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

Wednesday, 13 October 2010

BBC News

• Train called University of Aberdeen unveiledA train which has been named University of Aberdeen has been unveiled.
• New proposal considered to stop third Tube strike Unions and London Underground (LU) are considering fresh proposals to avert a third 24-hour strike on the Tube.
• TfL face the heat (and my tweets) on the Boris Bikes [blog]Very interesting (populist?) hearing at the London Assembly's Transport Committe this morning. Certainly, Transport for London's bosses were a little bit tetchy during the continued questioning.
• Commuter route work in Northampton to cost £5.3m Work has started on improvements to a bottleneck junction and roundabout on the A45 in Northamptonshire.
• Apology for Cardiff family stranded by park and ride A council has apologised after its park and ride bus service left a family-of-three stranded in a city centre.
• London's future 'should be probed by royal commission' A royal commission should examine the social, economic and environmental challenges facing London, an MP has said. Harrow West MP Gareth Thomas called for a commission to debate the future of the "world's greatest capital city". It would examine competition on the City and population pressures on schools, housing and transport.
• Could we accept driverless cars?Google engineers have tested a self-driving car. But could motorists ever let go of the wheel and see a machine take over?
• 2.5m fewer Translink journeysResearch carried out for Translink finds 2.5m fewer journeys were made on the company's services in this year compared to the previous one.

Financial Times

• Ministers set to save Crossrail but delays likelyCrossrail is set to survive next week's tough public spending round but its completion is likely to be delayed by a year or more as part of an attempt to reduce the £15.9bn bill
• Shipping chief sees expansion on horizonHerman Billung, Golden Ocean boss, has pledged to consider fresh ways of boosting the company's value after it sold two ships for shares in Knightsbridge Tankers

The Independent

• Passengers showed 'remarkable heroism' after bombings Tube travellers displayed

The Scotsman

• FirstGroup to axe routes TRANSPORT giant FirstGroup was yesterday given the green light to scrap seven loss- making bus routes in Scotland, after the Competition Commission said it was satisfied there was no reasonable prospect of them becoming profitable.
• Fire us if we're not up to the job, says trams chief EDINBURGH'S beleaguered tram scheme should be handed over to another body if they could run it better, the project's chief has admitted to The Scotsman.

The Telegraph

• Disgruntled airline passenger ordered to forfeit 'I Hate Ryanair' website A disgruntled plane passenger who set up the website ihateryanair.co.uk, dedicated to criticising Ryanair, has been ordered to hand over the domain name to the budget airline.
• Engineers close to Swiss Alps tunnel breakthrough after 14 years After 14 years of drilling beneath the Swiss Alps, engineers are finally poised to make a breakthrough as they aim to create the world's longest railway tunnel.
• Spending Review puts Waterloo Station expansion plans under threat Plans to ease overcrowding on Britain's busiest railway station are under threat because of public spending cuts.

Mail Online

• Passenger ordered to take down 'I Hate Ryanair' website because it was so popular it made moneyThe founder of IHateRyanair.co.uk was forced to surrender the web address after the budget carrier complained.

Network Rail

• SHELL™S BRINDED TO BE LATEST NETWORK RAIL NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
• HISTORIC BROADS SWING BRIDGES TO UNDERGO REPAIRS

Belfast Telegraph

• Translink gets thumbs up from customers Northern Ireland transport company Translink claimed customer satisfaction is at an all-time high since monitoring records began 16 years ago.

Bolton News

• Tory Euro transport chief backs our vital campaign A TORY MEP has backed The Bolton News’ Drive For Justice campaign. Conservative Euro MP Jacqueline Foster said judges needed to be given more flexibility to sentence dangerous drivers who cause serious injuries.

Edinburgh Evening News

• Trams 'will push bus firm beyond the brink'LOTHIAN Buses may not survive the crippling cost of subsiding Edinburgh's trams, industry experts have warned.

Journal Live

• Campaigner Claire is the wheel deal A CYCLING champion from the North East has been given a national award in recognition of her efforts to promote greener transport.

London Evening Standard

• Bob Crow says Tube is in ’meltdown’ under Boris JohnsonUnion leaders claimed London Underground was in “a state of chaos” today as commuters suffered fresh disruption because of signal problems and other delays.

Manchester Evening News

• Shadow government role for new MP Reynolds A Tameside MP has won a coveted place in Labour's new shadow government - after just five months in the job.

The York Press

• RMT union boss Bob Crowe warns York audience of grim times ahead NATIONAL railway union boss Bob Crowe warned former Jarvis workers of tough times ahead in a brief visit to York.
• Vision for York over next 30 years revealed New parks, a car-free centre and a œGreat Street running through the heart of York form part of the city™s vision for the next 30 years.

Yorkshire Post

• Legal challenge to railway block on station access moves nearer THE prospect of a legal challenge in the dispute over public access to Sheffield Midland railway station appears more likely after South Yorkshire's public transport body decided to call in lawyers for advice.

Other Regional Press

• Can the train still take the strain?Network Rail identifies future passenger growth and infrastructure work in West Yorkshire.
• Next arrival at Huddersfield Railway Station’s platform 4 is a community garden HUDDERSFIELD Railway Station has a new thyme table.

Rail-News.com

• Preparations underway for ICE visit to St PancrasDeutsche Bahn will carry out evacuation trials in the Channel Tunnel in the next few days, ahead of an ICE train being displayed at London St Pancras on October 19th.
• SWT directors and managers work alongside cleaners as part of customer service weekLast week marked the internationally recognised National Customer Service Week, and for the third consecutive year, South West Trains used the week as an opportunity to launch a range of initiatives to improve the service for passengers.
• Midland Main Line electrification included in draft Northern RUSNetwork Rail’s draft Northern Route Utilisation Strategy (RUS) predicts passenger growth of between 30 and 45% into the cities of Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield by 2019. This figure rises to a massive 60-75% by 2029.
• Angel awarded a further two-year certification as a RISAS approved supplierAngel Trains, the UK’s leading rolling stock company (ROSCO), has been awarded a further two-year certification as a RISAS approved supplier. RISAS (Railway Industry Supplier Approval Scheme) was developed by a cross industry working party through RSSB and is widely recognised by industry stakeholders.It offers an independent and rigorous assessment of a company’s rolling stock maintenance processes and capabilities.

Railnews

• News: Concern over new train problems on Scottish routes Work is continuing to solve software faults which have dogged the testing of ScotRail's new Class 380 electric units. The operator has refused to accept the new Siemens fleet after a number of failures.

Other News Sources

• East Coast Railway Line: Rolling Stock Written answers and statements Tom Harris (Glasgow South, Labour) To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans there are for use of Pendolino rolling stock for service on the East Coast Main Line; and what assumptions were made about the availability of rolling stock when the East Coast Main Line 2011 timetable was being prepared.
• Minister asked to intervene over A47 roundabout concerns Eight parishes in mid-Norfolk have joined together to raise their concerns at the highest level about the growing problem of congestion and rat-running that has arisen since the creation of a new roundabout on the A47.
• Egham's Airtrack protesters rally behind MP AIRTRACK protestors have rallied behind their MP after he criticised the county council's decision to provisionally accept a cash payout rather than fighting for an underpass in Egham.
• Plans for £750,000 cycle path divide Forest community BATTLELINES have been drawn over the £750,000 plans to build a cycle path through the Wye Valley.
• Scots pressure group gets behind rail link campaignA NATIONAL transport pressure group has endorsed The Inverness Courier’s campaign to save direct train services between London and the Highland Capital. Transform Scotland maintains that terminating through services and forcing people to change trains at Edinburgh could result in a 25 per cent drop in passengers.
• FirstGroup signs new £10m services deal with Atos Origin Transport provider FirstGroup has invested a further £10m in IT services, following its announcement yesterday that it has signed a £14m desktop services deal with Computacenter.
• Eurostar international trains get £700m facelift Passengers joining Eurostar trains at Ashford International can soon look forward better trains and more European destinations.
• Network Rail appoints Shell man Network Rail has appointed Malcolm Brinded, executive director of Royal Dutch Shell’s upstream international business, to its board as a non-executive director. Brinded joined Network Rail’s board yesterday but will have to be officially approved by the rail group’s members through an election at the 2011 annual general meeting. The news follows the appointment of Network Rail’s incoming chief executive, David Higgins.
• Rail companies pick up awards THE Plymouth-based Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership and First Great Western have jointly won awards for community rail development.
• FUTURE ’BLEAK’ FOR PUBLIC TRANSPORT The future of public transport in the dale is “bleak” with swingeing cuts expected to have a major impact on services, a county council officer has said. Durham County Council is “bracing itself” for cuts of 30 per cent from its public transport budget as part of the Government’s Comprehensive Spending Review.
• Transport links are vital for Leigh BUSINESS people delivered a clear message to Leigh MP Andy Burnham that improved transport links are vital for the town’s future economic growth.
• 'Fragile' local economies at risk from transport cutsEngland’s conurbations should not lose vital transport funds in next week’s spending review the Passenger Transport Executive Group has warned.
• VolkerFitzpatrick wins £6m Crossrail tunnelling academy job VolkerFitzpatrick has won the £6 million contract to build Crossrail’s Tunnelling and Underground Construction Academy.
• Academy to feature training for Crossrail project Work is set to start on a new academy that will give young people the skills and training needed to work on the Crossrail project.