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

Thursday, 01 April 2010

BBC News

• Rail strike plans cancelled after court injunction A planned national rail strike by the RMT union has been called off after Network Rail challenged it in the High Court.
• Jarvis staff face 1,100 job cuts About 1,100 jobs are to be cut at Jarvis by the administrators who are now running the rail maintenance firm.
• Rail union plans to strike twice The RMT union has announced strike plans for Scottish rail services the week after Easter, making for a second consecutive week of stoppages.
• New Renfrew ferry crossing begins A replacement ferry service has started running on the narrow stretch of the Clyde between Renfrew and Yoker, ending fears the historic crossing would have to be abandoned because of budget cuts.
• Icy winter costs FirstGroup £16mRail and bus operator FirstGroup says the snowy weather during winter hit its operating profits by £16m.
• Electric car launched in Ethiopia despite electricity shortagesAn electric car is launched in Ethiopia despite the country's electricity shortages.
• Rail union plans to strike twiceThe RMT union announces strike plans for Scottish rail services, making for a second consecutive week of stoppages.

Department for Transport

• Government to review transport response to severe weatherTransport Secretary Andrew Adonis today announced an independent review of the transport sector™s response to this winter™s severe weather.

Financial Times

• BA and Iberia miss merger deadlineShares in the two carriers fall as 'technical reasons' delay formal agreement of plan to create Europe's third-largest airline group

The Guardian

• Boris Johnson: cycle revolution in the balance The starting date for Mayor Johnson's central London cycle hire scheme - which, lest we forget was Ken Livingstone's idea - has now been formally announced as 30 July. That later than the original proposed starting date of May, but probably a better one given that the roads will be less frantic than usual due to the schools being shut for the summer holidays and many drivers being on holiday.

The Herald

• Legal fight over rail strike ballot ’discrepancies’ A ballot that paved the way for next week’s national rail strike included votes from workers manning 11 signal boxes that are no longer in operation and dozens of work sites where staff numbers had been exaggerated, Network Rail has claimed.
• Taxpayers set to pay train firms millions over strikeTaxpayers will have to pay tens of millions of pounds to compensate private train companies for the disruption caused by next week™s rail strike.
• Legal fight over rail strike ballot ˜discrepancies™A ballot that paved the way for next week™s national rail strike included votes from workers manning 11 signal boxes that are no longer in operation and dozens of work sites where staff numbers had been exaggerated, Network Rail has claimed.
• FirstGroup™s market value fallsMore than £75 million was wiped off FirstGroup™s market value yesterday as continuing hard times for its US business led it to predict just œmoderate earnings growth.

The Independent

• Rail union faces legal battle over strike ballotLeaders of the union behind next week's threatened rail strike will attend court to explain how signalmen purporting to work in a signal box that burnt to the ground a year ago were able to cast their votes in a strike ballot.

The Scotsman

• Petrol prices edge closer to recordPetrol prices have edged closer to a record high after a 1p-a-litre fuel duty increase came into force.

Times Online

• FirstGroup buoyed as passengers return to railFirstGroup today said passengers were returning to the railways in Britain as it revealed an estimated 3.2 per cent rise in UK train revenues.
• Hitches hit timetable for British Airways™ proposed merger with IberiaThe timetable for the proposed merger of British Airways and Iberia, the Spanish flag carrier, has slipped because of œtechnical issues.

Daily Express

• BA stays on standby for Iberia dealBRITISH Airways and Iberia yesterday missed a self-imposed deadline to complete their £4.4 billion merger to create one of the world's biggest airlines.

Network Rail

• RAIL STRIKE BALLOT 'NOT VALID' SAYS NETWORK RAIL - HIGH COURT INJUNCTION SOUGHT TOMORROW

Birmingham Mail

• Birmingham roads to benefit from £2.7bn transformation plan A MULTI BILLION pound plan to transform all of Birmingham’s roads and pavements has finally won government approval.

Birmingham Post

• Birmingham's Broad Street buses to be axed over traffic jams National Express is to axe bus services along Birmingham’s Broad Street after 8pm at weekends – because its vehicles get stuck in traffic.
• Birmingham Airport extension in doubt over road row A £32 million road improvement plan to kick-start Birmingham International Airport’s runway extension is in doubt – because funding arrangements may not be lawful.

Bolton News

• Plan to end rail and road misery TRANSPORT chiefs are hoping the formation of a regionwide œsuper council will help them tackle the train and road nightmares that have plagued Greater Manchester for years.
• VOTE: ˜Light up A6™ to stop more deaths CAMPAIGNERS are calling for a notorious stretch of a busy main road to be lit up following a fifth death in as many years.

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• Rail strike chaos will hit rush-hour No rush hour train services will run in or out of Bradford Interchange for four successive days if proposed strike action goes ahead after Easter, it has been revealed.

Journal Live

• MPs criticise North East discrimination on transport funding THE North East is being unacceptably discriminated against in terms of transport funding, MPs declared last night.

London Evening Standard

• FirstGroup takes £16m blow from the snow FirstGroup is gearing up to face strike action on its rail operations after Easter but today it was counting the cost of an earlier source of disruption, admitting this year's snow cost it £16 million.
• Rail companies blast franchise planThe Government's rail franchise plans will do little to improve services for passengers, train companies have said.

Manchester Evening News

• City cycle hub plan to get commuters on their bikes Cyclists could be set to get their own 'transport interchange' close to Manchester's busiest train station in a bid to promote biking to work. Council chiefs have been in talks with rail bosses about creating a cycle centre at Piccadilly Station, which would create securing parking for up to 160 bikes.

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• Moray bus services set to be cut after council halves firm™s subsidyBus services took a hit yesterday when Moray Council agreed to halve its subsidies to a major bus operator.

The York Press

• A64 barrier changes call after Whitwell-on-the-Hill tragedy FRESH safety improvements could be carried out on the A64 after a motorist died when his Land Rover flipped and crashed into the central reservation.
• Rail chiefs in services pledge despite strike action RAIL bosses have confirmed they will still operate services through York if four days of industrial action go ahead next week.
• York Station traffic congestion to be analysed WAYS of tackling congestion around York Station are to be analysed by council officers as they prepare to hold talks with rail companies about improving traffic flows.

Yorkshire Evening Post

• Jarvis: 500 Yorkshire jobs axed at rail maintenance firmMore than 500 jobs have been cut at Jarvis in Yorkshire after administrators took charge of the failing rail maintenance firm.
• Train companies condemn rail franchise plansThe Government's rail franchise plans will do little to improve services for passengers, train companies said today.

Burnley Express

• ˜Go slow™ over Burnley-Manchester railway link blastedRAIL bosses have been accused of an inexcusable ˜go slow™ over a project which could bring millions of pounds of benefits to East Lancashire.

Sunderland Echo

• Nissan Leaf price revealedNissan's new electric car, the Leaf, will cost £26,500 when it goes on sale in Japan later this year.

Other Regional Press

• Royal Mail to cut number of staff using bicyclesPosties cycling on their rounds are a scene familiar in our villages, towns and cities. But it may become a thing of the past because...
• Direct Oxford-Swindon rail link planned COMMUTERS could catch direct trains from Oxford to Swindon for the first time in eight years if the country™s first co-operative Rail firm secures official approval.
• Huddersfield transport expert predicts rail strikes would be ’four days of hell’ RAIL passengers are being warned of severe disruptions as the threat of national strikes loom.

Wall Street Journal

• Electric Cars Aren't 'Zero Emission'The Obama administration's new fuel-efficiency rules will undercut the auto industry's claim that electric cars are "zero emission" vehicles, and instead score against them carbon dioxide emitted by electric-power plants.

Other News Sources

• Important changes that will affect the level of commission paid to ATOC licensed Travel Management Companies The Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) has recently written to its licensed Travel Agents and Travel Management Companies (TMCs) informing them of changes that will affect the standard level of commission paid to them for rail business transacted July 2010 onwards.
• Cable thieves hit East Lancashire rail services UPDATE: Normal rail services have now resumed following signal cable theft which 'severely disrupted' trains this morning.