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

Thursday, 13 October 2011

BBC News

• Bombardier workers lobby MPs over jobs Workers from a Derby train builder have lobbied MPs over job losses after the firm missed out on a £1.4bn contract.
• Philip Hammond on parking tickets and wheel clamping Transport Secretary Philip Hammond was challenged over parking law changes amid claims it would be easier for private landowners to "fine" millions of drivers each year.
• C Spencer to revamp Dalmarnock station for 2014 Games A developer has been appointed for the £11m overhaul of a train station which will help channel visitors to the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
• Numbers rise at Highland airportsAirports in the Highlands and Islands reported a 4.4% rise in passenger numbers last month, with Inverness leading the pack.
• TfL owed £9.6m in pollution finesTruck and bus operators rack up unpaid fines worth £9.6m over four years for failing to pay a pollution charge to enter London.
• Fancy dress robber 'uses railway'An armed robber who wears fancy dress disguises and targets bookmakers is thought to be using the railway network to travel around England to commit crimes.
• London Tube: Jubilee Line upgrade 'cost double estimate' An Underground line upgrade cost £721m, or two-and-a-half times the original estimate, it is revealed.

Financial Times

• Pratt to buy Rolls-Royce out of ventureThe deal comes as both companies also agreed to form a new partnership to develop engine technology for future single-aisle aircraft

The Independent

• Jubilee line upgrade cost £721m An Underground line upgrade, part of the now defunct and bitterly opposed private partnership plan (PPP) for the Tube, ended up costing two and a half times more than originally planned, it was announced today.

The Telegraph

• Chargemaster plans £25m float Chargemaster, a manufacturer of electric vehicle charging points, is planning a £25m flotation in London.
• Taxpayers spend £400k a year to maintain French trains British taxpayers are spending up to £400,000 a year to help maintain French trains in the aftermath of a failed European transport project. The aborted rail scheme cost British taxpayers more than £180million but the Department for Transport continues to fund the failure.
• Relief from the worries of travel sickness Whether you’re the parent of a child who suffers from travel sickness, or a taxi driver used to transporting passengers who are slightly worse for wear, relief could now be within arm's reach.
• Ryanair's new controversial cost cutting plan: one toilet per aircraftRyanair, the budget airline, has been accused of taking its no-frills flying plans a

Press Association

• Train makers lobby MPs over deal Workers from the Bombardier factory faced with job losses have lobbied MPs in London as part of a campaign to persuade the Government to change its mind over the "disastrous" decision to award a lucrative train-building contract to a German firm.
• School transport policy 'outdated' Almost £7 million a year could be saved through changes to how children are transported to school, it has been claimed. Around a quarter of pupils use education board buses and Ulster Unionist education spokesman David McNarry said the existing policy was "out of date".

Daily Express

• FIGHT TO SAVE 1,400 TRAIN JOBS WORKERS at Britain’s last train makers yesterday vowed to keep on fighting to save their jobs.

Mail Online

• Ryanair toilet plan: Removing its on-board loos will provide six extra seatsBudget airline's boss Michael O'Leary (pictured) says such a move would lower air fares by five per cent. Decision raises the prospect of 200 people vying for access to just one toilet.
• Left-wing terror group blow up railway line in EIGHTEENTH attack in three daysLeftist terrorists struck again in Berlin today with the detonation of a firebomb on the main railway line at Spandau.

The Mirror

• Bombardier workers take their jobs fight to Westminster able in the Daily and Sunday Mirror until 11th August . Click here for more informationBOMBARDIER workers got support from both Labour AND Tory MPs when they took their jobs fight to Westminster.

Network Rail

• NETWORK RAIL AWARDS DALMARNOCK REDEVELOPMENT CONTRACTC Spencer Ltd to deliver main works as £11m* project to transform east end station gets underwayEuropean Regional Development Fund, SPT, Glasgow City Council and Clyde Gateway funding works ahead of Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games

Belfast Telegraph

• Proposed rapid transit routes named Three preferred rapid transit routes for Belfast have been unveiled. The east, west and Titanic Quarter will be linked with the city centre via dedicated bus lanes with streamlined ticketing services under the proposals.

Derby Telegraph

• Derby Telegraph commented Thameslink probe ruled out in 'huge blow' to jobs fightArticle

Journal Live

• Metro wins race against car driver for fastest commute to Newcastle city centreCOMMUTERS pitted public transport against the car in a Top Gear-inspired race across Tyneside.
• Newcastle Airport boss says merger could damage regionTRANSPORT chiefs last night criticised proposals to merge Heathrow and Gatwick as potentially damaging to the region.

London Evening Standard

• Minister says ditch Tube and walk to workPublic health minister Anne Milton has appealed to commuters to adopt healthier journeys to work - by ditching Tube journeys and walking instead
• Gatwick denies distorting queue timesGatwick bosses have clashed with a watchdog over claims that the airport tried to 'distort' security queue figures by rushing passengers through

Northern Echo

• Bus station™s bike lockers ˜unusable™ COUNCIL chiefs are back-pedalling rapidly, after it emerged bike lockers installed in a £500,000 bus station renovation are unusable.

Yorkshire Evening Post

• Leeds station closed by broken-down busA broken down bus caused Leeds bus station to be closed today, after the main access route was blocked.

Yorkshire Post

• Train builders lobby MPs over jobsWorkers from the Bombardier factory faced with job losses lobbied MPs yesterday as part of a campaign to persuade the Government to change its mind over the “disastrous” decision to award a train-building contract to a German firm.

Other Regional Press

• BA adds 20 flights to LondonBRITISH Airways is to put on an extra 20 flights a week between Glasgow and Heathrow.

Global Rail News

• Eurostar awards on-board WiFi contract to Nomad DigitalEurostar, the high speed rail service between UK and mainland Europe, has awarded NOMAD Digital Ltd, the specialist provider of connectivity solutions to the rail industry, ...
• Feasibility study submitted for 20km rail connection in AmsterdamThe M55 consortium led by Mott MacDonald and including Baca Architects has submitted a feasibility study on behalf of the operating company Werkmaatschappij Almere-Amsterdam (WAA). The ...
• Virgin Pendolino train named after Long Jumper Abigail IrozuruVirgin Trains has commemorated another prize winning athlete with the naming of Pendolino train 390007 after Long Jumper Abigail Irozuru. Virgin Trains has continued to highlight ...
• Rail industry unveils plans for the future of the railwayThe rail industry recently published its vision for how it can deliver better value for money and play a key role in driving sustainable economic growth ...
• Indian Railways plan to set up Station Authority bodyIn order to ‘gather revenue using existing station infrastructure’, Indian Railways is contemplating the idea of setting up a Station Authority of India along the lines ...
• Passenger Focus welcomes ˜Initial Industry Plans™Passenger Focus has welcomed the publication of the first all rail industry ˜Initial Industry Plans™“ the first step in working out what governments might buy and ...
• Plaque unveiled in memory of James KingA special tribute was made to ‘the voice of Scottish rail passengers’ at a poignant ceremony at North Berwick Station on Monday 10 October. A plaque ...
• Manufacturer selected for remaining Crossrail tunnel boring machinesThe remaining two tunnel boring machines (TBMs) required to construct Crossrail will be manufactured by Herrenknecht AG, Germany. The final two TBMs will dig Crossrail™s Thames ...
• Project to extend Russian-gauge railway to Vienna developsOn 29 September in Odessa, Ukraine at the Twentieth Plenary Session of the Coordinating Council on Trans-Siberian Transportation, the Supervisory Board held a four-way talk to ...
• ScotRail introduces more services in winter timetableScotRail is introducing more Inverness trains to – and from – Glasgow and Edinburgh. There will also be more services between Glasgow and Dundee – and more trains ...
• National Express gets on track to help the Railway ChildrenNational Express East Anglia (NXEA) is supporting the Railway Children charity with a donation following the company™s annual employee survey, where a contribution is made to ...
• Tata Projects and Balfour Beatty India sign Memorandum of UnderstandingTata Projects Ltd (TPL), the infrastructure Engineering and Construction arm of the Tata Group and Balfour Beatty plc™s newly-formed Indian subsidiary, Balfour Beatty India Pvt Ltd, ...
• Northern Rail wins top National Transport AwardNorthern scooped the top award at last week™s National Transport Awards, winning the accolade of Transport Operator of the Year 2011 in the Rail category. The ...
• Top award for Sandhills stationPassengers and staff alike are celebrating as Sandhills station has been named Station of the Year at the National Transport Awards 2011. Sandhills is one of ...
• Network Rail awards Dalmarnock redevelopment contractNetwork Rail has announced that C Spencer Ltd will construct the new, £11m Dalmarnock Station in Glasgow. The station is being redeveloped in time for the ...
• Footbridge lowered into place over Chorley railway crossingA pedestrian footbridge which passes over a stretch of Chorley railway where there have been several near misses with pedestrians using a foot crossing has been ...

Green Miscellany

• Branson backs new British biofuel Richard Branson has backed a new process devised by a British biochemist that ferments the carbon monoxide from steel mills to produce low-carbon jet fuel.read more
• New cars getting cleaner and cheaper The average new car sold in Europe last year was 4% more fuel efficient, emitted 4% less CO2 and was 2.5% cheaper in real terms than 12 months earlier.read more

Other News Sources

• News from Dee Doocey: Mayor needs to get a grip on transport challenges facing London during the Olympics 12 October, 2011 Dee Doocey, the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Olympic spokesperson, commenting on the Mayor™s response to her questions at today's Mayor Question Time about conflicting figures about transport journeys that will take place in the capital during the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games said: 360-house-thumb.jpg Yes read more