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

Monday, 20 July 2009

BBC News

• Fears over commuter rail services Commuter train services to Weston-super-Mare could be under threat, according to the town's MP.
• Bollard block at pedestrian zone A rising bollard is to be installed in a Berkshire town to stop people driving through a pedestrian zone.
• Volunteers unlock canal heritage A section of a canal is being restored to make it navigable in time for a national waterways event next year.
• European cash to boost rail links A project to upgrade a rail line linking East Anglia to the Midlands has been awarded £8m of European funding.
• Bus route takes on extra journeys Extra journeys have been added to a Cumbrian bus timetable, following suggestions from the travelling public.
• Bus service cuts come into force Controversial changes to bus services in West Yorkshire have come into force with dozens of routes either being altered or scrapped.
• Electric car to save Nissan jobsNissan is expected to announce a major investment in its car-making plant in Sunderland, which could secure 4,000 jobs.

Financial Times

• Stobart looks to rail land in expansion plansThe transport company has engaged in talks with Network Rail for redundant land or lines in the rail system upon which it could build more rail freight terminals
• Hapag-Lloyd finance talks stallTalk over refinancing Germany's largest container shipping line appear deadlocked as 43 per cent shareholder Tui seeks to avoid contributing cash to the €1.75bn ($2.46bn) the company seeks

The Guardian

• Labour shuns its own bike scheme It was launched to much fanfare: a policy that promised to "promote healthier journeys to work and to reduce environmental pollution". Yet the government is refusing to open the Cycle to Work initiative to hundreds of thousands of its own employees.
• Let's help station managers see the light Last month I asked why train stations don't switch off lights during daylight hours to save energy. I called on you to challenge your local station to find out – and the response was brilliant. Cyclists, mothers, therapists, local Friends of the Earth groups, university students, pensioners and architects all pitched in.
• Nissan to make electric cars in BritainLord Mandelson, the business secretary, will reveal plans to create a 'low-carbon economic area' in the north-east including a research and development centre for motor industry suppliersThe government is hoping to boost its chances of turning Britain into the

The Herald

• Britain’s best bus station must be retained as gateway to Glasgow The citizens of Glasgow will rue the day the city fathers grant permission for the closure of Buchanan Bus Station.

The Scotsman

• Train interchange delay threatens to push back tram project FEARS were raised yesterday of further delays to Edinburgh's tram project after it emerged that plans for a key tram-train interchange on the city's western edge will not be lodged for at least another month.
• Nissan to announce UK investmentJapanese car giant Nissan is expected to announce fresh investment in its UK factory, giving a much-needed boost to the recession-hit motor industry.

The Telegraph

• First Sunday ferry sparks religious row on Scottish islandA car ferry has sparked a fierce religious row by breaking the traditional Sabbathday peace of a small Scottish island.
• Signs could tell drivers to take the trainMotorists could see road signs encouraging them to use public transport as an alternative to the car.

Times Online

• Airlines to turn away ˜swine flu™ passengersHolidaymakers suspected of having swine flu will be prevented from checking in and required to provide doctors™ notes saying that they are fit to fly, airlines said yesterday.

Birmingham Post

• Railnews director Alan Marshall warns that high speed trains could bypass BirminghamRailnews director Alan Marshall warns that

Aviation Industry

• United Airlines- "just a few steps from the grave."Glenn Tilton's turnaround at United Airlines is turning into a round trip to financial purgatory.

Other News Sources

• Cyclists aim to spread safety ’bug’ A CAMPAIGN group is demanding a safer cycling network for people in Wantage and Grove.
• Now for an express rail link TRAIN times between Calderdale, Leeds and Manchester could be slashed with a new high-speed inter-city service. Trains would cut journeys from Halifax to Leeds to just 25 minutes.
• Poor transport 'is holding city back' ROAD and rail links with the rest of the country need to be improved if Plymouth is to grow economically, the city council has told an influential panel of MPs.
• Rail chiefs calm fears on Penistone Line Tram-train venture RAIL officials have moved to calm fears that the Penistone Line ’Tram-train’ trial is to be axed. Very little has been heard about the innovative project to run light-weight trams in place of trains on the Huddersfield to Sheffield line, since it was announced more than year ago.
• Funding boost for bus service Bus travel in Hartlepool looks set to benefit from more than £9m of investment over the next three years.
• Aberdeen bus passengers face chaos as dispute cripples bus services PASSENGERS were facing more chaos on Aberdeen buses today as a bitter pay dispute continued to hit the city.
• Stobart in talks over rail freight terminalsTransport and logistics group Eddie Stobart - famous for its fleet of green lorries - is holding talks with Network Rail over plans to build freight terminals on its dormant land.
• Gloomy council chief derails hope of a Sudbury to Cambridge train link THE transport chief of Suffolk County Council has poured cold water on the chances of Sudbury and Cambridge being reconnected by train.