Breaking News
Ministers under fire on ferries
Labour last night claimed the Scottish Government is "hell-bent on destroying" Caledonian MacBrayne's reputation for delivering lifeline ferry services and is packaging it up for a future sell-off.
MP Bridget Phillipson weighs in over bus routes row
A BID to seize back control of bus routes has being backed amid growing anger at “taxpayer funded profits.”
Friday, 03 August 2012
BBC News
- Railway book shop at Minehead shop raises £150,000 A second-hand book store opened in 1998 to help raise cash for Minehead station on the West Somerset Railway has brought in £150,000.
- Extra rail seats for Olympic gameRail passengers are promised extra seats for Team GB's next Olympics game in Cardiff as train companies apologise for long queues.
Financial Times
- Virgin battles for west coast franchiseThe rail operator is fighting to retain its only hold on the UK market amid signs that the government is favouring a rival bid from FirstGroup
The Guardian
- Transport authorities insist London faces travel pressure as athletics begins London's transport bosses dismiss claims of a deserted capital as they prepare for the biggest Olympics challenge to date
The Telegraph
- Transport network bracing itself for Olympic spectators to doubleLondon's transport network is facing its biggest challenge of the Olympics so far today with the start of the athletics competition.
- Train late again? It's the weatherFloods and torrential rain have been blamed by two of the country's main rail operators for disappointing punctuality figures.
ATOC
- Olympic National Rail travel bulletin: Thursday 2 AugustHundreds of thousands of spectators will attend Olympic events today as the railway continues to run extra and longer trains. • Train companies are providing 565,276 additional seats today,...
Nottingham Evening Post
- Nottingham Post commented More than 70 jobs advertised for new tram line workMORE than 70 jobs are now being advertised for construction work as part of the planned tram extension.
Wales Online
- Cardiff news: Olympics 2012: Rail bosses vow to put on more trains after travel chaosRail firm bosses have promised to put on extra trains for tthe Olympic football quarter final to avoid a repeat of the huge delays following Team GB’s victory on Wednesday night.
Yorkshire Evening Post
- Record-breaking loco gets stylish makeoverThe world-record breaking Mallard has been given a makeover.
Other Regional Press
- Lords and MPs visit Cleethorpes to promote UK's historic railwaysLORDS and MPs pulled in to one of Cleethorpes' biggest tourist attractions as part of a tour to promote the country's heritage railways. The All Party Parliamentary Group for Heritage Rail, which was formed a year ago, is visiting historic railways all over the UK.
Global Rail News
- Branson warns Greening not to be swayed by unrealistic bidsThe race to run the West Coast franchise is hotting up, with Sir Richard Branson writing to Transport Secretary Justine Greening, copying in David Cameron, urging the government not to be swayed by unrealistic high bids. Tensions have been raised amid reports that First Group and incumbent Virgin are in a two horse race for [...]
- C2c sets new record for trains arriving on timeC2c has set a new UK record for train punctuality in the past year, with 97.1 per cent of services arriving at stations on time. Figures released today by Network Rail showed that the National Express train operator also set a new monthly record after achieving a punctuality figure of 97.2 per cent through June [...]
- Theory into PracticeSome of the most expensive consumables on a rail vehicle are its wheelsets and axle bearings which make up a significant part of an operator™s maintenance budget. Scrutiny of railway costs, triggered by the McNulty report, means that successful railway companies must achieve exceptional wheelset operational performance and at the same time maintain very high [...]
- Regulator begins HLOS consultationThe Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) has begun consultations to look at how the rail industry will deliver government proposals to invest £4.2 billion in Britain’s rail network between 2014-19. ORR says the process, which follows the announcement last month of the biggest programme of investment in the railways for 150 years, aims to ensure [...]
- Four bridges One valleyRegular readers of the rail engineer will have read reports on many infrastructure projects carried out all around the country in a variety of terrains. They will be forgiven for thinking that, after meticulous planning, all projects go exactly to plan and are delivered œon time and under budget. Unfortunately, real life isn™t like that. [...]
- Magician brought in to entertain Olympic rail passengersMagician Danny Hall has been making Olympic travel blues disappear for London Overground passengers in Stratford. Hall will be performing on trains around the Olympic Park throughout the Games. A LOROL spokesman said: “We™ve had great feedback from the passengers who are also Tweeting about it.” LOROL has also partnered with Stage Up to organise [...]
- Invensys wins Oslo signalling contractInvensys Rail is to start work on signalling projects across the T-bane network in Oslo after being awarded contracts worth £10.6 million from Norway’s infrastructure owner KTP. The first project is for Lørenbane, a new line which will provide a tunnel link between Ringbane and Grorudbane, allowing trains to pass directly from Sinsen to Hasle, [...]
- FCC adds 29,000 seats to Olympic servicesFirst Capital Connect (FCC) is lengthening and adding more services on the Great Northern route to combat Olmpic spectators. Between Friday, August 3 and Sunday, August 12, an additional 29,000 seats will be made available on top of the 760,000 extra seats FCC has already put on for the Olympics. Six early morning and evening [...]
- Indian Government fast tracks high-speed rail planThe Indian Government is planning to introduce measures to fast track the development of a high-speed rail network in the country. The push came at a recent meeting where officials decided that development of key infrastructure projects, including high-speed rail must be pushed through and completed on time. œAt the meeting it was also decided [...]
Railnews
- Government 'warned' about high West Coast bid THE competition to win the next West Coast franchise has taken a new turn, following rumours that FirstGroup is the favourite to win the four-way competition. It's reported that Richard Branson has tried to intervene in the process by writing to transport secretary Justine Greening as well as the Prime Minister.
Other News Sources
- Crossrail and TfL to install first incline lifts in UK public transport Crossrail and Transport for London (TfL) awarded a major contract to Kone for around 50 lifts for the new Crossrail stations as well as five lifts for Bank, Greenford and Hammersmith Tube stations. Crossrail will pioneer the use of incline lifts to deliver step-free access at two of the major central London stations. Four innovative incline lifts will run alongside escalators at Farringdon and Liverpool Street Crossrail stations where it is not possible to install vertical lifts. London Underground will also install an incline lift at Greenford station by 2014.
- New railway station could ease traffic A proposal for a new railway station near Bath has been floated by politicians keen to reduce traffic congestion on the eastern side of the city.
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