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

Friday, 27 May 2011

BBC News

• Barack Obama's 'The Beast' incurs £10 London C-charge The US government has been sent a London congestion charge bill for Barack Obama's convoy, including his limousine, nicknamed The Beast.
• £20m bid to speed up widening of congested A453 Nottinghamshire County Council said it has pledged £20m to encourage the government to bring forward the widening of the congested A453 route.
• First Capital Connect passengers stuck for three hours Hundreds of rush-hour passengers were stuck on a train for nearly three hours following electrical supply problems.
• VIDEO: Mayor curbs electric car targetsLondon Mayor has admitted he will not meet his promise of installing 7,500 charging points for electric cars.
• BAA chairman in knifepoint raidThe BAA chairman and his wife are robbed of £50,000 worth of jewellery during a knifepoint robbery at their central London home.
• London electric car scheme startsThe Mayor of London Boris Johnson launches a scheme that allows electric car users to charge their vehicles across the city.
• TfL rail fare rises 'underhand'Rail fares across London rise by up to 5% - without a public announcement being made.
• Weather cancels 70 Heathrow flightsThunderstorms and high winds cause the cancellation of 79 flights in and out of Heathrow.
• Strike on Heathrow Express trainsWorkers on the Heathrow Express rail link in London have begun a 48-hour strike over pay.
• 'Passenger brake' on French carsA BBC Watchdog investigation has found a
• Tata Motors boosted by Jaguar joyIndian carmaker Tata Motors reports a tripling of profits as its Jaguar Land Rover subsidiary sees a sharp turnaround.

The Guardian

• Air passenger data deal with US defended by Kenneth ClarkeAgreement will be 'crucial to improving security', says justice secretary, and personal information will be stored for 15 yearsThe justice secretary, Kenneth Clarke, has defended a joint American-European agreement to store the personal data, including credit card details, of millions of transatlantic air passengers for 15 years.Clarke said that despite strong concerns about civil liberties, the agreement to share passenger name records with the US department of homeland security was crucial to improving US and EU security.His data protection speech in Brussels on Thursday followed the Guardia...

The Independent

• French power link to run through Channel tunnel Eurotunnel has unveiled plans to run an electricity link through the Channel Tunnel as part of efforts to bolster UK power supplies. The proposed interconnector cable with France will help to smooth supply volatility relating to offshore wind power, meaning that energy generated from places where the wind is blowing can be shared around.

The Scotsman

• Storms cause Heathrow flights chaosAround 80 flights have been cancelled in and out of Heathrow as a result of bad weather.

The Telegraph

• P&O returns to the market with DP World Retail investors who rued the day P&O delisted from the UK stock market will have another chance to invest in the container terminals business with the $11bn (£6.1bn) listing in London of DP World.
• Insurers call for Government to end carnage among young drivers [blog]Road-traffic accidents cause about half of all preventable deaths among teenagers, according to the Office for National Statistics. Despite recent reductions in mortality rates for older drivers, car crashes continue to kill more young people aged between 15 and 24 than all fatalities from violent crime, suicides and drug overdoses put together.
• Eurotunnel to carry electricity from France to UK Electricity will flow between Britain and France alongside Eurostar trains, after the operator of the Channel Tunnel unveiled a €250m (£217m) plan to run a cable under the sea.

Mail Online

• BAA chairman and his wife held at knifepoint in their £7m home and robbed of jewellery worth £50,000Thieves stole more than £50,000 of jewellery when they targeted the home of Sir Nigel Rudd, 63, pictured, and his wife Lesley, 64 in Belgravia, London.
• Why happiest drivers are at the wheel of a Japanese carCars from Japan took seven of the top ten places for most satisfying models while Vauxhall and Ford languish around the bottom.

Network Rail

• WORK STARTS TO IMPROVE ACCESS AT DENMARK HILL STATION
• OVER 5m PASSENGERS EXPECTED TO TAKE THE TRAIN OVER THE BANK HOLIDAY WEEKEND

Belfast Telegraph

• Competition watchdog provisionally clears Stena acquisition Stena Line has moved a step closer in its bid to take over passenger and freight routes on the Irish Sea. Related StoriesOECD reduces growth forecast for UK againSales slump for consumer-based firmsCut in corporation tax ‘will create 58,000 jobs’Devolution of tax powers to Stormont could be less than a year awayLakeland resort named top hotel despite financial woes

Birmingham Mail

• West Midlands' motorway is "worst for holiday jams" MOTORISTS have been warned that a motorway outside Birmingham will be one of the most congested roads in the UK during the Bank Holiday rush-hour.

Birmingham Post

• HS2 backers expect fiercest opposition from Warwickshire residents Organisers of the Government’s planned high speed rail scheme say they expect to meet some of the fiercest opposition in rural Warwickshire.

Edinburgh Evening News

• Bill for tram peace talks hits £13,000 and risingLAST-ditch peace talks aimed at saving the tram project have so far cost the taxpayer almost £13,000, it has been revealed.

Northern Echo

• Firms hoping to reap rewards of rail deal Hundreds of companies from across the region will visit Newton Aycliffe today to examine the possibility of joining the Hitachi supply chain. Joe Willis speaks to four firms about their hopes.

Peterborough Telegraph

• Cycle theft surge causes alarmCYCLISTS are being urged to take extra security precautions following a rise in bike thefts.

Other Regional Press

• Rail minister checks up on Crossrail’s Canary Wharf site She came to East London to see the progress and witness the last of the soil being removed from the platform level 80ft below ground, where trains will run when London’s £17 billion ’super tube’ opens in 2018.
• Rail travellers welcome access for disabled DISABLED access will finally be provided at Morpeth Railway Station, but campaigners are concerned at the method used.
• UK & World News: Storms cause Heathrow flights chaos Around 80 flights have been cancelled in and out of Heathrow as a result of bad weather.
• The clouds have lifted at Glasgow Airport...Glasgow Airport emerged from the latest ash cloud crisis with renewed confidence after emergency planning saw it back in business within 24 hours.

Global Rail News

• Commissioning marks progress on ThameslinkOn Monday 25th April at 03:45 hrs, Invensys Rail successfully commissioned Stage 1A of the Thameslink project at Kentish Town, the last of the signalling enablement ...
• London Tramlink to run more trams in the eveningLondon Tramlink is increasing its weekday evening services on the Wimbledon to New Addington route that covers more than half the tram network. From 31 May ...
• Solving a rail bottleneck near Norton BridgeNetwork Rail has announced its preferred plan to solve one of the few remaining bottlenecks on the key rail line connecting London, Birmingham, Manchester and Scotland. ...
• Eurotunnel to develop electricity interconnector in Channel TunnelThe interconnector project created by Eurotunnel and STAR Capital will play an important role in developing European interconnector infrastructure between member states and will enable the ...
• National Rail Enquiries introduces updates by e-mail or TwitterRail passengers can now receive free updates by e-mail or Twitter about any delays or cancellations to their trains thanks to a new service being introduced ...
• Work starts to improve access at Denmark Hill stationMajor improvement works to create a step-free route between the entrance and all four platforms at Denmark Hill station starts next week. The project includes the ...
• First Crossrail station over-site development approvedPlans submitted by Crossrail and development partner Great Portland Estates for the first over-site development above a Crossrail station have been approved by Westminster City Council. ...
• Watchdog urges rail industry to use Reading works as ˜best practice guide™ for OlympicsPassenger Focus is urging the rail industry to use the Reading station improvement project as a ˜best practice™ guide for handling future works and in the ...
• GAP surges ahead with track laying on Northern Missing LinkQR National has begun laying railway track on the Northern Missing Link in Central Queensland, marking a pivotal milestone in its signature $1.1 billion Goonyella to ...
• Ash cloud boosts East Coast rail travelTrain operator East Coast ran two extra cross-border services last night as flights recovered from disruption caused by ash from an erupting Icelandic volcano. East Coast ...
• Rail freight growth expected in 2011Research from the Freight Transport Association (FTA) reveals a ˜patchy™ start to 2011 for transport operators, with activity levels varying considerably between industry sectors and from ...
• Union ˜raises strike-breaking safety fears™ over Heathrow ExpressThe RMT today raised ‘serious safety fears’ over a strike-breaking operation that Heathrow Express are attempting to put in place this weekend which they say, includes ...
• Virgin cancel rail route improvement work to transport air passengersAnglo-Scottish travellers considering their travel options in the event of potential air travel problems will benefit from the operation of through trains between London Euston and ...
• British Transport Police send message to cable thievesThere has been an increase recently in the number of incidents of theft and attempted theft of cable around Barrow and south Cumbria and BTP officers ...
• Lights! Camera! Action! at Birmingham Moor StreetChiltern Railways station Birmingham Moor Street provided a key location for a Birmingham based micro budget film tackling homelessness starring Patrick Baladi, David Sterne and David ...
• High Wycombe station™s transport interchange completeHigh Wycombe station™s much anticipated, newly created, transport interchange and additional 311 space car park are now open and were officially opened on Friday, 20th May. ...
• Over 5 million rail passengers expected over Bank HolidayMore than five million passengers are predicted to travel by train this weekend with many expected to head towards the UK™s seaside towns, race courses, sporting ...

Aviation Industry

• Easyjet unveils a new plane “ and it's orangeTo mark the 200th Airbus aircraft to join its fleet, Easyjet has painted it bright orange.

Other News Sources

• FTA transport operator survey reveals 'patchy' growth and optimism Research from the Freight Transport Association reveals a 'patchy' start to 2011 for transport operators, with activity levels varying considerably between industry sectors and from quarter to quarter. However, data from FTA's Quarterly Transport Activity Survey (QTAS) for April 2011 shows that there is an undercurrent of optimism in the second quarter of the year with road freight activity expected to increase across all sectors.
• Minister to address freight industry on greenhouse gas reduction challenge Mike Penning, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport, will be addressing the Freight Transport Association’s Logistics Carbon Reduction Conference next month regarding the contribution that the freight industry can make to national greenhouse gas reduction targets following his endorsement of the Logistics Carbon Reduction Scheme in April this year.
• Eco-friendly trains to be manufactured in UK Britain’s first train manufacturing plant to be built in decades will assemble high-speed trains that will better the sustainability and eco-friendliness of rolling stock in the UK, the company behind the facility said today.
• Higgins reveals Network Rail overhaul plan Major projects division could bid for role building High Speed 2 rail line Network Rail chief executive David Higgins has laid out detailed plans for an overhaul of the organisation, a week after a government-commissioned report demanded efficiency savings of up to £1bn a year from the rail sector.
• RMT demands that Scottish Government sticks by pledge of 'no compulsory redundancies' following last night's announcement to cut Gourock-Dunoon ferry serviceMARITIME UNION RMT today demanded an urgent assurance from the Scottish Government that they will abide by their election pledge of 'no compulsory redundancies' in Scotland's public services following the announcement last night that at least 16 jobs are under threat following the decision to axe the car service and restrict to passengers only on the Gourock-Dunoon route.
• RMT raises strike-breaking safety fears as Heathrow Express staff prepare to take action on FridayRAIL UNION RMT today raised serious safety fears over a strike-breaking operation that Heathrow Express are attempting to put in place this weekend which includes managers driving trains and taking on other safety critical roles with what the union believes is wholly inadequate training.