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

Sunday, 31 January 2016

BBC News

• Cross-border trains 'threat' dismissedConcerns direct cross-border rail services could be under threat due to devolution are dismissed by Wales' transport minister.
• Water taxi plan for ManchesterFirm given licence to begin operating two water taxis - or Waxis - along Bridgewater Canal in Manchester.

The Guardian

• London's black-cab drivers: 'Four cabbies pay more tax than Uber'Licensed Taxi Drivers Association weighs up court action claiming app’s licence should be reviewed over its corporation tax payments
• Cheap cab ride? You must have missed Uber’s true cost | Evgeny MorozovWhen tech giants such as Google and Uber hide their wealth from taxation, they make it harder for us to use technology to improve servicesTo understand why we see so few genuine alternatives to US technology giants, it’s instructive to compare the fate of a company like Uber – valued at more than $62.5bn (£44bn) – and that of Kutsuplus, an innovative Finnish startup forced to shut down late last year.Kutsuplus’s aspiration was to be the Uber of public transport: it operated a network of minibuses that would pick up and drop passengers anywhere in Helsinki, with smartphones, algorithm...
• Hyperloop: MIT students win contest to design Elon Musk's 700mph travel podsStudent engineers win right to build and test concept for high-speed ground transport tubes at new track to be built next to SpaceX headquartersMIT student engineers won a competition to transform SpaceX and Tesla Motors co-founder Elon Musk’s idea into a design for a Hyperloop to move pods of people at high speed. Related: Elon Musk: Tesla cars will be able to cross US with no driver in two years Continue reading...

The Herald

• Strathclyde Transport quango makes £10m loss on HQ sale A transport authority is under fire after making a 10m loss following the sale of its headquarters in Glasgow.

The Scotsman

• Airbus shrugs off China woes in efficiency driveAIRBUS has unveiled tough new efficiency targets for this year and 2017 as the planemaker, which spends some £400 million annually with suppliers in Scotland, also shrugs off fears about the ­med­ium-term impact of the Chinese slowdown and oil price slump.

Times Online

• The next waveWith buyers looking beyond London, Graham Norwood highlights 11 boom towns that are set to make a splash

Daily Record

• Transport Minister Derek Mackay hails impact of average speed cameras on the A9 Since the introduction of the speeding measures and a test 50mph lorry speed in October 2014, accidents have been cut by nearly 60% on some stretches – and by nearly 45% between Perth and Inverness.

Mail Online

• BA flight from London to Chicago makes a successful emergency landing A hero British Airways pilot has been praised after he dramatically grounded a plane en route to Chicago from London Heathrow despite two of its five sets of wheels malfunctioning.

Derby Telegraph

• 500 kids with special needs facing cuts in home-to-school transport AROUND 500 disabled children are facing changes to the way their school transport is funded and organised. Derbyshire County Council has started a seven-week consultation on the future of home-to-school transport for children with special needs and is hoping to involve families who use the service.

London Evening Standard

• Row over plan for compulsory glass panels in lorry doors to protect cyclistsLorry drivers have hit out at plans for a compulsory second window in lorry doors in a bid to reduce crashes.

Sheffield Telegraph

• Concerned rail union pledges to fight for jobs in South YorkshireA rail union has pledged to step up their fight to protect jobs amid concerns new management could be planning cuts.
• Sheffield bus services ‘improving’ after chaotic cuts, passengers toldBus chiefs say Sheffield services are ‘improving’ with more running on time after they were forced to make changes to drastic cuts following a public outcry.

Wolverhampton Express and Star

• UK railway journey number doubles over last two decadesData from the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) shows 1.4 billion trips were made by train in 2014/15 compared to just 590 million in 1995/96.

Sunderland Echo

• Metro system has ‘design fault’, says rail network boss A rail boss says that a power fault which caused chaos to thousands of Metro passengers happened because the system has a design fault which means it does not meet the network’s standards.

Other Regional Press

• Great Western Railway operating team wins national 'Golden Whistle' award The operating team at Great Western Railway (GWR) has taken the Golden Whistle in a national awards ceremony.
• Campaigners call for rail link construction lorries to be rerouted VILLAGERS in North Oxfordshire have warned their home will become a rat-run if thousands of lorries are allowed to drive through every week as part of the HS2 project.
• Newport Transport say their customers will decide whether buses return to city centre NEWPORT Transport has said it will be their customers who will decide whether buses return to the High Street and not market traders.
• Transport minister rejects “self-confessed speeder’s” A9 camera criticismA fresh war of words has erupted over A9 average speed cameras after Scotland’s transport minister Derek Mackay dismissed their staunchest critic as a “self-confessed speeder”.