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

Wednesday, 23 July 2014

BBC News

• Manston Airport campaigners take petition to Downing StThe fight to reopen a Kent airport has been taken to Downing Street where a petition signed by more than 26,000 people was handed in by campaigners.
• First take-off from new £40m runwayA new flight route between Birmingham and China, the first UK service to operate outside London, lands at the city's airport.
• North-south air link underperformingA subsidised air service between Cardiff and Anglesey is underperforming, a cross-party group of assembly members warns.
• Airlines halt flights into IsraelUS and European airlines suspend flights into Israel's Ben Gurion airport after Israeli police confirmed that a rocket landed one mile away.

The Herald

• Motorists who kill cyclists let off lightlyLESS than half of drivers convicted of killing cyclists in Britain are sent to jail, new figures have revealed.

The Telegraph

• Smart seatbelts monitor heart rate to stop drivers nodding offSpanish engineers are developing a seatbelt which monitors the heart rate of drivers and issues an alert, warning them to pull over, if they are in danger of falling asleep behind the wheel

Daily Express

• Give us more staff at our railway stations - Ann WiddecombeAt Leicester station my perfectly valid ticket was rejected by a rude machine at the barrier and the person who was meeting me had been told she did not need a ticket. We couldn't get out until a passenger came from the other direction and jammed his gate open for us as he passed through.
• Give us more staff at our railway stations - Ann WiddecombeAt Leicester station my perfectly valid ticket was rejected by a rude machine at the barrier and the person who was meeting me had been told she did not need a ticket. We couldn't get out until a passenger came from the other direction and jammed his gate open for us as he passed through.

Daily Record

• Man electrocuted next to Edinburgh railway after he tried to scale a fence near overhead pylonsIT is understood a man in his mid 30s tried to scale a fence next to the track but it appears he came too close to the overhead pylons.

Network Rail

• Local residents invited to tours of Kintbury signal boxNetwork Rail is inviting local residents to find out more about how the railway works by coming on a tour of Kintbury signal box.

Birmingham Mail

• First flight from China lands on Birmingham Airport's new extended runwayBirmingham now the only direct link outside London between the UK and Beijing

Bristol Live

• The Bristol Post commented Editor's comment: Bristol's 20mph speed limit is not workingIN principle it sounded like a good idea. A city-wide 20 mph limit that would reduce the risk of accidents and in juries to pedestrians.The reality is that it is costly and ineffective. It is a speed restriction which seems impossible to enforce and is ignored by virtually everyone including buses and the police.Driving instructor Joel Wreford is the perfect professional to give his views on this because he witnesses the problems caused all day every day.Of course it makes a great soundbite for...

London Evening Standard

• TfL 'must slash £200m bill for telecommunications contracts' The mayor’s spending watchdog has branded Transport for London’s telecommunications contracts as “not fit for purposeâ€� and said its £200m a year bill must be slashed.
• 'Huge area of land needed for birds displaced by Boris Island' Boris Johns dream of a Thames Estuary airport suffered a further setback today as a report claimed a huge amount of conservation land would need to be found to replace habitats destroyed by its construction.

Sheffield Star

• New travel ticket for young people in countySchool and college leavers in South Yorkshire will soon be able to travel on any bus, train or tram for the equivalent of 65p a day – thanks to the TravelMaster SummerSaver ticket.
• Cycling fever returns to SheffieldCity centre cycle racing returns to Sheffield tomorrow evening with warm weather and lingering excitement stirred by the Tour de France expected to produce bumper crowds.

Wales Online

• Crossrail shows how the Welsh economy could be boosted by electrification and other transport investment, MPs claimPublic accounts committee calls for the lessons of £15.8bn London project to be taken on board for HS2

Yorkshire Evening Post

• Tour cycle legacy in West Yorkshire boosted after £2.8m bid is successfulA cycling initiative that has helped riders saddle up in the build-up to the Tour de France has been given a boost.

Yorkshire Post

• Hi-tech help for drivers at
M1 roadworksA HIGHWAYS Agency project that will include some of the most advanced technology to help motorists will get underway on the M1 near Sheffield in South Yorkshire next week.

Bucks Free Press

• Headteacher would be 'surprised' if school transport plan goes ahead A HEADMASTER says he would be “very surprisedâ€� if a council ploughed ahead with plans to amalgamate bus transport for three Wycombe schools.

Crewe Chronicle

• Crewe & Nantwich MP: Improved network will boost economyIn the latest of a series of articles looking at the South Cheshire economy, Barry Ellams questions Crewe and  Nantwich MP Edward Timpson  on transport
• £7m link road could create 2,000 jobs The next stage of a multi-million  pound road investment is under way in  Cheshire East, as part of the All Change  for Crewe programme.

North Wales Live

• Heidi & Pearl pamper passengers before take-off UK's first airport Blow Dry and Beauty Bar opens in Liverpool John Lennon Airport

Other Regional Press

• New railway bridge plan for Offord Cluny unveiledNetwork Rail has unveiled its proposal for a new road bridge over the railway at Offord Cluny.
• Heathrow's £550m compensation offer 'a drop in the ocean'Anti-expansion campaigner says the airport would have to spend billions of pounds to match its European rivals
• Councillor slams Kirklees road surface as 'cheap' and 'dangerous to cyclists' after loose chippings spread on roadKirklees Council criticised for using loose chippings to prolong the life on roads used for Tour de France Grand Depart

The Business Desk

• Stoke HS2 campaigners take their case to WestminsterSTOKE-on-Trent’s campaign to get the HS2 high-speed rail line routed through the city has been presented at Westminster. And High Speed Rail Select Committee chair Ian Mearns MP said the Stoke-on-Trent case for a station is strong.

Aviation Industry

• Duty of care responsibility changed following MH17 crashACTE leader calls for commercial air routes to bypass conflict areas
• Flybe to launch Aberdeen and Berlin routesServices from Birmingham and East Midlands to launch this winter 2014