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

Wednesday, 06 July 2011

BBC News

• First Hull Trains service to London suspended A train operator has cancelled all services running from Hull to London due to problems with carriages.
• Money awarded for Shropshire councils' transport plans Two councils in Shropshire are to receive government money totalling about £8.5m to encourage people to leave their cars at home .
• AUDIO: Bombardier 'already planned job cuts'Anthony Bartram and Transport Secretary Philip Hammond looks at why Canadian train maker Bombardier has announced it will cut up to 2,000 jobs at its Derby plant.
• AUDIO: Government 'cannot look again' at contractTransport Secretary Philip Hammond has said that the
• Mercedes-Benz posts record salesMercedes-Benz reports its best half-year sales on record, thanks in large part to strong demand from China and emerging economies.

Department for Transport

• Transport boost of over £150M to create growth and cut carbonTransport schemes across England, designed to boost economic growth and reduce carbon emissions, were given the go ahead today thanks to £155 million of Government investment.

Financial Times

• EU rule bending would hurt taxpayers, government toldAmid controversy over the award of a British train order to Siemens the European Commission said it was
• Bombardier announces UK lay-offs Threat to nearly half of workforce comes after group lost out on Thameslink contract to Siemens and Inter City Express deal to Hitachi

The Guardian

• Bombardier: end of the line for railway works [Christian Wolmar]By awarding the Thameslink contract to a German firm, the government has delivered a mortal blow to Britain's train industry
• Bombardier: 1,400 Derby jobs are gone four months after PM's pledge to help Last remaining train maker in UK halves its workforce and calls on government for rethink after losing £3bn contract
• Bombardier cuts 1,400 jobs after German rival wins Thameslink contract Bombardier is to cut more than 1,400 jobs at the UK's last remaining train manufacturing plant, in Derby, after losing a £3bn government contract to a German rival.
• Could you handle five hours on the train and in the saddle every day? You'll need patience, forebearance and and the ability to change your clothes in the street, but cyclo-railing can and does work

The Herald

• ’Made in Britain’ boast rings hollow The decision by the Coalition Government to award a contract for 1200 Thameslink railway carriages to Siemens in Germany, instead of the Bombardier factory in Derby, resulting in the loss of more than 1400 jobs, could end Britain’s capability to build trains.

The Independent

• Hamish McRae: Derby and Plymouth – a tale of two cities Let's start with a tale of two cities. They are almost exactly the same size – a quarter of a million people – but whereas one has been doing pretty well in economic terms, the other has been finding it quite tough.
• Leading article: Uncomfortable home truths Yesterday's announcement from Bombardier of 1,400 job losses at its Derby plant follows the train manufacturer's unsuccessful bid for the £1.4bn Thameslink contract.
• Anger as Bombardier unveils 1,400 job cuts Unions and opposition politicians yesterday called on the Government to give national interests higher priority after Britain's last train maker blamed missing out on a state contract for its decision to cut more than 1,400 jobs.

The Scotsman

• Foreign cash may bail out trams EDINBURGH council chiefs have claimed that finance from overseas firms could be a possible "funding avenue" for completing the route of the Scottish capital's troubled trams project.

The Telegraph

• Bombardier job cuts: 'other countries better at keeping work at home' Business Secretary Vince Cable says that the Government must do better at keeping manufacturing orders within the country after 1,400 jobs were lost at Bombardier.
• A setback, yes, but Britain is still in business British industry has taken a blow with this week’s news from Bombardier in Derby. But it would be wrong to see signs of a wider downturn, says Alistair Osborne.
• Britain's last train making company Bombardier announces 1,400 job cuts More than 1,400 jobs are to be lost at Britain's last train making company, Bombardier.

The Mirror

• Fears for Bombardier as 1,400 train builders axed BRITAIN’S last train maker slashed 1,429 jobs yesterday – sparking fears the firm could hit the buffers. Troubled Bombardier’s main contracts run out in two years.
• Ryanair chief Michael O'Leary on business, fortune and family HE’S the business world’s answer to Marmite... the boss you love or hate.

The Sun

• Train stops here, Bombardier 1,429 jobs axed at last UK factory

ATOC

• Passengers benefit from £150m investment in train stationsA multi-million pound project that has seen major improvements made to train stations across England and Wales is being celebrated this week....

Network Rail

• 93% SUPPORT LONDON BRIDGE TRANSFORMATION AS PLANNING APPLICATION IS SUBMITTED
• TOM KELLY TO JOIN NETWORK RAIL AS COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR

Belfast Telegraph

• Powerteam secures £900k Bombardier contract A Belfast-based electrical engineering and construction company has won a contract to supply equipment at Bombardier's new manufacturing facility for aeroplane wings. Related Stories£1.8m fall in cost to taxpayer of supporting the monarchyDown man who scored big in business fieldBusiness Soapbox: Ann McGregorBusiness Soapbox: Ralph McGuickenFirm and college help students get fitted out for future

Derby Telegraph

• It's Auf Wiedersehen Pet all over again - plus full round up of Bombardier news, reaction and analysis REDUNDANT railmen in Derby are being targeted to work in Germany on a UK government contract awarded to Siemens instead of to city train-maker Bombardier.
• UPDATED: More than 1,400 jobs to go at Bombardier More than 980 agency workers and 446 permanent staff are to lose their jobs at Derby train-maker Bombardier, it was announced today.

London Evening Standard

• Ken Livingstone: Capital's roads face shutdownKen Livingstone today called on Boris Johnson to "take a tighter grip of the transport plans" for the Olympics.
• Hydrogen bus fire forces fleet out of serviceUrgent modifications are being made to Boris Johnson's flagship fleet of hydrogen buses after one of the vehicles caught fire.

Metro

• Bombardier cutting 1,400 jobs after Thameslink contract snubDerby-based rail transport manufacturer Bombardier has announced it is cutting more than 1,400 jobs after missing out on the £1.4billion Thameslink maintenance contract to German rival Siemens AG.

Bucks Free Press

• Boris Johnson asked to High Speed 2 protestBORIS JOHNSON, the London Mayor, is the latest high profile politician who has been asked to attend a High Speed 2 protest on Sunday.

Other Regional Press

• New buses launched but Stagecoach boss can't promise new Ninewells Hospital services Not every town and village in Angus can expect a direct connection to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, a bus boss has said.

Global Rail News

• UK™s last train manufacturer ˜has reached crisis point™Unite, Britain’s biggest union, has warned the Tory-led Government that the situation at Bombardier ‘has reached crisis point’ – the coalition must ‘now act decisively to ...
• Bombardier job loss ˜scandal™ signals ˜deep-rooted™ problemsFollowing this morning’s announcement by Bombardier that they are to lay off 1,400 workers from their facility in Derby, RMT General Secretary Bob Crow has called ...
• Bombardier to cut 1,400 jobs at Derby siteTrain manufacturer Bombardier has said it will cut over 1,400 jobs at its site in Derby after missing out on the £1.4bn Thameslink contract. The government ...
• Bombardier Transportation announces proposed downsizing at its Derby facilityBombardier Transportation today announced that it will initiate a 90 day statutory consultation process to downsize and adjust capacity at its train manufacturing facility in Derby. ...
• DfT agrees to replace ˜ghost™ bus with rail serviceThe Department for Transport (DfT) has agreed that the weekly bus service that is currently running between Ealing Broadway, Kensington Olympia and Wandsworth will be replaced ...
• c2c™s award-winning Tony Smith retiresNational Express train operator c2c™s award-winning Fleet Manager Tony Smith has retired after completing 36 years service in the rail industry. Since 2001, he has been ...
• 93% support London Bridge station transformationThe transformation of London Bridge station has come closer with the submission of a planning application to London Borough of Southwark showing nine out of ten ...
• Rail photography contest supported by Network RailRail and photography enthusiastics have less than two weeks to enter their best images of the British rail network in the ‘Take a view – Landscape ...
• Rail Minister Theresa Villiers to mark £150m investment in stationsA multi-million pound project that has seen major improvements made to train stations across England and Wales is being celebrated this week. Minister of State for ...
• DHL helps generate £2.9m of savings for Network RailWith the support of DHL Supply Chain, Network Rail has achieved £2.9m of savings through its Road Haulage Planning Centre in its first year of operation. ...
• DB Schenker Rail named ˜Most Sustainable Transporter™International Produce Limited (IPL), a logistics supplier to WALMART, has named DB Schenker Rail UK as their Most Sustainable Transporter. DB Schenker Rail UK won the ...
• £600m bond secured for Crossrail projectIn a deal that will save London™s business rate payers some £65 million Mayor of London, Boris Johnson announced that the Greater London Authority (GLA) had ...
• Tom Kelly to join Network Rail as Communications DirectorTom Kelly, ex BBC journalist, Prime Minister’s spokesman, communications director for BAA and current communications director for the Financial Services Authority, is to join Network Rail. ...
• Transport boost of over £150M to create growth and cut carbonTransport schemes across England, designed to boost economic growth and reduce carbon emissions, were given the go ahead today thanks to £155 million of Government investment. ...
• Councillors vote to continue with Edinburgh tram projectOn 30 June, Councillors voted in favour of continuing with Edinburgh’s Tram project, rejecting calls for a referendum on its future. The decision to build the ...

Railnews

• 'We had no choice' over Thameslink order—Hammond The transport secretary Philip Hammond is defending his department's decision to award a £1.5 billion rolling stock order to Siemens, rather than Derby-based Bombardier. Bombardier, which is the last train builder in Britain, has announced job losses today.

Other News Sources

• Derby’s demise another step in U.K.’s fall from industrialized ranksKevin Thomas, a 46-year-old engineer on Bombardier Inc.’s (BBD.B-T6.80-0.11-1.59%) subway car assembly line, came to work at 6 a.m. Tuesday and was herded into a meeting hall at Britain’s oldest train factory. He and his colleagues all knew what was coming, but the news – the elimination of almost 1,500 of the factory’s 3,000 jobs – still hurt.
• South West Trains pioneers new “track-friendly” technology South West Trains has worked with Siemens and Network Rail to pioneer new wheel technology to significantly reduce track damage and cut infrastructure maintenance costs whilst preserving good ride quality for passenger.