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

Tuesday, 08 February 2011

BBC News

• Backing for Hartlepool Council £5.5m budget cut plan Budget cuts totalling £5.5m have been backed by Hartlepool Council's cabinet. The package includes reducing community and voluntary organisations' funding, and withdrawing the Dial-a-Ride door-to-door transport service.
• West End Tube stations to get major upgrades Tube and bus passengers have been warned to expect disruption over the next two months as two of the busiest underground stations are being rebuilt.
• Cable thefts delay rail servicesCable thieves delay and disrupt rail services in south Wales after two separate attacks at the weekend, say transport police.
• Pothole repairs boosted by £7mCouncils are promised £7m to fill potholes in Welsh roads after the winter damage caused by snow and ice.
• M25 scheme 'may have wasted £1bn'A project to widen two stretches of the UK's busiest motorway may have wasted £1bn of public money, MPs have said.

Department for Transport

• Government cuts red tape to allow Royal Wedding street parties to go aheadTransport Secretary Philip Hammond has announced today that he is cutting Whitehall red tape in order to make it easier for local communities to hold street parties to celebrate the Royal Wedding.

The Guardian

• After the WEZ: next questions please [blog]My recent piece on London road congestion for Comment is Free attracted plenty of boring and unpleasant trolls, as has long been been customary with anything that mentions Boris and Ken. It's depressing, but if people like wasting their own time it's their privilege - one provided for them by the Guardian free of charge, lest they forget. Among the very few comments worth responding to was this:
• Airlines warn Tories not to sell stake in air traffic control Seven leading carriers condemn government plans as 'highly damaging' for a key strategic asset

The Telegraph

• Britain's roads 'to get more dangerous' as eye tests made easier Britain's roads could get more dangerous because of a new EU proposal to make eyesight element of the driving test easier.

Reuters News

• Airlines oppose sale of air traffic control - reportLONDON (Reuters) - British airlines do not want the government to reduce its dominant stake in the country's air-traffic control system below 25 percent, the Observer said on Sunday.

Network Rail

• ESSEX STATIONS TO GET LONGER PLATFORMS
• RAIL INDUSTRY APPEALS FOR CABLE THEFT INFORMATION

Birmingham Mail

• Labour looking at ''options'' other than London and Birmingham high speed rail Labour looking at ''options'' other than high speed rail between London and Birmingham

Journal Live

• Family take cycle safety bid to MEPs THE family of a Northumberland woman killed by a heavy goods vehicle two years ago are to travel to the European parliament as part of their road safety campaign.

Liverpool Post

• European transport chief hails Liverpool John Lennon airport’s new air link with Brussels EASYJET celebrated the launch of its new Liverpool to Brussels route yesterday. The six-times-weekly service will link the city with the seat of the European Parliament, and North West MEP Brian Simpson joined Easyjet UK general manager Paul Simmons at Liverpool John Lennon airport to celebrate the inaugural flight.

London Evening Standard

• 'Wrong dust' on the line brings another day of chaos on the TubeThe 'wrong sort of dust' closed the busy Waterloo and City line today, as hundreds of thousands of commuters endured another day of misery on the Tube
• Bus chiefs not warned of blastsBus controllers were only told bombs had gone off on Tube trains after a fourth device detonated on a bus, the 7/7 inquest has heard.

Manchester Evening News

• Special branch: Metrolink bosses promise protection for trees during line clearingTransport chiefs have promised to safeguard protected trees while work to clear the new Metrolink line to Oldham is carried out. Workmen have begun clearing the route near Middleton Road and Manchester Street and along Oldham Way in the town. It is expected to take four weeks. Part of the line is set to open later this year.
• Bus passengers must wait unitl December to see if new schemes will go ahead Bus passengers must wait until the end of the year to find out whether two major transport schemes will get government approval. Ministers will decide in December whether to support or scupper Manchester™s £54m cross-city bus scheme and the £11.5m Rochdale bus station redevelopment.

Bucks Free Press

• Report: Scrap 'unaffordable' HS2HIGH Speed 2 is a œmulti-billion pound white elephant when we can least afford it and should be scrapped, a rail expert's report has concluded.

Peterborough Telegraph

• Fuel duty move isn™t enough for businessCHANCELLOR George Osborne needs to go beyond overriding April’s planned increase in fuel duty and do something that will alleviate some of the financial difficulties already being faced by business.

Other Regional Press

• Bus service for passengers on stricken Wrexham rail routeARRIVA Trains Wales is running a bus service for passengers travelling between Wrexham and Shrewsbury due to flooding on the tracks.
• MP Heald unveils Royston Express A TRAIN with a top speed of 100mph was named after Royston at a special ceremony. Last week, the 40-tonne Royston Express puffed into the town’s station where the machine was unveiled by North East Herts MP Oliver Heald in celebration of the expanded 12-carriage services on the Cambridge to King’s Cross line.
• Rail firms may face fines for running overcrowded trains Train companies could be fined for running overcrowded trains on commuter routes in a bid to ease passenger misery, the Western Morning News understands.
• Firm behind Eastleigh rail redevelopment, St Modwen, celebrates profit THE property company behind ambitious plans to rejuvenate Eastleigh’s railway works has recorded its first full-year profit in three years. St Modwen, which specialises in town centre redevelopment and bringing former industrial sites – such as the former Alstom works in Eastleigh – back to life, said the residential land market had started to recover.

Campaign for Better Transport

• DfT is too chicken to tell councils the truth7 February: Friday's announcement shows that the Government is running scared of telling councils that cuts to transport spending have killed off their road schemes. read more

Global Rail News

• National Express and Norwich North Lions team-up to recycle lost pairs of glassesNational Express East Anglia™s Norwich-based lost property team are helping people in the developing world see more clearly ...
• Big changes at London King™s CrossAs part of a multi-million pound programme of station improvements, Monday 7th February saw the introduction of a ...
• Round-the-clock work reopens rail line in time for commutersEngineers from Network Rail and its contractors worked round-the-clock at the weekend so commuters would be inconvenienced as ...
• Alstom to modernize PATCO™s entire metro fleet operated between Philadelphia and Southern New JerseyAlstom Transport has won in the U.S a contract worth €140 million ($194 million USD) to execute the ...

Aviation Industry

• Why do budget airlines behave badly? The factsWhy do they do it? The facts about budget airlines February 7, 2011 - 12:56PM 24 Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary. The budget carrier, Europe's biggest, is the most complained-about airline in the world by some margin.
• Airline Stocks: Airline stocks rise as oil prices easeAirline stocks gained ground Monday, reversing the previous session's losses as the benchmark price for oil eased along with political tensions in Egypt.
• Delta to add 'Economy Comfort' section on long-haul international flights by summer Delta Air Lines will introduce an œEconomy Comfort section on all its long-haul international flights this summer as part of its previously announced plan to invest more than $2 billion in enhanced global products, services and airport facilities through 2013.
• Top airline wines rewardedQantas has the best selection of business and first class wines, according to the results of a wine awards

Other News Sources

• NUMBER OF RECKLESS AND THREAT-POSING ACTIONS OF PASSENGERS ON THE INCREASE Since the beginning of the year, 7 passengers have already been reported to make a joke at the time of registration and security screening at Vilnius International Airport (VIA) that they...