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

Wednesday, 08 January 2014

BBC News

• Gatwick Airport boss apologises over Christmas Eve chaosThe chief executive of Gatwick Airport has apologised to passengers after thousands of people had their Christmas travel plans disrupted.
• Hope for new Lowestoft bridge from A47 extension plansA new bridge could be built in the centre of Lowestoft as part of a proposal to extend a major road.
• Station staff on West Anglia route to take strike actionAbout 100 Greater Anglia station staff are set to strike over plans to sack cleaners and give cleaning tasks to other rail staff, a union has said.
• Lincoln to Sleaford rail services disrupted by bank slipRail services between Sleaford and Lincoln have been suspended after a bank slip caused by recent storms.
• VIDEO: Planners U-turn on airport car parkPlanners have decided that a car park that runs a shuttle bus to and from Belfast City Airport can no longer operate.
• Ford boss rules out Microsoft jobAlan Mulally, the chief executive of Ford, says he will not be leaving the US carmaker to join Microsoft.

Financial Times

• Maersk: turning the tankerThe Danish conglomerate is slowly shedding non-core businesses – and it needs to keep the pace up
• Maersk sells stake in Dansk SupermarkedShipping group to end 50-year relationship with Denmark’s largest retailer as it prunes portfolio to refashion itself into a ‘premium conglomerate’

The Herald

• Gatwick chief apologises for Christmas chaos after flood wrecked flightsTHE boss of Gatwick has publicly apologised after it emerged that only four buses were laid on to transfer passengers to their flights after flooding wrecked Christmas Eve travel at the airport's North Terminal.
• New car sales in Scotland reach their highest level in six yearsNEW car sales in Scotland have reached their highest level in six years in the latest sign of economic recovery.

The Independent

• Edinburgh airport re-opens after suspicious package was found Edinburgh airport has re-opened after police concluded there was no threat after a security alert.    
• Gatwick bosses learned of Christmas Eve flood just half an hour before Gatwick bosses found out that a damaging Christmas Eve flood was on the way only half an hour before it happened, the airport’s chief executive revealed on Tuesday.    

The Telegraph

• Edinburgh Airport reopens after four hour security alertInnocent item of hand luggage triggered evacuation of terminal    

Mail Online

• British carmakers overtake French for first time in 40 years as output hits record highFigures to be released later this month are expected to show UK car production nudging ahead of France with around 1.55million cars built in 2013.

Network Rail

• Rail operating centre officially opened in Three BridgesA new signalling centre which will eventually control large parts of the railway across Sussex and Surrey has been officially opened in Three Bridges.
• Storm damage suspends rail services between Sleaford and LincolnA bank slip which was caused by the extreme weather before Christmas has suspended all rail services on the line between Sleaford and Lincoln. East Midlands Trains will provide road replacement transport until Monday 12 January as Network Rail teams work to repair the damage.

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• Bradford children’s free bus travel set to be cut Free transport for pupils attending faith schools and under fives with special needs could be a thing of the past by the start of the next school year.

London Evening Standard

• Over £1,100 to park the car at the train station: charges hiked by up to five per centTrain station car parking charges are increasing by up to an inflation busting five per cent.
• Gatwick boss apologises for Christmas Eve flooding chaos after passengers left strandedThe boss of Gatwick issued a grovelling apology today as he prepared to face MPs to explain the fiasco that left hundreds of passengers stranded at the airport on Christmas Eve.
• CES sees app that can park a car Drivers who struggle to reverse into tight parking spaces could soon find an answer to their problem in an app that can park a car.

Sheffield Star

• Rail decision must be madeChoose Sheffield city centre or Meadowhall as the location for the HS2 station – but do it soon to end the uncertainty for business.

The York Press

• Rail campaigners set to burn line petition CAMPAIGNERS calling for council bosses in East Yorkshire to leave open the possibility of a rail line between York and Hull being reopened plan to burn a 10,000-name petition at a protest tomorrow.

Yorkshire Post

• Villagers taking on Government in bid to derail multi-billion pound HS2 planTo some it’s vital to Britain’s economy. Not the villagers of Church Fenton. They tell Sarah Freeman why they fear HS2 is the Great Train Robbery Part II.

Carlisle News & Star

• Threat to 'invaluable' Carlisle bus route Calls are being made for a community to fight possible cuts to an ‘invaluable’ bus route.

Sleaford Standard

• Rail disruption over bank slip to continue until end of weekTrain passengers are now being warned disruption between Sleaford and Lincoln following a bank slip overnight is to last until the end of the week.    

Other Regional Press

• Minister drops by to see work on new car park A GOVERNMENT minister has made a flying visit to South Gloucestershire to see the work taking place on a multi-million-pound car park at the district's busiest railway station.
• First Hull Trains appoints industry expert to lead its engineering divisionThe nation’s favourite train operator has appointed a leading industry professional to spearhead its engineering team as the company looks to consolidate its position as one of the most reliable train operators in the UK. Jon Plowright has been appointed as First Hull Trains’ Head of Engineering.
• Electric trains begin rolling through Oxenholme stationTHE first of a brand new fleet of First TransPennine Express electric trains have begun rolling through Oxenholme station.
• Councillors request secondary glazing for Thamesfield if Heathrow third runway goes aheadPoliticians representing wards blighted by aircraft noise are demanding free double glazing for all if Heathrow gets an extra runway.
• HS2 campaigners reject economic benefitGOVERNMENT claims of the economic benefit HS2 would bring have been rubbished by those opposed to the high speed rail link which would run through the heart of rural Warwickshire.
• Second HS2 consultation event in PolesworthA SECOND HS2 consultation event is to take place in Polesworth next week.
• Tamworth MP 'concerned' over missing pages from HS2 document TAMWORTH'S MP has expressed his concerns after revelations that 877 pages of ’crucial’ information were missed from digital versions of the HS2 environmental consultation statement - including details for Tamworth and North Warwickshire.
• HS2 line will wipe out hamlet of Langton if plans approvedA Langton woman has said she fears her hamlet will be wiped off the map if plans for High Speed 2 (HS2) go ahead.

Global Rail News

• Pinch Point funding backs Sheffield tram track renewalThe Department for Transport (DfT) has awarded South Yorkshire PTE £5 million, as a one off payment as part of the DfT’s Local Pinch Point Fund, to replace tram tracks[...]
• Catalan operator to oversee plans for Ecuadorian freight networkTransports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB), the operator of Barcelona’s subway network, is to oversee a preliminary study for a planned freight network in Ecuador. TMB has been given 300 days[...]
• Finland orders 80 Vectron locomotivesFinnish rail operator VR Group has placed an order for 80 new electric Vectron locomotives to take over passenger and freight operations in the country. Siemens has described the €300[...]
• Aurizon appoints contractor to build new train support facilityLeighton Contractors is to construct a new operations and maintenance site in New South Wales’ Hunter Valley for freight operator Aurizon. The $100 million facility in Hexham will oversee the[...]
• Nottingham’s new hubWork at Nottingham’s station has been continuing apace. Although last covered only in issue 106 (August 2013), it was already time to go back and see how far the works had progressed. Writes Chris Parker A lot of work has been carried out behind the hoardings which have been a feature of the station for [...]

Railway Gazette

• Bombardier awarded French regional train orderFRANCE: SNCF has exercised an option for Bombardier Transportation to supply a further 30 Regio 2N double-deck electric multiple-units. Deliveries are scheduled to run from June 2016 to April 2017.

Aviation Industry

• Boeing breaks record for aircraft deliveriesUS manufacturer also sets new mark for forward orders

Other News Sources

• General Manager – Transdev KeighleyAre you our new General Manager…? Transdev’s Keighley business is a leading part of the Pennine town with a distinctive local identity. A previous holder of the prestigious Passenger Focus Bus Operator of the Year in 2011 with a Customer Satisfaction rating of 94% overall and a reputation for quality. Leading the local depot management team operating our 115 buses will be easy for someone of your experience but can you ensure the consistently high quality our 8 million customers each year expect. Managing our 200 drivers and keeping control of costs is a given, but do you have the creati...
• Gatwick to spend millions to prevent flood fiasco repeatGatwick Airport’s chief executive has told MPs that he will spend millions to protect any future second runway and the airport’s north terminal from flooding after severe weather forced its partial closure on Christmas Eve.