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

Friday, 21 October 2011

BBC News

• Megabus offering bunk bed buses If you're a roadie, or you're in a minor rock band and you've been on tour, the chances are that you've been on a sleeper bus before. But if you aren't, the chances are, that you haven't.
• Dutch firm wins Anglia rail contract A Dutch company has won a contract to run rail services in East Anglia until 2014.
• Longer lorry trial for UK begins in Gloucester The first of a new type of extra-long lorry has taken to the UK's roads.
• Will HS2 link benefit the north?Opinion is divided over proposed benefits of the High Speed 2 rail link between London and the north.
• Tube drivers vote for new actionLondon Underground (LU) drivers vote for industrial action in a row over safety citing

Department for Transport

• Better services for East Anglian passengers under new franchiseRail passengers in East Anglia are on track for more comfortable and convenient journeys thanks to a range of measures to be introduced on the region's rail network, Rail Minister Theresa Villiers has announced today.
• Transport Statistics: Annual Bus Statistics 2010/11The Department for Transport has today published the following Transport Statistics:
• New guidance on the design on shared space streetsNew guidance to help local authorities design high-quality shared space schemes has been published today by Transport Minister Norman Baker.

Financial Times

• Air France-KLM needs an injection of fresh blood The boardroom coup was executed with a brutality rarely seen in French business
• Southwest Airlines posts third-quarter lossSouthwest Airlines announced an unexpected third-quarter loss on Thursday due to missed bets in its fuel hedging despite a solid operating performance
• Anglia rail franchise awarded to Abellio Division of Dutch state operator beats Go-Ahead and Stagecoach in coalition government's first award of franchise
• Foreign operators circle UK rail franchisesLonger deals could favour companies with bigger balance sheets than the country's transport groups and a longer-term view on generating returns

The Scotsman

• £7m more cuts on the way to pay tram debt Nearly £7 million more of cuts to council services will have to happen in the early years of the tram project than first expected in order to pay off the loan used to rescue the scheme.
• Stagecoach loses out to Dutch firm on rail deal Scottish transport group Stagecoach and FTSE 250 rival Go-Ahead Group have missed out on the Greater Anglia rail franchise, which the Westminster government has awarded to a Dutch firm.

Press Association

• EU pilots' fatigue rules criticised Proposed EU fatigue rules would effectively put UK pilots well over the legal alcohol limit for flying, pilots' union Balpa has told MPs.
• EU pilots' fatigue rules criticised Proposed EU fatigue rules would effectively put UK pilots well over the legal alcohol limit for flying, pilots' union Balpa has told MPs.
• Bus journeys on the rise in capital Journeys by bus are increasing in London but falling in the rest of Britain, Government figures show. Travellers made nearly 2.27 billion passenger journeys by bus in London in 2010/11 - up from a figure of just under 2.24 billion in 2009/10.

Daily Express

• PILOTS WARN OF EU SAFETY RISKSNEW EU rules on flying hours would be the equivalent of making pilots fly drunk, their union told MPs yesterday.
• Dutch firm wins Anglia rail franchiseTHE UK arm of Dutch state railway Nederlandse Spoor-wegen has beaten off challenges from UK rivals Stagecoach and Go-Ahead to win the new Greater Anglia rail franchise.

Mail Online

• Tired pilots could be flying plane 'drunk' under planned EU rules Airline pilots could be flying with levels of fatigue equivalent to five cans of lager if proposed EU rules come into effect, a union has claimed.

Daily Post (North Wales)

• North Wales velorail moves a step closerPLANS to re-open an abandoned railway for pedal powered trains are a step nearer after the first vehicle was delivered.

Derby Telegraph

• Minister dashes hopes as she tells MPs £1.4bn rail deal is 'in the past'NEW Transport Secretary Justine Greening last night dashed hopes that she may alter the coalition's stance on the Thameslink deal.
• Derby Telegraph commented I have taken fight to save Bombardier jobs to EUArticle

Yorkshire Post

• Villiers pledges better times for Leeds rail commutersRAIL Minister Theresa Villiers reassured West Yorkshire commuters that additional carriages will ease overcrowding on many routes by the end of the year.

Sunderland Echo

• Qashqai is best used carNISSAN’S Qashqai is Britian’s best second-hand car.

Other Regional Press

• New minister's airport views sought Mark Reckless has called on the new transport secretary to reaffirm the government's position on the idea of an airport in the Thames Estuary.
• New rail contractor Abellio promises improvements on Norwich to London lineTransport campaigners have pledged to maintain pressure on East Anglia’s new Dutch rail operator to honour its promises of improvements for the region’s train passenTransport campaigners have pledged to maintain pressure on East Anglia’s new Dutch rail operator to honour its promises of improvements for the region’s train passengers.
• Bus firms slammed over services in cityRESIDENTS in Glasgow™s East End have slammed poor bus services.
• New transport secretary vows to 'look at facts' before HS2 decisionTHE new transport secretary Justine Greening has said it is “impossible not to see the benefits HS2 could bring”.
• Rural bus users get a raw dealMORE than half of buses run by Central Bedfordshire Council were subsidised over the last financial year, it was revealed this week.

Global Rail News

• Railways welcome Commission proposal on Trans-European Transport NetworksThe European Commission has unveiled its proposals for the Trans-European Transport Network Guidelines and the related financial instrument, the Connecting Europe Facility.

Railnews

• 'Delighted' Abellio wins Greater Anglia franchise The international arm of Dutch Railways, Abellio, has won the new Greater Anglia franchise, beating off competing bids from Go-Ahead and Stagecoach. The present operator National Express had failed to be shortlisted.
• Elaine Holt to leave DfT for new 'senior' post Elaine Holt, who heads the Department for Transport's Directly Operated Railways subsidiary, is moving on to a new post in the railway industry within the next two or three months. Ms Holt has been in charge at DOR since 2009, the year in which newly-created DOR took over the running of Intercity East Coast from National Express.

Aviation Industry

• DfT consultation on UK aviation closesAirlines have called for a fundamental shift in the government™s attitude to flying
• Business leaders warn UK will suffer without added airport capacityThe Institute of Directors has urged the government to make a decision quickly on where capacity can be expanded

Other News Sources

• Greening's refusal to reconsider Thameslink contract out of touch - Maria EagleMaria Eagle MP, Labour's Shadow Transport Secretary, said in response to Justine Greening’s confirmation to the House of Common’s Transport Select Committee that she has decided not to look again at the Thameslink procurement decision:
• Edinburgh tram contractors plan infrastructure trust The contractors behind Edinburgh’s delay-hit tram project are planning to launch a closed-ended infrastructure fund.
• SPT has tightened up expenses controls, say auditorsThe Strathclyde Partnership for Transport has improved its internal financial controls following a major expenses scandal, auditors said today.
• New Mouchel Rail owner Sinclair Knight Merz seeks expansion in UKThe new owner of Mouchel™s rail business, Australian firm Sinclair Knight Merz (SKM), has said the acquisition bolsters its plan to expand in the UK transport market.
• New transport secretary confirms opposition to major airport expansionNew transport secretary Justine Greening yesterday confirmed that she had no intention of overturning government policy blocking new runways at London™s Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports.
• Riversimple plans to launch hydrogen-powered cars on Herefordshire roads next year FUTURISTIC hydrogen-powered cars made by Ludlowbased Riversimple are being launched on Herefordshire roads next year.
• 19/10/2011 - The Commission adopts a package for a new transport infrastructure policy
• 20/10/2011 - Weekly newsletter on Mobility and Transport in Europe
• Virgin Australia Welcomes CCS Approval of Singapore Airlines AllianceVirgin Australia group of airlines (ASX: VBA) today welcomed the Competition Commission of Singapore's (CCS's) approval of its proposed alliance with Singapore Airlines. The proposed alliance...