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

Saturday, 08 February 2014

BBC News

• Northern Hub rail upgrade beginsA £600m upgrade to the northern rail network begins with work on a fourth platform at Manchester Airport.
• Tube strike talks resume next weekTalks to resolve a dispute over plans to close all Tube ticket offices and cut jobs will resume next week in an attempt to avert a second strike.
• Ford workers vote against strikeWorkers at the car maker Ford have voted against strike action in a dispute over job security and pensions.

Financial Times

• SAS to issue $600m bonds and sharesScandinavian carrier says the funds raised from preference share and convertible bond issue will be used to modernise fleet and strengthen finances
• Lufthansa names insider as next chiefCarsten Spohr, who takes over from Christoph Franz, must complete the German airline’s restructuring, boost profitability and fight off competition
• Study offers funding boost to Crossrail 2By sharing the cost with business and commuters, the outlay from government would be low enough to satisfy Treasury demands, says a report

The Guardian

• Stabbed man dies after crashing car into busDriver believed to have sustained ultimately fatal knife wounds in a fight before getting into car, Metropolitan police say
• Passenger tries to hijack plane bound for Istanbul and divert it to SochiOfficial from Turkey's transport ministry says passenger claimed bomb was on board flight from Kharkov in UkraineA major security operation was sparked after a passenger on board a plane bound for Turkey attempted to hijack it and demanded that it be diverted to Sochi, where the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics was taking place.The flight, which had taken off from Kharkov, Ukraine, and was en route for Istanbul with 110 passengers, subsequently landed safely at Sabiha Gokcen airport, one of the Turkish city's international airports.There was confusion about what happened next, with some...

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 Independent

• Tube strike: action next week likely to go ahead as London Underground and unions fail to agree It is likely that industrial action will go ahead next week, after talks between unions and Transport for London (TfL) aimed at preventing a second round of 48-hour strikes were adjourned until Monday.    

The Scotsman

• Brazil: Rio riots over bus fare hikeHUNDREDS of people in Brazil have clashed with police during a protest against a 10 per cent increase in fares for public ­transport.

The Telegraph

• Damaged Dawlish rail line now a 'construction site'Patrick Hallgate, from Network Rail, says it would cost
• Councils using spy cameras 'make nine times from parking fines' than those that do notCouncils that use spy cameras to enforce parking rules are making nearly nine times more in motorists' fines than authorities which do not use them.    

Reuters News

• Talks to avert second London Underground strike failLONDON (Reuters) - Talks aimed at averting a second 48-hour strike by London Underground workers failed on Friday, meaning the planned action is still scheduled to take place from next Tuesday evening.

Daily Express

• Motorist fined for parking at a bus stop was actually stuck in a traffic jamA DRIVER queueing in a traffic jam was fined £70 after being filmed “parked” at a bus stop.

Mail Online

• Passengers trapped for an HOUR in South Ruislip station underground stationAround a dozen commuters were locked inside South Ruislip station for almost an hour until a station employee returned to free them at 1am on Thursday morning.
• Championship racing driver jailed after crashing and killing cyclist while on the phone to his girlfriendFrank Wrathall, 26, was speaking to Zara Watt for almost eight minutes with one hand on the steering wheel when he ploughed into father-of-one Paul Fingleton on a Lancashire roundabout.

The Mirror

• Bob Crow is not the real hyprocrite - Boris Johnson is says Brian ReadeWhy is Bob Crow demonised for standing up for his staff when it's the Lord Mayor who has broken his promises?

Network Rail

• National train performance for period 11 is 89% despite severe stormsA second month of severe storms and the wettest January on record tested the rail industry’s resilience during a difficult period 11.
• More than 10,000 tonnes of stone and round-the-clock working needed to repair Sussex landslipEngineers have started to build an access road to a remote section of railway at Whatlington Viaduct, near Battle in Sussex, in order to begin work repairing the damage caused by a serious landslip.

Birmingham Post

• National Motorcycle Museum celebrates 30th birthday a decade after massive blaze Firms like Norton, BSA and Triumph had gone into terminal decline with the Japanese invasion of the 1970s and 1980s, the museum kept their spirit alive

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• Combined authority for West Yorkshire is on its way A new super-council overseeing £1.4 billion of investment in transport and the economy is just two months away from being created.

Derby Telegraph

• Bombardier Crossrail success boosts Derby apprenticesWinning the £1 billion Crossrail contract was not just a great boost for Bombardier's existing workforce but a massive incentive to young people thinking about going into the rail industry. An issue identified in recent years within the industry has been the lack of fresh blood taking up a career in rail. This year, Derby is celebrating its 175-year association with rail - but to make sure that the industry continues to flourish in the city, the next generation of workers must be...
• Derby's Labour MPs say hard work on Bombardier campaign has been rewardedDerby Labour MPs Dame Margaret Beckett and Chris Williamson say the clinching of the Bombardier deal is a reward for the hard work which has gone on in recent weeks.

London Evening Standard

• See all the latest bikes and gear at ExCeLLondoners’ best chance to see all the latest motorcycles — and gear — under one roof comes up next week at ExCeL. The 2014 Carole Nash MCN London Motorcycle Show (February 14-16) will boast the latest models from leading manufacturers, backed by more than 130 exhibitors showcasing their latest ranges.
• Tube strikes: Londoners face second walk-out next week as talks scheduled for MondayTalks being held between unions and London Underground officials aimed at stopping a second strike will resume on Monday.

Manchester Evening News

• Network Rail spell 'Northern' incorrectly at launch of £600m rail hubChancellor George Osborne, transport bosses and rail chiefs had gathered at Manchester Airport train station to celebrate the construction of a fourth platform - the first milestone of a scheme spanning the north of England.

Nottingham Evening Post

• Nottingham Post commented HS2 station should be in Derby says Nottingham Business School...THE station for the new high-speed rail line through the East Midlands should be built in Derby rather than Toton, a Nottingham transport expert claims.Dr John Disney, a senior lecturer at Nottingham Business School, feels Toton is not the right place for the station.He claims congested road access is one of the reasons why it would be unsuitable and should instead be used as a maintenance depot.He said: "Locating the station at Derby would open the possibility of using Toton for the...

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• Politicians hail port vision Two of the north’s most senior politicians backed plans yesterday for a former oil yard to become a major centre in the renewables industry employing more than 2,500 people.

Yorkshire Evening Post

• Yorkshire to spread Tour word to European cycling fansA procession of Yorkshire-branded vehicles is set to roll into spring cycle races all over Europe to promote the county’s role in the Tour de France 2014.

Yorkshire Post

• Transport spending gap ˜improves"The Transport Secretary has insisted the spending gap between Yorkshire and London is finally closing as local MPs demand further electrification of the region’s creaking railways.

Other Regional Press

• Sailors pass through Panama Canal for first time in HMS RichmondHMS RICHMOND might be more than 20 years old, but she isn’t too old to experience some things for the first time.
• Bus cuts will remain but Gosport MP says ‘it’s not the end of the road’HEAVILY-CRITICISED changes to a bus route in Gosport are to stay despite hundreds of people signing a petition against them.
• 'Almost full bus service' to operate despite drivers' strike on Monday THE bus company affected by strike action on Monday will be operating an ‘almost full service.’
• Councillor against 20p charge to spend a penny at new Northampton bus stationAn opposition councillor has said the 20p charge to use the toilets in the new Northampton bus station “goes against the whole idea of public lavatories.”

Global Rail News

• Network Rail signs haulage contractsNetwork Rail’s National Delivery Service (NDS) has signed a contract with five suppliers to provide haulage for the company’s fleet of engineering trains in control period 5 (2014-2019). DB Schenker,[...]
• Chancellor launches £600m Northern Hub programmeChancellor George Osbourne has travelled to Manchester to kick off the £600 million Northern Hub programme of rail improvements. Osbourne was at Manchester Airport station where Network Rail is delivering[...]

Railnews

• HS2 brought into Dawlish rail closure controversy CLOSURE of the only main line through Devon into Cornwall, caused by ferocious seas damaging at least 80 metres of the sea wall and track at Dawlish and the local station, has become a political controversy in South West England. And HS2 opponents have joined the furore, arguing money should be spent on improving existing lines instead.

Railway Gazette

• Paris regional transport authority approves €787m budgetFRANCE: Paris regional transport authority STIF has approved an investment budget of €787m for 2014, including a new funding agreement for the extension of metro Line 14 to Mairie de Saint-Ouen....

Aviation Industry

• British Airways to Start Non-stop Austin to London Airline Service in 25 DaysBritish Airways will begin non-stop service from Austin to London on March 3, 2014.