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

Friday, 14 September 2012

BBC News

• Wiltshire railway links improved in £6m scheme Almost £6m is to be spent improving facilities for cyclists and pedestrians at railway stations in Wiltshire.
• Work to begin on £21.5m Ipswich travel scheme Work on a key part of a £21.5m transport scheme in Ipswich will begin on 24 September.
• New Thames Estuary airport proposal unveiled New proposals for a floating airport in the Thames Estuary have been unveiled. Proposals for London Britannia Airport, designed by architects Gensler, include four floating runways tethered to the sea bed.
• Locals win UN tram impact rulingA group of Edinburgh residents wins a UN ruling against the city council over the environmental impact of the controversial trams project.

Department for Transport

• Transport StatisticsStatistics release for vehicle licensing, port freight and reliability of journeys on Highway Agency's motorways and 'A' roads.

Financial Times

• Heathrow: Back in line London’s main airport avoided humiliation during the Olympics but with the party over, concerns are returning
• Virgin spurs planning for nationalised rail lineIf court grants request for judicial review of West Coast bid, length of time legal battle would take triggers radical move

The Guardian

• £95-a-ticket Olympic boats company sinks after chariots of ire Water Chariots, which ran river transport to the Games but provoked fury with its prices, appears to have gone bust
• Heathrow third runway: poll reveals public split Tory supporters tend to emphasise economic gains, while Labour and Lib Dem voters focus on environmental concerns
• BA boss advises urgency in resolving UK airport capacity question Keith Matthews claims that 'time is not on the country's side' on the issue. The boss of British Airways has claimed that the question of hub airport capacity needed resolving urgently if UK citizens were to "sustain a decent standard of living in decades to come".

The Herald

• Ruling on pollution dataEDINBURGH residents who complained about traffic pollution due to tram works have won a partial victory in a bid to have information released by the council.
• Tourists stranded as ferry staff strikeAROUND 400 British holidaymakers were stuck in the north of France after a strike by ferry workers.
• Three-year delay for west coast ferry bidding processA COMPETITION to run the CalMac network of ferry services off Scotland's west coast has been delayed by three years amid a privatisation row, a union has claimed.
• New car purchases rise 4%PURCHASES of new cars have recovered significantly since the start of Britain's economic crisis in 2008 but remain lower than a decade earlier, figures show.

The Telegraph

• Speed cameras are coming backThe number of motorists caught speeding is set to rise as enforcement cameras make a comeback across the country.
• MPs call for buses smartcardPay as you go smartcards should be introduced for bus travel across the country, an all-party committee of MPs have said in a report published today.

Press Association

• Salmond ready for PM aviation talks Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond will meet the Prime Minister and the heads of the devolved administrations next week.

Transport Committee

• Transport Committee to publish report, Plugged in vehicles, plugged in policy? The Committee has agreed to publish its Fourth Report of Session 2012–13, Plugged in vehicles, plugged in policy? (HC 239), at 00.01 am on Thursday 20 September.
• Transport Committee pledges to scrutinise the Government’s aviation strategy The Transport Committee has today published the terms of reference for a new inquiry that will examine the Government's aviation strategy and will focus on aviation capacity in the UK.
• Give priority to improvement of bus services, says Commons Transport Committee Bus services remain the Cinderella of public transport, warn MPs. The Government and bus industry need to show more leadership to raise the standard of bus services.

Mail Online

• Nissan recalls 50,000 of its cars to inspect possible steering wheel defectsThe voluntary recall - which includes 7,000 models in the UK - is thought to affect the car manufacturer's Qashqai SUV (pictured) range and its NV200 vans.
• Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley... on the No. 25: Vandalised bus stop is given Daphne du Maurier-style makeover by creative villagersThe bus stop in Fowey, Cornwall, was first given a make-over in 2006 by Jane Tinsley and every year since it is re-painted and furnished to take on a different theme.

Bristol Live

• Bus market overhaul is an 'expensive gamble'COUNCIL bosses face "significant obstacles" in their attempts to overhaul Bristol's bus system, MPs have warned.

Journal Live

• Tyneside bus firms have to respect the law says MPBUS companies on Tyneside have been warned to back down from threats of a “scorched earth” policy in a war over services.

Liverpool Echo

• Merseyrail delays after Liverpool Central signalling problemsCOMMUTERS are facing delays on Merseyrail services this morning due to signalling problems around Liverpool Central.

London Evening Standard

• The mothership lands: A striking new design for airport which could solve crisisNew plans for a floating airport in the Thames Estuary have been unveiled by a major global architecture firm.
• Triple line misery for Tube commutersThree separate signals failures caused widespread travel chaos on the Tube today.
• Nissan recalls faulty vehiclesCar company Nissan is recalling thousands of vehicles due to a possible steering wheel problem.

Newcastle Evening Chronicle

• Metro line at South Gosforth to close for upgradeTHE Metro network’s busiest section of line will be closed for six days while major engineering work takes place.
• Nissan to recall thousands of their Qashqai modelsNISSAN is to recall thousands of its Qashqai model amid concerns over its steering wheel. Some 51,000 cars will be recalled globally, with around 7,000 expected to be seen in the UK.

Northern Echo

• Nissan recalls 48,000 cars over steering wheel fears NISSAN has confirmed that about 7,000 Sunderland-made Qashqai vehicles are being recalled in the UK due to a steering wheel fault.

Nottingham Evening Post

• Disabled access arriving at Beeston railway station at lastIMPROVEMENTS to disabled access at Beeston railway station are finally under way. The plans have been in the offing for more than a year after Broxtowe Borough Council approved the work last September.

Other Regional Press

• Thousands of new apprenticeships at Cheltenham engineering firmEngineering firm GE Aviation, based in Bishop's Cleeve, has agreed to plough thousands of pounds into the Government scheme. It could see hundreds of young people across the county being taken on as trainees at the company.
• MP RORY DELIGHTED WITH SUCCESS OF BATTLE FOR LIFT AT TRAIN STATION PENRITH MP Rory Stewart has given a lift to the town’s railway station – quite literally.
• Euro-MP™s fear for classic carsProposals by the European Commission that could force British classic cars off the road have been slammed by a Lancashire MEP.
• Bus firm bids for patient transportA bus company is bidding to take over the running of North West Ambulance’s Patient Transport Service, it has been revealed.
• Striking sci-fi plan for estuary airportA leading architect has unveiled striking designs of its vision for a Thames Estuary airport that wouldn't look out of place in a science fiction film.
• Transport minister Norman Baker visits Elland and talks about cycling, trains and the M62 - Give us your viewsRAIL electrification will bring about major economic benefits, a transport minister has insisted.
• Bus firm steps in to save dumped Aberdeen routeA DUMPED bus route has been thrown a vital lifeline after a rival firm adopted the service.

Global Rail News

• Crossrail launches employment driveCrossrail will hold an open event tonight to give job seekers the chance to work on Europe’s biggest rail infrastructure project. At the peak of construction, 14,000 workers will be involved in the project across London. Last week project leaders announced that they had completed the first tunnelling œbreakthrough at the Limmo Peninsular worksite, near [...]
• New team for transportThe new ministerial team at the DfT combines a former Staffordshire coal miner, an African educated historian with the continuing wisdom of Norman Baker of the Lib Dems. The welcome return of popular former shadow transport minister, Stephen Hammond, completes the new line up. Justine Greening, now exiled to International Development, will be remembered for [...]
• Railway wedding for Aisha and BenMaking your Wedding Day memorable is important and Ben Howells™ idea of taking the train to and from the nuptials achieved just that. Aisha Allarakhia and Ben Howells of Ipswich together with family and friends travelled on the 1200 Greater Anglia Sunday service from Manningtree to Harwich, for their wedding service at the Electric Palace, [...]
• Iconic New York subway cars readied for final runNew York’s iconic R32 subway cars have undergone their final makeover before a brand new fleet comes into service in 2014. The “Brightliners”, which were first introduced on to the network in 1964, were the largest fleet of stainless steel cars purchased by New York City Transit. The remaining 222 cars of the original 600-car [...]
• 70% want end to rail privatisationSeventy per cent of people want to see Britain’s railways renationalised, according to a new survey. The poll, which was carried out by research agency GfK NOP,  asked 1,000 members of the public ‘Do you think UK rail should be returned to public ownership?’. Results showed that 70 per cent would like to see the [...]
• Team to tackle Mont Blanc for Railway ChildrenA team of five, including the managing director of Kelly Integrated Transport Services, John Tuite, are on their way to the Alps to tackle Mont Blanc. Along with fellow climbing newcomers Dave Burgess, Chris Lukehurst, Matt Sercombe and John Westwood, Tuite will traverse the mountain range this weekend to raise money for the Railway Children [...]
• New life for Moscow™s Little Ring RailwayThe president of Russian Railways has met with government officials in Moscow to discuss the redevelopment of the city’s Little Ring Railway – a once vibrant passenger railway which now serves just a few industrial sites on the outskirts of the Russian capital. Vladimir Yakunin spoke with city mayor Sergei Sobyanin this week about upcoming [...]
• New Shinkansen high-speed train design unveiledThe design concept for the new Hokuriku to Kanazawa high-speed train has been revealed. The new Hokuriku Shinkansen railcars, which are being developed jointly by JR East and JR West, will feature a 12-car configuration, with a maximum operating speed of 260 km/h. Among the special features, the new railcars will also be equipped with [...]

Aviation Industry

• UK business trips continue to increaseOutbound corporate travel is outperforming holiday market in 2012

Other News Sources

• RMT General Secretary Bob Crow in Plymouth tomorrow as union continues with pay ballot on First Devon and Cornwall buses.RMT General Secretary Bob Crow will be in Plymouth tomorrow meeting with branches and members as the union pushes on with a ballot of groups of staff on First Devon and Cornwall buses in a dispute over pay.
• RMT finalises preparations for ballot as West Coast franchise award sinks deeper into chaosRAIL UNION RMT confirmed today that it is finalising preparations for an industrial action ballot as the fiasco over the award of the West Coast franchise , which has left staff not knowing who they will be working for on the 9th December and without any guarantees on jobs and working conditions, continues to rumble on.
• Mayor announces new appointments to TfL Board as work continues to invest and upgrade London™s transport network 13 September 2012 New appointments bring experience from infrastructure, environment, retail, investment, transport and construction Industries Board to oversee continuing investment in and improvements to transport network as TfL builds on 2012 Games success The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has made some important new appointments to the Transport for London Board as the organisation continues its huge programme of investment in and upgrade of the capital™s transport network. ...
• London 2012 airspace restrictions come to an endAll airspace restrictions relating to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games have now been lifted, the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) confirmed today. The last restricted zone, shown as P114 on aviation charts, in place for the Paralympic Games, ended at midnight on Wednesday 12 September. Praising the role of the General Aviation community in keeping infringements of the restricted zones to a bare minimum during the summer, the CAA's Chief Executive, Andrew Haines, said:
• Regus and Swiss rail operator agree partnershipFirms to provide flexible working space for business travellers at major train stations in Switzerland