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

Tuesday, 17 November 2009

BBC News

• Adonis blasts franchise decision Transport Secretary Lord Adonis has said it is "unacceptable" for National Express to continue operating other franchises after giving up the East Coast Main Line.
• Easyjet sees profits drop by 50% Budget airline Easyjet has reported a big fall in full-year profits to the end of September.
• £50m revamp for 'worst stations'Ten railway stations in England, including Manchester Victoria and Clapham Junction, are to get £50m to carry out urgent improvements.
• Planemakers predict better timesThe world's two biggest planemakers, Airbus and Boeing, both forecast a recovery in demand next year.
• GM to start loan repayments earlyCar company GM says it will start paying back its US government loan earlier than expected as sales stabilise.

Financial Times

• Rail fares set to rise by average of 1.1% Rail fares are set to rise by an average of 1.1 per cent in January, in spite of a 1.4 per cent fall in retail prices in the month used to calculate each year’s increases.
• Baltic Dry Index's green light?The BDI's upturn may just indicate a short-term economic boost, and cannot be seen as a reliable sign of smooth sailing ahead, writes Aline van Duyn

The Independent

• Rail companies accused of hiding increases Rail fares will see their lowest annual increase since privatisation next year, but that will not spare some passengers from price hikes of as much as 15 per cent, Britain™s train companies have revealed.
• Rail increases: Fare or unfair? Here are some exmplaes of nex year's rail fare increases:

The Telegraph

• Shabby stations condemned by Government inspectors Rail passengers are disenchanted with shabby, windswept stations and angered by having little idea when their train will arrive, a Government investigation has found.
• Train operators in spin row over fare risesFares expected to rise from January as train companies try to disguise the biggest inflationbusting increases.

Times Online

• Lord Adonis orders all change for Britain™s slum railway stationsThe worst stations in the country are exposed today in an official roll-call of shame.
• Scotrail passengers are promised cheaper fares from JanuaryMost ScotRail train fares will be frozen or cut from January, the rail operator said yesterday.
• Why I am going back on the railways, by Andrew AdonisWhile touring the rail network in April this year, I was struck by the variability in station standards.

Daily Record

• Scotrail to cut or freeze most fares from JanuaryMOST ScotRail train fares will be frozen or cut from January, the rail operator said today.

Mail Online

• Petrol up 26% in one year: £5 a gallon by Christmas... DESPITE fall in the cost of oil Petrol prices are set to soar past 110p a litre - £5 a gallon - in the run-up to Christmas. It will be the highest since September 2008 and a rise of 26 per cent since the start of this year.

The Sun

• Rises ain't fare! MOTORISTS and commuters hit - with petrol prices and rail fares both set to RISE

Network Rail

• UNLUCKY FOR SOME AS THIEVES STEAL RAIL CABLE

Birmingham Post

• Rail companies raise ticket pricesTrain passengers in the Midlands will face another hike in ticket prices next year, as rail companies announce fare rises.

Bristol Live

• Bristol rail users face fare rise in 2010 Commuters travelling from Bristol to London at peak times will see their rail fares go up from January. First Great Western has announced a "mixed bag" of fare changes for the new year, with some prices going up, some going down and others staying the same.

Liverpool Post

• Merseyrail pledges not to increase train fares from January despite industry-wide rise MERSEYRAIL will not increase train ticket prices next year. The network operator vowed to maintain current charges, despite an average 1.1% rise in train fares across the UK’s rail system.

London Evening Standard

• Off-peak rail travellers will suffer 15% rise in new year ticket pricesRail passengers face massive hikes in ticket prices, some as high as 15 per cent

Metro

• Rail fares hike of 10% is 'legalised robbery'Rail passengers are to be hit with a rail fares rise of more than 10 per cent in some areas with union leaders describing the price hike as

Sheffield Star

• Rail tunnels to re-open in cycling plans CYCLISTS will get better access to the Peak District National Park if plans to re-open four railway tunnels between Buxton and Matlock are approved.

The York Press

• Grand Central Railway and First TransPennine Express in festive rail fares pledge TWO train firms operating services from York have promised not to increase their fares in January. Grand Central Railway, which runs high-speed services from York to London, and First TransPennine Express, which runs trains from York to Leeds and Manchester, yesterday said they would not be hiking their prices in the new year.

Wales Online

• Big hike in some rail fares despite season ticket price fallSome rail fares will rise by well above the inflation rate in the new year despite a fall in the price of nearly all season tickets, it was announced today

Yorkshire Evening Post

• West Yorkshire: M62 congestion bucks national trendCongestion on two major roads in Yorkshire has dropped by almost 20 per cent, according to new figures.

Northants Evening Telegraph

• MP hits out at plan for a new bus laneA bus lane which is set to be created in Wellingborough town centre will only speed buses up by three seconds, according to the town's MP.

Peterborough Telegraph

• Rail fares to be cut or frozenNational Express said fares on its East Anglia franchise and on its London to Tilbury and Southend franchise are either being frozen or reduced by 0.4%.

Aviation Industry

• Glasgow Airport to close T2 check in facility over winterGlasgow Airport today confirmed that T2, its secondary check in facility, will close for a short period this winter, as the airport continues to reduce its costs to airlines, and invest for the future...

Other News Sources

• Move to London-style bus services Councillors of all parties on the West Yorkshire Integrated Transport Authority (WYITA) are being asked to back work to develop a Quality Bus Contract Scheme. A Bus Quality Contract Scheme would respond to the concerns and complaints of local bus users and mean the kind of franchised bus network in West Yorkshire that people in London have enjoyed for years.
• Region 'has worst train stations' he North West has seven of the 10 worst railway stations in the country. Manchester Victoria received the lowest satisfaction rating, with Crewe in Cheshire third, in a report by Station Champions Sir Peter Hall and Chris Green.
• Larger Montreal subway order could be hammered out by year-end, says STM Ultimately, he said the Montreal transit authority is going to pay the right price per car from the partnership of Bombardier (TSX:BBD.B) and French manufacturer Alstom.
• Cambs council confirms yet another delay to St Ives-Cambridge guided bus link CAMBRIDGESHIRE County Council has confirmed a further delay in opening the St Ives-Cambridge guided bus link, which should have opened last April. It is the latest embarrassment for the county council's guided bus delivery team, which has been trying desperately to get contractor BAM Nuttall to put the track between St Ives and Cambridge Science Park, along the line of the old railway, into a state to open safely.
• Company revealed as top bidder for Plymouth Citybus THE top bidder to buy Plymouth Citybus has been named as the giant transport company Go-Ahead. A report to the city Cabinet on November 20 will recommend Go-Ahead as the preferred bidder for Citybus.
• St Albans MP Anne Main challenges Transport Minister to experience rail chaos first-hand RAIL passengers from St Albans could be sharing their carriage with the Transport Minister after St Albans MP Anne Main challenged him to experience the severe disruptions on the Thameslink line first-hand.
• Commuters face 15% rail fare riseSome rail fares will rise by well above the inflation rate in the new year despite a fall in the price of nearly all season tickets, it was announced today
• Cost of motoring soars 11% in the recessionThe average cost of running a car has risen by £240 or 11% in the last two years according to new data
• UK biomass targets threatenedFlaws in the UK™s supply chain could threaten the UK™s ambitions to scale up the use of biomass for power generation, according to a report from independent research group, Verdantix.
• Adonis: No high speed for 20-30 yearsA new high speed rail line is 20-30 years away, according to transport secretary Lord Adonis.
• New high speed rail services for ItalyJourney times to be slashedread more