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

Wednesday, 17 February 2010

BBC News

• Network Rail unveils £530m revamp plans for the North Proposals worth £530m to improve rail travel in the north of England have been unveiled by Network Rail. The firm carried out a study, which showed it needed more - and faster - train services and stations needed to expand to cope with more passengers.
• Guide dog puppies trained to use the bus [video]Trainee guide dogs in Bristol have been given free bus passes to help them gain experience of using public transport.
• German railways shunt English into sidings I visited a German railway station today. I say German, but if it hadn't been for the sausage stands and the pretzel kiosks, I might have thought this was British Rail, not Deutsche Bahn. So much of the language you come into contact with on the railways here is English.
• Rail route tourism boom claimedCampaigners say reopening the rail line from Edinburgh to the Borders could create £500,000 a year in tourist spending.
• Plans for £530m rail revampProposals worth £530m to improve rail travel across the north of England are unveiled by Network Rail.

Financial Times

• Extra track suggested to ease Manchester's rail bottlenecks A new stretch of railway should be built west of central Manchester as part of a major scheme to improve journey times and rail capacity across northern England, a new study has concluded.
• Toyota faces class-action problemToyota is facing dozens of class-action lawsuits in the US that could cost it billions of dollars in damages as the Japanese company struggles to contain the fall-out from its mass recall of faulty cars
• Five US airlines vie for Haneda flightsThe airline groups have applied for permission to start international flights to Tokyo's Haneda airport after an open skies agreement opened up travel routes between Japan and North America
• Sidelined shipsThe five ships lashed together in Scotland's Loch Striven were built some be some of the fastest container ships afloat, but today the post horses have been put out to grass in a world where high fuel prices, recession and over-supply of ships are pushing typical speeds down to a carthorse pace

The Herald

• Gritting effort by councils comes under fireMotorists and pedestrians who believe gritting during the recent cold snap left out well-used roads and pavements have given council efforts to keep routes ice-free a frosty response.
• SPT chiefs in new row over travel expensesTwo senior officials with a public transport quango at the centre of an expenses row have been paid almost £30,000 in travel claims for using their own cars.
• Mileage claims are not the first scandal at SPTThe latest controversy over mileage claims by top officials at Strathclyde Partnership for Transport comes just two days after its chairman Alistair Watson resigned.
• From apprentice mechanic to Scottish director of bus divisionStagecoach, whose Scottish bus operations include Highland, Bluebird, Strathtay, Fife, and West Scotland, has appointed a new Scottish director for its bus division.

Network Rail

• £530m RAIL INVESTMENT PROPOSED FOR NORTH ENGLAND CITIES (Greater Manchester)
• £530m RAIL INVESTMENT PROPOSED FOR NORTH ENGLAND CITIES (W. Yorks)
• £530m RAIL INVESTMENT PROPOSED FOR NORTH ENGLAND CITIES (north east)
• £530m RAIL INVESTMENT PROPOSED FOR NORTH ENGLAND CITIES (S. Yorks)
• £530m RAIL INVESTMENT PROPOSED FOR NORTH ENGLAND CITIES (Merseyside/Cheshire)
• £530M RAIL INVESTMENT PROPOSED FOR NORTH ENGLAND CITIES

Birmingham Mail

• New man Carl-Peter Forster takes over at TataJAGUAR Land Rover owners Tata Motors have unveiled a new man at the helm – in the shape of well-known motor industry executive Carl-Peter Forster.

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• Jam today - and jams tomorrow! Rethink way you travel says Council People are being urged to radically change their travel habits amid fears that funding could dry up for jam-busting road schemes.

Derby Telegraph

• 'Stop dithering and end town's wait for rail station' ILKESTON'S MP has told Derbyshire County Council to "stop dithering" over plans for a new railway station in the town. Liz Blackman, MP for Erewash, has urged the authority to "get a move on", in a strongly worded letter to Chris Jackson, cabinet member for highways and transport.

Edinburgh Evening News

• Trams 'have turned our street into a ghost town'TRADERS in the West End today expressed their "deep anger" towards the tram works set to begin at Shandwick Place, as three local businesses announced they are to clos

Journal Live

• Tories call for inquiry into East Coast Main LineTRANSPORT ministers have been accused of misleading parliament over the handling of National Express’s failed rail franchise.

Liverpool Post

• £530million rail project will link Liverpool with the North JOURNEY times between Liverpool and key northern cities will be slashed by a £530m investment programme in the railways.
• Liverpool architects Austin Smith Lord to design Dublin railway station development THE Liverpool studio of architects Austin Smith Lord (ASL) has secured planning consent for a new 100m euro railway station in Dublin.
• Approaching a new Age of the Train? IF THE ultimate aim is to eventually drive us all out of our cars, and have us all relaxing on the railway instead, there must be the possibility that it might just work.
• Rail travel in Merseyside and Cheshire to be transformed by 'Northern Hub'Plans to transform rail travel in the region bringing huge benefits for Merseyside and Cheshire have been unveiled today by Network Rail.

London Evening Standard

• Boris Johnson’s transport strategy ignores needs of drivers, says RAC chiefBoris Johnson's plans to overhaul transport are “unrealistic” and ignore the needs of motorists, the head of the RAC Foundation warns.

Manchester Evening News

• £530m plan to join Manchester's two main stations Manchester's two main stations could be joined by a direct train link under a £530m plan to help the region's heavily-congested rail network cope with an extra 3.5m passengers a year.

Sheffield Star

• Sheffield's train services to benefit from investmentSHEFFIELD's train services are to benefit from a £530 million investment programme announced by Network Rail.

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• Dualling of A9 a step closer as upgrades get green lightThe long-awaited dualling of one of Scotland™s most notorious roads took a major step forward yesterday as the government announced a multimillion-pound package of improvements.

Wales Online

• Safety ruling hits Valleys rail lines Network Rail has been ordered to take immediate action after inspectors found some train lines in South Wales were unsafe to work on when trains are in service.
• Rail lines unsafe for track workersNETWORK Rail has been ordered to take immediate action after inspectors found some South Wales train lines unsafe to work on.
• Port authority in court bid to fight strikeA PORT authority went to court today in an action against a planned two-day strike.

Yorkshire Evening Post

• Plan to boost North's rail servicesA plan to improve rail services on congested routes in northern England, including Leeds and Sheffield, has been outlined by Network Rail.

Peterborough Telegraph

• Work begins on pedestrian link to stationWork has started on a £70,000 project to provide a direct pedestrian and cycle link into Great Yarmouth Railway Station.

Other Regional Press

• TUES AM: Improvements to Huddersfield's rail network to cost millionsMILLIONS of pounds are to be spent on improving rail services in and out of Huddersfield.
• Coventry Airport deal was doomed says MP James PlaskittSWISS firm ADP’s decision to back out of a multi-million pound deal with Coventry Airport was no surprise, according to a local MP.

Aviation Industry

• BA says it will use sustainable jet fuelBritish Airways said today that it would use low-carbon fuel to power part of its fleet from 2014 once Europe's first sustainable jet-fuel plant was built by US biofuels specialist Solena Group.
• Slight slip in full-year profit doesn't halt growth at Air ArabiaAir Arabia posted a AED452.2 million ($123.1 million) profit in 2009, down 11.3% from the AED509.7 million reported the prior year, as it continued to grow despite what it called

Other News Sources

• Third tunnel for Crossrail Crossrail Limited has invited expressions of interest for the third and final running tunnel contract for the Crossrail project.
• Suffolk's plans jeopardised by rail problems SUFFOLK'S Olympic legacy and its ambition to become Britain's greenest county are being jeopardised by uncertainty over the future number of rail services, it was claimed last night.
• Crackdown on Norfolk train fare dodgers Jumping the train might seem a victimless crime, but it costs rail firms £40m a year. Last night ticket inspectors and police launched a crackdown on fare dodgers on the King's Lynn to London line, with platform checks at busy Downham Market station.
• Russia to announce high speed line plan RUSSIA: Next month Russian Railways will unveil detailed proposals for a 'European standard' high speed line, RZD Vice-President Avtandil Gorgiladze told the EurasiaRail 2010 conference in Istanbul on February 10.
• RMT demands immediate halt to job cuts as Network Rail is hit with a Prohibition Notice over track patrolsRAIL UNION RMT today called for an immediate halt to Network Rail's plans to axe up to 1500 safety-critical maintenance jobs after it was revealed that the company has been served a Prohibition Notice by the Office of Rail Regulation over a shortage of lookouts to ensure safe track working in South Wales.
• First Scotrail 'bang to rights' over broken promises on Driver Only Operation.RAIL UNION RMT today produced the text of a letter dating back to November 2004 which has caught First Scotrail bang to rights over their broken assurances to the union on the introduction of Driver Only Operation (DOO).
• Committee publishes transport legislative competance order reportPowers on concessionary fares and learner transport safety should be devolved to Wales, say MPs
• Residents won't keep quiet on M3 noise VILLAGERS are keeping up the pressure on transport chiefs to resurface one of the south™s busiest roads.
• Tube drivers pass 54 red lights in month as blunders are revealedTube drivers went through red lights 54 times in four weeks, the Standard reveals today. There were 128 other incidents on the network serious enough to require an official report and further investigation in the month ending 30 January, bringing the total to 182
• MPs condemn failure to invest in local railToo little is being done to connect growing communities by rail, say MPs who want ministers to back more local lines
• Easing Manchester bottleneck high on £530m rail wish list Network Rail today unveiled a £530m investment wish list which includes work to remove the and#8220;Manchester bottleneckand#8221; between Piccadilly and Oxford Road stations.
• Costain wins five year Highways Agency job worth £115mCostain today confirmed it has won a Highways Agency five year contract worth £115 million.
• Highways Agency confirms four winners on £2bn frameworkThe Highways Agency has today confirmed the award of four spots on its £2 billion Managed Motorways framework.
• Crossrail advertises third and final tunnelling packageCrossrail has today invited expressions of interest for the third and final running tunnel contract, C310, for the £15.9 billion project.
• Birmingham International Airport: January Passenger FiguresDuring January, Birmingham International Airport handled 521,566 travellers through its two terminals, including 424,912 scheduled passengers and 96,654 charter passengers. Paul Kehoe,...
• Ryanair and easyJet row intensifies Outspoken Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary faces a potential court battle with rival easyJet after publishing a newspaper advert depicting its founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannu as Pinocchio.

News from Europe

• MÁV Flirts all in service HUNGARY: National passenger operator MÁV-Start Zrt put its final Stadler-built Flirt EMU into service on February 12, marking the completion of an order for 60 units. The final set was delivered more than two months ahead of the original contract schedule, according to the Swiss manufacturer. MÁV-Start’s Flirts have already run more than 16 million train-km in service, achieving an availability of 94%.

Other Subscription Services

• UK facing fresh pressure over light duesHope that government will reconsider next increase due to take effect on April 1