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

Wednesday, 02 October 2013

BBC News

• Pennine Reach project: £40m bus scheme approved A £40m scheme to improve bus journeys in East Lancashire has been approved by the transport minister Norman Baker.
• Transport for London launches new campaign to coincide with National Poetry Day Transport for London (TfL) has launched a 'Travel Better London' Poetry Initiative to coincide with National Poetry Day on 3 October.
• Shock after Arriva bus routes axedBus passengers in west Wales are shocked after learning a large section of the bus network around Aberystwyth is to be scrapped.
• Crash pilots 'not emergency-trained'Pilots of a jet that plunged into the Atlantic Ocean killing 228 people were not
• Roman skulls washed down lost riverArchaeologists working with London's Crossrail project uncover 20 skulls believed to be from the Roman period.
• Ditched airport link plan cost £29mScottish Labour wants the SNP government to say why an
• Campaign to stop groping and sex assaults on Tube Fifteen people have been arrested in the last two weeks as part of a major crackdown on sexual assaults on London's transport system.
• Campaign to stop groping and sex assaults on Tube Fifteen people have been arrested in the last two weeks as part of a major crackdown on sexual assaults on London's transport system.

The Herald

• Anger as bill for axed rail link hits £30 millionTHE doomed Glasgow Airport Rail Link project has cost £30 million, official figures have revealed.

Network Rail

• Vital bridge installation this weekend as part of Ipswich railway upgradeThis weekend, a vital part of the Ipswich Chord project to build a new stretch of track that will help to take more freight off the roads and onto rail will be delivered when a new bridge is installed over Sproughton Road in Ipswich.

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Push for hourly rail service on Cambrian Lines Officials hope a survey will play a key part in bringing a major improvement to Wales’ primary east to west transport corridor.

London Evening Standard

• Richard Branson's Virgin Trains tops fares league with 210% increase in pricesRail companies were today branded “great train robbers” as new figures revealed some fares have more than tripled since privatisation.

Nottingham Evening Post

• Nottingham to launch 'Oyster card' system for buses, trams and trains NOTTINGHAM will have an Oyster card-style system of paying for public transport before the end of next year, the Post can reveal.

Sheffield Star

• Railway plans are threat to listed Barnsley farm chimneyPlans to build Britain’s high-speed rail network through South Yorkshire could cost a village a Grade II-listed chimney.

Wales Online

• Landmark transport law will 'bring Wales to the attention of cyclists around the world' The Active Travel (Wales) Act has been passed which will require local authorities to draw up networks and new design standards for routes
• More then 40 Arriva Buses Wales jobs could be lost before Christmas Route linking north and south Wales could be lost in cost cutting measure with student leader saying travelling home would be 'bedlam'

Yorkshire Post

• Bus stop romance couple get memento of place they metA couple have been handed a lasting memento of the place they fell in love – a council bus stop.

Doncaster Free Press

• South Yorkshire folk are happier with public transportPassengers have become more satisfied with public transport in South Yorkshire over the past year, according to new figures.    

London24

• ’Third Heathrow runway a recipe for colossal congestion and significant overcrowding’, says Boris The Mayor of London has warned building a third runway at Heathrow would result in more than 25 million extra road journeys causing colossal levels of congestion alongside significant overcrowding on trains serving the airport.

Other Regional Press

• Transport figures reveal almost 1m drop in bus journeysALARMING figures show there has been a sharp fall in the number of bus journeys being taken by Portsmouth passengers.
• Minister says no to calls to cut A48 speed limit CHEPSTOW councillors are dismayed by a decision not to support cutting the A48’s speed limit.

Bus and Coach.com

• Johnson praises McKenna's inputLondon mayor Boris Johnson this week visited the Middleton, Greater Manchester, factory of McKenna Brothers to witness first-hand the processes involved in producing destination screens for the New Bus for London.

Global Rail News

• Gdansk orders new PESA tramsTram operator ZKM GdaÅ„sk inked a deal with PESA Bydgoszcz SA during last week’s Trako trade show for five new light rail vehicles. The Polish rolling stock manufacturer has said[...]
• First of Chiltern’s refurbished 168s enter serviceThe first of Chiltern’s refurbished class 168s has been released from the Wabtec works in Loughborough. The 19-strong fleet will carry a new Mainline livery and are having new saloon[...]
• 4G broadband to arrive on UK rail network from 2015High-speed 4G broadband will be fully in use on sections of Britain’s rail network in 2019 under new plans announced by ministers. Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin has said that ’70[...]
• Norway to spend NOK 7 billion on signalling upgradesNorway is to invest NOK 7 billion (€809 million) in upgrading its signalling system over the next 10 years. Jernbaneverket identified the installation of ERTMS as a key priority for[...]
• Rail opportunities – Life as a British engineer in SingaporeSingapore has ambitions of doubling its current 178 km urban rail network over the next three decades. It’s a level of rapid growth and investment that the region’s railways have[...]

Railnews

• End of the line for the mile, the chain and the yard Plans being prepared by Network Rail will see the eventual end of the Imperial mile, chain and yard on the National Rail network, as a metric switchover takes effect during the next couple of decades. The move will be triggered by the progressive installation of the European Rail Traffic Management System on selected routes between now and the 2030s. The decision has been taken by the industry™s Technical Standards Leadership Group, Railnews has been told.
• Highways body gains railway land as BR says goodnight The last remnant of the British Railways Board has been closed down, 13 years after the power to do so was included in an Act of Parliament, and part of its property has been passed to the Highways Agency. The Board, which started work on 1 January 1963 and traded as 'British Rail' -- its best known title -- from 1965 until 1997, took over the railways after the previous British Transport Commission had been abolished. The last BR trains ran in 1997.
• Transport secretary hits back at HS2 opponents Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin has hit back at opponents of HS2 in the Wolverhampton area. But opponents of the scheme have renewed their calls for it to be abandoned. œHS2 will be good news for Birmingham, so it is good news for Walsall, Wolverhampton and the Black Country – and for the rest of the West Midlands, said Mr McLoughlin.

Aviation Industry

• Abbott settles Texas challenge to airline mergerThe Texas attorney general added his support to the merger of American Airlines and US Airways, reversing a position he took six weeks ago when he joined a federal lawsuit aimed at blocking the deal.

Other News Sources

• National Express launches coach tracker app for iPhone National Express has launched a simpler way for passengers to track their coaches with the introduction of a free iPhone app - providing 24/7 tracking and live service updates.
• Huddersfield team to keep Tram-Train vehicles on track Under contract by Network Rail, engineers at Huddersfield University’s Institute of Railway Research (IRR) are working on a project to overcome track-related difficulties encountered when operating Tram-Train vehicles on tram lines and rail networks.
• HS2 Growth Taskforce comes to Manchester to secure maximum boost for region's economyThe HS2 Growth Taskforce is meeting key figures from across the north west in Manchester today (1 October 2013) as part of a series of roadshows designed to ensure regions maximise the benefits of high speed rail.
• BAM starts on £30m Network Rail operating centreBAM Construction has won a £30m contract to build an operating centre for Network Rail in Basingstoke
• Two large compressor machines stolen from railway line in Leeds Detectives from British Transport Police are appealing for information after two large compressor machines were stolen from the railway line near Kirkstall Bridge on Wyther Lane in Leeds on Saturday, September 14, at around 8.50pm.
• East Coast Trains Reveal £2.2m On-Board WiFi Wireless Internet Upgrade Yorkshire-based train operator East Coast has today announced a new investment of £2.2 million that will be used to upgrade the wireless (wifi) Internet access services on-board each of its 44 trains in order to improve service speeds and reliability.
• Network Rail condemn 'dangerous' Forth Bridge stunt NETWORK Rail have condemned a man who climbed the Forth Bridge, saying the stunt was “stupid and dangerous”.
• The Argus tests out the Lewes Road bus lane via car, bus and bike WITH VIDEO: After nearly a year of work, the finishing touches are now being applied to the bus and cycle lane in Lewes Road, Brighton But, now it's open, who will benefit?
• Carlson Wagonlit’s UK boss moves to the USAndersen to take charge of TMC’s Americas region
• Government vows to end ‘bad signal’ on trainsRail passengers to benefit from drive to introduce mobile broadband