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

Tuesday, 10 September 2013

BBC News

• First defends Bristol bus changes ahead of vote Bristol's biggest bus operator has defended changes to its services ahead of a no confidence vote in it.
• Opposition sinks Corran Ferry changes to fares structureThe existing fares structure of the Highland Council owned Corran Ferry in Lochaber could be retained.
• Labour: Critics of HS2 'have no alternative' [Maria Eagle MP - video]Labour has said a failure to build a high speed rail link between London and Birmingham would result in the "decline of our railways into the future".
• Minister Stephen Hammond defends A14 toll road plan Transport Minister Stephen Hammond has defended plans to charge motorists for using the new A14 toll road.
• 'Track dip' caused Carlton freight train derailment Rail investigators say a "severe track dip" caused a freight train to derail, closing the line for two weeks.
• Preferred option for A9 Berriedale Braes upgrade by 2014 A preferred option for improving a notorious section of the A9 should be known next year, Transport Scotland has said.
• Jaguar to create 1,700 new jobs Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) plans to create 1,700 jobs at its plant in Solihull as part of a £1.5bn investment in expanding its product range.
• Rural bus service replaced by taxisA bus service in rural Denbighshire is scrapped and passengers encouraged to use subsidised taxis instead after it worked out cheaper for the council.
• Nissan launches driver's smartwatchA smartwatch that monitors the performance of a vehicle as well as the driver has been launched by car maker Nissan.
• Easyjet announces new Belfast routesEasyjet is to fly new routes between Belfast International Airport and Jersey, and from Belfast to Bordeaux, in south west France.
• Thousands apply for cycle raceMore than 80,000 apply to take part in next year's 100-mile cycle challenge through London and Surrey.
• VIDEO: Bus 'crash for cash' fraud warningLondon's bus operators are concerned at the number of
• Bike champion seeks new speed recordFormer world champion racing cyclist Graeme Obree seeks to set a new human-powered land speed record with an unusual torpedo-shaped bicycle.
• Welsh 'Gatwick' airport plan for Severnside defendedThe man behind proposals for a Gatwick-sized airport in Wales has defended his ambitions following claims they are "far-fetched".

The Herald

• Rail leader in call for new 'party of labour'Rail union leader Bob Crow is to call for a

The Scotsman

• Search for missing North Sea ferry passenger endsThe search for a man reported missing from a North Sea ferry will not resume, the coastguard has said.

The Telegraph

• Scrap HS2, says Nigel FaragePlans for a high speed rail line between London and the north of England should be axed, Nigel Farage has said.    
• HS2: Margaret Hodge 'sceptical' about high speed rail projectPublic Accounts Committee chair Margaret Hodge says the
• Motorists face detour to avoid new road tollsMotorists face a 30-mile detour if they refuse to pay to use Britain's first toll road in a decade.    

Mail Online

• Jaguar unveils its 'Chelsea tractor': Luxury carmaker launches 4x4 in bid to attract more women customersThe C-X17 will spearhead a new 'family' of smaller and more affordable luxury cars and has been designed specifically with women in mind.
• Proposals for Welsh super airport 'the size of Gatwick' submittedWith the number of air passengers set to rise by around 25million in the next 40 years, is a Welsh super airport the answer? A former BA executive thinks so.

Network Rail

• Safety improvements at Ballast Hole Level CrossingPedestrians wishing to cross the railway line at Ballast Hole in Lincolnshire now have a safer, alternative route after Network Rail engineers installed a new footpath linking Ballast Road crossing and nearby Doddington Road crossing.
• Full rail services resume between Nottingham and NewarkFull passenger rail services have resumed between Newark and Nottingham this morning (Monday 9 September).

Belfast Telegraph

• Row as airport rejects EU directive on aircraft noise Belfast City Council is on a collision course with George Best City Airport after the airport declined to take measures recommended to protect residents affected worst by aircraft noise.

Birmingham Mail

• Ministers defend HS2 as project comes under fire from MPsTransport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin and Chancellor George Osborne insist scheme will boost Midlands economy

London Evening Standard

• 'HS2 will be just as successful as the Channel Tunnel'HS2 will emulate the “phenomenal” success of the Channel Tunnel link, it was claimed today.
• HS2 'important' for economic futureTransport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin has defended the proposed HS2 high-speed rail project as "vitally important" to Britain's economic future, after a scathing parliamentary report found the Government had failed to make a "convincing strategic case" for the £42 billion scheme.

Manchester Evening News

• Derailed freight train wagon at Trafford Park leads to Manchester-Liverpool delays for commutersNetwork Rail confirmed a rear wagon on the train derailed in the Trafford Park area of Manchester.

Newcastle Evening Chronicle

• How to get the train network back on the railsTown halls across the region are drawing up plans on how the train network could be better run to present to the Government.

Sheffield Star

• ‘No proof’ high speed rail is value for moneyThe £43 billion high speed rail network through Sheffield has come under renewed attack – this time from a House of Commons watchdog.

The York Press

• Mallard and her sister locos to be shown in a new light for Illuminating York festival LOCOMOTIVES at the National Railway Museum in York will be shown in a new light next month.

Wales Online

• Welsh Government to seek a share of England’s HS2 billionsThe Welsh Government has confirmed it will be seeking extra rail infrastructure money from Westminster if the controversial HS2 project goes ahead.

Wolverhampton Express and Star

• Hundreds of drivers caught in Walsall bus lanesHundreds of motorists have been caught illegally using bus lanes in a Black Country town inside the first two months of a new crackdown.

Yorkshire Post

• Clegg says HS2 critics
‘spectacularly wrong’ 
£50bn HSR2NICK Clegg has launched a stinging attack on critics who “carp on the sidelines” about the proposed high-speed rail line between Yorkshire and the capital, dismissing them as “spectacularly wrong” about the biggest infrastructure project in a generation.

Bucks Free Press

• MPs say there's still no convincing case for HS2 AN INFLUENTIAL group of MPs have ruled the Department for Transport has

Carlisle News & Star

• Derelict bus station in Whitehaven on brink of collapse Whitehaven's derelict bus station is on the brink of collapse and is set to be demolished.

Other Regional Press

• Back Heathrow campaign launches A HEATHROW-funded campaign urging west Londoners to support airport expansion or face mass job losses has been launched
• Bus firm Stagecoach at war with council over proposed Cambridge park and ride parking charges The region’s biggest bus operator was at loggerheads with council chiefs tonight over planned parking charges at Cambridge’s park and ride sites.
• Newport residents "would not want Severnside Airport planes over their homes" RESIDENTS in the south of Newport would not want to put up with planes flying overhead to serve a proposed Severnside Airport.
• Ferry firm sees swell in passenger numbersFERRY firm Brittany Ferries has seen soaring passenger numbers on its ships this summer.
• Skip lorry slides onto railway tracks and blocks trains north of NorthamptonRail commuters are being advised to avoid Northampton this morning after a lorry carrying skip slipped down an embarkment onto tracks north of the town.
• Hundreds go full steam ahead for railway eventNEARLY 600 people turned up for an event to mark the 160th anniversary of the opening of the Deeside Railway.
• Bridge work to see Aberdeen road shutBRIDGE inspection works will see a road closed for up to two days.

C.N.N.

• Airlines' find new tools to quiet kids

Global Rail News

• Hitachi sign testing contract with GB RailfreightHitachi Rail Europe has today announced that it has signed a contract with GB Railfreight to provide train operations to facilitate the testing and commissioning of the Class 800 and[...]
• Network Rail partners with Chiltern to deliver new Oxford-London lineNetwork Rail and Chiltern Railways have formed a new partnership to oversee the construction and development of a new railway line between Oxford and London. The team will manage work[...]
• Franchise payments rise while rail profits fall for Go-Ahead“We continue to believe in the fundamental strengths of the UK rail market,” said Go-Ahead chief executive David Brown after announcing a £15.7 million fall in rail profits. Brown maintained[...]
• Delhi monorail to open in 2017A proposed 11km monorail line in Delhi could be open by 2017, according to the city’s Chief Minister Sheila Dixit. The comment came during a conference discussing a new monorail[...]
• PKP’s decision to cancel locomotive tender upheld by Polish appeal boardPKP Intercity has had its decision to reject a bid by PESA for 10 diesel locomotives upheld following after being challenged by the rolling stock manufacturer. Poland’s national rail operator[...]
• Contracts totalling €300m awarded for Paris Grand Paris Express lineA series of major contracts, worth an estimated 300 million euro, have been awarded, paving the way for the construction of a new 100km orbital railway in Paris. The red[...]

Middle East North Africa (MENA) Rail News

• Nigeria’s Railways on the Road to PrivatisationFollowing Great Britain’s lead, Nigeria has is putting a Bill through its Parliament which would allow for privatisation of its railways. The Bill seeks to amend the 1957 Railways Act which put their railway infrastructure under total state control. The country’s railway operator Adeseyi Sijuade of the Nigerian Railway Corp envisages that private companies would […]The post Nigeria’s Railways on the Road to Privatisation appeared first on MENA Rail News.
• GCC Considers New Customs and Immigration Rail RegulationsWith the Gulf Cooperation Council’s (GCC) USD $250 billion Etihad rail network linking Oman via the UAE to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, a problem has been seen in the differing countries’ customs and immigrations regulations. Such issues would otherwise significantly slow fright as it transits through the network across the region. The GCC will announce […]The post GCC Considers New Customs and Immigration Rail Regulations appeared first on MENA Rail News.

Aviation Industry

• Qatar Airways to join Oneworld on October 30Airline is cleared to become first major Gulf carrier to join global alliance
• Strike could disrupt travel to FrancePublic sector workers set to walk out for 36 hours
• Easyjet expands at Belfast with two new routesCarrier will add Jersey and Bordeaux as destinations for next summer

Other News Sources

• HS2 and super-hub airports: we are asking the wrong questionsMilitary planners are often criticised for planning for the last war rather than the next. This is what British planners are doing in developing transport policy.
• Transport Minister, DfT and CCG back Birmingham case for HS2The Public Accounts Committee report is "hugely misleading", says Birmingham Chamber as Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin & Core Cities Group back Birmingham's case for HS2.
• Businesses examine effect of RideLondon-SurreyMore than 1,100 people have signed the Stop Surrey Being Turned Into a Cycle Track petition
• A14 bypass good news – if only they could bypass tolls, says FTAIn reaction to today's announcement by the Highways Agency to upgrade the A14 between Cambridge and Huntingdon, the Freight Transport Association ...

News from Europe

• Automotive News Europe: Volvo and Renault reach CO2 target 3 years earlyVolvo and Renault have achieved their European CO2 targets three years ahead of schedule, according to data from the European Federation for Transport and Environment (T&E).
• EurActiv: Brussels biofuels policy hikes food prices by up to 50%f biofuels received no EU policy support, the price of food stuffs such as vegetable oil would be 50% lower in Europe by 2020 than at present – and 15% lower elsewhere in the world – according to new research by the EU’s Joint Research Centre (JRC).