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

Friday, 05 June 2009

BBC News

• Railway station gets £3.4m revampNew £3.4m passenger facilities have been unveiled at Liverpool Lime Street railway station. The facilities include both first and standard class passenger lounges, an information office and three retail outlets.
• Train drivers forced back to workThe East Midlands Train company has got a High Court injunction to force drivers to work this Sunday.
• Bus provider 'failing customers'Bus provider First is putting profits before passengers by withdrawing services and increasing prices in West Yorkshire, a transport chief has said.
• Fuel cost causes driver cutbacksSome drivers are giving up going to the cinema and eating out because of the rising cost of buying petrol.

Financial Times

• Talks planned to avert Tube strikeTalks aimed at averting next week's planned 48-hour Tube strike will be held today. Leaders of the RMT union will meet Transport for London and London Underground executives in an attempt to defuse their dispute over proposed job losses and pay deals.
• TSA blocks Delta flights to Kenya and LiberiaDelta Air Lines' efforts to expand its US-to-Africa service, filling a void in air travel left by Pan American World Airways' demise almost two decades ago, hit a snag...
• Wincanton maintains full-year pay-out The logistics provider, dispelled fears over the effects of the recession in Germany and Woolworths' bankruptcy in the UK by maintaining its full-year dividend in spite of a fall in pre-tax profits

The Guardian

• Tube strike: talks in the offing?A new statement from Bob Crow: The RMT have made it clear that we are available for talks but the silence from the Mayor and his senior managers suggests that they prefer confrontation and disruption. We are telling them today that the time has come to get out of the bunker and start talking to the staff who have been pushed into this strike by the management's outrageous demands on pay cuts and job losses.

The Herald

• Easyjet’s passenger numbers up by 1.8%Easyjet, the no-frills airline, yesterday posted a 1.8% rise in passengers in May as recession-hit travellers took advantage of low-cost fares.

The Independent

• Crucial talks in bid to avert Tube strike Crucial talks aimed at averting next week's strike by London Underground workers are to be held tomorrow, it was announced today.

The Scotsman

• Hope for rail users [letter]We who castigate the quality of lowest common denominator of the trains operated by First ScotRail on long- distance services might just have been offered some hope.

Times Online

• Business big shot: Graeme McFaull, WincantonTrucking is not exactly a glamorous business and it needs a steady hand on the wheel. Graeme McFaull, 45, chief executive, is providing that steady hand at Wincanton, the UK haulage company, which yesterday said that it will maintain its dividend at 14.91p, despite plunging profits. This should help to cheer the company’s shareholders.

Transport Briefing

• Lime Street platform upgrade work completedUpgrade work costing £3.4m has been completed at Liverpool Lime Street with the opening of new passenger facilities close to inter-city platforms 7, 8 and 9.

Bristol Live

• First admits Bristol bus service not good enoughPensioners in Bristol who staged a campaign over an axed bus route have been vindicated after First Bus admitted its replacement service is not adequate.

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Saltney Ferry railway bridge reopenedA RAILWAY bridge, closed since March for vital repair work, will re-open Friday morning.

Liverpool Post

• Plan for charging in Liverpool city centre until 8pm should be scrapped, inquiry saysPLANS to extend parking charges in Liverpool city centre until 8pm should be scrapped, a council inquiry has recommended.
• Lime Street station's £3.4million passenger lounges open to commutersTHE arrival on platforms seven and eight at Lime Street was not before time - passengers can now enjoy the kind of luxury their peers in Manchester and London experience after the opening of £3.4m passenger lounges.

London Evening Standard

• Union calls for urgent talks over Tube strike

The News (Portsmouth)

• Navy destroys pirate ship bristling with weaponsThe navy has destroyed a pirate ship after finding weapons on board including grenades and machine guns.

Chester Standard

• Free bike training offered for Primary schools FREE bike training has been offered to primary school pupils in recognition of the city's new Cycling Demonstration Town status.
• Rail campaign aims to open region up to new audiencesTYCOON Sir Richard Branson is helping to launch a recession-busting campaign to target Chester as a short break destination to new audiences.

Peterborough Telegraph

• Mandelson accused over car jobsPeter Mandelson has been accused of being more interested in saving Gordon Brown's job than the thousands of Vauxhall car workers in Luton who are at risk of redundancy.

Railnews

• News: Top engineers drafted in to sort West Coast problems TWO Network Rail engineering specialists are being drafted into a new maintenance organisation focusing on infrastructure problems on the southern part of the West Coast main line.
• News: Produce ’credible’ West Coast improvement plan or face fine, Network Rail warned THE Office of Rail Regulation has called for Network Rail to produce a “credible’’ plan for improving West Coast main line performance.
• News: Network Rail profits dip but spending rises and train performance goes up NETWORK Rail’s profit levels dipped slightly last year – but spending on the national rail network rose to a record £4.7 billion compared with £4 billion the year before.

Transport for London

• Transport for London welcomes key findings of National Audit Office report on failure of MetronetTfL today welcomed the key findings of the National Audit Office's (NAO) report on the failure of Metronet, the Infrastructure company (Infraco) set up to upgrade and maintain two-thirds of the Tube network under the Government's Public Private Partnership (PPP).
• Mayor's traffic signal review targets major junctions in the next year As part of the Mayor of London's commitment to smoothing traffic flow, Transport for London (TfL) is set to review traffic signal timings at several major intersections in the Capital.
• London Underground welcomes RMT 'change of heart'RMT leadership signals readiness to return to pay talks.
• London's new bus moves a step closer Transport for London (TfL) today announced that six bus manufacturers have qualified to bid for the contract to design and build the new bus for London.

Aviation Industry

• Aberdeen Airport expands its training potentialA new pilot project is starting at the Dyce terminal this month, developing training opportunities for industry leaders.

Other News Sources

• Heathrow airport IT rehewal takes offBAA is to spend £137 million over the next five years overhauling legacy IT systems at London’s Heathrow Airport.
• Cycle lane 'illegal'A CYCLE lane which goes nowhere has been branded illegal. Alnwick's mayor Eileen Blakey described the new lane, which leads out of Alnwick from the Oaks roundabout, as "unbelievable and not quite legal".
• Elephant & Castle and Southwark Bridge to be linked by Cycle SuperhighwayMayor of London Boris Johnson has confirmed that one of his first Cycle Superhighways will link South Wimbledon and the City via Elephant & Castle and Southwark Bridge.
• Rowe Hankins wins Metrolink contractBury-based rail systems firm Rowe Hankins will supply new generation speed probes to Stagecoach Metrolink Ltd (SML) and its fleet of 26 original T68 trams, following a six-month trial over 50,000kms.
• Push for bus fare transparencyThe Local Government Association is considering using the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act to demand openness on how much bus operators are paid in the concessionary fares scheme.
• Rethink plea over bus service cutsBradford Council transport chiefs have urged a bus company to rethink its plans for the largest axing of bus services for two decades.
• CITYBUS SALE SCRUTINISED AT DEBATEA TOP city councillor came under fire from a lively audience at The Herald's Big Question event, as the council's plans to sell Citybus took centre stage.
• Plymouth Tories to axe municipal bus serviceUnite is furious that Conservative-controlled Plymouth city council is to sell off its local bus company CityBus – one of only 13 municipal bus companies left in Britain. CityBus, which provides services in Plymouth and Saltash and also by tender for Devon and Cornwall county councils, employs 500 full-time and part-time staff.
• Leaflet explains bus stop shake-upA new leaflet has been published to help people work out where Bath's buses will stop when a new bus station opens this weekend.
• Two Hampshire bus giants in dispute over pay and pensionsPASSENGERS face a summer of misery as strike threats loom at both of Hampshire’s bus giants, the Daily Echo can reveal.
• Birkenhead North Railway station Park and Ride rowBIRKENHEAD NORTH Railway Station is being “left behind” as Bidston prepares to get a new Park and Ride service. As soon as funding is granted from the European Regional Development Fund, Bidston’s £1m rail service makeover will begin.
• Cromford station given a £300,000 revampTrain enthusiasts made tracks to Cromford for the grand opening of the railway station following a £300,000 revamp. The Duke of Devonshire, in his role as president of the Arkwright Society, arrived by train to officially launch the new-look building and waiting room last Thursday.
• Information boards at stationA GROUP of Mearns Academy pupils were special guests at the official opening of Laurencekirk railway station.
• Airport expansion opponents call for more high-speed trainsAirportWatch Scotland say many flights from the county's two main airports are short-haul and could be replaced with fast trains.
• Balfour to create single £500m rail businessBalfour Beatty is planning to restructure its rail operations to create a £500m-turnover business
• Faster trains 'can reduce flights'High-speed rail links can reduce the number of flights in Scotland's main airports by a third, campaigners against airport expansion have said.
• Rail Firm Joins Fight Against Freight DepotRAIL operator First Capital Connect (FCC) is gearing up to fight on behalf of its passengers if there is another public inquiry into a giant rail freight depot in Park Street.
• Network Rail to retender £700m framework dealShake-up of design and engineering list comes amid increasing concerns over framework deals Network Rail is to retender its five-year £700m consultants framework as it seeks to make swingeing efficiency cuts across its supply chain.
• Plans for third railway station get under wayPRELIMINARY work has begun on the long-awaited project to build a new £16.5 million railway station connecting Worcestershire with inter-city rail services.
• Half price rail fares could come back in Rutland for pensionersAt the end of March, Rutland County Council came under fire for axing its concessionary rail scheme but will consider a U-turn next week after train passengers complained.
• Ryanair to further cut costsRyanair are drawing up plans that will see passengers carrying their own bags to their aircraft and pay to use the aircrafts toilets. As if now, the airline is ready to charge passengers to use the toilet. The airline believes that by asking passengers to carry their own bags to the aircraft, they will be able [...]
• Inverness harbour extension 'will cut 800,000 lorry miles'The backers of a £9m harbour development in Inverness believe that an increase in the amount of freight through the harbour will cut the number of miles driven by trucks on Scotland's roads by 800,000.
• Kwik Fit fits Cybit to 200 vehiclesKwik Fit is installing Cybit fleet tracking systems to its 200 tyre-fitting vehicles in the UK in an effort to improve customer service, fuel consumption and employee health and safety.
• Burnt by the sunBiofuels were once seen as the future of energy production but concerns about the damage they can do has clouded their reputation.
• US ports ill-equipped for Panama expansionMany US ports are currently reporting plummeting volumes and the situation is expected to get considerably worse during the course of 2009.
• New container facility to be built at port of PotiA new box terminal is to be built at the port of Poti in Georgia following a 25% increase in container throughput in the last five years. Ras Al Khaimah Investment Agency, the port's owner, said it will construct the new facility on a 100ha plot adjacent to the existing port, doubling capacity at the port.