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

Sunday, 28 February 2010

BBC News

• Railway station faces rejectionPlans for a development including a new railway station in a south of Scotland town are recommended for refusal.

The Herald

• National transport agency™s million pound communication billThe national transport agency for Scotland spent more than a million pounds on communications last year.
• Leaked report damns agency over mountain railway fiascoOne of Scotland™s leading enterprise agencies will this week be accused of œunacceptable bad practice for wasting up to £27 million of public money on the doomed Cairngorm mountain railway.

Times Online

• Climate change report sets out an apocalyptic vision of BritainMass migration northwards to new towns in Scotland, Wales and northeast England may be needed to cope with climate change and water shortages in the South East, according to an apocalyptic vision set out by the Government Office for Science.
• BA flies ˜ghost planes™ to train strike-breaking crewsBRITISH AIRWAYS is running œghost flights to train strike-breaking cabin crews ahead of a threatened walkout next month.

Other Regional Press

• Kenilworth train station plan moves step closer PLANS for Kenilworth rail station are moving full steam ahead.

Washington Post

• Toyota's president to visit China on Monday TOKYO -- Fresh from a grilling by U.S. lawmakers, Toyota President Akio Toyoda will speak Monday in China about his company's quality problems, seeking to boost confidence and ease consumer worries in the world's biggest auto market.

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• Work on aircraft carriers 'demonstrates skill of UK industry'Work has commenced on two new aircraft carriers in Portsmouth - and according to defence secretary Bob Ainsworth, they exemplify the skill and professionalism of the UK's industry.The naval base is to be the home of both Queen Elizabeth Class carriers and construction is already underway in Newcastle, Glasgow, Devon and Rosyth.Some 3,000 jobs will be created throughout the supply chain and 8,000 will arise in the manufacture of the ships' hulls.The project in Portsmouth aims to complete a section of the hull, using 6,000 tonnes of steel, measuring 70 metres by 40 metres and housing machinery, ...

Railnews

• News: Government backs away from IEP decision The Government has postponed any decision on the Intercity Express Programme until after the General Election. The transport secretary Andrew Adonis admitted this morning that “there has been a reduction in the capacity of the debt market to support the transaction as originally envisaged, and passenger growth has also slowed”. The project is now to be the subject of an independent review. The news places a question mark over how much longer the HST fleet will now be expected to continue.

Railway Gazette

• No IEP contract before election, Adonis confirmsUK: A contract to supply the next generation of long-distance trains under the Intercity Express Programme will not be signed before the upcoming general election, it was confirmed on February 26. In a written statement, Secretary of State for Transport Lord Andrew Adonis said that since the programme was launched in 2007 'there has been a reduction in the capacity of the debt market to support the transaction as originally envisaged'. Passenger growth has slowed, and there is now a commitment to electrify the Great Western Main Line. The resulting adjustments to the programme have extended ne...
• Deal cleared EUROPE: The European Commission has given the go-ahead for Genève-based wagon leasing firm Financière Ermewa to be acquired by SNCF subsidiary Transport et Logistique Partenaires, subject to the condition that the Swiss firm's cereal transport activities are divested. Ermewa was previously owned by TLP and Citerne Invest. TLP is already involved in cereal transport by rail, and the European Commission's market investigation found that the acquisition of Citerne Invest's 51·4% stake in Ermewa would combine the two main players in the sector, and as a result was likely to raise competition con...
• Smart and secure TICKETING: Four major players in the smart card ticketing sector have launched a joint initiative to drive smart media convergence around a common open standard. Card manufacturers Giesecke & Devrient and Oberthur Technologies have teamed up with chip suppliers Infineon Technologies and Inside Contactless. They are encouraging other companies in the smart media industry to join the standard, which will be supervised by an independent body. The standard is based upon Infineon™s hardware-based security platform aimed specifically at public transport smart card applications. The platform uses...

Aviation Industry

• Discussions over new aircraft standards, while keeping some perspective on BA™s biofuel promisesIn the past two weeks, we™ve been working on national, European and international policy issues. Following on from the UN meeting that agreed a significant tightening of the NOx standard for aircraft (with the hope of  reducing air pollution near airports), Tim met with the Executive Director of the International Council on Clean Transportation, to [...]

Other News Sources

• London to Sheffield focus for Network RailNational rail track operator Network Rail has published plans to reduce journey times between London and Sheffield as part of its East Midlands Route Utilisation Strategy (RUS).
• Town rail link funds soughtThe government should rethink investment policy for small rail schemes that provide new links between towns, MPs have said.
• Norwich fast train pluggedBusiness and regeneration groups in Norwich have launched a campaign for a train service to link the city to London in 90 minutes.
• Committee slams capital Crossrail funding burdenThe London Assembly transport committee has slammed funding plans for Crossrail, claiming that the capital has been burdened unfairly with the project's costs.
• Big spending on high-speed rail pays offThe Chinese government's hefty spending on high-speed rail has paid off, easing traffic congestion and integrating the market, experts have said.The recently built Wuhan-to-Guangzhou high-speed railwa...
• Bigger, heavier trucks could soon join you on your commuteCongress could soon vote to change trucking regulations to increase the size and weight of freights on the interstate. John Thyer is a father of eight, a grandfather of 16 and the principal officers...
• India rail cracks down on rooftop train travellers"Rooftop travelling per se is dangerous," said S.S. Gupta, from the state-run network. "There's a danger of falling down and people have been injured or died. Similarly, there's a danger of getting el...
• UK Govt. using new 'behavioural analysis' security check at HeathrowLondon, Feb 28(ANI): The British Airports Authority (BAA) is using behavioural analysis to weed out terror suspects during security checks at the London Heathrow Airport.
• Eurostar services to resume on Monday 1 March Eurostar services between the UK and Brussels will resume on Monday 1 March, when the high-speed lines near the site of the recent train accident will re-open.On Saturday and Sunday there will be 5 direct services between the UK and Brussels. In addition, to ensure that customers get to their destination these services will be reinforced by a shuttle coach service between Lille and Brussels. Over the weekend, trains will be leaving Brussels 20 minutes earlier than the advertised time and customers will be informed of this change to the timetable. All of Eurostar's other services to Paris, Dis...