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

Thursday, 12 July 2012

BBC News

• Fresh Heathrow border concerns Border officers with basic training are manning immigration desks at Heathrow as the Olympics approaches, Chief Inspector of Borders John Vine says.
• Waterways charity set for launchA new charity taking over responsibility for canals and rivers in England and Wales is being officially launched.
• Delays for airport consultationA consultation on expanding airports in south-east England is delayed again amid reports of tensions within the coalition over the issue.
• Rise in BAA air passenger numbersBAA reports a rise in passenger numbers last month at its two remaining Scottish airports, Glasgow and Aberdeen.
• A5 road upgrade 'to get go-ahead'A public inquiry into the controversial A5 road between Londonderry and the border has found in favour of the scheme going ahead, the BBC understands.
• Reopening of M4 motorway put backThe main motorway link from London to Heathrow Airport will not now reopen on Thursday as planned.
• Virgin to launch small satellitesVirgin Galactic is pushing ahead with a rocket system designed to lower the cost of putting small satellites in orbit.

Department for Transport

• Bath transportation package given final go-aheadWork on a new package of public transport measures in Bath can now start after receiving final approval from Local Transport Minister Norman Baker today.

Financial Times

• Minister seeks to ease Olympics fearsDamian Green seeks to reassure committee of MPs that everything is being done to ensure passengers arriving at Heathrow will have waiting times cut
• American Airlines considers merger optionsPeople familiar with AMR™s plans say the company intends to approach bidders and ask them to sign nondisclosure agreements in the coming weeks
• ˜Games lane™ from Heathrow to remain closedThe government has refused to give a new date for the reopening of the road, one of the main arteries into London and part of the Olympic route network

The Guardian

• Addison Lee taxi firm fails to overturn London bus lane ban Judge rejects taxi firm's appeal, saying reason behind restriction on use of bus lanes was 'obvious and compelling'
• Ministers bring forward infrastructure spending to boost economy Ministers to announce national infrastructure plan schemes that will be brought forward and new funding from private sector
• Network Rail bonus Network Rail Infrastructure is proposing to pay bonuses worth £1.7m to its directors (The bonus now arriving is only slightly delayed, 4 July), despite the fact that in April this year the company was fined £4m after the 2007 Grayrigg derailment disaster.
• Minister calls for change in attitude as wheelchair user takes on bus companiesMinister for disabled people responds to article by Ray Bellisario, who said drivers refused to let him on their buses 28 timesThe minister for disabled people, Maria Miller, has called for a change in attitude and behaviour towards wheelchair users and other disabled people as one man said he was taking legal action against bus companies in London after being refused permission to board on 28 occasions.

The Herald

• Officials 'asked to be kept in dark' over tram schemeSCOTTISH Government officials asked not to receive board papers relating to Edinburgh's troubled tram project, despite providing it with £500 million in funding, it has emerged.
• Fastlink not ready for GamesGLASGOW'S Fastlink bus service will not be complete in time for the Commonwealth Games in 2014, despite earlier promises that the northern section of the £40 million project would be in place by then.

The Telegraph

• Airport expansion grounded once again Plans to increase capacity at London's overstretched airports appear likely to be delayed again, to the dismay of transport users and business leaders.
• Heathrow to use inexperienced staff to cut immigration queues during Olympics, watchdog warns Border staff with only basic training and little immigration experience are being used to cut queues at Heathrow Airport during the Olympics, a watchdog warned today.
• Olympic travel chaos as M4 reopening delayedLondon faces more Olympic travel chaos with the opening of the M4 motorway from Heathrow delayed .

Press Association

• MPs told of rail tickets 'mistrust' Rail travellers "do not trust" the ticket system, a passenger group chief has told MPs. Some travellers were not sure they had been sold the right ticket and were "just not confident" about the system, said Passenger Focus passenger issues head Mike Hewitson.

Reuters News

• Arrival of athletes to make London driving trickierLONDON (Reuters) - Getting around London will become trickier from this weekend, when thousands of athletes arrive for the Olympics, and further disruption is expected a week later as the torch relay enters the capital.

Mail Online

• Rows in the Coalition delay airport plans until at least autumnTransport Secretary Justine Greening (inset) was due to publish a consultation today on plans for a new airport or a third runway at Heathrow, but the review will be delayed until the autumn.

The Mirror

• "Concerned about the potential risks": Heathrow Border Force new recruits for London 2012 'lack experience'Border Force has taken on 500 additional workers to help cope with more than 100,000 passengers a day expected during the busiest periods of the Games

Belfast Telegraph

• £1bn boost good news for Belfast wing of BombardierYet another big name customer has signed up with Bombardier Aerospace in a deal which could top £1bn.Related StoriesPower of online retailer growingAirport handles 3.3m passengersJobless figures to remain highGovernment to keep Nats sharesDiamond to get 'around' £2m in pay

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• Roads in Bradford and Leeds 'most congested in England' Drivers on roads in Bradford and Leeds faced the most traffic-clogged journeys in England over the last year, according to the results of a new survey.

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Controversial Wrexham free school transport policy set to be reviewedA CONTROVERSIAL free school transport policy is set to be reviewed.

Edinburgh Evening News

• Residents ˜in limbo™ as rail link plans put on holdA COMMUNITY has been left in limbo after a key rail project was put on hold.

London Evening Standard

• Government accused of 'playing into Europe's hands' over airport expansionThe Government was today accused of "playing into the hands of our European rivals after again delaying a major consultation on the UK™s aviation crisis.
• Government accused of 'playing into Europe's hands' over airport expansionThe Government was today accused of "playing into the hands of our European rivals after again delaying a major consultation on the UK™s aviation crisis.
• Motorway remains closed for repairsThe M4 motorway in west London has remained closed with officials admitting delayed repair works on a damaged flyover could continue into the weekend.
• 'Rookie border staff' for OlympicsBorder staff with only basic training and little immigration experience are being used to cut queues at Heathrow Airport during the Olympics, a watchdog warned.

Metro

• Sir Richard Branson and his kids set to be first Virgin Galactic passengersHe drove a tank through the streets of New York to launch a fizzy drink and dressed up as a Zulu warrior to promote flights to South Africa. Window seat:Sir Richard Branson shows off a Launcher One (Picture: EPA) But Sir Richard Branson announced what could be his most audacious publicity stunt yet. The billionaire Virgin boss will put his life “ and his children™s “ in the hands of the gods when they become the first passengers to be flown into space on Virgin Galactic. Sir Richard, son Sam, 26, and daughter Holly, 30, are expected to travel 97km (60 miles) into orbit on the SpaceShip-Two (...

The York Press

• Powering ahead with ˜green™ transport PLANS to introduce greener council vehicles in York to help cut pollution have been boosted.

Yorkshire Evening Post

• ˜Worst queues in UK on Leeds roads™Roads in the Leeds-Bradford area are the most congested in Britain – with drivers spending almost four days a YEAR stuck in jams, a new report shows.
• Jumbo row over Leeds Bradford Airport policing hits new heightsThe government has been forced to step into a row over who should pay for policing Leeds-Bradford Airport.

Yorkshire Post

• MPs blast rail funding system flawsKEY figures used by successive Governments as the basis for raising rail fares and holding back investment in Yorkshire and across the North were based on assumptions with “no real basis” in reality, MPs have heard.
• Branson to take son and daughter into space tripSir Richard Branson yesterday announced that he and his children will be the first passengers when the Virgin Galactic space tourism programme begins.

Other Regional Press

• First Hull Trains bosses to meet MPs over train reliability issuesTHE city's three MPs are meeting with First Hull Trains bosses to discuss its "service reliability issues".
• Portsmouth port workers to be balloted over industrial actionQUAY workers at Portsmouth International Port are being asked whether they want to strike over new contracts.
• UK & World News: Motorway remains closed for repairsThe M4 motorway in west London has remained closed with officials admitting delayed repair works on a damaged flyover could continue into the weekend.
• Airport consultation 'to be delayed'The transport secretary is reportedly set to announce another delay to a consultation into building an airport in Kent.
• Hybrid electric buses hit Aberdeen streetsA £2.5 MILLION fleet of hybrid electric buses have hit Aberdeen™s streets for the first time.
• Aberdeen bypass could still go aheadTHE legal team for a road campaign group told the Supreme Court in London that they didn™t want to quash the entire Aberdeen bypass project.

Bus and Coach.com

• More families see car as œessentialRising transport costs are one of the factors hitting families, according to a report on minimum income standards by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
• Olympic bus strike threat recedesTransport workers union Unite has recommended that its London bus worker members accept an Olympic bonus.
• OFT action derails Devon dealThe OFT, always ready to seize a sledgehammer to crack a nut, has derailed the planned take over by Stagecoach of the operations of First in North Devon.

Global Rail News

• Farringdon platform extensionsIn the last few years of employment with Network Rail, I spent a large proportion of my time dealing with standards for track engineering. In addition to dealing with the company’s own track standards and working with RSSB and other stakeholders on Railway Group Standards, the work included representation of the company, and on occasion [...]
• Coleraine-Londonderry line to close for up to nine monthsA railway line between Coleraine and Londonderry is set to close for up to nine months for £17 million worth of track engineering works to be carried out. Contractors McLaughlin & Harvey and McCann BAM Rail JV are to carry out the major track upgrade between July 29 and April 2013. In a contract worth [...]
• ˜Snake charmers™ aid bridge repaintQueensland Rail has used ‘snake charmers’ to scare off venomous visitors during a repaint of the South Pine Bridge. Solar-powered snake repeller units were used to deter brown snakes as staff carried out maintenance work at the site. The Eastern Brown Snake is considered by some to be the second most toxic land snake in [...]
• $150 million loan agreed for Indian rail improvementsAsian Development Bank (ADB) has signed a deal with the Indian government agreeing a $150 million loan for the first tranche of the Railway Sector Investment Program. The investment will see more than 840km of rail track routes doubled, 640km of track electrified and the installation of a new signalling system. The deal was signed [...]
• Officers release CCTV clip of Tube attackBritish Transport Police have released CCTV footage of a man slapping a Tube employee in the face in an attempt to trace the attacker. Investigators have made video footage of the assault public after an initial appeal for information uncovered no leads. On March 29, two men were walking from Totteridge and Whetstone station platform [...]
• Workington refurbishment unveiledA £200,000 refurbishment scheme has been officially unveiled at Workington station. MP Sir Tony Cunningham cut the ribbon on the station improvements and was joined by members of the Cumbrian Coast Community Rail Partnership and Northern Rail. Work has included refurbishing the booking hall and the waiting room on platform two, as well as additional [...]

The Business Desk

• National Express invests £1.3m in bus improvements BIRMINGHAM-based National Express is carrying out a £1.3m overhaul of its West Midlands bus fleet, the largest public transport refurbishment project ever undertaken in the UK.

Aviation Industry

• Government to start Olympics airports plan on SundayExtra 500 staff brought in to battle immigration queues at airports during the games
• Wizzair to launch onboard baggage trial Airline wants to "incentivise" passengers to bring a small carry-on bag
• Monarch to launch base at Leeds BradfordCarrier will offer 12 routes from Yorkshire airport for summer 2013
• British Airways and Vueling agree 'interline' dealBA customers who book through agents will be able to connect directly at Barcelona

Other News Sources

• Bombardier presents case for innovation and ’The Greener Railway’ Bombardier Transportation has sponsored a live interactive debate to promote the case for ’The Greener Railway’. The debate was streamed worldwide from the London Stock Exchange on June 27 and hosted by Railway Gazette International.
• Thales rail staff in massive vote for strike action over pay and conditionsRAIL UNION RMT announced today that staff working for Thales have voted by a massive majority, more than 95%, for strike action and action short of a strike in a dispute over pay and conditions.
• Eurozone woes to slow US business travel US companies could be entering "holding pattern" due to economic uncertainty

News from Europe

• New cars in Europe may have to cut carbon emissions by one-third (News) New cars and vans in the European Union will produce one-third less carbon dioxide within eight years, under proposed new rules set out on Wednesday (11 July) in Brussels. More »
• Regional rep.: Airport noise curbs are 'very political decisions' (Interview) Decisions over night flights or flight routes are "very political" and have to balance between the national, regional and local levels, says Sergi Alegre Calero from the Airport Regions Conference (ARC). The European level, he says, should only interfere in cases where local populations and other stakeholders are not consulted or when their decisions are being ignored. More »
• Campaigner: Flanders 'will almost go to war' over Brussels airport (Interview) Flights over Brussels should be more severely restricted in order to protect inhabitants from excess noise levels, says Véronique de Potter from local campaign group Bruxelles Air Libre. But she says the Flemish region, where the airport is situated, "will almost go to war" if flight routes are diverted from the Belgian capital to fly over Flemish territory. More »