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

Thursday, 27 September 2012

BBC News

• Brittany Ferries strike 'will not threaten future in Plymouth' A labour dispute by some French staff of Brittany Ferries poses no threat to the company's long-term future in Plymouth, the firm has said.
• Scottish Government to boost eco-friendly bus purchases The Scottish government is to provide an additional £2.5m to encourage bus companies to buy environmentally-friendly vehicles.
• Driverless cars bill is signedNew legislation to bring driverless cars to California roads has been signed
• More money for eco-friendly busesThe Scottish government provides an additional £2.5m to encourage bus companies to buy environmentally-friendly vehicles.
• Airline chairman to leave postLoganair Chairman Scott Grier announces that he is to leave the post after 36 years with 'Scotland's airline'.
• Bus lanes 'need time to bed in'A controversial new bus lane system in Belfast city centre needs to be given time to settle in, says Stormont Transport Minister Danny Kennedy.

The Herald

• Scotland's ferry operatorsCALMAC is the biggest ferry operator in Scotland, with a route network stretching from the Clyde and Argyll islands to the Inner and Outer Hebrides.
• Contest for ferry services delayedCALEDONIAN MacBrayne, the publicly funded ferry operator, has been granted a three-year contract to run west coast services after a tender competition for the routes was delayed.
• Warning train fleet won't be ready for handoverTRAINS between London and Glasgow could be forced to operate in

The Scotsman

• Slashed fees will turn us into car park HOMEOWNERS have accused city transport chiefs of attempting to turn their neighbourhood into a “mega car park” by introducing new cut-price parking charges.

Daily Express

• Virgin boss recruits high-flyer...aged 10!SIR Richard Branson recruited the help of 10-year-old Billy Yeomans to advise on a £50million refit of Virgin Atlantic's holiday fleet of 747 jets.

ATOC

• National Rail travel bulletinThe vast majority of trains are running as normal today despite the bad weather. In the last two hours 90% of trains were on time across the rail network, and there are currently only eight services...

Network Rail

• BRIDGE IMPROVEMENTS IN HELPRINGHAM, LINCS

Belfast Telegraph

• The plan is called Belfast On The Move, but the result was a city at a standstill The pouring rain washing away the last of our summer transformed Belfast’s new-look roads system into a makeshift car park on Tuesday. For several hours the city’s main arterial routes were gridlocked as vehicles sat bumper-to-bumper at the height of the morning rush hour.
• Translink rolling out £29m spend on programme to upgrade its fleetTransport firm Translink is to spend £29m on new buses for Northern Ireland.Related StoriesOperator says 4G will revolutionise mobile technologyNew seafood eatery will be hard to baitLib Dems to get tough on taxesFoster holds US talks in bid to help workers at FG WilsonArgos creates 425 new jobs for festive season

Bolton News

• Trains getting back to normal following mass cancellations TRAIN passengers were today stranded at Bolton Railway Station after flooding further up the line caused cancellations.

Derby Telegraph

• Boost for Bombardier hopes as Treasury chief promises money for Crossrail trainsTHE Government says it will offer to guarantee private funding to buy trains for a rail project which Derby train-maker Bombardier is hoping to build. In his speech to Lib Dem party conference yesterday, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander said the Government would guarantee the funding to ensure the 60 new carriages were delivered on time.

London Evening Standard

• ˜Banish buses in Oxford Street™ A campaign to rid Oxford Street of its bumper-to-bumper œgreat red wall of buses is launched today.
• London's oldest Tube train makes its final journeyThe oldest Tube train on London Underground made its final journey today after more than 50 years in service.

Manchester Evening News

• Metrolink's next trams to have extra seats following passenger pleaTransport chiefs say 20 new vehicles that have been placed on order will have eight extra seats “ taking the total number to 60 per carriage.

Wales Online

• Is Google right to say driverless cars will be on sale by 2022? Governor of California Jerry Brown has signed state legislation that will pave the way for driverless cars. Here Darren Devine talks to Welsh experts on whether the future of motoring has any place for driving

Bucks Free Press

• MP calls for HS2 consultation to start again DAVID Lidington has called for a flawed consultation into the HS2 project to be restarted.

Other Regional Press

• First Bus reveals routes shake-up A RADICAL overhaul of bus routes across the region has been announced by First Group.
• Geography lesson for transport office LEIGH MP Andy Burnham has blasted out-of-touch Government ministers for not knowing which county Leigh is in. The Shadow Secretary of State for Health launched his attack after a letter from the Department for Transport stated that building a new railway line would be a matter for Lancashire County Council.
• £138K village road link plans welcomedCOUNCILLORS have welcomed plans to build a £138,000 road to link up two areas of a village.

Bus and Coach.com

• Weavaway acquires Tappins CoachesMichelle Wadsworth and Simon Weaver of Weavaway are buying Tappins Coaches of Didcot from Heyfordian Holdings.

Global Rail News

• Work begins on Doncaster sleeper factorySite works for a new sleeper factory in the north of England will begin next week. Once complete, the Doncaster site will supply hundreds of thousands of concrete sleepers for Network Rail’s extensive programme of track improvement works. Martin Elwood, director of Network Rail™s national delivery service, said: œThis factory is crucial if we are [...]
• A Stock trains make final journeyLondon Underground’s A Stock trains will make their final run tonight after 50 years serving the capital’s Tube network. The Metropolitan Line trains, which first started operating on the line in 1961, will carry commuters this evening before a final heritage run on Saturday (September 29). Massive investment in London’s Underground network has seen 191 [...]

Aviation Industry

• British Airways to offer automatic check-in Carrier unveils trial of new automated service for passengers

Other News Sources

• Is Heathrow Really So Noisy as to Warrant its Closure?According to figures supplied by the Montreal-based Airports Council International, in 2011 London Heathrow Airport advanced one peg in the world passenger rankings to No 3 - beating Chicago O'Hare International - with a total throughput of over 69.4 million, an increase over the previous year of 5.4 per cent. Plane movements averaged 1,305 per day, affecting, if some critics of Britain's only true hub airport's expansion plans are to be believed, some two million people!
• Comment: Time to get serious about HeathrowBritain today stands at a crossroads, and needs to decide whether it wants to continue to be at the heart of global transport and trade routes, or a second rate destination at the end of a branch line.