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

Friday, 30 November 2012

BBC News

• Nottingham tram work to stop for Christmas Work to extend Nottingham's tram network is to stop over the Christmas period to allow easier access for shoppers.
• Skylon spaceplane engine concept achieves key milestone The UK company developing an engine for a new type of spaceplane says it has successfully demonstrated the power unit's enabling technology.

Financial Times

• Continental cleared over Concorde crashAirline told to pay €1m in civil damages to Air France over incident in 2000 that left 113 dead and hastened the end of commercial supersonic travel
• Russian Railways sells $1.6bn freight stakeMove completes modern Russia™s ˜largest privatisation deal™ with sale of 25% of Freight One “ but the operator seeks to delay further disposals
• Rail bid official says suspension unfairKate Mingay criticised transport department, saying she fears she is being œunfairly scapegoated™ over the cancelled West Coast rail contract
• UPS looks to clear TNT Express dealUS delivery group proposes business and asset sales in about 10 countries as well as measures to open the combined groups™ air freight network

The Herald

• Older drivers as safe as other age groupsOLDER drivers are as safe as those from other age groups due to a better attitude to risk and experience in reducing errors on the road, new research shows.
• Train staff vote for strikeSCOTRAIL train staff have voted by two to one in favour of staging a strike over the sacking of a ticket collector.

The Independent

• Choose Manchester to improve UK's airport capacityFrom Hackney, getting on a flight at Manchester airport takes only slightly longer than boarding at Heathrow. And with the arrival of HS2, that time will only get shorter

The Scotsman

• ScotRail union votes to strike over sacked ticket examiner who ˜bullied passenger™STAFF on ScotRail trains have voted in favour of strike action over the sacking of a ticket collector, it was confirmed yesterday.

The Telegraph

• Hundreds hit by delays after Channel Tunnel closes for two hours due to fire The fire is thought to have started on an HGV car transporter as the shuttle, heading across the channel from Folkestone, approached its final destination of Coquelles, near Calais.
• West Coast rail: Kate Mingay accuses Government of making her a 'public sacrifice' A civil servant suspended over the West Coast rail bid fiasco accused the Government of making her a “public sacrifice” as she failed to persuade the High Court to allow her to return to work immediately.
• Morning after motorists targeted in drink drive campaignMorning after motorists will be targeted by police in this year's Christmas drink drive campaign.

Mail Online

• Anger as Ryanair finally scrap unlawful £6 debit card fee... and introduce a £6 'website admin fee' on the same dayFrom tomorrow customers who pay by credit card face the double-whammy of having to pay a new 2 per cent processing fee and a £6 admin fee, Ryanair has confirmed.
• Anger as Ryanair finally scrap unlawful £6 debit card fee... and introduce a £6 'website admin fee' on the same dayFrom tomorrow customers who pay by credit card face the double-whammy of having to pay a new 2 per cent processing fee and a £6 admin fee, Ryanair has confirmed.
• Boom in number of drivers aged over 70 as 'baby-boomers' retire - and they're as safe as youngsters!According to a report published yesterday, by 2032 the number aged over 70 will have risen to 5.8million, and the total will include almost two million over 80, it says.

The Mirror

• Older drivers better at dealing with hazards but worse at pulling out without lookingThe Institute of Advanced Motorists is calling for better support for older drivers with online assessments and more voluntary driving tests

Network Rail

• Drop-in session to find out more about £9m investment at Putney stationPutney station is to be transformed thanks to a £9m improvement programme due to start in January 2013.

Birmingham Post

• Regions must get more transport spending, inquiry tells MPsTransport spending must be increased in the regions outside London to promote economic growth, MPs have been told.
• Free bus passes for elderly is financial time bomb, claims CentroThe West Midlands is facing a ’financial time bomb’ by providing free bus passes for the elderly, Centro has said.
• Positive response to Centro scheme to take control of London Midland servicesA bid to take the under-performing London Midland rail service under local control has been boosted following a government consultation.

Edinburgh Evening News

• Planning expert warns Leith Walk cycling lanes a ˜cyclist blender™A NEW bike lane planned for revamped roundabouts at the top of Leith Walk has been branded a “cyclist blender”.

Liverpool Post

• Campaign launched to reopen Liverpool St James’s StationBaltic Triangle firms say the reopening of St James’s Station would ensure continuing regeneration. Alistair Houghton reports

London Evening Standard

• Arriva bus strike today hits north London: all routes cancelled or disruptedBus services across north London were expected to be severely affected this morning as a 24-hour strike got underway.
• Truckers taken to safety after fireDozens of truckers have been taken to safety after fire broke out on a lorry on a shuttle train in the Channel Tunnel.
• Concorde deaths verdict overturnedManslaughter convictions against Continental Airlines and a mechanic for the July 2000 crash of an Air France Concorde that killed 113 people, have been overturned by a French appeals court. It ruled that their mistakes did not make them legally responsible for the deaths.

Wales Online

• Welsh Oystercard plan by 2014 is doomed, transport leaders warnA plan to replicate London’s popular Oystercard in Wales is heading for the buffers because the Welsh Government is slashing bus funding, transport managers have claimed.

Yorkshire Evening Post

• Historic Leeds horse tram rolling for first time in over a centuryMore than 110 years since it last carted residents around Leeds’s tramlines, the city’s oldest remaining horse-drawn tram has rolled once more.

Blackpool Gazette

• ˜Short term pain™ of rail bridge workIT’S pain for long term gain. That is the message from community leaders over the closure of a major “artery” road between two Wyre towns.

Other Regional Press

• Bus operator has 'no choice' but to cut part of routeA CORNISH bus operator is withdrawing its service to a hilltop community in Perranporth because its new vehicles cannot access the site.
• Raglan railway station handed over to St Fagans HISTORIC Raglan railway station was officially handed over to the National Museum of Wales on Tuesday.
• Join our campaign to keep Newport parking free TODAY we launch a campaign to persuade Newport City Council to reverse its decision to scrap free parking at its city centre car parks.
• First class learning in railway carriage at Huddersfield station after helpers lend a handIT was a railway carriage going nowhere – other than the scrapheap.

Global Rail News

• Siemens looks to extend reach with Invensys buyoutSiemens has acquired British engineering firm Invensys Rail for £1.74 billion. Invensys’ shares were up 27 per cent at end of trading yesterday (November 29) as news of the takeover was announced. Siemens believes the move will generate growth in new regions and allow the German technology giant to provide a wider range of signalling [...]
• Pictures: Flooding causes further damage to Britain™s railwaysEngineers have worked round-the-clock this week to repair flood damage across Britain’s rail network caused by the torrential rain. The pictures above show a signal which has fallen down an embankment after a landslip on the Durham coast line and examples of other flooded lines around the country.
• Crossrail TBM starts work on eastern tunnelsCrossrail TBM Elizabeth has started work on the five-mile section of eastern tunnels between Docklands and Farringdon in central London. Elizabeth and sister tunnelling machine Victoria were lowered 40 metres underground into a shaft at Limmo Peninsula, next to Canning Town station, last month. The first of 110,000 concrete segments has now been placed to [...]
• RZD sells remaining Freight One stakeRussian Railways (RZD) has sold its remaining 25 per cent stake in Freight One, completing the largest privitisation deal in Russian history. In 2011, RZD sold 75 per cent minus two shares of the company to Independent Transport Company (ITC), which is owned by Russia’s richest man Vladimir Lisin, for 125.5 billion roubles. The latest [...]

Railnews

• Laidlaw report stays under wraps after legal move The final report into the reasons why the West Coast franchise competition collapsed is staying under wraps for now, because one of the three DfT civil servants suspended on 3 October is taking her grievances to the High Court today.

Aviation Industry

• Fastjet finally gets off the groundStelios-backed African carrier runs first flights in Tanzania
• Ryanair adds credit card booking feeNo-frills carrier adds 2 per cent levy on top of £6 admin charge
• Iberia unions set to strike for six daysBritish Airways' sister airline is facing industrial action in the run-up to Christmas
• Korean Air to suspend Gatwick serviceCarrier says Seoul service will stop in January and then resume for summer 2013
• Shenzhen Airlines joins Star AllianceChinese airline adds 400 daily flights and 70 destinations to the alliance

Other News Sources

• RMT response to LevesonRMT General Secretary Bob Crow, who gave evidence to the Leveson Inquiry, said:
• Overwhelming vote for action across ScotRail over victimised RMT memberRAIL UNION RMT confirmed that members have voted overwhelmingly for strike action and for action short of a strike in a ballot of all First Scotrail members over the victimisation and dismissal of a member whose only 'crime' was to assist a member of the public in ensuring they had the correct ticket for a journey in line with company policy. RMT members have delivered a mandate of more than two to one for strike action in support of the campaign for reinstatement and by an even bigger majority for action short of a strike.