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

Tuesday, 10 August 2021

BBC News

• Derailed South Western Railway Fratton train back on trackA derailed train that led to a reduced timetable has been moved back onto the tracks.
• West Midlands canal rubbish is 'worst ever'The Canal & River Trust says the waste dumped in West Midlands waterways is the worst it's ever seen.
• Second hand car sales soar amid shortage of new modelsUsed car transactions have more than doubled in the last few months, according to the industry body.

The Scotsman

• New chapter in the story of the Night Mail as freight train travel enters a new era - Phil SmartTo many of us, perhaps those of a certain age, the famous poem by WH Auden evokes a nostalgic vision of the rail network in its so-called heyday before the second world war. It was used as the soundtrack for a G.P.O promotional film of 1936 describing the then Travelling Post Office (TPO) train on its journey over Beattock summit on its way into Glasgow behind a Royal Scot class engine.

The Telegraph

• The multi-trillion pound bill for Britain’s net zero drivePush is on to meet Boris Johnson’s target of carbon net zero by 2050, but there is far less agreement about what saving the planet will cost
• Cyclists ’safer riding side-by-side rather than in single file’ [subscription]Cyclists are safer riding across the road in big groups than single file, a charity has claimed, as a row broke out over a video showing riders four abreast.

Times Online

• Blow for Southend airport as Ryanair departs [subscription]It was supposed to be the airport that would help with the chronic congestion at London’s larger international hubs.
• Patrick Vallance calls for urgent road map out of climate crisis Britain’s chief scientific adviser has called on governments to produce climate change “road maps” and a new emissions dashboard as the world emerges from the Covid crisis.

Manchester Evening News

• Greater Manchester councillor accuses bus firms of 'putting profits before people's health' by not enforcing mask wearingBus operators in Greater Manchester have been accused of ’putting profits before people’s health’ by not making face coverings mandatory for passengers.

Northern Echo

• Northern Rail apologises over disruption on Durham Coast LineEASINGTON MP Grahame Morris has invited Northern Rail executives and the Rail Minister to travel on the Durham Coast Line following "another weekend of rail chaos".

Yorkshire Post

• 100-year-old Yorkshire railway crossing closed as new bridge is installedA new railway bridge has been installed across a Yorkshire track after a 100-year-old crossing was scrapped.
• Develop East Coast Main Line and ports over HS2 – Yorkshire Post LettersI READ your piece on the HS2 stalemate. Since plans for HS2 were put forward, the existing East Coast Main Line has benefited significantly from the following:

Other Regional Press

• Fife MSP calls for assurances over rail servicesA FIFE MSP has called for a "clear guarantee" that rail services in the Kingdom will not be affected after a union expressed concerns that cuts could be made across Scotland's railways.
• World class rail centre will transform area says LeaderThe Global Centre for Rail Excellence (GCRE) at the head of the Dulais and Swansea valleys will have a transformational effect on the area and the wider region, the Leader of Neath Port Talbot Council, Cllr Ted Latham, said on a visit to the site on Friday (August 6th).
• Calls to reopen Bath's lost railway stations to cut pollutionNow with Bath’s clean air zone charging polluting vehicles to enter and widespread recognition of the climate emergency he says the campaign is more relevant than ever, and Bathampton’s hub - lost in the Beeching cuts of the 1960s - should also be reinstated.
• Water nearly touches roof of rail tunnel as shocking photos show extent of floodingSHOCKING photos show the extent of flooding over the weekend as water was nearly touching the roof of a rail tunnel.

New Civil Engineer

• Crossrail | Costain Skanska JV hands over Paddington station to TfLPaddington station on the Elizabeth line has become the latest Crossrail station to be handed over the Transport for London, bringing the total completed to six with Custom House, Farringdon, Tottenham Court Road, Woolwich and Liverpool Street stations already transferred.
• HS2 left without chair but DfT bolsters project’s boardFormer MP Tom Harris has been appointed as a non-executive director for the project, and took up his position in July.
• Campaigners raise cash to keep fighting DfT’s £27bn road building planTransport Action Network (TAN) will lodge an official appeal against the High Court ruling in favour of the government’s £27bn road investment strategy, after raising the necessary cash to keep up the fight.

Other News Sources

• Longtime Heathrow Airport GC Carol Hui Set To LeaveThe exit comes as the travel industry continues to feel the aftershocks of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Covid: Bournemouth Airport testing doubles in one monthBOURNEMOUTH Airport has seen a 58 per cent increase in passengers being tested for Covid in just one month.
• Alstom signs contract to deliver 150 Coradia Stream trains to TrenitaliaAlstom has been awarded a €910 million framework contract to supply Italian train operator, Trenitalia, with 150 ultra modern, energy efficient, electric Coradia Stream regional trains.