‘Grave Concern’ As Sales Of Low Emission Cars Fall
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the first two paragraphs.
Sales of low emission cars in the UK have fallen for the first time in more than two years, the industry has said.
The decline comes as overall sales of new cars continued to fall, dropping 4.9% in June from the year before.
Confusing policies and the end of subsidies are being blamed by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.
Many of the reasons given in the article are probably valid, but I think there could be two main types of car owner.
- Those who care about the environment and would be happy to buy a low emission car. Many have probably bought one already!
- Those who say, I’m not being told by the government what type of car to buy.
The second group will have lots of reasons.
- I’m not buying a low performance car.
- When China, India and the United States stops burning coal, I’ll think about it.
- My last car lasted twenty years and my current on is only four years old.
- I live in Surrey and it will be a pain driving to Manchester to see United play!
I also suspect that many hope that the new Tory Prime Minister might change the rules to get votes at the next General Election.
Conclusion
As a non-driver, I don’t care!
Wimbledon Comes To The City
I took these pictures in Spitalfields today.
Perhaps, we should do it more often!
Vivarail Wins Environment Award For Class 230 Train
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Rail Advent.
This is the first two paragraphs.
Vivarail has announced that they have won the Environment award for their Class 230 battery train and fast charge system.
The awards are one of the industry’s top events.
The article also says this about the Class 230 trains.
- 60 miles range between charges
- 10 minute recharge time
- And can be fitted with range extenders (such as pantograph, genset or fuel cells)
Trains are getting more like houses.
After one useful life, someone comes along and gives them trains a makeover and they have a second useful life.
Romania Could Buy Hydrogen-Fueled Trains
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Romania Insider.
This is the first two paragraphs.
Romania could become the first country in Central and Eastern Europe to buy hydrogen-fueled trains for passenger rail transport, according to Club Feroviar online publication quoted by Economica.net.
Five such trains might be purchased to serve the new North Railway Station – Bucharest Airport line in the country’s capital city, a route that might be opened in 2020, the source said.
It looks like the trains could be off-the-shelf Alstom Coradia iLint trains, like the one in this picture at Buxtehude.
The article says that because the trains are non-polluting, European funding might be available.
TfGM Announces Contactless Payments On Metrolink Trams
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Rail Technology Magazine.
This is the first paragraph.
Passengers will be able to ‘touch-in’ using their contactless cards on Manchester Metrolink trams from July 15, Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) announced today.
I shall be there with my contactless credit card on Monday week, to check that this is not fake news.
I look forward to the day, when Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield and Leeds are all one contactless card area for trams, trains and buses.
When you consider that the combined area will be smaller than Greater London’s contactless area and that the distance between Lime Street and Leeds or Sheffield, is less than Reading to Shenfield, which will be contactless when Crossrail opens, the problems can’t be technological.
If the leaders of the four major Northern cities can agree this advance in ticketing, they will do more for the North, than any other short-term transport development will achieve.
William Hill Plans 700 Store Closures Putting 4,500 Jobs At Risk
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the first three paragraphs.
Bookmaker William Hill has said it plans to close about 700 betting shops, which could lead to 4,500 job losses.
The firm said the move followed the government’s decision in April to reduce the maximum stake on fixed-odds betting terminals to £2.
Since then, the company added, it had seen “a significant fall” in gaming machine revenues.
So should we protect problem gamblers from themselves or those who work in betting shops?
I should add, that my late wife was a barrister specialising in family matters. She would say that many divorces were the result of at least one of the four main additions; alcohol, drugs, gambling and tobacco.
In my view, it was an enormous mistake to allow fixed odds betting terminals into betting shops in the first place.
Anybody with a modicum of sense or knowledge of the betting industry, knows of the problems gambling can create.
The terminals were introduced in 2001, when Tony Blair was Prime Minister and Gordon Brown was Chancellor.
As Theresa May, Jeremy Corbyn, Phil Hammond and John McDonnell don’t look the sort to wager a lot of money on these machines, it will be interesting to see, who gets the blame for the job losses at William Hill and the additional job losses that will surely happen at other betting shop chains.
