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

Friday, 31 October 2008

BBC News

• Bus plan for city street defendedPlans to open up a pedestrianised street in Leicester to buses have been defended by the city council.
• Rail regulator backs Reading planA £400m project to transform Reading station has been given the green light by the Office of Rail Regulation.
• Track improvement plan approvedRail bosses have agreed to improve services for passengers using the Cotswold Line by doubling up sections of the track.
• Rail station plans get go-aheadMulti-million pound plans to improve services for rail users at Cardiff's stations have been given the go-ahead by regulators.
• Railside gardens land rent risesFamilies who lease part of their rear garden from Network Rail face seeing their payments soar up to six fold.
• Lothian bus man to retire earlyOne of Edinburgh's key transport leaders is to take early retirement, as the capital continues to struggle with the new trams project.
• Traffic arguments as Westfield opensIt is not often that a journalist gets to literally chase an MP.
• Speed trap cuts road deathsThe number of people killed or injured on a stretch of the A77 halves since speed cameras were set up.
• Network Rail to do more, for lessNetwork Rail is told by regulators to boost efficiency while getting by on less money than it asked for.
• MPs step up third runway pressureNearly 40 Labour MPs have joined calls for the government to rethink plans for a third runway at Heathrow Airport.
• VW defies economic slowdownVolkswagen manages to report rising profits despite the global economic slowdown that is hitting the car industry.

Financial Times

• Minister backs electric rail routesGeoff Hoon, newly-appointed transport secretary, yesterday threw his weight behind rail electrification and a potential network of high-speed lines - barely 15 months...
• Regulator reduces Network Rail fundingThe Office of Rail Regulation has ruled that the owner of Britain's rail infrastructure would receive less income over the next five years than it has demanded

The Guardian

• Government denies plan to allow driving on hard shouldersTransport officials visited US 'Lexus lanes' but play down reports they will introduce toll scheme in UK
• US lawyer driving the turnaround on the tubeWhen he was approached to run the London Underground, Tim O'Toole was offered some encouragement by a former executive: "Don't take a job like that unless you are prepared for a public and humiliating dismissal."
• Regulator leaves Network Rail with £2.6bn spending gapNetwork Rail is under pressure to cut costs after the industry's financial regulator left it with a near £3bn spending gap. The Office of Rail Regulation said the owner of Britain's rail infrastructure should spend £28.5bn between next year and 2014, £2.6bn less than it requested.

The Independent

• The Big Question: How can we fix Britain's railways, and where will we find the funding?
• Network Rail given tough targets – and less cash to spendThe number of trains late or cancelled due to disruptive engineering works must be cut by a third under tough targets set by rail regulators – despite a £2bn cut in funding to do so.

The Telegraph

• Winter Getaways in Europe by RailEurope is so versatile for travellers – there are literally thousands of fantastic destinations to explore all year round. But did you know that travelling by rail is often easier and cheaper than flying? Most destinations can be effortlessly reached by train – whether high-speed, overnight or regional rail services – and what’s more, door-to-door, it often works out quicker than flying too.
• Network Rail rebuffed on lavatory levyRail bosses want to impose a £7.2 million "lavatory levy" to cover the cost of clearing effluent off the lines.

Times Online

• Legal blunder allows drivers to get away with littering Thousands of motorists who litter Britain's roads every day are escaping penalty because of a bureaucratic blunder.

Daily Express

• Stagecoach wins over car driversCASH-conscious travellers are leaving their cars at home and switching to public transport, bus and rail operator Stagecoach said yesterday.

Mail Online

• Government cuts £2.4bn from railways... but says more trains must be on time Rail bosses have been ordered to improve punctuality, safety and overcrowding - and face billions cut from their budget. Network Rail, the tracks, stations and signals firm, had asked for £29bn for the next five years.

ATOC

• ATOC underlines importance of train operators in new department for transport initiativeThe Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) said that the success of the National Networks Strategy Group, announced today by the Secretary of State for Transport, will depend on the contribution which train operators can make to its work.
• ATOC says rail regulator report takes further steps in the right directionThe Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) sees the constructive approach adopted in the Office of Rail Regulation™s (ORR) Periodic Review as a positive step forward but stresses there is much unfinished business to resolve.

Transport Briefing

• Warwick bus station opening abolishes town loop routeConstruction of a new bus station in Warwick has been completed eight weeks ahead of schedule.
• Prestwick Airport sets out plan to increase rail shareGlasgow Prestwick Airport has set out plans to cope with a doubling of the number of passengers using the airport in the next decade, equipping it to handle 5.7m passengers in 2018 rising to approximately 12m in 2033.
• Network Rail CP4 ORR settlement raised to £26.7bnNetwork Rail will receive £26.7bn to spend on Britain's railways over the next five years under an agreement that effectively green lights enhancement projects across the network, although it fall short of the £29.1bn requested by the infraco.

Edinburgh Evening News

• Lothian Buses chief quitsTHE man in charge of Edinburgh's bus company and tram project is to leave his post, the Evening News has learned.

Liverpool Post

• Mersey transport chief fought for bill amendmentWILL the great bus U-turn become known as the “Scales Amendment” – in recognition of the Mersey transport chief who pushed hardest for the dramatic change?
• Port owner promotes direct shipping link to IndiaA DIRECT shipping link between Liverpool and India would give a huge boost to the North West economy, the owner of the Port of Liverpool says.
• Fury as ministers refuse to ease port tax burdenMERSEY port companies reacted with fury last night after ministers ruled out waiving huge hikes in business rates – even as they admitted that firms would be driven to the wall.

London Evening Standard

• High-speed rail and HeathrowGeoff Hoon and Andrew Adonis are evidently very keen on shifting the emphasis towards high-speed rail links. In contrast to Ruth Kelly's decidedly cool tone on the issue in her white paper 15 months ago, Hoon and Adonis sound as though they are ready to be bold on the issue.
• Technical problems hit new transport links at Westfield centreThe £200million public transport links to the new Westfield centre have already been hit by technical problems, the Standard can reveal
• Playwright makes plea on cycle pathsAlan Bennett is backing a campaign to extend cycle paths through all London's Royal Parks after his friend was fined for cycling illegally

Manchester Evening News

• Bonfire Night noise survey shock

  HOUSEHOLDER Jon Ducker thought it was a joke when he got a letter from Metrolink bosses wanting to carry out a sound survey in his garden - on Bonfire Night.

Metro

• Cut delays by 20%, Network Rail toldRail bosses were yesterday given less money than they asked for - while being set higher targets for trains to run on time.

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• Ferry among plans for Great Glen cycling routeTHOUSANDS of walkers enjoy hiking the Great Glen Way between Inverness and Fort William each year, and now there are ambitious plans to develop a similar trail for cyclists.
• Move to tighten up on school transport safetyA bid to tighten up safety measures on school transport across the north-east is expected to win crucial backing from councillors next week.
• Community accuses council over state of roadA CENTRAL Sutherland community claims Highland Council is failing to properly maintain the main strategic route to the north-west and west of the county.
• Staff ponder BMI fate after takeoverAround 350 Aberdeen employees of airline BMI have been left pondering the firm™s fate following a £318million takeover deal.
• Rail commuters hit out at new timetableNORTH-EAST commuters have hit out at train timetable changes which they claim will œdevastate rail journeys from the north of Aberdeen to stations south of the city.

Yorkshire Evening Post

• Ministers consider Leeds high speed rail linesMinisters are to consider plans for high-speed rail lines for Leeds “ a year after the idea was rejected for being too costly.
• Leeds families lost homes to make way for inner ring road"Leeds is being thrust into the motorway age and should welcome the prospect."
• Leeds train ticket barriers headaches continueNew automatic ticket barriers at Leeds City Station have left rail passengers with a nasty case of travel sickness.

Northants Evening Telegraph

• What do we have to do to make roads safer?Road deaths have been called "the major public health problem of our age" in a Government report.

Reading Evening Post

• Brolly blocked view of approaching trainAccident investigators urged rail bosses to ban umbrellas on the tracks after a Caversham railway worker died when his brolly blocked his view of an approaching train.

Sunderland Echo

• Region could get ultra-fast rail linksNew ultra-fast rail links to the North East have not been ruled out but cash to make the A1 a dual carriageway is not available in the short-term, says Transport Secretary Geo

The Shields Gazette

• Bright future at end of Tyne Tunnel - video reportTHE historic launch of the £260m second Tyne Tunnel scheme will spark huge economic and environmental benefits for South Tyneside and the rest of the region, transport bosses

The Economist

• America's car industry: And then there were twoThe combination of GM and Chrysler hinges on government supportDESPERATE people do desperate things, which is why the odds are that a merger between two of Detroit’s Big Three carmakers, General Motors (GM) and Chrysler, will somehow be made to happen. Certainly, the choices facing both firms are stark. At their current rates of cash burn, both firms will run out of money before the end of 2009, according to Rod Lache, an analyst at Deutsche Bank. GM, which has seen its sales in America fall by 18% this year, has about $20 billion in cash, but it needs to keep back at least $11 billion a...

Railnews

• News: Network Rail’s spending plans cut by £2.4billion NETWORK Rail has been told that it will have £2.4 billion less than it wanted to spend on the national rail network during the next five years – and that could lead to an appeal by the company.

Aviation Industry

• Air-rail ticketing takes offIT makes booking easier

Other News Sources

• Bending our ears on busBUS passengers have been hopping onto a new bendy bus in an attempt to get some of their questions answered.
• Councils can act on poor bus servicesCouncils will be given the opportunity to take back control of bus services and end 20 years of controversial deregulation - but only in a “last-resort” situation.
• AIRPORT HAS NEVER BEEN MORE CRUCIAL [reader comments]I READ with dismay your article on the Carlisle Airport development (The Cumberland News, October 24) where you reported that despite concessions by the Stobart Group the same objections were surfacing again by a small group who are determined to halt such plans
• Fresh trams chaos as boss decides to quitNeil Renilson, head of Transport Edinburgh Limited, is to retire at the end of this year.Mr Renilson, 54, chief executive of Lothian Buses for the last ten years, was expected to lead efforts to integ...
• Network Rail worried by efficiency demandsNetwork Rail has reacted with concern to efficiency demands placed on it by the rail watchdog today.
• DfT calls inquiry into Humber Bridge toll risesThe Department for Transport has confirmed it has called a public inquiry into proposed increases in the Humber Bridge toll following the large number of complaints received during a public consultation.
• Eurotunnel challenged on decision to scrap fire spraysChannel Tunnel firm failed to install suppression system after developing prototype.
• Rail regulator gives Network Rail less cash to spend over next five yearsThe Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) today announced that Network Rail must work to a budget of £26.7bn between April 2009 and March 2014.
• Projects axed to make way for CrossrailFlagship public transport projects were this week set to drop out of Transport for London’s capital programme under a redrawing of its business plan for the next 10 years.
• Hoon: High Speed Rail under 'consideration'New transport secretary Geoff Hoon today said High Speed Rail was on the table as a way to improve the transport system.
• New Routemaster design decision put back to ChristmasThe winning design for London's new Routemaster bus may not be revealed until the end of December.
• Eurostar marketing derailedEurostar has postponed all of its major marketing and advertising plans for the next three months, including celebrating the first anniversary of its move to St Pancras, following the fire in the Channel Tunnel last month.
• Harold Read Transport makes 12 staff redundantLonghope, Gloucestershire haulier Harold Read Transport has made 12 staff redundant as it struggles to find work in the scrap metal market.
• Woody's Haulage shuts doors with 75 redundanciesConstruction industry specialist Woody's Haulage of Norfolk has ceased trading.
• Prestons of Potto results show no growth in 2007North Yorkshire haulage firm Prestons of Potto failed to grow its business either in terms of turnover or profit during 2007, according to its latest accounts.
• Fraser Eagle makes timely arrival in LondonPassenger transport and logistics group Fraser Eagle, the UK's leading specialist in managed solutions, has set up a new depot and operations ce...
• Boeing trims outsourcing on 787, future designsA Boeing executive has confirmed the airframer will scale back outsourced engineering on the next 787 variant and reduce participation by outside partners...
• Ship finance cash 'is emperor now'GLOOMY forecasts hung over the opening sessions of the 8th Mare Forum Shipfinance conference in Amsterdam today as speakers presented their predictions on shipping™s near-term prospects.
• Eat smoke, pirates!SPAIN™S air force has thwarted a pirate attack on a tanker by dropping smoke bombs on the pirate ship, the defence ministry said today.
• The Green new MINI EPowered by an electric motor that can produce over 200bhp the electric Mini has arrived in style, and although it looks very similar to the current car it is an altogether different breed that has taken BMW years to put together. Following previews at the Los Angeles Motor Show next month, 500 Mini E™s are [...]
• Bentley cuts jobs and productionBentley has announced voluntary redundancies at its Crewe car factory after it cut production for the second time in less than two months.
• Highways Agency holds sustainable development meetingsThe Highways Agency has announced that it has been meeting with key stakeholders from the development and planning sector to discuss ways of improving the current system.

Other Subscription Services

• Free bus travel incentive for new parents using real nappiesStagecoach today (31 October 2008) launched an innovative eco-partnership to offer a free bus travel incentive to new parents using real nappies for their babies.