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

Tuesday, 01 September 2009

BBC News

• Transport hub revamp work begins Work on a £598m project to transform New Street station in Birmingham city centre has begun.
• School route lane plans rejected Plans for a safe walking and cycling route for students in Guernsey have been rejected.
• Rail work disruption comes to end The first phase of work on the Cotswold line in Oxfordshire and Worcestershire has been completed with services resuming on Tuesday.
• Drivers warned over 20mph limits Drivers are being warned to stick to new 20mph speed limits across Oxford when they come into force on Tuesday.
• Multi-million road scheme granted Two multi-million pound schemes, to regenerate and improve transport links in Kent, have been given the go-ahead by the government.
• General Motors expands in ChinaGM signs up to a joint venture with the Chinese state-owned carmaker FAW to make light trucks and vans.
• Fuel duty rise comes into effectA two pence rise in fuel duty has come into effect, the third increase in nine months, in a move condemned by motoring groups.

Financial Times

• BYD to sell electric car in US in 2010The upstart Chinese car company backed by US investment guru Warren Buffett said that it would start selling its e6 all-electric sedans next year, a year ahead of schedule

The Guardian

• 10:10: Waitrose - 'Transport is the biggest challenge for usThe 10:10 campaign wants businesses, individuals, organisations and educational bodies to cut their carbon emissions by 10% in a year. Here's how Waitrose did it
• No need for Birmingham to Heathrow high-speed train, says Virgin boss Collins claims the planned link by High Speed Two could just as well be supplied by a less costly, indirect spur to the airport, which will allow a journey time of just 80 minutes

The Herald

• Spanish family quietly gear up for transport dynasty in UKAnalysis: The Cosmen family, who have teamed with private equity group CVC Capital Partners in a £680m bid for debt-laden National Express, are a Spanish dynasty with ambitious plans of building a UK-based transport empire.
• Scottish drivers worst hit by fuel duty riseMotorists in Scotland have been warned of greater pain from pump price rises after today’s fuel duty rise of 2p a litre came into force at midnight. There are concerns that drivers will be among those worst hit as figures showed a divide in fuel prices in Scotland.

The Independent

• Supermarket freezes fuel prices A supermarket has announced that it is temporarily freezing the price of its fuel as motorists faced a hike of 2p a litre.

The Telegraph

• Morrisons launch forecourt war by freezing fuel tax riseMorrisons the supermarket chain is temporarily freezing the price of petrol as the Government's 2p tax increase comes into force.

Times Online

• British sales of Jaguar Land Rover forced into reverse by downturnTata Motors was counting the cost yesterday of its acquisition of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) as sales of the luxury marques left a large hole in the Indian conglomerate™s quarterly figures. With sales of upmarket cars affected heavily by the credit crunch and the global recesssion, Tata revealed that the number of JLR cars sold to dealerships ” wholesale sales ” worldwide in the three months to the end of June had tumbled to 35,900, from 69,000 a year earlier.

Bristol Live

• Bristol 'cycle homes' consultation to start again Squarepeg's plans are to build 252 flats and houses on the site, but the sticking point has been access to a strip of land along the Bristol-to-Bath cycle path. The developer has repeatedly said it needs the land to allow the construction of up to 22 so-called cycle houses along the path.

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Call for North-South Wales express train though Wrexham in 2011COUNCIL chiefs have demanded the Welsh Assembly Government honour promises for the Holyhead to Cardiff express train to go through Wrexham within the next two years.
• Big boost for narrow-gauge trains in North WalesNORTH Wales narrow gauge railway lines are enjoying a bumper summer season with trade soaring by more than half in some cases.

Journal Live

• Worries as cost of petrol goes up an extra 2pMOTORISTS are expected to make a last dash for fuel today before the price of petrol goes up.

London Evening Standard

• New Yorkers pedal hard to catch London's cycling leadLondon cyclists have inspired a bike revolution in New York, it was claimed today. Transport bosses from America have made factfinding missions to establish how London is geared up for cyclists.

Metro

• Bus-crazy boy a real routemasterLots of boys have obsessions with cars when they are growing up but it is London buses that have captured the imagination of Ishaan Yewale.

The York Press

• Haulier rocked by 2p fuel rise AN extra £100,000 a year.

New Scientist

• Soap bubbles to take the drag out of future carsMotion-tracking cameras that watch helium-filled, neutrally buoyant bubbles swirl past a vehicle can reveal its aerodynamics as never before

Railnews

• News: Danish railways, FirstGroup win Sweden rail deal Danish state railway DSB and British bus and rail operator FirstGroup won an eight-year deal worth about 2 billion Danish crowns ($385.9 million) to provide commuter services for Gothenburg, Sweden, DSB said on Friday.

Other News Sources

• We must be part of rail route now [letter]HAILING from the fine boundaries of North Staffordshire, and as a temporary resident of London, I feel compelled to write on the issue of a possible £34bn railway system connecting the capital to the major cities of our country.
• Barry Island-based Cambrian Group's new appointment THE Cambrian Group have appointed Dr Mark Lang as Director of Communications and Education to strengthen its senior management team. Dr Lang joins the Company having previously been a political advisor at the National Assembly for Wales, and having also worked as a researcher at the Wales Governance Centre, Cardiff University.
• Steve Brauner: Tell the geeks where to get off The world of transport policy is full of train-spotting geeks whose grasp of practical reality is extremely limited. Now and again somebody makes the mistake of taking them seriously and they go into fantasy overdrive.
• Conservationists concerned about impact of new London Edinburgh high speed rail link on protected landscapesProposals for a new high speed line between London and Scotland must include funding for tunnels where the line would pass through protected landscapes, says CPRE
• Could Norwich be in pole position for electric cars? Businesses could be in pole position in the race to use electric cars in Norwich, according to the initial results of a study.
• Rail services face further disruption Rail passengers across the region faced more disruption today after a weekend where under fire firm National Express East Anglia cancelled dozens of services because of staffing shortages.
• Boris goes straight for it scraping 2nd London ’bendy’ bus route THE demise of London's unpopular 'bendy' bus has gone a stage further with its replacement this-morning on route 521. The unwieldy articulated two-carriage vehicles which critics say are 'unsuitable' for London's narrow, winding thoroughfares ran for the last time on the 521 service at midnight on Friday.
• Brompton bike hire scheme for South West Train commuters Commuters will be able to cycle from train stations to their office as part of a new South West Trains scheme. The Brompton Bike Campaign is the UK’s first green cycle hire initiative by a train company and will encourage passengers using South West Trains to combine their journey with cycling using a Brompton fold-up bicycle.
• Green merits of car-scrapping plans questionedAs European countries start to wind down their car-scrapping schemes, hopes of slashing transport emissions while stimulating the economy are being dashed by reports of illegal exports of old European cars to the third world.

Other Subscription Services

• Denmark assures no PCBs in scrapping row shipsUS Environmental Protection Agency says Denmark assures PCBs were not used in construction of vessels
• Singapore launches maritime stock indexSINGAPORE Exchange continues focus on maritime sector with FTSE ST Maritime Index
• Pirates attempt to board bulker in Singapore StraitFIVE pirates armed with machine guns attempt to board capesize bulker in Singapore Strait transit anchorage