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

Tuesday, 28 September 2010

BBC News

• British Transport Police crackdown yields 80 arrests Eighty people were arrested in one day by police targeting anti-social behaviour on trains and stations across southern England and south London.
• Crossrail not to lose branches or stations for savings The £16bn Crossrail scheme will not lose any of its planned stations or branches in order to save money, Crossrail Limited (CRL) has said.
• Cars to 'park themselves' at CubeA new car park in Birmingham has a sophisticated £2m robotic system that enables vehicles to park themselves.
• £21m export deal for bus companyA Ballymena-based bus company concludes a £21m deal to supply buses in Singapore.
• More space needed on Derry trainA Derry councillor calls on Translink to add more carriages to their Belfast-Londonderry service to combat overcrowding

Financial Times

• Snow and Alierta on board at BA-IberiaJohn Snow, the former US Treasury secretary, and César Alierta, Telefónica chairman, are joining the board of International Airlines Group, the company formed by the planned merger of British Airways and Iberia
• Southwest acquires AirTran for $3.4bnSouthwest Airlines has agreed to buy rival AirTran in a deal that values the Florida-based low-cost airline at $3.4bn

The Guardian

• Thieves on the line: copper raids on railways hit record levels • Criminals rip out lines attached to track signals • Epidemic predicted to cost £20m a year by 2014
• Transport Scotland plans roads IS Scotland's transport agency is considering spending between £6m and £7m on IT for a national integrated roads information system
• Could charging help save free Leeds city bus from cuts? * Meeting discusses potential cuts as bus services, smaller stations and concessionary fares face uncertain future * Metro bosses pledge to lobby over funding threat
• Crossrail prepares to make major budget cuts Company behind trans-London link Crossrail is expected to announce 'hundreds of millions' in cost savings

The Herald

• Salmond: Renewable energy will power Scotland by 2025Scotland will meet its entire electricity needs through renewable sources by 2025, Alex Salmond has predicted.

Press Association

• No Crossrail stations to be scrapped in cost-cutting Cost savings to the £16 billion cross-London Crossrail scheme will not involve shortening the planned route or scrapping stations, it has been announced.

Reuters News

• Alstom London tube staff to hold second strikeLONDON (Reuters) - About 200 maintenance workers on London's underground network are to hold a second 24-hour strike on October 4 in a dispute over pay, the Rail, Maritime and Transport workers union (RMT) said Monday.

Mail Online

• Professor slapped with £155 railway fine for getting OFF the train one stop earlyMartyn Evans was told he would be fined for disembarking at Darlington, near his home, rather than waiting until Durham, where he works at the university’s philosophy department.

Birmingham Mail

• Birmingham Airport pension scheme U-turn BIRMINGHAM Airport’s final salary pension scheme is set to be retained in a major boost for nearly 400 workers – despite a deficit of £26 million.

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Early ride on new Porthmadog rail line RAILWAY enthusiasts will be able to enjoy a sneak preview of a brand new line before it opens officially to the public.

Derby Telegraph

• Green light for new passenger railway TRAIN passengers will be able to journey through the Derwent valley from Wirksworth to Duffield for the first time in 20 years after a rail link was restored.

Edinburgh Evening News

• Chinese 'partner' sets good example on transport plansNew links are set to be developed between Edinburgh and the massive Chinese city of Tianjin in a bid to foster business and investment.

Metro

• Crossrail rules out swish new trains to slash costs There will be no futuristic trains on the multi-billion-pound Crossrail line as costs are reined in, bosses have revealed.

The York Press

• Protesters to step up ˜20mph limit™ campaign CAMPAIGNERS calling for a blanket 20mph speed limit to be introduced on residential roads in York are stepping up their drive next month.

Yorkshire Post

• Chance for rail travellers to get on their bikes A SCHEME to persuade more people in traffic-choked Leeds to get on their bikes was officially opened yesterday.

Rail-News.com

• Parsons Brinckerhoff targets Northern European rail marketParsons Brinckerhoff (PB), the global professional services firm, is extending its capabilities in the Northern European rail market through the addition of IVV, a rail design business, which was part of Balfour Beatty Rail. IVV will become part of PB from 01 January 2011.
• Barber S-2-R bogie emerging on the Russian trackThe Tikhvin Freight Car Manufacturing Plant (TVSZ) obtained a compliance certificate of the State Authority “Registry of Certification on Federal Railway Transport” (“RS FZhT”) for Freight Bogie 18-9810 Type Barber S-2-R with 23,5 tf axial load.
• Crossrail outlines progress on delivering value for moneyThroughout 2010 Crossrail has been engaged in a value management process to ensure that every pound invested in Crossrail is well spent. Crossrail will report to the Department for Transport (DfT) and Transport for London (TfL) as Project Sponsors later this year with an updated construction delivery cost. This will ensure that Crossrail is delivered as cost effectively as possible and savings are made wherever it is sensible to do so.

Aviation Industry

• China Airlines to Plead Guilty, Pay $40 Million Fine in U.S. Price FixingTaiwan-based China Airlines agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $40 million criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy to fix prices in the air transportation industry, the U.S. Department of Justice announced on Monday.
• Southwest will acquire AirTran for $1.4 billion Southwest Airlines on Monday morning announced an agreement to acquire Orlando-based AirTran Airways for $1.4 billion in cash and Southwest common stock in a deal that brings together the world's largest LCC with the third largest LCC in North America.

Other News Sources

• Campaign urged to save East Coast rail link Losing direct train services between London and stations north of Edinburgh, including Dundee, would damage the economy of the areas affected, it has been claimed.
• First Great Western boss takes command of a secondary service in his garden Train fanatic Charles Howeson gives taking work home a whole new meaning with his giant model railway.
• Tunnel tests will pave way for German service A German high-speed train will have a test run through the Channel Tunnel next month ahead of a possible new service between London and Frankfurt.
• Bombardier breaks into BrazilWith an $816-million (U.S.) deal to design and build a monorail system in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Bombardier Inc. (BBD-B) has secured the beachhead it was seeking to make inroads in the potentially lucrative Latin American market.
• Transport Secretary provides reassurance over Bikeability's future Secretary of State for Transport Norman Baker this morning officially opened the UK’s first Dutch-style CyclePoint at Leeds railway station and also allayed concerns that Bikeability training would be scrapped as part of government cuts.
• Crossrail plans efficiencies Crossrail set out a series of cost savings to its £16bn budget yesterday but said there would be no cuts in its planned stations or branches. Instead efficiencies would be found by making use of existing train designs, rather than building new carriages from scratch as originally planned. The latest cuts are part of Crossrail's ongoing review of costs on the line, which will run for more than 73 miles from Maidenhead and Heathrow in the west, through new, twin-bore 13-mile tunnels under central London to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east.
• County council to debate new Airtrack proposals COUNTY councillors are due to vote on whether to scrap the authority's objections to the Airtrack scheme, in what would be a shock U-turn over the proposed Heathrow Airport rail link.