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

Thursday, 14 February 2013

BBC News

• South Yorkshire landslip rail line closed for weeks Train services between Doncaster, Scunthorpe and Cleethorpes will be suspended for at least eight weeks after a landslip, Network Rail said.
• A5 scheme 'not properly assessed'The economic and agricultural consequences of a new £330m dual carriageway project were not properly assessed, the High Court hears.
• Rail delays after cables come downCommuters heading in and out of St Pancras face disrupted journeys due to overhead wire problems.
• Shale oil 'to boost world economy'Shale oil production could boost the world economy by up to $2.7tn (£1.7tn) by 2035, according to a report.
• American and US Airways 'to merge'American Airlines and US Airways are planning to form one of the world's biggest airlines, according to media and newswire sources.

Financial Times

• AMR board approves airline mergerA deal would bring together American, the world™s third-largest airline by revenues, and US Airways, the US™s fifth-largest airline by revenues.

The Herald

• Work starts on £300m rail projectWORK has started on a £300 million project which will see the reopening of the longest stretch of once-defunct railway in Britain.
• Delay on Glasgow Airport transport reportA REPORT laying out plans to improve access to Glasgow Airport has been delayed to allow for detailed work on up to 15 shortlisted schemes.

The Scotsman

• Train station could derail Merkel™s re-electionA FINANCIAL debacle over a futuristic railway station in a southern German city threatens to derail Chancellor Angela ­Merkel’s third bid for power later this year.

The Telegraph

• The Railway: Keeping Britain on Track, BBC Two, reviewNigel Farndale reviews the first episode of BBC Two's documentary series The Railway: Keeping Britain on Track.

Mail Online

• You must be barking! Bus company charges passengers £1 for them to bring dogs onto their vehiclesA rural bus company in Wales has started charging dogs £1 each to travel - twice the cost of taking a child on board.
• UK-bound aircraft carrying 149 passengers narrowly avoided disaster after pilots ¿forgot¿ runway had been shortened by engineering worksPilots of an easyJet flight returning to the UK from Prague started take-off forgetting that temporary works had considerably reduced the runway.

The Mirror

• Reds go green: Electric car charger installed at Manchester United training groundSir Alex was one of the first people at Old Trafford to take delivery of one of the environmentally friendly electric cars
• "Not much love": 'Cheaper to fly to Spain than travel by train in UK' for Valentine's Day tripLovers in France, Italy and Spain pay up to 245% less in high-speed rail fares for city breaks, claimed the RMT rail union

ATOC

• Latest figures show that more than eight out of 10 trains ran without delayResponding to the latest rail Period 11 performance figures, a spokesperson for the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) said: “These latest figures show that more than eight out of...

Network Rail

• Leeds railway on the small screenEver looked out of your train window at the people in orange and wondered what they were doing out there? Or what your driver was thinking as the miles rolled by? Or how British Transport Police keep up the fight against cable thieves?
• Work starts on improvements at Llandudno stationNetwork Rail has started work on the construction of a new car park as part of the £5.1m project to improve Llandudno station.
• National train performance for period 11 is 87.3%Punctuality on the railways reached 87.3% during Period 11, according to monthly performance data released today by Network Rail.

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Cleaners for Arriva Trains Wales services balloted for strike actionWorkers who clean the Tyne and Wear Metro are to start a week-long strike, while cleaners at another rail firm are to be balloted for industrial action in separate rows over pay.

Derby Telegraph

• A big wheel in the world of rolling stock procurement VAST sums of money are required to keep the wheels of the rail industry turning and in the last couple of decades more than £2 billion has been pumped in by Derby firm Porterbrook.
• Derby Telegraph commented Bus stops to be fitted with new lights to save moneyArticle

London Evening Standard

• Chanting man sparks panic on Bakerloo line train at Charing CrossA man was arrested today after sparking panic as he 'chanted and behaved strangely' while walking between Tube carriages during rush hour.

Nottingham Evening Post

• Nottingham Post commented Could The Meadows be 'gateway to Paris' on high-speed rail...Article

The Shields Gazette

• Speed signs will improve road safetyA BUSY South Tyneside road is earmarked to get new speed signs to help slow down traffic.

Other Regional Press

• LATEST: HS2 rail project blasted by furious campaignersCAMPAIGNERS have vented their anger over plans to drastically alter the landscape between Coventry and Kenilworth for the HS2 rail project.
• Rail passengers face delays of TWO hours following Thameslink line problemsRAIL passengers face major delays of up to two hours following a problem with overhead lines on the Thameslink line.

Global Rail News

• Station shops continue to outperform the high streetRetailers at some of the UK’s busiest stations have seen like-for-like sales outperform the high street for the 10th consecutive quarter, according to Network Rail. There has been a 2.54 per cent growth in like-for-like sales during the third quarter between October 1 and December 31. During this same period the British Retail Consortium reported [...]
• King™s Cross: The final worksAfter the opening of the Western Concourse at King’s Cross in March 2012, the next stages of the work to restore King’s Cross to its deserved grandeur was temporarily halted so as not to disrupt the passenger flows during the Olympics. Writes Clive Kessell Once these were concluded, work recommenced last autumn to remove the [...]
• Nottingham tram bridge takes shapeThe first section of Nottingham’s new tram bridge is being slid into place this week. The bridge, which measures 104 metres long and weighs over a thousand tonnes, will be moved in 2.6 metre cycles between 8pm and 6am on five nights this week. Built in two sections because of its size, The Karlsruhe Friendship [...]
• EU backs phase two of Rhine-Rhône high-speed lineThe European Union has announced funding for technical, socio-economic and archaeological studies to be carried out for the second phase of the Rhine-Rhône high-speed line in France. The EU will put forward five million euros to fund the studies, which will tackle the alignment of the rail section, the preparation of tender documents, the identification [...]
• Video: Spain at high-speedSpain is a world leader in high-speed rail, with a network second only to China in length. The January edition of the rail engineer featured a piece by editor Grahame Taylor about plans to extend Spain’s network.
• The Railway: Keeping Britain on Track‘It’s an industry we all love to complain about,’ says narrator Kevin Whatley at the start of the BBC’s new show about Britain’s railway. The industry would take issue with that statement, but watch the first five minutes into The Railway: Keeping Britain on Track and it becomes difficult to argue against it convincingly. The [...]

Railnews

• Northern's Pacers cheered up as 30th birthday nears Northern has started to refresh some of its fleet of more than 150 veteran diesel Pacer vehicles, giving them new upholstery and improved lighting. The Class 142s are among the older examples of rolling stock in service, and they are also getting new flooring as well as repainted interiors and vestibule ends.
• Colliery landslip wrecks track near Doncaster A colliery landslip has blocked a line in the north of England and the situation has yet to stabilise, Network Rail has warned. No trains are running between Doncaster and Goole or Scunthorpe, and other services are being diverted. Engineers on the scene have been trying to find out why a spoil heap has moved.

Aviation Industry

• KLM to introduce luggage fees on short-haul flightsDutch carrier is the first major legacy airline in Europe to start charging for hold bags

Other News Sources

• MP blasts bus travel costs as 'discrimination against Wirral people' Wirral’s travelling public is not getting a “fare” deal on the buses because of discriminatory pricing, Birkenhead MP Frank Field has claimed.
• Rail industry sets out future potential requirements for trains and carriages A report published today by the rail industry marks a key step towards a market-led approach for delivering rolling stock which meets passengers’ needs over the next 30 years. The high level analysis suggests a possible near doubling of the fleet could be needed by 2042.