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

Wednesday, 07 July 2021

BBC News

• Heritage railways 'wouldn't be the same' without coalThere are concerns steam railways could fall victim to any future ban on burning coal.
• Britishvolt gigafactory: 'Game changer' car battery plant approvedPlans for a huge electric car battery "gigafactory" which it is claimed will create 3,000 jobs have been approved. Northumberland County Council described the plant on the site of the former Blyth power station would be a "game changer."
• Vauxhall UK plant safe with electric vehicle planThe Ellesmere Port factory will get a £100m investment to build electric vehicles and protect 1,000 jobs.
• British Airways data-breach compensation claim settledThousands of people are to receive compensation over a 2018 data breach at British Airways.
• Covid: Heathrow to trial fast-tracking vaccinated arrivalsBritish Airways and Virgin Atlantic have teamed up with the UK's biggest airport for the pilot scheme.

Department for Transport

• £226 million package to support vital bus servicesGovernment funding to maintain and improve bus services as COVID-19 restrictions are lifted and passenger numbers start to return to pre-pandemic levels.

Financial Times

• Alstom: rising Bombardier purchase costs signal troubleCreating a European rail champion was always going to burn cash
• UK railway reforms lack urgency, says parliamentary watchdogReport questions ‘over-optimism’ in Whitehall over capacity to deliver ‘once in a generation’ overhaul
• Are holidaymakers about to commandeer the business class cabin?The once distinct worlds of leisure and business flying are becoming increasingly blurred

The Guardian

• Masks should remain mandatory on public transport, say English mayorsGreater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham also in favour of continued mask-wearing in essential shops

The Herald

• Aberdeen bus giant welcomes fresh cash from DfTABERDEEN-based FirstGroup has welcomed the injection of fresh UK Government cash to allow operators to maintain services as coronavirus restrictions ease.

The Independent

• Boris Johnson ignored regional leaders by ditching mask requirement for public transport, says Andy BurnhamBoris Johnson’s government has ignored regional leaders by ditching the mandatory requirement to wear face coverings on public transport beyond 19 July, said Andy Burnham.
• Passengers and taxpayers deserve better value from the railway, says Public Accounts CommitteeEngland's railway has had a lack of strategic direction and accountability for many years says Public Accounts Committee

Times Online

• Travel rules for amber list countries ditched in weeks for vaccinated [subscription]Fully vaccinated travellers arriving from countries on the amber list are set to avoid quarantine from as early as July 19 as airlines prepare to check vaccine status on flights into Britain for the first time.
• Taxpayers face unknown bill to cover trains’ Covid losses [subscription]Taxpayers will have to prop-up Britain’s loss-making railway for years because of the lack of a “convincing and timely plan” to get passengers back, MPs said.

City AM

• Government lacks 'convincing' plan to get travellers back on trainsThe government does not have a “convincing and timely plan for encouraging passengers back to the railway” after the pandemic, The post Government lacks 'convincing' plan to get travellers back on trains
• Heathrow trial with BA and Virgin readies staff and travellers ahead of end to quarantine rulesHeathrow trial with BA and Virgin readies staff and travellers ahead of end to quarantine rules The post Heathrow trial with BA and Virgin readies staff and travellers ahead of end to quarantine rules appeared first on CityAM.

Birmingham Post

• Electric bike hire firm launches in Gwynedd to take 'hell out of the hills'Ebikes Eryri has been set up in Bala by Ben Halsall and his fiance Becky Henshall.

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• Councillor slams LNER's slashing of Bradford-London servicesA COUNCILLOR has branded plans by the government-controlled rail operator LNER to slash rail services between Bradford to London as another example of the city being forced to play “second fiddle to Leeds”.

London Evening Standard

• Heathrow fast track arrivals for double-jabbed passengersAirline industry urges ministers not to delay easing of quarantine rules for amber list destinations.

The York Press

• Piccadilly revamp plans slammed for 'throwing cyclists under bus'HIGHWAYS chiefs have been accused of

Bucks Free Press

• Transport Minister visits Mason's Coaches in CheddingtonThe Transport Minister recently visited a coach company within the county to see and hear how the Government can help the country’s transport businesses.

Oxford Mail

• 12 rural bus services will continue to run in rural OxfordshireTWELVE rural bus services across the county have been given funding to keep in operation until April 2022.

Other Regional Press

• East Renfrewshire councillors concerned as bill for Barrhead South station more than doublesTHE cost of building a new train station in Barrhead has increased by more than £9m.
• £67MILLION PROJECT COULD SEE RAILWAY EXTENDED FROM SANDOWN TO NEWPORTIsland Line could be extended from Sandown to Newport at an initial cost of £67million under initial plans submitted to the Department for Transport by the Isle of Wight Council.
• Cycle lane at Weymouth Harbour still planned as council consults on traffic orderCONTROVERSIAL plans to put a cycle lane along Weymouth Harbour have resurfaced as Dorset Council begins the legal process of making changes to the road layout at Custom House Quay.
• Dorchester transport action group set upTOWN councillors in Dorchester have backed a transport action group for the area.

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• £226 million package to support bus servicesBus operators across the country will receive £226.5 million in government funding as COVID-19 restrictions are lifted, Roads Minister Baroness Vere has announced.  The funding will run from September 2021 to April 2022 and will support operators across England, outside of London. The Department for Transport has also received 35 Expression of Interest applications for the Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) scheme, which gives local transport authorities the opportunity to compete for a share of £120 million to support the rollout of zero emission buses. Both scheme...
• Transport and logistics organisations to invest heavily in new technologyTwo-thirds of the UK’s transport and logistics (T&L) leaders believe mobile-first technology will be critical to deliveries in five years, according to new research from mobile and IoT management solutions provider SOTI.  As the pace of technological change picks up, half of T&L leaders globally believe mobile-first technology will increase the speed of the delivery process, while a quarter said wearables will play a more important role during that time. A fifth expect the use of drones to become significant. As part of its Mobilising the Delivery Workforce: State ...
• TfL expands London e-scooter trailTransport for London (TfL) and London Councils have announced an expansion of the capital’s trial of rental e-scooters, with e-scooters available to rent from 5 July in the City of London and northern parts of Lambeth. The expansion will mean that the number of vehicles will increase from around 600 to 1200 across London. Following the government's decision to legalise rental trials of e-scooters last month, TfL and London Councils launched a trial of rental e-scooters in the capital.  The trial initially covered a core area including Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham, Kensington &am...
• One fifth of logistics workers do not intend to commute againAlmost one in five logistics workers do not intend to return to the office post pandemic, largely due to ongoing concerns around infection control on public transport, according to a survey conducted by corporate transport specialist Kura.  The reluctance to return to the workplace stems largely from travel to and from work, with nearly 60 per cent of workers across the UK admitting they hold real concerns around the commute post lockdown.  This is particularly prevalent for the senior workforce, with Board-level (98 per cent), Directors (85 per cent) and Managers (77 per cent) ...

New Civil Engineer

• East West Rail needs ‘electrification from day one’East West Rail needs to be electrified “from day one”, according to Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority.
• Rail electrification pipeline needed in next six months or net zero pledge will be at risk The Department for Transport (DfT) has been told to draw up a rail electrification plan before the end of the year or risk jeopardising the UK’s net zero carbon emission targets.

Rail Business Daily

• Government must not duck tough choices for future of rail says spending watchdogThe Department for Transport (DfT) “has neither the necessary urgency nor appreciates the scale of the challenge ahead” about the future of rail says today’s report from the Public Accounts Committee.

Rail Magazine

• London-Midlands intermodal linkMaritime Transport Ltd has introduced a new container service linking Birmingham Intermodal Freight Terminal (BIFT) at Birch Coppice (Tamworth) with DP World London Gateway.

Railnews

• Facemask uncertainty divides industry Possible changes to rules about wearing facemasks from 19 July have caused confusion. In general, rules about masks are set to be scrapped, but health secretary Sajid Javid has just said transport operators will be able to decide.

Other News Sources

• Dorchester transport action group set upTOWN councillors in Dorchester have backed a transport action group for the area.
• £67m Isle of Wight train plan sent to Department for TransportA business case considering the re-opening of the railway between Island Line and Newport has been submitted to the Department for Transport by the Isle of Wight Council.
• Construction begins on carbon-neutral bus station in LeicesterLeicester City Council have started work on a £13.5m regeneration of Leicester’s St Margaret’s bus station and the surrounding streets, set to be complete by summer 2022.