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

Wednesday, 29 July 2015

BBC News

• New city rail station plans unveiledFresh plans are drawn up for the biggest transformation of Cardiff Central railway station since it was built in the 1850s.
• Bus lane error wipes out 700 finesMore than 700 fines handed to motorists using Belfast bus lanes are cancelled because of a
• VIDEO: Police to probe Tube killer claimAn ex-detective's claims 12 people were murdered by the same man on the London Underground between 1953 and 1983 are described by the Met chief as
• Braking error led to spaceship crashInvestigators say a fatal Virgin Galactic spaceship crash last year was caused by structural failure after the co-pilot unlocked a braking system early.

Department for Transport

• Smart ticketing to transform travel for Southeastern passengersJourneys between London, Kent and parts of East Sussex will be simplified as Southeastern signs up for smart cards.

Financial Times

• Virgin rocket cleared despite safety fearsProbe finds regulator saw scope for human error but still issued waiver to rules

The Guardian

• Virgin Galactic pilot tells of falling from the sky after SpaceShip Two broke up Peter Siebold found himself plummeting through the frozen air after co-pilot pulled the wrong lever, destroying craft Related: Virgin Galactic crash: co-pilot unlocked braking system too early, inquiry finds Free-falling miles above the desert, his test spaceship ripped to pieces and the frigid air hard to breathe, pilot Peter Siebold struggled through crippling injuries to turn on his oxygen and just to stay conscious. Continue reading...
• Theresa May to chair Cobra meeting as Cameron pushes for end to Calais crisisHome secretary will hold emergency meeting on Wednesday morning, after prime minister says government is doing ‘everything we can’ to stop migrantsHome secretary Theresa May will chair an emergency Cobra ministerial meeting on Wednesday morning on the growing Calais migrant crisis, David Cameron has announced. Related: Fleeting fixtures and precarious lives in the migrant camp of Fortress Calais Continue reading...

The Scotsman

• Row over new cheap ScotRail fares for over-50sSCOTRAIL was today accused of making new discount fares for older rail passengers less generous and more complicated than the ones they will replace as it launched its Club 50 scheme.

The Telegraph

• Operation Stack back in force on M20 as Foreign Office warns 'stay clear of Calais'Lorries are once again being parked on the M20 as a 'heavy volume' of traffic led police to reintroduce emergency closures
• Virgin Galactic crash 'caused by pilot error' says official investigationVirgin Galactic's training company was critcised for not having safety procedures in place to prevent the accidental unlocking of SpaceShipTwo's braking system by co-pilot

Mail Online

• Chaos in Knightsbridge as Porsche 918 Spyder is washed on Brompton Road Motorists were forced to slow down and bus drivers had to change lanes so they could safely pass the Porsche 918 Spyder while it was meticulously detailed on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge.

The Mirror

• Driver who pulled into bus lane to avoid ambulance slams 'ludicrous' council for slapping her with £60 fine Lynne Plaxton, 50, from Hull, thought she was obeying the rules of the road, but instead was punished with a fixed penalty notice

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• Bus company under fire for diverting services from Bradford housing estate COUNCILLORS have criticised a bus company for imposing changes to services they say will leave residents on a Bradford estate stranded for two months.

London Evening Standard

• District Line delays: Seven drivers 'sent home for refusing to take trains into service on safety grounds' The Tube dispute, with another 24-hour strike scheduled for next week, today took a dramatic turn for the worst after seven drivers were sent home for refusing to take trains into service on safety grounds.
• Sadiq Khan: I’ll tackle bus strikes with equal pay Sadiq Khan today pledged to deal with one of the major causes of strikes across the London bus network.
• Eurotunnel delays: 2,000 migrants believed to have stormed Calais terminal Thousands of migrants hoping to make their way into Britain stormed the Eurotunnel terminal in Calais last night.
• Cyclist picks up car blocking cycle lane with his BARE HANDS This was the incredible moment a disgruntled cyclist lifted a parked car blocking a cycle lane with his bare hands.

Wales Online

• More than half of bus users do not know where their bus will go from despite closure on Saturday, poll findsA Wales Online poll has found 56% of bus users questioned do not know where their bus will go from after Saturday's closure

Yorkshire Post

• Revamp of station needed to cope with HS2 planBusinesses across Yorkshire have called for a full-scale revamp of Leeds City Station to help cope with the expected increase in passenger numbers and the HS2 scheme.
• 600 drivers a day caught by new bus lane camerasCONTOVERSIAL bus lane cameras have caught 600 motorists a day since they were switched on in Hull earlier this month.

Other Regional Press

• Bus firm urged to listen to concernsMedway’s Labour Group has called on Arriva to listen to residents’ concerns over changes to bus services.

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• Highland airport passenger numbers upThe airport operators for the Highlands and Islands have reported a 5% increase in passenger numbers. The increase for the three months up to June came despite a 48-hour strike by security staff at the start of April. Highlands and Islands Airports Limited (HIAL) said they now expected airports like Inverness to have their busiest ever summer. Much of the growth was at HIAL's Inverness hub which saw passenger numbers up by 12%. A new weekly summer service to Zurich and strong demand for Dublin and Manchester flights also helped to boost numbers. Earlier this year, additional car parking ca...
• Denmark-Germany undersea Fehmarn tunnel gets go-aheadDenmark has got EU approval for a 19km (12-mile) undersea road-rail tunnel that will cut journey times to Germany. The €8.7bn (£6bn; $9.6bn) Fehmarn Belt project will get €589m of EU funding. The EU Commission said it complied with EU state aid rules and would boost transport links between central Europe and Scandinavia. The tunnel will connect the Danish island of Lolland with Germany's Fehmarn island. Construction will start in January, and it should open in 2024. There will be a four-lane motorway alongside a double-track railway. The link will provide a fast corridor betwee...
• Bus travel youth discount scheme to begin in SeptemberAll 16 to 18-year-olds in Wales will be able to save a third off the price of adult bus fares from 1st September, Welsh ministers have announced. The Welsh Young Persons Discounted Travel Scheme applies to local journeys and longer distance TrawsCymru routes. The project, costing £15m between now and April 2017, is part of a Labour-Liberal Democrat deal to pass the Welsh government's budget. The first minister launched the scheme at an event in Corwen, Denbighshire. Carwyn Jones encouraged all 110,000 16 to 18-year-olds in Wales to register their interest at Gov....
• Smart ticketing to transform travel for Southeastern passengersRail passengers in Kent and parts of East Sussex will soon benefit from more convenient and smoother journeys thanks to a £5.5 million plan to roll out smart cards across Southeastern’s network. Southeastern will bring in smart cards, initially for season tickets only, as an alternative to paper tickets from December 2016. This follows a deal with the Department for Transport as part of the government-funded South East Flexible Ticketing (SEFT) programme. Work will now begin to upgrade Southeastern’s ticketing systems and equipment to allow passengers to use smart cards to t...
• New Board appointments for Unipart RailUnipart Rail have recently announced the appointment of three new Board members for the Traction and Rolling Stock (T&RS) sector of their business. The appointments are Kevin Orton who assumes the role of Sales Director, UK and Ireland, Balazs Berki is promoted to International Business Development Director and Karen Beardsley who becomes Supply Chain Director. All three appointments are focused on supporting the business plans for growth both in the UK and internationally. George Tillier, Managing Director of Unipart Rail T&RS commented 'we are now providing a broader range of service...
• Sheffield bus drivers named 'best in northern England' at company awards Two bus drivers based in Sheffield have been named by First Bus as its best in the North of England at a company awards ceremony held in Leeds recently.  Daniel Graham, 32, and Michael Ferns, 55, both work out of First Sheffield’s Olive Grove depot, and have beaten over 5,000 drivers from across Yorkshire and Manchester to be crowned the best drivers at the 2015 First UK Bus Excellence Awards.  Driver of the Year, Daniel Graham, only joined First Sheffield 20 months ago. From Brimington, Chesterfield, Daniel is nicknamed ‘Mr Smiley’ and First bosses hold him up as...
• Shortage of UK driving staff could bring £74bn transportation industry to a standstillResearch from supply management specialist Comensura reveals that the £74bn UK transportation industry could become gridlocked due to a growing driver shortage, largely caused by an ageing workforce and young candidates being dissuaded by the cost of the Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (Driver CPC). Half of specialist driver recruiters cite a low candidate availability, coupled with the rising demand that creates a staffing gap in the sector. Availability is the lowest for Moffat, HIAB and ADR drivers- with up to nine out of ten recruiters saying that there’s a low a...

Rail Magazine

• c2c to increase peak-time capacityc2c to increase capacity on 17 of its 74 Class 357 Electrostars

Railnews

• Calais crisis: government's emergency committee meets The government's emergency COBRA committee is meeting today to discuss the growing crisis at Calais, while reports from France say a body has been found near the Channel Tunnel. If true, it will be the latest of several fatalities. The Tunnel was closed again yesterday, and last night an estimated 1,500 migrants attempted to breach the security zone boundaries and invade lorries and Eurotunnel services bound for Britain. The Freight Transport Association wants the army to be brought in, while the French authorities are calling for the border to be moved from Calais to the English side. The pr...

Aviation Industry

• Biden, former critic of NY's LaGuardia Airport, upbeat on redesignVice President Joe Biden, who last year compared New York's LaGuardia Airport to
• United Airlines' pilots up in arms over management's stock buyback planIn the wake of last week's announcement that United Airlines would launch a $3 billion stock repurchase effort, United pilots are seriously questioning the wisdom of that move by management of the Chicago-based airline. In a strongly-worded memo sent late last week to his fellow 12,500-plus unionized United pilots, Jay Heppner , a United captain and chairman of the United chapter of the Air Line Pilots Association , wrote that
• Lufthansa agrees Concur deal for direct bookingsAgreement will allow management of flights booked through airline’s website

Other News Sources

• Hitachi Rail Europe Wins First Traffic Management Contract in UKThe FINANCIAL -- Hitachi Rail Europe (HRE) today held a ceremonial event at its Global Headquarters in London to mark the awarding and signing of the Thameslink contract for Traffic Management (TM) in partnership with Network Rail Infrastructure Limited (“Network Rail”).
• Rejection of M20 contraflow proposal – frustrating says FTAThe rejection by Highways England of a contraflow on the M20 in Kent during Operation Stack has been described as “extremely frustratingâ€� by the ...
• Visit Passengerfta at Coach & Bus Live 2015Passengerfta will demonstrate its range of services and products specifically designed for passenger carrying vehicle (PCV) operators at Coach ...
• Radius signs expanded tech deal with TravelportTMC’s member agency will get greater access to sales platforms