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

Friday, 01 February 2013

BBC News

• Hull school bus plans spark 'poverty' warning A head teacher has warned plans to reduce free school transport in Hull will "push children and their families into poverty".
• West Coast Main Line fiasco caused by 'major failures' [video -Louise Ellman MP]The fiasco over the collapse of the West Coast Main Line franchise deal was the result of "irresponsible decisions", an MPs' committee has said.
• Swift card: Cashless travel to cut congestion A card that can be used instead of cash on buses is being tried out as a way to encourage people to use public transport.
• First Great Western retains franchise as contest scrapped [video]First Great Western is to continue operating trains between London and south Wales after the government extended its contract by another six months.
• Free bus travel for Scotland's elderly and disabled secured by new deal A deal has been reached to safeguard free bus travel for the over 60s and people with disabilities.
• Ryanair ash cloud case: EU's top court rules against airline Ryanair should have fully compensated a passenger whose flight was cancelled because of the volcanic ash cloud in 2010, the EU's top court has said.
• Transport secretary 'will listen to East Midlands residents on HS2' [video]Transport secretary and Derbyshire Dales MP Patrick McLoughlin has assured residents will be listened to during the public consultation on the HS2 route.
• Great Western London to south Wales rail contest scrapped The competition to run the Great Western rail franchise between south Wales and London is being scrapped.
• Train fare too high - transport peerThe government's transport spokesman in the Lords says he had to cancel a trip to Birmingham because the on-the-day train fare was too expensive.

Financial Times

• Rail franchise changes under fireStagecoach and National Express criticise ˜unfair and inconsistent decision™ to cancel bidding contests to run Great Western and Thameslink services
• MPs split on blame for West Coast fiascoThe Commons transport committee findings are at odds with statements from both Downing Street and Patrick McLoughlin, transport secretary
• Dreamliner grounding hits ANA revenueLargest operator of Boeing 787s reports Y1.4bn revenue hit in January but says impact is minimal so far and keeps its full-year forecast unchanged
• Iberia unions reject latest planIberia™s management has tried to secure a deal by outlining a less stringent restructuring proposal compared with November™s, but it is shunned

The Herald

• Fares fair when it comes to concessionary bus travelThat is the prospect facing many Scots who live slightly off the beaten track, following the latest unsatisfactory compromise over the Scottish Government's free travel scheme. Yesterday Transport Minister Keith Brown was trumpeting the additional £10m being invested in the industry. However, this goes only part of the way to compensating for the £24m a year cut in government funding being imposed over two years. The result is likely to be higher fares for those not covered by the scheme and cutbacks in services.
• 6000 names on Forth listMORE than 6000 names have been suggested for the Forth Replacement Crossing during a public consultation.
• Drivers warned of bridge repairs tailbacksMOTORISTS are being urged to car share, use public transport or work from home as major repairs to a key Highland bridge are about to begin.
• Bus routes face axe after cutsBUS firms are threatening to axe routes and increase fares following a cut in funding for the Scottish Government's free travel scheme.
• Airlines must pay for delaysAIR passengers will be entitled to greater levels of financial compensation for flight delays after two legal rulings that offer more protection to travellers.

The Independent

• Department of Transport scraps Great Western bidding competition plans The Department for Transport today scrapped plans for a bidding competition for the franchise to run Great Western rail services.
• Department of Transport scraps Great Western bidding competition plans The Department for Transport today scrapped plans for a bidding competition for the franchise to run Great Western rail services.

The Telegraph

• Ministers 'lied to' over West Coast Mainline dealA Government department was today slammed for being ''irresponsible'' over its role in the collapse of the £5 billion West Coast Mainline rail contract.
• Police get new powers to withdraw licences from short-sighted driversShort-sighted motorists involved in accidents or caught driving dangerously will have their licences revoked within hours.
• Tory Lords transport spokesman priced off trainLord Attlee, the Tory transport spokesman, was unable to visit a motorshow in Birmingham because he could not afford the train fare.

Mail Online

• Ryanair WILL have to pay compensation to customers stranded by volcanic ash cloud, rules courtBudget airline Ryanair has warned that the cost of its flights could rise after a European court ruled that it will have to pay compensation to passengers stranded due a volcanic eruption in Iceland in 2010.

This is Money

• Airline ticket prices could rise after ruling against Ryanair over Iceland volcano claimRyanair was today ordered to pay compensation to passengers stranded after the 2010 volcano eruption in Iceland, leaving the door open for a raft of claims

ATOC

• ATOC responds to government announcement on cycle rail fundingResponding to the government's announcement on cycle rail funding,...

Birmingham Post

• Liam Byrne's opposition to Birmingham HS2 depot branded 'a betrayal' A rail lobby group has condemned MP Liam Byrne’s opposition to the construction of a HS2 depot in Birmingham – branding it a “betrayal" of the city's people.
• Train ticket to Birmingham too expensive for government's transport spokesman The Government’s transport spokesman in the House of Lords has admitted that he was unable to travel to an event in Birmingham – because he couldn’t afford the train fare.

Bristol Live

• The Bristol Post published 19,000 a year caught driving in bus lanesArticle
• The Bristol Post published Deal signals go-ahead for upgrade of railwaysA MAJOR hurdle in the bid to bring electrified trains and improved local rail services to Bristol appears to have been overcome.

Edinburgh Evening News

• Road repairs budget to be doubled to fix potholesTHE budget for fixing Edinburgh’s roads is set to be doubled to a record £24.5 million in a new bid to tackle the city’s potholed streets, it was revealed today.

London Evening Standard

• Tube unions will demand pay hikes for staff to cover late finish plans on weekendsUnion bosses will demand pay rises for running the Tube later at night, it emerged today.
• Taxpayer lost out on £800m as rail contest is ditched Taxpayers have lost out on hundreds of millions of pounds in the growing rail franchise fiasco after the Government pulled the plug on the competition to run the Great Western line.

Manchester Evening News

• HS2 Live webchat: Join us on Friday at 1.30pm to put your questions to the HS2 project directorDetailed plans for two state-of-the-art high speed rail stations, at Piccadilly and Manchester airport, were unveiled earlier this week by ministers. Find out how they'll affect you by talking directly to man in charge

Nottingham Evening Post

• Nottingham Post commented Revealed: Failed plan to reopen Victoria StationTHE site of Nottingham's old Victoria Station was considered as a potential stop on the high-speed rail line from London to Leeds,...

Sheffield Telegraph

• Sheffield wildlife group™s environmental fears over high speed linePROPOSALS for the new high speed rail line have caused environmental concerns.

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• Officials accused over rail contractUK Government officials may have œmanipulated a contest to run West Coast mainline trains to ensure the lucrative contract went to Aberdeen-based First Group.

The York Press

• Train derailed at York TRAINS through York are being delayed because a charter train came off the rails.

Wales Online

• Virgin Atlantic faces racial discrimination accusation over job rejectionA refugee from West Africa who settled in Wales 10 years ago is accusing Virgin Atlantic of racial discrimination after his application for a call centre job was rejected.

Bucks Free Press

• Councillor backtracks over Osborne HS2 claim CLAIMS Chancellor George Osborne helped ensure a detour of the controversial HS2 line through his constituency led to council bosses making a hasty retraction.

Crewe Chronicle

• UK & World News: Ryanair told to pay compensationBudget airline Ryanair has been ordered to pay compensation to passengers stranded after the 2010 volcano eruption in Iceland, leaving the door open for a raft of claims, but also a potential increase in ticket prices.

Other Regional Press

• Campaigners slam new East London transport links Local environmental activist groups have launched a campaign opposing TfL’s plans for two new crossings between east and south London.
• MP confronts former transport secretary in Commons after HS2 bosses warn homes and business owners could lose out over rail compensationHS2 bosses confirmed the worst fears of home and business owners when they said that demolition needed for the £33billion high-speed rail link would lead to financial losses for some people in Camden.
• Leicester Mercury commented 'HS2 Rail announcement ruined sale of house in north west...A £400,000 house sale collapsed following the announcement the HS2 rail line would cut through Leicestershire, an estate...
• Western Morning News published First Great Western to be offered rail franchise for two more ...Article
• UK & World News: DfT scraps Great Western biddingThe Department for Transport has scrapped plans for a bidding competition for the franchise to run Great Western rail services.
• UK & World News: Ryanair told to pay compensationBudget airline Ryanair has been ordered to pay compensation to passengers stranded after the 2010 volcano eruption in Iceland, leaving the door open for a raft of claims, but also a potential increase in ticket prices.
• Fuel market “not anti-competitive” says OFT inquiry - What's your view?FUEL prices continue to bite into family budgets, but motorists have been told competition in the market is “working well”.

Bus and Coach.com

• Jobseeker boost on West Yorkshire busesThe Buses for Jobs scheme which offered free-travel to job-seekers in January has proved a hit in West Yorkshire, according to the region™s biggest operator, First.

Global Rail News

• India to award freight corridor contracts in next few monthsReviewing the development of the Dedicated Freight Corridor project, Indian Railways has said it will be awarding contracts for railway track works over of 1,000 kms in the next few months. The decision was made at a review meeting between the Indian Railways Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, chairman of the Railway Board Vinay Mittal and [...]
• Testing begins on world™s longest driverless mass transit systemTesting has begun for the first phase of  Singapore’s driverless  Downtown Line. Invensys Rail Dimetronic has been trialling its unmanned signalling technology at a test track in the city of Changchun since September 2011. With functional tests now complete, dynamic testing will begin before the system is taken to Singapore in March for a series [...]
• Paused franchise competitions to resumeFranchises put on hold after the cancellation of the West Coast competition are to be restarted. The Essex Thameside, Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern franchises will resume, but the Great Western competition will be cancelled while a long-term plan is drawn up. The independent Brown review, which was published earlier this month, said that although [...]
• Study to decide future of new French stationsThe EU has agreed to fund a study to see if a public-private partnership (PPP) scheme can support the design, construction and operation of two new railway stations in France. The stations in Nîmes and Montpellier will increase capacity and reduce travel times on the Mediterranean high-speed line. Completion of the Nîmes -Montpellier section will [...]
• Schladming station improvements in place for skiing world cupModernisation of Austria’s Schladming station has been completed in time for the Alpine Ski World Cup. As well as the new barrier-free station, the track and signals have all been renewed. Tens of thousands of spectators will use to station next month when the 2013 World Championships arrives on Planai. “Today is a very special [...]
• Fourth Railway Package unveiledRailways that hamper competition in their home market could be stopped from operating in the rest of Europe under a package of reforms published by the European Commission (EC). The EC revealed its Fourth Railway Package (yesterday) January 30. In it, Europe’s policy makers have recommend infrastructure managers become operationally and financially independent from transport [...]
• Prince of Wales goes UndergroundThe Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall took the Tube to mark its 150th anniversary during a visit to some of London’s major infrastructure projects. Their Royal Highnesses visited Farringdon station, which was part of the original underground network built in 1863, before meeting some of the apprentices and graduates helping to deliver [...]

London TravelWatch

• Newly appointed London TravelWatch Board wants Government to put passengers at heart of new rail franchising processThe newly appointed London TravelWatch Board met for the first time at City Hall on 29 January and urged that the Government should act without delay on the main proposals in the Brown review of rail franchising “ which will help to put passengers at the heart of the decision making process.

Middle East North Africa (MENA) Rail News

• PTC World Congress: Orlando17 “ 19 April 2013 Orlando, Florida Now in its 3rd year the PTC World Congress is firmly established as the North American PTC industry™s dedicated conference and exhibition. PTC World Congress 2013 will attract over 50 senior speakers from government, railroads, transits, consultants and suppliers and will feature over 400 attendees and up to [...]The post PTC World Congress: Orlando appeared first on MENA Rail News.
• Signalling & Telecommunications: Asia28 – 30 May 2013 Bangkok, Thailand The first Signalling and Telecommunications: Asia in May 2012 rated good to excellent by 90 % of our attendees, will return to Bangkok in 2013. This is the region™s only conference dedicated to rail and metro signalling and telecommunications technologies, from legacy systems through to CBTC and beyond. [...]The post Signalling & Telecommunications: Asia appeared first on MENA Rail News.
• 26th International Exhibiton for Track TechnologyThe largest fair world wide With over 170 exhibitors, around 25,000 attendees and a gigantic exhibition area in the indoor and outdoor area of Halle Münsterland, the iaf is by far the largest fair in the world in the field of track technology. From 28th to 30th May 2013 new developments and innovations from the [...]The post 26th International Exhibiton for Track Technology appeared first on MENA Rail News.
• Sustainable Mobility on a Tight Budget: Unlock Growth Opportunities for Your CityDate: 10-12 March 2013 Place: Nantes, France The International Association of Public Transport (UITP) warmly invites you to ˜Sustainable mobility on a tight budget: unlock growth opportunities for your city,™ to celebrate Nantes™ host status as European Green Capital 2013. Against the backdrop of the economic crisis, sustainability is no longer an option, it has become [...]The post Sustainable Mobility on a Tight Budget: Unlock Growth Opportunities for Your City appeared first on MENA Rail News.

Railnews

• Emergency franchise plans set out by DfT The DfT has revealed the first stage of its rescue plans for the franchising process, following the publication of the Brown Review. Some contracts are being extended, while the competition for Great Western has been cancelled.
• MPs blame ministers for West Coast collapse A report from the House of Commons Transport Committee following its inquiry into the collapse of the West Coast franchise competition has condemned the ’irresponsible’ decision to award the contract to FirstGroup, for which it says ministers were ultimately to blame. But this report is only a majority verdict, and not unanimous. Three Conservative members of the Committee said they disagreed with the conclusions of their colleagues.

Railway Gazette

• Compliance Verification Clause unlocks the Fourth Railway PackageEUROPE: Proposals to ensure open and transparent infrastructure management have been incorporated into the draft Fourth Railway Package, which was finally unveiled by the European Commission on January 30. The ˜comprehensive package of measures to deliver better quality and more choice in railway services™ had been delayed for several months by strong opposition from some member states opposed to unbundling national railway holding groups and full vertical separation. The legislative proposals must now be approved by the European Parliament and member state governments through the Council of M...
• Norfolk Southern plans $2bn investment programme in 2013 USA: A $2bn investment programme for 2013 was announced by Norfolk Southern on January 28. 'Our capital plan will maintain the safety and quality of our existing franchise, improve service quality and performance, achieve operational efficiencies and productivity improvements and support business growth,' said CEO Wick Moorman. The largest expenditure will be $831m for infrastructure works including track maintenance and renewal and bridge replacement on the 32 000 km network, which serves 22 states and the District of Columbia. NS has allocated $420m for acquisition of new locomotives and mo...
• Chinese shunting locomotive assembled in Kazakhstan KAZAKHSTAN: The first TEM-KZ shunting locomotive assembled by Kamkor Locomotive's Shu repair plant using components supplied by CSR Ziyang was unveiled last month. National railway KTZ and CSR signed a strategic partnership agreement in May 2012, and 14 Kamkor staff travelled to China for training. A locomotive production joint venture is to be formed by Kamkor and CSR, with capacity expected to reach 50 locomotives/year by 2016 with further designs to be offered to KTZ and industrial operators. The first locomotive has 5% Kazakh content, including radio and safety equipment, but domestic co...
• Rail franchising programme revised UK: Following the publication of Eurostar Chairman Richard Brown's independent review of the Department for Transport's franchising programme earlier in the month, on January 31 the government announced its plans to restart three passenger franchise tendering competitions. These were put on hold in October 2012 after 'significant errors' led to the collapse of the Inter-City West Coast refranchising process. Essex Thameside: DfT is to commence negotiations for an interim contract of up to two years with National Express, which currently operates the franchise under the c2c brand. A revised i...

Aviation Industry

• New airlines join Budapest Fast Track security serviceBudapest Airport's convenient Fast Track service is gaining in popularity. An express security channel is designed to enhance the passenger experience by bypassing airport security queues.
• Flybe to introduce Glasgow-Shannon routeRegional specialist will also relaunch Southampton to Isle of Man flights
• Dreamliner return date 'remains unclear' - Air Nippon Japanese carrier counts the cost of cancellations due to grounding of Boeing 787s

Other News Sources

• UK's first hydrogen transport system to be created The government-backed scheme will create a "state-of-the-art fast-fill 700 bar renewable hydrogen fuelling station network", delivering the necessary infrastructure for fuel cell vehicles.
• Siemens Lincoln helps develop LN6 transport linksHundreds of Siemens employees working at Teal park are monitoring how the travel to work to see how people in LN6 use transport.
• Ryanair to compensate customers stranded by volcano ash cloudThe European Court of Justice ruled airlines face an obligation to provide care if passengers are stranded in 'extraordinary circumstances'.
• Boy, 13, arrested after lasers shone at planes at Edinburgh AirportThree separate pilots reported laser pens being shone at them as they took off and landed at Edinburgh.
• Rail franchising racket rolls on as Government hand out two year extensions to worst performing train companiesOn the day that a Commons committee lifted the lid on the sordid fiasco on the West Coast Mainline the Government were back in business today, compounding the scandal by awarding lucrative, top-dollar two year franchise extensions to a whole raft of the worst performing and greedy train operating companies the length and breadth of Britain.
• RMT ON TRANSPORT COMMITTEE REPORT ON WEST COAST FIASCORMT General Secretary Bob Crow said: 'Although this report lifts the lid on the whole sordid business of rail franchising that led us to the West Coast Mainline fiasco it fails to nail the killer point that two decades of railway privatisation has turned our tracks into a money-making racket that is beyond reform.
• £678,000 for Reading's roadsMOTORISTS could soon have smoother journeys around after Reading's roads were promised £678,000 for repairs.
• Railroad Safety in IllinoisThe Illinois Commerce Commission is responsible for ensuring safety at rail crossings. Drivers should always be cautious at these junctions, however, as rail-safety statistics for Illinois show.
• 'It's a living nightmare': Parliament's anti-HS2 ringleader emerges Commuters will see their rail fares continue to rise to pay for the new High Speed Rail line, its leading parliamentary critic has said.
• Boeing won't axe Dreamliner batteryBoeing said it would continue to speed up production of its 787 as it stood by the troubled lithium-ion battery technology.
• Great Western franchise bidding scrappedThe Department for Transport has scrapped plans for a bidding competition for the franchise to run Great Western rail services.
• New 'blast' fences could improve airport air qualityAir quality for those living near airports could be dramatically improved by simple new “blast” fences placed behind runways.
• HS2 chairman backs new procurement strategyHS2 chairman Douglas Oakervee has told CN he will push for the £33 billion scheme to use a new infrastructure procurement routemap that could have sped up construction of Crossrail.
• £1.3m funds for bicycle facilities at four stations Cycle facilities at four railway stations are set for a major revamp after they were awarded £1.3 million in Government funding
• Edinburgh Airport sets standard in customer service with the launch of new Passenger Commitments Edinburgh Airport is today (Thursday) launching its new Passenger Commitments, outlining the pledges it will make to improve the customer experience when travelling through Scotland's busiest...

Other Subscription Services

• Western becomes second rail contest to be cancelled Interim franchise contracts are to be let for all three of the rail franchises paused by the government in October 2012 following the collapse of the West Coast procurement.Transport secretary...
• MPs: Laidlaw fails to shed light on DfT workings Unanswered questions remain regarding claims of bias towards West Coast franchise bidders and ministers' responsibilities, according to a new report by MPs.The House of Commons Transport Committee ...