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

Monday, 24 June 2013

BBC News

• Roads shut down for car-free SundayRoads in part of Bristol city centre close for the mayor's car-free Sundays initiative which he hopes will Make Sunday Special.
• Passengers eat train made from cakeA replica of a Heathrow Express train made entirely from cake is unveiled to mark the 15th anniversary of the airport service.

ITV News

• 'Major' investment in West Coast Main Line £40m improvements to the West Coast Main Line, which runs through the Midlands, have been announced.

Financial Times

• Osborne to commit billions to infrastructureChancellor to announce £11.5bn of savings on public spending – but insist that fiscal discipline has left space for investment in roads, broadband and energy
• MTR seeks further expansion in EuropeMass transit operator wants to reduce its dependence on the Hong Kong market and is considering a bid to run Berlin’s S-Bahn urban rail network

The Guardian

• North Circular air pollution worst in London, emissions figures showFour of the capital's five worst roads for air pollution pass through some of the poorest areas of east LondonThe North Circular, which carries more than 60,000 vehicles a day, has the worst traffic fumes of any road in London, according to official emissions figures released under freedom of information legislation.Exhaust emissions data held by Transport for London shows that a stretch of the road near Walthamstow ranked highest for four of the five most dangerous air pollutants, including benzene, nitrogen oxide (NO2) and fine particles of unburned carbon called PM10s and PM2.5s.Four of the...

The Herald

• Docherty demands cheap fares for allA SCOTS Labour MP has called for rail companies to be forced to offer passengers their lowest fares.
• Children found on 125mph train lineTHE driver of a 125mph express train was forced to stop a train to save two boys aged six and nine who were sitting on the tracks.
• £40m upgrade for Glasgow rail lineNetwork Rail is expected to announce today the series of projects, some of which are already under way, would improve the reliability of the infrastructure and punctuality of train services on the West Coast Main Line, Britain's busiest mixed-use railway.

The Telegraph

• HS2: David Cameron's country neighbours spell out their oppositionHS2, a flagship policy of the Coalition government, is bitterly opposed by those living near its route, nowhere more so than along the road frequently used by the Prime Minister to reach his country retreat at Chequers.    

Network Rail

• Major investment to improve West Coast rail performanceNetwork Rail today revealed details of a series of projects, worth nearly £40m, aimed at improving the reliability of the infrastructure and punctuality of train services on Britain’s busiest mixed-use railway line.

Belfast Telegraph

• Translink rail strike travel misery: Commuters facing disruption as train staff stop work Thousands of commuters are facing disruption today as more than 150 railway staff go on strike.

Bristol Live

• SUNDAYS ARE SPECIAL AGAINBRISTOL became the first place in the UK to ban traffic from the city centre.
• The Bristol Post published On Track: Dave Wood's column on railways David WoodRail Maritime...I JUST cannot believe the time it is taking to get the Portishead line re-opened. Sometimes it seems more like a Carry On film than an example of good railway practice. We now learn it will be another five years before the trains will again run into the town.It makes me wonder whether the Department of Transport will ever guarantee that this line will open again.And what about the price? It is currently £55 million.In my opinion a real opportunity was missed in 2002 when the goods line to...

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Pledge to cut speed limits on stretches of road that have seen fatalities 39 stretches to be looked at including A541 where plumber Kieran Arnold died

The York Press

• Boris bikes heading for York BORIS bikes could soon be coming to York as part of a regional strategy to 'Get Yorkshire Cycling.'

Daventry Express

• Cuts ’will jeopardise bus routes’BUS services could be tipped “over the edge” by further spending cuts, an MPs’ report warns today. Cutbacks have already brought a “declining level of accessibility” especially to hospitals, according to a House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee paper.

Peterborough Telegraph

• Electric cars for traffic officersCouncil traffic officers will go green when they swap their petrol powered cars for electric vehicles.

Other Regional Press

• Transport study offers new hope for 3,000 Aylesbury homes opponents Opponents of plans to build 3,000 homes on the edge of Aylesbury have been boosted by an independent traffic report which flags up fears of the development’s ’severe impact’.
• Bike rack duplication 'oversight' OXFORDSHIRE County Council has said it was a “genuine oversight” that nobody was consulted about the location of a new bike rack.
• Fears for the future as North Bedfordshire village bus services axedRESIDENTS will be left stranded in the North Bedfordshire villages after a bus company announced it could no longer afford to run services there.

Airportwatch

• The Independent Transport spending skewed towards LondonLondoners benefit from more money per head on transport expenditure than all of the other regions combined, underlining the “skewed” ...

Other News Sources

• £40m of Improvements announced for West Coast Main Line RailwayProjects worth nearly £40m to improve a key London to Scotland train route have been announced by Network Rail
• Date is set for HS2 Stafford convention A NATIONAL convention for campaigners fighting high speed rail plans will be held near Stafford this month - and local campaign groups are making some noise the week before.
• HS2 appoints sustainability consultants Temple and RSK awarded contract to support further development of the northern route
• Clapham Junction next for Northern Line says London Assembly member Clapham Junction will be connected to the Northern line, according to London Assembly member Richard Tracey.
• Technology overhaul for Croydon transport firm 'a brilliant investment' Bosses at a Croydon haulage firm believe a multi-million pound technology investment has turned the company into a leading player in the transport industry.