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

Monday, 11 August 2008

BBC News

• Railway station 'will be cleaned'A railway company has promised to clear up a Shropshire station after complaints about it being dirty.
• The engine that couldThe return of steam trains, four decades on, might spark the revival of our beleaguered railways
• Rail punctuality 'will improve'A joint scheme between Network Rail and National Express East Anglia has been announced with the aim of improving punctuality to trains across the East.
• Theft causes severe rail delaysRail passengers faced severe delays on Saturday after thieves stole copper wire on one of the UK's major routes.
• Oyster £100m deal will end earlyThe company that runs London's Oyster card system is to have its £100m-a-year contract terminated five years early, Transport for London (TfL) has said.
• Network Rail heads may lose bonusNetwork Rail chiefs could see their bonuses cut after a report commissioned by rail regulators suggested a raft of sweeping changes.
• Ryanair blocks 'illegal' bookingsRyanair is to cancel thousands of its own customers' bookings after they were made through internet travel agents whose activities it says are illegal.
• Poor roads delay wind farm plansPlanning applications for wind farms in Powys have been put on hold amid concerns about the county's "inadequate" road network.
• Man's seven-mile scooter ordealArriva Trains Wales said their service should have been better and apologised for any distress caused.
• Virgin challenges BA's US tie-upSir Richard Branson writes to the US presidential hopefuls, opposing a proposed merger between BA and American Airlines.

Financial Times

• Oyster card contractor fired after £1m failuresTfL is to end early its contract with TranSys, manager of the swipecard used on UK buses, light railway and the Tube, after the shutdowns last month that cost lost fares

The Guardian

• Sir David Serpell [Obituary]High-ranking civil servant known for his 'hatchet job' report into Britain's railways
• Travel fears for London's 2012 GamesBoris Johnson was facing questions last night over plans to stage a cashless Olympic Games after yesterday's decision to fire the company responsible for running London's Oyster travel card.

The Herald

• BA compromise may seal American dealBritish Airways is reportedly preparing to give up a raft of transatlantic flight slots worth tens of millions of pounds as it seeks to win US backing for a tie-up with American Airlines.

The Independent

• Soaring fuel prices and green pressures herald comeback for Britain's waterwaysBritain's waterways are on the brink of an astonishing revival – and some of the UK's biggest trucking firms are leading the way. The UK's long-neglected latticework of canals and rivers, which once helped to jump-start the industrial revolution, are poised for a renaissance.

The Observer

• Regulator will call for BAA to be broken upThe Competition Commission is set to recommend the break-up of the airports group BAA this month. This would force the company to sell at least one of its facilities - most likely Gatwick - for up to £2bn.

The Telegraph

• Tory MP Tim Yeo in conflict-of-interest row over car tax report Tim Yeo causes row by endorsing the Government's controversial plans to impose extra tax on

Times Online

• Bristol gets on its bikeCycling must be cool - after all those photos of actors, singers and models pedalling around New York and Notting Hill, now even politicians are at it. Most of us struggle to look good in the saddle, as we hoick the thing up steps, but we can at least feel smugly green. However, a new development of 47 “cycle homes” in Bristol could take some of the sweat out of this smugness.
• Boris Johnson's A to Z of cycling - P, Q and R P is for pavement This you should only mount in the most extreme circumstances (for example, if you are driven off the road by one of my predecessor’s demented new single-decker buses, so long that they can’t turn corners). P is also for the paradox of the ramps for the disabled, which have been installed, at colossal expense, on every pavement in London. They make it easier for cyclists to ascend the pavement at speed, greatly increasing the risk that they will collide with, and permanently disable, pedestrians.

Transport Briefing

• Train leasing probe slams rail franchising systemBritain's three major rolling stock leasing companies have been cleared of anti-competitive behaviour when supplying vehicles to train operating companies.
• Oyster deal scrappedTransys, the consortium of technology firms responsible for running London's Oyster ticketing system, has had its contract torn up by Transport for London.
• Crossrail puts business worth £130m up for grabsEngineering contractors and support companies have been invited to bid for business worth tens of millions of pounds with the advertisement for the first major Crossrail construction work.

Airwise News

• UK Regulator May Call For BAA Airport Break-UpThe UK's Competition Commission may be set to recommend the break-up of BAA, which operates seven airports including London's Heathrow, Gatwick, and Stansted, a newspaper reported.

Edinburgh Evening News

• Health chiefs call for ERI tramHEALTH chiefs today reiterated the need to build a tram line to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.

London Evening Standard

• Thousands of motorists falling victim to potentially lethal 'cash for crash' insurance scamThousands of motorists are falling victim to a potentially lethal 'cash for crash' insurance scam. It involves criminals deliberately staging road accidents, usually by slamming on their brakes so an innocent driver behind has no chance of avoiding a collision.

Manchester Evening News

• Aviation players back c-chargeTHE aviation sector has thrown its weight behind Manchester's transport plans, which would unlock major investment in public transport in return for congestion charging.
• C-charge: Only 10% will payJUST ten per cent of weekday motorists would pay a Greater Manchester congestion charge, a new study has claimed.

Metro

• Anti-litter campaign launchedRoad chiefs have launched an anti-litter campaign after collecting a tonne of rubbish from just one six-mile stretch of motorway.

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• Record number of cruise ships queue up to sail into portA RECORD number of luxury cruise ships are queuing to sail into a west Highland port.

The York Press

• Eco-park still on the cards DEVELOPERS behind an ambitious eco-park near York say it will still be built, despite work having not started almost a year after it was approved.
• All steamed up for the seaside express AN iconic locomotive has graced North Yorkshire™s rail lines in the launch of a summer steam service.

Wales Online

• Transport plan will cost an extra £30mTHE Assembly Government will have to find another £30m for transport if it wants to get commuters out of their cars, it was warned today.
• It’s plane crazy in skies above WalesFROM bomb hoaxes to near crashes, a catalogue of aviation safety blunders in Welsh airspace is today exposed by Wales on Sunday.

Yorkshire Evening Post

• £4.5bn drive-on rail route for lorries unveiledEXCLUSIVE: Proposals have been drawn up for a £4.5bn drive-on freight railway connecting Yorkshire to the continent which could cut millions of lorry journeys by road.

Carlisle News & Star

• Cumbria motorists suffering ˜double whammy™MOTORISTS in Cumbria are suffering a œdouble whammy of spiralling petrol prices and a rise in car tax, according to a Cumbrian MP.

Northants Evening Telegraph

• Are potholes ruining your car?ARE holes in the road driving you potty? According to the RAC they are a growing problem nationwide, with 230,196 call-outs last year, compared to 204,467 in 2006.

Peterborough Telegraph

• New night-time SOS buses plannedTwo new potentially life-saving SOS buses are in line to hit the streets of Norwich after a previous service failed its MoT earlier this year.

New Scientist

• How to green America's gas guzzlersThe US could halve its gasoline consumption by 2035 if the car industry changes its definition of 'improvement'. Consumers should lead the way

Washington Post

• Researchers work to turn car's exhaust into power WARREN, Mich. -- The stinky, steaming air that escapes from a car's tailpipe could help us use less gas.
• Airline industry woes threaten O'Hare expansion CHICAGO -- Soaring gas prices have claimed plenty of victims _ from SUV sales to stock market portfolios. They now threaten to claim another: the expansion of one of the world's busiest airports.
• Airports brace for fewer flights, passengers FORT WORTH, Texas -- From his office overlooking the runways of one of the nation's busiest airports, Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport Chief Executive Jeffrey Fegan sees the slowdown coming this fall.

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• Ryanair boss reveals expansion planRyanair chief executive Michael O'Leary has announced plans to expand the airline's fleet, despite predicted losses this year.He revealed that discussions are taking place over the delivery of up to 400 new aircraft from 2012, with half of that number planned to be through firm orders.According to Mr O'Leary, the weak US dollar means planes are now "about half as expensive" as they were a few years ago."We've been trying to talk to Boeing about orders beyond 2012 but their prices are too high. We've started talking with Airbus about the possibility of taking Airbus a...

Railnews

• Rosco inquiry — Competition Commission blames DfTTHE Department for Transport’s ’micro-management’ of passenger train operations has been criticised by the UK’s Competition Commission—following an inquiry triggered by the DfT itself after claiming rolling stock leasing companies (Roscos) were overcharging train operators by as much as £177 million a year.
• News: Swedish Green Train Goes On Test THE Swedish record-breaking Regina Train prototype, developed in a partnership which includes Swedish Railway administration Banverket and Bombardier Transportation, has been tested successfully between Vasteras and Stockholm.

Aviation Industry

• Visit to Nuneaton PSB I went on a visit with other members from the local Railway Correspondence & Travel Society (RCTS) branch to Nuneaton Power Signal Box (PSB).
• London’s Mayor says No to Hydrogen fuelThe mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has decided to renege on the one of the largest orders of vehicles that use hydrogen fuel. Skeptics say that this will put London in a weaker position to tackle environmental issues, going forward.
• GKN to buy Airbus plant for £150mEngineering giant GKN will this week take the first step towards becoming a major player in aviation when it buys the Airbus plant at Filton near Bristol for £150m.
• GATX May Buy GE's Rail-Service Unit for as Much as $3.5 BillionATX Corp., the Chicago-based lessor of freight cars, is offering more than $3 billion for General Electric Co.'s Rail Services unit, people familiar with the discussions said.
• Pilots Complain Airlines Restrict Fuel to Cut CostPilots complain airline managers are forcing them to fly with inadequate fuel reserves, but airlines say it's a labor issue.
• Ryanair in bookings clampdownA consumer watchdog has said that it is

Green Miscellany

• British biofuels data publishedThe Renewable Fuels Agency (RFA) has published its first monthly report on the supply of biofuels in Britain.

Other News Sources

• Patient calls for hospitals bus linkA former barrister recovering from prostate cancer is calling for better public transport links to an Oxford hospital.
• Forum to get traffic movingA NEW forum is being set up by Sheffield Council to try to make it easier for everyone in the city to get around the city.
• Air bosses promise more informationAIR chiefs who are looking afresh at proposals to change jet routes over Suffolk today promised to publish further reports as their work progresses.
• BUS FIRM TESTS NEW SENSORSCUMBRIA’S biggest bus operator Stagecoach is testing a hi-tech system that should halve the number of accidents and cut fuel consumption.
• Bus "cuts" are reversedTHE majority of cuts made by Stagecoach Strathtay to bus journeys in and around Montrose have been reversed. The news follows weeks of talks between the bus operator and Angus Council's transport manager, Lesley Millar and transport officer, Chris Boyle.
• Rail travel hit by stolen signals cableHundreds of rail passengers suffered "severe delays" after thieves stole cable controlling signalling on one of the UK's busiest train routes in Lincolnshire, Network Rail said.
• Give Derby £1.4bn rail contractsA FORMER Transport Minister has called on the Government to give a £1.4bn train-building contract to Bombardier. John Spellar (pictured), who was Minister for Transport from 2001 to 2003, said the Government must live up to Gordon Brown's slogan – British jobs for British workers – by awarding the contract for new Thameslink trains to the Litchurch Lane-based firm.
• Meeting in bid to stop bus gripesA Dundee councillor is to meet management at National Express on Tuesday to discuss a lack of bus services in the Menzieshill and Charleston areas of the city.
• Pensioners` travel set to cost £3.5mCOUNCIL tax payers may have to pay out £3.5 million to meet the soaring costs of free bus travel for pensioners. Isle of Wight Council transport bosses and Island MP Andrew Turner are set to lobby the government over the rocketing costs of national concessionary bus fares after the Island saw one of the largest increases in bus patronage in the country, resulting from the scheme.
• Free bus travel in Wigan town centre planBus travel may become totally free in Wigan town centre! Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority (GMPTA) has announced that such a scheme will be one of its top priorities for the next 12 months.
• Hydrogen-maker performs well in fuel-saving trialDodd's Group managing director Jim Dodd believes a new piece of technology has helped him cut his fuel costs - by up to £300 a month per truck in trials.
• Swiss style transport for 2012London 2012 will herald Swis-style interchanges and train reliability, Olympic Delivery Authority transport director Hugh Sumner has told NCE.
• BA World Cargo cuts fuel surchargeBritish Airways World Cargo is set to lower its fuel surcharge back to 84 pence from 21 August.
• Inland port plans come to the rescueInland ports and depots look set to play an increasing role in easing the severe congestion that has blighted Europe’s busiest container port. Several initiatives are being developed to help keep the port of Rotterdam accessible.