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

Saturday, 17 September 2011

BBC News

• Diversions to begin for tram workEdinburgh Council's leader said the capital
• UK 'set to miss' climate targetsUK greenhouse gas emissions will not fall quickly enough to meet national
• Lydd 'to take strain off Gatwick'Lydd Airport owners say their site could take the strain off the national airport system as a public inquiry into expansion plans draws to a close.
• Mercedes to help Nissan make luxury carsMercedes to help Nissan make luxury cars
• Classic cars rev up their investment credentialsThe big increase in investing in the expensive world of classic cars
• Doubt over Bombardier opportunityBombardier does not have the facilities at its Derby factory to carry out work it has been invited to bid for by the government, the BBC understands.
• Judge attacks car insurer's costsA judge strongly criticises the way a major motor insurer recovers the costs of repairing vehicles.

Financial Times

• Bombardier in fight for £200m orderHopes for the survival of the Derby factory were given a fillip when Southern, began the process of ordering 130 railway
• UPS sets ambitious growth targetsPackage delivery company lays out ambitious growth targets for the next five years even as executives say the global economic environment remains 'dicey'
• Stelios prompts turbulence for McCallThe entrepreneur has stepped down as an EasyJet director but his presence in the boardroom is still felt keenly, writes Mark Kleinman

The Herald

• Third time lucky as Princes Street ripped up once againTHE nine-month closure of Edinburgh™s Princes Street to re-lay tram tracks will finally get underway today.
• Work on hospital bus link may start in weeks WORK on a £40 million dedicated bus link connecting Glasgow to the newly developed Southern General Hospital could begin within weeks if given the go-ahead by the Scottish Government.

The Mirror

• Bombardier in running for a new contact BOMBARDIER is bidding for a lucrative rail contract that could save some of the 1,400 jobs lost when the Tory-led Coalition awarded a deal to a foreign firm.
• Tory MP begs David Cameron for more civil service jobs to make up for those set to go at Bombardier A TORY MP yesterday bizarrely begged David Cameron to create civil service jobs in Derby to make up for the 1,400 that will go at Bombardier after the Government gave a £1.4bn deal to a German firm.

The Sun

• Ryanair blast cash guru over charges RYANAIR tore into money guru Martin Lewis yesterday after he hammered a new fees wheeze – its own pre-paid Mastercard

Birmingham Post

• Time to fine bad drivers, say politicians Politicians charged with slashing inner-city congestion have called for council officials to be granted powers to fine drivers who flout the rules of the road.

Derby Telegraph

• Labour's deputy leader backs MP's bid to get Thameslink contract called backLABOUR Party deputy leader Harriet Harman has become the latest MP to back a parliamentary move in support of the campaign to get the Thameslink rail contract overturned.
• Derby Telegraph commented Hammond says Bombardier should bid for Crossrail contractTRANSPORT Secretary Philip Hammond has said that Bombardier should bid for the £1 billion Crossrail contract.

Manchester Evening News

• Anger as plans to re-route Manchester inner ring road through residential area are approvedManchester council bosses have approved a proposal to re-route the inner-ring road as part of the Co-op™s £800m NOMA masterplan, despite fears from residents that it will ruin  their quality of life.

The York Press

• Help for ex-Jarvis workers AN EMPLOYMENT workshop is being organised in York later this month to help Jarvis workers who lost their jobs when the business collapsed last year.

Bucks Free Press

• Anger at minister's "rich man's toy" rail claim TRANSPORT Secretary Philip Hammond has angered anti HS2 campaigners after telling MPs the cost of train travel is œeye wateringly expensive.

Other Regional Press

• Marsden Station safety petition handed to transport MP CAMPAIGNERS fighting for improved access and an upgrade to disabled facilities at Marsden station have gone to the top.
• Barriers go up at station to beat rail fare dodgersFare dodgers will have no escape when ticket barriers come into force at Glasgow™s biggest rail station.
• Aberdeen Airport boss™ fears for air tax revampAN ABERDEEN airport boss today backed a report which claimed an overhaul of passenger tax could hit tourism.
• Station ticket office to reduce opening hours?A BUSY railway station could have its ticket office opening hours reduced if the government follows advice to close nearly 700 ticket offices across the country.

Bus and Coach.com

• Cornwall plans county-wide tender reviewCornwall council has reviewed its proposal to cut the rate of reimbursement for concessionary bus pass holders.
• Flywheel hybrid ready for trialsThe Flybus consortium has completed the prototype installation of its flywheel hybrid drive in an Optare Solo.
• LibDem calls for all-electric LondonAll of London™s buses should be electrically-powered by 2020, according to Mike Tuffrey, the LibDem London Assembly environment spokesman.
• UK Bus Awards short-lists top operatorsThe short-list has been announced for the 2011 UK Bus Awards, containing 99 people, projects and organisations selected from more than 250 nominations.
• ADL hybrid fleet for EdinburghScotland™s biggest hybrid bus fleet “ and its first hybrid double-deckers “ took to the streets of Edinburgh this week with the launch by Lothian Buses of 15 ADL Enviro400Hs worth £5million.
• Age UK criticises London bus driversOlder and disabled people should be involved in bus driver training, according to Age UK London, in a study of people™s experiences of bus travel.
• Souter attacks Google œcensorship Stagecoach chief executive Brian Souter is claiming that his personal website is being blocked by Google.
• $200million US expansion for National ExNational Express has expanded its American school bus business with the $200million (£126million) acquisition of Petermann Partners.
• Battery bus goes into action at HeathrowThe first battery-electric bus at Heathrow Airport is being operated by Rotala subsidiary Flights Hallmark on a British Airways staff service linking Terminal 5 and the company™s headquarters at Waterside.

Global Rail News

• Southern launches competition for 130 new carriagesSouthern has today launched a competition to provide 130 new carriages to help meet capacity demand on its network. The company has issued a PQQ (Pre-Qualification ...
• TramForward ˜welcomes Scottish Government intervention™ in Edinburgh Tram projectTramForward has welcomed Scottish Ministers’ intervention in the project management of Edinburgh Tram. The Scottish Government and ‘all parties have shown a pragmatic approach to the management of ...
• ScotRail to provide more trains for Broughty FerryNine more trains will call daily at Broughty Ferry from Monday, 12 December, it was announced today. The new calls will improve local connections in the Dundee, ...
• First TransPennine Express ˜customers to benefit™ from new trainsFirst TransPennine Express has announced, along with London Midland, that a preferred supplier has been chosen for the manufacture and maintenance of new electric trains, which ...
• Amtrak completes rail track improvement works between Chicago & St LouisAmtrak has announced the completion of recent track improvement work between Chicago and St. Louis. The completion of this season™s upgrades to Union Pacific™s tracks means ...
• Automatic ticket gates at Glasgow Central StationAutomatic ticket gates are being installed at Glasgow Central High Level station. The gates will complete the so-called ˜ring of steel™ at stations in and around the city ...
• DB Schenker Rail UK wins three Rail Freight Group AwardsDB Schenker Rail UK won three major Rail Freight Group Awards presented in Oxford on the evening of Tuesday 13 September 2011. The Rail Freight Group ...
• British Transport Police issues on-the-spot fine warning to rail trespassersBritish Transport Police (BTP) is warning residents of a Rhondda community to put safety first and stay off the tracks “ or face an on-the-spot fine ...
• Mayor™s transport fare increase ˜unfair and unnecessary™London Assembly member, John Biggs, has described Mayor Boris Johnson’s latest public transport fare rises as ‘unfair and unnecessary’. The Mayor this week announced that fares ...
• London Midland wins National Rail award for use of social mediaLondon Midland™s innovative use of social media channel Twitter to communicate with customers has won the ’Putting Passengers First’ category at the 2011 National Rail Awards. ...

Aviation Industry

• Leave business travel out of ATOL reforms, says GTMCCurrent proposals are "flawed, in both content and timing, and will increase confusion"
• Finnair to continue Asian expansionFinnair hopes to double its revenue from Asian flights by 2020, the airline™s CEO has said

Other News Sources

• Singing Trainline advert out of tune, rules ASAA television advert featuring people singing and dancing on a train has been ruled misleading by the UK™s advertising watchdog