Author Archives: driveeuropenews

Bulgaria: six years to build seven motorways

An ambitious new road building plan will open up the country, not just to the rest of Europe, but also to the Bulgarians themselves.

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Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev opening the Trakia Highway yesterday.

Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev opening the Trakia Highway yesterday.

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The timing could hardly be better. Instead of sweltering in huge traffic jams on their way to the seaside this summer, for the first time residents of the Bulgarian capital can speed there in maybe three hours (at the national speed limit of 140kph).

The Trakia Highway, under construction for nearly forty years, finally opened yesterday afternoon at 14:00. The 360km road connects Sofia with the fourth biggest city Burgas on the Black Sea.

It’s a rare piece of good news for a country beset by political crisis all year (or see this from the BBC).

Despite all that, it seems the Bulgarians now have the bit between their teeth. According to President Plevneliev, who cut the ribbon on Trakia, by 2020 the country will have seven completed highways.

‘The direction is clear, the priorities are visible. We need results,’ he said.

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Next on the list is the Maritsa Highway, linking the Turkish border – and the E70 direct to Istanbul – with Trakia at Chirpan. Already under construction it will open in mid-2014.

After that is the Struma Highway, south from Sofia to the Greek border along the route of E79. With three of four sections under construction it will open in 2015 if technical issues involved in crossing the Kresna Gorge can be solved.

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Focus then switches to the north of Bulgaria, its poorest region, and the Hemus Highway. This is another cross country motorway, from Sofia to the third largest city Varna, also on the Black Sea. Sections at either end are complete, and open, with just the central 150km section left to build.

The Sofia leg of Hemus currently finishes at Blagevgrad from where another important road will stretch north west to the Romanian border and the other major piece of infrastructure to open in Bulgaria this year, the Danube 2 bridge (aka the New Europe Bridge) at Vidin.

Most strategic, and the shortest, is Boulevard Bulgaria, 50km west from Sofia to the Serbian border at Dimitrovgrad. The Serbs are currently building a 100km motorway from there to their second city Nis. When complete, Sofia and the Black Sea will be directly linked to the western European motorway network. Serbia is not currently a member of the EU, but it already recognises member state driving licences and is included on many EU insurance policies too.

Symbolically at least, the most important new road stretches between two of its most historic cities, Veliko Tarnovo and Stara Zagora. The road between them will connect via a tunnel under the famous Shipka Peak, scene of four desperate battles with the Ottoman Empire during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78, after which Bulgaria gained its independence.

Not only will Bulgaria’s road building programme provide thousands of jobs, and open up the country for the first time – to the outside world and to the Bulgarians themselves – but, hopefully, it’s a project around which the whole country can unite.

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Daily Brief 16 July 2013

Latest update 18:15 UK time.

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in brief:

Ferries: Some delays P&O Dover-Calais.

Weather: mostly warm/hot and dry. Maybe rain Finland.

Traffic: see @DriveEurope.

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Top News: EU road tolls plan put back – Belgium vignette cancelled but truck toll from 2016.

Roundup: Mobile EV solar panels – Latvia radar cops – Turkey ‘world’s most expensive’ fuel – France parking ‘decriminalised’ – Gothenburg tunnel grant – Hungary, more free juice.

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Cosne-sur-Loire, central France. Dodge the tolls and the traffic on the autoroutes by taking to the Route Nationale network, established by Napoleon and radiating from Paris. They are no good for those in a hurry, you’ll be constantly overtaking other toll dodgers, and slowing down for the succession of (very pretty, mostly) towns and villages along the way. But if you have time to settle back and cruise they are a wonderful way to drive through France. This is RN7, the original Route de la Morte, from Paris to the Mediterranean (though we’re heading the other way). Having said all that, in one day we managed 350 miles, from Chambery in the south east, near the Italian border, via Lyon, to Fontainebleau, just south of Paris, on a mix of RN6 and RN7.

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TRAVEL/WEATHER:

Meteoalarm weather risk alerts – Amber alert for storms north Greece mainland; risk of forest fires Latvia and high temps and strong winds Montenegro.

Weather in brief – ‘Another very warm day to come across much of Europe.. Expect thundery showers across Baltic States into northern Poland and Russia.’

Crossing the Channel: P&O Dover-Calais: ‘Due to earlier technical issue, our Calais-Dover sailing at 18h50 will now sail approx. 19h35. Our Dover-Calais sailing at 20h15 is approx. 30 minutes late and will sail at approx. 20h45.’

Eurotunnel: Our passenger service is currently operating with some timetable disruption, this is due to an earlier cancellation. There is a waiting time of approximately 30 minutes on the terminal.

No other operators currently reporting any delays.

Latest from @Port_of_Dover: ‘Here in Dover sea conditions in the Channel are calm with Easterly light airs, force 1, and the visibility is good.’

Latest from Condor Ferries’ forecast: ‘The current forecast indicates slight sea conditions for the week ahead.’

See our Traffic/Travel/Weather page for the latest.

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NEWSLOG & PHOTOS

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EU – an announcement on the EU’s plans for a pan-European road charging scheme has been put back to the end of September or early October a spokesman at the Commission told DriveEurope this afternoon. An announcement had been expected in June. More on this when we get it.

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Belgium – it’s unofficial but widely reported that Belgium has cancelled plans to introduce a road vignette in 2015/16. Dutch auto club AMWB posted a short statement on its website. However, it is rumoured an electronic toll scheme for trucks will go ahead in 2016.

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Gasp. Synthesis Design + Architecture has made this ‘Pure Tension Pavillion’ foldaway solar panel for recharging electric vehicles wherever you go. Obviously not quite everywhere you go, for instance nowhere where anybody knows you. And there’s no word on the amount of boot space left after you’ve packed it away. On display in Rome on 15 September.

Gasp. Synthesis Design + Architecture has made this ‘Pure Tension Pavilion’ foldaway solar panel for recharging electric vehicles wherever you go (in collaboration with Volvo Italia). Obviously not quite everywhere you go, for instance nowhere where anybody knows you. And there’s no word on the amount of boot space left after you’ve packed it away. On display in Rome on 15 September.

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Latvia – the Baltic state has put plans to introduce fixed speed cameras on hold and bought radar equipment for its police vehicles instead, 126 in total. A previous report on Baltic News Network says the plan to install fixed cameras failed due to a breach of the contract by the supplier, and because land owners refused to allow them.

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Turkey – fuel prices are among the most expensive in the world says Hurriyet Daily News. The latest increase sees unleaded 95 rise to around £1.70/l (4.91 TRY).

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France – parking fines are ineffective and too expensive to recover says GART, the transport authorities group (via @ConnexionFrance). Parking law means rates are set centrally while pursuing offenders is complex and lengthy. GART is calling on the govt to decriminalised parking and devolve responsibility to local authorities.

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More stunning photography courtesy of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars ltd. This time of its new Wraith coupe, at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

More stunning photography courtesy of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Ltd, this time of the new Wraith coupe, at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

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Sweden– the EU has made a grant of 24mSEK (£2.4m) towards the cost of the proposed Marieholms Tunnel, under the Gota Alv river in Gothenburg. As part of the huge Vastsvenskapaketet – West Sweden Project – the new tunnel may depend however on citizens voting to keep the city’s congestion zone on whose revenues the project depends. The date of the referendum is still to be announced, as is the question.

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Hungary – the tenth public EV charging station has been installed in Budapest. Like all the others in the city it is free to use. There are plans for 7,000 charging stations in Hungary by 2020. There are currently 25, see them all here.

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NOTES:

Turkey – after some time without protests the situation is unpredictable again. See latest FCO travel advice.

Bulgaria – anti-govt demonstrations becoming a permanent feature. The British Embassy says, ‘There is a small risk of violence. Avoid large gatherings in public spaces and follow local media and the advice of the local authorities.’ For the latest FCO travel advice click here. For Bulgarian news in English see www.Novinite.com or @novinite_com on Twitter.

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Italy fuel strike – now called off

A strike threatened to close motorway and major petrol stations from Tuesday until Friday but was called off Wednesday evening.

Further talks will be held on Wednesday. Urban, suburban and rural stations should remain open.

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A petrol station, Italy. but this one will be open this week because it isn't on a major road.

A petrol station, Italy. Local stations should remain open during the strike, despite the price – €1.698/l unleaded. Photo from late May 2013, Tuscany.

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Eni, Shell, Q8, Bees, Tamoil and TotalErg It petrol stations on motorways and city ring roads and intersections will close from Tuesday 16 July at 22:00 and not re-open until 06:00 Friday 19 July it has been confirmed.

Local filling stations – urban, suburban and rural – should open as normal.

Three industry associations – Faib, Fegica and Anisa Confcommercio – have called a joint strike over continued high fuel prices, among other issues.

According to national newspaper Corriere della Sera, unleaded hit a record €1.865 per litre on 12 July. This ranks Italy alongside the Netherlands as having the most expensive fuel in the EU.

Retail volumes have dropped by 50% in the past three years say the strikers.

The next meeting between the two sides will be held on Wednesday at 14:30.

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Why it’s a particularly bad idea to speed in France this July and August

The so-far significant falls in fatal accidents this year are under threat ahead of the holiday hotspot.

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They might smile, and let you take their picture, but they will still take your licence, and €750 for speeding more than 31mph over the limit

They might let you take their picture but they’ll have your licence and a lot of your money. While licences are normally confiscated for offences more than 50kmh over the limit, theoretically they can be taken away at anything over 30kmh.

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Fatal traffic accidents in France fell 27% in March, 15% in April and 29.5% in May compared to the same months in 2012.

It’s a stellar performance which sees France on the way to achieving its target of cutting road deaths to under 2,000 by 2020, down from 3,645 last year (itself a record).

The minister in charge Manuel Valls says the reductions wouldn’t have happened without speed cameras. There are 4,000 in total including 400 new unmarked cameras.

Particularly striking is how the figures dropped after the well-publicised introduction of unmarked Renaut Megane police cars packing radar guns in March (road deaths were down 8.8% in January and actually rose 6.5% in February). Over 15,000 drivers have been nabbed so far.

It’s not all good news though. Fatal motorbike accidents fell just 3.6% (albeit to under 300 for the first time).

Impressive as the falls have been – representing a total of 257 lives saved, 75% of them drivers – the overall reduction for the first half of 2013 is a more modest 15%. In part that’s because in June – as more holiday traffic took to the roads – the reduction fell to 10.4%.

The issue now is that July and August traditionally account for 20% of all road deaths in France. Monsieur Valls has put police on notice to be extra vigilant on speeding offences.

With foreign registered cars said to be responsible for 50% of speeding offences during the summer (25% overall), like it or not, you are top of the list.

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For more, read our Driving in France 2013 feature ‘Everything we Know’.

source: Securite Routiere.

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Daily Brief 15 July 2013

Latest update 18:30 UK time.

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in brief:

Ferries: No delays.

Weather: very warm to hot. Some showers.

Traffic: see @DriveEurope.

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Italy, A32 Bardonecchia Valley, towards the shockingly expensive Frejus Tunnel, €42.40 one-way, into France. Come off at Susa and take the mountain pass instead, past Lac du Monet Cenis.

Italy, Bardonecchia Valley, A32 from Turin, towards the shockingly expensive Frejus Tunnel, €42.40 one-way, into France. Come off at Susa and take the mountain pass instead, past Lac du Mont Cenis.

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TRAVEL/WEATHER:

Meteoalarm weather risk alerts – no red alerts but amber alerts for risk of storms in a patch of north west Spain and forest fire in north central Latvia.

Weather in brief – very warm to hot. Showers: southern Italy, Poland, Belarus, Russia, west Norway.

Crossing the Channel: No operators currently reporting any delays.

Eurotunnel: ‘Our passenger service is currently operating with some timetable disruption, this is due to earlier cancellations. There is a waiting time of approximately 30 minutes on the terminal.’ Eurotunnel: Our passenger service is currently operating with some timetable disruption, this is due to earlier cancellations caused by a technical fault on board a shuttle. There is a waiting time of approximately 30 minutes on the terminal. DFDS Dover-Calais: ‘We regret to advise the following services are operating with delays of up to 1 hour 40 minutes due to operational reasons. Dover to Calais 10:15hrs. Calais to Dover 09:00hrs. Please still check-in at the port on time.’

Latest from @Port_of_Dover: ‘Here in Dover sea conditions in the Channel are slight with a Easterly breeze, force 2, and the visibility is good.’

Latest @CF_travel_news forecast: ‘The current forecast indicates slight sea conditions for the week ahead.’

See our Traffic/Travel/Weather page for the latest.

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NOTES:

Turkey – after some time without protests the situation is tense again. See latest FCO travel advice.

Bulgaria – anti-govt demonstrations becoming a permanent feature. The British Embassy says, ‘There is a small risk of violence. Avoid large gatherings in public spaces and follow local media and the advice of the local authorities.’ For the latest FCO travel advice click here. For Bulgarian news in English see www.Novinite.com or @novinite_com on Twitter.

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Sunday Brief: 14 July 2013

Latest update 19:45 UK time.

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in brief:

Ferries: No delays currently reported.

Weather: mostly hot and sunny. No alerts.

Traffic: see @DriveEurope on Twitter.

note: LD Lines Newhaven-Dieppe: ‘Please be advised about accident between the A26 (South Heighton) and A27 (Beddingham Roundabout). Please allow additional time for your journey in to Newhaven ferry port.’  Update from @TravelNewsSouth at 18:40: serious accident. ‘the official closure is Beddingham to South Heighton / all traffic via the C7.’

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News: a roundup of the week’s stories and a look at the week ahead.

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Sweden: the Laholm's Bay coast road (Laholmsbukten), Båstad (pronounced Bow-star) southern Sweden.

Sweden: the Laholm’s Bay coast road (Laholmsbukten), Båstad (pronounced Bow-star) southern Sweden, home of the Swedish Open Tennis tournament on courts right next to the shore – coincidentally, the final is being played today – and most of the country’s super rich. The bay is glassy calm with crystal clear water while the town is understatedly elegant. Go out of season. Highly recommended: www.hotelskansen.se with its sauna complex built 60m out over the water. Get there via the DFDS Harwich-Esbjerg and Stena Line Frederikshavn-Gothenburg ferries.

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TRAVEL/WEATHER:

Meteoalarm weather alerts – no red alerts but amber alert for storms west central Spain.

Weather in brief – hot and sunny apart from the very north and eastwards. Potentially thundery showers in Spain.

Crossing the Channel: MyFerryLink: ‘Due to high volume of traffic, please allow extra time to check in at Dover for the 11:30 departure.’

No other operators currently reporting any delays.

From @Port_of_Dover today: ‘Here in Dover sea conditions in the Channel are slight with a South Westerly light breeze, force 2 – 3, and the visibility is good.’

Latest @CF_travel_news forecast: ‘The current forecast indicates slight sea conditions [for the weekend].’

See our Traffic/Travel/Weather page for the latest.

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Sunday Brief, a roundup of the week’s stories and a look ahead.

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The week ahead:

An Italian petrol station, but this one will be open this week because it isn't on a major road.

An Italian petrol station, but this one will be open this week because it isn’t on a major road.

Italy fuel strike – filling stations on motorways, city ring roads and intersections will be closed from late Tuesday evening until early Friday morning unless a strike is averted at the last minute. Full details tomorrow.

Bulgaria major motorway opening – Bulgaria’s brand new capital-to-coast, Trakia motorway should open tomorrow (Monday 15 July) though there’s considerable confusion about the precise arrangements. No huge ceremony has been announced as you would expect for what will rare good news for a country beset by political crisis and protests so far this year. Update: a tweet this afternoon from the official Bulgaria govt account says Trakia will open at 10:30 tomorrow.

UK v EU – Home Secretary Theresa May’s plan to opt back into some EU justice laws – which include some measures for sharing car registration and driving licence details – ran into immediate trouble. Her backbench colleagues object to her signing up to the European Arrest Warrant among other things. A debate this week in the House of Commons – if it happens – should prove illuminating.

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A roundup of the week’s news:

2013 Swiss motorway vignette.

2013 Swiss motorway vignette.

Switzerland vignette referendum – the campaign against the proposed massive increase in the cost of the annual motorway vignette was hugely successful. A national referendum has been granted for 24 November. The price was due to increase from 40CHF to 100CHF (£70) in 2015. Click for more.

Dover stowaways – a critical incident was called at the port on Wednesday morning after 15 asylum seekers were found inside a tanker on-board P&O’s Spirit of France. Staff responded to the sounds of banging from inside the truck as the boat docked. Emergency crews descended but all concerned were successfully treated at the scene. Two drivers were detained.

Other news: Dover Port celebrated its 60th anniversary on Monday. Half year results released the same day show freight traffic is up 11.3% but the number of cars is down 1.8%.

Other ferry news: a new twist in the on-going battle for supremacy on the English Channel. P&O, MYFerryLink and DFDS will all fight for the contract to run the Newhaven-Dieppe ferry service when it runs out at the end of 2014. Newhaven is the closest ferry port to London. The Eurotunnel-backed MyFerryLink is on notice from the UK Competition Commission over its Dover-Calais route.

Italy – Via dei Fori Imperiali, the road running past the Colosseum in Rome will be closed to private traffic from 30 July says the new mayor. Also, motorway traffic dropped a significant 7.2% in 2012, the biggest fall since the recession began. Bad for them but good news for Italian road trips this summer.

Charity drives – the Windy500 23 country, 23 day European adventure drive raised an impressive £17,000 (so far). Meanwhile, the Travel Trade Crusade, with a host of corporate sponsors, has raised over £40,000 and is aiming for £50k. Due to finish in Amsterdam tonight, has taken in Metz, the Nurburgring and Koblenz. The Monte Carlo or Bust Rally – in aid of KL Children’s Hospice – successfully reached Turin last night after torrential rain and massive hailstones during the descent from the great San Bernardino Pass. The participants head home today via Monte Carlo and Nice.

Finally, kicking off today is the 2013 Mongol Rally, the no-rules, no-route ‘roads optional’ drive from the UK to Ulan Bator, Mongolia. Follow the live tracking here.

The Porsche Performance Drive cross the Ukraine border. Might not need a 4x4 next time.

The Porsche Performance Drive crosses the Ukraine border. Might not need a 4×4 next time.

Ukraine – more details were released on the massive road building programme to rehabilitate 100,000km of rural roads, some 90% of the total. The plan requires investment of £4-5bn over each of the next ten years. The national road network meanwhile is said to be finally, almost, up to scratch.

Electric cars – a busy week for EVs. The upcoming BMW i3 got rave reviews in the UK press. Tesla’s Model S made its UK debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. A new deal to install a comprehensive fastcharging network in the Netherlands was announced (though it’s been subsequently subjected to a legal challenge by filling station owners). Luton-based Chargemaster, supplier of EV charge points, will list on the AIM stock exchange. The 388 vehicle, all-EV WAVE tour – 1,800km across the Alps – finished in Zurich. Lastly, the electric, FIA-sanctioned FormulaE racing series announced Berlin as its latest host city. Update: Drayson Racing, holder of the lightweight EV landspeed record, came third in the Goodwood Festival of Speed Hill Climb shootout this afternoon, behind the 1988 Silk Cut Jaguar and Sebastian Loeb’s 2013 Pike’s Peak Peugeot.

Spain and Portugal – the gap between the cost of unleaded in the neighbouring Iberian countries has widened, but narrowed for diesel. Average prices now stand at €1.43/l and €1.56/l for unleaded and €1.34/l and €1.36/l for diesel respectively. Also, the Spanish Which magazine – consumer.es – has published a critical report on the state of the country’s toll roads (more on this coming up) while El Mundo published a horrifying map of Spain’s most dangerous roads.

Roundup roundup – Slovenia has cancelled its tender for an electronic truck toll system, again… A proposed bridge across the border in Ireland, across the River Newry between Omeath and Warrenpoint, is on hold after councillors drastically underestimated the cost… Belarus is manufacturing its new road building machinery in Venezuela… Anti-corruption blogger and Moscow mayor candidate Aklexsei Navalny’s petition to stop public officials driving expensive cars attracted big support… The N201, between the A2 and A4 south of Amsterdam – handy for Schiphol – is being revamped all summer… Finally, Rush the movie – about the 1976 Grand Prix season – has inexplicably had its 20 September release date pushed back a week.

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NOTES:

Luxembourg – more weekend road closures on the A4, between Luxembourg city and the French border south east. Resurfacing works on the Lux city-bound carriageway. Diversions in place.

Turkey – after some time without protests the situation is tense again. See latest FCO travel advice.

Bulgaria – anti-govt demonstrations becoming a permanent feature. The British Embassy says, ‘There is a small risk of violence. Avoid large gatherings in public spaces and follow local media and the advice of the local authorities.’ For the latest FCO travel advice click here. For Bulgarian news in English see www.Novinite.com or @novinite_com on Twitter.

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Daily Brief 13 July 2013

Latest update 19:00 UK time.

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Travel: P&O + DFDS Dover-Calais delays.

Weather: hot and sunny apart Italy and Poland, see below.

Traffic: see @DriveEurope on Twitter.

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News: Italy petrol station strike 16-19 July – Charity drives update – Rush even slower to release – NL garages in EV legal action

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Italy: SS85 on Monte Secchieta between Florence and Arezzo.

Italy: SS85 on Monte Secchieta between Florence and Arezzo. Incredible, occasional, panoramic glimpses of the Tuscan countryside. The road’s not bad either. Milton wrote Paradise Lost up here.

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TRAVEL/WEATHER:

Meteoalarm weather alerts – no Red alerts but Amber alerts for storms north west Spain and west and south central Austria.

Weather in brief – another very warm day across Europe and the Mediterranean but with some heavy showers in Italy, mainly north, and it continues to be unsettled in Poland/Belarus/west Ukraine.

Crossing the Channel: P&O Dover-Calais – ‘Due to an earlier technical problem with a loading berth in Calais port, some of our sailings are up to 50 minutes late. Check-in as normal.’

DFDS Dover-Calais – ‘We regret to advise the following departures on our Dover Calais services are operating with delays of up to 50 minutes due to port movements – Departing Dover at 1915 and 2115. Departing Calais at 2000 and 2300.’

Brittany Ferries’ via Tweet: ‘We’re sorry, today’s 1600 sailing [from Portsmouth] to Cherbourg is delayed by c.45 minutes due to the ship taking part in a rescue operation in the Channel.’

No other operators currently reporting any delays.

From @Port_of_Dover today: ‘Here in Dover sea conditions in the Channel are calm with an Easterly light airs force 1 and the visibility is good.’

Latest @CF_travel_news forecast: ‘The current forecast indicates slight sea conditions [for the weekend].’

See our Traffic/Travel/Weather page for the latest.

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NEWSLOG:

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Italy – from 22:00 local time on 16 July (Tuesday) to 06:00 on 19 July (Friday), filling stations on motorways, city ring roads and main city junctions will be on strike reports ANSA news agency. More details on Monday.

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Charity drives: The Travel Trade Crusade made it to Metz in eastern France last night - even poor Outrider who returned to the UK part way for some repairs. They are off to the Nurburgring today. Meanwhile, The Monte Carlo or Bust Rally, after assembling in St Quentin first thing made it to, well, we're not quite sure. Anyway they stopped at Reims race track oin the way. Today they are heading Dijon-Geneva-St Bernardino Pass to Turin.

Charity drives: The Travel Trade Crusade (#ttc13) made it to Metz in eastern France last night – even poor Outrider who returned to the UK part way for repairs. They are off to the Nurburgring today. Meanwhile, The Monte Carlo or Bust Rally (#MCoBRally), after assembling in St Quentin first thing made it to, well, we’re not quite sure.. Anyway they stopped at Reims race track on the way. Today they are heading Dijon-Geneva-San Bernardino Pass to Turin, Italy. McoB is run in aid of the DL Children’s Hospice, see www.montecarloorbust.eu for more while www.traveltradecrusade.com has a target to raise £50,000 for a number of charities.

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Rush the Movie – the highly anticipated, hugely hyped, extremely well received by those-lucky-enough-to-have-seen-it Rush – about the 1976 Grand Prix season – has had its release date put back by a week. It now comes out on 27 September. Director Ron Howard (@RealRonHoward) tweeted the news last night but he didn’t say why the release has been delayed, or whether the UK debut is affected too. It’s incredibly frustrating for those people – i.e. us – who thought the four month run up was already way over the top.

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It doesn't look like Fastned is planning to open many shops at its filling stations.

It doesn’t look like Fastned is planning to open many shops at its filling stations.

Netherlands/EVs – an intriguing twist on the imminent Dutch national fast charging network. A deal was announced last week to put all citizens within 50km of a fastcharge station by 2015 (see Fastned) but owners of traditional filling stations have taken exception according to Greencarreports.com (via Nos.nl). The row centres on whether electricity is fuel as such and subject to the same regulations as regular petrol stations, and whether fastcharging points will also open shops and pinch business. Even if this legal action doesn’t ultimately prevent Fastned it could slow it down at a critical stage in its development, with who knows what consequences for EVs in the long term. Dastardly!

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NOTES:

Luxembourg – more weekend road closures on the A4, between Luxembourg city and the French border south east. Resurfacing works on the Lux city-bound carriageway. Diversions in place.

Turkey – after some time without protests the situation is tense again. See latest FCO travel advice.

Bulgaria – anti-govt demonstrations becoming a permanent feature. The British Embassy says, ‘There is a small risk of violence. Avoid large gatherings in public spaces and follow local media and the advice of the local authorities.’ For the latest FCO travel advice click here. For Bulgarian news in English see www.Novinite.com or @novinite_com on Twitter.

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Daily Brief 12 July 2013

Latest update 19:55 UK time.

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Travel: Some P&O Dover-Calais delayed by 30 mins. No other delays currently.

Weather: Very warm to hot Western Europe.

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News: New op for London’s port Newhaven? – Trakia spat – FormulaE in Berlin – the Battle of Goodwood – Spain’s most dangerous roads – Evoque Cab hopes return – Ukraine massive road building programme.

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Bernina Pass, Switzerland

Bernina Pass, eastern Switzerland. Thirty miles long, rising to nearly 8,000ft, but you wouldn’t know it from the road: no dizzy vertical drops. Sorry. Very glamorous though: this is the road Blofeld used to escape from James Bond in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. The Italian border is at the southern end.

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TRAVEL/WEATHER:

Meteoalarm weather alerts – no Red weather alerts in Europe currently, but Amber alert for high temperatures Montenegro and for storms in southern Latvia, plus now a patch of storms in north central Spain.

Weather in brief – Very warm to hot in Western Europe. Patches of cloud, occasional showers Low Countries, Italy. Thunder northern Spain and Poland eastwards.

Crossing the Channel: No operators currently reporting any delays.

From @Port_of_Dover today: ‘Here in Dover sea conditions in the Channel are slight with a North Nor Easterly breeze, force 4 and the visibility is good.’

Latest @CF_travel_news forecast: ‘The current forecast indicates slight sea conditions [for the weekend].’

Traffic – France: The A7 south of Lyon is busy but not jammed as is around Caen and the western Mediterranean coast motorway. Otherwise French roads ok, despite warnings they would be extra busy today. Germany: noticeably busy along most major routes, particularly around cities. Switzerland: jams either side of Gotthard Tunnel (reducing) on the A2 and busy on most other major routes. Low Countries: area between Amsterdam and Brussels already calming down. Italy and Spain both ok so far.

See our Traffic/Travel/Weather page for the latest.

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NEWSLOG:

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The Range Rover Evoque convertible has not been canned according to worldcarfans.com. LR brand director John Edwards is quoted telling a recent meeting in Australia that the possibility is back on the cards. A decision is apparently imminent. LR showed a concept Evoque drop top at the March 2012 Geneva Motor Show but it was widely reported to have been cancelled in April 2013, possibly in the face of dire sales of the Nissan Murano convertible in America. An Evoque convertible has undoubted ‘Essex appeal’, but as a compact, good looking, high-riding 4x4 – and additionally open to the elements – it makes a good case for being the only car anybody could ever need. We want one.

The Range Rover Evoque Convertible has not been canned according to worldcarfans.com. LR brand director John Edwards is quoted telling a recent meeting in Australia that the possibility is back on the cards. A decision is apparently imminent. LR showed a concept Evoque drop top at the March 2012 Geneva Motor Show but it was widely reported to have been cancelled in April 2013, possibly in the face of dire sales of the Nissan Murano convertible in America. An Evoque convertible has undoubted ‘Essex appeal’, but as a compact, good looking, high-riding 4×4 – and additionally open to the elements – it could take you everywhere you ever wanted to go. A European touring car champion. We want one.

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Ferries – P&O, MYFerryLink and DFDS are all said to be preparing to fight for the contract to run the Newhaven-Dieppe ferry service when it runs out at the end of 2014 says Lloyds Loading List (via @Burger_Ferry). The route is currently run by the DFDS/LD Lines joint venture as a concession for the Seine Maritime Council. Newhaven is notable for being the closest ferry port to London. Though the crossing time by conventional vessel is four hours, compared to ninety minutes across the Dover Strait – and the fares commensurately higher – Dieppe is 100 miles further south than Calais, while the road toll to popular waypoint Le Mans is €50 less.

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Bulgaria – prime minister Plamen Oresharski has denied an accusation from his recent predecessor Boyko Borisov that the govt is delaying the opening of Trakia Highway until the development minister returns from a trip to Brussels for the ribbon cutting ceremony. ‘It will be ready on Monday (15 July),’ Oresharski told Novinite news agency. Trakia will no less than revolutionise road transport in Bulgaria.

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FormulaE: the all-electric race series announced Berlin as its race venue. 'Yesterday'. Queue the inevitable shots of the Brandenburg Gate. The actual track though is around Tempelhof Airport, the monumental, Nazi-era airfield in walking distance of the city centre (though it redeemed itself with a starring role in the Berlin Airlift).

FormulaE: the all-electric race series announced Berlin as its third European race venue. ‘Yesterday’. Cue the inevitable shots of the Brandenburg Gate. The actual track though is around the much more interesting Tempelhof Airport, the monumental, Nazi-era airfield within walking distance of the city centre (which later redeemed itself with a starring role in the Berlin Airlift). Berlin joins London and Rome in the Winter Series which kicks off in September 2014.

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Netherlands – the handy connecting road between the A2 and the A4 south of Amsterdam, the N201 (and access to Schiphol Airport from the east) will undergo major repairs between 12 July-2 September. Diversions in place but bound to be busy. Best head further north and use A9 instead.

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The battle of Goodwood: who owns the Festival of Speed this year? McLaren, Jaguar, Lamborghini, Aston Martin, Porsche or Mercedes? Porsche have the sculpture, Jaguar and Aston have the home crowd. The sale features possibly the most valuable car ever sold at auction, the 1954 W196 Grand Prix Mercedes. It could fetch £10m.

The Battle of Goodwood: who owns the Festival of Speed this year? McLaren, Jaguar, Aston Martin, Porsche or Mercedes? Porsche has the sculpture, Jaguar and Aston have the home crowd, McLaren is bringing every significant car in its fifty year history. The sale features possibly the most valuable racer ever sold at auction, Fangio’s 1954 W196 Grand Prix Mercedes. It could fetch £10m, or $ (update: it actually old for £17.5m).

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Spain – El Mundo has published an interactive map of the country’s most dangerous roads. In Spanish only, supplied by drivers’ campaigning organisation Automovilistas Europeos Asociados, but it’s pretty clear what the individual issues are.

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This year's Porsche Performance Drive has a fun time on Ukraine's back roads.

This year’s Porsche Performance Drive has a fun time on Ukraine’s back roads.

Ukraine – most of the national network is in good condition but that still leaves 90% of the country’s roads in need of repair says Yevhen Prusenko, head of the state roads agency Ukravtodor, according to Interfax. Main roads in the Lviv region and parts of Chernivitsi, Ivano-Frankivsk and Transcarpathia still need mending as do 100,000km of Ukraine’s 117,000km rural roads. President Yanukovych was quoted earlier this month saying revamping roads was the govt’s biggest priority in 2014. The programme requires annual investment of 40-50bn UAH (£4-5bn) over the next ten years. Incidentally, officials sought the advice of Prince Michael of Kent – also patron of the Commission for Global Road safety – when he was on an unrelated visit last week. It seems like Ukraine is really taking roads and safety seriously.

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NOTES:

Luxembourg – more weekend road closures on the A4, between Luxembourg city and the French border south east. Resurfacing works on the Lux city-bound carriageway. Diversions in place.

Turkey – after some time without protests the situation became tense again over the weekend. See latest FCO travel advice.

Bulgaria – continuing anti-govt demonstrations, day twenty eight today. The British Embassy says, ‘There is a small risk of violence. Avoid large gatherings in public spaces and follow local media and the advice of the local authorities.’ For the latest FCO travel advice click here. For Bulgarian news in English see www.Novinite.com or @novinite_com on Twitter.

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Switzerland: record response to vignette campaign

Twice as many signatures as needed were collected in the campaign against the proposed 250% hike in the cost of Switzerland’s motorway vignette.

The government had planned to raise the price of the vignette from 40CHF (€33) to 100CHF in 2015.

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The Gotthard Pass. Why pay to drive on Switzerland's motorways when the back roads are so pretty?

The Gotthard Pass. Why pay to drive on Switzerland’s motorways when the back roads are so pretty?

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Under Swiss ‘direct democracy’ rules, parliamentary decisions can be put to a national referendum if 50,000 citizens sign a petition against the measure within 100 days.

The campaign against the motorway vignette increase collected 105,000 signatures even before the closing date (with another 20,000 on the books). That’s a record response. The organisers call it ‘a clear signal’.

Support is also widespread across the country, important when a ‘double majority’ of both districts and voters is need to overturn laws.

The referendum was granted yesterday. The vote will be held on 24 November.

Campaigners have four main objections: that the increase is too big; that motorists already pay enough in tax; concerns about the cost on small business; and finally, they resent that the plan included a 40CHF two-month vignette for foreign registered cars.

Against all this is the fact that the vignette has not increased for twenty years. We previously reported govt anxieties that the national roads maintenance reserve fund would dip below 1bn CHF. Meanwhile, national projects like the 10bnCHF Gotthard Base Rail Tunnel are hugely demanding on the transport budget.

The original law was approved in March after a long struggle in the lower house of parliament which had thought the vignette should cost 70CHF.

If we had to predict the likely outcome we’d say the price will rise to 70CHF and that there will be no short stay vignette. If it sounds outrageous to charge that much to use Swiss motorways, even just for a few days, bear in mind that the tolls on French roads to reach Switzerland, one way one-off, currently cost €52 (65CHF). At least the Swiss vignette is valid for a whole year.

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Daily Brief 11 July 2013

Latest update 19:00 UK time.

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Travel: Delays and cancellations on P&O Dover-Calais services.

Weather: Fine. Only issues in east Europe, possibly Italy.

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News: Ireland rural roads warning – Introducing SOCAR – WAVE goodbye – Russian crackdown on baseball bats – Mother Theresa bogged down

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Random pic: quite high on the Bernina Pass, east Switzerland

Random pic: Quite High on the Bernina Pass, eastern Switzerland. Bernina is the 31st highest paved road in Europe, the 23rd highest mountain pass. The highest you can go in a car in Europe (and not have to reverse at the top) is Col de l’Iseran in the Savoy, south east France, at 9,090ft.

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TRAVEL/WEATHER:

Meteoalarm weather alerts – Amber warning for storms west Slovenia, east Austria and all Serbia.

Weather in brief – ‘For much of Europe it will be a very warm to hot and dry summers day’, certainly in the north west. Possible heavy showers again in parts of Italy, after yesterday’s flash floods.

Crossing the Channel: P&O Dover-Calais – ‘We are sorry that due to on-going operational problems with two of our vessels all services to and from Calais are subject to delays.’ There are also cancellations but with the high frequency of service passengers are advised to check in as normal. Click this link for more details.

No other operators currently reporting any delays.

From @Port_of_Dover today: ‘Here in Dover sea conditions in the Channel are slight with a North Nor Easterly breeze, force 5  and the visibility is good.’

Latest @CF_travel_news forecast: ‘The current forecast indicates slight conditions during the week ahead.’

See our Traffic/Travel/Weather page for the latest.

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NEWSLOG:

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Ireland – drivers on the Republic’s rural roads have been warned to take extra care during the on-going heat wave. Farmers racing to make hay while the sun shines, literally, mean countryside roads will have more heavy agricultural vehicles on them than usual. The current fine weather is forecast to last until at least next Tuesday (16 July).

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Fuel – get used to the name SOCAR. The state-owned oil company from Azerbaijan is in the process of rebranding the 160 filling stations in Switzerland it bought from ExxonMobil last year. The company is coy about its ambitions in the wider Western European market but hasn’t ruled out the possibility. Yesterday it announced its 34th SOCAR branded filling station in Ukraine.

Fuel – get used to the name SOCAR. The state-owned oil company from Azerbaijan is in the process of rebranding the 160 filling stations in Switzerland it bought last year from ExxonMobil. The company is coy about its ambitions in the wider Western European market but hasn’t ruled out the possibility. Yesterday it announced its 34th SOCAR branded filling station in Ukraine.

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Russia – the baseball bat is the weapon of choice in Russian road rage incidents. We’ve heard of a few incidents recently, the latest being on Tuesday evening. This time though the victim was a high-profile, hard-line member of the Duma, Roman Khudyakov, in/famous for recently calling for gun ownership to be legalised for self-defence. Expect repercussions. Can you have a crackdown on baseball bats?

Meantime, a petition to stop public officials owning cars worth more than $45,500 has gained 100,000 signatures, enough to have the issue formally considered by the govt. The campaign was started by anti-corruption blogger – and Moscow mayor candidate – Alexsei Navalny, currently facing unrelated charges widely considered to be trumped up. A man to watch, if you aren’t already.

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EVs - We didn’t take the WAVE tour seriously: 1,900km in ten days is no great shakes, even if you do cross the Alps. What we didn’t realise is that 388 vehicles too part, including 53 Teslas (don't say that must be everybody who's ever bought an electric car). ook part. The overall winner was Team Phoenix Contact in a Renault Fluence EV. This is turning into a major event.

We didn’t take the WAVE tour seriously: 1,900km in ten days is no great shakes, even if you do cross the Alps. What we didn’t realise is that 388 EVs took part (don’t say that must be everybody who’s ever bought an electric car). The overall winner, based on speed, efficiency, etc, was Team Phoenix Contact in a Renault Fluence (second right). This is turning into a major event.

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UK v EU – These new twenty pages of notes to accompany Theresa May’s recent decision on the 130 Justice and Home Affairs Lisbon Treaty opt-outs – some of which concern the sharing of driving licence and vehicle registration details – is a vast improvement on the 130 pages released alongside her Commons speech on Tuesday, but still impenetrable. We’re still waiting on some expert analysis. BTW, the Home Sec ran into trouble at last night’s backbench 1922 committee according to the Telegraph, many MPs still unhappy about the European Arrest Warrant. Next week’s vote on whether the Coalition can proceed as it wants to could be pushed back to the autumn.

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NOTES:

Luxembourg – more weekend road closures on the A4, between Luxembourg city and the French border south east. Resurfacing works on the Lux city-bound carriageway. Diversions in place.

Turkey – after some time without protests the situation became tense again over the weekend. See latest FCO travel advice.

Bulgaria – continuing anti-govt demonstrations, day twenty eight today. The British Embassy says, ‘There is a small risk of violence. Avoid large gatherings in public spaces and follow local media and the advice of the local authorities.’ For the latest FCO travel advice click here. For Bulgarian news in English see www.Novinite.com or @novinite_com on Twitter.

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