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

Friday, 01 September 2017

BBC News

• Hyperloop pod breaks own high-speed recordMore tests next month might mean the pods for the science-fictional transport system hit 500 km/h
• Airlines compete on Scottish Highlands and islands routesLoganair flies solo and competes with old ally Flybe on a number of Scottish routes.
• Arriva Rail North, Merseyrail and Southern staff go on strikeThe industrial action is expected to hit up to 20,000 people going to Blackpool for the Illuminations switch-on.
• Sky taxisHow Dubai may be winning the race to launch the first passenger-carrying flying drones.
• London Luton Airport is 'UK's worst airport' in surveyIt is described as
• VW launches new UK diesel scrappage schemeAll Volkswagen brands, including Audi, Seat, Skoda and VW Commercial Vehicles, will participate.

Department for Transport

• Midland Metro extension gets £59.8 million green light from governmentTram route extension linking Birmingham city centre with Edgbaston and the city’s growing Westside area given go-ahead.

Financial Times

• VW offers UK drivers up to £7,000 to scrap dieselsGerman carmaker follows rivals in moving to calm pressure over air pollution
• Brexit and airlines: above the cloudsExpect a compromise on air travel within the EU, given the high stakes
• New Uber boss's first task is to reconcile deeply divided boardUnanimous vote to appoint Dara Khosrowshahi as chief was a rare show of unity

The Guardian

• South Western Railway workers to be balloted over strike actionRMT says new franchise owner First MTR must give cast-iron assurances over the future of train guards on the networkThe dispute over guards on trains, which has wreaked havoc on Southern and will result in more strikes in the coming days, is threatening to spread to another rail franchise, South Western Railway. The RMT union said it was in formal dispute and was preparing to ballot members for a strike over what it called the failure of the new franchise owner, First MTR, to give “clear, cast-iron assurancesâ€� over the future of guards on South Western trains. Continue reading...

The Scotsman

• Alastair Dalton: Queensferry Crossing opening plans won’t please allBleary eyed commuters finding themselves back on the Forth Road Bridge this morning may wonder if driving over the Queensferry Crossing had been a dream, such is the stop-start nature of the bridge’s opening timetable.

Times Online

• Strikes signalled on South Western Railway lines [subscription]Passengers face travel chaos on Britain’s busiest rail network after unions threatened to extend the strike action that has already crippled operators across Britain.
• Long-haul appeal of Ryanair’s airline bid [subscription]Ryanair will bid to operate 90 planes under the Alitalia brand using existing staff as part of the Italian airline’s restructuring, Michael O’Leary has said.

Mail Online

• Now rail strike chaos could spread to the South-West South Western Railway is being dragged into the widening dispute over the role of train guards by the Rail Maritime and Transport union which says its members will be balloted over a walkout.
• European rivals plot to sabotage British airlines Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary predicted French and German airlines were looking to 'actively shaft BA and EasyJet' following Brexit, preventing them from having free access to European routes.

The Mirror

• Volkswagen to offer £8,000 off new cars with diesel scrappage scheme Owners of any make of diesel registered before 2010 will be able to benefit from the perk between now and the end of the year

Birmingham Mail

• FIVE new Midland Metro stops revealed in £60m extension Department for Transport backs Edgbaston extension of city's tram network as exact locations are revealed for five more stops

Bolton News

• REVEALED: Railway line will re-open a MONTH ahead of schedule COMMUTERS have been given a major boost with news that Bolton's railway line will re-open fully next week.
• Buses could be rerouted to compensate for controversial cuts BUSES could be rerouted to compensate for the controversial loss of services in Johnson Fold.

London Evening Standard

• Travel chaos as commuters in swathe of south east London hit by signal failure as lines go down in Finsbury ParkLondoners faced another morning of rush hour chaos after a signal failure in Lewisham sparked mass delays and cancellations.

Northern Echo

• 'Totally unrealistic', 'fanciful' and 'frankly ridiculous' - Middlesbrough MP lambasts 'Hyperloop'LABOUR’s shadow transport secretary has dismissed a suggestion that revolutionary ‘Hyperloop’ technology could replace the HS2 rail project as “frankly ridiculous”.
• New board to represent region's rail passengers on East Coast Main LineA NEW board has been put together, headed by Sir Gary Verity, which will represent rail users on the East Coast Main Line (ECML) and hold the rail industry to account.

Wolverhampton Express and Star

• MP: Rail hub would up risk to countrysideProtected land across the region will be under threat if the rail hub in South Staffordshire is built, it has been warned.

East Anglian Daily Times

• Victory on the buses as Suffolk agrees to rethink controversial new routePassengers from two Suffolk villages that faced losing their bus lifeline to Ipswich are celebrating after the county council has given their service a reprieve.

Other Regional Press

• Chris Green MP hits out at 'extremely disappointing' rail strikesTWO days of strike action by rail staff has been condemned by Bolton’s Conservative MP.

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• Royal Mail trials electric truck (Image Source: The Independent) Royal Mail is to test nine electric commercial vehicles. The trucks will be used to transport packages between mail and distribution centres in London and surrounding area.  The postal operator is testing 3.5, 6 and 7.5 tonne ‘autonomous-ready’ trucks, which all made in the UK by Arrival (formerly Charge Auto). “Royal Mail is delighted to be collaborating with Arrival and pioneering the adoption of large electric commercial vehicles,” said Paul Gatti, Royal Mail Fleet’s managing director. “We will be putting them thr...
• Digital freight platform Saloodo! hits the road in UK Following the successful launch of Saloodo! in Germany, DHL’s digital freight platform is now also available for customers in the United Kingdom. The platform is offering transport services within UK, from Europe to UK and vice versa. Thereby the online market place connects shippers and transport providers on demand, thus increasing efficiency for both by enabling safe and convenient access to a highly fragmented market using a single digital freight platform. With the introduction of Saloodo! in Germany in early 2017, the online market place has been offering originally transport ser...
• Hermes integrates with Google Assistant Hermes has continued its mission to interact with the latest wave of smart devices on the market by becoming the first parcel company in the UK to fully integrate its tracking solution with Google Assistant. This latest innovation follows another UK first, when Hermes integrated with Amazon’s intelligent personal assistant Alexa earlier this year. Consumers waiting for a Hermes delivery on behalf of one of the UK’s leading retailers, or expecting a package via the myHermes C2C network, will now be able to track their parcels via Google Assistant. The voice-activated application i...

Rail Magazine

• Siemens Class 700s for GN this AutumnClass 700s for Great Northern routes from the Autumn.
• A new dawn for the Caledonian SleeperRead an EXCLUSIVE interview with Caledonian Sleeper Managing Director Peter Strachan (now CS Chairman) who spoke to RAIL prior to the franchise's start in 2015.
• Automatic compensation from GatEx and Southern smartcardsAutomatic compensation should Southern and Gatwick Express passengers' train be delayed by more than 15 minutes.
• ScotRail salutes performance figuresScotRail the best-performing large train operator in the UK, following the release of Public Performance Measure (PPM) figures in August.

Rail Technology Magazine

• Time to embrace Scandinavian approach to transport, says UTGDevolved bodies in the UK have a lot to learn from transport authorities across Scandinavia when it comes to ticket pricing, suburban rail services and electrification, a new report has argued. In its latest publication, the Urban Transport Group (UTG) looked at three Scandinavian countries...
• Sneak peek at new £150m Caledonian Sleeper carriagesCaledonian Sleeper has given passengers a special sneak peek of its £150m fleet of state-of-the-art carriages that are currently under construction in Spain via a new dedicated website. The website allows visitors to get an exclusive preview at the development of the 75 carriages which...

Aviation Industry

• Ryanair seeks to buy most of Alitalia’s fleetIreland-based LCC Ryanair is bidding to buy around 90 aircraft from cash-strapped Italian carrier Alitalia. Speaking in London on Aug. 31, Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said his company would be submitting a bid for Alitalia’s aircraft, their crews and engineering staff to the Italian flag carrier’s administrators. read more
• O’Leary: EU airlines aim to impose tough terms on UK in Brexit dealSeveral major European airlines are urging the European Union (EU) to play hard ball with the UK in the latter’s negotiations to exit the bloc (Brexit), Irish LCC Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said Aug. 31. read more
• Houston airports slowly reopen; all Southwest HOU flights still suspendedHouston Intercontinental Airport (IAH) and Houston Hobby Airport (HOU) have reopened to handle limited domestic flights after being forced to close Aug. 27 because of severe flooding in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. read more

Other News Sources

• 'Much to do': Telford MP Lucy Allan demands better rail service for borough Telford MP Lucy Allan has demanded better rail services for the borough.
• South Western Railway strike: RMT Union to ballot members as dispute over role of guards escalates The RMT union is threatening strike action after it claims South Western Railway has failed to give proper guarantees over the role of guards
• DfT's way forward for HGVs not rubbish, says FTAThe government's announcement of a £20 million feasibility study into the options for creation of next generation HGV fuels from rubbish has been ...