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Thursday, 22 March 2012

BBC News

• Network Rail's Northern Hub scheme gets £130m Budget cash Chancellor George Osborne has pledged £130m towards a rail scheme in the north of England.
• Budget: Airport capacity to be confronted in South East There's always a lot of speculation in the run up to a Budget but what's been different about this one is the kind of mega-phone diplomacy that the Liberal Democrats have chosen to take part in.
• Calls for cycle safety innovationTransport Minister Keith Brown calls for pilot schemes to protect cyclists on the roads in a bid to prevent deaths.
• Cycle junctions get Budget moneyLondon is allocated £15m in the Budget to improve safety for cyclists at some of the capital's most dangerous junctions.
• Tube union leaves Olympics talksThe Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union says it has ended discussions with London Underground over an £850 bonus being offered to Tube workers during the Olympics.
• Fuel duty increase gets go-aheadChancellor George Osborne says a planned rise in fuel duty will go ahead as planned.

Financial Times

• Kingfisher scraps international flightsDecision comes hours after India™s aviation minister warns the carrier will lose its licence if its financial problems are not resolved
• Road privatisation set to roar aheadThe Budget confirms plans to look at ˜new ownership and financing models™ for trunk roads and motorways
• Government plans air traffic salePart of the state™s 49% stake in Nats is to be auctioned to raise about £250m for the Treasury, while airlines will also sell part of their share

The Guardian

• Budget 2012 lifts business hopes of airport expansion Chancellor's reference to airport capacity boosts supporters of more runways and backers of new site in Thames estuary
• Budget 2012 lifts business hopes of airport expansion Chancellor's reference to airport capacity boosts supporters of more runways and backers of new site in Thames estuary

The Herald

• Transport gas emissions to rise despite reduction targetsGREENHOUSE gas emissions from transport will increase over the next decade as major road building schemes encourage more people to drive, the Scottish Government has admitted.
• Anger at refusal to scrap fuel duty hike planMOTORING organisations have warned of further hardship for 34 million UK drivers after George Osborne's decision to plough ahead with a fuel duty hike in August.

The Scotsman

• Cross“Border rail travel concernsSTARTING and finishing cross-Border train services in Edinburgh and Glasgow would drive passengers off the railways, trade unions have warned.

The Telegraph

• Budget 2012: Third runway back on the agenda Government opposition to a third runway at Heathrow is beginning to weaken, observers claimed, after the Chancellor pledged to tackle a shortage of airport capacity in the south-east.
• Budget 2012: More airport capacity in south, more trains in north Airport capacity in the South East needs to be increased in order to maintain Britain’s global links, George Osborne has admitted.
• Budget 2012: George Osborne announces end to 'neglect' of northern England railwaysThe Chancellor promises to extend Network Rail's northern hub to end years of

Daily Express

• Budget 2012: TransportGEORGE Osborne vowed to tackle

Mail Online

• BUDGET 2012: Boris island airport could get lift off as Osborne rips up 60 years of planning law to drive economy forward’ The potential of a new airport in the Thames estuary a step closer after Mr Osborne warned that Britain needed to ’confront the lack of airport capacity’ in the South East of England.
• BUDGET 2012: Still no mercy for the motorist: Osborne ignores drivers' pleas and slaps nearly 4p a litre on fuel dutyDrivers’ groups and hauliers said George Osborne had ‘turned his back on families’. From August 1, fixed rate fuel duty will rise by 3.02p a litre to 60.97p.

This is Money

• Budget 2012: More misery at the pumps for motorists as Chancellor keeps the planned 3p hike in fuel duty in AugustDespite pressure from hard-pressed motorists and businesses that rely on fuel the cost of petrol and diesel will rise sparking fears of protests across the country.

ATOC

• Train companies respond to rail investment in Budget In response to the Budget announcement that improvement schemes to the rail network around Northern cities will go ahead, Michael Roberts,...

Network Rail

• NETWORK RAIL: £130M FOR NORTHERN HUB IS 'A WELCOME SHOW OF CONFIDENCE IN RAIL'

Birmingham Post

• Midland motorways M6 and M42 to be used for 80mph speed limit trialPlans to introduce 80mph limits on motorways around Birmingham could be phased in as early as next year.
• Budget 2012: Motorists face 3p rise in fuel dutyDrivers have had their hopes of avoiding another petrol pump increase later this year dashed by Chancellor George Osborne.

Daily Post (North Wales)

• North Wales villagers cut speed limit themselvesRESIDENTS have got so fed up with cars causing a nuisance on their road that they’ve taken matters into their own hands – and put up homemade 20mph signs.
• Reopening Amlwch rail line would cost £25mTHE cost of reopening a disused Anglesey railway line could cost more than £25m a feasibility study reveals.

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• Islanders to vent anger against fares riseAngry business leaders plan to demonstrate on the streets of Stornoway this weekend in protest at an increase in commercial ferry fares.
• Fury as ship hits rocks hours after tug sails offCAMPAIGNERS reacted with fury yesterday after a ship ran aground in the Western Isles within hours of the withdrawal of an emergency tug.

Other Regional Press

• Bike hire business takes fight to the topA CASTLETON businesswoman is set to meet with a Secretary of State later today in a bid to save her livelihood.
• Scally opposes airport backlashGills boss Paul Scally is one of scores of businessmen calling on MPs and councils to drop their opposition to a Thames Estuary airport.
• Countdown to airport hub announcementMedway will know within the year if it is to be the proposed site for an international airport hub double the size of Heathrow.
• Budget 2012: Pain at the pumps as 3p/l fuel duty rise agreed for AugustDRIVERS had their hopes of avoiding another petrol pump increase later this year dashed by Chancellor George Osborne today.
• Bus passes system up and runningA COUNCIL is advising residents that the system for issuing new and replacement concessionary bus passes is now operating normally again.

Bus and Coach.com

• Optare board changesThree Ashok Leyland names have joined the Optare board as non-executive directors.
• Bus-rail smartcard trial in BasingstokeStagecoach has launched what it claims is the UK™s first commercial multi-modal ITSO smartcard, with a small-scale trial in Basingstoke.
• Lincs operator rescuedLincolnshire operator A C Williams Coaches of Grantham has been rescued from administration by an investment fund manager, Glenn Pratt.
• £79million Bristol network launchedThe Greater Bristol Bus Network has been officially launched by transport minister Norman Baker.
• Go-Ahead pursuing flywheel hybridIn a novel move Go-Ahead and Williams Hybrid Power have agreed to develop and produce six prototype buses with a retrofitted hybrid flywheel system.
• First agrees London depot sale FirstGroup has agreed the £14million sale to Go-Ahead of its Northumberland Park depot in London as part of what it describes as its œstrategy to continue to position its bus division for the longer term “ which can be read as a coded indication of further sales to come.

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• Brake: Motorway 80mph trials a gamble with people's livesGovernment plans to trial 80mph speed limits on some UK roads have been slammed as "a gamble with people's lives".This is according to road safety organisation Brake, which has hit out at the proposals to instigate the pilots on those sections of motorway that currently have variable speed limits in place.Brake deputy chief executive Julie Townsend warned: "There has been no research into the safety of this trial, but there is a mountain of evidence that higher speeds result in more needless and violent crashes and casualties."She added the potential...

Global Rail News

• Rail funding announced in 2012 BudgetGeorge Osborne today announced £130 million worth of funding for Network Rail’s Northern Hub scheme in the Budget 2012. Mr Osborne said: “Network Rail will extend the Northern Hub, adding to the electrification of the Transpennine rail route, by upgrading the Hope Valley line between Manchester and Sheffield – and improving the Manchester to Preston [...]
• Rail Alliance prepares for InfrarailWith only a few weeks to go before Infrarail 2012 at the NEC (1-3 May 2012), the Rail Alliance is putting the final touches to its boulevard-style exhibition space. So far, we have allocated 130+ square metres to the following members: ArcGen, Bernstein, Coe, Coffey Construction, Flexicon, Nightsearcher, Sapa Profiles, Wireless CCTV, Wor Rail/Wor Lifts, [...]
• Wifi in the westWifi access is being increased at 23 stations on First Great Western™s network. WiFi provider, The Cloud, will be implementing the scheme. Says First Great Western Station Contracts Manager, Robert Jackson, ˜Travellers now expect to be able to access the internet wherever they are, especially to pass the time during their commutes. ˜The popularity of [...]
• High speed freight train runs from Lyon to LondonEuro Carex has completed a test run of the first high speed freight train between Lyon St Exupéry airport and St. Pancras International, travelling via Paris Charles De Gaulle airport. The high speed freight train number 27274 left Lyon-St Exupéry airport on Tuesday, 20 March at 16:42. It arrived at St. Pancras International in London [...]
• Just how do you design Safety into rail products and services?Britain™s railways are among the safest in Europe, ranking second for passenger safety and sixth for workforce safety out of 25 EU member states. Anna Walker, non-executive Chairman of the Office of Rail Regulation, recently acknowledged this safety record during November™s IOSH Railway Conference, but warned there is no room for complacency. In his presentation [...]

Railnews

• Budget: £130m for lines feeding Northern Hub The Chancellor has announced that another £130 million is to be invested in lines feeding the future Northern Hub in Manchester. The news came as part of the Budget statement.

Aviation Industry

• Economics lobbying reports in run-up to strategy consulationTwo aviation industry reports have recently been published in time for the budget and the aviation strategy consultation. Purporting to be serious reports, they are actually thinly veiled lobbying for even more tax breaks and other favours to the industry.Oxford Economics has published a report called ’The value of aviation connectivity to the UK economy’. But it [...]
• Photos: Southwest's First Boeing 737-800 Wows EmployeesAn estimated 4,000 Southwest Airlines employees officially welcomed the Boeing 737-800 into their fleet on Wednesday during a celebratory event at their Dallas headquarters.
• Travel 'dismayed' by confirmation of APD increaseIndustry warns on impact of eight per cent rise in duty from April
• New rates of Air Passenger DutyCheck out the new rates of APD for both 2012 and 2013

Other News Sources

• RMT response to 2012 BudgetRMT General Secretary Bob Crow said: 'This is a budget of the rich for the rich. The tax changes mean that a banker on half a million pounds gets a kick back from George Osborne of £17,500, money robbed from our public services and the neediest in our divided society.