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

Sunday, 28 June 2015

BBC News

• Train driver pay dispute escalatesScotRail train drivers are set to vote on possible industrial action after pay talks broke down between management and unions.
• VIDEO: Rail services 'better run by TfL'Some rail services from north Kent to London could be better run by Transport for London, say politicians from the London Assembly.

Financial Times

• AirAsia CEO pledge to prove critics wrongTony Fernandes rejects highly critical report by analysts of budget carrier’s accounting practices
• Uber dials in to India call centre generationTaxi apps entice white-collar workers to desert IT careers for higher pay as cab drivers

The Guardian

• New fears arise that UK rail financial crisis will hit HS2Fresh evidence has emerged that the financial crisis that crashed plans for a rail link to build a northern powerhouse is set to embroil HS2, with documents showing that officials have spent £1.3m on a review to reassure ministers of its viability.
• London Overground: A Day’s Walk Around the Ginger Line by Iain Sinclair review – an unpredictable voyageFrom Hampstead to Clapham Junction, we’re on the road again with the much-imitated wandering scribe. Long may his legs hold outSomeone should invent the literary equivalent of an Instagram filter to turn workaday prose Iain Sinclairean. It would calculate a rapt noirish vision from ordinary ambulatory sights such as that of a car-squashed bird: “A first-light pigeon catastrophe at the crown of a frosted road.â€� It would plug into a prodigious textual database, enabling the user to generate, on demand, erudite references to centuries of place-specific fact and fiction....

The Independent

• Heathrow emerges as favourite over Gatwick for expansion but Cabinet split over new runway David Cameron and George Osborne are considering backing the controversial Heathrow airport expansion, with heavy environmental conditions, in a move that will enrage green campaigners and put the loyalty of several Cabinet ministers to the test.

The Scotsman

• Shares in SpaceandPeople surge after Network Rail dealSHARES in SpaceandPeople, the Glasgow-based promotions and marketing firm, rose sharply last night after the company announced it had been named as preferred bidder for a significant contract.

The Telegraph

• Heathrow vs Gatwick expansion plans: the debate for and against runways at London’s two main airportsThe long-awaited - and controversial - Airports Commission Report into the future of airport expansion is due to be published. But what is it, why was it set up and what is it likely to conclude?
• Farewell T1: Heathrow terminal to close after 47 yearsHeathrow's Terminal 1 building will close tomorrow, 47 years after it was opened by the Queen. The final departure will be a British Airways flight to Hanover - appropriate given that BEA (the forerunner to BA) was the first airline to fly from there.

Times Online

• Network Rail seeks private cash deal [Subscription]TREASURY officials and the board of Network Rail are examining plans for a quasi-privatisation of the railway company that they hope will improve day-to-day performance and stop cost overruns on big projects.
• Motorists pay heavy price for toll muddleAn error-plagued toll scheme at one of Britain’s busiest road bottlenecks has resulted in twice as many fines as those generated by all our speed cameras combined, reports Dominic Tobin
• Pollution could choke Heathrow planHEATHROW is expected this week to be named as the preferred location for a new runway — but the door is likely to be left open to Gatwick as well. An expected “fudge” by the Airports Commission will allow ministers to pick Gatwick if building a third runway at Heathrow would breach air pollution laws.

Daily Express

• The Government needs to expand either Heathrow or Gatwick NOW, business chiefs warnBusiness chiefs are warning the Government it needs to implement the expansion of either Heathrow or Gatwick airport urgently or risk damage to the economy.

Mail Online

• Kuwait Airways plane makes emergency landing at London's Heathrow Airport Flight KU188 is believed to have declared an emergency over Belgium, and turned back to land in the UK.

Birmingham Post

• Call for end to Birmingham schools' traffic carnage Parent tells councillors it is dangerous taking her children to school owing to mass of traffic outside
• Deadliest cycle routes in the West Midlands revealed Four cyclists injured a day as figures highlight West Midlands' most dangerous roads

Newcastle Evening Chronicle

• Deaths or serious injury on North roads rises for first time in 18 years Warning after more people killed or seriously hurt on North roads in 2014 compared to 2013 - the first rise since 1997

Northern Echo

• Bus company upgrades fleet in £5.3m dealGo North East has spent £5.3m to buy 25 new buses and upgrade 10 others serving customers in the Consett, Stanley and Chester-le-Street area.

Wales Online

• Young railway engineer Louise Bungay makes her mark in the battle of the sexesBut Louise is still only among a handful of women making it in roles traditionally dominated by men

Bucks Free Press

• Gillan calls for answers over HS2 costs Cheryl Gillan is to call for an updated analysis of HS2's costs after major rail upgrade plans will be delayed.

Reading Evening Post

• New bus provider for Reading to Bracknell routeMartijn Gilbert, chief executive of Reading Buses, said: “We look forward to welcoming customers and employees on route 90 to Reading Buses. “This will see us serve a new corridor which is a good fit with our route network and ongoing strategy to serve the growing economic needs of Reading and the surrounding region.

Other News Sources

• Airport to be world class ‘if new runway is built’ THESE are the first designs showing what Gatwick would look like if bosses are given the go-ahead to build a second runway.