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

Saturday, 06 September 2014

BBC News

• New £40m tram fleet starts runningA new fleet of Midland Metro trams starts running between Wolverhampton and Birmingham.
• Fast charges drive electric car boomNew charging tech drives electric car boom
• Nevada chosen for Tesla factoryThe governor of the US state of Nevada says that the Tesla electric car manufacturer has chosen his state as the site for a $5bn battery factory.
• Tall Ships festival set to beginMore than 50 tall ships arrive in London in preparation for the start of the Tall Ships Festival.

Department for Transport

• Transport Minister opens Bristol station car park and cuts first turf for Devon’s newest train station.Transport Minister Baroness Kramer visited the south-west today (5 September 2014) to see how 2 rail improvement schemes will transform journeys for thousands of passengers.
• Roads Minister experiences first hand the challenges of managing England’s motorway network.Roads Minister John Hayes has embarked on a marathon 26-mile tour of major motorways in the West Midlands – the birthplace of the roads revolution

Financial Times

• Lufthansa hit by pilot strikes againDispute between company and pilots focused on pay and benefits, with Lufthansa denouncing the latest industrial action as ‘incomprehensible’
• Alstom accused of bribing officialsSerious Fraud Office alleges that French conglomerate’s UK subsidiary hid payments in exchange for winning key contracts

The Guardian

• What your politics says about your public transport choicesWe asked Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat and Ukip supporters what they like and dislike about public transport
• Italy flights cancelled due to strikeRyanair and EasyJet cancelling flights on Saturday as disruption caused by strike by air traffic controllers in Italy
• How does your political allegiance affect your views on public transport?A survey on how voters feel about different types of transport demonstrates how fundamentally we all conform to type

The Herald

• Flights cancelled because of Italy's air strikeUK AIR passengers are facing major disruption due to a strike by Italian air traffic controllers, with scores of flights cancelled.

The Telegraph

• Watch: lorries narrowly avoid road workers and car passengersDramatic clips of lorries almost crashing into motorway maintenance workers and car passengers have been released by the Highways Agency

Network Rail

• Station retail continues to shineFigures released today by Network Rail have revealed more evidence of the changing face of modern retail with in-station retail spend once again outperforming the high street average, and growing for the ninth quarter in a row.
• Drop-in session for residents to find out more about Templars Way bridge reconstructionMembers of the public are invited to attend a drop-in-event to find out more about the reconstruction of Templars Way bridge in Bedford.

Birmingham Post

• New 'smoother and quieter' Midland Metro trams go into service Sir Albert Bore, leader of Birmingham City Council, was joined by Coun Darren Cooper, leader of Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council, at the ribbon-cutting event at Birmingham Snow Hill Station

Bolton News

• All change: Bolton train station to get fifth platform back A FIFTH platform is set to return to Bolton train station - paving the way for a revival of Scottish services.

London Evening Standard

• London flights experience delays and cancellations due to Italian air traffic controllers strike Flights out of London are facing major disruption due to industrial action by Italian air traffic controllers.

Wales Online

• Historic steam train to arrive in Aberystwyth for first time in 92-yearsPalmerston engine was loaned from the Ffestiniog railway periodically from 1912 to 1922 to work the railway to Devil's Bridge

Doncaster Free Press

• Vandals cost thousands after damaging Doncaster bus sheltersThousands of pounds worth of damage has been caused to bus shelters across Doncaster.

Other Regional Press

• POLL: Should an extra runway be built at Heathrow Airport?This week's poll focuses on airport expansion following news that the Airports Commission has rejected the new Thames Estuary 'Boris Island' airport plan.
• Deeping St James signal box plans are ‘not good enough’Campaigners fighting to save their signal box told Network Rail their response was “not good enough” at a public meeting.

Bus and Coach.com

• Cloud updates for Go-Ahead engineersGo-Ahead is using cloud collaboration services to improve productivity in its bus and train companies' engineering departments.
• Revenue rises at Go-AheadRevenue at the Go-Ahead Group for the year to 28 June was up 5,1 per cent, from £2,572million last year to £2,702million.
• Electric Trident for York city toursA 1999 Dennis Trident operated by Transdev on City Sightseeing tours in York has been converted to run on electricity by Magtec.
• Flywheel hybrids in Oxford serviceThe first new flywheel hybrid ADL Enviro400s have entered service with the Oxford Bus Company, which is taking 14 for its BrookesBus network.

Other News Sources

• £5m Blackburn bus station taking shape BLACKBURN’S new bus station is starting to take shape.
• Gatwick and Heathrow head-to-head as 'Boris Island' rejectedExpansion plans at either Heathrow or Gatwick are the only options remaining in a scheme to increase airport capacity as controversial plans for a new airport in the Thames estuary are rejected
• New South West Trains carriages set to be in service by 2018The £210 million order will allow deliver an extra 18,000 passengers with the trains being used on the company's main suburban network