by the UK Space Agency
• Electric vehicle boost to create more than 6,000 jobsBattery plant Envision AESC will create 750 jobs with a new gigafactory and 900 will be created at Nissan

London Evening Standard

• PM admits he uses vehicles powered by ‘hydrocarbons’ as Queen opts for hybridBoris Johnson pledged to improve his own transport as soon as possible.
• Sir Richard Branson set for first space flight with Virgin GalacticThe billionaire businessman will test the ‘private astronaut experience’ during his flight this month.

Wolverhampton Express and Star

• Track on railway line between Walsall and Cannock to be upgraded in £500,000 investmentA railway line between Walsall and Cannock will be upgraded as part of a £500,000 investment to help create smoother journeys for passengers.

Yorkshire Post

• Disruption on Northern trains this weekend after staff test positive for Covid-19 and others forced to isolatePassengers are being warned to expect disruption on Northern trains this weekend as the company becomes the latest to be struck by an increased number of people self-isolating.

Wrexham.com

• Delays after train fire in Wrexham as new hybrid 230 class breaks downRail services in the area have been affected following an incident with a new train set to enter service later this year.

Coach and Bus Week

• Partnership approved by Oxfordshire County CouncilOxfordshire is aiming to encourage more passengers back on to buses through closer working to improve services in the county.
• 36 Volvo hybrids for Switzerland’s capitalPublic transport operator Bernmobil in Bern, Switzerland, is strengthening its fleet with 36 new Volvo 7900 S-Charge articulated buses. The new hybrid buses will reduce noise and greenhouse gas emissions in the city and feature a full electric propulsion system, enabling them to travel for longer in zero emission mode. Volvo says that intelligent zoning will manage the hybrid driving mode, providing the highest operational flexibility for the fleet and eliminate noise and emissions in pre-defined areas.

New Civil Engineer

• ‘Hundreds of millions’ to be spent retrofitting safety areas on smart motorways“Hundreds of millions of pounds” could be spent retrofitting existing smart motorways with emergency refuge areas (ERAs), the Commons transport select committee inquiry into the roads heard yesterday.
• Union connectivity | Calls for better links between North Wales and EnglandBusiness and local authority leaders from North Wales, the Wirral and Cheshire West and Chester in the Growth Track 360 partnership have written to Sir Peter Hendy urging him to make cross-border rail connectivity a key feature of the final report from his Union Connectivity Review.

Route One (Bus and Coach)

• Lothian Buses places first battery-electric ‘deckers into serviceLothian Buses has placed its first battery-electric double-deckers into service in the form of four BYD ADL Enviro400EV models.
• 21st Century Fleet Systems and AirLabs in new partnership21st Century Fleet Systems, part of Journeo, has teamed up with AirLabs to deploy the latter’s air filtration devices in public transport.
• Hitachi and Shenzhen Bus Group to help bus operators electrifyHitachi Europe and Shenzhen Bus Group are working together to assist European bus operators to electrify their fleets. The partners will offer joint planning services for customers making the shift, and change management and training will also form part of the ‘as a service’ offering from Hitachi.
• Wrightbus StreetDeck Electroliner launched with 200-mile rangeWrightbus has launched the StreetDeck Electroliner battery-electric rapid-charge double-decker. It has 454kW/h of onboard energy storage to give a 200-mile range and it can be recharged in two hours and 45min, the manufacturer says.
• Paul van Vuuren takes up role as VDL Bus and Coach CEOPaul van Vuuren (pictured) has taken up the position of VDL Bus and Coach CEO. He succeeds Henk Coppens and combines the role with being a member of the executive board of VDL Groep.
• Richard Turfitt and Loveday Ryder to address CPT members in 12 July workshopSenior Traffic Commissioner Richard Turfitt and DVSA Chief Executive Loveday Ryder are to hold a joint presentation at the Confederation of Passenger Transport’s (CPT’s) Compliance Workshop, which is being held on 12 July.

Other News Sources

• One million HGVs to be taken off the roads as first train departs HS2’s Willesden Logistics HubThis week, on Tuesday 29th June, the first train carrying spoil removed from HS2 construction works in London left the HS2 Logistics hub in Willesden. Carrying 1,470 tonnes of spoil, the train departed at 03:51 and will travel to Barrington in Cambridgeshire, where the spoil will be reused in a disused quarry to bring it back into use as a new housing development.