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

Monday, 15 October 2012

BBC News

• West Coast Main Line bid probe 'must be external' The investigation into the scrapping of the West Coast Main Line contract must be carried out by an independent expert, Labour has urged.
• Work to ease busy station beginsWork to make more room for passengers on the platform at Salford Crescent station is under way.
• Trams closed for engineering workThree of Manchester's tram lines are closed while work to expand the network is carried out.

ITV News

• Busway wins transport award A guided busway dogged by problems while it was being built has won a national transport award.
• Decision due: West Coast Mainline The Government is today expected to announce who will temporarily operate the West Coast Mainline after the franchise deal with First Group collapsed.

Financial Times

• The man behind the brandThe entrepreneur and adventurer Richard Branson tells Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnsonthat he may be getting too old to be the face of his business
• Virgin poised for West Coast extensionPlan is first part of temporary fix coalition is understood to have put in place, which should see incumbent run line until at least August 2013

The Guardian

• Audit costing £1m 'might have stopped' west coast rail fiasco Transport minister has detailed 'serious errors' in the bidding process carried out under Justine Greening

The Herald

• Anger over cuts to free school travel PARENTS are gearing up for a dispute with a council over child safety concerns following plans to make cuts to school transport.
• Airports confirm bird strike increase POTENTIALLY disastrous collisions between birds and aircraft around Scotland's busiest airports are on the increase.
• Borders railway 'could be next capital tram debacle' A PLANNED 35-mile rail network from Scotland's capital into the heart of the Borders is on track to be a repeat of the Edinburgh trams debacle, it has been claimed.
• Boost to bus passengers' legal rights is postponed MOVES to bolster the right to compensation of long-distance coach passengers affected by disrupted or cancelled services have been delayed amid UK Government fears they would cause too much red tape.
• Councils must exercise caution over transport cuts As councils seek to make the budget cuts required of them, every part of their expenditure must come under scrutiny.

The Independent

• Editorial: Cut in haste – repent on the West Coast Main Line The Transport Secretary, Patrick McLoughlin, is expected to announce today what interim arrangements have been agreed for the operation of the West Coast Main Line when Virgin's franchise expires in early December. Whatever the deal – and the likelihood must be an extension of Virgin's mandate until such time as the new franchise has been settled – the cost will be just a fraction of the final price to the taxpayer of this debacle, which has been conservatively estimated at £40m.
• Did 'brutal' cuts cause West Coast rail fiasco? Whitehall insiders claim the Coalition's own austerity drive could have landed the taxpayer with a £100m bill. More than 30 senior civil servants in the Department for Transport, including some with direct responsibility for franchising, were axed in the run-up to the West Coast Main Line fiasco, The Independent has learnt.

The Telegraph

• Stansted airport owner admits it could be run for £5m less BAA, the owners of Stansted, have made the unusual admission that anyone else could run the airport for at least £5m a year less.
• Virgin Rail to continue running West Coast line for now Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin is tomorrow expected to set aside legal threats and name Virgin Rail Group as his preferred operator to run West Coast train services on a temporary basis from December.

The Sun

• West Coast Main Line probe 'must be independent' AN INVESTIGATION into the West Coast Main Line fiasco must be must be independent, Labour today warns.

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• New Leeds-Liverpool Canal phone app launched The history behind a famous stretch of waterway is now available to discover, thanks to new technology.

London Evening Standard

• Heathrow third runway would triple pollution-linked deaths, say leading academicsA third runway at Heathrow would triple the number of early deaths from pollution linked to the airport, a new study claims.

Wolverhampton Express and Star

• More than 370 bus workers taken on in West Midlands More than 370 bus drivers and inspectors have been recruited by the biggest company in the West Midlands since April,

Other Regional Press

• Bigger Crowborough Railway Station car park idea gets mixed reactionA SUGGESTION of putting a two-storey car park at Crowborough railway station has received a mixed reaction.
• Transport for Greater Manchester named top transport authority The organisation responsible for Greater Manchester’s public transport was rewarded when it picked up one of the top prizes at the National Transport Awards.
• Huddersfield grandma invents seat belt safety device to stop kids unclippingA HUDDERSFIELD gran has invented a car safety device to foil all junior escape artists.

Other News Sources

• Swiss Rail Firm Agrees Deal With Apple Over Clock AppSwiss national train operator SBB said it has resolved a dispute with Apple after the tech giant used its famous clock design without permission on a new iPad and iPhone application.