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

Thursday, 02 January 2014

BBC News

• Hyundai and Kia hit by sales outlookShares of Hyundai and affiliate Kia Motors dip more than 5% after the South Korean carmakers issue their weakest growth forecast in nearly a decade.
• Fiat agrees to buy rest of ChryslerItalian motor giant Fiat agrees to buy the remaining 41% of Chrysler it does not own in a move that will create the world's seventh largest car company.
• Rail fare rise comes into effectAn average 2.8% increase in rail fares comes into effect on Thursday, pushing the cost of some commuter travel to more than £5,000 a year.

Department for Transport

• More people choosing greener journeysEfforts to make it easier for people to choose greener ways of travelling to and from public transport hubs are working, according to a new report.
• Government backs smartphone app to pinpoint potholesDfT pledges cash to enable CTC, the National Cycling Charity to revamp it's 'Fill that hole' website and develop a new potholes app.

Financial Times

• Hyundai and Kia brace for sluggish 2014South Korean carmakers are preparing for their weakest sales growth in more than a decade as Japanese rivals benefit from the weak yen
• Fiat buys remaining 41.5% of ChryslerDeal brings an end to a long and drawn-out takeover process marked by haggling with a union pension trust, brightening the future for both carmakers
• Bombardier to leave deal with UndergroundThe Canadian engineering multinational has lost a £354m contract to overhaul the signalling on some of the oldest parts of the London Underground

The Independent

• Rail fare increases: Commuters take a hit as ticket prices rise three times faster than wages The festive financial hangover will last well into the new year for hundreds of thousands of rail passengers forced to pay an extra 3.1 per cent on average on the cost of their annual season tickets.    
• All quiet at the coach station as fears of invasion from Eastern Europe come to nothing Victoria coach station in central London, one of the main destinations for visitors from the Continent and a place where busloads of Eastern European migrants were expected to arrive, was virtually deserted.    

The Scotsman

• £4.2m fund for Scottish bus improvementsBUS services across the length and breadth of the country will be given a share of a £4.2 million fund to help improve standards. The funds will be split among 13 projects in Scotland over three years, Transport Minister Keith Brown said.
• Transport team set up for Scottish events in 2014SCOTLAND faces its biggest ever transport challenge this year with six major events that are expected to collectively attract more than a million spectators.

The Telegraph

• Bombardier loses £350m London Underground contractTransport for London insists tube modernisation plan will be delivered on schedule despite Bombardier being unable to complete contract.    
• Government to pay rail firms to convert first class carriages to economy to ease overcrowdingThe Government is trialling a scheme to convert first class carriages for use by standard ticket holders to ease overcrowding    
• Warning over rail 'profit' as commuters face fare hikeRail fares will rise by an average of 3.1 per cent amid declining Government subsides and claims that commuters now pay more than those in other major European nations    

Daily Express

• How ministers will make a profit from soaring train faresSOARING rail fares will see the Government making a “profit from passengers” by 2018 if prices keep rising at the current rate, a report warns today.

Mail Online

• Is this the end of First Class rail? Ministers pay train firms to do away with premium seatsFirst class carriages will become a rarity as a result of the move designed to placate passengers angry at being packed into congested standard class carriages.

Network Rail

• Passengers to benefit from £80m rail investment in the Brighton main lineThe railway between London and Brighton has been significantly upgraded over Christmas and the New Year thanks to an £80m package of improvements completed by Network Rail.

Belfast Telegraph

• Passengers: We're not getting valuePassengers took a poor view of rail fare increases today as annual season tickets rose by an average of 3.1%.
• Price freeze on train and bus fares in 2014The Northern Ireland minister responsible for transport has promised an "absolute freeze" on bus and train fares in 2014.

Birmingham Post

• Birmingham's Hidden Spaces: New Street signal box polarises public opinionDesigned by Bicknell & Hamilton and W.R. Healey and completed in 1965, the unapologetically bunker-like structure is an honest expression of its utilitarian function

Bolton News

• New rail action group formed to help improve Bolton's overcrowded trains RAILWAY campaigners are steaming ahead with plans for a new community action group for passengers after being inspired by The Bolton News ‘Let’s Get Back on Track’ campaign.

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Rail passengers in Wales set to be hit in the pocket again Lobby groups warn of an increase in fair, despite measures to try and make rail travel more affordable

Derby Telegraph

• 2014 is set to be 'make or break year' for Bombardier SUPPORTERS of train-maker Bombardier have said they believe 2014 will be a make or break year for the firm's Derby factory as it waits to find out whether it has secured a lucrative £1 billion carriages deal.

Edinburgh Evening News

• 30,000 bus users download e-ticket app in 4 weeksThe introduction of paperless travel on Lothian Buses has been a virtual hit, with 30,000 users downloading the mobile phone application in the first four weeks.

London Evening Standard

• Passengers: We're not getting valuePassengers took a poor view of rail fare increases today as annual season tickets rose by an average of 3.1%.

Nottingham Evening Post

• Nottingham Post published Historic Beeston station could see raft of improvementsIMPROVEMENTS to public address systems and facilities at Beeston railway station – designed to "ensure the building's continued and well-established use" – could soon be carried out.Network Rail is applying for listed building consent to install information screens, renew public address systems and install WiFi and communication systems for the hard of hearing.The grade-II building dates back to 1847 and consent is required from Broxtowe Borough Council before any...

Yorkshire Evening Post

• Flying figures highest ever at Leeds Bradford AirportAs centenary celebrations prepare to mark the first commercial airline flight, a Yorkshire airport has reported record-breaking passenger numbers.

Yorkshire Post

• Airport offers £100 apologyPassengers whose flights were cancelled amid chaotic scenes at Gatwick airport on Christmas Eve are to be offered £100 vouchers “as a gesture of goodwill”.

Peterborough Telegraph

• £43m Peterborough rail station upgrade completedThousands of rail passengers travelling through Peterborough have been promised better journeys after the completion of a £43 million revamp of the station.

Plymouth Herald

• Bus fare hike an 'insult' to villagers, says councillor THE First bus company say they are prepared to look again at a "fundamental shake-up" of bus fares which will see some passengers face a hike of more than 35 per cent.

Reading Evening Post

• London-bound commuters face 3.2 per cent increase in rail faresThe price for an annual standard season ticket from Reading to London will increase by £128 to £4,088 while tickets including zones 1-6 will rise by £152 to £4,856

West Sussex Gazette

• Flooding closes railway line south of HorshamFlooding has closed the railway line between Horsham and Barnham this afternoon (New Year’s Day).

Western Daily Press

• Western Daily Press published Country bus routes facing a bleak 2014Article

Other Regional Press

• Changes to Portsmouth bus route will leave people ’isolated’BUS passengers face fresh woe after plans to cut another part of Portsmouth’s public transport network was announced.
• End of the line for bus stationIT will be the end of an era for the Salisbury bus service when the city’s bus station closes next week.
• Bus fares to increase on Airlink serviceFares for AIRLINK, Lothian Buses’ service between Edinburgh city centre and Edinburgh Airport, are to increase for the first time in five years.
• Villagers hampered by rail work get festive sweetener Village residents who are partially cut off by railway work during the holidays have been rewarded with luxury hampers for their misery.
• Western Daily Press published Railway commuters are to be a key target for parties in marginalswdnews@b-nm.co.ukCampaigners are to target commuters across the country today as rising rail fares look set to become an election battleground.This morning passengers across the South West faced inflation-busting rises in rail fares as ticket prices went up by an average of three per cent. And the issue is fast becoming a political hot potato as commuters find themselves sandwiched between falling wages and rising transport costs.Today political parties and lobby groups will be at stations...
• £5 cycling lessons aim to cut bike accidents CYCLE safety training is to be offered for £5-a-session in Oxford in a bid to curb bike accidents.
• Grimsby Telegraph commented Grimsby bus station to close next week as £6m revamp...GRIMSBY bus station will close next week as the redevelopment of the town centre and Riverhead area reaches a "significant milestone".As reported, the £6million regeneration scheme will see the creation of a new public space on the Riverhead, and a "super-stop", comprising an indoor waiting area, cafe and real-time travel information for bus passengers.The closure of the bus station will create space for a potential future expansion of Freshney Place Shopping...
• Car park to open opposite Arlesey Railway StationA car park which will serve commuters is expected to open next week.
• £5 cycling lessons aim to cut bike accidents CYCLE safety training is to be offered for £5-a-session in Oxford in a bid to curb bike accidents.
• Council’s legal bid to tackle road headacheSouth Ribble Council is seeking permission from a court to part-demolish a Leyland home which is preventing a busy road from reopening.

Campaign for Better Transport

• Rail Fares up, wages flat - Happy New Year from the Government2 January 2014: As millions of us return from our Christmas breaks today many of you would have bought or renewed your rail season tickets and been hit with yet another huge annual fare increase. read more

Railnews

• Rail fare increases spark union protests Protests are being staged today as the January fare revisions come into force. The average increase for regulated railway fares in England, which include most season tickets, was originally set at last July's RPI plus 3 per cent, giving a potential average increase of 6.1 per cent. However, this figure has been almost halved by two successive Government rethinks.

Aviation Industry

• American-US Airways merger is airline industry's biggest story of 2013Doug Parker , CEO of the new American Airlines, rang the opening bell for Nasdaq earlier this month at the airline's headquarters as company officials celebrated the new company's listing of stock on the exchange.
• Ryanair Holdings plc Downgraded by Zacks to UnderperformThey currently have a $44.70 target price on the stock. Zacks ' price target suggests a potential downside of 4.34% from the company's current price.
• Which Airline Had Worst On-Time PerformanceSouthwest Airlines, once the most on-time airline in the industry, has lately been the least on-time, according to an analysis by the Chicago Tribune.
• Flying figures highest ever at Leeds Bradford AirportAs centenary celebrations prepare to mark the first commercial airline flight, a Yorkshire airport has reported record-breaking passenger numbers.

Other News Sources

• Bombardier chairman heads New Year’s honours list in Northern IrelandThe head of one of Northern Ireland’s largest companies has been honoured in the British new year honours list.
• St Just bus stop to be boarded up after being found smashed A BUS stop designed by residents in St Just is to be boarded up temporarily after its window was again found smashed.
• Ipswich: Bus shake-up to herald new yearBus services in the south east of Ipswich are to have a shake up from the start of next week to herald the new year.
• Millions in compensation for Gatwick Airport's disrupted customers Bosses at Gatwick Airport have set aside £2 million to compensate passengers whose Christmas was ruined when flights to and from the airport were cancelled.