Rail services to be cut in half under new lockdown – report January 5, 2021 Rail services are set to be slashed in half during the new coronavirus lockdown in a bid to save taxpayer money. The Telegraph reported that ministers were finalising plans to pare back timetables to similar schedules to those put in place in March, when the first lockdown began. At that time, trains ran on a [...]
Honda halts Swindon car production for second time in a month due to supply chain disruption January 5, 2021 Honda this afternoon said that it would halt production at its plant in Swindon due to supply chain disruption – the second time it has done so in a month. In a statement, the carmaker said that production would stop today and tomorrow, with a view to starting again on Thursday. It said that the [...]
Tube and bus passenger numbers plunge as lockdown begins January 5, 2021 There were 200,000 journeys made on the London Underground on the first morning of the latest national lockdown, figures from Transport for London (TfL) showed today. As of 10am this morning, passengers made a total of 400,000 entrances and exits to the Tube network, which is the equivalent to 18 per cent of pre-pandemic demand [...]
Decision on UK border restrictions in coming days, says Michael Gove January 5, 2021 Cabinet minister Michael Gove today confirmed that the government is preparing new border controls for travellers entering England. Speaking to ITV, he said: “We will be making announcements later today and in the days ahead about how we will make sure that our ports and airports are safe. “It is already the case that there are significant [...]
Airline passenger numbers plummet over Christmas period January 5, 2021 The number of passengers flown by Ryanair and Wizz Air fell over 80 per cent for the second consecutive month in December as a dire year for the industry came to and end. The Irish flier carried just 1.9m people last month, down 83 per cent from 11.2m the year before. For the year as [...]
Tested by Covid and Brexit, how have the UK’s borders coped over the New Year? January 4, 2021 After a final frantic negotiating push, the UK and EU agreed a free trade deal in the run-up to Christmas, much to the relief of all concerned. However, despite the deal being done, many were convinced that the New Year would see chaos across the UK’s ports and airports as travellers, businessmen and hauliers all [...]
Stars in their eyes: PSA and Fiat shareholders approve mega-merger January 4, 2021 Shareholders in Peugeot-owner PSA and Fiat Chrysler (FCA) have today approved the mega-merger of the two firms, a deal which will create the world’s fourth-largest auto firm. The new entity, called Stellantis, will comprise 14 different brands, including FCA’s Fiat, Maserati and US-focused Jeep, Dodge and Ram to PSA’s Peugeot, Citroen, Opel and DS. Stellantis [...]
Campaign groups hit out at ‘callous’ Gatwick second runway plan January 4, 2021 Local campaign groups have hit out at Gatwick Airport’s decision to turn its emergency runway into a routinely operating second runway, calling the move “callous”. Yesterday it emerged that the Sussex airport’s investors – French giant Vinci and infrastructure fund GIP – had committed to funding the expansion, which would add 90 flights a day. [...]
With Brexit completed, coronavirus is next challenge for Dover-Calais ports January 1, 2021 Now that Britain has completed its exit from the European Union, the main challenge for business in the French port of Calais is the coronavirus pandemic, the port’s chief executive said today. Jean-Marc Puissesseau was speaking to Reuters as the first ferry transporting vehicles arrived from Dover to Calais, France’s busiest road freight port, after [...]
In Calais, first trucks cross new customs border with UK January 1, 2021 Moments after Britain completed its divorce with the European Union, the first trucks hauling goods across the new customs border presented their clearance documents to French agents before loading onto a train to pass through the Eurotunnel. A barcode on Romanian driver Toma Moise’s paperwork was scanned and approved in seconds. “The future, I don’t [...]