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

Tuesday, 24 March 2009

BBC News

• Train company offers flat faresA train company is introducing flat rate fares allowing passengers to pay the same price regardless of when they book or the time they travel. Wrexham and Shropshire said it was introducing a single standard fare after listening to passengers' views.

Financial Times

• Olympic Airlines cleared for revivalGreece has transferred control of Olympic Airlines to an Athens-based investment company that has pledged to restore the flag-carrier to its glory days
• Train order deadline put backThe deadline for trainmakers to submit bids for one of the UK's biggest-ever rail orders has been delayed.

The Guardian

• Pupils should cycle or walk to cut school run congestionReport advises measures including American-style yellow bus scheme to combat traffic build-up
• India's car for cash-strapped drivers¢ Landmark 'comparable to Moonshot' says Tata ¢ World's cheapest car could sell a million a yearWhen the Indian industrialist Ratan Tata announced plans to produce the world's cheapest car last January, he said he hoped to fulfil a dream of bringing motoring to the Indian masses.But by the time the £1,350 Nano was launched yesterday in Mumbai, his dream had become more ambitious: to go head-to- head with the world's biggest carmakers and bring low-cost motoring to the cash-strapped masses of Europe and US. Yesterday, the group announced ambitions to challenge the gas-guzzling car cul...

The Scotsman

• Train now arriving at Platform 1 also catches vandals at 125mph …VANDALS and trespassers on railway lines will caught on camera by wide-angle lenses being fitted to the front and rear of trains for the first time, The Scotsman has learned. The equipment can produce highly detailed images from trains travelling at up to 125mph.

The Telegraph

• High Speed 2 train service could run in Britain by 2021Britain's latest high speed train service, known as High Speed 2, could be up and running within 12 years, according to Sir David Rowlands, the man behind the project.

Times Online

• Nano: Green claims don’t wash with environmentalistsCan the environment afford the world’s cheapest car? Ratan Tata, the chairman of Tata Motors, extolled the Nano’s green credentials yesterday – in particular its adherence to European emissions standards and that it pumps out less CO2 than many motorcycles.
• British Airways may be heading for SpainThe Government would not stop British Airways becoming a Spanish company as a result of a merger with Iberia, the Transport Secretary said yesterday.

Daily Record

• Cough up details of £2.5bn rail contract, SNP toldTHE SNP government came under pressure yesterday to provide more details of a £2.5billion rail contract.

Network Rail

• £16.2m INVESTMENT TO IMPROVE DONCASTER - SCUNTHORPE LINE

Birmingham Post

• Transport vision 'ignored' physically disabledA transport vision for the West Midlands that aims to cut congestion, reduce car use and ease over-crowding of rail services has been branded as ’shameful’ for ignoring the needs of the physically disabled.

Derby Telegraph

• Rail hub plans not ready for submissionDEVELOPERS behind plans for a massive rail freight terminal say they are not yet ready to submit an application.

Edinburgh Evening News

• Margo wants cities' airports to work togetherINDEPENDENT Lothians MSP Margo MacDonald is urging closer co-operation between Edinburgh and Glasgow airports as an alternative to the Competition Commission's demand that one of them should be sold off.

London Evening Standard

• Don't pay rail fines, says Ken Livingstone (who travelled without a ticket)Ken Livingstone, who once led a crusade against fare dodgers, has called on ticket cheats to refuse to pay fines after being let off a £20 penalty
• World's fastest train link could be built next to Wormwood ScrubsA new rail hub connecting the capital to Birmingham and the North could be built in west London
• Tube faces stoppages as staff vote on strikeUp to 10,000 Tube and Transport for London staff are to be balloted over strike action in a dispute over job losses and pay

Manchester Evening News

• Forgotten station may returnIT is Manchester's forgotten railway station, eerily standing silent amid the bustle of Piccadilly. But Mayfield Station, which last saw a passenger train in 1960, could be in a line for a return.

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• Row over transport contract continues A SCOTTISH Government agency was accused yesterday of misleading MSPs over the number of times a top official caught up in a shareholding row attended meetings.

Chester Standard

• Funding pledged to develop Chester's cycle networkCYCLISTS are one step closer to a dream come true after leaders pledged their support for a series of linked projects in Chester.

International Herald Tribune

• Sweden says no to saving SaabThe carmaker has fallen on hard times in a country where old-style Nordic socialism has fallen out of favor.

Washington Post

• Ultracheap Nano to hit India's streets in July MUMBAI, India -- The world's cheapest car will retail for just over $2,000 and can be yours _ if you live in India and are very lucky _ by July, Tata Motors said Monday.

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• Road network to be Plans to carry out six major road improvement projects in the coming financial year have been announced by the Highways Agency.The body revealed that the work will utilise the £6 billion investment unveiled by the Department for Transport in January, as it targets enhancement of England's road networks.Among the plans is the widening of several M25 junctions, as well as hard shoulder running in other areas.Graham Dalton, chief executive of the Highways Agency, said: "Our investment, use of technology and innovation will ensure the strategic road network is more sustainable an...

Transport for London

• Service changes during London Overground improvementsLondon Overground is to change the frequency of services on some parts of the network as it presses ahead with ambitious plans to upgrade the railway.

Aviation Industry

• Arriva calls for directors' pay risePublic transport company Arriva (ARI) yesterday said its directors were significantly under paid and should receive pay hikes of up to 15% to bring them up to the level of rivals. Britain's number three bus operator, behind First and Stagecoach, said chief executive David Martin should be paid 11.4% more at £535,000, Finance director Steve Lonsdale should receive £360,000, an increase of 15.4% while Steve Clayton, group managing director, corporate affairs, should enjoy an 8.9% pay hike to £305,000.

Other News Sources

• Packed trains are 'nice problem' for rail bossCrammed trains with passengers packed into carriages are "nice problems to have", a senior rail chief said. Jim Rowe, senior communications manager for Virgin Trains, which runs West Coast Main Line services through Lancashire, said it was becoming a golden age for train travel.
• Mandelson tries out an electric TransitBusiness secretary Peter Mandelson has visited the premises of Nissan and Smith Electric Vehicles in the north-east of England as part of a tour to promote the development of low-carbon vehicles.