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

Saturday, 28 January 2012

BBC News

• Eurostar cleaners plan to strikeWorkers who clean Eurostar trains and stations on the UK side of the route vote to go on strike in a row over pay.

The Herald

• Cheap peak-time fares for elderly to be axedCHEAP rail fares for pensioners in and around Scotland's biggest city are to be scrapped during evening rush hour.
• Rail costs higher north of BorderRAIL travel in Scotland requires twice the level of government subsidy than the UK as a whole due to the low number of passengers on most trains, Britain's rail regulator has found.

The Telegraph

• Country diary: HS2 or more car chaosThe Prime Minister's stepfather-in-law, the 4th Viscount Astor, has has been accused of knifing his stepson-in-law in the back by writing a piece for the Spectator setting out his opposition to the proposed high-speed train link between London and Birmingham.

London Evening Standard

• Eurostar Brussels service to be suspended due to 24-hour strikeEurostar warns it will be unable to operate any services to or from Brussels on Monday because of a 24-hour national public sector strike across Belgium
• TfL fined £25m over Jubilee line delaysTransport for London has had to pay about £25 million in penalties to Canary Wharf's owner because of delays to the Jubilee line upgrade

The York Press

• MP calls for ‘radical’ measures to tackle problem of metal thefts RADICAL improvements are needed in the metal industry to tackle the increases in theft, one of York’s MPs has said.

Bucks Free Press

• HS2 fund "unacceptable drain on depleted finances" A SUPPORTER of the High Speed 2 project has expressed concern at the amount of taxpayers' money being spent on a fighting fund, calling it

Peterborough Telegraph

• Offices created for rail station revampTEMPORARY office space is being created on land opposite Peterborough train station for rail staff who will be displaced by an ongoing £2.5 million revamp.

Other Regional Press

• Grand Central tops passenger satisfaction surveyA COMPANY running trains between Mirfield and London has come top in a passenger survey.
• 89% of rail travellers say train firm is on right linesScotRail has been praised by passengers for improving its services “ but travellers want better and more up to date news about delays.
• Stations axe fight steps upPRESSURE is mounting on Transport Minister Keith Brown to give a categorical assurance that train stations in Glasgow will not close.

Global Rail News

• Invensys Rail wins major contract in TurkeyTurkish State Railways has awarded Invesys Rail and its Turkish joint venture company Fermak, a €76m signalling contract. The contract consists of installing ERTMS signalling and communications systems on a 310km line stretching from Bandirma to Menemen. Invensys Rail will also install automatic train stop equipment, GSM-R voice and data communications and a Central Traffic [...]
• DfT issue invitation to tender for the West Coast rail franchiseAn invitation to tender for the West Coast franchise has been issued by the Department for Transport. Although the successful bidder will have to provide principal first and last trains, along with a minimum number of station stops per week, they will also be given, from December 2013, the freedom to vary timetables on individual [...]
• Major UK Rail companies sign up to the Network Rail Fair Payment CharterThe charter, which has been signed by the biggest construction and engineering companies in the rail industry, is aimed at increasing liquidity through the rail supply chain as Network rail spend £7bn on renewals over the next two years. Network Rail will reduce its own payment terms from 56 to 21 days and asks its [...]
• Tram extension for NottinghamNottingham™s tram network is set to double in size with a similar boost to the tram fleet after funding was agreed. Work on the five mile extension to Clifton and the six mile route to Beeston starts soon. The new services should be running by 2014. Tramlink Nottingham has taken over the running of the [...]
• RMT secures Olympics pay deal for DLRThe RMT said it has ‘secured a ground breaking’ pay deal for the Olympics on the Docklands Light Railway. The ‘deal’ is worth £2,500 per staff member and includes an attendance bonus of £900 and guaranteed overtime payments. RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said “This is a truly groundbreaking deal raising the bar in the [...]
• ˜Urgent action™ needed to control rail cable theftA group of MPs have said anyone trying to sell scrap metal should have to prove their identity. The MPs want ‘urgent action’ to be taken on scrap dealers buying stolen metal in a bid to cut theft from the rail network. In a report, the Transport Select Committee said the government needed to test the [...]

Aviation Industry

• Travel disruption expected as Belgian strike loomsTrain and plane services likely to be hit