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

Tuesday, 26 October 2010

BBC News

• Anger over revised plans for airport on Hoo peninsula Campaigners against a new airport in Kent have expressed anger that seven years after winning a fight against the plan it is now being reconsidered.
• Thameslink line funding in doubt The BBC has learnt that funding for the Thameslink line upgrade is "still in the balance". The £5.5 billion project is meant to deliver longer and more frequent trains on the Bedford to Brighton route.
• 'Outrage' over Woking town centre cycle scheme A scheme to allow cyclists to use pedestrian areas in a Surrey town is going out to public consultation - after it has been made permanent.
• Spending Review: AA concern over Somerset roads budget The AA has criticised plans to cut £46m from Somerset County Council's road maintenance budget.
• Souter's investments rise by 41%The transport tycoon Brian Souter reveals the value of his investment portfolio has risen by 41% over three years totalling £400m.
• What's it like to be BA's Willie Walsh?Rajan Datar spends time in the company of British Airways Chief Executive, Willie Walsh.

Financial Times

• Alstom seeks injunction on train orderThe French trainmaker asks London's High Court to stop Eurostar from finalising a €600m train order with Siemens, claiming loss of the contract will be a 'significant blow' to its reputation
• Runway rethink ruled out in aviation reviewThe UK is to get its first significant aviation policy review in seven years, said the transport secretary, but he made clear the government would not ease its crackdown on airport expansion and told the industry it had to 'decarbonise'
• Ferrovial/BAALooking for an end to an English misadventure

The Guardian

• Transport for London locks app users out of online travel data feed Transport for London cuts off app users' access to online journey planning information after security update

The Herald

• Hopes for British Airways soar but third-quarter growth figures could leave economy groundedThird-quarter UK growth figures will provide the key economic focus of the week, while corporate results are due from the likes of British Airways and Mouchel.

The Scotsman

• Trams 'hold key to unlocking capital's potential' EDINBURGH's controversial tram system is "crucial" to the growth of the city over the next 20 years, according to a new blueprint mapping out the city's future expansion.

The Telegraph

• David Cameron's £200bn infrastructure challenge draws a mixed reception A £200bn Government-backed investment programme to improve Britain's infrastructure has been given a qualified welcome by business organisations after the Prime Minister challenged the private sector to take the lead.

Daily Record

• Scots tycoon Brian Souter worth £400m, new report reveals STAGECOACH founder Brian Souter has amassed an investment portfolio worth £400 million, a rare insight into the tycoon's business interests has revealed.

Mail Online

• £2 charge for withdrawing YOUR money at rail stations and motorway servicesAnd around 100 train stations on mainline routes have also installed charging cash machines. Some previously free ATMs on the rail network have become pay-to-use.

The Mirror

• Court challenge could see Eurostar order for new trains hit the buffers EUROSTAR’S £612million order for new trains could hit the buffers after a French firm launched a legal challenge.

Network Rail

• PEAK DISTRICT STATION SHOT SCOOPS NATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY AWARD
• HERTFORDSHIRE MAN SCOOPS RAILWAY PHOTOGRAPHY AWARD
• FIRST ˜LINES IN THE LANDSCAPE™ RAILWAY PHOTOGRAPHY AWARD WINNER ANNOUNCED

Liverpool Post

• Government’s £500m Regional Growth Fund will also have to pay for new roads and demolitions A £500m “regional growth fund” – set up to attract private sector jobs to the North – must also pay to build local roads and to demolish slum housing, the Daily Post can reveal.

Metro

• Tube strikes deadlocked as travel misery continuesAs tube strike talks remain deadlocked thousands of commuters faced fresh travel misery on the Underground today when the Waterloo & City line was suspended due to a signal failure.

Sheffield Star

• New buses for villagesNEW bus links are being introduced in north east Derbyshire villages to replace a route being withdrawn.

The York Press

• Railways minister Theresa Villiers to meet former Jarvis staffRAILWAYS minister Theresa Villiers has pledged to meet MPs to discuss the future of former Jarvis workers after their plight featured in a Parliamentary debate.

Yorkshire Evening Post

• Roadworks cause Leeds city centre gridlockMotorists faced major delays in Leeds city centre today after traffic was snarled up in several sets of roadworks.
• Transport: Flirting drivers can be a road hazardFlirting motorists are being driven to distraction by attractive road users, a survey showed today.
• Transport: Poor roads 'cost economy £4.1bn a year'Badly maintained roads are costing the economy £4.1 billion a year, according to a survey today.

Blackpool Gazette

• Jet2: We're not leaving BlackpoolBUDGET airline Jet2 today pledged its future to Blackpool Airport in the wake of claims it could quit the Fylde coast.

Other Regional Press

• County's top speed hot spots revealed OXFORDSHIRE™S busiest speed cameras have finally been revealed.
• 'Give us bigger buses' PASSENGERS are calling on double deckers to be introduced on a popular city route to stop passengers being left stranded at bus stops.
• Eurostar deal goes to courtEurostar is being taken to the High Court after awarding a £500 million order for new high speed trains.
• Are grounded airport plans set to take off again?A Kent Tory MP reacted with fury today to London Mayor Boris Johnson's plans for an international airport on the Hoo Peninsula.
• Question mark over third city transport linkA third major transport system for Glasgow has stalled.

Forbes

• Nissan Leaf 2011 Production Begins In JapanThe electric car is being manufactured in an auto plant in Oppama, Japan.

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• Call for greater funding to prompt public transport shiftEncouraging people to ditch their cars in favour of public transport requires more investment than is currently being put into the network.This is the assertion made by the policy manager of Sustrans, who suggested that current funding is "not sufficient" for people to make the switch.However, Jason Torrance welcomed the "excellent news" that the government has allocated £15 million in funding to 14 companies and local authorities for the purchase of low-carbon buses.The sustainable transport charity representative declared: "We are seeing...

Aviation Industry

• Austrian government introduces new passenger ˜eco-tax™ The Austrian government announced it will create a so-called
• Japan, US move step closer to open skies implementationJapan and the US officially signed an MOU on Monday setting the stage for implementation of the
• Striking cabin crew regain limited travel perksBritish Airways (BA) cabin crew who took part in strike action will be given back their full travel perks, but only after a two-and-a-half-year punishment period. As of last week, crew could again buy reduced price and stand-by tickets, but they will be at the back of the queue for spare seats until 2013. A BA spokesman said seniority has been “revised so that they are effectively a new joiner to the company”. This means that, for staff travel, all records of Unite members who went on strike now show they joined after October 21. read more
• Ferrovial to sell 10% stake in BAAFerrovial has announced plans to sell off part of its stake in UK airport operator and owner BAA. The debt-ridden Spanish company, which currently indirectly owns 55.87% of BAA, released a statement outlining its plans for a “possible sale” of at least 10%. Ferrovial said: “Initially, the proposed transaction is to divest 10% of the equity in FGP Topco, parent company of BAA.” Britannia Airport Partners LP owns 26.48% and Singapore’s GIC owns 17.65%. read more

Green Miscellany

• Bicycle frames spell owner™s name to thwart bike thieves Juri Zaech bends bicycle frames to spell out the owner™s name, a concept he calls ˜Write a Bike™. The cycles are not yet available to buy as Juri has yet to build a fully-operational bike with brakes or pedals, but a bicycle that spells the owner™s sounds like a perfect way to thwart thieves. read more

Other News Sources

• Virgin will not compete with rival Eurostar VIRGIN Trains has denied suggestions it may launch rival services against Eurostar on the new high-speed line from London to continental Europe.
• Huddersfield Railway Station clock put back a week early EVERY train arriving at Huddersfield will be at least an hour late this week – if the railway station clock is to be believed.
• Cameron singles out transport in growth plans LONDON (SHARECAST) - David Cameron insisted he knows where the UK’s economic growth is to come from as he delivered his first major speech since last week’s comprehensive spending review.
• Boris Johnson: fares package presentation skills [blog]Boris's announcement of his new public transport fares package contrasted sharply with what happened this time last year. The package for 2010 was unveiled in style at a dedicated event at a London Underground depot in Haringey.
• RHA: Transport Sec calls in to RHA Weybridge office The Road Haulage Association was pleased that the local MP took time to call into the RHA's Weybridge office last week; especially as that MP is the Secretary State for Transport, Philip Hammond.
• Pressure mounts in Lichfield fight against HS2 rail link Lichfield City Council is to continue to fight the proposed HS2 high-speed rail line which could pass through the district.
• HS2 Rail Lobby At Westminster A Resounding Success Andrea Leadsom MP for South Northamptonshire’s High Speed Lobby Day today in the Houses of Parliament was attended by both Theresa Villiers, Minister of State for Transport and Philip Hammond, the Secretary of State for Transport.
• Better railway could be on the cards for Cambridge to King’s Cross A better railway on the line between Cambridge and King’s Cross is a significant step closer, after the Secretary of State for Transport confirmed he ’is minded’ to give approval for a flyover to the north of Hitchin station in Hertfordshire.
• A453 widening and rail electrification critical to Nottingham's future, warns Experian boss John Peace John Peace, one of the country's top business leaders, says Nottingham must secure its economic future by dualling the A453 and ensuring early electrification of the Midland mainline to London.
• National Infrastructure Plan launchedThe government has launched the UK's first ever national infrastructure plan.
• Call for honesty over Thames airport plansThe leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group has called for
• Aerial tramway comes to ManhattanAn aerial tramway is nearing completion in New York City, linking Roosevelt Island to Manhattan. The French firm POMA is responsible for the installation.
• News from Caroline Pidgeon - Thames Estuary airport secrecy must end 24 October 2010 Caroline Pidgeon, leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, commenting on speculation that the Deputy Chair of Transport for London Daniel Moylan has been asked to examine proposals for an airport on the Hoo peninsula, near to Gravesend in Kent, by the Mayor of London, said: 360-house-thumb.jpg Yes
• ATK developing lightweight CMC exhaust nozzles ATK has received a contract from Boeing to develop prototype lightweight, lower noise ceramic matrix composite jet engine exhaust nozzles for the air transport...