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

Friday, 31 December 2010

Cogitamus

• A note from the Transportinfo teamWe will be taking a little break over the new year holiday, as such, TransportInfo will not be updated 1 January 2011. A lighter offering will be published on 2 & 3 of January 2011, with normal service resuming on 4 January 2011.

BBC News

• Foreign drivers 'escaping millions in parking fines' Millions of pounds in parking fines have been written off by councils over the last two years because they could not trace drivers of foreign-registered vehicles, figures show.
• Rail commuter costs 'pass £5,000'The cost of some annual season tickets will exceed £5,000 for the first time when prices go up on Sunday, the Campaign for Better Transport says.
• Londoners warned over fare hikeLondon commuters face a
• Business chiefs among new knightsThe chairman of British Airways, Martin Broughton, is among business leaders receiving knighthoods in the New Year Honours List.

Financial Times

• BA battle hardened after year of challengesIt may not have appeared so at times, but the airline has had a better year than many had forecast 12 months ago

The Herald

• Crisis-hit trams in new blowGovernment funding for Edinburgh™s crisis-hit tram project is expected to be reviewed in the new year amid plans to truncate the 11-mile route to save money.

The Scotsman

• Rail season tickets 'to hit £5,000'Rail fare rises mean some commuters will have to pay more than £5,000 for season tickets from Sunday, the Campaign for Better Transport (CBT) said.

The Telegraph

• Rail season tickets burst the £5,000 a year barrierThe cost of commuting to work in the South East is to pass £5,000 a year for the first time from Sunday, as sharp season ticket hikes come into force.
• Rail passengers hit by engineering delays The journeys of more than 50,000 London commuters was thrown into disarray after Network Rail failed to complete an engineering scheme on time.

The Sun

• Diesel to hit £1.32 a litre, say the AA WARNING of price rise in the New Year as a result of VAT hike and increase in fuel duty

Derby Telegraph

• Council pledges to help keep rail firms runningDERBY City Council has pledged its support for rail companies on a business park put up for sale by the Government. Rail firms at the Railway Technical Centre Business Park, in London Road, Derby, are fearing for their future after the 28-acre site was put on the market with a price tag of £16 million. The business park is also home to a number of specialist rolling stock engineering companies. The firms rely on the RTC's unique infrastructure, which includes workshops, a yard and a link to the national rail network, to function. Derby and Derbyshire Rail Forum, which represents rail businesse...

Journal Live

• Ashington railway plan still inching forwards LONG running plans to restore passenger train services to some of Northumberland’s biggest towns remain on track despite few obvious signs of progress in the past year, it is claimed.

Liverpool Echo

• Snow and ice damage to Merseyrail system blamed for ongoing disruption MERSEYRAIL today blamed snow and ice for damaging up to one-third of its trains and causing continued disruption to services.

Liverpool Post

• Freshfield train station partly closed during £1.1m makeover A TOWN train station will be partially closed while a £1.1m scheme to modernise it is carried out.
• Merseyrail blame power system for train disruption MERSEYRAIL last night blamed their train power system for continued disruption to services, describing it as “the worst system to have in snow and ice”.

London Evening Standard

• Rail season tickets 'to hit £5,000'Rail fare rises mean some commuters will have to pay more than £5,000 for season tickets from Sunday, the Campaign for Better Transport (CBT) said.

Manchester Evening News

• The great escape: 100,000 jet out of Manchester Airport for New Year More than 100,000 passengers will pass through Manchester Airport for New Year, making the exodus even bigger than last year™s ˜great escape™.

Sheffield Star

• Bus lights to be axed after long campaignBUS priority traffic lights installed as part of a failed £4 million traffic management project are being removed in the New Year after complaints from residents and road user

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• Bus mechanic ˜serious™ after being crushedA mechanic crushed under a bus in Aberdeen remained in a serious condition in hospital last night.

The York Press

• Months of road misery on the way for York motorists A MISERABLE start to the New Year is in store for motorists in York following news that two major city centre roads are to be closed to traffic, one of them until Easter.

Bucks Free Press

• Potholes the focus after Big Freeze thawPOTHOLES are now the focus of the county's road repair teams after the snow and ice melted away following the Big Freeze.

Other Regional Press

• UK & World News: Rail season tickets 'to hit £5,000' Rail fare rises mean some commuters will have to pay more than £5,000 for season tickets from Sunday, the Campaign for Better Transport (CBT) said.

Transport for London

• Reminder that new fares for all TfL services will come into effect from Sunday 2 January 2011Fares increase kept to the minimum needed to protect transport investment and frontline services. All free and concessionary fares protected in full.

Aviation Industry

• Pressure group says American Airlines' sales claim "masks reality"US-based Business Travel Coalition says American Airlines' is hiding the impact of commericial disputes by announcing a rise in year-on-year sales
• Air traffic fully recoveredThe level of international air travel is now 4% above the pre-recession peak of early 2008, according to the latest figures from the International Air Transport Association (IATA)
• Glasgow airport to upgrade food experienceGlasgow airport is spending £1.5 million on a new landside food hall and café bar

Other News Sources

• Hitachi, MHI partner on Thai railway bidHitachi Ltd. and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. will jointly bid next month for a contract to build an elevated railroad in Bangkok, it has been learned.
• MISC reduced port rotation MISC Bhd has reduced both the port rotation and capacity of its Malaysia-East Asia service (MES), after one of the four 1,725-TEU containerships used on the service was removed earlier in December. Port of calls at Manila, Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya and Shanghai have been removed from the port rotation, and the service now turns back at Ningbo, reports Paris-based newsletter Alphaliner. It said the port rotation for the amended MES service is: Singapore, Port Kelang (Northport & Westport), Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City, Ningbo, Yantian, Laem Chabang, Singapore. Alphaliner said MISC
• Rail fares jump by up to 46% in New YearRail passengers are being hit with 'astronomical' fare-rises of up to 46% this weekend - despite almost a third of trains running late on some lines

Other Subscription Services

• COSCO Shipping plans $323m rights issueNew funds will go towards paying for 20 specialised vessels