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

Friday, 15 October 2010

BBC News

• More 'green' buses to hit roads in Oxfordshire More electric-hybrid buses will be seen on Oxfordshire's roads after a bus firm won a share in a £15m government grant.
• London Underground denies RMT union claims of job cuts Transport bosses have rejected as "scaremongering" union claims that hundreds of maintenance jobs on the network are to be axed.
• Humber £100m port plans approved Councillors have approved plans for the £100m redevelopment of land on the south bank of the River Humber, paving the way for the creation of 5,000 jobs.
• £5m upgrade of Heart of Wales line complete A £5m project to upgrade a rural railway linking Wales with England has been completed.
• Capital of Culture trains to haltDerry could spend the first three months of its year as UK City of Culture without a working railway line
• Airport body scanners compulsoryBody scanners will be installed at all three terminals at Manchester Airport following a year-long trial.

Department for Transport

• DFT announces reform of public bodiesThe Department for Transport today announced significant reforms to a number of its public bodies following a cross-Government review.
• £15 million for green buses to reduce CO2Up to 50,000 tonnes of CO2 will be saved thanks to £15m of Government funding, Transport Minister Norman Baker announced today.

Financial Times

• Channel Tunnel test for Deutsche Bahn trains Germany’s Deutsche Bahn might yet run trains to London in time for the 2012 Olympics if forthcoming tests on its trains in the Channel Tunnel go well, the head of the tunnel’s operator has said.
• French tensions rise over German trainsParis' transport minister has stepped up his government's opposition to Eurostar's planned €600m order from Siemens

The Guardian

• Bike quango Cycling England to be abolishedCampaigners 'despondent' at the damage they say the decision will do to cycling provision around the country The rumours that Cycling England would be amongst the logs on the government's "bonfire of the quangos" were confirmed today with the release of the long-awaited (and dreaded) list from the Cabinet Office.
• Swiss to breakthrough with world's longest rail tunnel Last centimetres of rock to be bore through today in 57km project that will cut journey times and relieve congested roads
• Leeds today: Station southern entrance go-ahead, Getaway Girls and Churwell centre A round-up of today's news and views with help from the city's best websites and blogs

The Herald

• Bus drivers protest against tram subsidiesWorkers from Edinburgh™s main bus company gathered outside the city council chambers yesterday to protest against proposals to use profits to subsidise the capital™s trams project.
• Falkirk company wins £9m deal to supply green Stagecoach busesAlexander Dennis has landed a £9 million contract to supply Stagecoach with 47 state-of-the-art green buses for Newcastle and Sheffield.

The Telegraph

• Departure lounge pubs able to sell alcohol to under age teenagers A legal loophole is preventing action being taken against bars in airport departure lounges serving alcohol to people who are drunk or under age.

Network Rail

• UPDATED PLANS TO DELIVER MORE TRAINS AND FASTER JOURNEYS ON DISPLAY IN DONCASTER

Birmingham Mail

• Major West Midlands transport plans facing axe amid budget cuts Some of the most important transport schemes in the West Midlands are at risk of being axed in favour of flagship projects.

Bolton News

• Bus operators in ˜good conduct™ pledge BUS passengers in Bolton can expect a better service, after operators in the region signed up to a new code of conduct.

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• ˜Please don™t shut Cleckheaton bus station™ A petition has been started in an attempt to save a closure-threatened bus station.
• New bus-lane cameras rake in £500,000 fines in three weeks Motorists flouting new road restrictions in Bradford city centre have been hit with fines totalling nearly £500,000 in only three weeks.

Edinburgh Evening News

• Drivers stage protest over bus and tram firms mergerA MASS protest against plans to use Lothian Buses' profits to subsidise the tram project was today set to take place ahead of a crunch council meeting.

London Evening Standard

• Rail firms urged to be ’sensitive’ to sleepersTrain companies are urged to treat dozing passengers with greater 'respect' after a pensioner was fined almost £1,000 and convicted of disorder after shouting at a guard and refusing to show his ticket after falling asleep on a train

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• Spending cuts ˜could hit airports™ Government spending cuts could affect the number of passengers using airports in the Highlands and islands, a leading air industry figure warned yesterday.
• Fresh hope for plan to extend airport runway Aberdeen Airport™s proposed runway extension has to be built before the gateway can œstep up and compete, according to a travel expert.
• School bus safety bid for HolyroodA school bus safety campaigner from the north-east is to take his case to UK Transport Minister Mike Penning.

Yorkshire Evening Post

• West Yorkshire bus firm's 'new deal' on faresTransport giant First is proposing a radical 'New Deal' for West Yorkshire's long-suffering bus passengers.

Yorkshire Post

• Anthony Smith: Passengers rail against price of train travel THOSE rail passengers "in the know" would not disagree that there are some good deals to be had on rail fares. This is especially the case if you can book ahead, are travelling with a group, on a rail card or if you can be a little flexible with the time that you can travel.

Bucks Free Press

• MP writes to minister with HS2 concernsCHERYL Gillan has written to the Transport Secretary about the environmental impact of High Speed Two following calls for her resignation if the line goes ahead.

Doncaster Free Press

• Rail firm stub out smokingA RAIL engineering works is celebrating becoming the first business in Doncaster to be officially recognised for going totally smoke free.

Reading Evening Post

• Is Segway the most fun on two wheels? Riding a scooter through puddles and carefully trying to balance despite drops of rain dripping down your nose might not sound like the best way to spend a Sunday morning but trust me, once you’ve stepped on to a Segway you won’t want to get off.

Other Regional Press

• Transport investment welcomedMetro Chairman welcome Chancellor's announcement on Leeds Station southern entrance and M62.
• New bus route proves a hit with residents BUS users on an Oxford estate have been queueing up to use a new service “ with passenger numbers jumping by 60 per cent since it was launched.
• New bus route proves a hit with residents BUS users on an Oxford estate have been queueing up to use a new service “ with passenger numbers jumping by 60 per cent since it was launched.
• HD One boss: ’It’s just a matter of when’ for cable cars in Huddersfield HUDDERSFIELD would become one of only a handful of places on the planet to have an urban cable car system if radical plans go ahead.
• Northern Rail leaves 30 passengers stranded in Marsden THIRTY people were left stranded after a train conductor allegedly refused to wait for them to hurry down steps.
• New bus service for Coventry Ring & Ride COVENTRY Ring & Ride has joined forces with National Express to allow passengers to visit Bedworth.

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• UK 'has EU's lowest road fatality figures'The UK has the lowest road fatality figures of any European Union (EU) country, it has been claimed.According to the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM), British roads are the safest in Europe in terms of numbers of deaths caused by accidents each year.The body has welcomed the news as the EU marks the third European Road Safety Days and its policy and research director Neil Greig remarked: "The main objective now is to keep up the progress we have already made and continue this strong trend in the reduction of road deaths."He also voiced the IAM's support for a tar...

Railnews

• News: Dismay in Derby as rtc goes under the hammer DERBY’s RTC Business Park – formerly British Rail’s research centre and home to some of the most significant late-20th Century world-leading railway technical innovations – has been put up for sale for £16 million by the government. The Derby and Derbyshire Rail Forum is warning that the potential loss of rail facilities at the rtc would be a ’retrograde step’.
• News: British Rail to be wound up as part of quango cull THE government has announced that British Rail is to be finally wound up -- seventeen years after the first Act of Parliament was passed which launched railway privatisation.
• News: First German ICE enters Channel Tunnel A Deutsche Bahn ICE train has run into the Channel Tunnel on the first of several tests in anticipation of the formal arrival of an ICE at St Pancras next week. But the ceremony in London on 19 October will mark the latest milestone in the continuing friction between the French and German railway administrations.

Aviation Industry

• Report: Biggest airlines to have record profitsOne airline industry analyst is predicting the third quarter will be a new record for the largest airlines, with Delta Air Lines Inc.

Green Miscellany

• Cardboard cycle helmet can be recycled A new type of cycle helmet made from cardboard launched at the London Cycle Show last week is stronger than the commonly-used polystyrene and plastic construction and is designed to withstand multiple shocks. Conventional cycle helmets need to be thrown away if they sustain a blow. read more

Other News Sources

• Deutsche Bahn's Channel Tunnel Bid Entails `Complicated' Evacuation Trial Deutsche Bahn AG’s bid to run trains to London in competition with Eurostar Group Ltd. hinges on the approval of a “complicated” two-stage fire-evacuation plan for the Channel Tunnel, a safety adviser who will vet the plan said.
• £100m port plans approved by councillors COUNCILLORS have approved plans for a £100m project on the south Humber bank.
• Computer model calculates railway noise levelsResearchers at the Swiss research institution Empa have developed a computer model that can be used to calculate noise levels along the entire Swiss rail network.
• Thales takes on 17 rail-signalling apprenticesSeventeen recruits have joined Thales UK™s new rail-signalling apprentice scheme.
• Progress for Bristol's planned deepsea terminalBristol Port Company takes a step forward in its development plans with the appointment of specialist maritime engineers
• HS2 Ltd awards design and development contractsHS2 Ltd has selected three companies for design and development work on the recently announced ˜Y™ shaped high speed rail network “ the Government™s preferred way of connecting Birmingham to Manchester and Leeds.
• Trade body looks at carbon cuts in maritime supply chainThe Freight Transport Association is to extend its carbon reduction research to emissions in the maritime supply chain.
• Former Bobby is Traffic Officers’ New BossThe Highways Agency has appointed John McTaggart as its new Regional Operations Manager (ROM) in charge of the North West Traffic Officer Service – responsible for keeping motorway drivers across the region on the move. John, 45, is a former Cheshire Police and Merseyside Police officer who joined the Highways Agency’s strategic planning team in [...]
• News from Caroline Pidgeon: Mayor needs to provide answers about tube safety 13 October 2010 The Mayor™s poor understanding of safety issues on the Tube was revealed at City Hall today when the Mayor was questioned by Caroline Pidgeon, the leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group. 360-house-thumb.jpg Yes
• Public transport links to airports 'must be improved'Heathrow Airport has made strides in improving its carbon emissions, but more still must be done by the travel industry, ABTA has claimed.Europe's busiest international airport, Heathrow, was recently awarded the Airport Carbon Accreditation by ACI EUROPE, thanks to its efforts to cut its environmental impact.However, Sean Tipton, a spokesperson for ABTA – The Travel Association, said that more needs to be done to encourage travellers to cut the emissions produced when they travel to the airport.Mr Tipton suggested that public transport links to some of the UK's biggest hubs shou...
• Abolition of Cycling England “ What future for Bikeability?The Government today announced the abolition of Cycling England which is expected to take effect from the end of March 2011. The implications of this decision for the future of cycling were outlined by the governing Board. Critically the decision to abolish Cycling England threatens the future of National Cycling Proficiency training, Bikeability. This [...]
• Cathay Pacific further expands code-share arrangement with Japan Airlines Cathay Pacific Airways today announced a further expansion of its code-share arrangement with oneworld alliance partner Japan Airlines to cover more destinations within Japan. Under the...
• New rail booking site launches in the UKQuno aims to make booking train tickets "simple and straight", according to the firm's MD Jeremy Acklam.read more