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

Thursday, 17 January 2013

BBC News

• More Boeing Dreamliners grounded on safety concerns Boeing's troubled 787 Dreamliner continues to face problems as more global regulators and airlines grounded the plane on safety concerns.
• Work starts on aircraft hangarConstruction work starts on a new maintenance centre at Birmingham Airport which is expected to create up to 300 new jobs
• Jaguar recruiting 150 traineesCar manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover announces it is recruiting more than 150 apprentices in the West Midlands and Merseyside.
• Parents win school bus campaignA bus service is reinstated for more than 20 pupils - who were facing a three-mile walk to school - after a campaign by parents.
• Festive drink-drive numbers dropThe number of motorists failing roadside breath tests in Wales falls over Christmas, but police say they are disappointed a minority still break the law.

Financial Times

• Final bidders in race for Stansted airportManchester Airports Group, with Australia™s Industry Funds Management; infrastructure fund Macquarie, and Malaysia Airports said to have made offers
• Global regulators ground DreamlinersBoeing risks losing public confidence in 787 after spate of incidents raised questions about jet™s safety and reliability of electrical power system
• Boeing™s troubles stack upInvestors should sit tight. It is too early to say what the financial impact of the accumulating problems will be for the aircraft maker
• Boeing faces battle to rebuild confidenceAircraft maker must reassure the industry on safety after the decision by the biggest single operators of Dreamliners to ground their fleets
• Bahrain™s Gulf Air to cut jobs and routesState-owned airline has faced competition from Middle East supercarriers while no longer serving once-profitable routes in Iran, Iraq and Lebanon
• Boeing hopes to avoid Dreamliner backlashAnalysts divided as to whether the incidents that are raising questions about the 787™s safety have created a full-blown crisis for the US group
• AMR chief hails operating profit successBankrupt parent group of American Airlines has improved sharply revenues per passenger and managed to strike deals to progress on curbing costs
• Other airlines sanguine about DreamlinerCarriers operating Boeing™s 787s outside of Japan rule out suspension of the aircraft and will not cancel or delay their orders for the passenger jet
• Russian freight group plans London IPONTS is aiming to raise $500m and to have a 25% free float after the offering as private investors fight for a slice of the country™s transport sector
• Rail helps China back on trackA revival in rail investment is fuelling optimism about China™s economy as it stokes demand for steel and helps shape business sentiment

The Guardian

• Norwich passengers push bus out of snowdrift - video A bus is pushed by passengers in Norwich after becoming stuck due to snow and ice on the road.

The Telegraph

• 'Jobs worth' bus driver refuses to let driver at Vauxhall helicopter crash use fire extinguisherA bus driver refused to allow a motorist with a burning car to borrow his fire extinguisher after the helicopter crash in Vauxhall.

Mail Online

• Heathrow Dreamliner flight axed amid safety fears as Japanese airlines and US federal officials ground entire fleet of the aircraftQatar Airways – which is the first airline to operate the new Dreamliner in the UK - cancelled its 15.05 flight from Heathrow to Dohar on which up to 254 passengers were booked to fly.

Network Rail

• Network Rail breaks track recordAnother track record was broken over Christmas when Network Rail™s track renewal system enjoyed a rare period of unbroken work on the West Coast main line.
• Rail Minister sees rail history meet rail future in YorkRail Minister, Rt Hon Simon Burns MP, today saw the old and the new working in harmony at rail sites in York.

Nottingham Evening Post

• Network Rail to give Nottingham station a £100 million...Network Rail have announced major improvement plans for Nottingham station, including a £100 million investment into a complete redesign of the tracks and signals. This will coincide with the Nottingham Hub Project, a redevelopment project which aims to transform the station into a world-class transport hub.

The York Press

• New secure cycle storage unveiled at York railway station RAIL operator East Coast has teamed up with cycle retailer Cycle Heaven and City of York Council to offer secure cycle storage at the city™s railway station.
• Tragic London helicopter crash victim was former Yorkshire Air Ambulance pilot A PILOT killed when a helicopter crashed into a building in central London today once flew with the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

Yorkshire Post

• East Coast rail line returns to private sectorRAIL Minister Simon Burns yesterday promised the future for train services connecting Yorkshire to London will be settled within weeks as the Government looks to draw a line under the botched West Coast Main Line franchise.

Plymouth Herald

• 'No strategy for rail in South West': city MPA LACK of reliable transport links between Plymouth and the rest of the country "worries the hell" out of people and businesses, ministers have been told.

Other Regional Press

• Cardiff Airport buy-up blasted as too risky by concerned AMPLANS to bring Cardiff Airport back into public ownership are too risky, a Liberal Democrat AM has argued.

Global Rail News

• Final Edinburgh tram contract awardedTicketing technology firm Parkeon Transit has been chosen to deliver the ticketing system for the Edinburgh tram project. The announcement is the final major contract to be let for the £742 million light rail project. The contract with Parkeon includes the supply and maintenance of the company™s Galexio-Plus ticket machines, Axio platform validators, and hand-held [...]
• First Lastochka services set to beginThe president of Russian Railways will be in St Petersburg later this month for the launch of the first Lastochka train service. In 2014, Lastochka trains will transport passengers to and from the Winter Olympics in Sochi. On January 23, Vladimir Yakunin and representatives from the Russian Federation will be in Moscow station for the [...]
• California™s ˜Foothills Basket™ bridge finishedA light rail bridge designed by award-winning artist Andrew Leicester has been completed in California’s San Gabriel Valley. The $18.6 million Gold Line Bridge spans the eastbound lanes of the I-210 freeway northeast of Los Angeles and is the most visible element of the 11.5-mile Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension light rail project between Pasadena [...]
• Athens light rail expansion approvedThe president of Athens Metro has signed a contract to extend Athens’ tram system to Piraeus. The 5.4 km extension will include 12 stops between the metro station at Karaiskaki stadium and the port of Piraeus. After signing the contract, the president and chief executive of Athens Metro, Christos Tsitouras, said: “This is the second [...]
• Sleeper contract awarded for Honam high-speed lineRail.One has been awarded a contract to deliver more than half a million sleepers for a new high-speed line in South Korea. The bi-block concrete sleepers will be installed on the 230 km Honam high-speed line, which branches off near Osong from the existing high-speed line, connecting it with the port city of Mokpo, in [...]

Aviation Industry

• LaHood appoints new Washington airports accountability officerUS Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has named Lynn Deavers US Dept. of Transportation™s (DOT) accountability officer to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA).
• American Airlines loses $1.9 billion in 2012 but profitable on operating basisAmerican Airlines incurred a net loss of $1.88 billion in 2012, a 5.2% improvement over a net deficit of $1.98 billion in 2011.
• ANA and JAL ground their DreamlinersJapanese carriers suspend B787 services after ANA aircraft has to make emergency landing
• Ryanair adds two airport bases in MoroccoNo-frills carrier plans major expansion of services to north African destination
• Air Berlin aims to cut 900 jobsGerman carrier warns that there may be redundancies as part of cost-cutting drive

Other News Sources

• Prove blacklisting was not used in Crossrail recruitment, Assembly urges MayorThe Assembly today called on the Mayor to provide evidence of steps taken to ensure blacklisting was and is not being used in the hiring and firing of people working on the £14.8 billion Crossrail project. The Motion agreed by Members of the Assembly also urges the Mayor to reject this practice and emphasise the importance of allowing employees to raise health and safety fears in the workplace. No read more
• County tries to speed up road repairs backlog A MULTI-million pound project to replace 300 miles of Surrey highways has been brought forward.
• Station's revamp to create 200 jobs Scores of jobs will be created with the opening of a Waitrose store and shops at a run-down railway station.