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

Thursday, 27 June 2013

BBC News

• Few cyclists fined for bad riding in Avon and Somerset force area Ninety cyclists in the Avon and Somerset police force area have been charged or taken to court for traffic offences over the past three years.
• M4 relief road consultation announced Public consultation on building an M4 relief road south of Newport will begin in September, the Welsh government has announced.
• MPs call for Shrewsbury to London train services u-turn A group of Shropshire MPs have called on the transport secretary to approve a direct train service from Shrewsbury to London.
• Spending review: Energy and transport to get share of £100bn Energy and transport will be the focus as the government reveals later how £100bn will be spent on infrastructure projects across the UK.
• VIDEO: 'Bring back our roundabout' callsA campaign has started to return a notorious Black Country bottleneck back to the way it was - two years after £12m of work was carried out to convert it from a roundabout.
• VIDEO: London transport budget cut by £225mLondon's transport budget has been cut by £225m by Chancellor George Osborne in the Spending Review.
• Easyjet guarantees Inverness routesEasyjet is to start new flights from Inverness to London replacing those lost by Flybe pulling out of its Gatwick route.
• More than 300 TfL staff earn £100kHundreds of Transport for London staff earned over £100,000 in the last year, its accounts show - as TfL claims its pay is
• Crossrail 2 review by governmentThe government is to give London's mayor almost £9bn of capital spending, extra financing power by 2020 and to
• HS2 may cost £10bn more than plannedThe proposed budget for the HS2 railway has increased by nearly £10bn to more than £40bn, the transport minister says as the plan wins a Commons vote.

Financial Times

• Cost of HS2 undercuts spending reviewChancellor seeks to lay framework for 2015 election, setting out £11.5bn of cuts – a downpayment on austerity stretching well into next parliament
• Stagecoach shares rise on increased turnoverA UK rail turnround and solid growth in bus operations offset a weaker performance at the North American arm leading to an 8% rise in annual turnover
• Debt crisis blows STX on to the rocksKang Duk-Soo built conglomerate into a leading shipping and shipbuilding group in less than a decade, but it now faces a debt crisis
• Balfour pulls out of Exeter airportInfrastructure group offloads its 60% stake after expectations of rapid passenger growth crashed into the UK’s recession and weak recovery
• BA launches first hybrid bondUK flag carrier raises $927m to fund purchase of 14 new aircraft, including six Boeing Dreamliners, as it moves to overhaul its ageing fleet
• Rio Tinto halts Mozambique rail shipmentsFormer rebels threaten sabotage on rail line, which is also used for passenger trains and other goods, and which mining groups rely on to export coal
• Cost of HS2 rail link jumps by £8bnThe transport secretary tells MPs that after a detailed review, the project could cost the taxpayer £42.6bn compared with the £34.5bn price tag of January

The Guardian

• Cost of HS2 up £10bn to £42.6bn, transport secretary tells MPs Patrick McLoughlin reveals price hike as Treasury secretary prepares to announce £100bn spending on infrastructure
• Transport for London bosses pocket Olympic Games bonus windfall Capital's bus and tube operator awards £1.5m to senior management after 'record-breaking year under world's gaze'
• HS2: an economic turkey that just became even more expensive The high-speed railway's supposed benefits look still less convincing now the predicted price tag has reached £42.6bn
• Rail franchises money for old rope [letter]The Centre for Research on Socio-Cultural Change (Cresc) study which informed the critique of railway subsidies illustrated the massive transfers to all train operating companies

The Herald

• Cross-party support for cyclist protectionA CAMPAIGN for strict liability for Scotland's cyclists has secured cross-party support in the wake of statistics showing a five-year high in cycling casualties.

The Scotsman

• FirstGroup gets green light for £80m sale of London bus operations Aberdeen-based transport giant FirstGroup has gained regulatory approval to sell its London bus operations for £80 million.
• Scotrail owner completes share rights issue BUS and train operator FirstGroup yesterday completed its three-for-two rights issue, raising more than £600 million to shore up its balance sheet.
• National Express sign up ex-Scotrail boss Grant FORMER ScotRail boss Mary Grant is returning to the transport sector with a senior role helping National Express bid for new rail franchises.
• Stagecoach mulls east coast rail move STAGECOACH is poised to enter the race to run the east coast mainline train service when the UK government puts the route out to tender next year.
• Edinburgh trams: Council hoping for tax breakSCOTLAND’S capital hopes for a tax break to turn a profit from its troubled tram project amid an expected shortfall from tickets alone, says the council.

The Telegraph

• Tory MPs rebel over HS2 as cost rises by third to £40bnThe cost of the HS2 railway line between London, the Midlands and the North has risen by a third to more than £40billion, the transport secretary has disclosed.    

Parliament

• Future programme for 2013-14 published The Transport Committee has agreed a future programme for the coming year that includes a number of topics identified by the public.

Reuters News

• High-speed rail project cost rises by 10 billion pounds(Reuters) - The budget for the High Speed 2 (HS2) rail project has increased by almost 10 billion pounds because of the addition of a tunnel to plans, transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin said on Wednesday.

Mail Online

• Roads, rail and housing boom to get Britain building but is any of £300bn new money?George Osborne promised huge new investment in infrastructure projects, spending £50billion every year until 2020 but Labour dismissed the package as a 'con'.
• TFL fatcats: Transport for London chiefs given £2.5m in bonuses just for 'doing their job right' during OlympicsTransport for London commissioner Sir Peter Hendy (pictured) nearly doubled his pay packet after receiving bonuses totalling £319,000.

The Mirror

• Big 5 train operators 'pay shareholders TWICE as much as they do in tax'The RMT rail union claimed the firms forked out £241million in dividends last year but only £123million in corporation tax

Belfast Telegraph

• BA £600m bond launch takes offBritish Airways has launched a £603m publicly traded bond issue, using 14 of its new planes as collateral. The flag carrier, owned by International Airlines Group, is issuing two classes of certificates, backed by a pool of six Boeing 787-8 aircraft, two 777-300 jets and six Airbus 320-200s, all due for delivery between now and June 2014.Related StoriesRyanair pressured over stake in rivalLegal & General acquires LucidaFugitive oil trader dies of strokeShirt maker to sell for £100mEU set to Tap into Azerbaijan's gas    
• Ryanair pressured over stake in rivalThe Irish Department of Transport has asked the UK's Competition Commission to order Ryanair to sell its entire 29.8% stake in Aer Lingus.Related StoriesDirect Line to axe 2,000 more jobsLegal & General acquires LucidaFugitive oil trader dies of strokeShirt maker to sell for £100mEU set to Tap into Azerbaijan's gas    

London Evening Standard

• Olympic success earns TfL chief Sir Peter Hendy £650,000 as bonuses are paidTransport for London boss Sir Peter Hendy became one of Britain’s highest paid public-sector workers last year with a package worth £650,000.

Manchester Evening News

• Emirates' Manchester passenger numbers surges 20 per cent The UK boss of airline Emirates today revealed it saw the number of passenger jetting in and out of Manchester soar by 20 per cent over the past two months.

Nottingham Evening Post

• Nottingham Post published On right lines for future of transport?Article
• Nottingham Post published Build more tram lines, city councillor saysTRAMS should run to Kimberley and Eastwood as part of a major extension of Nottingham's tram network, under proposals put forward by a leading city councillor.Councillor Nick McDonald, portfolio holder for jobs and growth, says the existing line, which runs from Nottingham to Hucknall, and lines two and three, which will connect Clifton to Beeston and Chilwell via the city centre (as part of NET Phase Two) are insufficient. Loading... Writing in the Post today, Mr McDonald argues...

Wales Online

• Welsh Government unveils preferred plan to relieve traffic congestion on M4 around Newport Transport Minister Edwina Hart says the preferred option would be to build a new section of the M4 motorway south of Newport

Wolverhampton Express and Star

• HS2 bill passed in CommonsA controversial bill over HS2 was tonight given the go-ahead - despite being opposed by 37 MPs, many of them believed to be Tory backbenchers.

Yorkshire Post

• Regional bus operations deliver for Stagecoach A ROBUST performance from Stagecoach’s regional bus operations helped the transport group deliver better-than-expected annual profits today.

Bucks Free Press

• HS2 budget shoots up by nearly £10bn THE controversial HS2 project could cost nearly £10billion more than planned, the transport minister told the House of Commons today.

Peterborough Telegraph

• Countdown to end of Whittlesey railway station consultation Residents in Whittlesey are being warned that time is running out to have their say in a consultation over plans to revamp the railway station.
• Court: Railway track thieves sentencedTwo metal thieves caught by police after driving away from the railway near Peterborough with bits of track in their van have been sentenced at Peterborough Crown Court.

Other Regional Press

• Teenagers have fewer options for travelling by bus nowadays Iwas searching through some of my old gardening notebooks last week when I found one of my trainspotting books from 1965.
• Kirklees Cabinet to consider £760,000 road work plansSENIOR councillors will be asked to approve £760,000 for a major road improvement scheme.
• The wheels are in motion for Bedford Bus Station revampAN £8.8 million plan to overhaul Bedford Bus Station was given the go ahead on Monday night.

Bus and Coach.com

• Transport committee plansThe House of Commons transport committee has announced its programme for the coming year.
• VOSA and DSA to mergeVOSA and the Driving Standard Agency are to be merged, in a move which the government says will provide “more convenient and cost-effective” services – with a hint of fees reductions.
• Formal warning for M TravelM Travel of Castleford has been given a formal warning by Yorkshire traffic commissioner Kevin Rooney following a public inquiry into vehicle safety standards.
• Sheffield tram-trains orderedThe introduction of tram-trains on a service between Sheffield and Rotherham has moved a step closer with the placing of an order for seven vehicles with German manufacturer Vossloh.
• First sleeper coach route ready to rollThe first of Stagecoach's overnight sleeper coach services starts next month, running from Aberdeen, Dundee, Perth and Cumbernauld to London, seven nights a week.

Global Rail News

• 15 weird and wonderful concepts that could transform disused rail infrastructureThe UK isn’t short of long-since-retired rail infrastructure in need of revitalisation. There are creative examples of rail renovation everywhere. Railway arches are now sought after for office space and[...]
• Summit held to press forward Australia’s high-speed rail plansCampaigners travelled to Canberra today (June 26) to highlight the need for greater political support for Australia’s high-speed rail ambitions. This follows the publication of a report earlier this year[...]
• $1.15bn tunnelling contract awarded for North West Rail LinkThe New South Wales (NSW) Government has awarded the $1.15 billion tunnelling and station civils contract for its flagship North West Rail Link project. A joint venture of Thiess, John[...]
• Paris Lyon station reopens Hall 2Paris-Gare de Lyon has officially reopened Hall 2 to mark the completion of a three-year renewal project. The new concourse has been designed to include more commercial space than the[...]
• Alstom sign tram manufacturing agreement in UkraineA joint venture of Alstom and Transmashholding, TramRus, has agreed a deal with Ukrainian bus manufacturer City Transport Group that will enable the introduction of modern trams onto the network.[...]
• Crossrail 2 proposals get firm backingThe Chancellor has indicated that the government will back initial studies into the feasability of Crossrail 2. Addressing parliament, George Osbourne also said that although the Department for Transport (DfT)[...]
• Budget for HS2 to increase by almost £10bnThe projected cost of HS2 has been revised up by almost £10 billion on the day that MPs began debating the second reading of the paving bill. Budgets for both[...]

Railnews

• East Coast capacity boosted by new £47m link Capacity on the East Coast Main Line is being boosted after the opening of a £47 million flyover which will eliminate conflicting movements on a key section of the route. The new structure takes Cambridge-bound trains over the rest of the main line at Hitchin, and has started to be used from today.

Aviation Industry

• Bombardier delays CSeries first flight to end of July Bombardier has pushed back CSeries first flight by one month, saying in a statement issued Wednesday that the aircraft will now make its maiden test flight “by the end of July.” read more

Other News Sources

• Aggregates plant plan for Salfords station A NEW aggregates manufacturing plant could soon be built at Salfords railway station after a planning application was submitted to the local authority.
• Green MP Caroline Lucas wants railways in public ownership A Green MP will call for railways to be brought back into public control in the House of Commons.
• Heathrow Express tickets are ‘good value’Train boss says prices should be compared to taxi fares into London