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

Wednesday, 08 September 2010

BBC News

• Work to start on £2m Bargoed bus station Construction work is set to begin on a £2m bus station which is part of a regeneration scheme for the centre of Bargoed, in Caerphilly county.
• Work on £400m Reading railway station revamp shuts road Motorists are being warned that a road will close overnight to allow work, which is part of the £400m Reading railway station revamp, to go-ahead.
• Jaguar sales up 75% Jaguar Land Rover reports its busiest August for two years, according to company figures.
• Stansted train time poster bannedPosters advertising the Stansted Express are banned for implying the train would reach central London in 35 minutes, a watchdog says.
• No change to Heathrow useResidents living near Heathrow Airport worried about increased noise are assured there will be no change to runway use.
• Pilgrims to use public transportPilgrims from Glasgow travelling to the Pope's mass are told to use public transport to get there.
• Tube strike brings major delaysMillions of Londoners have been attempting to travel home amid a major Tube strike affecting nearly all its lines.

Financial Times

• Policy shift: cities invest in public transport When Foster + Partners, the international architecture practice, was asked to design one of the world’s most modern and futuristic cities, its architects started from a surprising point. Set the challenge of building a city on the edge of Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, that would produce neither carbon emissions nor waste, they started by studying how Arabia’s centuries-old traditional cities allowed residents to cope with their environment’s intense heat without air conditioning or cars.
• LU disputes impact of Tube strike Millions of commuters in the capital faced disruption to their journeys when a strike by rail workers forced the shut down of many London Underground services
• Network Rail faces fine after faultsThe company that runs Britain's rail network could face a fine after faults with a new timetable planning system left some train operators unable to publish information or take future bookings
• Ryanair talk of aircraft spree damps dividend hopesRyanair could be back in the market to buy up to 300 aircraft in a multibillion-dollar spend that could scupper investors' hopes of future dividends from the European budget airline

The Herald

• Get on your bike: Cycle-hire scheme launched in DumfriesScotland™s first public bike hire scheme that is backed by the Government was launched in Dumfries yesterday in a bid to mimic the success of similar initiatives across Europe.

The Independent

• Misleading Stansted Express ad banned Posters for the Stansted Express have been banned for wrongly implying that the train would take passengers to central London in 35 minutes, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said yesterday.
• Heathrow residents welcome runways pledge Heathrow residents today welcomed Government confirmation that there will be no change to the way runways at the west London airport are used.
• Unions clash with bosses over Tube strike impact Union leaders clashed with London Underground tonight over the impact of strikes which caused travel misery in the capital.

The Telegraph

• Passengers turned up for non-existent train services after Network Rail blunder Passengers have turned up for non-existent trains because of the botched introduction of this summer’s railway timetable, it emerged last night.
• Victory for Heathrow campaigners as ministers block extra flights and third runway Heathrow's third runway was finally killed off yesterday as ministers also blocked plans to allow an extra 64 flights a day at the airport.
• Senior MP's warning over street light switch off Switching off street lights could put road users at risk, the chairman of the Commons Transport Committee has warned.
• Stansted Express told off for misleading advert Welcome to London, home to Big Ben, the Nelson's Column. And a rather down-at-heel retail park in Tottenham Hale offering a range of fast-food shops and a complex gyratory system.

Reuters News

• London gridlock as transport strike brings chaosLONDON (Reuters) - Millions of commuters across the capital struggled to get to work on Tuesday as a 24-hour strike by workers on London's underground rail system crippled much of the network, hurting the city's convalescent economy. Passengers took to bikes, buses, walked, or made use of extra boat services on the River Thames that snakes through the city in a bid to beat the stoppage, called in protest at 800 job cuts driven by austerity measures.

The Sun

• Boris helps 1000s beat Tube shut-down COMMUTERS get on bikes to beat union bully Bob Crow's strike and struggle to work

Network Rail

• VIRGIN AND MERSEYRAIL AMONGST THE BEST AS MORE TRAIN SERVICES THAN EVER RUN ON TIME
• RECORD-BREAKING AUGUST FOR c2c AS 99% OF TRAINS RUN ON TIME
• ALL CHANGE AT CAMBRIDGE “ PLANS SUBMITTED FOR NEW PLATFORMS AND FOOTBRIDGE

Belfast Telegraph

• Bmi targets Ryanair’s Belfast City Airport slots Airline bmi has appointed Belfast woman Brenda Morgan as sales manager Ireland following a restructure of the company. Related StoriesWhite Stuff set to create 35 new jobsCEOs lined up for NI investment talksBanking on a better deal for customersFlybe swoops on Ryanair Belfast routesDeath risk for NI workers 'higher'

Birmingham Mail

• Jaguar and Land Rover sales buck falling sales trend BOTH Jaguar and Land Rover bucked a declining trend in UK car sales last month – and posted substantial rises.
• Bus giant National Express warns of cuts to Birmingham services THE chief executive of bus giant National Express fears he will have to scrap ten per cent of buses on Birmingham’s roads if ministers scrap industry grants.

Bolton News

• ˜Net closing™ on gang of railway metal thieves THE net is closing on an organised gang who recruited former railway employees to help carry out a string of high-value metal thefts on the rail network.

Bristol Live

• Highest in Europe U K rail fares are the highest in Europe and there is a widely-held view that rail passengers are being fleeced by a system which is far too complex.

London Evening Standard

• Minister rules out all-day runway noise at HeathrowHundreds of thousands of Londoners are spared having their lives blighted by planes flying over their homes for most of the day

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• Minister to hear first hand of Conon station revival hopes Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson will travel to the Highlands on Friday for talks on a proposal to reopen Conon Bridge railway station, it was announced yesterday.
• Transport bosses under fire over Lochaber roadworks Approach roads to a controversial mini-roundabout are to be resurfaced “ but the junction itself will be left untouched by transport bosses, who say there is no problem.

Daventry Express

• Removing cats eyes makes road more dangerousMOTORISTS using the A45 are being put at risk, says a Daventry man, after sets of cats eyes were removed from the road.

Other Regional Press

• Cogges Link: Campaigners consider options but say battle is not over PLANS to build a controversial relief road around Witney town centre have moved one step closer, following the failure of the latest bid to stop it.
• 155 Kent jobs axed at rail depotRailway depot workers
• Transport strike over retirementTransport services in France began tapering off last night at the start of what promises to be a major strike over President Nicolas Sarkozy™s plans to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62.

Railnews

• News: War of words breaks out over Underground strike A war of words has broken out between the RMT union and London Underground, as today's strike by RMT and TSSA members continues. Only 4 out of ten trains are running, and problems are now occurring on London Overground because of severe overcrowding caused by diverted Underground passengers, while buses are being delayed by heightened traffic levels on the roads.
• News: More Underground lines reopen as strike goes on Transport for London has reported an improvement to Underground services, in spite of today's strike by RMT and TSSA staff, but fewer than half of the scheduled trains are running and some sections of line remain closed.

Other News Sources

• Rail users overcharged for tickets HUNDREDS of train passengers could be due for refunds after a ticket machine at Stratford Station was found to be overcharging on a route by £3.
• One in 10 buses at risk from cuts One in 10 buses could be taken off the road and 10 per cent fare rises imposed in the West Midlands if a £25 million grant is axed, it was feared today.
• Boris Johnson: whither that 'no strike deal'? You might not believe it was in his transport manifesto, but I wouldn't fib about a thing like this:
• Campaigners welcome formal scrapping of Heathrow third runway and mixed mode Plans for a third runway and planes taking off and landing at the same time at Heathrow were today formally scrapped.
• Scotlands First Cycle Hire Scheme £300,000 of green initiatives to reduce emissions and promote healthy living A cycle hire initiative to provide greener, healthier travel options was launched in Dumfries today by Transport Minister, Stewart Stevenson. The £155,000 BIKE2Go scheme is the first of its kind to be introduced in Scotland. It provides bicycles free of charge to subscribers from nine locations across the town to boost cycling numbers, reducing emissions and promoting healthy activity.  read more
• STRIKE SOLID AS RMT DEMANDS RAIL REGULATOR INVESTIGATION INTO BREACHES OF POST-KINGS CROSS FIRE SAFETY RULESTube union RMT confirmed this morning that support for strike action amongst both TSSA and RMT members' remains rock solid as the two unions continue their fight for tube safety and safe staffing levels.
• All-electric stunt aircraft to test novel propulsion systemsA four-engine all-electric acrobatic plane has made its first public demonstration flight at Le Bourget Airport near Paris.
• Bus service shake-up in NorwichBus services in Norwich are set for a big shake-up when new timetables come into force later this month.