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

Monday, 03 February 2014

BBC News

• Natalie Bennett gives Greens' travel news [video clip]The leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, Natalie Bennett, has delivered a green travel and traffic bulletin on the BBC's Sunday Politics.
• Calls for Severn Bridge tolls cut after 2018Cross-party calls have been made for the Severn Bridge tolls to be cut drastically when the UK government takes control of charges after 2018.
• Plane makes emergency landingA plane bound for Birmingham is forced to make an emergency landing at East Midlands Airport after a minor technical fault.
• London buses 'to become cashless'London's buses could become cashless from this summer, Transport for London announces.

Financial Times

• Shipping groups chart opposing coursesCountry’s two biggest shipping groups take evasive action as looming losses lead to threat of delisting from the Shanghai stock exchange
• Etihad in talks over stake in AlitaliaThe Abu Dhabi-based carrier is not expected to acquire more than 49 per cent, as the Italian airline would lose its status as European carrier

The Telegraph

• I don't begrudge Bob Crow his holiday but I do mind his strikeIt's outrageous that London can be held to ransom by a minority of the RMT's members, writes Boris Johnson    
• Smoking in cars: two Tory cabinet ministers plan to vote against banTwo Tory cabinet ministers are planning to vote against a ban on smoking with cars when children are present amid concerns it is unenforceable    
• HS2: British rail network cannot survive without it, says high-speed project's bossHS2 boss Sir David Higgins tells Telegraph that controversial project is essential - and that cost can be cut by building simultaneously in the North and South    
• HS2: 'It's now or never. The meter is always ticking' says Sir David HigginsSir David Higgins is the infrastructure wizard who delivered the Olympics to budget and on time. He faces his biggest challenge with HS2    

Mail Online

• 'Stealth' cameras to enforce 70mph limit on motorways: Devices will target speeding motorists on M1, M6 and M25The Highways Agency says the cameras will help stop traffic jams, but motoring groups claim that extra monitoring is actually a way to generate extra money.
• Sun-seeker Bob Crow faces backlash as Tube strike looms: Union chief accused of treating workers with contempt as pictures emerge of him dancing with girlfriend and visiting Christ the Redeemer statueThe £145,000-a-year leader of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers union is facing a mountain backlash for sunning himself ahead of a major Tube strike starting tomorrow.

The Mirror

• Bus drivers will no longer accept cash for fares in London Statistics show that 99 per cent of passengers already use Oyster top-up cards, pre-paid tickets, contactless payment cards or concession tickets instead.

London Evening Standard

• Last ditch bid to avert strikesLast ditch talks aimed at averting strikes by London Underground workers in a row over ticket office closures, will be held tomorrow, with time running out for a deal to be agreed.

Daventry Express

• HS2 plans boosted after courtA RULING has been made by the Supreme Court which has boosted the Governments plans for HS2.

East Anglian Daily Times

• Stansted: Campaigners call for end to airport’s night flightsCampaigners have called on the Government to bring an end to the “scourge” of noisy night flights at Stansted Airport.

Sleaford Standard

• Dr Bike gives pupils’ bicycles the once overA village primary school has been chosen to enter a partnership promoting cycling as a healthier and environmentally friendly mode of transport.    

Other Regional Press

• Consortium behind Thames Estuary airport complain to Davies Commission, saying their plans have more "merit" than the Isle of Grain schemeA consortium behind ambitious plans for a floating airport in the Thames Estuary has questioned why it was excluded from a shortlist drawn up by the commission investigating where new runways should be built.
• ’We should fight to make M11 happen’A transport firm owner is calling on South Holland’s MP to campaign for the M11 to pass through the district. Robin Hunter, of Hunters Car Transport, said he regularly travels on the A17 and read the front page article in last week’s Spalding Guardian “with a big smile on my face”.
• Dr Dan Poulter MP - ’Our region will benefit from transport upgrades’ Dr Dan Poulter MP - ’Our region will benefit from transport upgrades’This month the Prime Minister, David Cameron, reaffirmed the government’s ongoing commitment to the eastern region.
• Dr Dan Poulter MP - ’Our region will benefit from transport upgrades’ Dr Dan Poulter MP - ’Our region will benefit from transport upgrades’This month the Prime Minister, David Cameron, reaffirmed the government’s ongoing commitment to the eastern region.
• A survey has claimed hundreds of tickets are going unchecked on our railways every day.Bus campaigners gathered on Saturday night to see off the last 963 bus from Ilkley to Bradford, via Otley, at 10.45pm.
• Calls for action on rail fare dodgersA survey has claimed hundreds of tickets are going unchecked on our railways every day.
• Anger at lack of consultation on concessionary rail travel discount cut -A PARTIALLY deaf holder of a concessionary rail travel card has hit out at the lack of consultation on scrapping a key part of the card’s discount in East Lothian. -
• HS2 – what to expect: NoiseWhen HS2 is fully operational, trains will thunder by at 200mph less than every two minutes. It will take the 400-metre-long trains around 4.3 seconds to pass any given spot but the noise could last up to 25 seconds in total.
• Basingstoke train station will get contactless ticket machinesPASSENGERS using Basingstoke railway station are set to be among the first to benefit from contactless payment machines.
• Calls for action on rail fare dodgersA survey has claimed hundreds of tickets are going unchecked on our railways every day.
• Hazard hares are spared from airport shootingWildlife campaigners are celebrating after Cranfield University announced no hares would be shot in what has been described as a planned ’cull’ of the species.

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• Network Rail approves new bridge to improve safety in LincolnNetwork Rail has announced it is to build a new bridge in a bid to improve safety at a rail crossing in Lincoln.

Other News Sources

• Apprenticeship open day at Network RailNETWORK Rail held its first-ever apprenticeship open day in Swindon on Saturday in an effort to entice more prospective employees onto the scheme as the organisation grows at an increasing rate.
• Meeting to be held on Brighton bus service changes A public meeting is being held on bus route changes.