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

Tuesday, 06 December 2011

BBC News

• School bus service to be reviewedBirmingham City Council launches a consultation on the transport it provides for schoolchildren.
• Flight delays after de-icer failsEight Flybe flights at George Best Belfast City Airport are delayed on Monday after the airline experiences technical issues with its de-icing equipment.
• VIDEO: Livingstone promises fare cutsLondon mayoral candidate Ken Livingstone has promised to cut public transport fares by 7%.
• VIDEO: 'HS2 will protect environment'The HS2 high speed rail line planned to run between London and Birmingham
• Livingstone 'to cut fares by 7%'Ken Livingstone claims he will cut London transport fares by 7% if he is elected as mayor.
• VIDEO: First snow causes road disruptionHeavy snow has caused problems on roads across Scotland and led to the closure of some schools.
• Driver killed in wintry weatherFreezing conditions cause problems on Scotland's roads and close some schools, with warnings of more snow to come.

Department for Transport

• Rail Minister Theresa Villiers visits East West Rail ProjectToday the Rail Minister Theresa Villiers visited the site for a new direct rail link between Oxford and Bedford. She met representatives from the local authorities and stakeholders, including the East West Rail consortium, to hear how they will work with Network Rail to complete a project which independent experts claim will create 12,000 new jobs and a £38m boost to the region™s economy.

Daily Express

• Stelios's African airline on the runwayEASYJET founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou yesterday revealed his new Fastjet budget airline service was set to take off in Africa.

The Mirror

• Has the concrete block car attacker struck 30 times?POLICE are investigating 30 separate incidents to see if they are linked to the same concrete block maniac.
• Roads warning as big freeze bitesDrivers have been warned to take precautions against icy conditions on the roads as the first cold snap of the winter continues.

ATOC

• National Rail Enquiries launches new mobile website for smartphonesCustomers can now take advantage of a new,...

Network Rail

• GETTING ON TRACK FOR READING RAILWAY WORK THIS CHRISTMAS
• COUNTDOWN TO COMPLETION AT BLACKFRIARS

Birmingham Mail

• Man trapped in car for an hour after crash on M42Motorists faced long delays after a West Midlands motorway smash left a seriously injured man trapped in his car for an hour.
• Centro considers scrapping free train and tram travel for pensioners in West MidlandsPensioners in the West Midlands may have to pay £25 a year for train and tram travel which is currently free.

Birmingham Post

• Transport Secretary delays decision on HS2 until 2012A final decision on whether to go ahead with the controversial HS2 high-speed rail line between London and Birmingham is being delayed until the New Year.

Derby Telegraph

• Derby Telegraph commented Siemens in the running for Crossrail contractArticle

London Evening Standard

• My terror as concrete block smashed into car windscreenA woman has told of the terrifying moment when a concrete block was dropped from a bridge onto her car as she drove home from shopping
• Roads warning as big freeze bitesDrivers have been warned to take precautions against icy conditions on the roads as the first cold snap of the winter continues.

Manchester Evening News

• Drivers warned as snow and ice hits A57 Snake Pass Motorists are being to take extra care as snow grips the A57 Snake Pass. Ice and snow forced the police to shut the route overnight but it re-opened at around 2.30pm today.

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• Economy blamed as bus use continues to fall in north-eastThe number of people using buses in the north-east has dropped steadily over the past three years.
• Icy conditions bring misery for Highlands and islands drivers Snow and ice brought misery to road users across the Highlands and islands yesterday and warnings were issued last night that more was on the way, with gales added to the wintry mix.

Wales Online

• New bus station part of big city-centre revamp projectCARDIFF’S new bus station will open in the summer of 2014 at the heart of a new financial services district in the city centre, we can reveal today.
• Hain calls for Heathrow Hub rail linkSHADOW WELSH SECRETARY Peter Hain has backed £500m proposals for a “Heathrow Hub” which would improve links between South Wales and the London airport and Europe.

Peterborough Telegraph

• Road plan changeRESIDENTS are invited to view changes to plans for a new road.
• Youngsters standing out from the crowdA ROAD safety campaign launched in city secondary schools is proving a hit with students looking to stand out from the crowd.

Sunderland Echo

• Funding hope for new Sunderland bridgeCITY leaders hope cash for the new Wear bridge could come from a new Government transport fund after they met to discuss the project in Westminster.

Other Regional Press

• Smartcard system to hit region's buses LIFE will be made easier for bus users across the region after Somerset County Council announced a scheme to introduce electronic smartcard systems.
• Weather updatesBus and train services affected by bad weather.
• Truck gets stuckIT TOOK police and recovery experts almost two hours to free a lorry trapped under a bridge.
• Anger at axe threat to new city rail linkA RAIL line built just six years ago could become redundant to make way for better services between Glasgow and Edinburgh.
• Site review after noise report exposedA council that claimed a travellers site was too noisy for gypsies ignored its own commissioned report, which gave the green light for development. Now bosses at Bedford Borough Council will conduct
• Car pool offer councillor is blasted in bus axe rowA council chief has come under fire after telling a parish council to arrange car-pools for a neighbouring authoritys children. Bedford Borough councillor and portfolio holder for childrens services

Campaign for Better Transport

• Widening the A453 would be a £160 million mistakeThe Autumn Statement contained even more bad news than the Bristol and Kingskerswell ˜link roads™. Today we look at the resurrected A453 widening scheme. read more

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• Crossrail procurement process 'may have to start again'The process by which trains are purchased for the new Crossrail transport project across London could have to be restarted.According to the Independent, the decision on whether the vehicles will be funded through a private finance initiative (PFI) or from the public purse will be made after Christmas.However, the news source has stated that if ministers take a decision to use taxpayers' money, even partially, for Crossrail, the tender process for the trains is likely to be started again.Bidding for the £1 billion contract for the engines was deferred in August this year and i...

Global Rail News

• Report ˜casts doubts™ on Government™s carbon forecasts for HS2A new report released last week shows that, contrary to Government forecasts, High Speed 2 (HS2) could in fact ‘cut carbon emissions, but only if specific ...
• Rail passengers benefit from improved winter contingency plansEast Midlands Trains today (5 December 2011) announced a package of measures to reassure passengers that it is better prepared than ever before to deal with ...

Transport for London

• District line timetable improvements from this weekendAdditional peak trains for the 200,000 Wimbledon branch passengers each day will bring fewer delays and extra capacity.

Aviation Industry

• Air France steps up efforts to fight LCCsAir France (AF) will open bases in Toulouse (TLS), Nice (NCE) and Bordeaux (BOD) in 2012, as it tries to regain the market share from low-cost carriers (LCC).
• Air China to launch Beijing flights from GatwickAirport builds on plans to grow network of destinations in the Far East

Other News Sources

• Network Rail places order for £35m electrification trainNetwork Rail has placed an order worth £35m for a factory train designed to assist the Great Western main-line electrification project.
• At a glance: the schools and road closures in your areaFind all the information you need about travel disruption and school closures in your area with these links to local council and transport websites.
• Motorways close as snow and ice cause problems for second dayThe M8 and M77 are closed in parts as ice sets in.
• Secretary of State sees arrival of new cranes at Felixstowe The UK™s Secretary of State for Transport, the Rt Hon Justine Greening MP, has visited the Port of Felixstowe, the country™s largest container port, to see it take delivery of its latest consignment of new cranes.Whilst at the port, the Secretary of State met with senior management of the port, before a tour of the facilities. During the tour she was shown the port™s new Berths 8&9 where she took the controls of one of the port™s gigantic gantry cranes under the supervision of a qualified crane-driving instructor and visited the site of the new rail terminal to be built in 2012.The port alrea...
• Group's pioneering scheme to de-ice Blackburn's roadsA GROUNDBREAKING scheme to keep Blackburn™s roads ice free this winter is being piloted by a local community group.
• Richard Branson launches clean aviation fuel initiativePlanes could be powered mostly by renewable fuels by the end of the decade, Sir Richard Branson has said.
• HS2 delay as £500m tunnel consideredA decision on the final route for the High Speed 2 link between London and the West midlands looks set to be delayed as the government considers introducing a 1.5-mile tunnel under the Chiltern Hills.