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

Friday, 29 June 2012

BBC News

• Heavy rain: Transport disruption expected Major transport routes are expected to be disrupted for a second day after storms and torrential downpours caused flash floods across parts of the UK.
• Landslides block main rail linesBoth the main rail lines connecting Scotland and England are blocked by landslides as heavy rains lash parts of the UK.
• Smart travel card funding securedAn integrated travel card, similar to London's Oyster Card system, will be developed for Greater Manchester, it is announced.

Department for Transport

• Four Non-Executive Directors appointed to HS2 Ltd Transport Secretary Justine Greening today announced the appointment of four Non-Executive Directors to the Board of HS2 Ltd, completing a recruitment process which started in January.

The Herald

• Rail chaos as Scotland is cut off by landslidesTHOUSANDS of train passengers faced delays and disruption after landslides and flooding cut off the main rail lines connecting Scotland and England.

The Scotsman

• Passengers evacuated from train after fire breaks out in engine Passengers have been evacuated after a fire started in the engine of a train.

The Telegraph

• Scotland cut off as 'superstorms', floods and landslips close main rail linksHundreds of rail passengers were left stranded on Thursday night after freak thunderstorms left England and Scotland cut off from each other.

Mail Online

• Railways posters depicting traditional British beach scenes set to fetch thousands at auctionA set of posters, created to inspire Britons to take the train for holidays at resorts like Plymouth, Clacton-on-Sea and Cromer, are set to fetch thousands at auction.

ATOC

• Overall satisfaction with rail services near record levelsIn response to the publication of the latest National Passenger Survey, Michael Roberts, Chief Executive of the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC),...

Birmingham Post

• Work begins on new John Lewis store at Birmingham New Street siteFour men leading the £600 million transformation of Birmingham’s New Street station and the Pallasades shopping centre gathered together for the first time to see how work is progressing.

Edinburgh Evening News

• Train services to Edinburgh to be affected as heavy rain floods railwaysTRAIN services to the Capital have been hit after torrential rain flooded railways in the north of England.Rail and train bosses said there would be no services running on the east coast line north of Newcastle until floodwaters and debris dumped on the track by a landslip near Berwick-upon-Tweed was cleared.

London Evening Standard

• Crossrail station in Portobello ˜would bring £700m into area™The campaign for a new œPortobello Central� Crossrail station has been boosted by a report which says it would inject almost £700 million into the local economy and create 2,000 jobs.

Metro

• More rail passengers feel trains are bad valueThe number of passengers who think their rail ticket is value for money has dropped. Commuters think train prices are too high (Picture: Stock) A total of 42 per cent of people were satisfied with the value for money of their ticket in spring 2012, compared with 44 per cent in spring 2011, Passenger Focus said.Nationally, the proportion of passengers satisfied was 83 per cent in spring 2012, compared with 84 per cent a year earlier. For individual train companies, the lowest ratings for satisfaction were given to Greater Anglia “ 73 per cent, First Capital Connect with 79 per cent, Northern...
• Landslides caused by torrential rain could mean rail line chaosRail passengers could face severe delays after torrential rain caused landslides on the two main lines between England and Scotland. Heavy rain is causing chaos around the country (Picture: PA) The east coast route was closed last night by a 30-tonne landslip near  Berwick and the west coast was hit by several landslides between Lancaster and Carlisle. Network Rail said crews were working overnight but warned: ˜The 30-tonne landslip is a big job and we can™t be certain when the line will be open.™ The heavy rain in the north-east resulted in Newcastle station being closed by flooding. It even...

Newcastle Evening Chronicle

• Newcastle storm update @11.30pm: Metro off all night, Tyne Tunnel open, some roads still closedFLASH floods and storms have hit the North East causing disruptions to travel in and out of Newcastle. Flooding has hit the city centre, as well as Central Station and the Metro system.

Northern Echo

• Initial stages of Hitachi Rail project will create 500 jobs Organisers of the Hitachi Rail Amazon Park Open Day said they were overwhelmed by the number of businesses that attended today's event.

Yorkshire Evening Post

• Transport: High speed rail plan still on track A Labour MP called on the Government today to confirm its High Speed 2 rail plans are still on track.

Yorkshire Post

• Minister calls case for £500m Northern Hub scheme ˜powerful™The North of England has made a “powerful case” for the Government to fund its £500m Northern Hub package of proposed rail improvements, the Transport Secretary said as she prepared to reveal key spending plans next month.
• Roads and rail lines blocked as storms sweep inStorms left a trail of destruction yesterday as they swept across the country leaving one man dead, roads and rail lines blocked and properties inundated.

Other Regional Press

• MP in rail fares rowA senior Kent MP has criticised the government for failing to say how much rail fares might be when a new franchise is awarded.

Global Rail News

• Mumbai monsoon causes rail disruptionTrains in Mumbai suffered delays of up to an hour after heavy rain caused mass travel disruption across the city. The worst hit areas were the suburbs of Kandivili and Malad, with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) recording maximum rainfall of 45mm on Thursday (June 28). More heavy rain has been forecast in the Konkan [...]
• A mindset, not an initiativeWrites Steve Wiskin Generally speaking, initiatives are designed to solve a problem in the short term and then they disappear. Considering how important safety is, when Atkins developed the Safe by Choice programme (SbC), it was conceived, not as a short-term solution, but as a way to change people™s behaviour, so that safey would be [...]
• Red Cross team up with Network Rail for the OlympicsFirst aid responders from the British Red Cross will be teaming up with Network Rail to help Olympic visitors stay safe this summer. A 220-strong team  of expert first aiders will work shifts around the clock at King’s Cross, Paddington, London Bridge, Liverpool Street and Victoria from July 27 to August 12. An estimated 20 [...]
• VIA to axe 200 jobsCanadian rail company VIA expects to cut 200 full-time positions as a result of reduced services across the network. The company has pledged to maintain service on current routes but has said it will be adjusting the number of trains on certain lines to “better reflect customer demand”. Passengers will see changes to services between [...]
• Wimbledon rail guideTaking in some tennis this summer? Check out what service will get you where, so you don’t miss out on any of the action. Tube From central London take the westbound District Line to either Southfields or Wimbledon tube station. You can then either walk, taker a taxi or board a connecting London General shuttle [...]
• Forth Bridge warningThe Forth Rail Bridge is located nine miles to the west of Edinburgh. It is regarded as a crowning achievement of Victorian steel bridge building and its robust cantilever structure was designed to combat the high winds that had caused the failure of the Tay Bridge with significant loss of life eleven years earlier in [...]
• Rail fare satisfaction continues to fallThe number of passengers who are satisfied with the cost of their train ticket has continued to fall, a new survey has found. Rail watchdog Passenger Focus found that 42 per cent of customers were satisfied with value for money for the price of their train ticket compared to 44 per cent in spring 2011. [...]
• Developing infrastructure projectsSimon Kirby, Network Rail™s managing director, infrastructure projects, spoke in the rail engineer seminar theatre at Infrarail recently and outlined his thoughts and objectives for the new Network Rail Infrastructure Projects business which he is setting up. It will have quite an impact on the industry, so it is worth reporting what he had to [...]

The Business Desk

• Network Rail extends Piccadilly parking NETWORK Rail is set to complete a £4.2m extension of the car parking facilities at Manchester Piccadilly station next month.
• Region lands £57m of transport cash THE North West has secured £57m of a £266m Department for Transport fund aimed at promoting greener travel schemes.

Other News Sources

• Virgin Trains is Best in Class Again Virgin Trains has once again been given top marks by its customers, with the highest satisfaction ratings ever achieved in the National Passenger Survey by a long-distance rail franchise operator.
• Transport chiefs warn unions in advance of expected spate of Olympics breakdownsRail union RMT revealed today that transport chiefs have warned the unions in internal meetings to expect a massive increase in train breakdowns as every unit of clapped out rolling stock is dragged out of the sidings and pressed into service to try and cope with the surge in Olympics demand.
• Assembly throws its weight behind TfL's bid for more rail control 28 June, 2012 - 11:31 The London Assembly today backed Transport for London™s (TfL) proposal to take control of Southeastern and West Anglia™s inner suburban routes, calling the devolution of suburban rail franchises a once in a generation opportunity to improve rail services in the capital. In its response to the Government™s consultation on rail decentralisation[1] the Committee cites TfL™s transformation of  the former Silverlink franchise into the London Overground[2], which has seen passenger numbers triple and customer sat...