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£640m funding black hole emerges in SNP’s zero carbon buses vision – The Herald
/in Environment Matters, Scottish Government, Transport Matters /by sm_adminEquipment on delayed ferries has ‘deteriorated’ – Stornaway Gazette
/in Transport Matters /by sm_adminUK Government to bypass Holyrood and pay for A75 upgrade – Daily Record
/in Daily Record, Transport Matters, United Kingdom, Unity Matters /by sm_adminScotRail ticket offices under threat to help fund staff pay increase – The Scotsman
/in The Scotsman, Transport Matters /by sm_adminPlease click the image below to read more:
Some ScotRail ticket offices could be closed or downgraded to help fund a pay rise for its 5,300 staff, The Scotsman has learned.
Other options believed to be being considered are cutting catering on trains, which has only been partially reinstated after being suspended due to the Covid pandemic.
They come as ScotRail’s four unions today rejected a 2.2 per cent increase tied to efficiency savings.
The Rail Maritime and Transport union (RMT) announced a strike ballot over pay on Wednesday.
Engineers in the Unite union started industrial action last Friday.
There was speculation that ticket offices under threat of closure could include Burntisland, Kinghorn and Cowdenbeath in Fife and Easterhouse in Glasgow.
Others could see their opening hours reduced, but staff would be redeployed as ScotRail has a no compulsory redundancies policy.
An industry source said ScotRail’s ticket offices had not been reviewed for at least 15 years and some were very little used.
They said the number of closures might be “very small”, perhaps as few as three.
In a report published in August, Professor Iain Docherty of the University of Stirling, the country’s leading transport academic, questioned “whether legacy business activities such as the provision of ticket offices is viable in future”.
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Scottish Government ministers ‘have not visited’ Edinburgh Airport to discuss Covid recovery – The Scotsman
/in Scottish devolution, Scottish Government, The Scotsman, Transport Matters /by sm_adminPlease click the link below to read more:
No Scottish Government ministers have visited Edinburgh Airport to discuss the impact of the pandemic, its chief executive has said, as he published a report calling for action to assist the industry’s recovery.
Chief executive Gordon Dewar called for government action over issues such as a discrepancy between Covid testing for passengers between Scotland and England, as well as a “meaningful engagement” with the industry, as the airport unveiled a report submitted to the Scottish Government earlier this year.
Mr Dewar said that Skyscanner search data shows airports in the north of England have already seen a surge of interest in bookings since the testing regime was loosened by Westminster – with no similar increase in Scotland.
In The Importance of Aviation to Scotland’s Economic Success, submitted to the government in July, but released publicly for the first time today, Mr Dewar warned the knock-on economic effects from a lack of recovery in the sector could be wide ranging.
He said the airport’s recovery could be delayed by three years if quick action was not taken.
Mr Dewar said the airport had hoped to return to 2019 levels by 2023, but said that without action, it could take until 2026 to return to pre-pandemic levels.
He said: “We’re hoping the government sees sense [about testing]. It doesn’t achieve anything, doing something different and you just get this cross border transfer. Even waiting six or seven days to make up your mind, costs, people are booking now. Days matter in terms of recovery.”
He said no Scottish Government ministers had visited the airport, which is still losing £2 million a month, down from £4m a month at the peak of the pandemic, to discuss the impact of Covid and added he was looking forward to working with Green MSPs in the new coalition government.
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Zero-emission submarine project wins UK Government funding – STV news
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A firm developing zero-emission submarines which could transport cargo between Glasgow and Belfast has been awarded a share of £23m of UK Government green maritime funding.
The fully automated vessels are designed to be “net positive” by running on green hydrogen and collecting microplastics, the Department for Transport (DfT) said.
A fleet could secure 27 tonnes of CO2 emissions in the first year of operation, according to the DfT.
Another project awarded UK Government funding is developing electric boat chargepoints connected to offshore wind turbines.
They would operate in a similar way to electric car chargers, with sailors plugging in, charging their vessel and sailing away.
The use of renewable energy in this way could be equivalent to taking more than 62,000 cars off the road, the DfT said.
The competition winners were announced as part of London International Shipping Week.
Transport secretary Grant Shapps said: “As a proud island nation built on our maritime prowess, it is only right that we lead by example when it comes to decarbonising the sector and building back greener.
Ambitious SNP-Greens target to scrap half of Scotland’s diesel buses by 2023 met with industry scepticism – The Scotsman
/in Environment Matters, The Scotsman /by sm_adminPlease click the image below to read more:
The move will involve the majority of Scotland’s 4,000 buses by the end of 2023, and trains on the Fife Circle and Borders Railway by the following year.
The dates were included in the Scottish Government’s latest annual Programme for Government, which sets out policies for the year ahead.
Most of the greener buses and the ScotRail trains involved are expected to be electric or battery, but it is not clear how much traditional electrification using overhead power lines will be required on the rail routes.
It was also announced that Scotland’s first hydrogen-powered train is due to be carrying passengers by 2025 after a prototype is showcased to coincide with the United Nations Cop26 climate change conference in November and it is trialled on the network in March.
The Scottish Government said it had already launched a “bus decarbonisation taskforce” and the first, £50 million phase of the Scottish Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund.
However, an industry source expressed concern about the bus target being met and whether sufficient funding would be available.
A77 through South Ayrshire ‘not fit for purpose’ amid fresh calls for upgrade of network – Daily Record
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resh calls have been made to either ‘upgrade’ or ‘replace’ parts of the road network through Ayrshire.
The appeal follows the tragic deaths of a 78-year-old woman and a 57-year-old lorry driver in two separate incidents last Tuesday on the A714 and the A77.
Now the A77 Action Group is demanding that the Scottish Government bring Ayrshire’s trunk road network up to scratch.
Donald McHarrie, group coordinator, said: “Tuesday brought tragedy with two deaths, and total mayhem, to the A77 and the A714 Girvan to Newton Stewart road.
“The A77 and A714 were both blocked due to serious road traffic accidents. The A714 became blocked after the A77 traffic was diverted along it.
“The southern section of the A77 trunk road closely follows the route it did in 1776, so basically it’s an old droving track.
Alba’s Kenny MacAskill calls on cops to intervene if LNER doesn’t observe Scottish social distancing rules – The Sun
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