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

Friday, 22 June 2012

BBC News

• Alcohol to be curbed on trains New curbs on alcohol on trains are set to be announced, BBC Scotland has learned
• Scottish rail services plan outlined by government Companies running passenger trains in future will be required to deliver better services, the Scottish government has said.
• Tube strikes due over disputesThree Tube strikes are threatened in the coming weeks over two separate disputes involving workers.

The Guardian

• Go-Ahead cautious about rail business as consumers feel the pinch Company says franchise bid assumed stronger economic growth at this stage

The Herald

• Rail fare discount pledgeRAIL passengers have been promised fare discounts to help fill empty seats, a roll-out of wi-fi across the ScotRail network within seven years and stricter regulations on train punctuality.

The Scotsman

• Tram pay-off scandal: Tie bosses pay-outs ‘signed off in secret’ AN INVESTIGATION has been ordered into how the secret pay-offs to the senior officials working on Edinburgh’s tram project were made without the approval of the city council.
• £5bn masterlan from Keith Brown to keep Scotland’s trains on track RADICAL fare cuts to fill empty seats and tough new targets so more trains arrive on time have been pledged in a new Scottish Government blueprint for the ScotRail franchise.

The Telegraph

• Go-Ahead’s Southern franchise may miss growth expectations Britain's double-dip recession has taken its toll on rail travel in the south of England, according to transport operator Go-Ahead.
• HS2 will go ahead - and it will be a thing of beauty, says Justine GreeningThe Coalition's controversial new High Speed 2 rail line will go ahead and could eventually come to be seen as a
• Transport of delightTelegraph View: Who's to say the much-derided High Speed 2 rail link will not be a thing of beauty?

Edinburgh Evening News

• Documents reveal Edinburgh tram bosses pocketed £800k in bonuses and compensation after Tie scrappedFORMER tram chiefs were paid around £800,000 after leaving the project, the Evening News can reveal today, as new documents exposed the extent of pay-offs and bonuses at TIE.

London Evening Standard

• Tube set for five days of delays as union orders strikesFive days of Tube strikes are set to cause massive disruption for hundreds of thousands of commuters across a huge section of the London Underground network.
• Thirty six days until the Olympics and Tube drivers, rail staff and baggage handlers ALL plan strikesCommuters on rail, London Underground and even Heathrow face a miserable summer over the coming weeks with a series of walk-outs.

Wales Online

• Swansea will benefit from electrification to Cardiff, says Theresa VilliersSwansea will get all the benefits of electrification of the Great Western line even if it only goes as far as Cardiff, the UK Transport Minister insisted last night.

Other Regional Press

• Consultation on firm to take over Southeastern franchise The company that takes over the running of Kent's rail services could be forced to change the way it records train delays to account for differences between High Speed trains and so-called "classic" services.
• City's rail bid boostedTHE campaign to electrify the Great Western mainline as far as Swansea has been given a boost — after the UK Government admitted that "high-quality infrastructure" will play an "essential role" in attracting investors and stimulation growth in Wales.

Global Rail News

• Assembly starts on Crossrail™s next tunnel boring machineAssembly of Crossrail™s next 1,000 tonne tunnel boring machine (TBM), Elizabeth, has commenced at Limmo Peninsula in east London. During the next four months, components for the 150-metre long machine will be transported to the Limmo worksite from Tilbury Docks and reassembled before being lowered in sections into two huge shafts. Elizabeth will begin constructing [...]
• FirstGroup sponsors Lifetime AchievementFirstGroup is the proud sponsor of the Lifetime Achievement Award at this year™s RailStaff Awards. The company is Britain™s largest rail operator carrying more than 290 million passengers per annum.  It operates First Great Western, First Capital Connect, First TransPennine Express, First ScotRail, First Hull Trains and London Tramlink. It runs regional and commuter services, [...]
• Centro urges ministers to invest in region™s rail networksWest Midlands PTE Centro is urging the Government to invest £60 million in the region’s rail network as part of Network Rail’s Control Period 5, which runs between 2014 and 2019. According to Centro the investment in projects to electrify the Walsall to Rugeley line (£30 million), increase capacity on the Snow Hill route (£10 [...]
• Re-design, re-rail, re-clipReducing the cost of running Britain™s railways is a continuing process, and one that the rail engineer has covered on a number of occasions. All aspects of both maintenance and renewals are coming under the microscope as Network Rail and others look for any opportunity to increase efficiency. This month, the spotlight falls on the [...]
• World™s highest rail bridge to be ready by 2015The world’s highest rail bridge, which will be 35 metres taller than the Eiffel Tower, is due to be completed by 2015. Indian Railways will become the first railway network in the world to operate train services on the bridge, which is part of the ambitious Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail link project. The bridge is being constructed [...]
• Control staff vote for strike actionTube union RMT has confirmed that key service control centre staff in West London will take both strike action and action short of a strike in a dispute over jobs and conditions of service. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: œThis group of workers are absolutely key to delivering the service on the Piccadilly line [...]

Other News Sources

• Transport Minister visits Assembly for rail electrification talks The UK Minister for Transport Theresa Villiers will visit the Welsh Assembly today to discuss rail electrification plans for Wales.
• Assembly begins on Crossrail's Elizabeth diggerAssembly of the Crossrail project™s next 1,000 tonne tunnel boring machine, named Elizabeth, commenced today at the Limmo Peninsula in East London.
• Provision for Crossrail 2 station needed in HS2 hybrid bill Crossrail 2 will need to be built before the second phase of HS2 in order to avoid massive congestions problems, according to Transport for London™s managing director for planning.