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

Friday, 24 October 2014

BBC News

• Work starts to dismantle Victorian signal box in Deeping St JamesWork has started to dismantle a Victorian signal box, despite a campaign to turn it into a museum.
• Tube contract £80m payout criticisedTransport for London is criticised for paying a company £80m after it failed to deliver a contract.
• Tube employee helped scarf womanA Tube worker may have helped save a woman from being seriously hurt after she was dragged along a platform when her scarf was caught in a train door.
• Qantas back on track to profitAustralia's troubled national carrier Qantas says it is on course to deliver its first pre-tax profits this year in the three months to September.

Financial Times

• Sharp rise in UK train passenger numbersDemand beats levels last seen during demobilisation after the first world war
• Stobart group sees red on debt repayment feesOperating profit fell partly because of restructuring costs at Stobart’s energy business
• Uber’s rise casts shadow over Addison LeeLondon’s largest private car hire group is coming under pressure from the US taxi app

The Guardian

• John Crace’s sketch: Transport complaints run to strict timetablePatrick McLoughlin is ever alert to blockages in the nation’s arteries. With many of its mainline services currently behind schedule, the government’s branch line minister came to the Commons to show everyone how a timetable should work. Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin understands all too well that you can make a cancer patient wait weeks for an appointment, but if it’s standing room only on commuter services from St Albans, then there will be hell to pay.

The Herald

• New lower drink-drive limit before ChristmasA NEW lower drink-drive limit will finally come into force on Scotland's roads before Christmas, meaning that motorists could be breaking the law if they consume a single pint or glass of wine before getting behind the wheel.

The Telegraph

• Lorry speed limit change will cause more deaths but benefit industry, Government assessment showsGovernment raised speed limit for lorries because it benefits haulage industry despite own evidence pointing to increase in deaths and accidents
• Lorry speed limit change will cause more deaths but benefit industry, Government assessment showsGovernment raised speed limit for lorries because it benefits haulage industry despite own evidence pointing to increase in deaths and accidents

Times Online

• Gatwick leaves Heathrow’s plan for a third runway in its slipstream [Subscription]At long last, Britain is on the brink of deciding where to site its badly needed new runway. The Airports Commission, under Sir Howard Davies, has narrowed the choice to either a second runway at Gatwick or a third at Heathrow.

Mail Online

• Woman's scarf got caught in London Underground train doors and dragged along the platform The driver was unaware that the woollen knitted scarf the passenger was wearing around her neck was trapped and started to move the Piccadilly line train at Holborn station in central London.

Network Rail

• Adlington bridge to reopen early as electrification upgrade work progressesTwo bridges in the Chorley area will reopen this week after being rebuilt by Network Rail as part of a £1bn+ investment in the railway in the north of England.
• Manchester Victoria station's Metrolink stop to be completed in early 2015The planned upgrade of the Metrolink stop at Manchester Victoria, which forms a key element of Network Rail’s redevelopment of the iconic city centre station, is now set to be completed in early 2015.

Journal Live

• Full steam ahead at Newcastle College's Rail Academy for next generation of engineersThe state-of-the-art £5m training facility is the first of its kind in the North East and opened its doors to more than 70 students in September
• Nick Forbes: A change to the way we run the buses can deliver services you needNewcastle Council leader Nick Forbes outlines plans for big changes on the bus network, and says passengers will benefit

London Evening Standard

• Tunnel Vision: meet the team that are 'future-proofing' London's tubes Tucked behind the Euston Road, the London offices of design consultancy PriestmanGoode are buzzing. The firm responsible for the revamp of London’s Tube trains only moved in recently and the walls remain bare. The staff are too busy to decorate. Since their design was unveiled by Boris Johnson earlier this month, the phones haven’t stopped ringing. ‘The news was embargoed until 10am,’ says Anna Meyer, the agency’s perky communications manager. ‘The first call came in at 10.01.’

Newcastle Evening Chronicle

• Rail problems expected to continue due to derailed train in GatesheadHourly train services between Newcastle and Sunderland face disruption after train derails

Other Regional Press

• New light for signal boxesTwo railway signal boxes earmarked for demolition in the Deepings appear to have been saved after political intervention.
• National cycling success for groupA FUNDRAISING cycle ride by young people and youth workers from Lancaster has won a national award.

Railnews

• 'Crucial' HS2 supply chain summit in Manchester The construction industry is being advised to prepare for one of the world's largest projects -- the construction of HS2. The first phase between London and the West Midlands, and possibly onwards to Crewe or Stoke, will involve contracts worth £10 billion. 800 delegates from around 500 firms will converge on Manchester Central conference centre today to hear from HS2 Ltd about what will be needed from industry. The transport secretary is describing today's event as 'crucial'.

Aviation Industry

• Lufthansa leaves the computing to IBMGetting out of the business of designing and running computer systems, German airline Deutsche Lufthansa AG is selling its IT services division to IBM and having Big Blue run its internal IT operations. The deal, announced by Lufthansa on Wednesday, comes about as part of the break-up of Lufthansa Systems , a subsidiary of the airline that provides systems integration services.
• Ebola fears not scaring away fliers, two big airlines sayAmerican Airlines and Southwest Airlines today said they have seen no significant impact on bookings from the Ebola crisis. American President Scott Kirby told investors and reporters that bookings fell the Ebola fears not scaring away fliers, two big airlines say American Airlines and Southwest Airlines today said they have seen no significant impact on bookings from the Ebola crisis.
• Wow Air to launch £99 Gatwick to US flightsIcelandic carrier to fly London to Boston and Washington DC

Other News Sources

• Airport repair work 'to start within two weeks' The leaseholder at Shoreham Airport has promised repair work on the listed building will begin within two weeks.