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

Tuesday, 27 August 2013

BBC News

• Trains delayed by 'minor' derailmentTrain services from Nottingham are delayed a day after the station was closed for five weeks.
• Forth Bridge viewing platform plansRails chiefs confirm they are looking at hoisting a viewing platform more than 300ft to the top of the Forth Bridge.
• Skyscanner to double workforceTravel firm Skyscanner says it plans to recruit 250 more people over the next year to support its global expansion plans.
• Businesses 'not convinced' by HS2A leading business lobby group calls on the government to abandon its controversial high-speed rail link, calling the project a

Financial Times

• Plan to put third runway in local handsThe idea, put forward by the Co-operative wing of the Labour party, would be a novel way to reduce the formidable local opposition to the project
• Cracks emerge in business support for HS2The IoD’s intervention comes as pressure mounts on cross-party consensus behind HS2. Labour has warned it will drop support if the budget rises further

The Guardian

• HS2 high-speed rail project is grand folly, say business leadersInstitute of Directors claims there is no business case for the line linking London with Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds The Institute of Directors (IoD) has urged ministers to abandon the

The Herald

• Business leaders condemn plans for high speed rail linkMORE pressure has been piled on the Coalition Government over its flagship £50 billion high speed rail plan (HS2), with the Institute of Directors calling on it to abandon what it branded a
• Pressure grows on Brown over airport reportPRESSURE is mounting on Transport Minister Keith Brown to disclose a shortlist of infrastructure options for Glasgow Airport after Scotland's transport agency had blocked the publication of the independent study.
• Rugby legend backs calls for law change to protect cyclistsFORMER Scotland rugby player Scott Hastings and his wife are campaigning for a change in the law to protect cyclists after they lost two close friends in road accidents in a fortnight.

The Scotsman

• Forth Bridge gets £15m visitor area and glass liftDESIGNS to enable visitors to ascend to the top of the Forth Bridge were unveiled today by Network Rail, which pledged there would be be at least partial public access to Scotland’s biggest grade A listed structure by its 125th birthday in two years’ time.

The Telegraph

• More big projects needed for UK, says Crossrail bossBoss of Crossrail project tells Nathalie Thomas 'continuity' needed for UK to stay 'top of its game'    
• HS2 is a 'grand folly' and should be scrapped, business leaders warnThe High Speed 2 scheme is a

Reuters News

• High speed rail plan 'not worth the money' - business groupLONDON (Reuters) - Britain should abandon plans for a multi-billion-pound high speed rail link between London and central and northern England because it will not offer value for money, an influential business group said on Tuesday.

Mail Online

• HS2 a grand folly say business chiefs: £50bn rail link will NOT boost productivity'A poll of company directors found 70 per cent believe the 225mph trains between London and Birmingham will have no impact on the productivity of their firms.

The Mirror

• HS2: High Speed Rail plans dubbed "grand folly" by leading business groupThe survey showed there was little enthusiasm for the project even in the regions where the benefits are supposed to be strongest

Network Rail

• Green light for Nottingham as £100m rail investment completes on timeAfter five weeks of around-the-clock effort, six miles of new track, 143 new signals, a new platform, the work of 2,000 people and over 30,000 bus movements, a full train service has begun again at Nottingham station.

Birmingham Mail

• Business leaders rail against HS2 schemeThe double blow represents a serious setback for the scheme – previously business and political support has been mostly united

Derby Telegraph

• Derby Telegraph commented Relief for travellers as station reopens after £100m...RELIEVED commuters are hoping for easier journeys after Nottingham station reopened today.The station, which closed on July 20, has undergone a £100 million revamp and a full timetable will return in time for tomorrow's morning commute.The work saw the complete closure of the Robin Hood Line to Mansfield and Worksop and replacement buses on most journeys out of the city as part of a programme of engineering works – including replacing six miles of track as well as 143 signals and...
• Derby Telegraph commented Working with asbestos for 27 years killed rail workerA FORMER railway worker who spent 27 years working with asbestos has died of an industrial disease.Harry Roome, of Warwick Avenue, Derby, died in July aged 83, after a long illness and trouble breathing.Mr Roome worked at the locomotive works in Litchurch Lane between 1945 to 1948 where he was a coach body builder.Asbestos was sprayed on all the carriages to protect them from the weather and Mr Roome told his family that it "covered the whole place like snow."There was a short time...

Edinburgh Evening News

• Transport chiefs to close parking charges loophole NEW parking charges are set to be introduced on Greenways across the Capital as transport chiefs move to close a bizarre loophole.

Liverpool Post

• Peel Ports completes £152.5m debt refinancing Three specialist infrastructure investors - Westbourne, IFM and AXA - have provided funds which have allowed £152.5m of Peel Ports debt to be refinanced.
• Liverpool Ducks are repossessed Administrators could see no way of saving the firm. A fleet of “Yellow Duckmarine” tour buses – two of which sank in a Liverpool dock earlier this year – have been repossessed.
• Labour will withdraw support for HS2 rail project if costs soarOpposition are attacking the rising costs of the scheme

London Evening Standard

• Business chiefs slam HS2 'folly'The Institute of Directors (IoD) has joined those calling for HS2 to be scrapped, branding the £50 billion high-speed rail project "a grand folly".

Manchester Evening News

• Institute of Directors calls for HS2 to be scrapped A survey of IoD members found that just 27% feel HS2 represents good value for money, and 70% say the scheme will have no impact on the productivity of their business.

Nottingham Evening Post

• Nottingham Post published Green light for rail firms' overcrowding data moveArticle
• Nottingham Post published £100m Nottingham Station works finished on timeTHE first train has left Nottingham Station after the biggest rail improvement project in the city for a generation. The station has been closed for the last six weeks while engineers replaced six miles of track and 143 signal boxes. The work has cost £100 million to complete with hundreds of buses each day ferrying passengers to East Midlands Parkway Station. near Ratcliffe-on-Soar. But the work was completed five minutes ahead of schedule, at 3.55am yesterday, in time for the first...

Sheffield Star

• Minister meters out criticism of Sheffield parking chargesA Government minister has waded into the row about Sheffield city centre parking charges – and accused Sheffield Council of driving away business.

The York Press

• Safety changes to A19 ‘don’t go far enough’ PROPOSED changes to a main road into York do not go far enough to protect the public, a resident has claimed.

Wales Online

• Business chiefs slam HS2 'folly' and call for high speed link to be scrappedThe Institute of Directors (IoD) has joined those calling for HS2 to be scrapped, branding the £50bn high-speed rail project 'a grand folly'.

Yorkshire Evening Post

• Wakefield Council plans for its Tour de France cycling legacyA CITY centre fun ride, improved cycle routes and promoting cycling to work are in a new plan designed to capitalise on Yorkshire’s hosting of the Tour de France next year.
• Woman seriously injured after being trapped by horse-drawn tram at Leeds Middleton RailwayFirefighters had to rescue a woman trapped under a three-tonne horse-drawn tram after the animal bolted.

Yorkshire Post

• Scrap ‘grand folly’ of HS2, directors urgeThe Institute of Directors (IoD) has joined those calling for HS2 to be scrapped, branding the £50bn high-speed rail project “a grand folly”.

Bucks Free Press

• Wycombe bus company searches for 'Knights of the Road' A BUS company operating in High Wycombe is calling for passengers to tell them of bus drivers they believe have gone the extra mile.

Carlisle News & Star

• Talks on new Edinburgh to Carlisle rail link A new rail link from Edinburgh to Carlisle could be on track after council leaders met with Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond.

Other Regional Press

• Aircraft graduates are flying highMonarch Aircraft Engineering (MAEL), celebrated the graduation of their aircraft engineer apprentices at an event at Monarch Aircraft Engineering’s Training Academy at London Luton Airport last week.
• Use of electric car charging points questionedPlans to install two free electric car charging points in a Preston carpark have come under question by a city councillor.
• Secure lock-up for bikes in Weymouth CYCLISTS can lock-up their bikes safely thanks to a new secure shelter.

Railnews

• HS2 dubbed 'grand folly' by Institute of Directors Another group has added its voice in opposition to HS2, claiming that the scheme amounts to a 'grand folly'. The IoD, like some other critics, wants the HS2 budget to be invested in alternative transport schemes, which it believes should include upgrades to roads as well as railways. But former transport secretary Andrew Adonis has warned that cancelling HS2 would be an act of 'national self-mutilation'.