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

Wednesday, 26 October 2011

BBC News

• Futuristic £7.5m plan for Port Talbot Parkway station Plans for a £7.5m futuristic revamp of Port Talbot Parkway train station are set to go before the Welsh government.
• Bristol's Severn Beach rail line 'less reliable' Campaigners are to present a 300-name petition to Bristol City Council after a rail subsidy was cut.
• UK urged to build pilot-free jetsAerospace engineers are calling on the UK to invest in a research centre to develop new types of jets.
• Airports seek passenger duty cutEight regional airports and three airlines are joining forces to urge the Chancellor to cut passenger duty.
• MPs criticise £2bn oil tax 'raid'A committee of MPs criticises the UK Treasury's decision to increase a levy on the oil and gas industry calling it an
• City Airport numbers move quashedThe former environment minister's decision to lift the cap on passenger numbers at George Best Belfast City Airport is quashed at the High Court.
• Is this the future of the Tube?The leaking of LU documents reveal what the Tube could look like in a decade's time
• Crash train 'could not be halted'A driver tells an inquest he could not have stopped his train before it derailed at 95mph and plunged down an embankment, killing an elderly woman.
• Dreamliner begins maiden flightBoeing's Dreamliner takes off on its maiden commercial flight from Tokyo to Hong Kong, after three years of delays.

Financial Times

• Emerging markets boost DP World traffic Ports operator handled 10% more containers in third quarter against 2010, reflecting continued strong growth in emerging markets
• Think-tank attacks high-speed rail linkThe Adam Smith Institute says the High Speed 2 project, connecting London with Birmingham and eventually Scotland, will cost more than £50bn
• Air Berlin postpones aircraft orderGerman budget carrier delays delivery of 11 Airbus A320s and eight Boeing B737s, a move that helps it better manage capacity and conserve cash

The Independent

• Crash train was out of controlThe driver in the Virgin Pendolino train crash in Cumbria has told an inquest he had

The Scotsman

• ’300 tonnes of metal at 95mph does what it wants’ A TRAIN driver has told an inquest that he had “no control” over an 95mph train carrying 105 passengers once it derailed at faulty points.
• Hidden toll of road crash injuriesTWICE as many people are injured on Scotland’s roads than official figures show, an analysis of the under-counting of casualties has shown for the first time.

The Telegraph

• Trams back in favourThe Government’s latest strategy, published last month, has guaranteed funding for a host of projects including the upgrading of Blackpool’s iconic network which is now more than 125 years old.

The Mirror

• Bombardier 'snub' from new transport secretary NEW Transport Secretary Justine Greening has snubbed pleas to reconsider the Thameslink deal and help save 1,400 jobs at Britain’s last trainmaker Bombardier.

ATOC

• ATOC responds to rally organised by the unions In response to a rally being organised by rail unions,...

Derby Telegraph

• Derby Telegraph commented Factory's fate hangs in balance as Bombardier bids for workArticle

Liverpool Echo

• Riverside MP Louise Ellman condemns cuts on the busesRIVERSIDE MP Louise Ellman warned that “things can only get worse” on the buses due to the government’s refusal to rethink transport funding cuts.

London Evening Standard

• The bird scarer of HeathrowSimon Newbold, chief 'bird scarer' at Heathrow airport, has become an unlikely inspiration for best-selling writer Tony Parsons

Manchester Evening News

• Cenotaph will move for new Metrolink tram lines ... Manchester's cenotaph WILL be moved under plans to make way for a new tram line “ after just 11 people responded to a town hall consultation. Council chiefs announced in March that they planned to dig up the 87-year-old war monument in St Peter™s Square to allow a second Metrolink line to run through the city centre.

Sheffield Telegraph

• Fresh safety fears over ageing trainsSAFETY concerns about old trains running on local services around South Yorkshire have now been raised by the rail regulator - nearly six months after the issue was revealed by The Star.

Other Regional Press

• BUS CUTS: DALE’S FUTURE AT STAKE PLANS to axe vital bus services in Teesdale have caused widespread concern and dismay.
• New speed camera policy unveiledThe number of speed camera sites on roads across Lancashire is set to soar, the Evening Post can reveal today.
• Transport Minister visits Millbrook Proving GroundTransport Minister Norman Baker attended Millbrook Proving Ground, Bedfordshire on October 20 as part of the Governments See Inside Manufacturing Initiative to promote careers in engineering and
• People™s views wanted for transport planPEOPLE are being asked their views on future transport services in Central Bedfordshire as the second round of the Local Area Transport Plans My Journey launches this week.

Global Rail News

• First Hull Trains launch new ticketing appFirst Hull Trains has recently launched a brand new app available to download on a variety of mobile phones. The free app allows the user to ...
• Direct Rail Services runs trial train for Stobart RailDirect Rail Services (DRS), the UK™s leading rail freight operator has collaborated with Stobart Rail to run a Special rail service from the Port of Felixstowe ...
• Translink reveals record passenger numbers on local rail servicesTranslink NI Railways has revealed that a record-breaking 10.4 million train passenger journeys were made in Northern Ireland during 2010/11, beating the previous all time record ...
• First rail freight service on High Speed 1 to be launched by DB Schenker Rail in NovemberTrading links between Poland and the UK are to be strengthened during November with the introduction of regular European sized rail freight services by DB Schenker ...
• Minister launches Southern™s Eyewitness initiativePolicing and Criminal Justice Minister, Nick Herbert MP has launched Southern™s internal Eyewitness initiative to the public for the first time at Arundel railway station. Mr ...
• RMT says London Underground to ˜axe 1,500 jobs™The RMT yesterday released a confidential ‘Operational Strategy’ paper from London Underground which the union says is ‘a blueprint for jobs and safety carnage’. Amongst a ...
• Network Rail kicks off search for development partner for site in DerbyNetwork Rail has launched the search for a partner to work with to develop a 70 acre site, known as the Chaddesden Triangle, located on the ...
• Safety warning after laser shone in train driver™s eyeBritish Transport Police (BTP) is sending a warning after a laser pen was deliberately shone in the eyes of a train driver travelling near to Gainsborough ...
• First TransPennine Express launches mobile phone ticketing appFirst TransPennine Express is the latest train company to launch a brand new mobile phone ticketing app to ‘quickly and easily help passengers plan journeys and ...
• Early retirement for Greater Manchester™s first Metrolink tramsPlans to ‘retire’ Metrolink’s oldest trams have been approved by Greater Manchester’s transport leaders, in a move that will lead to significant improvements for passengers. More ...
• Welsh photographers commended for Network Rail™s ˜Lines in the Landscape™ awardThree talented Welsh photographers have received commendations for the Network Rail ‘Lines in the Landscape’ special award at the Take a View Landscape Photographer of the ...
• Next steps for Oldham town centre MetrolinkAs part of Metrolink’s on-going work to divert utility pipes and cables in readiness for the new tram line through Oldham town centre, work will begin ...

Railnews

• Storm blows up over plan to axe Underground drivers LONDON UNDERGROUND is considering proposals to make its drivers redundant within a decade and close most of the ticket offices on the system. The RMT union, which has seen a leaked strategy document, has branded LU's plan a 'blueprint for carnage'.
• Grayrigg crash train 'leapt in the air' at faulty points The inquest into the Grayrigg derailment of 2007 has heard on its first day how a Virgin Pendolino travelling at speed 'leapt into the air' as it became derailed at a crossover. One person died in the derailment, which left most of the train strewn down an embankment.

Aviation Industry

• Departures: Live from HeathrowHeathrow is to make literary history when bestselling novelist Tony Parsons returns to the setting of his latest book, Departures: Seven Stories from Heathrow, to give an exclusive behind-the-scenes preview live on facebook.
• Thomas Cook UK cabin crew resist redundancies Thomas Cook Airlines UK (MT) cabin crew members of the Unite union voted to take industrial action over the company™s redundancy plans.
• Aer Lingus bolsters Dublin-Gatwick flightsIncreasing competition with low-cost rival Ryanair on the route

Other News Sources

• Rail unions and campaigners to lobby parliament over McNulty Rail Review threat to jobs, services and fares TODAYSave our Railways: Rally and Lobby of Parliament, from 12:30 today, October 25, Methodist Central Hall, Westminster, London
• Public sector contract under fireBusiness travel leaders have expressed concern about the government™s future travel management strategy

News from Europe

• Basel chooses Bombardier to supply 60 trams SWITZERLAND: Basel transport operator BVB named Bombardier Transportation as preferred bidder to supply 60 trams on October 25.