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

Tuesday, 05 November 2013

BBC News

• Residents vow to fight Leicestershire bus cut plansResidents of a Leicestershire village have vowed to fight plans to cut and alter their bus services.
• Birmingham Midland Metro's £128m extension work startsThe first rails are set to be laid on a £128m project that will see trams return to Birmingham city centre.
• Bus and rail privatisation ruled outFirst Minister Peter Robinson says the Stormont Executive has no intention of privatising rail and bus services in Northern Ireland.
• Train evacuated after hitting objectA three-hour evacuation operation is required after a train headed for London
• 100 passengers flee train blazeAbout 100 people flee a fire in a train carriage at a station in south London.
• HS2 opponents risk UK's future - PMOpponents of the HS2 rail link are
• Nissan shares fall on profit outlookShares of Japanese carmaker Nissan fall as much as 11% to 850 yen in early trade in Tokyo after the firm cuts its full-year profit forecast.

Financial Times

• Ryanair cuts outlook for second timeEurope’s largest budget airline blames second downgrade to its 2013-14 earnings forecast on ‘softness’ in the pricing of average fares
• US air merger prospects brightenUS attorney-general says he hopes to resolve objections to the creation of the world’s second-largest airline without going to trial
• Cameron looks to new HS2 chief to cut costPM seeks to ease concern over cost of HS2 by suggesting new chief Sir David Higgins could cut construction costs by 10%

The Scotsman

• HS2: Cameron in cost-cutting call on rail linkDAVID Cameron today called for political consensus behind the HS2 rail link, warning that those who oppose the project are “putting our country’s future at risk”.

The Telegraph

• David Cameron: HS2 'a good investment for Britain'Prime Minister David Cameron says those against the high speed rail project are putting Britain's future
• David Cameron: HS2 was wrongly sold to a sceptical publicPrime Minister says ministers put too much emphasis on the benefits of HS2's faster journey times and not enough on freeing up capacity on the network    
• Sketch: HS2? The grandchildren will love itDavid Cameron says opponents of HS2 are 'putting our country's future at risk'    
• Row over veterans travel on Poppy DaySeveral rail companies are facing criticism over their refusal to offer free train tickets to veterans to raise money for the London Poppy Day appeal on Thursday    

Birmingham Mail

• Video: Birmingham Airport people smuggling operation caught on camera See National Crime Agency of the people smuggling gang at work at Birmingham Airport
• High Speed 2 set to flatten model railway Echills Wood Railway is championed by pop tycoon Pete Waterman who opened its two tiny stations

Bristol Live

• Transport planners cannot do arithmeticTHE article by the West of England Partnership (Bristol Post, October 28) has exposed the lack of justification for the South Bristol Link.

London Evening Standard

• Rail firm VSG in administrationA major UK railway contractor has gone into administration in a move that affects around 2,200 workers but has avoided redundancies.
• Rail firm bans veteran war heroes from free travel scheme before Remembrance SundayA train company was criticised today after it banned veterans from a new scheme which provides free travel for military forces heading to London Poppy Day events this week.
• PM insists HS2 is vital investmentDavid Cameron today called for political consensus behind the HS2 rail link, warning that those who oppose the project are "putting our country's future at risk".

The York Press

• Electric unicycle goes on sale in York Environmentally friendly transport may be about to hit a new craze – the electric unicycle, which is on sale in York.

Bucks Free Press

• David Cameron effigy and HS2 model set on fire AN EFFIGY of David Cameron went up in flames at a village's bonfire night, as well as a replica of HS2.

North Wales Live

• Second profits warning for Ryanair Soft economic conditions affecting fare pricing, says Irish carrier

Peterborough Telegraph

• Buses replacing trains as River Welland railway bridge work beginsWork has started on a replacement railway bridge between Peakirk and Deeping Gate.

Other Regional Press

• Work on £2m Gleneagles rail station link road to beginWork will begin next week on major roads infrastructure costing more than £2 million in Perthshire as part of the legacy from the Ryder Cup, The Courier can reveal.
• A417 deaths - demand for urgent meeting with Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlinEnough is enough - that is the message to the Secretary of State for Transport following three deaths on the A417 in Gloucestershire today.
• £1m plan for road resurfacing in Huddersfield brought forward for Tour de FranceKirklees says some of the locations form part of the route used by the Tour de France cyclists. Others are not on the route but are critical to the network

politics.co.uk

• Boris attacks government's 'gelatinous indecision' on airport expansionBoris Johnson today urged the government to "get their skates on" and build a new hub airport in the Thames Estuary as he attacked the coalition's "great gelatinous quivering amoeba of indecision" over the issue.

Global Rail News

• Maintenance vehicles ordered for Gotthard Base TunnelHarsco has been awarded a $100 million contract to build  fleet of maintenance vehicles from Swiss rail operator SBB for use in the Gotthard and Ceneri Base Tunnel. Due for[...]
• Written-off!The evening of 28 June was one of particularly heavy and prolonged downpours across Scotland and Northern England. Widespread travel chaos ensued, with the WCML blocked by flooding and landslides in Cumbria and the ECML blocked by two landslips in Northumberland. Scottish boulders Across western Scotland, torrential rain was falling on already saturated ground and [...]
• Avenio tram arrives in MunichThe first-ever Siemens Avenio tram has been delivered to Munich. City officials caught their first glimpse of the first of eight new trams destined for Munich during an unveiling ceremony[...]

Aviation Industry

• Ryanair to offer fully allocated seating Airline makes latest customer move following second profits warning

Other News Sources

• Boris Johnson Reveals His 'Dream' Of A New Hub AirportBoris Johnson has told business leaders he "had a dream" of Britain having a "new hub airport" like his proposed "Boris Island" site.
• Privatisation of the UK's rail network a failure, says TUC protestersDemonstrations will be held today to protest against the privatisation of rail services, and how it has failed train users and taxpayers twenty years after the Railways act began.
• High Speed Rail 2: A case of voodoo economics and fantasyThe government's latest 'Strategic Case' for HS2 is a last desperate bid to defend the line, is built on the same shaky foundations as the previous four and fails on seven key points.
• DOT Fines US Airways for Failure to Provide Wheelchair Assistance to Passengers with DisabilitiesThe U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) today fined US Airways $1.2 million for failing to provide adequate wheelchair assistance to passengers in Philadelphia and Charlotte, N.C. The fine...
• DOT Fines US Airways for Failure to Provide Wheelchair Assistance to Passengers with DisabilitiesThe U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) today fined US Airways $1.2 million for failing to provide adequate wheelchair assistance to passengers in Philadelphia and Charlotte, N.C. The fine...
• Five bidders vie for Scotrail franchiseUK government also wants to increase benefits of HS2 for Scotland