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

Friday, 21 August 2015

BBC News

• Rail signal problems 'every day'The Oxford to London Paddington line suffered the equivalent of more than one signal problem every day last year, figures reveal.
• Rail strike to go ahead as talks failFirst Great Western rail services will be disrupted this weekend as union members push ahead with a 24-hour strike.

The Telegraph

• Train service entertains commuters with on-board 'pub quiz' serviceA South West trains service out of London were entertained with a 'pub quiz' by a quirky train conductor

Daily Record

• Woman sexually assaulted in broad daylight on train travelling from London to Inverness A MAN aged about 40 approached the 24-year-old twice between Newcastle and Perth and touched her inappropriately.

Mail Online

• Compensation for UK train delays doubles in two years to £26m Sir Richard Branson's West Coast rail service has been forced to make the largest compensation payments to passengers as a result of late or cancelled trains according to new figures.

Bolton News

• Services delayed by 11 hours after brick dangled from railway bridge at Lostock puts drivers' lives at risk A TRAIN driver could have been killed after a brick was left dangling off a railway bridge from a length of rope.

London Evening Standard

• Tube strike August 2015: TfL provide advice for four days of travel chaosTransport for London has warned commuters they will face four days of disruption on the Tube, should planned industrial action go ahead next week.

Sleaford Standard

• Major disruption on trains after overhead lines between Peterborough and Grantham failThere is major disruption on train going through Peterborough, Stamford and Grantham this Friday morning, August 21.

Other Regional Press

• Taunton street says farewell to town's last tramline pole A PIECE of Taunton’s history was removed this week when the last tramline pole in the town was taken down.
• Man faces losing leg after 750-volt electric shock on live rail A MAN faces losing a limb after stepping on a live rail in Hampshire.

Railnews

• Blow for Northern Powerhouse with new electrification delay Plans for a Northern Powerhouse have received a further setback, with the announcement that the contractor responsible for electrifying the Preston to Blackpool North line is to be replaced, after fears that the budget and project timetable were likely to overrun. The time needed to appoint another firm to take over from Balfour Beatty will delay the work, and one of Blackpool's MPs has described the news as a 'blow' -- not just for the resort but for Lancashire as a whole.

Other News Sources

• Balfour Beatty pulls out of £75m Network Rail contractBalfour Beatty has pulled out of a £75m electrification project for Network Rail after it said it would be unable to complete the work “on time and to budgetâ€�.
• Crossrail project moves from tunnelling to track laying phase Europe's largest infrastructure project Crossrail (CRL) has announced that a 465m-long concreting train has arrived at the Plumstead railhead in south-east London, UK, which will help fit-out Crossrail tunnels with concrete track beds.With tunnelling now complete in Crossrail, the focus has now moved on to laying track under the project, according to Railway Technology.The self-contained concrete batching factory on wheels arrived in the UK from France via the Channel Tunnel.The train will enter service next month and will be used in the fit-out of Crossrail's standard track slab along the ro...
• Hitachi Rail Europe to open new train manufacturing plant in September Hitachi Rail Europe is set to open its new rolling stock manufacturing and assembly plant in the UK on 3 September.The new £82m plant in Newton Aycliffe is the first European train factory of Hitachi Rail, according to Railway Technology.The new facility will initially be used to build Super Express Trains for the Great Western Main Line and the East Coast Main Line.Hitachi will manufacture a total of 866 Class 800/801 train carriages destined to run on the Great Western Main Line from 2017 and East Coast Main Line from 2018.In addition, the new facility will support UK's Intercity Express Pr...