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

Tuesday, 04 August 2015

BBC News

• Delta and American Airlines ban transport of big-game trophiesDelta and American Airlines have banned the shipment of big-game trophies on flights after the illegal killing of Cecil the lion in Zimbabwe.
• Queen to open new Borders railwayThe Queen is to officially open the new rail line between the Scottish Borders and Edinburgh next month.
• Airline restores service to New YorkUnited Airlines is to restore its year-round service from Belfast to New York.
• 'Kill your speed, not my daddy'Safety signs by the children of construction workers are thought to have resulted in slower driving speeds through roadworks in Cheshire.
• Plan to modernise Tube 'doubles'The cost of modernising signalling on four Tube lines more than doubles.
• Look no hands: Self-driving carsThe future for driverless cars
• Rail workers hold bank holiday strikeFirst Great Western rail workers are to stage strikes, including over the August Bank Holiday weekend, the Rail, Maritime and Transport union says.
• German carmakers buy Nokia's mappingGerman vehicle manufacturers Audi, BMW and Daimler are buying Nokia's Here digital mapping business for 2.8bn euros (£2bn).

Financial Times

• US transport systems slip off the railsMillions of commuters suffer delays as urban networks are starved of funds
• Tube workers to strike over night serviceWalkout set to start on Wednesday evening
• Tube upgrade to finish 4 years lateThales awarded £760m contract after Bombardier deal collapsed

The Guardian

• How the New Routemaster came full circle: back to a regular old London busWith the decision to rid the Routemaster of its entire raison d’etre – the second conductor and its ‘hop on, hop off’ back door – Dave Hill marvels at the grand, baffling saga of Boris Johnson’s signature policy

The Herald

• Queen to open new Borders railwayTHE new Borders Railway will be officially opened by the Queen on the day she becomes Britain's longest serving monarch.
• Smart ticketing at core of CalMac ferry contract as details of bid criteria unveiledTHE winning bidder for the new CalMac contract will be expected to drive forward smart-ticketing technology which would enable passengers to use a single national travel card on trains, buses, trams, subway and ferries - including non-CalMac services.

The Scotsman

• Queen to open Borders Railway in SeptemberTHE Borders Railway will be officially opened by the Queen on the day that she becomes Britain’s longest serving monarch.
• Kilmarnock-Dumfries rail line shut for two weeksA RAIL line will remain closed for two weeks while engineers remove 18 derailed freight wagons after a crash between two trains.

The Telegraph

• First Great Western rail workers 'to stage a series of strikes'RMT union announces strikes will include over the August Bank Holiday weekend
• Tube strike to bring London Underground to standstill from Wednesday - againWhen does the Tube strike start? When will it end? And how can I get around London - on buses, trains, in cars and on river boats?
• Tube strike to bring London Underground to standstill from Wednesday - againWhen does the Tube strike start? When will it end? And how can I get around London - on buses, trains, in cars and on river boats?

Times Online

• Avenues of trees raise risk from air pollutionAvenues of trees on urban streets can damage the health of pedestrians by trapping air pollutants beneath their canopy, research suggests.

Mail Online

• Customs checks abandoned at Heathrow Terminal 5 during busy times Inspectors spent almost 25 hours monitoring the work of customs staff at Terminal 5, and found that often no-one was on duty checking people at the arrivals hall.
• Tube strike is ON as Transport for London pushes ahead with all-night service plan Thousands of workers from four unions are due to walk out for 24 hours from 6.30pm on Wednesday evening, shutting down the service for the second time in a month.

The Mirror

• Train company tells passengers: 'Sorry for the delay - there's a sunbather on the tracks'The situation was quickly sorted and the transport company tweeted customers that the sunbather had left the tracks

Birmingham Mail

• £3.5m scheme 'to make transport infrastructure fit for the 21st century'The aim of the project is to help unlock economic growth and aspiration in the borough in light of planned major housing and employment growth ahead of HS2 and the UK Central developments.
• The Renault Zoe electric car can now travel 149 miles on a single charge Renault extends the range and adds new equipment to its small electric car, the Renault Zoe hatchback.

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• UPDATE: Transport chiefs agree to fund shuttle bus service during roadworks on Bradford housing estate TRANSPORT chiefs have stepped in to ensure residents of a Bradford housing estate will have a bus service when road works start tomorrow.

Edinburgh Evening News

• MSPs call for Waverley taxi access actionRAIL bosses have been told they must take urgent action to sort out passengers’ access to taxis at Waverley station.

London Evening Standard

• Tube strike August 2015: Unite rejects latest TfL offer to avert fresh walkout on Wednesday A fresh Tube strike appears more likely to take place this week after a union rejected the latest offer from transport bosses.
• Celebrities fight to 'defend our streets' from plans to build Crossrail 2 station near their Chelsea homes Celebrities today urged transport bosses to “defend our streetsâ€� by scrapping plans for a new station in Chelsea as part of a proposed high-speed railway linking north and south London.
• Rail strike: August Bank Holiday getaway set to be plunged into chaos as unions announce walkout on railways The August Bank Holiday getaway from London could be plunged into chaos by strike action on the rail network.

Manchester Evening News

• Graphene drives potential for next-generation of fuel-efficient carsScientists from The University of Manchester speak out following findings

The York Press

• York bus changes slammed PASSENGERS have slammed changes to two services run by York's biggest bus operator, First.

This Is Local London Network

• Bus service could ferry children to Cobham Free School's West Molesey site The bus could run from Cobham Free School in Portsmouth Road to the temporary West Molesey school site in Hurst Road.

Wales Online

• Train strikes could wreck August Bank Holiday weekend as rail workers plan series of walkouts The RMT union has announced members will walk out in a row over the planned introduction of new trains

North Wales Live

• Birkenhead firm's skilled team completes fit-out work on vessel in Sunderland MPE Interiors upgraded the 1400DWT UK flagged vessel which is owned by Mokster Shipping in Stavanger, Norway

Other Regional Press

• MP Marcus Fysh to meet transport minister Andrew Jones tomorrow in Ilchester to discuss A303 safety TRANSPORT Minister Andrew Jones is to meet with Yeovil MP Marcus Fysh tomorrow to discuss improvements to the safety of the A303 in light of a spate of recent fatal accidents.
• Electric vehicles scheme to be put in place at three NHS sites in NorthamptonshireSix new electric vehicles are to be put in place at Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust sites across the county.

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• Pentalver opens five acre London Gateway sitePentalver, the container service operator, has taken a five acre site at the London Gateway, which is run by DP World. Empty storage, dry repair and reefer services have been provided by Pentalver from temporary premises at the port since April 2014.  However, the new five acre yard, situated next to the port's main gate. represents a permanent location for the firm to operate from - and it can be expanded to nine acres over the coming years.  DP World chairman Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem said his organisation has been impressed by the efficient services offered by Pentalver. ...
• Transport for London announces the next four Tube lines to be upgraded: Circle Line, District Line, Metropolitan Line and Hammersmith & City LineTransport for London (TfL) has announced plans to begin modernisation work on 40% of London's Tube network. In a statement, the body said work will begin later this year on updating the signalling and train control systems on the Circle, District, Metropolitan and Hammersmith & City lines.  The body said the work, will increase the frequency of trains during peak periods to 32 per hour in central London. That's a train every two minutes.  However, it added that upgrade work on the overcrowded Piccadilly, Central, Bakerloo and Waterloo & City lines won't begin until this rou...
• Thales wins €1billion contract to upgrade London underground linesFrench transport and defence group Thales has won a contract worth €1billion to upgrade four London Underground lines, including the oldest part of the network. Under the £760million contract, Thales will modernise signalling and train control systems on the Circle, District Metropolitan and Hammersmith & City lines, which make up 40% of the network. Upgrading the old equipment should allow the lines to handle on average a third more traffic, Thales said in a statement. Canada's Bombardier was originally awarded the contract to upgrade the lines in 2011, but the contract was te...
• Airbus reports profits up by 34%Europe's aircraft maker Airbus said net profit rose 34% in the first half of the year to £1bn. The maker of the A380 jumbo jet said that revenue rose 6% to £20.3bn. Airbus also recorded a £204m net charge relating to its A400M programme, following the crash of the military craft on a test flight in May. The company said it has worked with all its partners to resume flights and deliveries. 'However, the accident caused setbacks on qualifying enhanced military capability and the schedule of planned deliveries,' the company said. Airbus has said it is still committed to the A400...
• Metro train fleet refurbishment is completedThe £30m refurbishment of the Tyne and Wear Metro’s train fleet has been successfully completed, five months ahead of schedule. DB Regio Tyne and Wear has delivered the work as part of the Metro fleet’s ‘three-quarter life’ refurbishment project. A total of 86 Metro carriages have been modernised over the last five years through the £389m Metro all change modernisation programme, a Government-funded scheme to modernise the system. Nexus, which owns and manages Metro, commissioned DB Regio to undertake the work in 2010 when the Metro modernisation funding wa...
• Line-up revealed for CILT International Convention 2015The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) is pleased to announce its line-up of high-profile industry experts for the CILT International Convention 2015.  The line-up consists of:  Ravi Kumar, Head of Strategy and Innovation, Dubai Trade Mark Millar, Industry Expert, Writer, Presenter and Lecturer  Professor Chris Kissling, Academic, Consultant and Writer, Chair, CILT New Zealand Awards Commmittee Dr John Webb, Head, School of Logistics and Maritime Studies, Bahrain Polytechnic  Ravi Kumar will be presenting: An insight into the Gulf logist...

Rail Technology Magazine

• Leroy Automation Commits to a Greener Approach Leroy Automation, a French advanced engineering design house and manufacturer of electronic embedded transit and railway systems, automation products for the electrification of transport & transit networks, and control-command equipment designed for …

Railnews

• TfL signs controversial contract for subsurface signalling Transport for London has awarded a controversial signalling contract for the second time, but the price has more than doubled and the deadline for completion has slipped by several years. The £760 million project is to upgrade the signalling on the subsurface lines of London Underground -- the Metropolitan, District, Hammersmith & City and Circle -- which between them account for 40 per cent of the network's 400 route kilometres, and will be carried out by Thales. TfL said some of the existing signalling 'belongs in a museum', and that new equipment would allow an essential boost in capacity....

Railway Gazette

• Tyne & Wear Metro fleet refurbishment completeUK: The three-quarter life refurbishment of the Tyne & Wear Metro fleet has been completed five months ahead of schedule. A total of 86 cars have been modernised over five years at a cost of £30m.

Aviation Industry

• New US airline coalition opposes ‘Big 3’ Gulf campaignFour US airlines have formed a new coalition to oppose the campaign to fight expansion of the Gulf carriers in the US. The CEOs of Atlas Air, FedEx, Hawaiian Airlines and JetBlue Airways have submitted a joint letter to the US government saying that what American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines are seeking would be a breach of Open Skies treaties and a political maneuver to reduce competition. read more
• Rolls-Royce 1H profits down 32% Rolls-Royce Holdings reported underlying profit before tax of £439 million ($684.3 million) for the first half, down 32% year-over-year, on underlying revenues of £6.3 billion, down 3%. read more
• Easyjet summer strike action avertedStaff agree to accept pay offer

Other News Sources

• Truckers take to bikes for FTA safe driving schemeTruck drivers will be riding round Belfast on bikes as part of a new scheme aimed at improving safety for all road users. ...
• Tube strike: unions confirm new 24-hour walkoutUnions will go ahead with a 24-hour strike on London Underground stations from Wednesday evening in a row over the introduction of 24-hour train services.
• ITALIAN TRAINEES SOURCE NEW OPPORTUNITES THROUGH ETIHAD AIRWAYS PARTNERSHIPEtihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has selected 12 Italian trainees to join its Engineering division and take part in a unique training opportunity on the...