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

Monday, 25 January 2010

BBC News

• New Prestwick air traffic control centre opens The new air traffic control centre at Prestwick in Ayrshire will be formally opened later.
• 'Rent steam line' rail firms told A railway line used by steam train enthusiasts could be rented by rail companies to resolve continuing service problems, a MSP has said.
• 'Greener' buses hitting the roads in Derbyshire A new fleet of environmentally friendly buses with more room for baby buggies is taking to the roads Derbyshire from Sunday.
• Initial approval for bridge plans More than £100,000 has been awarded to help develop plans for Middlesbrough's famous Transporter Bridge.
• Transport schemes in Derbyshire get £4.8m boost More than 80 projects to improve Derbyshire's roads and transport are set to benefit from £4.8m.
• Boots' plan to avoid Nottingham parking levy Nottingham's biggest company, Boots, is threatening to pay nothing towards the city's new tram extension - by moving 3,000 parking spaces outside the city.
• AMs call for urgent upgrade of Welsh rail network There are new calls for a wide ranging upgrade of Wales's railways, including faster trains, better stations, new carriages and urban light rail systems.
• BA cabin crew start strike voteCabin crew at British Airways are to begin voting on whether to strike, in a long-running dispute with management.

Department for Transport

• New Guidance to help tackle problem roadworks - Under embargo until 0001 Monday 25 January 2010New guidance to help local authorities take on powers to tackle problem road works was published today by Transport Minister Sadiq Khan MP as Kent - the first council to apply for such powers - brings them into force.

Financial Times

• Pay-out blow for Tube contractor The private contractor upgrading some of London Underground's busiest lines has suffered a blow to its hopes of reducing a looming funds shortfall after an adjudicator rejected its claim for £327m from the public sector.
• Tube Lines suffers compensation blow An adjudicator rejected Tube Lines' claim in a dispute over delays for an extra £327m from the public sector, according to Transport for London, London Undergound's parent
• Freight 'stifled by Channel tunnel'The rules and costs of using the Channel tunnel are hampering the development of rail freight to and from the UK, says a senior rail executive

The Guardian

• Commuters petition Gordon Brown to strip First Capital Connect of franchise on Thameslink 'misery line' Months of delays and cancellations add weight to commuter protests to gain political weight
• Tube Lines loses £327m claim against London Underground • LU wins ruling against Tube Lines over cost overruns on Jubilee and Northern line upgrades • Verdict comes as PPP contractor struggles to close £1.35bn funding gap

The Herald

• New Scots air traffic centre set to take off A massive operation to transfer air traffic control from Manchester to a new £180m centre near Prestwick Airport, involving more than 130 England-based staff relocating to Scotland, was completed over the weekend.
• New Scots air traffic centre set to take offA massive operation to transfer air traffic control from Manchester to a new £180m centre near Prestwick Airport, involving more than 130 England-based staff relocating to Scotland, was completed over the weekend.

The Scotsman

• New £180m air traffic control centre is ready for take off NEARLY half of UK flights will be controlled from Scotland from today when Europe's biggest air traffic control centre enters full operational service.

The Telegraph

• First Capital Connect and Tube Lines: the meltdown continues It’s turning into a bad month for the private companies which pick our pockets and strangle our railways. Last week, the well-publicised travails of Britain’s worst company, First Group, led the Government to warn that it might strip them of their Thameslink (aka “First Capital Connect”) franchise.
• Tube Lines to pay £327m bill for delays to services Tube Lines, the independent consortium of companies upgrading the London Underground, is to face a £327m bill after losing an appeal against the extra costs.

Reuters News

• Tokai to target Florida for bullet trainsCentral Japan Railway Co (JR Tokai) (9022.T) said on Monday the U.S. state of Florida was one of the brightest markets for its bullet trains, as the former state-owned firm looks to sell its super-fast railway systems overseas.

Daily Express

• TERMINAL MAN’S £40K TAX CASH TO LIVE AT AN AIRPORT A UNIVERSITY lecturer has landed in a row for spending a year living in an airport – all funded by the taxpayer.

Mail Online

• Plane crazy? Meet the academic who will spend the next year living in an airport Most people would regard hanging around for hours in an airport as something to be avoided.

Bolton News

• Another year for free bus BOLTON™S free town centre shuttle bus service has been extended for another year.

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Prestatyn station works to remove bridge WORK is due to begin on modernising and improving access for disabled people at Prestatyn railway station.
• North Wales loco selected for the Olympics A LOCOMOTIVE based at a North Wales narrow gauge railway has been used in preparatory work for the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

Derby Telegraph

• The 'oily rag' image that's stopping Derby from getting best of the new talent WHEN they're good, Derby's three big sectors are very, very good – but when times get tough, the rail, car and aerospace industries are hit hard.
• City bus station welcomed by rail developers THE opening of the city's bus station on March 28 has been welcomed by regeneration experts in Derby.
• 'We'll leave our cars at home' STAFF at the city council say they are prepared to leave their cars at home in protest at the authority's decision to scrap travel allowances for nearly 900 employees.

Liverpool Echo

• Train to be a Mersytravel travel championMERSEYTRAVEL is looking to recruit 100 volunteer ’travel champions’ who will be trained to offer guidance and support to people who are weary about using public transport.

London Evening Standard

• MPs join commuters in bid to strip First Capital Connect of its franchiseFurious commuters today stepped up a campaign to bring First Capital Connect into public ownership amid growing claims it is failing customers. Passengers and MPs are calling on government chiefs to strip the rail firm of its franchise after months of cancellations, delays and diversions

Metro

• Web site figures soared while Metro kept the public up-to-date during extreme weather conditions. In the frozen fortnight between Monday 4 and Sunday 17 January, Metro’s web site received almost 1.8m page views, which is almost two month’s traffic in 14 days.

Nottingham Evening Post

• Parkway on track for success ALMOST 5,000 passengers a week used East Midlands Parkway in its first year.

The York Press

• Grand Central row may end in court YORK train operator Grand Central is considering legal action to try to block the proposed new timetable for the East Coast Mainline route to London.

Wales Online

• £5bn vision to put Wales on track for rail revolution A £5BN rail revolution with high- speed lines, light railway systems in Wales’ major cities, and re-opened stations is needed to take the network into the 21st century, a report out today claims.

Peterborough Telegraph

• Government pledges better rail servicesThe Government has promised passengers improved services on three rail franchises, including a key London to Essex route and a line from the capital to Norwich.

Washington Post

• D.C. auto show gets higher profile this year The Washington Auto Show, which begins Wednesday, typically isn't the place where new models are unveiled. But there's no doubt that the event's profile is higher than normal this year, thanks in no small part to the billions of dollars that have been coming from the direction of Capitol Hill.

Railnews

• Winsor set to help Grand Central challenge proposed East Coast timetable THE FORMER rail regulator Tom Winsor is standing by to advise Grand Central in its challenge to the new timetable proposed for the East Coast Main Line, Railnews has learnt. Although the plans, which have been unveiled by transport secretary Andrew Adonis, would speed up East Coast services and bring London--Edinburgh down to under four hours, GC says it would be ’seriously disadvantaged’.

Aviation Industry

• Latest new airline fees...maybeAirline fees have gone up so suddenly but this may be the latest...so far, anyway.
• Ryanair wins German screenscraper caseRyanair today claimed victory over screenscrapers in Germany after a court there ruled that reselling Ryanair's flights is unlawful and banned a German website Vtours from screenscraping Ryanair's website.
• AMR to furlough up to 175 pilots in first half '10American Airlines parent AMR Corp said on Friday it would furlough up to 175 pilots in the first half of 2010 because it has reduced flight capacity and not enough pilots are leaving on their own.

Other News Sources

• TfL's top brass reveals all THE Gallows Corner flyover is here to stay - for at least another ten years - and the Mawney footbridge will at last have a successor, Transport for London's (TfL) top brass says.
• ’Rail line revamp could hit growth’ A TRAIN company could launch a legal challenge against Government plans to revamp services on the East Coast Main Line.
• Cyril Sweet wins place on TfL frameworkAppointment on engineering and project management framework will last four years Cyril Sweett has been appointed to the Transport for London engineering and project management framework.
• Longer trains laid on to ease commuter crush into Liverpool St THE Transport Minister is joining commuters coming into London Liverpool Street this-morning (Monday) to publicise longer trains being laid on to ease the ’crush’ hour.
• Tube Lines £327M claims "spurious" An independent adjudicator has dismissed tube upgrade contractor Tube Lines claim for £327M from London Underground as ’spurious’, and placed the blame for Jubilee Line overruns at the contractor’s door.
• Rail services hit hard by cold weather Rail services were hit badly by the cold snap with one local operator suffering a 10% drop in punctuality. Official figures from December 13 to January 9 show CrossCountry, which runs services between the county's smallest stations, reported 77% punctuality – down 10.5% on the same four weeks last year.
• NVT gains Network Rail type approval Network Video Technologies (NVT) has been awarded Network Rail type approval for its range of unshielded twisted pair (UTP) CCTV Hybrid Video transmission products – including PVD (Power, Video and Data) technology.
• Network Rail national centre given green light Network Rail has been given the go-ahead to build a new national centre in Milton Keynes.
• Olympic Line tram launched CANADA: Mayor of Vancouver Gregor Robertson launched 60 days of free travel on the 1·8 km Olympic tram line on January 21. The temporary service between Granville Island and the Olympic Village will run every 6 to 10 min between 06.30 and 00.30 for the period around the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, and will act as demonstrator for the Downtown Streetcar proposal to return trams to a city where they last ran in 1958.
• Transport benefits 'overestimated' Walking, cycling and public transport have not improved despite major government funding which aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and congestion.