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

Friday, 06 April 2012

BBC News

• Citybus withdrawing Plymouth school bus service School buses are to be withdrawn in Plymouth later this year.
• Volkswagen's automatic car delivery towers The two gleaming glass towers of Volkswagen's Autostadt, or car town, house technology which automatically moves cars from VW's Wolfsburg plant to the towers, and on to the customer centre where they are collected by their owners.
• UK’s newest electric cars turning heads at last Sitting outside the Barley Mow on Tilford village cricket ground, a group of early evening drinkers swing their gaze from left to right, as earnestly as fans of Andy Murray on Centre Court.
• Jet pressure warning: 13 injuredThree people are examined in hospital and 10 others are hurt as a Ryanair flight to East Midlands Airport is forced to make an emergency landing.
• Locals oppose A8 Ballynure bypassQuestions are raised over the route of the proposed new A8 Larne to Belfast road.
• Airports dismiss 'gridlock' fearsAirports across England dismiss concerns raised by airlines of gridlock over the Easter break because of staff shortages.

The Guardian

• Virgin employee quits after claims she sent celebrity flight details to paparazziEmails indicate Virgin Atlantic supervisor passed information about eight celebrities to Big Pictures agencyInteractive: the celebrity flight details listed in the emailA senior employee at Virgin Atlantic has resigned after allegations that she passed private flight details of celebrities, including Ashley Cole and Sienna Miller, to a global paparazzi agency.Emails seen by the Guardian indicate that a Virgin Atlantic supervisor of Upper Class customers passed detailed flight information of at least eight celebrities to the London-based firm Big Pictures.The Virgin Atlantic employee, who resig...

The Scotsman

• £1.8m grant to help fund ’green’ buses GRANTS totalling just under £1.8 million have been made to help put more “green” buses on the roads.

The Telegraph

• HS2: 50,000 bodies 'to be exhumed' for high speed rail link Up to 50,000 bodies will need to be exhumed to make way for the new high speed rail line from London to Birmingham, it has emerged.
• Ministers set to take to two wheels to beat fuel strikeMinisters are set to get on their bikes to beat a tanker drivers strike as the Government draws up plans to park up much of its car fleet to save fuel.

Press Association

• PM hints at Valleys railway upgrade Prime Minister David Cameron has given his strongest hint yet the Valleys railway network will be upgraded.

Mail Online

• Easter 2012 weather: Snow and fuel tanker dispute expected to cause travel chaosMillions are expected to hit the roads, airports and railways over one of the busiest travel periods of the year this weekend - amid warnings of major disruptions to journeys.

Network Rail

• KIRKGATE STATION IMPROVEMENT PLANS GET GO AHEAD

Birmingham Post

• Greater Birmingham LEP chairman backs expansion at Heathrow Airport The head of Birmingham’s enterprise partnership, which is backing bold expansion plans at the city’s airport, has called for a third runway to be built at London’s Heathrow.

Edinburgh Evening News

• Supermarket bid to replace axed First Bus stationA MAJOR supermarket is set to replace First Bus operations at its Dalkeith depot after the travel firm announced it would quit the base amid huge cutbacks.

Northern Echo

• 230 jobs created in cars supply chain A JAPANESE company is creating about 200 jobs at a warehouse to be built near the Nissan plant in Sunderland.

Wales Online

• Has Cardiff council built a sustainable transport city - or just demolished a bus station? In the latest of our Cardiff council elections series, BRENDAN HUGHES examines the transport issues faced by our councillors in their fight for City Hall

Wolverhampton Express and Star

• Louts making people too scared to use bus station in DudleyYobs are intimidating bus passengers and drivers in Dudley by drinking, taking drugs and hurling abuse. Gangs congregating around Dudley Bus Station are leaving some people too afraid to catch a bus during the evening.

Blackpool Gazette

• Derailment leads to beach clean callCLEAR up the beach and stop more supertram headaches.
• Airport fails in Jet2 appeal bidBLACKPOOL Airport must continue serving budget airline Jet2.com’s early morning and evening flights.

Carlisle News & Star

• MP calls for A75 safety measures after fatal crashes An MP has called for planned improvements to a notorious stretch of road to be brought forward after a number of crashes and deaths.

Other Regional Press

• Drivers face crisis as garages ran dry over weekendMOTORISTS faced a fresh petrol crisis this week when numerous petrol stations ran out of fuel.

Bus and Coach.com

• First Egyptian B7RLEs deliveredThe first Volvo B7RLEs with Egyptian-built MCV bodies for a UK operator have been delivered to Pulhams Coaches of Bourton-on-the-Water.
• Greener Journeys explores growthGreener Journeys, the coalition of the UK™s leading bus companies, has commissioned a report into the role of buses in mobilising the UK workforce, supporting shoppers and aiding urban regeneration.
• Bus use doubles in eight yearsBus use in East Kent has doubled in less than a decade as services have been transformed through a partnership between the region™s main bus operator, Stagecoach, and local transport authorities.
• Volvo confirms hybrid orders boostVolvo has confirmed that it has received orders for 174 hybrid buses as part of the latest round of Green Bus Fund awards.
• Scotland to add 26 more hybridsThe Scottish government has announced awards totalling £1,8million to support the purchase of 26 low-carbon buses by five operators.
• First retrenches with Lothians cutsFirst Scotland East is planning to withdraw many services in East Lothian and Midlothian from 10 June, with the loss of up to 200 jobs.

Global Rail News

• Canary Wharf Crossrail station works completed earlyCanary Wharf Group plc has completed construction of Canary Wharf Crossrail station™s platform level five months ahead of schedule, making it ready to receive the two giant eastern tunnel boring machines in 2013. Construction of the Crossrail project began at North Dock in Canary Wharf less than three years ago. Since then the construction team [...]
• Unemployed rail graduates talk prospects with Justine Greening85 graduates from across the country met Transport Secretary Justine Greening this week as she welcomed them onto Network Rail’s Track and Train work placement scheme. Network Rail said the Track and Train scheme will provide an all-round industry experience over 18 months, where graduates will undertake three, six-month placements: one at Network Rail and [...]
• Rail industry says bank holiday passengers ˜should experience no disruption™More than seven million passengers are expected to travel by rail over the Easter bank holiday weekend, according to the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC). The vast majority of people travelling by train ‘should experience no disruption because of improvement works’, ATOC said. Figures from ATOC and Network Rail show that the number of [...]
• ArcGen Hilta tracking up at InfrarailOn 1st – 3rd May 2012, ArcGen Hilta will be showcasing its range of products at the UK’s definitive rail infrastructure event, Infrarail. ArcGen Hilta will be exhibiting a range of products ideal for the rail industry, including its Network Rail approved SMC TL-90 lighting tower and ArcGen Hilta Weldmaker 165SP2. It will also be [...]
• It™s Vital!This year™s Infrarail show is approaching rapidly, and a look through the list of exhibitors reveals that Vital Rail will be one of them. Vital Rail is well known to the rail engineer, particularly as one of the main sponsors of the RailStaff Awards. Part of the Vital Services Group there is obviously much more [...]
• Rail stations in Scotland to benefit from £30m investmentScotland’s Transport Minister Keith Brown has announced a £30million programme of improvements for railway stations across Scotland. The decision was widely welcomed by passenger groups and business leaders. The package could see new stations delivered across the country where there is ‘sufficient demand’, as well as improved access and better facilities for some existing stations. [...]
• Design contract awarded for HS2 rail linesAtkins has been awarded a contract by HS2 Ltd to prepare the preliminary designs for the two high rail speed lines through the Country South section of High Speed 2 – a 91km stretch covering Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Northamptonshire. The contract, which has been awarded under the Lot 1 Professional Services Framework covering civil and structural [...]
• Network Rail sets new collaborative working standardsNetwork Rail has become the first company in the rail industry “ and only the thirteenth nationwide “ to achieve BS11000, the new British Standard for collaborative working. Greater collaboration between organisations within the rail industry was identified by Sir Roy McNulty as one of the means of delivering greater value for passengers and taxpayers [...]
• Improvements to Kirkgate station given go aheadPlans to renew the canopies and remove part of the redundant spine wall at Kirkgate station have today been granted Listed Building consent by Wakefield District Council planning committee. The plans to ‘transform’ the listed station building have been drawn up by Groundwork Wakefield with support from Network Rail, Northern Rail, West Yorkshire PTE (Metro), [...]

Aviation Industry

• Virgin Atlantic begins refitting Gatwick aircraftCarrier spending £50 million updating seven jumbos based at Sussex airport
• France urges EU to defuse emissions trading rowFrench prime minister asks European Commission to take action on ETS