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

Tuesday, 14 December 2010

BBC News

• Lincoln bypass meeting leads to optimism A meeting with the government to discuss Lincoln's long-planned Eastern Bypass went well, according to officials.
• John Swinney to face snow chaos questions The Scottish government will face further questions over its handling of last week's severe weather which saw the country's busiest roads gridlocked.
• Plans to cut coastguard stations set to be confirmed Plans to reduce the number of coastguard stations around the UK from 19 to eight are expected to be confirmed by ministers later. The government says cutting the number of control centres will modernise the service and save money. The Department of Transport has agreed to cut spending by 15% over the next four years.
• Minister has Skye toll convictionThe new Scottish transport secretary was convicted of not paying the Skye bridge toll in the mid-1990s.
• Middle England anger high speed railSome Conservatives - and wealthy donors - are threatening to leave the party over the high speed plan.
• Tube drivers in Boxing Day strikeDrivers on the London Underground vote in favour of a walkout on Boxing Day in a row over pay.
• Airbus raises 20-year forecastEuropean aircraft-maker Airbus raises its 20-year forecast for plane demand and passenger traffic.
• Nine electric cars get subsidiesDetails are released of the first nine electric cars that will be eligible for grants of up to £5,000 in a government subsidy scheme.

Department for Transport

• Local Sustainable Transport Fund Local Sustainable Transport Fund Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Norman Baker): I wish to inform the House of the plans to publish next month detailed guidance on the operation of the Local Sustainable Transport Fund, for which £560 million has been set aside in the 4 year period to 2014-15. Coupled with the funding Local Authorities will receive through the Integrated Transport and Highways Maintenance Blocks, which I am announcing today, this represents almost £5 billion funding for small local transport schemes over the next four years.

Financial Times

• China's railways Amid the excitement it seems almost impertinent to ask whether China really needs all the future investment. There is a danger it may over-invest in infrastructure

The Guardian

• Cuts to council budgets increase likelihood of potholes With a £9.5bn backlog of repairs and a 15% cut in money for road maintenance, the ride is not looking smooth for motorists
• Tube drivers vote for Boxing Day strike Travel disruption expected on 26 December after Aslef union members back industrial action 9-1 in a row over pay
• Bob Crow: 'I couldn't care less if we had a million strikes' The RMT union boss talks about Marxism, globalisation and why he doesn't mind being unpopular

The Herald

• £300m rail line from Airdrie to Bathgate opensIt™s taken £300 million but finally the lost rail link connecting Airdrie to Bathgate has re-opened after a 54 year gap.
• Transport brief for war veteranA Falklands veteran has been handed the task of keeping Scotland moving throughout the winter, with the first major test of his abilities predicted by forecasters to be just days away.
• AA calls for new rules on the use of ˜L™ plate instructorsLearner drivers taught by trainee instructors have been failed in up to 27,000 extra tests in the past year and most pupils were un-aware their instructor was learning on the job, a survey has found.
• Snow halts Christmas deliveries to ScotlandThe new Transport Minister last night used his first statement in office to condemn moves by retailers to halt Christmas deliveries north of the Border.
• ˜Landmark™ plan to link up train station to shopping complexGlasgow™s Queen Street railway station is to undergo a major redevelopment, potentially linking it to the neighbouring Buchanan Galleries shopping centre.

The Scotsman

• Transport minister: 'We must be ready to respond' Keith Brown, the Scottish Government's new transport minister, has started work in his new role. Mr Brown joined finance secretary John Swinney to meet staff at Transport Scotland and also heard from rail industry representatives on their preparations for the expected return of cold weather.
• First grants for electric carsThe Government has announced the first nine electric cars for which drivers will be eligible for a 25% Whitehall-paid grant

The Telegraph

• Commuters hit by huge fare rise First Capital Connect has scrapped a special season tickets it offers to passengers who travel out of London every day.
• Tube strike Q and A The train drivers' union, ASLEF, has called a tube strike for Boxing Day, it is one of a number of disputes looming in the transport industry.
• Electric cars: the first nine cars to become eligible for eco-friendly car grants The first nine cars to become eligible for eco-friendly car grants.

Press Association

• Swinney to answer for snow debacle Scotland's Finance Secretary is expected to give evidence on the weather debacle which claimed the scalp of his former ministerial colleague Stewart Stevenson.

Daily Express

• Rail Fares Go Up By 14 Times InflationRAIL bosses were accused of “daylight robbery” yesterday after sneaking in fare rises of up to 46 per cent – 14 times the rate of inflation. The increase is being brought in by First Capital Connect (FCC) which earlier this year got £20million from the taxpayer to compensate for falling revenues.

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• Talks held on more railway carriages for district Talks are under way between the Government and Northern Rail to bring more carriages to the overcrowded Airedale and Wharfedale lines.

Liverpool Post

• Urgent Liverpool grit bin shipment delayed ... due to bad weather A SHIPMENT of grit bins, en route to Liverpool to help deal with the cold snap, has been delayed due to the bad weather.

London Evening Standard

• Key stretch of Tube lines to shut for a month in summerKey sections of the Circle and District lines are to be shut for a month next summer in an attempt to complete upgrade work.
• Rail passengers facing a 46% new year increase in faresCommuters face an increase in rail fares of more than 46 per cent in the new year
• Rail disputes threaten disruptionA series of rail disputes have erupted, threatening disruption to passengers over Christmas and leading to a fresh row over fare increases.

Metro

• Snow ˜will always be problem™ for railway says Southeastern bossKeeping trains running in the snow will ˜always be a problem™, one rail boss at Southeastern claimed on Monday.

Nottingham Evening Post

• Labour leader: 'Highways chief should resign'THE leader of Notts County Council's Labour group has called for the resignation of the highways cabinet member after

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• Residents are urged to back Cults to Pitfodels link roadCAMPAIGNERS calling for a link road between Cults and Pitfodels in Aberdeen have urged residents to write to the city council before the end of the week.

The York Press

• £8.6m new track for Holgate rail junction WORK on fitting an extra track to a bottleneck junction at one of York™s rail gateways is set to start next spring.
• York roads set for £2.4m resurfacing boost ROADS and footways across York could benefit from an estimated £2.4m of resurfacing and improvement works next year.

Wales Online

• Network director says high- speed link is off the rails MINISTERS have decided against electrifying the main railway line into South Wales, according to a senior director of Network Rail.

Chester Standard

• Huge car park plan for rail stationA LONG-awaited multi-storey car park is set to put an end to commuter chaos at Chester Railway Station.

Other Regional Press

• London train gets passengers West earlier and faster BUSINESS leaders have welcomed an improved train service between London and Exeter as a boost to the city's economy.
• Pershore MP asks about train servicePERSHORE’S MP Harriett Baldwin has this week asked the Department of Transport about its plans for an hourly train service between Malvern, Pershore and London.
• Tube drivers’ union votes for Boxing Day strike Tube drivers vote to strike on Boxing Day while Rail Maritime and Transport (RMT) union plans protest outside City Hall.
• Four days left to take part in Transport Plan consultationFriday is last chance to have your say on future of county's transport.
• Threat to buses and parking charge rises on way in Wiltshire Wiltshire councillors will discuss cuts in rural bus timetables and parking charge rises at a cabinet meeting tomorrow.
• All aboard as new capital rail link opensA new £300 million rail link carried commuters direct from Airdrie to Edinburgh today for the first time in 50 years.
• Anger as bus firm scraps Christmas Day servicesFamilies could be forced to change festive plans after Glasgow™s biggest bus operator scrapped services on Christmas Day and New Year™s Day.
• HS2 campaigners planning Warwick protest CAMPAIGNERS fighting plans for the HS2 high-speed rail line through Warwickshire will protest outside Shire Hall tomorrow as the county council meets to consider its position on the scheme.

Rail-News.com

• Bombardier Transportation Signs Agreement With Russian RailwaysBombardier announces new partnership in Russia with purchase of a stake in signalling equipment manufacturer Elteza
• Christmas and New Year services on Virgin TrainsVirgin Trains is reminding passengers to check times and book seats in plenty of time as services around the holiday period on all their routes are likely to be very busy
• No christmas break for gateway project as key bridge installedWhile people across the West Midlands are tucking into their Christmas dinners, the turkey will be on hold at Birmingham New Street as engineers working on the Gateway project use a huge crane to lift in a brand new section of bridge.
• Over 7 million journeys made on High Speed in a yearToday marks the first anniversary of the start of High Speed services which has continued to grow from week to week. There have been over 7.2 million journeys made on High Speed over the last year.

Railnews

• News: Airdrie-Bathgate opens, but transport minister resigns Trains have started to run on the reopened line between Airdrie and Bathgate, but the recent bad weather in Scotland has left its toll: three of the new stations are being served by rail replacement buses, and the Scottish transport minister has resigned.
• News: Domestic High Speed 'attracts 1m new passengers' The first anniversary of the launch of High Speed domestic services between London and Kent has been marked with news that the 225km/h trains have provided over a million journeys for passengers who had not used trains before.

Transport for London

• Four-week closure for improvement works on most delayed part of Circle and District lines during summer 2011Closure between 23 July and 23 August between High Street Kensington and Edgware Road.

Aviation Industry

• Branson to don air stewardess uniformRichard Branson has lost a bet with Air Asia boss Tony Fernandes, which means he must dress up as an air stewardess and serve passengers on a flight

Green Miscellany

• Dutch town bicycles: The next big thing? No one knows what type of bicycle will become the default choice for style conscious urban bikers when the craze for fixed gear bikes has run its course, but a good candidate would be the utilitarian Dutch bikes that have this week gone on sale in London. read more

Other News Sources

• RMT takes protest over attack on underground ticket offices to Boris Johnson's Mayor's Question TimeTUBE UNION RMT will be taking the protest over Boris Johnson's attack on underground ticket offices to City Hall this week with a demonstration at 9.30 am on Wednesday (15th December) to coincide with Mayor's Question Time.
• Regeneration in the newspapers: Labour questions case for high-speed railNews that the Labour Party is now questioning the economic case for high-speed rail and reports that attitudes towards the poor are hardening feature in today's newspaper round-up.
• Hapag-Lloyd Orders Four 13,200-TEU ShipsFollowing a record result in the first nine months of 2010 and its successful refinancing on the capital market, Hapag-Lloyd is again investing in future growth.
• £1m cut to rural bus services across Herefordshire THE future for œlifeline rural bus routes is in limbo this week with confirmation that at least £1million worth of service subsidies will be lost to the cuts.
• Royal Mail spends £20m recruiting more drivers to cope with snowRoyal Mail Group has recruited an extra 500 lorry drivers and 250 HGVs to lessen delivery problems caused by severe weather conditions.
• Goldstar Transport boosts pre-tax profit to £2.4mFelixstowe-based Goldstar Transport's pre-tax profit more than doubled to £2.4m during the 12 months to 31 July 2010, compared to £999,848 for the year ended 31 July 2009. Turnover at the container haulier also rose by 8.3% to £46.4m from £42.8m.
• BTM management restructureThe Business Travel Market has announced a management shuffle, which sees the departure of Mark Harris, who helped set up the show