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

Wednesday, 12 September 2012

BBC News

• Swiss airline ends Cardiff flightA Swiss airline withdraws its flights from Cardiff to Zurich for the winter blaming low passenger numbers.
• VIDEO: House of CommonsChancellor George Osborne has insisted that south-east England
• Minister transport priorities wrong: Transform Scotland Campaign group Transform Scotland says Scottish ministers have got their priorities wrong when it comes to transport policy.

Financial Times

• US rail groups track shale boomConcern grows that railways profiting from early stages of the latest energy discoveries could be setting themselves up to serve a disappearing market

The Herald

• Airport numbers increaseScotland's airports saw a rise in passenger numbers in August, bucking the overall trend across the UK.
• Calls for transport policy shiftTHE sustainable transport lobby is demanding that next week's Scottish Budget provides a boost to bus travel, walking and cycling and a shift away from big road building projects.
• £170,000 seats bill for ScotRailPASSENGERS damaging seats by sticking chewing gum on them or putting their feet up cost ScotRail £170,000 in penalties last year.

The Telegraph

• David Cameron made a mistake by ruling out an expansion of Heathrow; he's right to consider it now - Lord TebbitThe Government is certainly in great difficulties over its lack of any coherent strategy for airports.
• Virgin's Sir Richard Branson still steaming as Tim O'Toole chugs round the MPs It had been billed as an attempt to recreate the Golden Age of Steam.

Daily Express

• Boost for BombardierNEW Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin has given a boost to workers at Britain's last train plant.

Mail Online

• Cornwall harbour for sale: Port comes with two beaches and its own ice cream parlourThe tiny Grade II-listed port at Charlestown in Cornwall which overlooks St Austell Bay, has been in private ownership for nearly 20 years.

Edinburgh Evening News

• Edinburgh to slash all-day parking fee to £3TRANSPORT chiefs are set to press ahead with plans to cut the price of all-day parking charges in central Edinburgh, despite claims the move will bring more traffic into the city centre.

Liverpool Echo

• Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson accuses government of breaking rules over West Coast Main Line franchiseMINISTERS “did not follow their own rules” when they stripped Virgin Rail of the Liverpool to London rail franchise, a furious Sir Richard Branson told MPs.

London Evening Standard

• Tories ’could face a disaster if PM dithers on Heathrow’ A London Tory MP today warned that David Cameron’s strategy of delaying a decision on the aviation crisis could “spectacularly backfire”. Heaping yet more pressure on the Prime Minister over airports, backbencher Mark Field said the move could lead to an electoral “disaster” for the Tories in the capital.

Manchester Evening News

• MP Graham Stringer: Raise driving age to 18 and cut death toll on the roadsAn MP has called for the driving age to be increased to 18 after the M.E.N. reported how a string of Premier League stars have been caught breaking the laws of the road. Blackley and Broughton MP Graham Stringer also called for insurance companies to oblige new drivers to install ˜black box™ technology in their cars to record how they drive.

Metro

• Richard Branson: It's bad for the country if Virgin Trains loses West Coast main line contractSir Richard Branson has told MPs it will be 'bad for the country' if his company Virgin Trains is stripped of the West Coast main line. Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson leaves the Houses of Parliament in London after giving evidence to the Transport Committee (Picture: AFP/Getty) He said the government™s rail franchise bidding system was flawed as it had allowed rival First Group to beat him by promising to pay too much.'The First Group bid is absolutely preposterous when you examine it. It is taking the system for a ride literally,' he said.'A successful West Coast franchise is vital for the...

The York Press

• Digital advertising displays at York Station turned down RAIL bosses have been blocked in their bid to put up digital advertising displays at York Station because they could damage the appearance of the historic building.

Yorkshire Post

• Rural areas face ˜transport poverty™PEOPLE living in rural parts of Yorkshire are increasingly finding it difficult to access essential goods and services because of spiralling fuel and transport costs, a charity is warning.

Bucks Free Press

• Tunnelling experts to address anti-HS2 meeting TUNNELLING experts will address a public meeting on Sunday as the battle to derail the controversial HS2 plan continues.

Carlisle News & Star

• No rise on cards for Carlisle taxi fares this year Taxi fares in Carlisle are likely to be frozen this year.

Other Regional Press

• New transport MP ’good’ for station bidThe appointment of a Derbyshire MP as Transport Minister has been hailed as ’good news’ for Ilkeston’s bid for a train station.
• Branson: I™ll protect Virgin staffTycoon Richard Branson has said he will find jobs for any workers cut as part of plans to hand over the West Coast Main Line to a rival.

Construction Enquirer

• Drivers move cones on M60 to cut through road works Motorists on the M60 and M56 in south Manchester are ignoring diversions and driving through roadworks.

Global Rail News

• Engineering work returns to Tube after Olympic breakEngineering work on the capital’s Underground network will restart later this month after being put on hold for London 2012. Maintenance work on key lines will be carried out, with new signalling systems set to be installed on the Northern, Metropolitan, District and Circle lines. The Tube carried more than 60 million passenger journeys during [...]
• Handing back West Coast would œdestroy First Group as a rail operator “ O™TooleHanding back the keys to the West Coast would “destroy” First Group’s ability to run a rail business in the country, said chief executive Tim O’Toole. Addressing MPs yesterday, O’Toole said he saw no chance of First Group pulling out of the franchise. Earlier in the hearing Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson described First Group’s [...]
• War in the WestMost rail chiefs will tell you the most important people in a railway company are the staff. A company like Virgin Trains or First Capital Connect does not own the tracks on which it runs nor the trains it uses. Even the stations are leased from Network Rail which also operates the infrastructure. However when [...]
• Europorte handed five-year Strasbourg contractThe Port Autonome de Strasbourg has awarded a five-year infrastructure maintenance contract to Europorte. A team of 10 from the rail freight operating subsidiary of the Eurotunnel Group will also manage railway operations at the multimodal port which is based on the Rhine. Composed of a main site in Strasbourg itself, which has 320 companies [...]
• French blast Rihanna over rail riotFrench rail chiefs have called Rihanna irresponsible after she tweeted her arrival time and platform at Gare du Nord in Paris. In the ensuing riot fans besieged the station as the star with just one bodyguard arrived on a Eurostar. Screaming youngsters flocked to the station on a Saturday night to catch a glimpse of [...]
• Algeo joins Parsons BrinckerhoffEngineering consultancy Parsons Brinckerhoff has appointed Richard Algeo to the rail business technical leadership team in charge of delivering engineering services on major rail infrastructure projects. Algeo has more than 30 years’ experience of major civil engineering design on railway and other transportation projects. Much of his most recent experience has been on railway and [...]

London TravelWatch

• Access denied at Key Rail Interchange “ watchdog seeks answersLondon TravelWatch is seeking an explanation as to why disabled access is not being provided during major enhancement works at Alexandra Palace “ and why important regulations appear to have been bypassed.

Railnews

• Virgin claims DfT 'broke rules' over West Coast More details have emerged of why Virgin Trains has started legal action against the Department for Transport, following the award of the Intercity West Coast franchise to FirstGroup. But what had appeared to be a general attack by Virgin on the DfT's methods of analysing franchise bids has now become an accusation that the Department broke its own rules in the case of West Coast.

The Business Desk

• Aerospace supplier Avingtrans sees record turnover as sector flies AEROSPACE group Avingtrans has announced record turnover as the continued strength of its principal markets helped offset weakening trends in the energy and medical sectors.

Stagecoach Group

• STAGECOACH STAFF BENEFIT FROM £1 MILLION OF NEW BIKES THROUGH CYCLE TO WORK SCHEMEAlmost 1500 of the company’s bus drivers and support staff, as well as employees at Stagecoach’s Group headquarters in Perth, have taken advantage of the scheme, which helps support a healthier, more sustainable lifestyle.

Aviation Industry

• BAA's 'pride' over Heathrow™s Olympic performanceAirport hopes to harness Games' experience to continue improving services

Other News Sources

• 35 million face risk of debt just from getting around Over one-and-a-half million people living in England are at serious risk of being cut off from work and healthcare[1] because of rising costs of owning and running a car, and a lack of alternatives. Thirty-five million of us are facing the prospect of debt just from getting around, a new report by charity Sustrans, backed by anti-poverty campaigners, reveals today.
• Adonis to chair North East economic reviewFormer transport secretary Lord Adonis is to chair a review of the North East economy, the North East Local Enterprise Partnership (NELEP) has announced.