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

Wednesday, 26 September 2012

BBC News

• Pupils 'adopt' Plockton railway after litter complaints Schoolchildren have taken responsibility for keeping a railway station tidy after complaints about some pupils dropping litter.
• Norwich to London weekend rail travel disruption cutEngineering work on the Norwich to London rail line is to be cut drastically at weekends.
• The Midlands: Ed Miliband's political weather vaneYour questions for Ed Miliband. West Coast Mainline. High-speed rail. Birmingham Airport
• Thousands face Monday bus strikeThousands of bus passengers in south and west Wales could be left stranded on Monday after First Cymru bus drivers and engineers vote for strike action.
• £29m for 145 new Translink busesTransport Minister Danny Kennedy announces a £29m investment in new Goldline and Metro buses for Northern Ireland.
• Ford to axe 'hundreds' of jobsUS car giant Ford says it will cut several hundred jobs in Europe because of declining demand, including in the UK and Germany.
• Japan car makers cut China outputNissan Motor and Toyota Motor are cutting their output in China which is the world's biggest car market.

Financial Times

• Toyota to reduce China-bound productionThe Japanese carmaker expects less demand following demonstrations that were triggered by a territorial dispute in the East China Sea
• Brussels to push for EU-US airline mergersWashington would have to relax its stringent foreign ownership rules but it may refuse to do so because of European carbon emissions fees

The Scotsman

• Edinburgh will be ’relaunched’ after trams are completedA £2.2 MILLION campaign is being planned to “relaunch” Edinburgh city centre when the tram system is finally up and running.

The Telegraph

• Smartcard to pave way for ticketless trainsTransport ministers have been accused of paving the way for the closure of hundreds of railway ticket offices. The row was triggered by Norman Baker as he promoted the virtues of smart-ticketing, which would see passengers being charged the lowest possible fare for their journey.

Times Online

• Potential cyclists ’too scared’ to ride, says Transport Minister Potential cyclists are too scared to ride on the roads, holding back the uptake of cycling in Britain, the Transport Minister admitted in an interview with The Times.

Mail Online

• No more tickets, please! New smartcard billing on the railways which will always find you the cheapest fare The end of the famous orange ticket will stop commuters paying out for season tickets that they never use Paperless travel will make it harder for fare dodgers, ministers claim ahead of new technology rolling out next year

This is Money

• Santander credit card pays back 3% of train tickets costBorrowers who pay for rail fares on Santander’s 123 credit card will be able to get 3 per cent of the cost of future tickets back.

Belfast Telegraph

• Gauging funding for our public transportIn the year to March 2012, Government support for Translink services cost a record £185.2m. Of this amount, £108.8m was towards capital investment and £76.4m towards operating costs. In the same year, passengers paying fares contributed £120.4m.

Birmingham Mail

• Government minister urges transport secretary to reopen HS2 consultationA FOREIGN Office minister has urged new Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin to consider reopening a controversial consultation into the High Speed 2 rail project.

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Major disruption for rail passengers after trains cancelled in North WalesHundreds of rail passengers’ face major disruption after train operators warned services this evening (tues) are due to be cancelled after torrential rain.

London Evening Standard

• £240m bailout to prevent further Crossrail delays The Government gave a £240 million boost to the Crossrail project today in a bid to avoid further delays to Europe’s largest building scheme.
• ’Cycle lanes in the sky’ project moves up a gearA plan to create a network of “cycle lanes in the sky” across London will move a step closer today when the men behind the idea meet transport bosses to discuss possible test sites.

Metro

• Cable thief 'used trains as a knife to cut up his spoils'A thief stole 800m (2,600ft) of cable from a railway line and laid it across the tracks so trains would cut it for him, a court heard.Kevin Skelton was jailed for a year for his role in a gang that took 267kg of the metal from the East Coast main line over five successive nights. Kevin Skelton was jailed for a year (Picture: Getty) Skelton, 21, was caught after giving his real name but a false address when selling the strips at a scrapyard.The cable was redundant but had been chopped into manageable 4m strips by trains passing over it, the court heard. ˜It sold for £1,068 but the overall cost...

Nottingham Evening Post

• Tulyar commented A new line on the legacy of Beeching's axeIT'S nothing new to hear enthusiasts claim that the old Great Central Railway mainline through Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire...

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• Big stores™ rivalry cuts 3p off the price of fuelA price war started at the forecourts last night after two of the UK™s biggest supermarkets announced they are cutting 3p off the price of fuel.

The York Press

• Bus firm scraps free service for students YORK™S biggest bus operator has come under fire after scrapping a free bus service between the University of York ™s old and new campuses.

Burnley Express

• Burnley™s Manchester Road train station design divides opinionA PROPOSED fin feature for a new train station building in Burnley has been branded as “hideous” and “rubbish” by local councillors.

Other Regional Press

• Public exhibitions on major transport scheme to be heldPublic exhibitions outlining a package of measures to improve bus journey times and reduce congestion on a major route into Leicester are to be held.
• Transport Minister urges no expansion at GatwickThere should be no expansion at Gatwick Airport but a high-speed rail connection with Heathrow – dubbed 'Heathwick' – should be looked into.

Forbes

• Wireless: The Missing Piece of the Intelligent Transport PuzzleIEEE experts have recently identified driverless cars as the most viable form of intelligent transport, set to dominate the roadway by 2040 and s

Bus and Coach.com

• Free bus travel boosts active lifestyleConcessionary travel may encourage older people to be more active, according to a study by Imperial College London which over a period of four years analysed the travel patterns of almost 17,000 people looking both at those who had free bus passes and those who did not.
• Translink taking 145 new vehiclesA £29million investment in new vehicles for Translink was announced this week.
• Wireless-charge battery buses for MKAn Arriva service in Milton Keynes is to be converted to battery-electric operation next summer using a fleet of eight Wrightbus StreetLites which will incorporate wireless recharging, a technology not previously seen in Britain.

Global Rail News

• Shadow looms over future of station ticket officesA shadow has been cast over the long-term future of station ticket offices by transport minister Norman Baker. Mr Baker’ s aspiration is for the majority of passengers to use smart ticketing, which would see passengers being charged the lowest possible fair for their journey, and not have to use a ticket office. The minister [...]
• Crossrail rolling stock to receive funding guaranteeThe Government has guaranteed private funding for the £1 billion Crossrail rolling stock order to ensure carriages are delivered to the network on time. In a speech to the Liberal Democrats autumn conference in Brighton today, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander will name Crossrail as the first project to be offered a new [...]
• BridgeZone backs Rail Engineer of the YearLeading difficult-to-access inspection specialist BridgeZone Ltd, is backing the Rail Engineer of the Year at the RailStaff Awards. œThe rail industry is keen to attract, develop and retain railway engineers, says Tom O™Connor, managing director of the Rail Media Group. œRail engineers are among the most respected professionals on the railway. It is time we [...]
• Victorian ticket hall restoredThe historic Crystal Palace station ticket hall has been reopened as part of a £7.5 million upgrade of the Grade 2 listed building. Transport for London’s (TfL’s) chief operating officer for rail, Howard Smith, cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony which marks the half way milestone in the Victorian station’s multi-million pound refurbishment. He [...]
• Rain disrupts rail services across northern EnglandDisruption on Britain’s rail network has continued for a second day, as heavy rain affects services across northern England. Services run by Arriva Trains Wales, CrossCountry, East Coast, First TransPennine Express, Northern Rail and Virgin Trains have either been severely affected or cancelled completely. Torrential rain has flooded routes between York and Edinburgh, Crewe and [...]
• Amey holding talks to prevent strike actionAmey Rail is holding emergency talks today to try and prevent workers from going on strike this weekend in a dispute over pay. Members have decided to hold a 24-hour strike from 2pm on Saturday, September 29. RMT general secretary Bob Crow claimed that the company had now withdrawn their original offer. He said: œAmey [...]
• £23m overhaul for Class 455sStagecoach South West’s (SSW) fleet of 91 four-car Class 455 EMUs are to undergo a £23 million refurbishment. Porterbrook Leasing Company Ltd, which will begin work on the project in November, will carry out an exterior repaint in two-pack paint, a major overhaul of the passenger and crew door systems, and a heavy clean of [...]
• DB consultancy sets up Brazil officeDeutsche Bahn’s (DB) international consultancy arm is setting up a new national company in South America to take advantage of Brazil’s boom in infrastructure projects. DB International Brasil, which will be based out of Rio De Janeiro, will handle contracts won by DB as part of preparations for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 [...]

The Business Desk

• Passenger revenues rise 9% at Northern Rail NORTHERN Rail recorded pre-tax profits of £38.53m last year after growing passenger revenue by 9% to £16.9m.

Other News Sources

• Lib Dem Transport Minister admits to plan to wipe out rail ticket officesRAIL UNION RMT this morning slammed highly-secretive and advanced Government plans to axe ticket offices and rail station staff as transport minister Norman Baker let slip at the Lib Dem Conference last night that he has caved in to demands from the greedy train operators to abolish paper tickets.
• RMT announces further strike dates at Amey Rail as company adopts bully-boy tactics over 2012 pay awardRAIL UNION RMT announced further strike dates in a pay and conditions dispute with rail infra-structure contractor Amey as it emerged that, rather than engaging in meaningful talks aimed at resolving the issues, the company have now resorted to pure bully-boy tactics by withdrawing their interim pay offer that was on the table and under discussion.
• Crossrail £1bn rolling stock confirmed as first UK Guarantees scheme Crossrail’s £1 billion rolling stock has been confirmed by Danny Alexander as the first scheme to receive government support through the UK Guarantees initiative.
• Government will guarantee private finance for Crossrail trains The government will provide further financial backing to the £14.5bn London Crossrail rail project by guaranteeing the private funding used to purchase trains for the new line, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander has revealed.
• Public sector giants sharing their expertise in transportBURTON’S two biggest public sector organisations have joined forces to share the skills of an experienced manager. Burton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Queen’s Hospital, and East Staffordshire Borough Council are now sharing the services of Paul Campbell. Mr Campbell is the council?s transport manager but was appointed dually as the hospital?s head of waste disposal, transport and car parking on a three month contract
• Could overhead cycle lanes be future of London commuting?An ambitious plan to attach cycle lanes above the existing overground rail network in and around London is being developed by an architecture firm.