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

Thursday, 04 February 2010

BBC News

• Work starts to add a bus lane to Derby's Kedleston Road Work has begun to add a bus lane to Kedleston Road in Derby at a cost of around £300,000. The scheme includes two sections of bus lane, moving some bus stops, and introducing parking restrictions on both sides of the road.
• Rail partnership criticises 'ridiculous' funding cutA group promoting rail travel on rural routes has criticised the withdrawal of £10,000 funding by Arriva Trains Wales (ATW) as "ridiculous
• Review into city's bus servicesA review into the quality of bus services across Bristol and the surrounding area has been ordered by the city council.
• MPs debate First Capital Connect and Thameslink failure The poor performance of rail services in Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and Sussex is to be debated in Parliament.
• TfL staff in travel perk protestTransport workers in London stage a demonstration at City Hall in protest against plans to cut their travel allowances.
• UK car scrappage scheme extendedThe UK car scrappage scheme is to be extended by another month, but no extra money will be provided.

Financial Times

• Osborne hits out at the Tube's PPP contract The shadow chancellor has stepped into the growing controversy over the future of the private contractor working to maintain and upgrade some of the busiest London Underground lines
• Panama Canal vows to stick with toll increasesThe administrator of the Panama Canal has defended the waterway's recent programme of toll increases despite complaints that they are aggravating the shipping market crisis

The Independent

• Pothole nation: £10bn bill for snow damage to Britain's crumbling roads They are the bone-jangling, sump-scraping, ankle-twisting scourge of motorists, cyclists and pedestrians. Even The Beatles demonised them in song. And they've got much worse.

The Scotsman

• Toyota recalls 180,000 UK carsToyota is working to recall more than 180,000 cars in the UK as the crisis over defective accelerator pedals rocked the company.

The Telegraph

• Rats attack the railwaysRat attacks are causing chaos on the railways, with hundreds of trains breaking down as the rodents gnaw through vital cables.

Times Online

• Government admits Britain will fail to meet 2010 carbon emission targetBritain will fail to meet its 2010 target for cutting carbon dioxide emissions, the Government admitted yesterday.
• Car scrappage scheme to be extended by one monthThe Government™s car scrappage scheme is to be extended for up to a month, Lord Mandelson said tonight.
• UK deliveries halted as Toyota crisis deepensToyota has suspended the delivery of thousands of new cars as the crisis over defective accelerator pedals threatens to engulf the company.

Daily Express

• BA merger lifts stockBRITISH Airways shares took off yesterday on speculation that its planned merger with Spain's Iberia could be formally ann-ounced this month.

Mail Online

• Don't drive your Toyota! American transport chief's warning as 8m cars recalled - including 180,000 here

Bristol Live

• Cost of new timetable could cancel bus route to BristolA bus service from Backwell to Bristol may have to stop running because of a row about the cost putting up new timetables. Nailsea-based North Somerset Coaches took over the 600 route from Backwell to Cribbs Causeway last May when bus operator First stopped running it because North Somerset Council withdrew its subsidy.
• Bobbies on the buses . . . undercover officers to ride on rowdy Bristol routesUndercover police could soon be deployed on Bristol's buses to catch missile-hurling yobs. Officers in plain clothes will patrol buses on routes across the city in an effort to stop vandals attacking buses and causing damage

Journal Live

• Re-Cyling so pupils can get on their bikesCYCLES are being recycled as part of a school’s drive to get children on their bikes.
• Cost of keeping Newcastle Airport open during cold snap revealedKEEPING the busiest airport in the North East open during the recent snowy weather has cost more than £500,000.

Liverpool Post

• Liverpool City centre car club plan to be shelved ’indefinitely’A GREEN scheme aimed at reducing car use in the city was shelved indefinitely after city bosses refused to help fund the project.

London Evening Standard

• Boris Johnson accused of hypocrisy by Transport for London staff in row over payBoris Johnson was accused of hypocrisy by demonstrators — including a blond-wigged lookalike — outside City Hall

Manchester Evening News

• Salt on the road 'brought trams to a halt' Salt spread on roads during the Big Freeze has been blamed for disrupting some tram services across Greater Manchester. A report prepared by transport chiefs says a ˜salty slush™ left on the roads caused a number of trams to breakdown in January after grit got into their engines.

Metro

• Toyota recalls 180,000 UK carsToyota is working to recall more than 180,000 cars in the UK as the crisis over defective accelerator pedals rocked the company.

Northern Echo

• Villagers fight council's bus lane planRESIDENTS are urging transport chiefs to rethink plans for a bus lane that could cut 25 seconds off journey times through their village.
• ˜Canadians may invest in struggling airport™ A STRUGGLING airport could receive a major investment boost after it emerged that a Canadian company is looking to take a stake in the business.

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• New Rail Services Paying Off with Rise in PassengersThe number of people using trains in the north-east has soared by almost a third in just a few years, new figures reveal.

The York Press

• Hundreds fill in York junction survey MORE than 700 people have had their say on plans for one of the biggest city centre road schemes earmarked for York in the last decade.
• York ringroad upgrade rubberstampedA £1.4 million upgrade of York's bypass has been approved.

Carlisle News & Star

• Track problems force train cancellations on line from Carlisle to west CumbriaRail passengers using the service linking west Cumbria to Carlisle have been hit by line defects which have triggered 20 train cancellations since the start of the year.

Other Regional Press

• Vote will decide fate of airport rail linkMSPs today have their final chance to tell John Swinney and Alex Salmond to re-instate the Glasgow Airport Rail Link.

Railnews

• News: 'No guarantees' over major rail schemes if Tories win election EXCLUSIVE If the Conservatives win the General Election, many railway projects and plans will come under review. That’s the warning from the party’s shadow transport secretary, Theresa Villiers, who believes commitments made by the present government may not be affordable. In an interview with Railnews, she explained why there are so many uncertainties hanging over projects with big price tickets.

Aviation Industry

• BA sells premium seats cheaper than economyBritish Airways has started selling fully flexible short-haul business fares at less than economy tariffs for travellers prepared to book well in advance. read more

Other News Sources

• Terminate First Capital Connect's Franchise on April Fool's Day, says Rail UnionA RAIL union has today demanded that the Government activates a break clause in the First Capital Connect contract that would enable ministers to terminate its franchise on April 1.
• First Capital Connect meeting over Thameslink sagaFIRST Capital Connect bosses met Liberal Democrat candidate Sandy Walkington to discuss the ongoing problems on the Thameslink link route.
• MPs debate Thameslink upgrade projectPatrick Hall, Labour MP for Bedford, opened a debate in Westminster Hall on the progress of the Thameslink programme, a major upgrade on the fifty-station railway line which runs through London from Bedford to Brighton. Chris Mole, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Transport, responded to the debate.
• Why city must have a second rail station [letter]YOUR correspondent Mark Nicholls (January 29) has managed to refine the skill of missing the point to a fine art. He claims that my proposal for a twin-terminal solution to the question of the delays caused by Lincoln's High Street railway crossing would prevent the passage of freight traffic.
• Calls grow to reopen rail lineSUPPORT is growing to reopen the Bideford to Barnstaple railway line since it was featured on television.
• London MPs back campaign for cut in rail faresEight London MPs have stood up for train passengers by recognising their number one concern—high fares. They were among the 59 MPs who are calling for a rethink of rail fares to make it easier to take the train instead of driving or flying.
• Prius in new Toyota safety scareCar giant Toyota has been hit by more than 100 complaints in the US and Japan about brake problems with its flagship Prius hybrid, it has emerged, in a new blow as it grapples with massive global recalls.
• Route change for Cross Channel VFR routeThe UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has announced an amendment to the Recommended VFR Route between the Solent control area and the Channel Islands. The route, which provides an alternative shorter profile for GA flights between the south coast and the Channel Islands, is detailed in Aeronautical Information Circular 14/2007 (Yellow 233) and is being amended to reflect the origin of the route in the Isle of Wight. The change will take effect on 11 March 2010 and will be incorporated into the 1
• Toyota recalls 180,000 UK carsToyota recalls 180,000 UK cars
• Car scrappage scheme to be extendedCar scrappage scheme to be extended

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