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

Friday, 16 March 2012

BBC News

• Bristol bus improvements launched by transport minister Millions of pounds worth of improvements to bus services in Bristol have been officially launched.
• Rubber mats laid on railway at Stromeferry The first batch of rubber mats have been laid alongside tracks at Stromeferry in Wester Ross to allow road traffic onto the railway.
• Bolton bus station plans approvedPlans for a £48m transport interchange in Bolton are given the go-ahead by councillors
• UK aviation policy 'unholy mess'One of the UK's top businessmen launches a fierce attack on the government's growth and transport policies, saying they
• Transport divides would-be mayorsThe future of the Tube and Heathrow Airport top the agenda when the four main candidates to be London mayor clash at a hustings in the City.
• Rail firm fined £1m after deathsNetwork Rail is fined £1m for health and safety breaches over the deaths of two teenage girls at a level crossing in Essex in 2005.

Financial Times

• Lufthansa warns on deteriorating profitsEurope™s largest flag carrier by revenue blames net loss on BMI British Midland, its struggling UK subsidiary due to be sold to IAG
• UPS still in takeover talks with rivalThe US package delivery company is set to tell investors on Friday it is still in discussions with TNT Express but has not yet agreed a deal

The Guardian

• London mayor: your ideas on cycling and walking As part of our project to create a new vision for London, we want your views on how to improve the city for cyclists and walkers

The Independent

• Network Rail fined £1m over teenage girls' deathsNetwork Rail has been fined £1m for failures that led to the deaths of two teenage girls at a level crossing in Essex.Related StoriesSandringham Estate soil clue to woman's murderTimes admits it 'misled' High Court over email hacking casePolice who 'assaulted' suspects return to jobsHillsborough files show 'drunken fans' were blamedStrong arm of the law

The Scotsman

• Heathrow service to Mumbai resumesSir Richard Branson’s airline Virgin Atlantic is to resume flights from Heathrow to Mumbai, it was announced yesterday.
• Capital™s Leith Walk in top ten ˜streets of shame™ for cyclistsONE of the Scottish capital’s main routes has been named among the ten worst in Britain for cyclists.The “shocking” state of Leith Walk in Edinburgh was condemned by cycling developers Sustrans, who described it as a “nightmare” to cycle on.

The Telegraph

• Report claims 11-year pothole backlogEngland is facing an 11-year backlog of potholes which will cost £10billion to repair following funding cuts, a survey has found.

Mail Online

• Network Rail fined £1million for breaches at level crossing where two teenage girls were killedOlivia Bazlinton, 14, and Charlotte Thompson, 13, were hit by a train in 2005 as they crossed the tracks at Elsenham station footpath crossing in Essex.

Bristol Live

• Elected mayor's first job is to control the First bus company [letter]I AM amazed there is such a concern about the proposed mayor role, someone who will control and guide the future of Bristol as we already have such an organisation – First Bus – who decide the routes they will travel and the price they will charge (another increase due soon) and even if you do not use the bus they will dictate the road works for bus lanes, central islands to upset the traffic flow.
• Bristol Evening Post published Transport Minister has good news for local rail improvementsFUNDING could be available for local rail improvements like re-opening the Portishead line or the Bristol Metro.
• Bristol Evening Post commented Join the trail to find all 40 new 'super shelters'AROUND £40,000 of taxpayers' money has been spent on revamping bus shelters in a "Wow Gorillas" style project.

The York Press

• New safety films highlight the dangers on North Yorkshire's roads for motorcyclists SAFETY chiefs have turned to social media in a bid to reduce the number of motorcyclists killed and seriously injured on our roads.

Wales Online

• Cardiff news: Valleys Lines electrification has Transport Secretary Justine Greening yesterday gave the biggest signal yet that the electrification of the Valleys Lines commuter routes could be on the way.

Yorkshire Evening Post

• West Yorkshire: Heading for a showdown on the buses?Transport bosses are preparing for a crunch meeting that could decide the future direction of West Yorkshire’s bus industry.

Reading Evening Post

• Green light for next stage of Reading rail scheme Town hall planners called on Network Rail to ensure it takes measures to prevent graffiti as they gave the go-ahead for the next stage of the multi-million Reading Station redevelopment.

Western Daily Press

• Minister toasts bus route improvementsLocal Transport Minister Norman Baker will celebrate the completion of ten Greater Bristol Bus Network Showcase routes today. Planners hope that the five-year project to deliver and upgrade 40 routes across 70 bus services in the county will help to ease road congestion and improve standards and reliability for passengers. The £79 million project has been funded by the Department for Transport (£42.4 million), First Group (£22.5 million) – with local contributions of £13.9 million from four local councils.
• Minister toasts bus route improvementsLocal Transport Minister Norman Baker will celebrate the completion of ten Greater Bristol Bus Network Showcase routes today. Planners hope that the five-year project to deliver and upgrade 40 routes across 70 bus services in the county will help to ease road congestion and improve standards and reliability for passengers. The £79 million project has been funded by the Department for Transport (£42.4 million), First Group (£22.5 million) – with local contributions of £13.9 million from four local councils.

Other Regional Press

• Don’t miss the bus - in Goole today BUS and rail users in the Goole area will have the chance to air their views on local services when a travel surgery wheels into town today.
• First aims to sell bus operations for £2.8mA BUS company operating out of Barnstaple has signed an agreement to sell its North Devon bus operations to another for £2.8m.
• TRANSPORT Chiefs Confident Ferry Service Will Run TRANSPORT bosses believe Gourock to Kilcreggan ferry passengers will not be left high and dry on 1 April.
• Kirklees Council fills nearly 7,000 potholes at start of 2012 – but huge backlog remains: What's the worst road in our area?NEW figures show drivers are in for years of bumpy roads.

Campaign for Better Transport

• Rail freight crucial in A14 challenge15 March: Campaigner Eileen Collier argues that rail freight and smarter choices are the best alternatives to a huge toll road in Cambridgeshire. read more

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• Charging infrastructure 'key to future of electric vehicles'It is vital that an effective charging infrastructure is put in place to secure the future of electric vehicles in the UK.This is the claim made by one expert, who advocated an economic charging model for hiring and sharing schemes as part of efforts to encourage uptake of ultra low-carbon models.Legrand Electric sustainable development manager Alastair Ramsay explained that renting vehicles provides the opportunity for people to "try them out, without having to make a major personal investment".However, he stressed that while car sharing schemes could be effective, "...

Global Rail News

• Union ˜forced to reject™ London Underground deal for OlympicsUnite says it has been ‘forced to reject’ London Underground’s proposals for the Olympics due to ‘totally unacceptable conditions placed on the deal by management’. The union represents hundreds of engineering, electrical, power control and management workers employed by London Underground. Unite and London Underground senior managers met through Acas last week but were unable [...]
• Cold comfort awardEast Coast has won a public relations award for its campaign to keep passengers informed via the media during the big freeze of 2010, when temperatures plummeted to as low as -20C on its network. The company™s Communications Team was awarded the ˜Freshest Issue or Crisis Management™ prize at the prestigious Fresh Awards in Manchester. [...]
• Countdown starts to first train at Fishguard & Goodwick stationNetwork Rail has said the countdown to the first train stopping at Fishguard and Goodwick station in 50 years has started. Improvement work to rebuild Fishguard and Goodwick station is ‘nearly complete’ and passengers will soon be able to enjoy seven trains a day from 14 May 2012. The station will boast a brand new [...]
• Theatre at St PancrasSt Pancras International is to play host to a series of theatre productions live on the concourse. Called ˜Producers Platform™ performers will put on a range of new productions before they move to mainstream London theatres. The showcase will feature a range of quality companies from the innovative Political Arts Company, to the performance trio Mitsotu, as [...]
• Preventing runawaysThe classic children™s song The Runaway Train was written in 1925 by Robert E. Massey, Carson Robison and Harry Warren. You may not know this first verse, but no doubt you can sing the chorus of œThe runaway train came down the track and she blew¦.. It is a humorous little song. But when the [...]
• Virgin Media awarded Tube Wi-Fi contractThe Mayor of London has confirmed that a contract has been awarded to Virgin Media to provide public access Wi-Fi at up to 120 Tube station platforms. Virgin Media, in partnership with London Underground, will introduce Wi-Fi at over 80 stations ahead of the summer. By the end of 2012, up to 120 Tube stations, [...]
• New Chair for Network RailThe former chief technical officer of the Ford Motor Company in the UK, Professor Richard Parry-Jones CBE, is to chair Network Rail. He will replace Rick Haythornthwaite after the annual general meeting in July. Says David Higgins, chief executive, ˜I am very pleased that Richard has agreed to become our new chairman following the end [...]
• Scottish jobless to get half price rail faresScotRail has agreed to introduce the Jobcentre Plus Travel Discount card onto its network from 1 April 2012.¬ ªEligible Jobcentre Plus claimants will be able to obtain a 50% discount on rail travel on ScotRail services within Scotland “ excluding the cross-border Caledonian Sleeper.¬ ªClaimants in Scotland will be able to access discounts after three months [...]
• Network Rail fined £1m for Elsenham double fatalityNetwork Rail has been fined £1 million and ordered to pay costs of £60,015 following a prosecution brought by the Office of Rail Regulation for breaches of health and safety law which led to the deaths of two teenage girls at Elsenham station footpath crossing in December 2005. Today™s sentencing at Chelmsford Crown Court marks [...]

London TravelWatch

• London TravelWatch receives update on progress with accessible bus stops in LondonLondon TravelWatch have received an update on generally improved levels of bus stop accessibility across the London boroughs.

Aviation Industry

• JetBlue denies interest in Aer Lingus stake JetBlue Airways (B6) has denied rumors in the Irish press that it is interested in acquiring the Irish government™s 25% stake in Aer Lingus (EI).
• Lufthansa Group: Taxes, high fuel prices burden 2011 resultsLufthansa™s (LH) operating profit dropped by almost 20% to €820 million ($1.07 billion) in 2011 and the airline expects to see profit shrink to a mid-three-digit million-euro figure this year.
• Virgin Atlantic to restart Mumbai flights Carrier to relaunch flights from Heathrow in October after three-year gap
• 'ETS must be suspended' “ Lufthansa bossAviation giant also protests about German air taxes
• Fuel price takes toll on Cathay Pacific profitsHong Kong airline sees profits plunge by 61% as oil price rise bites

Other News Sources

• Alresford residents campaigning for bus service to be restored ANGRY residents in Alresford have launched a campaign to resurrect a local bus service.
• Boris Johnson: I'll get Crossrail 2 commitment from TreasurySavings of more than £1 billion to Crossrail prove that Crossrail 2 is affordable, Boris Johnson has told Construction News.