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

Friday, 25 September 2009

BBC News

• Rail commuters feel good vibes [video]Vibrating exercise machines have been installed at Bedford railway station to help commuters to get fit.
• Business park road scheme begins Work has started on a £3.6m road network designed to improve access to a new Flintshire business park.
• On yer bike! Honda unveils a unicycle for pensionersCar-maker Honda has unveiled a prototype of a battery-powered unicycle, designed for the elderly.
• EU in tussle over CO2 emissionsThe European Commission considers pursuing a legal fight with the EU's top court over Europe's carbon trading scheme.
• Japan Airlines requests bail-outLoss-making carrier Japan Airlines has asked for a government bail-out to help it survive, the airline's chief says.
• UK queries Magna's Vauxhall planUK Business Secretary Lord Mandelson says he does not believe Magna's plan for Vauxhall is
• New row over Games transport linkA new row breaks out over the Scottish goverment's commitment to transport projects linked to the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Department for Transport

• DFT Survey on public experiences of and attitudes towards rail travel.Welcoming publication of the figures, Transport Secretary Andrew Adonis said: "With more than half of adults saying they travelled by train in the past year and with over 90% of passengers finding their expectations met or exceeded, it is clear that rail is becoming increasingly popular.

Financial Times

• JAL requests government rescueJapan Airlines has asked the Japanese government for emergency capital as part of a proposed $2.5bn-$3bn fundraising designed to support the struggling carrier's operations and pay for a drastic restructuring
• Zim agrees deals to delay ordersThe container shipping line, one of those hit hardest by the industry's sharp downturn, reaches an agreement to postpone delivery of 13 ships worth $2bn

The Guardian

• Boris's transport policy breaks down The London mayor's climbdown on the congestion zone shows there is a choice besides cutting services and increasing fares

The Herald

• Build-as-you-go plan for £34bn high-speed rail link to Scotland The chairman of the company set up by the Government to consider the case for new high-speed services between London and Scotland concedes that work on the blueprint for Britain’s ambitious rail project is likely to require him and his staff to work through the festive period and right up to the deadline of December 31.

The Telegraph

• BA plans charges for picking your own seatBritish Airways is to introduce new charges for passengers wanting to choose their seats ahead of travel in a move which will add £160 to the cost of a longhaul holiday for a family of four.

Times Online

• Business big shot: Ian Yeowart, Alliance Rail Ian Yeowart knows a thing or two about the railways. He joined the industry as a crew roster clerk in 1973, working at the Toton yard near Nottingham. After helping to create direct rail links between London and Sunderland last year as managing director of Grand Central, he now wants to resurrect the GNER name on East Coast mainline routes.
• BAE pays £346m to take over UK shipbuildingBAE Systems, Europe's largest defence company, took full control of what remains of the UK's shipbuilding industry today with the acquisition of BVT.

Press Association

• Boss bids to put GNER back on track A rail industry veteran has unveiled plans to take on larger rivals with new high speed services under the resurrected GNER name. Alliance Rail director Ian Yeowart has submitted proposals to the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) to run services on the East Coast and West Coast Main Lines against the current franchise holders.
• Perception of rail travel improving The public's experiences and perceptions of rail travel in the UK are improving, a survey for the Department for Transport has shown.

Mail Online

• GNER back on track as rail boss proposes new train services The new services, proposed by Alliance Rail director Ian Yeowart, will run under the Great North-West Railways banner alongside the resurrected and much-loved Great North-Eastern Railways, which is to launch on the East Coast Main Line services running out of Kings Cross.
• Now it's speed bumps for cyclists . . . to stop them rampaging down a road

Network Rail

• NEW DESTINATION FOR HISTORIC BLACKFRIARS 'DESTINATION WALL'

Journal Live

• GNER may run again but not to North East TRAINS could once again be running up part of the East coast under the GNER name – but not as far as the North East. Ian Yeowart, a former business development director at Grand Central, has submitted plans to run GNER trains up to Hull.

Metro

• High fares 'crushing popularity of trains' High rail fares are putting people off travelling by train, it was claimed yesterday. While customer satisfaction with rail journeys has improved, people are being 'stretched to the limit' over ticket prices, a watchdog complained.

Nottingham Evening Post

• City travel and leisure cards merge CITY bus and leisure cards have merged. The Nottingham City Council Citycard and the Nottingham City Transport (NCT) Easyrider have become the Easyrider Citycard.
• Row as County Hall ditches tram funds During a fiery full council meeting at County Hall, 40 members voted in favour of pulling the authority's £28m contribution towards extending lines to Clifton and Chilwell

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• Fresh bid to ban overtaking of buses A north-east politician will launch a fresh bid to persuade the UK Government to introduce a law which would ban overtaking of school buses.
• Plans for A82 bypass move forward as consultation beginsLong-awaited proposals for a bypass for a busy A82 village have moved forward with the publication yesterday of draft road orders and the environmental statement.

The York Press

• Selby train services could be boosted with journeys to LiverpoolTRAINS could soon be running direct from Selby to Liverpool with the frequency of journeys to Leeds increased. The proposals have been submitted by new company GNER – which is using the name of the former East Coast operator

Yorkshire Evening Post

• Details emerge over Leeds trolley-bus proposal FRESH details emerged today about the trolleybus system slated to fill the gap left by the collapse of the Leeds Supertram scheme. Civic chiefs are next month due to submit a business case to the Government for the so-called New Generation Transport (NGT) project.

Doncaster Free Press

• £11.3m shortfall means delays for airport link roadThe financial case for a major new link road to help create jobs at Robin Hood Airport and surrounding areas is to be revised and resubmitted following uncertainty over fundi

Sunderland Echo

• Change on the busesPassengers are being warned of temporary changes to bus routes in Sunderland city centre.

International Herald Tribune

• $35 Billion Tanker Contract OpensPentagon officials briefed lawmakers on what is expected to be another hotly disputed contest between Boeing and a joint venture including Northrop Grumman and EADS.

Aviation Industry

• Long tarmac delays to be bannedA three-hour time limit on tarmac waits for airline passengers will soon become law. The Capitol Hill event drew both supporters and critics of the legislation, which would force airlines to create plans to deplane passengers after three hours and would require them to provide basic services such as food and water while they are waiting on planes.
• Struggling Japan Airlines seeks public moneyThe president of Japan Airlines said Thursday the money-losing carrier is applying for public funds to help turn around a company that's been pummeled by the downturn in global air travel.

Other News Sources

• Gascoigne Wood mine still in contention for high-speed Hitachi train depot GASCOIGNE Wood mine remains on the shortlist to be transformed into a train building depot promising hundreds of jobs – but a final decision won't be made until next year.
• Vision for cutting London transport emissions by 60% unveiled Achieving sharp reductions in London's transport emissions – up to 60% by 2025, 80% by 2050 – is possible according to a major study led by Halcrow and the University of Oxford. But it would require a comprehensive, multi-strand policy approach.
• Rail union calls for ’living wage’ for Eurostar cleaners RAIL union bosses have today called for Government intervention in a dispute between Eurostar cleaners and their private cleaning company employers. It follows last week's 48-hour strike demanding the London 'Living Wage' and protesting over threatened redundancies.
• MP slams minister in rail ticket row: read the full correspondence here A WITHERING attack has been launched at the Government's transport department after it failed to intervene over huge fare increases from Harborough train station. Harborough MP Edward Garnier wrote to Department for Transport (DfT) minister Lord Adonis on August 21 after news broke of East Midlands Trains' plan to increase ticket prices on the 8.16am and 8.48am services from Harborough to London.
• Buses under threat in rural Calderdale METRO has revealed the cuts to bus services it plans to introduce in rural Calderdale from January. Consultation on the changes started this month with public meetings in Greetland and Sowerby Bridge.
• Level crossing ’danger’ from AirtrackA high-speed rail link between Wokingham and Heathrow Airport would cripple the town’s road infrastructure, according to the borough's Liberal Democrats. The chance to have a say on the Airtrack scheme, which would cut travel between the town and Heathrow by nearly an hour, ended last Friday following a two-month consultation.
• London Crossrail Chief Says Project Delays Would Be ’Horrific’ Terry Morgan, chairman of London’s 16 billion-pound ($26 billion) Crossrail train project, said he’s looking for ways to trim the budget to mollify critics, and warned that delays would have “horrific” consequences.
• Latest on new railway plans An historic steam engine hisses and trundles across a seaside street at Sheringham. It is a vision that could become a reality next March - if a final £30,000 can be found to top up the funding pot.
• £2m Park-And-Ride Scheme Is Approved RAIL users in Carluke are set to benefit from a £2 million plan to develop a new park-and-ride facility in the town. The boost came at a meeting of South Lanarkshire Council’s planning committee, where a detailed application was approved for a site in the town’s Station Road.
• Second London rail link on cardsTHE man who won a direct rail link between Calderdale and London is now planning a rival service to compete against it. Ian Yeowart is behind a £200 million project to run trains from Euston, calling at Hebden Bridge and Halifax before terminating in Bradford. An application to the rail regulator was submitted today and if all goes to plan new services could start December 2013
• THURS PM: Huddersfield to London direct rail route planned HUDDERSFIELD could be about to get it's own direct rail link to London under new plans revealed today. A new company called Alliance Rail has put forward a proposal to give Huddersfield two routes to London - one to Kings Cross taking three hours and one to Euston taking just over two-and-a-half hours.
• Jet2 boss's angry tirade at own check-in staffA multi-millionaire airline boss was warned by police after launching into a foul-mouthed tirade at check-in staff from his own company
• Glasgow Airport Rail Link scrapped amid spiralling costsThe £210M Glasgow Airport Rail Link was this week scrapped by the Scottish Government amid soaring project costs and increasing pressure on the government to rein in public spending.
• Cambridge move closer to TIFCambridgeshire County Council is on the brink of agreeing a bid for £500M from the government™s Transport Innovation Fund (TIF) pot of cash.
• Support for Nottingham's Workplace Parking LevyFriends of the Earth today supported Nottingham City Council's proposed new Workplace Parking Levy which would fund improvements to local public transport.
• U.S. should reconsider traffic roundabouts Big changes to the driving environment are usually not welcomed by the public. Take the South Pacific island of Samoa, which recently switched from driving on the right to the left. Many locals feared disaster but the shift went off smoothly.
• Siemens Fills Russia’s Need for High-Speed TrainST. PETERSBURG, Russia — In the last years of the cold war, the ultrasecret research institute that had designed the Soviet Union’s nuclear submarines received an unusual request: could it build a high-speed train?

News from Europe

• Motorists should pay the real costs of car usageCYPRUS motorists should be charged for the environmental and social costs that their vehicles cause, an environment expert announced yesterday. His assertion was based on the conclusions drawn by an academic study, ordered by the Cyprus Greens Party and presented to the media yesterday morning by assistant Environment Professor at the Cyprus University of Technology, Theodoros Zachariades, as part of European Mobility Week.
• Debate over relaxing airport security hots upThe campaign to reduce passenger airport queues has been reignited by a leading British industrialist. Speaking in Brussels, Philip Bowman, chief executive of Smiths Group, has criticised European governments for delaying the roll out of new scanning technology that would speed up airport security checks.