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

Friday, 11 January 2013

BBC News

• GPS backup to guide ships to portShips traversing the busy Dover straits now have more help to work out where they are and avoid other vessels.
• MSP makes bus regulation bill bidThe former leader of the Scottish Labour Party is hoping to bring forward a parliamentary bill aimed at strengthening regulation in the Scottish bus industry.
• VIDEO: Tube logo 'a great British brand'How did the London Underground logo become such a massive British brand?
• Carmaker Ford doubles dividendUS carmaker Ford doubles its quarterly dividend to 10 cents per share, citing a strong balance sheet, and sending its share price higher.

Financial Times

• Rail fiasco blamed on DfT skills shortageBrown report concludes there was a mismatch in resources between the department and the companies bidding for the West Coast mainline franchise
• UPS move on TNT poses concernEU competition chief says the attempted takeover poses competition problems that are ˜not easy™ to resolve, but leaves door open to an 11th-hour deal
• London celebrates 150 years on the TubeSteam train breaks smoking ban as Underground starts year-long party to mark its 150th birthday by giving passengers a taste of 19th-century travel

The Guardian

• The right track for rail improvement [Letter]Unsurprisingly there has been considerable commuter backlash at the 4.2% average fare increase (Report, 3 January). However, calls for greater capping on future rail prices could potentially do the rail industry, and by virtue commuters, more harm than good.
• Rail franchising system 'not broken' says review Second review into west coast mainline fiasco says system should be restarted urgently with a new team

The Herald

• Hopes of car ferry for route dashedMinisters have dashed hopes that a car ferry could replace a passenger vessel on the publicly funded service between Gourock and Dunoon in the near future.
• Scottish transport upgrade costs 'will be kept down by road successes'Scottish Government successes in delivering the M74 extension and M80 improvements will drive down the cost of other major road and rail infrastructure upgrades, a leading industry body has said.
• Rail franchising is on trackTHE UK Government is to restart its crisis-hit rail franchising programme after an independent review concluded the system was not broken but in need of reform.

The Telegraph

• Pressure groups urge Government to ditch RPI for fuel and rail fare rises Fuel and rail campaign groups have called on the Government to adopt a new, lower measure of inflation after Britain’s national statistician declared that the current retail prices index “does not meet international standards”.
• High Speed rail 2 line could 'unlock new housing developments', says Nick BolesA planned high speed rail route between London and Birmingham could unlock new areas for house building, a Government minister has said.
• Richard Brown report calls for rail franchise overhaul The Government must urgently strengthen its capability for letting rail franchises, cut their length and set clear guidelines on how much capital is required from bidders, according to a critical report.
• Passengers' views should be taken into account when awarding franchises, ministers toldPassengers' views should carry greater weight when awarding rail franchises, ministers have been told.
• They said the London Underground would never workAfter 150 years, the Victorian underground railway is going strong, says Sinclair McKay
• Simon Burns, the rail minister with a chauffeur-driven car, lets the train take the strainSitting on a metal station bench and squinting into the inky pre-dawn sky, it seemed as if rail minister Simon Burns was thinking wistfully of the chauffeured car that once had sped him every day to work in Whitehall.

Mail Online

• Waiting on a freezing platform at 6am and not even getting a seat - Rail Minister FINALLY realises what it's like to take the train to workSimon Burns, the Transport Minister, caused an outcry when a newspaper revealed that he was taking a chauffeur-driven car to work at a cost of £80,000 a year.

ATOC

• "It is important that the bidding programme is restarted": train companies Responding to the publication of the Brown review of the rail franchising programme, Michael Roberts, Chief Executive of the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC), said: “This report...

Network Rail

• Swindon to Kemble railway enhancement project beginsNetwork Rail has begun work on a £45m project to upgrade the railway route and infrastructure between Swindon and Gloucester via Kemble and Stroud.

Bristol Live

• The Bristol Post published Mayor calls for a new transport authority and closer co-operationArticle

Edinburgh Evening News

• New bus lane cameras catch 600 offendersHUNDREDS of drivers have been warned for using bus lanes while cameras were being tested ahead of going live on Monday.

Journal Live

• Blyth bus station and library area to get £650,000 faceliftWORK starts this month on the latest phase of a multi- million pound investment programme aimed at revitalising the heart of Northumberland’s biggest town.

London Evening Standard

• Boris cable car will cost £6m to run in first year, TfL admitsThe running costs of Boris Johnson™s £60 million Thames cable car are set to hit £6 million in its first year.

Nottingham Evening Post

• Nottingham Post commented Developer excited by talk of high-speed rail stationArticle

Sheffield Star

• Benefits from new rail linesA RAIL company estimates that construction of the new high speed network could take 500,000 HGV lorry journeys off motorways including the M1.

Yorkshire Evening Post

• Letter: Added benefits of tram-trains Your correspondent Mr Batty will be pleased to know that Metro does have aspirations for the tram-train technology he describes, as part of its long term strategy, including on routes similar to that described.
• Rail chiefs red-faced at name mix-up over £10m fundingEmbarrased railway bosses have been forced to apologise after mistakenly promising to invest £10m at Harrogate Station.

Carlisle News & Star

• Cumbrian schoolboys™ plans for BMX bike route on track The determination of two Keswick schoolboys is beginning to pay off, as their dreams of a BMX track edge ever closer.

Peterborough Telegraph

• All day parking offer in city helps drive boom in usageA new pricing strategy at an underused city car park is proving a hit with motorists, but there are no plans to make it more commonplace.

Reading Evening Post

• Reading Buses charity drive for PACT Reading Buses will be raising cash this year for a family charity in the borough.

Other Regional Press

• Brown Review Local responsibility for train services is way ahead, says franchising report.
• Consultation on road plansA major public consultation on a £275m package of measures which aims to transform the transport network across central Lancashire has been launched.
• We'd love to award you West Coast franchise... but your trains are too smallA Folkestone firm that makes tiny trains had big aspirations - when it launched a bid to take over a bungled rail franchise.
• A world first for Hartlepool portTHE world’s first purpose-built wind turbine installation vessel has been welcomed to Hartlepool.
• Two new hotels planned for Aberdeen International AirportPLANS for two new hotels costing £25 million at Aberdeen International Airport have been unveiled.
• Concessionary bus fare plan welcomed A PROPOSAL for those with concessionary bus passes to pay a flat rate £1 bus fare before 9.30am has been welcomed by Bridport town councillors.
• Drivers handed 4,000 fines for breaking bus lane rulesMORE than 4,000 fines have been handed out to motorists driving in bus lanes.
• New railway will offer alternative route to Heathrow AirportHolidaymakers and business people will be able to escape the nightmare of travelling through London to get to one of the world’s most important hub airports.

Bus and Coach.com

• New fares wins Reading ridersThe introduction of a new Solo ticketing initiative for under-19s by Reading Buses has boosted bus use in the town.
• EYMS adds tour and express coachesEYMS Group has taken delivery of five new coaches worth almost £1,25 million.
• Stagecoach announces £75m orders New double-deck sleeper coaches from Van Hool and left-hand-drive coaches for services to Europe are featured in the latest orders announced by Stagecoach which call for 432 vehicles worth over £75million “ a significant increase on last year's orders which totalled 390 vehicles costing £60million.
• Buses up, coaches down as ADL leads Alexander Dennis retained its UK market leadership in 2012 with a 38 per cent share, up slightly on the company's 2011 performance.

Global Rail News

• Arup appointed to produce rail masterplan for SurreySurrey County Council has brought in Arup to develop a rail strategy as part of its future investment plan for the county. The strategy, which will look at reducing overcrowding and bottlenecks, will become part of Surrey Future – a document identifying investment priorities for the next 15 to 20 years. The study will review [...]
• Remodelling Victoria Underground: Under a south London beach¦London Victoria is one of the busiest mainline stations on the railway network. Every year, over 73 million people either enter or leave the station which, if you do the maths, works out to over 100,000 per day in each direction. A lot of those 100,000 arrivals go straight down the stairs into the Victoria [...]
• New service launched between Russia and FinlandRussian Railways (RZD) has begun operating a new international service between Petrozavodsk, the capital of the Republic of Karelia, and Finland. The Federal Passenger Company, a subsidiary of RZD, is looking into running a regular overnight service on the route after tickets for a trial run between Petrozavodsk and Joensuu, the capital of North Karelia [...]
• European Commission finances Italian high-speed rail projectsTwo major rail infrastructure projects in northern Italy are to receive 10 million euros from the European Union to drive forward completion of a trans-European line between Lyon and the Ukrainian border. The investment will partly fund construction of two tunnels on the Turin-Milan-Verona-Padua high-speed line and the upgrading of Milan’s train control centre. The [...]
• Bombardier-CSR partnership wins low-floor tram orderChinese rolling stock manufacturer CSR has won an order from the city of Suzhou for 18 low-floor trams. CSR Puzhen, a subsidiary of the China South Locomotive and Rolling Stock Corporation, will build the new light rail vehicles at its Nanjing site based on Bombardier’s Flexity 2 design. This is the first order won by [...]
• Brown report: ˜No credible case for major structural change™An independent review into franchising has said that although the system is not broken, the government needs to restart paused programmes quickly to restore public confidence in the DfT. Chief executive of Eurostar Richard Brown, who conducted the review, believed there was “no credible case for major structural change”. The review has recommended that by [...]

Aviation Industry

• O'Leary makes his personal taxi firm's accounts privateRYANAIR boss Michael O'Leary has had enough of people checking out the accounts of the firm behind his private taxi service.
• American Airlines London VIP's digs to be soldLawyers for bankrupt American Airlines asked a federal judge for permission to sell a nearly $23 million London townhouse that company employees see as a symbol of executive power and indulgence.
• Boeing ramps 777 build rate to 100 annuallyBoeing rolled out the first 777”a freighter for Korean Air”to be built at the production rate of 8.3 per month.
• British Airways leases two 777-300ERs British Airways has inked a 10-year agreement with Air Lease Corp. (ALC) to lease two Boeing 777-300ERs.
• Vienna Airport opens new Air Berlin, FlyNiki terminal Vienna International Airport has opened the first phase of its dedicated terminal for Air Berlin and its subsidiary, FlyNiki, as well for its oneworld alliance partners.
• Boeing insists that the Dreamliner is ˜safe to fly™Aircraft manufacturer responds after three incidents with B787s this week
• Korean Air and KLM agree new codeshare dealSkyteam members will share codes on Amsterdam-Seoul route from later this month

Other News Sources

• Wheels in motion as North Wales Truck Stop is officially openedThe Minister with responsibility for transport, Carl Sargeant has welcomed the provision of dedicated facilities for Heavy Goods Vehicles in North Wales.
• British Airways and Heathrow choose Morgan Sindall for £10m dealsMorgan Sindall has been awarded contracts worth £10 million from Heathrow Airport Ltd and British Airways.