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

Friday, 03 January 2014

BBC News

• Ford reveals solar-powered carFord has revealed plans for a hybrid car that will be powered using a solar panel on the roof, ahead of CES 2014 in Las Vegas.
• Winter transport must improve - MPsBetter real-time information should be provided to passengers and drivers when bad weather hits the transport system, MPs say.
• Tram fare-hike comes into effectFare increases of an average of 4.2% have come into effect for Metrolink passengers, Transport for Greater Manchester says.
• VIDEO: Rail fares up for peak time ticketsFares for peak time rail travellers in Scotland increase by 3.1%.
• Row threatens Panama Canal expansionThe consortium building a massive expansion to the Panama Canal threatens to stop work unless a dispute over cost overruns can be resolved.

Financial Times

• Heathrow to examine runway alternativeThe airport is expected to launch a consultation to determine whether it sticks to its plan or backs another to extend the hub’s northern runway
• Iberia eyes rebrand and modernisationSpanish carrier took initial steps last year to improve its product by unveiling a new corporate logo and replacing older aircraft
• First-class train seats to be scaled backGovernment has agreed to pay millions of pounds to turn first-class compartments into standard-class seating on First Great Western trains
• MPs criticise winter transport chaosTransport select committee says train companies must do a better job of communicating updates and keeping travellers informed about the length of delays

The Guardian

• Norman Foster unveils plans for elevated 'SkyCycle' bike routes in LondonPlan for 220km network of bike paths suspended above railway lines could see commuters gliding to work over rooftops
• Rail fare price increases condemned by passengersConsumer and campaign groups join passengers in condemning increases that see average season ticket price rise by 3.1%
• Panama canal expansion in doubt as president confronts European firmsPanamanian president Ricardo Martinelli accuses Spanish and Italian companies of 'great irresponsibility' and endangering the massive project

The Herald

• Inventors hope to get green light for electric highwaysA TEAM of inventors is hoping to collaborate with a Scottish ­university to develop a radical green transport concept which would see cars run on electrified highways.
• Airport alert as car is driven through security checkpointA SECURITY alert was raised at Glasgow Airport after German tourists managed to drive their hire car through a checkpoint and beyond a perimeter fence.
• Drink-fuelled train crime down one-third since ban on alcoholALCOHOL-FUELLED crime on ScotRail trains has fallen by one-third compared to the same period last year, when the ban on drinking alcohol on evening and early morning services came into force.

The Independent

• Motorists pay £135 million in fines for driving offences caught on CCTVMotorists pay £135 million in annual fines for driving infringements recorded by CCTV cameras, it was reported.    

The Telegraph

• Transport minister: rail fare rises 'not a kick in the teeth'Transport Minister Stephen Hammond says the rise in rail fares is not a
• Rail companies could be forced to drop first class to make space for standard class passengersRail companies could be forced to make more space available for standard class passengers on trains by axing first class seating.    
• First class travel is nearly always second rateEven if segregation on trains is abolished, new methods of social distinction will be found, says Stephen Bayley    
• Traffic camera fines cost motorists £135 million for minor offencesDrivers are being hit by fines of £135 million a year as a result of spy cameras in box junctions and bus lanes    

Mail Online

• Spy camera fines cost drivers £135million: Huge rise in bus lane and box junction offencesA record 1.32million fines were issued for minor offences in 2011/12, 16 per cent up on the year before. Motoring organisations say the figures show councils are targeting drivers to balance their budgets.

The Mirror

• Electronic tax discs to change the face of second-hand car marketThe death of the tax disc will alter the way people try to do a deal on their motors, and has left some worried they could drive an untaxed car without realising

Network Rail

• Record-breaking festive rail investment programme delivers bigger, better railwayA record-breaking programme of upgrades to Britain’s rail network was successfully completed over the Christmas and New Year period, providing new tracks, new and longer platforms, new lifts and footbridges at stations, upgraded signalling equipment and electrification equipment to allow cleaner, faster electric trains to run.

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways: the 186mph steam trains Eye-catching videos show fast-tracked version of15mph trip from Porthmadog to Blaenau Ffestiniog, and Porthmadog to Rhyd Ddu

Derby Telegraph

• Union slams hike in rail fares as 'greedy' UNIONS have blasted rail companies, including Derby train operator East Midlands Trains, for introducing inflation-busting fare rises.
• Derby Telegraph published Bombardier loses £350 million contract with London...BOMBARDIER has lost a signalling contract worth more than £350 million for the London Underground. But the loss of the deal will not affect a contract the firm has to build new trains for the network, which are being constructed at the firm's Litchurch Lane site. Bombardier was awarded the £354 million deal to modernise signalling on vital parts of the London Underground two years ago. The firm already employs around 100 engineers in London on the project to upgrade the Circle,...

London Evening Standard

• Call over winter transport issues More must be done to enable transport systems to cope with bad winter weather, a report by MPs said today.
• 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%.
• Drunken revellers jeer 'fight, fight' as punches fly in New Year's Eve brawl on the TubeThis is the moment a violent New Year’s Eve brawl broke out on a Tube train as revellers shouted “fight, fight” from the platform.

Manchester Evening News

• Metrolink tram out of service after vandals smash window It is understood an unknown object struck the tram after being thrown from Victoria Park at Whitefield

Sheffield Star

• Roadworks to cut M1 hold-ups in South YorkshireWork will get under way next week to widen the sliproads at a busy junction of the M1 in South Yorkshire.

The York Press

• Rail campaigners urge councillors not to develop on former York to Hull rail lineCAMPAIGNERS whose hopes of securing the revival of a rail line between York and Hull hang in the balance are to call on councillors to leave the door open for its reopening.

Wales Online

• Rail revolution could spell end of class warTalks to reduce the number of first class seats on Wales' rails could ease the burden on services already stretched to breaking point

Yorkshire Evening Post

• Passengers evacuated as bus catches fire in LeedsBus company bosses have praised a “quick-thinking” driver who evacuated passengers after his double-decker suddenly caught fire in Leeds.

Carlisle News & Star

• Bored Carlisle man smashed railway station windows A 32-year-old man on a night out drank 10 pints before smashing 12 windows at Penrith station because he was bored.

Peterborough Telegraph

• Train service boost for Manea residentsResidents in Manea have received a major boost to the village’s rail service as Abellio Greater Anglia launches a new two-hourly weekday and Saturday service.

Other Regional Press

• Six-month city road closure set to start for footbridge work The start of a six-month partial road closure is looming as work begins on a footbridge over the railway in Lincoln city centre.
• Bus fare hike sparks anger from users online and at stationBUS fare increases have sparked anger amongst passengers as First announce a fresh wave of price changes.
• Activists plan cycle lane on ‘dangerous stretch of road’ EARLY plans for a bike lane on a “dangerous” stretch of road between Botley and Eynsham have been drawn up.
• Middlesbrough MP hits out at Arriva NE New Year service cuts and fare hikesMP Tom Blenkinsop hits out at 'double whammy' for Arriva NE bus passengers claiming firm was planning service cuts in East Cleveland while increasing fares
• Calderdale in danger of being left behind in battle for rail electrificationThanks to being on the most direct route between Leeds and Manchester, which is used by express trains, Huddersfield is in the fortunate position of being in pole position when electrification begins
• Weymouth rail passengers slam 'unfair fare hikes' RAIL passengers are set for travel misery as fares increase this month.

Bus and Coach.com

• Arriva leaves MaltaArriva has pulled out of Malta.

Global Rail News

• Shortlist announced for Bakerloo Crossrail link tunnelLondon Underground (LU) has announced Costain Skanska JV, Dragados S.A and Morgan Sindall BeMo Tunnelling JV as the three shortlisted contractors bidding for the contract to design and build the[...]
• French regions to fund additional Bombardier EMUsSNCF has exercised an option for 30 more Regio 2N electrical-multiple units (EMUs) for the French regions. France’s national train operator has announced plans to buy additional trains worth €277[...]
• Manchester orders a further 10 new tramsA Bombardier/Vossloh Kiepe consortium has received an order for 10 new Manchester Metrolink trams after the city’s transport authority exercised an option from an £18 million contract signed in 2007.[...]
• Velaro D certified to operate in GermanySiemens’ new Velaro D trainsets have received approval to operate on high-speed routes in Germany. The rolling stock manufacturer is delivering 16 next-generation ICE trains for Deutsche Bahn (DB) as[...]
• Eurostar breaks 10 million passenger barrierEurostar has transported 10 million passengers in a single year for the first time in its history. The cross-border train operator has announced that in 2013 it carried 10 million[...]
• Loan to support Granada metro constructionThe Government of Andalusia has been granted a €130 million loan to fund the construction of Granada’s first light rail line. The loan is the second tranche of a €260[...]

Rail Technology Magazine

• London Underground and Bombardier to re-let signalling contract Bombardier Transportation and London Underground (LU) have agreed to re-let the signalling contract for the Circle, District, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines.

Aviation Industry

• Virgin and Delta extend codesharesTwo carriers formally started joint venture on January 1
• Snow storm disrupts flights to the USBA and Virgin cancel some flights to east coast gateways

Other News Sources

• UK rail privatisation forcing many into ‘transport poverty’UK commuters are spending over three times more of their salary on travel than users of publicly-owned trains in France, Germany, Spain and Italy.
• Government set to profit from rail passengers by next ParliamentThe government stands to make a profit from the increase in rail commuter season tickets by the end of next parliament, a new report reveals.
• Transport networks still vulnerable to severe winter weather, MPs warnBritain’s transport networks are still vulnerable to winter weather disruption, a group of MPs warn.
• Ministers deny trying to profit from commuters as fares rise Government regulated rail fares went up by an average of 3.1 per cent today, making UK commuters some of the most hard-pressed in Europe.
• Transport systems must cope with bad winter weather better says report More must be done to enable transport systems to cope with bad winter weather, a report by MPs said today.
• United Airlines Offers Options to Customers Affected by Severe Winter Weather in Midwest and East CoastUnited Airlines today announced travel options for customers whose flight plans may be disrupted by winter weather impacting the Midwest and East Coast regions. Weather conditions will lead to...
• First class rail carriages could be reducedGovernment looking at plan to increase capacity for standard class passengers