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

Friday, 14 June 2013

BBC News

• £2.2m road resurfacing after winterMore than £2.2m is being spent on resurfacing roads in Denbighshire affected by last year's harsh winter, say officials.
• Flying bike for easier commutesResearchers in the Czech Republic have unveiled a 95kg (210lb) remotely-controlled flying bicycle that can hover a few metres above ground.
• M4 closed as bus bursts into flamesThe M4 in west London was closed between junctions one and three when a bus caught fire causing long delays for motorists.
• Budget long-haul flights 'can work'Can budget airlines ever succeed long-haul?
• Airbus A350 set for maiden flightThe newest aircraft from European planemaker Airbus, the A350, is due to take off from Toulouse on its maiden flight later.

Financial Times

• Jaguar-Land Rover exposes skill shortageSurge in demand for British engineers by carmakers is exposing the chronic skills-shortage threatening the future growth of the UK supply chain
• Heathrow favours 'phased' expansionHub airport has been busy whittling down a list of as many as 40 options for expansion and is likely to seek permission for a ‘phased’ approach

The Herald

• Missing in smartphone actionTHEY have become the tools of modern life but our devotion to smartphones and other such devices has led an estimated 20 million commuters to forget to get off at their bus or train stop.
• Electronic cigarette devices banned by ScotRailSCOTRAIL has banned e-cigarettes from its trains and railway stations as concerns over their safety continue to grow.

The Telegraph

• From a tent in a field, how Heathrow has changed Since the early 1920s the aviation industry in the United Kingdom has been constantly evolving, innovating and adapting.
• Bombardier blow as Siemens wins £1.6bn Thameslink dealMinisters are embroiled in a jobs for British workers row after confirming that Siemens had won the £1.6bn contract to build rolling stock for the Thameslink line.    

Mail Online

• When leg room was a reality: Golden age of air travel in pictures (but as these shots of tents at Heathrow show, it wasn't all glamour) Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2340919/Golden-age-air-travel-pictures-shots-tents-Heathrow-wasnt-It was the golden age of air travel, when using aeroplanes was still glamorous and comfortable.
• 'Digital distraction' causes 20 million passengers to miss their bus or train stop every yearA study carried out by O2 and Samsung revealed that 51 per cent of Britons have missed their stop because they were distracted by their mobile phone.
• easyJet signs deal with Stansted Airport to double passenger numbersThe London airport has been in decline for several years, but after signing a deal to increase easyJet passengers from 2.8m to 6m per year, it hopes to reverse its fortunes.

The Mirror

• Siemens finally seals £1.6bn Thameslink deal dashing hopes for UK's last trainmaker A Government spokesman said a deal had finally been clinched with German firm Siemens to build 1,140 new carriages.
• Bus on fire on M4: Picture of vehicle on motorway engulfed in flames The vehicle appeared completely engulfed in flames in this Twitter picture, but there are no reports of injuries
• Volvo clocks up world record three MILLION miles on road with one careful ownerThe retired teacher, 70, bought the P1800S for £2,650 in 1966 and it has never broken down since

Network Rail

• Rail services to resume through Hatfield & StainforthRail passengers will be able to get a train through Hatfield & Stainforth from 8 July 2013. Services will be reintroduced following a complex and intricate programme to stabilise and reinstate the railway following a spoil heap slip in February. The passenger timetable will fully re-introduced by 29 July.

Derby Telegraph

• MP 'sickened' as Thameslink deal is finally confirmed DERBY MP Chris Williamson has branded a final decision to deny Bombardier the lucrative Thameslink contract as "sickening".

London Evening Standard

• Hammersmith flyover needs £60m repair job after £10m emergency work two years agoA further £60 million is to be spent on patching up the Hammersmith flyover less than two years after it was closed for emergency repairs because it was at risk of collapse.

Sheffield Star

• African group finds transport services are ‘just the ticket’Nigerian officials have visited Sheffield for advice on how to successfully run a public transport system.

The York Press

• MP's pledge over free entry at the NRM A MINISTER has reiterated the Government’s commitment to free admission at the National Railway Museum – but refused to confirm sufficient funding for it to stay open.
• Rally planned against possible closure of National Railway Museum A RALLY against the possible closure of the National Railway Museum will be staged at lunchtime on Saturday .

Yorkshire Evening Post

• Business bosses back Leeds trolleybus plans New plans for the Leeds trolleybus have been unveiled as city leaders prepare to ask the Government for the powers to press ahead with the £250m scheme.

East Anglian Daily Times

• Ipswich: Council set to subsidise bus services after routes de-registeredThe borough is expected to step in to subsidise bus services to Stoke Park, Chantry, and the north of the town which Ipswich Buses has decided are no longer economically viable.

Other Regional Press

• MSP hits out at SPT boss swap A GLASGOW MSP has criticised the decision to replace one city councillor with another as chairman of the west of Scotland's transport agency.
• That’s PURRRFECT! - New addition to ticket barriers especially for Huddersfield Railway Station’s cat FelixFELIX the cat has got station staff in a right flap.
• Tunnel could connect Aberdeen railway station to Union Terrace GardensA TUNNEL underneath the city could connect Aberdeen’s railway station to Union Terrace Gardens.

Global Rail News

• Cheap tickets boost high-speed AVE salesSpanish train operator Renfe has seen passenger numbers increase by 14 per cent after introducing new discounted services. Between February 8 and June 2, Renfe cut the price of AVE[...]
• LEGO Tube mapsLondon Underground’s iconic Tube map has been pieced together out of LEGO bricks to celebrate the network’s 150th anniversary. Five maps, each made up of more than 1,000 bricks, have[...]
• Fleet replacement complete on Budapest Metro lineThe final trainset of a new fleet of 22 Alstom-built vehicles has begun service in Budapest, signalling the end of the line for a number of the network’s oldest serving[...]
• Final contract awarded for Second Avenue SubwayMTA has awarded the final contract for the first phase of the Second Avenue Subway project. The $208 million package of works, which was handed to the 86th Street Constructors[...]
• The evolution of Japan’s high-speed ShinkansenJapan’s bullet trains have been transporting passengers around the country for half a century, but how have the trains developed over the decades.

London TravelWatch

• Watchdog raises further concerns about the impact on passengersWatchdog raises further concerns about the impact on passengers should London not secure sufficient transport funding

Railnews

• Freight chief urges new working group GB Railfreight's chief executive John Smith has welcomed an easing of proposed increases in railfreight charges, which has been published by the Office of Rail Regulation. He says the industry should now take further steps to move forward by creating a working group which would include the operators and the DfT. The prospect of the increases had been causing concern in the railfreight industry, which feared that recent improvements in traffic could have been reversed under the impact of significantly higher costs.
• Landslip line to reopen next month The railway near Doncaster which was blocked by a colliery landslip in February is to reopen next month, Network Rail has announced. The route through Hatfield & Stainforth station was closed after a vast spoil heap moved towards the line, effectively demolishing the infrastructure.
• Passenger growth appears to have stalled New figures released by the Office of Rail Regulation show that the total number of journeys on National Rail in 2012-13 just topped 1.5 billion -- a total which has not previously been reported since the 1920s. However, annual growth appears to have eased back slightly to 3 per cent, and there were actual falls in the last quarter of the statistical year.

Aviation Industry

• Trains replace planesThe shift from air to rail in the UK domestic market has been revealed by figures that show that on the ten busiest domestic air routes, mainly between the south of England and Scotland, rail’s market share increased from 29 to 46 per cent between 2006 and 2012. Figures reported in the Financial Times on [...]
• SAS to launch Humberside flightsScandinavian carrier will operate route to Copenhagen from October
• Easyjet strikes deal to expand at StanstedNo-frills carrier plans to double traffic at airport over the next five years
• British Airways to add services to AfricaCarrier will use former Bmi slots to increase flights from Heathrow
• Egyptair launches Manchester-Cairo routeNorth African carrier will serve north-west airport five times per week

Other News Sources

• Dinner at the Roundhouse 2013 Dinner at the Roundhouse is now firmly established as the railway industry’s favourite networking event. Held in the prestigiously restored 1839 Roundhouse at Derby College, the dinner attracts around 400 industry professionals, business leaders and key decision-makers.
• Construction of London's Cycle Superhighway 5 set to begin Work to develop London's fifth Cycle Superhighway is set to begin this month, with the first section between Oval and New Cross expected to be delivered by the autumn.