Analysis: Arrivals from high-risk countries will have to pay to isolate in a hotel under Boris Johnson’s proposals
With new hotel quarantine measures for international arrivals from high-risk countries due to be introduced to curb the spread of Covid-19, focus falls on how they will work.
Here, we look at what the rules are now and what’s being done by the UK government to toughen border controls.
Continue reading...The cross-Channel train service has seen a 95% fall in passengers during the Covid-19 pandemic
Eurostar has said it is facing an existential threat, as business leaders pleaded with the government to step in and save the “vital link” with Europe.
A 95% drop in passenger numbers has brought the cross-Channel train service to its knees, and the company reiterated on Sunday that while government loans had been extended to aviation, international high-speed rail had also been severely affected by the pandemic.
Continue reading...Analysis: poor implementation ends another week of shifting Covid policy by the government
The announced closure of all international travel corridors to the UK marks the end of another week of changing policy, with the timing and implementation dismaying many.
Travel corridors will be axed in effect from Monday morning. The corridors, which exempted inbound travellers from the requirement to quarantine for 10 days, may make little practical difference to the airline and travel industry in the current context.
Continue reading...France’s 48-hour ban on freight hauliers from Britain came as a surprise, the UK transport secretary has admitted, amid expected chaos at British ports. But Grant Shapps said the disruption would not cause food and medicine shortages in the short term because other freight routes remain available
Continue reading...Transport secretary says UK aims to resolve issue ‘as soon as possible’ amid fears over new Covid strain
France’s 48-hour ban on freight hauliers from Britain was “surprising”, the UK transport secretary has said, amid expected chaos at British ports.
Although Grant Shapps said the disruption was not a “specific problem” in regards to food and medicine shortages in the short term, the government’s aim was to “get this resolved as soon as possible”.
Continue reading...Capital’s mayor asks TfL to begin feasibility study for plan to raise £500m a year
Drivers could face a £3.50 daily charge to enter Greater London under proposals from the mayor of London to address the capital’s funding crisis.
Sadiq Khan has asked Transport for London to start feasibility studies for the plan to raise £500m a year.
Continue reading...Police and officials maintain presence at mass trespass after bypass approved
More than 100 protesters have staged a trespass at Stonehenge to raise concerns over plans for a two-mile tunnel underneath the world heritage site.
Last month the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, approved the £1.7bn project, which will include eight miles of extended dual carriageway along the A303 in Wiltshire.
Continue reading...Government backs down on demands for fare increases in significant win for Sadiq Khan
Transport for London (TfL) has secured a bailout from the government worth about £1.8bn just a fortnight after Boris Johnson said Sadiq Khan had “effectively bankrupted” the tube and bus service in the capital.
In a significant win for the London mayor, the government has backed down on demands for fare increases, an extension of the congestion zone to cover the entire city and the scrapping of free fares for children and over-60s.
Continue reading...The government must stop dragging its feet when it comes to encouraging the use of e-scooters, argues Hilary Saunders
Your article about e-scooters (UK rides the wave of micromobility by embracing e-scooters, 25 August) failed to raise some vital questions.
As electric scooters can cost as little as £120, they could provide the ideal transport for low-income commuters, while helping to reduce carbon emissions, especially in cities. It would not cost much to mark out a lane on arterial roads for the use of bicycles and e-scooters.
Continue reading...Campaigners demand more rules for lorries after initial hope pandemic would mean less traffic
A coronavirus-related drop in traffic and new protected bike lanes have failed to make Berlin’s roads safer for cyclists, as the German capital reports a four-year record in fatalities.
A woman run over by a right-turning articulated lorry in the district of Reinickendorf on Friday became Berlin’s 14th official cycling fatality of 2020 – more than twice as many as the six recorded in 2019.
Continue reading...Transport secretary causes confusion on Thursday night when he gives the wrong date for the start of Covid-19 quarantine measures for arrivals from France. During a TV interview Shapps initially, and correctly, says people will have to self-isolate for 14 days from 4am on Saturday, then later incorrectly says the restrictions come in from Sunday
Fatal derailment after heavy rains exposes growing danger posed by extreme weather
The derailment of a ScotRail train in rural Aberdeenshire with the loss of three lives adds Stonehaven to a grim roll call of names, instantly identifiable with tragedy to those associated with the UK railway: the likes of Potters Bar, Hatfield and Grayrigg. It will be no consolation at all to those grieving lost colleagues, spouses and parents to know just how far apart such tragic events have lately become.
The last time a passenger died in a train crash in the UK was the Grayrigg derailment in 2007, when a Virgin high-speed train went down an embankment in Cumbria, miraculously with just one casualty. Before Wednesday, the last time a driver had been killed in a crash was in 2004; and the last disaster with multiple fatalities, Potters Bar, was as far back as 2002.
Continue reading...Change set to allow visits to nearly all EU countries, British overseas territories and Australia and New Zealand
Overseas holidays and visits to up to 90 countries will be possible for Britons from Monday without the need to quarantine for 14 days on return.
The Foreign Office is expected to lift its ban on non-essential travel to nearly all EU countries, British territories such as Bermuda and Gibraltar, and Australia and New Zealand.
Continue reading...From 8 June people arriving in the UK will have to tell the authorities where they will be staying and face spot checks to ensure they self-isolate for 14 days, the home secretary, Priti Patel, has confirmed. Anyone failing to comply could face a fine of £1,000
Major shift in border policy will require people arriving in UK to self-isolate for 14 days
The government has unveiled a major shift in border policy to be introduced next month in a bid to prevent a second wave of Covid-19 in the UK.
Continue reading...Aviation is struggling and seeking support, but there are demands for it to give something in return
“The political moment is now” to address the climate risks posed by the aviation industry, analysts, insiders and campaigners say, as governments across the world weigh up bailouts for airlines grounded by the coronavirus pandemic.
Rescue packages need to come with green strings, such as reduced carbon footprints and frequent flyer levies, they warn, or the sector will return to the path that has made it the fastest rising source of climate-wrecking carbon emissions over the past decade.
Continue reading...Other ideas to ease lockdown reportedly include wearing face masks and a reduction from 2 to 1 metres distancing
UK commuters could be asked to check their temperatures at home before travelling under plans to ease the coronavirus lockdown being considered by the government.
A change in physical distancing measures, including reducing the recommended gap between people in public from 2 metres to 1 metre, is also being considered, according to reports, as Boris Johnson prepares to lay out a “roadmap” next week for schools and businesses reopening.
Continue reading...Move will reduce risk of infection for drivers during pandemic, says Unite
Cash payments on all UK buses should be abolished for the duration of the coronavirus crisis to reduce the risk of driver infection, the union representing bus workers has demanded.
Unite called on Wednesday for an end to cash payments on all the bus systems still operating across the UK to help drive down infection rates, particularly as the country enters the predicted peak period of the outbreak over Easter and beyond.
Continue reading...Train and bus services are to be limited as travel is restricted, raising questions for both passengers and operators
More draconian restrictions may be needed in London to stop the spread of the coronavirus, with guidance to avoid non-essential travel and stay home being ignored by some, while confirmed cases of sickness escalate rapidly. The prime minister, Boris Johnson, told his Wednesday press conference that he was prepared to take “further and faster measures” to tackle the disease.
Transport for London (TfL) is now moving to cut the number of trains and buses running throughout the week, most likely to the level of weekend schedules. On Wednesday night it announced it was closing up to 40 stations with no interchange from Thursday onwards. But what are the key issues transport chiefs need to consider when limiting services?
Continue reading...With a fuel duty rise expected in this week’s budget, a survey by Centrica finds businesses on course to move to cleaner cars and vans
British companies are expected to spend more than £12bn switching their fossil fuel vehicles for clean electric versions over the next two years.
A survey found that nearly half of UK businesses are planning to invest in chargeable cars and vans in advance of the government’s ban on sales of new internal combustion engine vehicles by 2035.
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