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

Friday, 24 August 2012

BBC News

• 'Talking cars' tested in Michigan to cut road accidents Hundreds of vehicles fitted with kit that lets them "talk" to each other are being tested on the roads of Ann Arbor, Michigan.
• Isle of Wight road contract agreed for 25 years The Isle of Wight Council has agreed to sign a contract with its preferred bidder to carry out road maintenance on the island for the next 25 years.
• Plymouth Airport supporters hand petition in to city council A petition calling for Plymouth Airport to be saved has been handed in to the city council.
• Qantas reports $256m annual lossQantas reports its first annual loss since 1995, amid high fuel costs and growing losses at its international operations.

Financial Times

• Cameron pressed to replace GreeningPrime minister has shifted his support towards the expansion of Heathrow airport “ a policy implacably opposed by his transport secretary
• Reshuffle debate focuses on transportMPs and industry executives are asking the same question: whether it is tenable to have a transport department run by a former anti-Heathrow campaigner
• Qantas scraps $8.5bn Boeing orderShares in aircraft makers slide after Australian airline cancels commitment for 35 Dreamliners and postpones delivery of 50 others

The Guardian

• MPs seek to review west coast rail bid Committee asks government to delay award of west coast main line rail franchise to FirstGroup to allow for parliamentary scrutiny

The Herald

• Celebrities call for U-turn on West Coast rail decision CELEBRITIES have backed a campaign to force the UK Government to reverse its decision to bring in FirstGroup to run the West Coast train service between Glasgow and London.
• Timescale row brews over solution for landslide road A ROW has broken out over an MP's claim the Scottish Government has admitted it could take a decade for the landslide problems affecting the A83 at the Rest and Be Thankful to be resolved.

The Independent

• Councils in a pothole panic over £5m bill for car damage Bad weather and decrepit roads have forced councils to pay nearly £5m in compensation to drivers whose cars have been damaged by potholes.

The Scotsman

• Capital trams are on track at long last as council begins ’charm offensive’ THE bell sounds and with a slight jolt the 60-tonne tram moves off. It will be two years before this is a common sight in the city centre but for now the tram inches its way along the track inside the Gogar depot.

The Telegraph

• Aerofex hover bike brings Star Wars transport closer to reality In footage that recalls the hover bikes featured in Star Wars movie "Return of the Jedi", a US company has tested a device that allows riders to float over the ground.
• Stowaway found dead in BA landing gear bay at HeathrowA stowaway was found dead inside a British Airways jumbo jet after it touched down at Heathrow early today.
• MPs: stripping train line from Sir Richard Branson may not be good for taxpayersThe decision to strip Sir Richard Branson of the West Coast rail line will be investigated by parliament's spending watchdog over fears the move will not offer
• Delay West Coast rail contract until MPs have examined bid, says Transport Committee chairman The award of the West Coast rail contract to FirstGroup should be delayed until the controversial £13.3bn bid has been scrutinised by MPs, the chairman of the Transport Committee said tonight.

Daily Express

• Qantas tightens beltAUSTRALIA'S flag carrier Qantas Airways cancelled orders for 35 Boeing 787-9 jets to cut costs after posting its first annual loss in 17 years due to its struggling international arm.

Mail Online

• Councils' £15m bill for cars damaged by potholes as one in eight motorists suffer damaged vehiclesThe one in three local authorities that responded to a nationwide survey revealed that they had paid out £4.8million after claims by drivers following two harsh winters.

The Mirror

• Pothole of gold: Drivers get £4.8m for damage to their cars caused by damaged roads With the Coalition slashing funding for road maintenance, experts fear the situation could get worse
• Plane clumsy: Baggage cart driver fined £150... for causing £1MILLION damage to plane Terrified passengers had to be evacuated after Dennis Jackson slammed into the SAS Airbus 321

Network Rail

• YOUNG WELSH APPRENTICES ARE WELCOMED ABOARD

Birmingham Post

• Birmingham Airport chief supports campaign for review of air passenger dutyBirmingham Airport supremo Paul Kehoe is backing calls for a ’fair tax on flying’ – after nearly 2,000 West Midlands people joined a campaign to cut Air Passenger Duty (APD).

Derby Telegraph

• Wind turbines help East Midlands Airport become the UK's 'greenest'STAFF at East Midlands Airport are celebrating after reaching their goal to become the first airport in the country to make all ground operations carbon-neutral.

Liverpool Echo

• Ryanair cabin crew charged over cigarette ’smuggle’ at Liverpool John Lennon AirportTWO airline stewards were detained at Liverpool airport after allegedly trying to smuggle 13,800 cigarettes through customs.

Liverpool Post

• Lighter and brighter Liverpool Central station to partially re-open this weekend Read More http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2012/08/23/lighter-and-brighter-liverpool-central-station-to-partially-re-open-this-weekend-99623PASSENGERS will get their first glimpse of the revamped Liverpool Central station this weekend when it partially re-opens.

London Evening Standard

• Ministers want Justine Greening to leave Transport Secretary job in bid to boost third Heathrow runway plansSome ministers and Tory MPs are pressing for Justine Greening to be replaced as Transport Secretary to pave the way for a third runway at Heathrow.

Manchester Evening News

• Thousands jet off from Manchester Airport in search of summer sunThousands of people will jet abroad from Manchester Airport this Bank Holiday weekend in a bid to hunt down some summer sunshine.
• Celebrities back Virgin Rail's campaign to review FirstGroup's West Coast Mainline franchise Celebrity backers have joined more than 50,000 campaigners calling for a review of the decision to end Virgin Rail’s franchise of Manchester to London trains.

Metro

• Star Wars-style hoverbike developed that can get up to 30mphScientists have brought Luke Skywalker™s speeder bike to life... minus the sci-fi weaponry. I™ll take the overground: A prototype hoverbike is tested in the Mojave Desert in California (Picture: Keystone/Rex) Two huge fans keep the prototype ˜hoverbike™ airborne and propel it at speeds of up to 30mph above the ground. The ˜proof-of-concept™ craft has been designed to feel like a real bike “ and it needs no artificial stabilisation and little prior training to use it. But don™t reach for your wallet “ its creators currently have no plans to sell the craft to the public just yet. California-b...

Burnley Express

• Burnley bus timetable protest anger CAMPAIGNERS battling to restore Burnley bus station™s electronic timetable are furious after being ˜snubbed™ at County Hall.

Carlisle News & Star

• CELEBRITIES SIGN-UP TO ONLINE WEST COAST RAILWAY CAMPAIGN Celebrities are backing a campaign to force a U-turn on the Government’s decision to strip Virgin Trains of its West Coast main line franchise.

Crewe Chronicle

• Congleton MP to take ’priority’ Middlewich Railway Station campaign to Parliament CONGLETON MP Fiona Bruce MP has insisted reopening Middlewich’s rail station is her ’priority for the area’.

Other Regional Press

• Airport's low-cost focus boosts passenger figuresPassenger numbers at East Midlands airport have risen despite difficult conditions in the aviation industry.
• Flintshire County Council praised for Shotton Railway Station revamp IMPROVEMENTS to the travel network in Deeside have been commended at a national awards ceremony.
• Nuneaton men jailed for theft of rail cable that caused 50 hours of train delaysFOUR men from Nuneaton who caused 50 hours of delays for commuters by stealing rail cable have been jailed for a total of 11 years.

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• Airport duty 'harming UK export plans'Businesses in London are being deterred from exporting goods because of the Air Passenger Duty (APD).This is the claim that has been made by the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), which revealed 56 per cent of firms in the capital surveyed stated APD is a barrier to trading overseas.According to the organisation's chief executive Colin Stanbridge, exporting is a key part of the UK's economic recovery and "we need to ensure that businesses are given the best environment possible in which to export".He urged politicians to listen to constituents con...

Global Rail News

• Celebrity support helps Virgin petition hits 91,650Celebrities including Jamie Oliver and Lord Sugar have come out in support of Virgin Trains, urging the Government to reconsider Virgin Trains bid for the West Coast franchise. The e-petition is now 9,350 signatures away from being considered for debate in the House of Common Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson said: œThis is a [...]
• Predicting the future of level crossingsMuch has been written, not least in these pages, about safety at level crossings. Any interface between people and moving trains is inherently risky, with both pedestrians and vehicle drivers sometimes prepared to take a chance, occasionally with disastrous results. Naturally, there have been many meetings devoted to the topic. Back in 2002, there were [...]
• Indian Railways to start double-decker services in MumbaiTwo new air-conditioned double-decker services are to be launched on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad and Delhi-Jaipur routes. Indian Railways has announced the additional services on the back of the success of the Howrah-Dhanbad express – the country’s first double-decker train, which connects West Bengal with Jharkand. The train, which will have an operational speed of 110 kmph, [...]
• Crossrail launches BIM academyCrossrail has launched a Building Information Modelling (BIM) academy to provide training to suppliers in the software which is leading the way in railway design technology. Collaborative 3D design has been a core contractual requirement for Crossrail since it began design work in 2008. The entire project exists in a digital 3D model which is [...]
• Jail for man who attacked rail passengers with biroTwo men have been jailed for a total of 10 years after carrying out a series of violent assaults on London’s Tube trains. Tyrone Harris, 29, of Shelley Way, Colliers Wood, and Frankie Spink, 25, of Garratt Lane, Tooting, threatened, assaulted and attempted to steal from passengers on a Northern line train on February 1. [...]
• RailStaff Awards racks up 5,000 votes in first two daysFive-thousand people logged onto the RailStaff Awards website to pick their finalists in the first 48 hours of voting for the 2012 event. The RailStaff Awards recognises those in the rail industry who go above and beyond their day-to-day duties. This year’s event, which will be held October 20, will take on a 1920′s prohibition [...]
• Report urges ministers to end war on rail passengersRail users are being hit twice as hard as motorists, with higher fares and cuts in services, according to a report by a UK thinktank. A report by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has recommended the Government invests in rail and bus services, while pushing forward planned fuel duty increases, to help cash-strapped [...]
• Display yard set for Railtex debutRailtex 2013 will feature a yard for displaying railway plant and equipment. Following The Yard™s highly successful introduction at the Infrarail exhibition at the NEC in Birmingham, organisers have decided to use the concept at Railtex. Supported by the Rail Plant Association, The Yard enables companies to display previously unexhibitable vehicles and machines. Says  exhibition [...]

Rail Technology Magazine

• Firstco Facilitates Heathrow Express Integration to British Transport Police London CCTV Hub Firstco has successfully integrated Heathrow Express' CCTV network into the British Transport Police's (BTP) London CCTV Hub system.
• Fyra High-Speed Train V250, branded as Fyra in the Netherlands and Belgium, is a high-speed electric multiple unit manufactured by AnsaldoBreda. It runs on High-Speed Line 4 in Belgium and HSL Zuid in the Netherlands, connecting Brussels and Amsterdam.

Railnews

• Docklands Light Railway celebrates 21 years Celebrations have been taking place today to commemorate 21 years of services on the Docklands Light Railway. During the Olympics 7.2 million passengers were carried on the system – twice its normal levels. A new daily record of more than 500,000 passengers was set on 3 August – the seventh day of the Games.
• Souter to step down as Stagecoach chief The co-founder of Stagecoach Group, Brian Souter, is to move out of the chief executive's office next May, becoming chairman instead. Stagecoach owns the South West Trains and East Midlands Trains franchises and has a 49 per cent stake in Virgin Rail Group. It is also the operator of South Yorkshire Supertram as well as many bus companies in Britain and overseas, including the United States.

Aviation Industry

• Deadline for Bmi slot bids loomsAirlines to submit applications for Heathrow slots being given up by British Airways
• Lufthansa faces crunch talks with unionCabin crew union agrees to five days of talks with airline but also prepares for possible strike

Other News Sources

• Trans-Pennine rail cleaners to strike again over pay 'insult'CLEANERS, security staff and train despatchers on the Trans-Pennine Express employed by Carlisle Cleaning and Support Services are to strike for 24 hours tomorrow (Friday August 24) after scrooge bosses refused to budge from a sub-inflation pay offer.
• Costain operating profits up 16pcCostain™s operating profits increased by 16 per cent in the first half of 2012 as infrastructure profits doubled.
• MAG announces strong trading performanceHighlightsbull; Encouraging progress made on re-shaping the business whilst delivering on key measuresbull; Passenger numbers increased by 1.5m (6.7%) to 24.0m passengersbull; Revenue growth* ...
• EAST MIDLANDS BECOMES FIRST UK AIRPORT TO ACHIEVE CARBON NEUTRALITY East Midlands Airport has today announced that it is the first airport in the UK to have reached its challenging target of carbon neutral ground operations by 2012.The airport made a commitment...
• Online petition backing Virgin Trains goes past 70,000 mark Branson continues the fight to overturn West Coast mainline rail decision