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

Tuesday, 01 September 2015

BBC News

• Major Kingsway road changes on holdNo major changes will be made to the road system on Swansea's Kingsway until the future of the street has been outlined, says the leader of the council.
• Borders rural road decline highlightedThe condition of roads in the Scottish Borders is deteriorating faster than in other rural areas, according to a comparative study.
• Clyde yard favourite for £97m contractThe Ferguson Marine shipyard in Port Glasgow is named as the preferred bidder for a £97m contract to build two ferries to operate in Scotland.
• How diesel can be made from airThe tech turning carbon dioxide into cleaner fuel
• VW and Suzuki settle four-year disputeThe International Chamber of Commerce rules that VW should sell its stake in Suzuki, ending a four-year dispute between over their failed partnership.
• 'Unsafe' lorry ban starts in LondonA ban on "unsafe" lorries in London, introduced as part of efforts to protect cyclists, has come into force.

The Guardian

• HS2 plans require 'huge number' of weekend line closures, say campaignersHS2 Ltd paper reveals estimate of 183 weekend closures of a day's duration or longer to allow for construction of London-Birmingham routeConstruction of Britain's second high-speed rail link will lead to the closure of several lines for up to 183 weekends and Euston station for 19 weekends, campaigners have said.Figures from HS2 Ltd, the public body responsible for developing and promoting the plans for a new London-to-Birmingham line, show that proposed closures include those of the west coast mainline near Lichfield for 31 weekends, the Derby-to-Birmingham line for 32 weekends and 33 weekend...
• First Great Western strike: union warns of further actionRMT says bank holiday weekend walkout was solidly supported, resulting in a number of services being cancelledFirst Great Western rail services will return to normal on Tuesday after a weekend of disruption because of a strike over new trains.Members of the RMT union walked out during the bank holiday weekend, mounting picket lines at stations including London Paddington, Reading, Plymouth and Cardiff. Continue reading...
• Lorry safety scheme in London aims to increase protection of cyclistsTougher rules require heavy goods vehicles in the capital to be fitted with side guards and certain types of mirrorsLorries without safety equipment to protect cyclists and pedestrians will be banned from London’s roads from Tuesday.Under Britain’s first safer lorry scheme, heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) in the capital must be fitted with side guards to help prevent cyclists being dragged under the wheels in the event of a collision. They must also have a certain type of mirror which will give the driver a better view of bicycles and pedestrians. Continue reading...
• How hard it is to ride a Segway?The collision between a hapless Segway-mounted cameraman and Usain Bolt has thrust the motorised scooter into the limelight for all the wrong reasons. But how tricky can they be to master? Rebecca Nicholson gets on a rollSteve Jobs famously declared that the Segway would be “as big a deal as the PCâ€�, until he actually saw one, at which point he recanted and decided that “it sucksâ€�. Since its launch, the self-balancing motorised scooter has had just one other big moment in the spotlight, in 2011, when Jimi Heselden, the British businessman who acquired the US-founded company, rolled off a cliff...

The Herald

• Queen to unveil plaque at Newtongrange during Borders Railway visitHUNDREDS of school children and local residents are expected to welcome the Queen to the Midlothian village of Newtongrange next week when the monarch unveils a plaque at the new Borders Railway station to commemorate its opening.

The Scotsman

• Rail challenge posed by LongannetIf freight services are to flourish, remodelling of network capacity is essential, argues David Spaven

The Telegraph

• UK lags behind Europe in adopting driverless car techAs trials for driverless vehicles take place around the world, Britons have been slow to buy cars with semi-autonomous features

City AM

• Oil rallies as US revises output estimates downCRUDE oil prices jumped yesterday, on news that the US oil industry pumped less of the commodity than initially estimated this year. The US Energy Information Administration yesterday cited survey data estimating that the US pumped out just below 9.3m barrels per day (bpd) in June, down by 100,000 bpd from estimate figures in May. The movement in prices continued an upward trend that began last week on news that Venezuela has appealed to its fellow Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) members to hold an emergency meeting focusing on the recent market rout. Venezuela's app...
• Maersk bucks trend of oil firms fleeing North SeaDANISH oil firm Maersk disrupted the recent trend of companies withdrawing from the North Sea yesterday, as it announced a £3bn investment into a new project in the region. The company has received approval from the UK Oil & Gas Authority to develop a high pressure, high temperature (HPHT) gas field in the UK central North Sea, the largest new field discovered in the region for a decade, according to Wood Mackenzie. Maersk, along with BP and JX Nippon, will invest around £3bn in developing the Culzean field. The project is expected to create more than 400 jobs and support up to 6,000. Th...

Birmingham Mail

• Kings Heath bus crash site to be 20mph zone Addison Road residents won its inclusion in low-speed area before accident

Birmingham Post

• Aston Martin to expand apprenticeship scheme as part of growth plans The Warwickshire-based sports car-maker has revealed plans to create an additional ten apprenticeships as part of its Second Century Plan

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Taxpayers hit by A55 private firm bill The more people use the road, which was funded under a PFI toll scheme before devolution, the more the Welsh Government is having to pay back

Derby Telegraph

• Derby rail boss says industry will need to attract 'Xbox generation' Paul Francis, a council member at Derby and Derbyshire Rail Forum, has made the call after the Government announced plans last week to create 30,000 apprenticeships in the rail and road sectors.

London Evening Standard

• Calais ferry services resume after striking workers blockaded port with lifeboatsCross-channel ferry services have resumed today after striking workers used lifeboats to block ships from docking at the Port of Calais, disrupting journeys for thousands of pas
• First Great Western train services return to normal after Paddington strike actionRail services into London will return to normal on Tuesday after a weekend of disruption due to strike action.

Manchester Evening News

• 'Get us there by Christmas': Transport bosses challenged to get smart cards working on trams and busesBut Transport for Greater Manchester will not take up Coun Iain Roberts' gauntlet - and say they need longer to develop a new strategy and make sure they have up-to-date technology

Northern Echo

• Council could be inundated with requests for parking fines to be returned after adjudicator upholds appeal A COUNCIL could face being inundated with requests for parking fine refunds after failing to correctly follow parking restriction regulations.

Wales Online

• Nearly 200 rail fare dodgers convicted in Cardiff in the last two yearsThe figures from a Freedom of Information request show the extent to which train companies are clamping down
• High fares, poor punctuality and a lack of high speed rail are leaving our train networks lagging behind the rest of Europe New research has described Britain's railways as a 'second tier' service

Blackpool Gazette

• ‘They must have caught the A5073 on a bad day’A Blackpool road has been named as the second slowest commuter route in Lancashire – much to the bemusement of those that use it.

Other Regional Press

• County’s slowest roads revealedPRESTON’S roads are some of the most congested in the county – with five commuter routes shamed in the top 10 slowest in the county.

Aviation Industry

• Advantage makes move against Lufthansa over GDS feeAgency consortium enters “period of non-co-operationâ€� with German carrier

Other News Sources

• Transport Minister Derek Mackay says powers over air passenger duty must be devolved to ScotlandTRANSPORT Minister Derek Mackay renewed calls for the power to cut air passenger duty to be transferred to Holyrood as he opened the new £3.3 million extension to the east pier at Glasgow Airport.
• Earn a bike on Hereford scheme WEST Mercia Police has donated unclaimed bicycles to a new project in Hereford where young people can work to earn their own bike.
• Free transport to Courtyard shows THE Courtyard in Hereford is offering free transport to three of its events this autumn from Ross-on-Wye and Leominster.
• Stanwell Moor bus service saved following community campaign Surrey County Council has bowed to pressure from a 700-strong petition to save a "vital " bus service serving Stanwell Moor
• Godalming station set for £3 million upgrade with step-free access Network Rail plans to install two 16-person lifts and a fully-covered footbridge, allowing for easier access for wheelchair-users
• Shoreham Airshow disaster: Bid to rename Tollbridge snowballs A PETITION to rename the Shoreham Tollbridge the Bridge of Flowers in memory of the victims of the air show disaster has received more than 2,000 supporters.
• Lufthansa Group to expand direct booking channel optionsThe airlines of the Lufthansa Group ndash; Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa and SWISS ndash; have reached a major milestone in their endeavors to modernize their present product ...
• ETIHAD AIRWAYS TO DRIVE PROCUREMENT EFFICIENCY WITH SAP ARIBAEtihad Airwaysrsquo; Procurement and Supply Management (Pamp;SM) department has embarked on a transformation journey to support the airlinersquo;s future expansion by implementing SAPrsquo;s ...
• JAL to Further Expand its China Network to and from Tokyo's Haneda AirportJapan Airlines (JAL) today announced revisions to its flight frequency plans on the international routes for fiscal year 2015 (ending March 31, 2016).Starting October 25, 2015, JAL will be...
• ACI releases 2014 World Airport Traffic Report Airports Council International (ACI) has released the latest edition of the World Airport Traffic Report. With comprehensive data coverage for over 2,200 airports in more than 160 countries...