Holidaymakers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland look to take advantage of late summer sun
People seeking a bank holiday getaway in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are being warned to avoid major roads before 7pm as holidaymakers look to take advantage of good late summer weather forecast for much of the UK.
The RAC estimates that 16.7m leisure trips are planned between Friday and Monday, with the south-west predicted to be especially packed.
Continue reading...The Transport Workers Union has taken the case to the Fair Work Commission, arguing the driver qualifies as an employee, not a contractor
A food delivery driver who was allegedly sacked by Chinese food delivery company Easi after trying to raise concerns about pay and worker safety, has had his case taken to the Fair Work Commission by the Transport Workers’ Union.
According to the Fair Work claim, Lawrence Du, 35, started working for Easi in Brisbane in early June, but was sacked in early August, he claims after making inquiries with other workers about work safety, wages and other conditions.
Continue reading...Exclusive: ministers to make traffic provisions indefinite in expectation of further cross-Channel disruption
Emergency powers to handle post-Brexit queues of lorries heading for France are being made permanent, signalling the government expects further cross-Channel disruption.
Operation Brock, a traffic management system designed to cope with queues of up to 13,000 lorries heading for mainland Europe across Kent, was meant to end by October 2021, after being extended once when the Brexit transition period ended in December 2020.
Continue reading...Bridge opened on Monday to allow wooden ship through, before its arms got stuck in raised position
A technical fault has left Tower Bridge stuck open, causing major rush-hour traffic problems in the capital with pedestrians and vehicles unable to cross.
The London landmark, one of several bridges over the River Thames that connects central and southern parts of the city, was scheduled to open this afternoon to allow a large wooden tall ship to pass through. But City of London police said the 127-year-old bridge had been closed to traffic and pedestrians after a “technical failure” left it stuck in its raised position.
Continue reading...Jim Steer responds to an article by Simon Jenkins that said the high-speed rail link was of little use to the north, and Mark Sullivan hopes the West Midlands gets the transport hub it rejected a decade ago
Simon Jenkins’ latest piece on HS2 (Depleted and unwanted, HS2 hurtles on as Johnson’s £100bn vanity project, 30 July) repeatedly mischaracterises both the case for, and the benefits of, a rail project that will transform connectivity in the UK.
He talks as if services will only go from London to Birmingham, stating confidently that “Britain’s new high-speed railway will not – repeat: not – get to the north of England”. But this is simply untrue. Construction work on the Birmingham-Crewe section is now under way, and detailed planning and consultation prior to a parliamentary bill submission is under way for Crewe-Manchester. HS2 services will reach Edinburgh, Newcastle, Liverpool, Leeds and more than a dozen other cities across the country.
Continue reading...Home deliveries are soaring and cargo bikes cut congestion and pollution in cities, researchers say
Electric cargo bikes deliver about 60% faster than vans in city centres, according to a study. It found that bikes had a higher average speed and dropped off 10 parcels an hour, compared with six for vans.
The bikes also cut carbon emissions by 90% compared with diesel vans, and by a third compared with electric vans, the report said. Air pollution, which is still at illegal levels in many urban areas, was also significantly reduced.
Continue reading...Ministers ditch plans for watchlist of amber countries such as Spain
Millions of Britons have been given the green light to travel to Europe’s holiday hotspots, avoiding quarantine on return from France and Spain where concerns have been raised about Covid variants.
Ministers announced on Wednesday that fully vaccinated holidaymakers returning from France would no longer need to quarantine and ditched plans for a “watchlist” of amber countries such as Spain.
Continue reading...Ageing fleet hit by breakdowns and cancellations, with capacity low on services that do run due to Covid
The perfume and toiletries shop overlooking Brodick Bay on Arran is normally packed in the summer, as day-trippers and holidaymakers stream off the mainland ferries at the busy terminal just across the bay.
But this summer has been grim, said Andrew Russell, the sales director for Arran Sense of Scotland, formerly known as Arran Aromatics. For thousands of people and businesses up and down the west coast of Scotland, this summer has been marred by repeated crises affecting ferry services run by the state-funded CalMac.
Continue reading...Exclusive: officers in England no longer have to verify whether new arrivals have received a negative Covid test
Border officials are no longer required to make basic Covid checks on arrivals in England from green and amber list countries, according to leaked instructions that prompted claims the government is turning a blind eye to the risk of importing Covid cases.
A change that came into effect on Monday means Border Force officers no longer have to verify whether new arrivals have received a negative Covid test, have booked a test within coming days or have a passenger locator form showing an address where they will isolate if necessary.
Continue reading...Rail industry resists calls from passenger groups to release data on risk of contracting Covid on trains
Train operators have been urged to release research showing the risk of contracting Covid on trains, with the chances now believed to be substantially higher than the figure publicised by the rail industry last year.
The industry-funded Rail Research and Safety Board (RSSB) said in July 2020 that the risk was just one infection in 11,000 average journeys in Great Britain.
Continue reading...Dearth of delivery drivers, abattoir staff and fruit pickers caused by Covid and Brexit are fuelling wage rises with 5% hike in prices forecast
Food prices could rise by about 5% by the autumn – and turkeys and pigs in blankets could be in short supply this Christmas – as shortages of delivery drivers, abattoir staff and other workers drive up pay and other costs.
Industry insiders say that pay for lorry drivers and other supply chain workers, including abbatoir workers, plus vegetable and fruit pickers and packers have all risen because of difficulties in finding sufficient staff.
Continue reading...Exclusive: record low level of London journeys during Covid crisis drives down commercial income
Transport for London (TfL) has recorded a £100m plunge in advertising revenue across its network of tube stations, trains and buses after Covid-19 pandemic restrictions kept commuters away from travelling to work.
TfL’s advertising estate – which comprises more than 100,000 billboards, posters and panels throughout the capital’s tube and rail network, in trains and on buses and shelters – is one of the largest and most valuable in the world.
Continue reading...Transport Action Network says £27bn programme does not take account of Paris climate agreement
The government’s plans for a multibillion pound road-building scheme would breach the UK’s legal commitments to tackle the climate crisis and critically undermine the country’s standing ahead of a key summit later this year, the high court has heard.
Lawyers acting for the Transport Action Network (TAN) argued that plans for the UK’s huge £27bn road building programme – set out in its Road Investment Strategy 2 (RIS2) last year – did not take into account the government’s obligations to reach net zero emissions by 2050 or its commitments under the Paris climate agreement.
Continue reading...Deputy minister for climate change will announce move as part of plans to reach net zero emissions by 2050
The Labour-led Welsh government is to freeze new road-building projects as part of its plans to tackle the climate emergency, and an external panel will review all proposed schemes.
The deputy minister for climate change, Lee Waters, is to tell the Welsh parliament on Tuesday afternoon: “Since 1990, Welsh emissions have fallen by 31%. But to reach our statutory target of net zero emissions by 2050, we need to do much more.
Continue reading...No countries added to England’s quarantine-free holiday register as seven moved from amber to red
Portugal has been taken off the UK’s “green list” of destinations from which people can return to England without having to quarantine. The government has said the threat of new Covid-19 variants means that less restricted travel could jeopardise domestic unlocking.
No countries were added to the green list, but seven more – Afghanistan, Bahrain, Costa Rica, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Sudan, and Trinidad and Tobago – were moved from the amber list to the red list of nations to which almost all travel is barred, the Department for Transport said.
Continue reading...Bethan Roper, 28, of south Wales, was killed travelling home from Christmas shopping trip in 2018
A woman died after she was struck by an overhanging tree branch when she leant out of a train window as she travelled home after a Christmas shopping trip, an inquest has heard.
Bethan Roper, 28, who worked for the Welsh Refugee Council, sustained fatal head injuries while a passenger on a Great Western Railway (GWR) train travelling at about 75mph.
Continue reading...Suspension of GWR and LNER services preventing many from reaching events such as funerals, holidays and family meetings
Rail passengers are facing significant disruption after cracks were found on high-speed trains, with services on Great Western Railway and London North Eastern Railway services suspended.
People who wrote to the Guardian via a callout shared how they had been affected by the train chaos, from struggling to travel to the funeral of a loved one to cancelling long-awaited birthday picnics with friends.
Continue reading...Senior coroner says there needs to be an investigation into what may have been the ‘unnatural’ death of Belly Mujinga
An inquest will held into the death of Belly Mujinga, the railway worker who died with Covid-19 after an alleged incident where she was coughed on and spat at by a customer.
Mujinga, 47, died last April, two weeks after the alleged incident on the concourse at London’s Victoria station where she worked as a sales clerk for Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR).
Continue reading...Feline was a whisker away from a 125mph ride when it was spotted at Euston station on Tuesday evening
You hear about delays from leaves on the line, maybe even the occasional swan, but on Tuesday evening a cat was discovered on a train roof at London Euston station – a whisker away from hitching a 125mph ride up north.
The tabby was spotted curled up on top of an Avanti West Coast train about half an hour before it was due to depart for Manchester at 9pm and refused to move.
Continue reading...Residents project red illumination on closed west London landmark to highlight delays to repair
Hammersmith Bridge has been illuminated bright red in a Valentine’s Day stunt aimed at highlighting delays to its repair.
The 133-year-old west London bridge has been closed to traffic since April 2019 when cracks appeared in its pedestals. It then closed to pedestrian, cyclist and river traffic in August after a heatwave caused the faults to “significantly increase”.
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