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

Thursday, 26 February 2015

Cogitamus

• HS2 High speed rail – what’s taking so long?In January 2009, the Department for Transport released a document entitled ‘Britain’s Transport Infrastructure – High Speed Two’ which proposed an entirely new high-speed railway line from London to the West Midlands and the North. Now, more than six years later, with not an inch of track laid and only sporadic coverage of the project in the media, it would be easy to conclude that HS2 had long-since been consigned to the policy dustbin. In this, the first of a series of articles about HS2, we seek to provide an overview of the lengthy legal and political process intended to… More → The ...

BBC News

• Lincoln to Nottingham: Worst service to get more trainsRail passengers travelling between Nottingham and Lincoln are to get extra trains and quicker journeys following funding of £2m, it has been announced.
• Plan to upgrade Inverness Railway StationAbellio has committed to an upgrade of Inverness Railway Station which will cost between £2m and £3m.
• RMT members back First Hull Trains strike over sackingRail workers have voted to take strike action in protest at the "unwarranted" redundancy of a colleague.
• Drivers on mobiles 'often texting or on internet'People who use their mobile phones illegally while driving are more likely to be sending texts or using social media than making a phone call, the Department for Transport says.
• VIDEO: PM wishes Ed Balls a Happy BirthdayIn response to a question about faster rail links in East Anglia, the PM attempts a gentle dig at Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls.
• New Heathrow runway permission 'cannot be bought'Heathrow Airport bosses will not be able to "buy" planning permission for a proposed runway expansion, the foreign secretary has said.
• London cyclists in 23,000 accidents over five yearsThere were 22,988 accidents and 80 deaths involving cyclists in London over five years, according to Department for Transport (DfT) figures.

Financial Times

• Wizz Air shares rise after delayed IPOBudget airline’s revived offering benefits from improved market sentiment
• Qantas soars back into the blackCost cutting and lower fuel prices boosted Australian airline to best results in four years

Mail Online

• Which design for a new Thames footbridge would YOU choose?  Dramatic waterfalls, sweeping cycle lanes and vibrant light displays are just three of the innovative designs for the new London bridge that have been put forward by 74 international teams.

Network Rail

• Network Rail announces significant investment in its contingent labour workforceNetwork Rail will be awarding a series of contracts with contingent labour suppliers to provide workers across the network with a total minimum spend of £450m over five years.

London Evening Standard

• London gets 100 more taxi ranks to make it easier to find a cab The number of taxi ranks on London’s streets is to grow by 100 to make it easier for passengers to find a black cab.
• Revealed: London's most dangerous junctions for cyclists - as transport chiefs under-spend £50m road safety budget The most dangerous junctions for cyclists in London were revealed today as transport chiefs came under attack for under-spending their road safety budget by more than £50 million this year.
• Take the Baker-Lewisham line: the new homes along London's next big Tube line extension from Elephant & Castle to Hayes Homebuyers can get in early on the capital's next big Tube project and find good-value homes in south-east London postcodes along the proposed Bakerloo line extension from Elephant & Castle to Hayes.
• Bus shelter pierces front windows of double decker in crash in Tottenham Disaster was narrowly avoided this morning when a double-decker dramatically smashed into a bus stop in Tottenham.
• Man 'rode horse into train station, launched into racist tirade and threatened to whip staff' A man on horseback charged into a station booking hall before racially abusing staff and threatening them with a riding crop, the British Transport Police has said.

Northern Echo

• Newcastle Airport future under threat if Scottish taxes are slashed, transport minister admits AIRLINES – as well as huge numbers of passengers – will desert a North-East airport if Scotland slashes its taxes, a transport minister has admitted. But Robert Goodwill appeared to rule out lower rates of air passenger duty (APD) in the North, if Scotland presses ahead with plans to cut - or abolish - the tax.

Doncaster Free Press

• Train chaos after vehicle hits Mexborough railway bridgeTrains travelling in and out of Doncaster are currently being disrupted, following a vehicle hitting a railway bridge in Mexborough.

North Wales Live

• SE airports growth can boost Liverpool John Lennon AirportMarch event will put forward argument for Liverpool links

Other Regional Press

• A303/A30 improvement proposals welcomed by Transport MinisterTransport Minister John Hayes has given a commitment that Department for Transport and Highways Agency staff will work with Devon County Council and the Blackdowns AONB to build much needed improvements to the A303/A30.
• Candidate raises possibility of second trackDiscussions are taking place for a second track to be added to Frome's railway line that could see the town linked to London.
• Your chance to design Preston Bus Station’s new youth zoneA global competition has been launched to find a high class design for Preston Bus Station’s new youth zone.
• MP: I had no influence on minister's decision to reject Coventry Gateway planJeremy Wright says he played no role in decision of fellow Tory Eric Pickles to reject Coventry Airport plans

Bus and Coach.com

• Profit up for Go-Ahead buses
• New Limerick-Dublin Airport service launched
• TfL specification Volvo double-decks for Tower Transit
• Major ski operation underway for Johnsons
• New look for new Hayling Island buses
• Growth for former Finglands services from Rusholme
• World’s first pure electric coach
• On-board defribillators to be offered by VDL
• Indcar reaches century with Mobi minibus
• Lima modernises public transport with IVU systems

Rail Magazine

• Improved accessibility for passengers on Great Northern trainsBetter wheelchair facilities to be provided on services to Peterborough, London and Cambridge.
• Freightliner Group sold for £490 millionGenesee & Wyoming to buy Freightliner Group. Deal to close in first quarter of 2015.
• Virgin Trains invests in local dairy farmersVirgin Trains agrees to only supply locally-sourced milk on its train services.

Aviation Industry

• Fuel surcharges may be replaced by higher airfaresBuyers may not benefit from fall in oil prices as demand increases

Other News Sources

• ‘How do we keep control of our future?’UITP chief executive Alain Flausch says the organisation’s World Congress in Milan later this year will provide an opportunity to consider some transformational changes facing public transport     It was a cold, gloomy day last month when I met with Alain Flausch, secretary general of UITP, the international union of public transport, in his office in Brussels. The Belgian has an affable and upbeat nature, but his mood matches the slate-grey sky behind him as we discussed the low oil price. It’s a “very disturbing issueâ€�, he says, because it threatens to undermine public transport. A...
• Out now: Issue 103 of Passenger TransportIssue 103 of Passenger Transport is published on February 27 Contents include:       LEAD STORY Labour turns up the heat on private sector Shadow transport secretary says Labour will ‘bin’ rail franchising system and calls Stagecoach executives ‘boneheads’ for stance on bus regulation   NEWS Train operator profit margins hit new low Merseyrail margins up as losses grow at London Midland PTEG criticises Oxford smart ticketing scheme Oxford’s operator-led SmartZone ticketing scheme has been scrutinised in a new report by PTEG, but Stagecoach has strongly rejected the criticis...
• Labour turns up the heat on private sectorShadow transport secretary says Labour will ‘bin’ rail franchising system and calls Stagecoach executives ‘boneheads’ for stance on bus regulation     The Labour Party has indicated that it would begin the process of reforming bus and rail industry legislation to provide options for greater public sector control immediately “on Day 1â€� if elected to power in May’s general election. The comments came in the wake of an interview with shadow transport secretary Michael Dugher which contained Labour’s hardest rhetoric yet on the perceived failings of the current system. “I’m adamant about...
• Facebook is a useful tool, but there are risksAre you on Facebook? In the UK, 24 million people log on every day and some transport operators are making better use of this forum than others writes Alex Warner    
• Brown: Ability to adapt is key to our survivalGo-Ahead points to record in helping local authorities to deliver their objectives at low cost in making the case for voluntary bus partnerships     Go-Ahead has predicted that the ability to adapt services to meet local authority policies along with building strong reputations in local communities will define whether bus companies survive. At the presentation of the group’s half year results, chief executive David Brown acknowledged the debate across all political parties on the best way to deliver bus services in line with policy shifts towards devolving more power to councils. And...
• Box shipping remains challengingHigher deliveries of container ships, especially ultra-large container ships (ULCSs), will make the sector more challenging in the short term.
• Crossrail worker was crushed to death in 'exclusion zone'A Crossrail engineer killed while working on the £15bn project had entered an “exclusion zoneâ€� where concrete was still setting shortly before he was crushed to death.
• Davina McCall in plea for women to get cycling THE Argus has teamed up with TV presenter and all-round superwoman Davina McCall for her annual Big Sussex Big Ride. Reporter Ben James spoke to the 47-year-old about living in Sussex, her inspirational grandmother and last year’s brutal Sport Relief challenge...