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

Thursday, 23 October 2014

BBC News

• Fall in deaths on Scottish roadsStatistics show the number of people killed and injured on Scotland's roads fell by 10% last year.
• E-cigarettes ban on London transportE-cigarettes are banned by Transport for London (TfL) across the whole transport network
• Government money for 83 green busesThe Scottish Government has allocated £3.7m towards the cost of buying another 83 low carbon emission buses.
• US airbag recall expands to 7.8m carsUS car safety regulators expand a recall of vehicles with potentially dangerous Takata airbags to 7.8 million, warning that owners should take 'immediate action'.
• Boeing raises annual profit forecastAerospace giant Boeing has raised its forecast for profits this year and says it has a record backlog of orders.
• Car insurance premiums 'creeping up'UK car insurance premiums have risen for the first time in more than two years, with further rises predicted.

Financial Times

• Boeing lifted by booming aircraft demandCommercial demand lifts third-quarter earnings 18%
• HS2 chief likely to rule out big changesSir David Higgins to remake economic case for current proposal
• Eurotunnel traffic hits record levelsChannel tunnel operator shares rise on 3Q results

The Herald

• Capital in move to ban cars from streets around schoolsTRAFFIC could be banned from streets surrounding 11 Edinburgh primary schools in a move to improve pupil safety.
• Third bus-tram collision in Edinburgh centreA BUS has been in collision with one of Edinburgh's trams for the third time in three months.

The Scotsman

• Edinburgh tram and bus collide in city centreA BUS collided with a tram for the third time in three months yesterday in Edinburgh’s West End.
• Driverless cars in 2015: UK transport minister2015 could be the year of the driverless car and truck, UK transport minister Claire Perry said today as she announced a new study into their acceptability among other road users.

The Telegraph

• Driverless buses on the wayClaire Perry reveals one major company has already held talks about introducing computer-controlled buses in UK

Mail Online

• Cambodians create bamboo 'rail taxis' on abandoned train line Rail travel rarely seems as genteel as a ride on the 'nori' train - an abandoned line in rural Cambodia where locals have fashioned individual engines from bamboo and old tanks.

Birmingham Post

• Labour MP brands smart motorways 'not so smart' Shadow Transport Secretary says £360m schemes designed to ease congestion on very busy sections of West Midlands motorways are a safety risk

London Evening Standard

• Stealth ban on e-cigarettes on all of London's buses, trains and Tubes... but not bus stops E-cigarettes have been banned on the entire public transport network in London, the Standard has learnt.
• Homes hotspots to watch: the London areas where Crossrail will slash commutes by 30 minutes We find homes along the first stretch of the west-east London Crossrail route - from Reading to West Drayton - that will offer commuters much faster journey times.

Newcastle Evening Chronicle

• Shadow transport secretary criticised over implying Hexham is North of Newcastle commentLabour shadow transport secretary Mary Creagh has been ridiculed by Conservative opponents for saying the A1 goes North to Hexham

Northern Echo

• Bus regulation deal taken to next stage COUNCILLORS have backed plans which would see bus services taken back under local authority control.
• Minister to quiz airport over wind turbine deal A GOVERNMENT minister is demanding answers from a North-East airport that agreed to drop safety-related objections to renewable energy schemes after striking a £10,000 deal with the developer.

The York Press

• Bus service reinstated to help stranded Tadcaster residents A BUS company says it has come to the aid of stranded extra care residents in Tadcaster, following a year-long campaign to get a service reinstated.

Wales Online

• M4 relief road is headed for a public inquiry in two years time, says transport minister Edwina HartMammoth £1 billion project could be hauled over by an inspector during the winter of 2016 & 2017
• Dualling work to the A40 in Pembrokeshire could be moving a step closer, says AM Paul DaviesPreseli Pembrokeshire AM Paul Davies said the dualling of the A40 carriageway is a 'necessary transport upgrade for West Wales'
• Violent assaults on Welsh train network show increase despite fall in overall number of most serious crimes, new report showsWelsh Government figures show overall crime on the railway network is down despite the spike in 'rail rage' attacks, while the number of rail users increased year-on-year

Yorkshire Evening Post

• End destination up ahead for Leeds trolleybus inquiryTHE PUBLIC inquiry into Leeds’s controversial trolleybus plans is moving into its final stages.

Bucks Free Press

• Chiltern Railways trains running normally after a tree was cleared from the tracks Passengers were facing delays of up to an hour after a tree fell on the line between Seer Green and Gerrards Cross.
• Gillan hits out at HS2 compensation scheme in House of Commons debateCHERYL Gillan said in a Parliamentary debate this week the vast majority of people affected by HS2 building work "will not be compensated fairly".

Doncaster Free Press

• HS2 commissioner to help Sheffield people with compensation claimsPeople living close to the planned route of the HS2 railway line who may be eligible to receive Government compensation are to get help.

The Shields Gazette

• All aboard for bus services shake-upLEADERS of seven North East councils have voted in favour of a scheme which will transform the way bus services are run.

Other Regional Press

• Heathrow flight path testing not behind airplane complaintsNew flight paths being tested by Heathrow are not the reason for an increase in complaints about planes flying over Epsom, it has emerged.
• Northamptonshire MP to accompany HS2 Select Committee on visit to locations affected by proposed railway lineSouth Northamptonshire MP Andrea Leadsom will be accompanying members of the HS2 Select Committee on a visit to the county next week when they will look at sites that would be affected by the proposed new railway line.
• 1,300-space multi-storey car park to be built on site of new Northampton railway stationWork is set to start on a 1,300- space multi-storey car park, which could begin to serve the new Northampton railway station by late 2015.
• GONE IN TEN SECONDS: Greyfriars bus station in Northampton to be demolished in ‘controlled, intiated collapse’A ‘controlled, initiated collapse’ will see the building once dubbed the ‘mouth of hell’ reduced to rubble in about 10 seconds, it has been revealed.

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• Devolving powers to cities 'could deliver £79bn boost' Devolving powers to cities in the UK could boost the economy by £79 billion, according to the City Growth Commission.  The organisation has deemed the UK's centralised political economy 'not fit for purpose' and warned that centralised attempts at debt management would fail in the long term. Sufficient decision-making powers on issues such as transport, as well as financial flexibilities, need to be devolved to city regions for them to become financially self-sustainable, the report argues. Doing so will be a "huge" challenge, the co...

Aviation Industry

• Lufthansa threatened with further strike actionAction by pilots declared legal
• Boeing and COMAC partner to turn cooking oil into jet fuelCompanies open facility to make 160 gallons of biofuel a day
• Bristol airport: devolved APD would give Cardiff ‘unfair advantage’CEO speaks out over plans to devolve powers to Wales