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

Wednesday, 29 September 2010

BBC News

• Tube Strike Map - your city needs you! Want to know if your bus stop is overflowing during the Tube strike next Monday?
• Council passes road gritting cutsCeredigion council has agreed plans to cut by 12 the number of roads it grits in winter.
• Hydrogen post van tested on islesA hydrogen-powered van is tested on the Western Isles using fuel from a facility run by the islands council.
• 2012 boss leaves for Network RailThe chief executive of the Olympic Delivery Authority is leaving to join Network Rail in a similar position.

Financial Times

• AirTran deal casts light on no-frills modelSouthwest Airlines' move to buy its smaller budget rival is also one of the world's biggest tie-ups in a no-frills airline business that effectively started with Southwest's birth nearly 40 years ago
• Toyota shifts domestic strategy to mini-carsThe carmaker is embarking on a significant shift in its sales plan as it intends to offer cheap, lightly regulated mini-vehicles to Japanese customers next year

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
• Olympic infrastructure chief is frontrunner for Network Rail job David Higgins's name expected to be presented to board today, with a senior Corus executive also on shortlist
• Crossrail not 'descoping' but sandwiches cut [Dave Hill Blog]Crossrail's statement is here. It says that a "value management process" has resulted in a redesigned Whitechapel station and other ways of saving money, but, "does not involve reducing the scope of planned Crossrail services between Maidenhead and Heathrow in the west and Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east, or removing stations from the Crossrail scheme."

The Telegraph

• Former US Treasury Secretary John Snow appointed to BA-Iberia board John Snow, a former US Treasury Secretary, is one of four new appointees to the holding company of the airline group being formed from the £5.1bn all-share merger between British Airways and Iberia.
• Ford is committed to UK, says chief executive Alan Mulally Alan Mulally, the chief executive of Ford, has reinforced the company's commitment to investing in the UK, describing it as a "centre of excellence" and "a key part of our business moving forward".
• Olympic chief David Higgins appointed head of Network Rail Network Rail, which runs the country's track infrastructure, has appointed a new chief executive at a time when it is facing the threat of sweeping spending cuts.

Reuters News

• FirstGroup on target for FY, H1 revenues riseBritish bus and train operator FirstGroup (FGP.L) said on Wednesday it was on track to deliver moderate earnings growth for the full year thanks to cost cuts and improved passenger revenues in the first half.

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• £2.4m to be spent on district's worst-surfaced roads Bradford Council has earmarked £2.4 million to improve the district™s worst-surfaced roads.

Derby Telegraph

• Working out the best value train prices is a real science ​AND today’s quiz question is: how much does it cost to travel from Derby to Ipswich by rail on a Saturday and back the next day?
• Rural bus services and hospital link face cuts in council cash review UP to 30 bus services in Derbyshire could be reduced or axed by the county council as it tries to bridge a £700,000 funding gap.
• Council unable to raise the cash for inner relief road MONEY to complete Heanor's inner relief road is unlikely to be available any time in the near future.

Edinburgh Evening News

• Tram bosses have no plans to repair cracked foundationsTRAM bosses have ruled out digging up Princes Street again after concerns were raised about the quality of work carried out to lay tracks last winter.

Journal Live

• Electric car contract will spark 500 new jobs THE region’s emerging green industries received a huge boost yesterday as an electric car company promised the creation of more than 500 jobs at their North East development plant.

London Evening Standard

• London bus services at risk as 40% subsidy is axed Commuters were warned today they faced cuts to bus services after Boris Johnson's transport aide confirmed plans for a 40 per cent cut to London's bus subsidy.

Nottingham Evening Post

• New 'voice of the buses' to be announced THE winner of a competition to find the voice of Nottingham's buses will be announced next week.

Sheffield Star

• All aboard new service A NEW bus route has been launched between Sheffield and the Derbyshire Dales. Stagecoach has invested £2 million buying 10 new low-floor double-deckers to run the X17 service, from Sheffield to Matlock, via Chesterfield, which have complimentary wi-fi internet access on board for passengers to while away the journey.

The York Press

• £4.5 million cut from North Yorkshire road projectsCUTS of more than £4.5 million to transport projects across North Yorkshire have today been agreed.

Other Regional Press

• Olympics could disrupt rail linkCanterbury could lose its high speed rail service during the Olympic Games in 2012.

Railnews

• News: Olympics chief appointed to lead Network Rail Network Rail has appointed one of its non-executive directors as its new chief executive. David Higgins, who is currently chief executive of the Olympic Delivery Authority, will replace Iain Coucher, who leaves Network Rail at the end of October, but Mr Higgins will not be taking up his position until 1 February. To cover the gap, Network Rail's director of asset management Peter Henderson will become acting chief executive on 1 November. Mr Higgins said his priority would be to “bring Network Rail and the industry closer”.

Aviation Industry

• Mayors, Chairs and Bears make a flying visit to Southampton AirportOver 20 Mayors and Chairs from councils across Hampshire have made a flying visit to Southampton Airport...
• New analysis explodes myths about tourism, air travel and poor peopleA new study by Airport Watch member, Jeremy Birch, shows just how much of our balance of payments deficit is due to well-off people holidaying abroad and how equalising aviation with other taxes would help both our economy and poorer people. An argument constantly used by the aviation industry and by some politicians is that we [...]

Other News Sources

• Complaining & NewspapersThere's a marked difference in the way passengers complain about different modes of public transport. Train companies see little in the way of negativity in local newspapers, through letters of complaint to editors. Instead, disgruntled travellers put pen to paper (or the more modern equivalents) and contact the operator directly. The airlines see virtually no negative press in local newspapers, instead feeling the wrath of consumer groups on a much broader scale through national medial.
• Black is the colournsider the humble colour black. It doesn't usually look good when covering every part of a bus' exterior. Yet despite this, it was the livery of choice for CT Plus, the commercial arm of Hackney Community Transport, who snatched the operation of a Hull-based park-and-ride contract from East Yorkshire Motor Services (EYMS) just over a year ago.
• Prediction [Omnibus blog]It looks a bit like how I’d imagine the Competition Commission’s market inquiry to be, when they’ve concluded and eventually published. Except it’s a report by the Local Government Association out this month.
• FirstGroup searches for ERP IT partner FirstGroup, the company behind UK train operator First Capital Connect, is tendering for a global IT services company to develop its ERP strategy.
• WALTHAM FOREST: Cuts worry over railway electrification RAILWAY campaigners have expressed fears that proposals to electrify a major overground route through the borough could be scrapped because of government cuts.
• £5.7m revamp of Didcot Parkway railway station to start next March A £5.7M contract to redevelop the Didcot Parkway railway station forecourt is going out to tender — and the station could get a new name.
• Stagecoach bus Internet access a “first” for South Yorkshire Icomera, the worldʼs leading provider of cellular broadband gateways, has announced that Stagecoach Group plc, one of the UK's largest transport operators, continues to invest in customer comfort and the travel experience.
• Church speaks out over cuts to free transport at faith schools church leaders have spoken out against the proposed cut to free transport for pupils attending Catholic schools.
• Civic chiefs extend deadline on bus consultation BUS users have extra weeks to make their views known on free passes for the over-60s.