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

Friday, 07 February 2014

BBC News

• Swindon to Kemble railway line re-doubling delayedA project to re-double a section of railway line between Gloucestershire and Wiltshire has been delayed.
• Second Corby to Kettering railway track to be restoredNetwork Rail hopes restoring a second track on a line in Northamptonshire will lead to a boost in train services.
• Mersey Tunnels toll rises by 10pCar drivers will pay an additional 10p to use the Mersey Tunnels from April, Merseytravel has announced.
• Mersey Tunnels toll rises by 10pCar drivers will pay an additional 10p to use the Mersey Tunnels from April, Merseytravel has announced.
• Airport bus averages four passengersFigures show the Cardiff Airport shuttle bus service has carried on average fewer than four passengers a journey since its launch.
• VIDEO: £1bn Crossrail job for BombardierThe £1bn contract to build the trains for London's new Crossrail route has been awarded to Derby-based Bombardier Transportation.
• Bombardier gets solar panel go-aheadBombardier is granted planning approval to cover the roof of its wing-assembly plant in Belfast with solar panels.
• Northern Hub rail upgrade to startA £600m upgrade to rail infrastructure in the north is to officially start later as work on a fourth platform at Manchester Airport gets under way.
• Boris Johnson v Bob CrowHow different are they?
• Heathrow rail link plans announcedNetwork Rail confirms plans for a rail link between the Great Western main line and Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport.
• Strike-hit Tube returns to normalLondon Underground services return to normal after a 48-hour strike, as talks are expected to be held in a bid to avert more industrial action.
• Govan likely to close in BAE revampThe Govan shipyard faces likely closure as part of plans by BAE Systems to upgrade its Clyde facilities.
• General Motors profits fall 22%US car giant General Motors reports a 22% drop in profits for 2013 after a disappointing performance outside North America.
• Bombardier wins £1bn Crossrail dealBombardier has won a £1bn contract to provide trains for the London Crossrail project, the government announces.

Financial Times

• Virgin Australia share price fall probedVirgin Australia blames recent turmoil in world markets and general malaise over local listed airlines for stock falling by one-fifth over two days
• Bombardier wins £1bn Crossrail contractBoost for Derby as manufacturer is awarded contract that will support 760 local jobs as well as 244 positions at a new depot in northwest London
• Dreamliner diverted after software glitchAir India flight to New Delhi is diverted to Kuala Lumpur after flight management computers shut down during flight from Melbourne
• Rail line damaged by storm faces closureScenic coastal section of Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s railway line at Dawlish may be replaced by an inland route closed during the 1960s

The Guardian

• The Bombardier UK factory - in picturesOn the day that Bombardier UK wins £1bn Crossrail contract, Guardian photographer David Sillitoe has been to their factory to take a look
• Bombardier UK wins £1bn Crossrail contractDerby-based train builder beats Japan's Hitachi and CAF of Spain to supply 65 trains for the cross-London line

The Herald

• Scotland sees highest rise in new car salesSCOTTISH motorists are buying new cars at a faster rate than the rest of the UK in the latest indication of renewed confidence in economic recovery.

The Telegraph

• Tube strike: deal with the delays 1962 styleThis archive news report on how commuters coped with strikes on the London Underground in 1962 may give you some fresh ideas about how to get about in the public transport chaos. Click on the image below to see the video    
• Bob Crow: 'I'm not the man behind the tube strike'RMT general secretary Bob Crow says that 950 jobs will be lost if Transport for London go ahead with plans to close ticket offices    

Daily Express

• Daily Express victory as Bombardier, UK’s only train maker, is given £1bn Crossrail dealBRITAIN’S only remaining train maker yesterday secured its future in a victory for the Daily Express after clinching a £1billion deal to make rolling stock for London’s Crossrail.

Mail Online

• Thousands of rail passengers are being forced to pay double for their journeys because of storm destruction in Dawlish - but First Great Western deny profiteeringThousands of rail travellers are being forced to pay double for their journeys to and from the stricken West Country as a major rail firm withdraws its 'advance purchase' discount tickets in the wake of storm damage chaos.
• Railway lines shut 50 years ago could be reopened in £100million plan to divert trains away from Dawlish wavesTransport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin announced he has ordered a 'rigorous review’ into alternatives as he offered help from the army to help repair the Devon line.
• Renault Kwid concept car with traffic spotting quadcopter built into roofThe drone is stored under a special flap on the roof - and can fly ahead to look at traffic conditions.

The Mirror

• David Starkey brands London Underground workers 'dummies' in heated BBC Question Time DebateHistorian claims they are overpaid as he butts heads with George Galloway

Network Rail

• Engineers working to shore up damaged railway at Dawlish as weekend storm approachesNetwork Rail engineers are today starting work to try and prevent any further damage to the railway at Dawlish in Devon as another Atlantic storm system is forecast to hit the south-west of England on Saturday.
• Cambrian Coast Railway - UpdateNetwork Rail is planning to re-open the section of Cambrian Coast railway between Dovey Junction and Barmouth next week.

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• Northern Hub rail upgrades to help Bradford travellers A £600 million investment in Northern Hub rail upgrades will improve the network in Bradford – but it will not include the electrification of the Caldervale Line between the city and Manchester.

Derby Telegraph

• VIDEO: Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin visits Bombardier after it secures £1bn Crossrail deal TRANSPORT Secretary and Derbyshire Dales MP Patrick McLoughlin has visited the Bombardier plant in Derby following news the firm had won the £1 billion Crossrail contract.
• Bombardier: One billion reasons to toast bright future for Derby workers BOMBARDIER has won the £1 billion Crossrail contract – and this could be the dawn of a brighter future for both the firm and Derby’s rail industry as a whole.
• Derby Telegraph commented Controversial plan to build Derby cycle track on nature reserve...A CONTROVERSIAL plan to build a cycle track and mountain bike area on part of a nature reserve at Pride Park has been granted. Derby City Council had applied to its own planning committee for permission to build the track on part of The Sanctuary reserve, which the authority created in 2004. The council had received 642 supporting comments for the plan and 1,009 objections, as the proposal pitted cyclists against wildlife enthusiasts. Tonight, the application was narrowly passed with six...

London Evening Standard

• 760 jobs made safe as Bombardier wins £1bn contract to supply Crossrail trains Hundreds of British manufacturing jobs were safeguarded today as transport giant Bombardier won a tough-fought battle for the £1 billion order to supply 65 trains for Crossrail.
• Police urged to act over 'complete lawlessness' on central London roads during Tube strikeDrivers today called on the police to intervene to ease the gridlock on London’s roads.
• Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary: 'New runways at UK airports are inevitable'Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary expects three more runways to be built at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted and says locals should not be able to block plans because they "chose to be a resident under a flight path".
• £1bn Crossrail deal 'great news'UK manufacturing has received a huge boost with news that trains for the Crossrail scheme will be built in the Midlands.
• Osborne to visit airport rail boostGeorge Osborne will seek to highlight Government efforts to boost the economy in the north of England when he helps start work on a £20 million rail upgrade at Manchester Airport.

Manchester Evening News

• George Osborne kicks off £600m Northern Hub investment at Manchester AirportThe chancellor marked the start of work to build a fourth platform at the airport's rail station

Wales Online

• Passengers to get from Cardiff to Heathrow in less than two hoursTravellers will no longer have to 'double-back' on themselves and go via Paddington.

Yorkshire Post

• Osborne hails high speed rail’s potential to transform NorthCHANCELLOR George Osborne has declared he is “open to all ideas” that increase the economic impact of a new high speed rail line to Yorkshire paving the way for billions of pounds of investment in the North to be brought forward.
• Date set for start of public inquiry into Leeds trolleybusA DATE has been announced for the start of the public inquiry that will decide the fate of the Leeds trolleybus scheme.

Other Regional Press

• Big Hitachi helps Crossrail muckaway operationA new Hitachi ZX470LCH-5 has been rented by the Dragados Sisk Joint Venture (DSJV) from Flannery Plant Hire to work at Crossrail’s Limmo Peninsular site.
• Work begins on new £2.2m rail station at the back of James Cook University HospitalHoped the scheme will help alleviate car parking issues at the site and also ease congestion on Marton Road
• Public outcry earns rural buses a stay of executionPeople power has forced a County Hall U-turn over the scrapping of subsidies for rural buses across Lancashire.
• Coventry council backtracks on HS2 to get 'best possible deal' for city Authority renews opposition to controversial scheme in an effort to secure jobs

Global Rail News

• Alstom consortium to electrify HSL between Leon and AsturiasADIF has awarded a €28 million electrification contract to Alstom and Isolux Corsán. The joint venture will supply the traction substation and catenary system for the 44.3-kilometre high-speed line currently[...]
• Gäubahn to get double-deck trains in 2017Deutsche Bahn (DB) and the state of Baden-Württemberg have agreed a new traffic plan which includes the introduction of new double-deck IC trains. From 2017, 17 new double-deck trains, representing[...]
• Great Western rail link to Heathrow planned for 2021Network Rail has presented plans for a new rail link connecting the Great Western main line with Heathrow. Responding to calls from MPs, Network Rail has outlined proposals to construct[...]
• New Nottingham tram lines to open in DecemberTram services in Nottingham will connect to Clifton for the first time on December 14, the project team has announced. The £570 million NET Phase Two route to Beeston, Chilwell[...]
• Bombardier wins Crossrail train contractTransport for London and the Department for Transport have named Bombardier as the winner of the £1 billion Crossrail train order. Bombardier’s site in Derby will supply 65 trains and[...]

Aviation Industry

• Europe rolls out tentative step toward liquids ban relaxationEurope has implemented a minor relaxation of its liquids, aerosols and gels (LAGs) restrictions, although it only relates to duty-free items bought outside the European Union (EU). read more
• Singapore Airlines 3Q profits down 65% on exceptional itemsSingapore Airlines parent SIA Group reported a net profit of SGD50 million ($39 million) for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2013, down 65% from SGD142.5 million during the same period the previous year. read more
• MEPs vote to strengthen air passenger rights“Extraordinary circumstances” loophole to be tightened
• Lufthansa launches in-flight mobile phone serviceGerman carrier rolls out service with AeroMobile

Other News Sources

• Hull railway electrification: Government 'very interested' in planTRANSPORT minister Robert Goodwill has said the Government is "very interested" in ambitious proposals to electrify the railway lines in and out of Hull.
• Bombardier wins £1bn Crossrail contractContract to support 760 UK manufacturing jobs
• Finnair to sell joint fares with JAL and BAOneworld alliance members to sell joint fares between Europe and Japan