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

Thursday, 16 October 2014

BBC News

• Blackpool Airport's highs and lows recalledWhen the last passenger flight takes off from Blackpool Airport, it will mark the end of an era for a seaside airstrip which has tasted showbiz razzamatazz but also tragedy.
• Work on park and rides between Reading and Wokingham startsWork is to start later this month to build two park and ride sites between Reading and Wokingham.
• Staffordshire HS2 village criticises council's 'compromise'Villagers in Staffordshire have criticised the county council for allegedly "failing to make a stand" against the HS2 high-speed rail link.
• Where is Network Rail going on the transparency train?Closures of level crossings, the cost of station refurbishments, levels of executive pay, more detailed measures of train performance - these are some of the topics which Network Rail thinks it will be asked about once it is covered by the Freedom of Information Act. That's according to the company's head of transparency, Mark Farrow, who is in charge of its preparations
• New ferries to be built for Clyde and Hebrides networkNew ships are to be ordered for use on the Clyde and Hebrides ferry services network.
• Uber's tax affairs referred to HMRCTaxi service Uber's corporate and tax affairs have been referred to HMRC by London's taxi and minicab regulator Transport for London.
• HS2: Stoke-on-Trent launches business case for stationCity leaders in Stoke-on-Trent have launched their business case for a HS2 station.
• Cardiff and Bristol 'should cooperate on Severn region'The Cardiff and Bristol regions need to work together or risk losing out to the big northern hubs like Manchester, according to the mayor of Bristol.

Department for Transport

• EU Transport Council: 15 October 2014Transport issues discussed at the first Transport Council under the Italian Presidency including rail, road, maritime and air items.
• Minister sees the future of Britain’s train fleetRail Minister Claire Perry toured a mock-up of Hitachi’s new train, part of the government’s £5.7billion Intercity Express Programme.

Financial Times

• Airbus lands $26bn order from IndiGoAircraft maker gets offer to buy 250 A320neo jets
• Carnival links with Chinese shipbuilderJoint venture to design and build China’s first luxury cruise vessels

The Guardian

• MPs call for improved rail links to south-east airportsPetition identifies excessive car journeys as one of the biggest barriers to the future sustainability of airports
• Cycle superhighways row: wheels within wheelsThe PR war over Boris Johnson’s flagship cycling scheme risks impeding its progress

The Mirror

• TOMATOES grow on railway line as union slams 'Dickensian' flushing of train sewage So much sewage has been flushed on the route that it has acted like fertiliser to the undigested seeds within it
• World's largest cruise ship visits Britain - it has SIXTEEN decks catering for 6,3000 passengers The Royal Caribbean liner, which docked in Southampton, is 225,000 tonnes, 70 yards wide and 400 yards long

Belfast Telegraph

• Public urged to saddle up with Belfast City Council's bike hire schemeYou could be at the Odyssey Arena, or Central Station, or Millfield, or the Gasworks – but you will always be able to pick up a bike.

Birmingham Mail

• New Street power cut: Passengers plunged into darkness as four platforms closed Birmingham’s New Street railway station plunged into darkness when a power cut caused “absolute chaosâ€� as four platforms were closed
• Traffic: Birmingham's worst routes for roadworks revealedAs Birmingham recovers from traffic chaos that brought the north of the city to a standstill, we look at Birmingham's most dug up roads.

Bolton News

• Transport bosses 'doing all they can' to reduce traffic chaos caused by guided busway work TRANSPORT bosses say they are

Liverpool Echo

• New device to tackle 'leaves on line' menace on Merseyrail networkWork underway to tackle impact of autumn on rail passengers

The York Press

• Wheelchair user left behind by bus firm THE husband of a disabled woman has slammed a bus company after the couple were repeatedly left on the pavement.

Yorkshire Evening Post

• Images spark fresh criticism of Leeds trolleybus schemeStartling images have revealed the impact Leeds’s trolleybus scheme could have on some of the city’s most prominent buildings.
• Transport giant hails arrival of £3.5m bus fleet in LeedsTransport giant First is aiming to win over new passengers in Leeds as D-Day for the city’s controversial trolleybus scheme moves ever nearer.

Yorkshire Post

• Leeds Bradford Airport needs £98m railway cash to keep up with the northTHE Government has been told it would be “perverse in the extreme” to not link up Leeds Bradford Airport with £600m of northern railway improvements.

Bucks Free Press

• MP calls for Underground link between Watford, Amersham and Chesham A PETITION calling for a direct Tube service from Amersham and Chesham to Watford as part of an extension of the Metropolitan Line has been launched by an MP.

Burnley Express

• MP backing fight on speed through townPendle MP Andrew Stephenson has welcomed police action against speeding motorists in Brierfield and Reedley.

Doncaster Free Press

• £10m eco office scheme promises 134 new jobs for DoncasterLeeds-based property developer Prospect Property Group has been given the go ahead for a £10m environmentally sustainable office scheme at Robin Hood Airport in Doncaster that is set to create over a hundred new jobs.

East Anglian Daily Times

• East Suffolk: Action Group call for Therese Coffey to fight for relief road in same manner as the A14 tollAn action group objecting to the use of a road to service the proposed construction of Sizewell C nuclear power station have called on their MP to help fight their cause.

North Wales Live

• Wirral council urged to back campaign for high speed rail link to LiverpoolLeading Tory Paul Hayes believes authority should back Echo's 'Linking Liverpool' campaign

Other Regional Press

• Watch: Locomotive Sir Nigel Gresley passes through Teesside rail stationsNothing can match the 'spectacle, and magnificence' of the Sir Nigel Gresley locomotive say organisers

Aviation Industry

• Easyjet boosts Amsterdam business travel servicesAirline offering 49 weekly flights to Gatwick

Other News Sources

• Amadeus’ merchandising platform to unlock $130bn in airline revenuesTech firm claims new system can ‘significantly’ increase airline ancillary profits
• Stoke-on-Trent launches business case for HS2 hubCity going up against Crewe to have hub station for £50bn project
• BBT wins journalism awardsBuying Business Travel was delighted to win four trophies at the Business Travel Journalism Awards