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

Friday, 18 April 2014

Cogitamus

• Peak Car – the Future of TravelBy Paul Beckford, Director of Parliamentary Affairs, Cogitamus Limited I was recently at University College London for the launch a new book by Professor David Metz. As Professor Metz is a former Chief Scientific Advisor to the Department for Transport, I was especially keen to hear what he had say on the subject of his book, ‘Peak Car – the Future of Travel’. The main thrust of the book is that the UK has reached the peak of car usage and that this means there are a number of policy options open to Government in planning for the future. Professor…More →

BBC News

• Luton and Dunstable busway figures 41% of those forecast"The bankers" are to blame for passenger numbers on the Luton and Dunstable guided busway being 41% of those forecast, the council has said.
• The level crossing warsCampaigns to save level crossings are being waged across Great Britain, despite many considering them dangerous anachronisms. It's a dispute that reveals much about people's attitudes towards risk.
• Channel Tunnel due back to normalChannel Tunnel rail services are expected to return to normal on Good Friday morning after being hit by severe disruption.
• Tube staff plan five days of strikesRMT workers on the London Underground are to take five days of strike action according to the union.
• Bus operator to axe 14 servicesThe biggest bus operator in Wales announces it will axe 14 services and reduce eight others as it cuts its fleet by 10%.

Channel 4 News

• UK Cuts to bus subsidies could leave the vulnerable 'stranded'Cuts in bus subsidies are "socially regressive" and threaten to leave elderly people stranded say campaigners and opposition politicians.

Financial Times

• Tube strike threat to London commutersSevere travel disruption looms after the Rail and Maritime Union announce five days of strikes following a breakdown in talks with management
• Uber taxi service suffers Berlin setbackGoogle-backed start-up suffers second blow in a week in Europe after a Berlin taxi association wins an interim injunction against its service

The Independent

• Tube strike: RMT union calls five days of action over London Underground ticket office closures London Underground staff have voted to stage five days of strike action over the decision to close Tube ticket offices.
• Inside London Underground's lost property office: Umbrellas, dentures and... human ashes Amid the daily crush of the London Underground, it’s easy for stressed and hassled commuters and tourists to forget umbrellas, cameras, iPads and… human ashes.
• Bus subsidies slashed leaving less-used routes to close or cut back Unprofitable bus routes are being scrapped or scaled back because of deep cuts in support from councils whose budgets are being squeezed, new figures disclose today.
• Easter weekend travel: Eurostar and Eurotunnel disruption leaves thousands on wrong side of Channel on Good Friday Thousands of travellers who had been hoping to make an early getaway for the Easter break woke up this morning on the wrong side of the Channel following severe disruption to Eurostar and Eurotunnel services.

The Telegraph

• Eurostar delays cause late start to Easter holidaymakersPassengers on Eurostar trains subjected to four-hour delays due to technical failure and line fatality

Daily Record

• Bus driver who took both hands off wheel to check takings while doing 60mph on M8 is to face traffic commissioner probe TRAFFIC commissioner Joan Aitken has applauded the passenger who filmed the driver on the Edinburgh-Glasgow service, as we revealed yesterday.

Mail Online

• Tube strike for 5 DAYS in the next few weeks over ticket office closures The industrial action announced by the RMT Union today will be the first since the death of its firebrand leader Bob Crow last month.
• Rail chaos hits Easter getaway with thousands of passengers stranded at St Pancras station after 14 Eurostar trains were cancelled The great Easter getaway got off to a nightmare start last night as travel chaos hit one of Britain’s busiest stations.

Network Rail

• Information event to find out more about Norton Bridge flyoverResidents and local businesses are being invited to discover more about a multi-million pound investment which will remove one of the last remaining bottlenecks on the West Coast main line.

Birmingham Mail

• Summer chaos on the trains: Union warning over plans to axe jobs London Midland plan to cut 150 railway jobs could spark industrial action, say union chiefs

Derby Telegraph

• Martin_Naylor commented Three jailed for shining laser pen at planes landing at East...THREE men have been jailed after a laser pen was shone into the cockpits of planes landing at East Midlands Airport. Alex Aaron Parker, Craig Appleby and Luke Walters were caught outside the airport's perimeter fence, shining the bright green laser beam at the aircraft. Two passenger flights and a cargo plane were targeted by the laser, which was also shone into the control tower, causing an air traffic controller to suffer momentary blindness and eye pain. The pilot of the cargo plane had to...

London Evening Standard

• TfL spent close to £500,000 on counselling 'stressed' staffAlmost half a million pounds was spent on counselling for staff at Transport for London last year, the Standard can reveal.
• Road and train delays hit the Easter getaway Travellers were warned of road and rail delays as the great Easter getaway started today.
• Tube strike: London Underground staff to stage five day walk over ticket office closuresLondon Underground workers are to stage five days of strike action in the coming weeks in the long-running row over Tube ticket office closures.

Wales Online

• Wales' biggest bus operator axes services and downsizes fleet by 10% Stagecoach, which runs almost 400 vehicles in Wales and employs 900, blaming

Yorkshire Post

• Bus subsidies ‘cut by up to 55pc’Bus subsidies across England have been slashed by as much as 55 per cent by councils, according to figures uncovered by Labour.

Burnley Express

• £½m spend on key X43 bus route NEARLY £500,000 is set to be spent improving the main bus corridor between Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale.

East Anglian Daily Times

• Suffolk: Rural bus services in county suffer huge cut in subsidies – LabourSubsidies for rural bus services in Suffolk saw some of the biggest cuts in the country over the last four years according to new figures compiled by the Labour Party.

Peterborough Telegraph

• Anger over rise in weekly cost of bus ticket without SmartcardBus passengers in Peterborough have spoken of their anger after weekly fares rose by 50p - despite being told the tickets’ cost was being frozen.

Other Regional Press

• Catch The Bus Week: North East Lincolnshire motorists encouraged to ditch their cars to reduce carbon emissions IF EVERYONE switched just one car trip a month to a bus, that would be one billion fewer car journeys on the roads and a saving of two-million tonnes of CO2.
• Council to petition Government on HS2 over ‘height of planned line’ and ‘tranquility’South Northamptonshire Council is to petition the Governmnet over plans for the HS2 rail project.
• New road to be named after ex-Preston mayorA new road on a social housing development could be named after an honorary alderman and former Mayor of Preston.
• Eurotunnel passengers face waits of up to six hours and Eurostar travellers face separate misery in Easter gridlockAll of tonight's Eurostar services have been cancelled and Eurotunnel passengers face huge delays on a day of travel misery.
• Kent rail passengers braced for severe disruption on Southeastern trains over Easter weekendKent rail passengers face severe problems this weekend as the Easter getaway clashes with major engineering work.
• Northern Rail to revamp seats on trains on Huddersfield lineHuddersfield commuters are set to benefit from a £2.7bn investment on the East Coast line and a revamp of Northern Rail's 153 Class fleet

Global Rail News

• Japanese company begins manufacturing ‘world’s longest rails’A Japanese steel works has completed an upgrade of its facilities which will allow it to manufacture and ship 150-metre length rails. Described by Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation[...]

Aviation Industry

• Government publishes new guidelines for airport consultative committeesThe Department for Transport has published a new set of guidelines for airport consultative committees which replace the previous guidelines introduced in 2003. We provided a detailed response to the DfT’s draft guidelines and we appreciate that some of our suggestions were taken on board. Particularly, we are pleased that a section on consultative committees […]
• Heathrow Express staff to strike for two daysTrain operator vows to continue running services despite industrial action

Other News Sources

• East Coast boosted by £2.7 billion train dealTransport secretary unveils plans for 500 new carriages on network