Transportinfo.org.uk - today's transport news in the uk, hand picked for you each morning

Tuesday, 01 April 2014

BBC News

• Boris Island may yet defy the odds and avoid sinking without traceIf you thought Boris Johnson’s plans for a new hub airport in the Thames Estuary were permanently marooned off the Kent coast, then think again. Boris Island, or at least a slightly different version of it on the Isle of Grain, isn’t going anywhere.
• Bristol rail investment to see tracks reinstatedReinstating four tracks between Bristol Parkway and Bristol Temple Meads is part of a £700m investment in the city's railway infrastructure.
• £2.2bn investment in East Anglia railwaysA £2.2bn package of investment in the rail network serving East Anglia will create more space for trains in and out of Liverpool Street, it has been revealed.
• Network Rail plans £38bn investmentNetwork Rail, announces a £38bn infrastructure investment including upgrading Birmingham New Street station.
• Brecon Beacons bus service axedA bus service used by thousands of visitors to the Brecon Beacons is being axed as part of budget savings of £650,000 over the next two years.
• Tube passengers hit by power cutTube passengers experience
• Airport gets ready for 'superjumbo'Preparations are under way at Glasgow Airport to cope with expected large crowds for the arrival of the world's largest passenger plane.
• Lufthansa to cancel 3,800 flightsGerman airline Lufthansa says it will cancel 3,800 flights this week because of a strike by pilots.
• Exxon shrugs off climate change riskExxon Mobil, the US's largest oil and gas company, says in a new report that world climate policies are

ITV News

• Cost of promoting Estuary airport to cost Londoners doubleThe cost to London council taxpayers of promoting the controversial "Boris Island" airport scheme is to almost double to £5m.

Financial Times

• GM recalls mount by another 1.3m vehiclesHouse hearings likely to focus on why it took carmaker more than a decade after first suspecting a fault before it issued a recall notice
• KKR backs European train leasing start-upThe US private equity group is betting on the growth of the European rail freight market, part of its diversification into infrastructure investments
• Network Rail in storm repair cost warningThe railways operator has £38bn to spend over five years, but fears that it may need extra cash from the government to meet the climate challenge
• Johnson steps up estuary airport fightBoris Johnson details scenarios for the redevelopment of Heathrow as he fights to keep alive his vision of a Thames estuary airport
• Strike forces Lufthansa to cancel flightsGerman airline cancels 3,800 flights from Wednesday because of a three-day strike by pilots which is set to cost the company tens of millions of euros
• Airlines pledge to improve flight trackingAirline industry calls for better satellite tracking as the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 enters a fourth week

The Herald

• Ferry fault causes travel disruption Sailings to and from the island of Lewis have been seriously disrupted after the CalMac ferry broke down again but a replacement vessel is due this morning.
• Levy will 'level playing field' with foreign driversForeign lorry drivers are to be charged up to £10 a day to use British roads from tomorrow.
• A9 speed cameras project is based on 'flawed evidence'MINISTERS have been accused of railroading through the introduction of average speed cameras on the A9, before MSPs have a chance to study the plan.

Reuters News

• Heathrow to accept new regulatory price capLondon's Heathrow said on Tuesday it would not appeal a decision by the regulator to impose a cap on the prices Britain's biggest airport can charge airlines, adding it did not believe other parties would appeal the ruling either.

City AM

• Three things Boris wants to build at Heathrow instead of a new runwayThe Mayor of London has been a vocal supporter of a new airport to the east of London, so much so that one of the options was at one stage nicknamed Boris Island.

Mail Online

• EasyJet to create 2,500 jobs with move to double presence at LutonThe budget airline expects to kick off the expansion by increasing capacity by 20 per cent next year, adding new destinations and increasing frequency on its 39 existing routes.

The Mirror

• Recap: Search for missing Malaysia Airlines plane to resume in treacherous sea known as 'Roaring Forties'The area of the south Indian Ocean is one of the remotest spots of ocean on the planet and is more than 1,000 miles off the coast of  Australia

This is Money

• Parking firms requests for drivers' details cost taxpayers £600k a yearNew figures obtained from a Freedom of Information request reveal that the DVLA loses 34p every time a parking company applies for the details of a car’s registered keeper.

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• Vintage rail carriage is being restored A historic railway carriage is being fully restored more than 45 years after it came to Keighley.

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Pont Briwet: Buses to replace vital railway link until summer 2014 Extreme wet and windy weather is understood to have delayed work on a new bridge

Derby Telegraph

• Derby Telegraph commented Derby to get £1.6 billion invested in rail network - thanks...FROM today, an unprecedented £1.6 billion will be pumped into our local rail network to help ensure passengers in Derby are served by a train service befitting its status as a global railway city. And every Derby Telegraph reader can take credit for playing a part in helping shape the future of our railways. When the paper launched its Electrify Our Line campaign two years ago, calling on the Government to fund the electrification of the Midland Main Line, our readers responded,...

London Evening Standard

• London buses to have sensors in bid to cut cyclist and pedestrian deathsLondon's buses are to be fitted with sensors in a road safety trial intended to reduce the number of collisions with pedestrians and cyclists.

Yorkshire Post

• Seven new routes at Leeds Bradford AirportNew Direct flights to Copenhagen are taking off from Leeds Bradford Airport this week, just days after a service to the Danish capital from Humberside was axed by the same airline.

Bucks Free Press

• Minister: HS2 challenges "gumming up" legal process A TRANSPORT boss accused opponents of HS2 of 'gumming up' the process that would lead to the controversial rail project being passed by government.

Other Regional Press

• Call for 20p toilet charge at North Gate bus station to be scrappedCalls have been made to scrap the 20p charge at the North Gate bus station by the borough council’s pensioners forum.
• Easyjet announces plans for 2,500 new jobs at Luton AirportBudget airline easyJet has announced that it will create 2,500 new jobs in the town- if the expansion of London Luton Airport is agreed.
• Foreign lorry drivers to pay the HGV Levy from today to drive into Kent and through the UKNon-British truckers are being forced to pay a levy to drive through Kent and into the UK from today.
• Luton Airport's 10-year deal with easyJet set to create 2,500 new jobsLUTON Airport has signed a new 10-year deal with easyJet which is set to create 2,500 new jobs at the airport and surrounding areas.

Global Rail News

• Network Rail publishes £38bn investment planNetwork Rail is preparing to begin its new five-year funding period – a £38 billion investment programme for the continued operation and improvement of Britain’s railways. Britain’s infrastructure manager has[...]
• Sydney light rail extension openedA $176 million extension of Sydney’s light rail system has opened between Lilyfield and Dulwich Hill. The Inner West Light Rail project has added an extra nine stations to the[...]
• Big reveal at Nottingham stationA freshly-refurbished Nottingham station has been re-opened to passengers as the countdown continues to the completion of a multi-million pound rail investment programme in the city. The Grade 2-listed station’s[...]
• The last piece in the jigsawRegular readers will be familiar with the many different individual engineering projects forming the integrated plan to totally transform the station and surrounding railway infrastructure in the Reading area. Writes Colin Carr This £895 million project, which started in 2008, is now approaching completion. There are various bits and pieces of work still underway in […]

Aviation Industry

• Delta cancels Chicago to Heathrow serviceFlight was due to start in October
• Lufthansa pilots to hold three-day strikeAction to disrupt travellers this week
• Easyjet plans London Luton expansion10-year deal could see new routes and increased flights
• Emirates deploys A380 on Gatwick routeEmirates becomes Gatwick's first A380 airline

Other News Sources

• Boris’s new plan is to axe Heathrow completelyMayor of London Boris Johnson will today lay out a controversial plan to completely get rid of Heathrow Airport and redevelop it in a number of ways.
• Milton Keynes to see driverless cars within 18 monthsMilton Keynes may see driverless cars on its roads in 12-18 months, says Geoff Snelson, Strategy Director of MK Smart, the innovation programme being run in the city.