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

Tuesday, 30 July 2013

BBC News

• 'Nice way code' to boost road safetyA new safety code is launched in an attempt to create a
• Further cable theft on rail lineTrain services between Aberdeen and Inverness face continued disruption after it was discovered more signal cable has been stolen.
• £5.8m in EU funding for 53 busesAn EU investment of £5.8m has been secured to help meet the cost of 53 recently purchased Translink buses and coaches.
• Electric car charging bays go liveTwo hundred and fifty vehicle charging bays, aimed at encouraging drivers to use electric cars, are turned on across Greater Manchester.
• Boeing in global aircraft inspectionBoeing requests airlines to carry out inspections of a transmitter used to locate aircraft after a crash.
• Rising fuel costs hit Ryanair profitNo-frills airline Ryanair reports a 20% drop in quarterly profits due to the timing of Easter and rising fuel costs.

Financial Times

• Ryanair profits fall on rising fuel costsLow-cost carrier sees first-quarter profits plunge 21% to €78m, with fuel costs up 6% compared with last year to make up 47% of its operating costs
• Riyadh awards $22.5bn metro contractsThree foreign-led consortiums including Bechtel of the US are to start work on a Saudi Arabian rail system that aims to boost productivity
• India approves Etihad deal for Jet stakeAbu Dhabi state carrier approved to buy 24% share of Indian carrier for $380m after reassurances over board seats and shareholder control
• Sale of Luton airport due to arriveA deal could be announced as early as Tuesday, although final details were still being thrashed out on Monday evening

The Guardian

• Lib Dem calls double yellow line parking idea unworkable Transport minister Norman Baker expresses reservations about Tory colleague Eric Pickles's plan to revive local high streets
• Drivers may be given 'grace period' on double yellow lines to revive high street Motorists could be allowed to park on double yellow lines for up to 15 minutes as part of a package of government proposals to help regenerate the high street.
• Making travel 'safer' is a dangerous game The train and coach crashes in Spain and Italy may have been preventable, but we mustn't think we can make travel truly safe
• Serco: the company that is running BritainFrom prisons to rail franchises and even London's Boris bikes, Serco is a giant global corporation that has hoovered up outsourced government contracts. Now the NHS is firmly in its sights. But it stands accused of mismanagement, lying and even charging for non-existent workIn May this year, a huge company listed on the London Stock Exchange found itself in the midst of controversy about a prison it runs for the government – Thameside, a newly built jail next to Belmarsh, in south-east London. A report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate found that 60% of its inmates were locked up all day, and ther...
• Driver dies in Switzerland train crashRegional services collide head-on at Granges-pres-Marnand, killing a driver and leaving more than 35 injured, authorities sayTwo trains have collided in Switzerland, killing one of the drivers and injuring at least 35 people, five of them seriously, according to authorities.The crash happened at Granges-pres-Marnand in the canton of Vaud as one of the trains headed to Lausanne and the other to Payerne. Between them they were carrying about 40 people.Vaud police spokesman Jean-Christophe Sauterel said:

The Herald

• Scheme aims to change behaviour on roadsDrivers, cyclists and pedestrians are being urged to be more considerate to each other with the
• Boeing urges checks on planes after fireBoeing has urged airlines to carry out further inspections on their planes following a report by British air accident specialists into a London jet fire.
• Crisis at bus giant as boss Park is 'put out to pasture'SCOTLAND'S largest bus-operating company has been plunged into crisis after the head of its Glasgow division went on indefinite gardening leave in a suspected row over service cuts.

The Independent

• Boeing urges further inspections on its jets after Heathrow Dreamliner blaze Air investigators say emergency locator beacon checks should include five more aircraft types

The Scotsman

• Cycle safety campaign ’a waste of taxpayers’ cash’A NEW Scottish Government road safety campaign has been criticised as showing “a lack of commitment” to saving lives on Scotland’s roads.

The Telegraph

• Anne Fine on railway stations worth taking a trip toYou couldn't leave out this “cathedral of railways”. The trains look fabulous against the brickwork and intricate wrought iron and under William ...

Mail Online

• Eric Pickles: We'll let shoppers park on double yellow linesTransport minister Norman Baker, whose Liberal Democrat colleagues actually want to increase parking charges, claimed the plan would increase congestion and drive people away.
• DVLA tax discs: Tall stories for not paying car tax include man who took too much Viagra and could not leave houseThe DVLA has released details of the top 10 silliest excuses given by the one per cent of drivers who do not buy a tax disc for their vehicle.

Network Rail

• Major improvement work for the West Coast Main Line at WatfordMajor improvement work on the West Coast Main Line at Watford will get underway in 2014 to improve the punctuality of train services on Britain’s busiest mixed-use railway line.

Belfast Telegraph

• Advertisers to take-off with Ryanair's planesRYANAIR'S 300 planes look set to fly around emblazoned with huge adverts after the budget carrier said it had seen an

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Delay to rail upgrade in North Wales could hit plans for electrification Wrexham-Chester upgrade is critical for future improvements as access to enterprise zones

London Evening Standard

• Opening up a new world beneath our feet - the Crossrail tunnels Snaking between top-secret security installations and ancient rivers, Crossrail’s tunnels are bringing London’s hidden depths to light. WIRED’s Andrew Hankinson goes underground
• Spanish train crash driver chargedThe train driver in the Spanish derailment disaster has been released after being charged with the 79 deaths in the country's worst train accident in decades.
• Pedants shall rule on the TubeTransport for London is upping its grammatical game. A new lift service unveiled at Hampstead Underground station greets passengers with the information “Lift number 3 shall be the next lift”, replacing the more commonly heard expectation “... will be the next lift”.
• Transport enthusiast’s crusade to be Mayor of LondonWith nearly three years until the next mayoral election, a Christian has thrown himself to the lions. Step forward Christian Wolmar, railway expert and transport commentator who says he's running for Mayor in 2016 whoever the other candidates may be.

Manchester Evening News

• Charge of Greater Manchester's electric car brigade 250 plug-in points go live across Greater Manchester as green revolution moves up a gear

Wales Online

• New express service between Cardiff city centre and Cardiff Airport to start this weekNew direct buses will link the airport in the Vale of Glamorgan to the city centre, and will run every 20 minutes, seven days a week

Crewe Chronicle

• UK & World News: 35 hurt as Swiss trains collideAt least 35 people have been injured, five of them seriously, in a head-on collision between two trains in western Switzerland.

Other Regional Press

• Train travellers go back in time on Caledonian Railway A series of events thrilled steam and diesel enthusiasts at Brechin’s popular Caledonian Railway at the weekend.
• Angry Maureen Jopson sent two explorer tickets after complaining to Arriva... but they were out of dateWhen angry bus passenger Maureen Jopson complained to Arriva after several bad journeys she was sent complimentary tickets... that were out of date!
• Passengers delayed after cable theft from rail trackCOMMUTERS faced delays today after thieves stole a mile of cable from a North-east railway line.

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• NEW BOARD MEMBERS APPOINTED TO BTPA Transport minister Simon Burns has announced the appointment of five new board members to the British Transport Police Authority (BTPA).

Global Rail News

• Gallery: National Track Plant ExhibitionLong Marston welcomed 219 exhibitors and more than 3,700 visitors to Network Rail’s National Track Plant Exhibition last week. Here are just a few highlights of the show, but grab[...]
• All go for Crossrail in WoolwichCrossrail can now open the bidding for the Woolwich station fit out contract after funding was confirmed for the project. Transport for London (TfL) and the Department for Transport (DfT)[...]
• SNCF orders extra Euroduplex high-speed trainsAlstom and SNCF have signed a deal exercising an option from an order in 2007 for 40 Euroduplex high-speed trains. The new trains will add extra capacity to France’s intercity[...]
• New safety rules introduced after Lac-Mégantic derailmentCanada’s transport ministers have issued new rules for transporting dangerous substances following the Lac-Mégantic derailment that killed 47. Any locomotive carrying dangerous goods must be operated by a minimum of[...]
• Singapore Thomson Line contracts awardedConstruction and tunnelling contracts worth a combined $706 million have been awarded for Singapore’s Thomson Line. The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has announced that Samsung C&T will construct the line’s[...]
• Lawsuit payout hits Vossloh financesVossloh has seen its pre-tax earnings fall by more than 50 per cent after being forced to pay out an undisclosed damages claim. Revenue fell from 31 million euro in[...]
• Funding secured for Rhine-Ruhr ExpressFunding has been committed to the first phase of the Rhine-Ruhr Express (RXX) project. North Rhine-Westphalia regional rail transport authorities have set out plans to launch a tender in October[...]
• Perth rail tunnel opensA new 600-metre long rail tunnel has opened beneath Perth’s city centre, marking the next phase of a major development project. With the Fremantle tunnel now complete, construction work can[...]
• $22.5bn contracts awarded for Riyadh MetroThe transport authority leading the development of Riyadh’s new metro system has awarded three significant contracts worth a total of $22.5 billion. Announcing the milestone, Ibrahim Bin Muhammad Al Sultan,[...]
• Political support for rail tunnel between Spain and MoroccoPoliticians in Spain and Morocco have spoken about the need for improved transport links, reigniting the possibility of a rail tunnel between the two countries. For the last 20 years,[...]

Railnews

• Spanish crash driver faces homicide charges The Spanish driver whose train crashed on the approach to Santiago last week has been questioned in private by a judge, and is now formally suspected of causing the accident. A 79th person has now died in hospital after last Wednesday's crash, in which a train was driven around a curve at more than twice the permitted line speed of 80km/h. The driver has reportedly admitted that he was 'careless', and is currently on bail, with his passport withdrawn.

Aviation Industry

• Ryanair sets sights on European expansionNo-frills carrier plans to take advantage of other airlines’ route cuts
• Boeing asks airlines to inspect transmittersManufacturer expands Dreamliner probe to other aircraft models
• Fastjet to launch first international serviceAfrican carrier will operate flights from Tanzania to Johannesburg
• Heathrow unveils new passenger tracking serviceVirgin becomes first airline to use new system to reduce delays

Other News Sources

• Extending Crossrail could bring a £50billion boost to London’s economy and tackle its overcrowding crisis, say the London Assembly MONTREAL - Bombardier Transportation isn't taking an almost $1.6-billion British rail contract win for granted even though a major German rival, Siemens, has withdrawn from bidding on the Crossrail project.
• Crossrail could give London economy £50bn boost, say assembly Extending Crossrail could bring a £50billion boost to London’s economy and tackle its overcrowding crisis, say the London Assembly
• Rail union RMT slams continuing franchise shambles as regulator confirms cattle get hot weather protection but not humansRAIL UNION RMT revealed today that while cattle get legal protection from overheated trains, British passengers, paying the highest fares in Europe, do not as the private rail companies are once again allowed to get away with doing just what they like as they extract massive profits from the network.
• First Capital Connect set out plans to improve rail services between Brighton and London A rail company has tasked a director with improving services between Brighton and London.