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

Monday, 05 September 2011

BBC News

• New system hopes to reduce Oyster Card overcharging Passengers in London who occasionally forget to touch out their Oyster Card may not be charged the maximum fare, under a new system.
• Liverpool underground stations get £40m overhaul Liverpool's five underground stations are to get a £40m overhaul in the next few years, it has been announced.
• London bus check website testedA new website allowing passengers in London to find out how long their bus will take to arrive is being tested.
• Toyota in hybrid shift to ChinaToyota plans to manufacture key components for its hybrid cars outside Japan for the first time, as it seeks to boost sales.

Financial Times

• Chiltern launches high-speed rail linkTransport operator's £250m refurbishment of its Mainline service wipes 28 minutes off the fastest trains that connect London and Birmingham
• Idling oil tankers expose fleet imbalanceWorld's shipowners face protracted slump as growth in the world tanker fleet far outstrips projected growth in oil consumption
• Big oil tanker groups vulnerable, warn bossesRates paid to charter ships have plummeted because of oversupply and executives believe insolvency looms for at least one leading operator

The Guardian

• Heathrow trials privacy-friendly bodyscanners Millimetre-wave scanners that replace graphic body images with cartoons mean that airports could dispense with metal detectors
• Siemens on track to take £1bn Crossrail contract to Germany German group that took contract to build Thameslink trains is on Crossrail shortlist despite preference for UK bid

The Telegraph

• 'We're not the bad guys,' says Siemens UK boss Andreas Goss Andreas Goss is feeling a little burnt. He's got the look of a man who's done too much fire fighting in recent months and isn't terribly happy about it. Rarely can winning £1.5bn contracts have been quite so troublesome.

Press Association

• Rail firm launches faster services A train company has started new, faster services between the UK's two biggest cities. Called Mainline, the new service by Chiltern Railways reduces the fastest journey times between London and Birmingham to just 90 minutes thanks to an engineering upgrade.
• Groups to protest over train deal Workers, union officials and councillors will travel to London this week to stage a series of protests against the Government's controversial decision to award a lucrative train-building contract to German firm Siemens.

The Mirror

• 10,000 jobs derailed by Bombardier betrayal around 10,000 workers from supply firms across the country could be axed if Britain’s last train maker Bombardier shuts.
• Groups to protest over train deal Workers, union officials and councillors will travel to London this week to stage a series of protests against the Government's controversial decision to award a lucrative train-building contract to German firm Siemens.

Derby Telegraph

• DfT defends £1.4bn rail deal after flood of lettersA BOMBARDMENT of letters and e-mails urging the Government to review the Thameslink rail contract has forced the Department for Transport to issue a blanket statement defending its decision.
• This campaign will not fade away, vow unions UNION leaders say the campaign to save jobs at Bombardier is not going to "fade away" as they prepare to take their fight to London.
• Soapbox Ernest Redfern: It's the Government we should sack after plethora of Thameslink excusesMINISTERS and the Department of Transport have tried unsuccessfully to convince us that they cannot go against EU rules of procurement regarding the Thameslink contract.
• Derby Telegraph commented Battle to save rail jobs 'very much alive' as big-hitters...MORE than 200 people turned out last night for a public meeting in support of Bombardier, at which they were told that the fight to save city rail jobs was very much alive.
• Derby Telegraph commented Airport's automated passport control growing in popularityTHOUSANDS more passengers are choosing to use state-of-the-art facial recognition gates at East Midlands Airport's border control.
• Derby Telegraph commented Call to MPs to put party politics aside and join Bombardier ...A DERBY MP has written to hundreds of his colleagues in Westminster calling on them to unite in the fight to save the UK's rail industry.

London Evening Standard

• Groups to protest over train dealWorkers, union officials and councillors will travel to London this week to stage a series of protests against the Government's controversial decision to award a lucrative train-building contract to German firm Siemens.

Manchester Evening News

• West Didsbury homeowners up in arms over Metrolink noise Homeowners campaigning for a fence to be built to act as a sound-barrier when trams start running past their street say they are being ignored.

Wales Online

• £500m rail scheme linking Wales to Heathrow unveiled PLANS for a £500m rail scheme linking Wales directly to Heathrow airport are being drawn up by the UK Government.

Yorkshire Post

• City-wide 20mph speed limits move closer with new strategy TRANSPORT chiefs in Sheffield are moving ahead with plans to cut the speed limit from 30mph to 20mph in certain areas of the city.
• Race is on to find cash for tunnelsLEEDS Council is in a race against time to raise millions of pounds to repair crumbling city centre road tunnels which carry up to 80,000 vehicles a day.

Other Regional Press

• End of discounts for elderly and disabled coach travellers THOUSANDS of elderly and disabled coach travellers will be hit when half-price fares are scrapped in November.

The Business Desk

• Bus operator Rotala primed for growth BUS and coach operator Rotala is targeting growth with the sustained development of its new acquisition and an upgrade to its fleet.

Other News Sources

• Bendy buses gone from London ’by end of year’ Bendy buses will disappear completely from the capital in a “matter of months”, says Transport for London.
• London firms want better transport LONDON’S next mayor should boost transport, fight unions and spend our taxes here, say businesses.