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

Monday, 10 February 2014

BBC News

• Village remembered amid runway plansRemembering the community that made way for Gatwick Airport
• Dawlish rail alternative consideredA possible alternative railway route to the storm stricken Dawlish line has been identified by senior rail planners, BBC News can reveal.
• MPs urged to back car smoking banAll Northern Ireland MPs are being urged by a health charity to back a ban on smoking in cars with children present.
• 'Second Tube strike' call by CrowUnion leader Bob Crow apologises to London commuters over last week's Tube strike but says a second strike

Financial Times

• Sir Stelios poised for easyJet pay battlePeople close to him say he is likely to oppose airline’s remuneration report at annual meeting after campaigning against excessive boardroom pay
• Floods cut rail services to southwestMet Office’s chief scientist said climate change was probably contributing to the unusually prolonged spell of stormy weather lashing the UK

The Guardian

• Cycling growth could save NHS £250m, says reportMotorists swapping the car for just five minutes of riding each day would cut heart disease, diabetes and strokes, says Cambridge researchThe NHS would save £250m a year if one in 10 journeys were made by bicycle, according to a study commissioned for a campaign for government to treat cycling more seriously.Cambridge University researchers concluded that if cycling made up 10% of all trips, as against the current figure of about 2%, the nation would also gain the combined equivalent of more than 1m years of healthy living over a decade due to lower rates of inactivity-related illnesses.The st...
• Tube strikes: talks to avert further action set to resumeAnother 48-hour tube strike is planned on Tuesday unless a deal can be agreedTalks aimed at averting further industrial action of the kind that disrupted the journeys of millions of commuters in London last week will resume Monday between trade union officials and London Underground (LU) managers.Representatives of the the Rail, Maritime and Transport workers (RMT) union and the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA) unions will meet with LU managers under the chairmanship of the conciliation service Acas to try to resolve a row over ticket office closures.On the first of two days of st...

The Telegraph

• Airport measures could give £206m economic boostShort-term measures considered by the Airports Commission could boost the economy by £206m a year from 2023, research shows

The Mirror

• Bus services face crippling cuts despite transport bosses handing £100million back to George OsborneCampaign for Better Transport want the cash to be spent on repairing storm-damaged roads, filling in potholes and improving public transport

Network Rail

• Media Update: trains running to Exeter againLandslip site at Crewkerne open to trains at reduced speedOther lines at Bridgwater and Athelney remain blocked by floodingWork progresses at DawlishCheck before you travel warning for Thames Valley
• Media Update: check before you travel in the Thames Valley on MondayFlood warning for Thames Valley tomorrow (Monday) Landslip site at Crewkerne open to trains at reduced speedWork progresses at Dawlish

Derby Telegraph

• HS2 station 'should be built in Derby', expert saysTHE station for the new high-speed rail line through the East Midlands should be built in Derby rather than Toton, a 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.

London Evening Standard

• Rail services resume after flooding The West Country is no longer cut off by rail after services that were suspended following the severe storms resumed.

Manchester Evening News

• Revealed: 481 staff at Transport for Greater Manchester can use buses and trams for freeThe handouts come at a time when TfGM has announced that it will slash £19m from its budget in the next two years
• Bus company that runs ambulances gets £400,000 in bonuses - despite missing key targetsTheir contract has a reward scheme for hitting targets and Arriva has earned £413,000 out of a potential £911,000 so far.
• Bus cuts 'will hit most vulnerable passengers' Transport for Greater Manchester is facing "unprecedented pressures" after its budget was frozen despite spiralling costs.

Northern Echo

• Delays are 'inevitable' during work on Darlington's inner ring road for £3.7m improvement project WORK to replace a congested town centre roundabout with a traffic light junction in a multi-million pound scheme will begin this week.

Sheffield Star

• VIDEO: Doncaster rail firm’s £1.5m investment brings 200 jobsA £1.5m investment in the country’s rail industry will create upto 200 jobs in Doncaster.

Wales Online

• M4 traffic hit 12-year high at accident spot as calls grow for solution to motorway bottleneckSpot where bus crashed last week has seen traffic levels at highest levels since beginning of devolution, figures show

Yorkshire Evening Post

• Bus firm's new urban ticketing is criticisedA leading bus firm’s new Urban Ticket has been branded “a cynical move”, after residents in some Leeds suburbs were left out of the money-saving deal.

Yorkshire Post

• MP wants wealthy pensioners to pay full fares to save rural bus servicesWEALTHY pensioners should be allowed to pay for their bus fares if it means safeguarding cash-hit services in North Yorkshire, a leading MP will claim in Parliament tonight.

Daventry Express

• Government blocks HS2 documentsThe secretary of state for transport has blocked the publication of a report about the controversial HS2 development.

Doncaster Free Press

• VIDEO: Doncaster rail firm’s £1.5m investment brings 200 jobsA £1.5m investment in the country’s rail industry will create upto 200 jobs in Doncaster.    

East Anglian Daily Times

• Felixstowe: Where have all our trains gone? Passengers lose faith in rail servicePassenger rail services on the Felixstowe branch have become so unreliable that travellers are no longer using them, Suffolk’s transport spokesman has warned.

Other Regional Press

• Letter to the Editor: Is our council REALLY against a third runway?THE over-development of West London continues apace.
• 'Almost full bus service' to operate despite drivers' strike THE bus company affected by strike action today will be operating an ‘almost full service.’ Drivers belonging to the Unite union have called a second 24 hour strike beginning at 4.30am.
• Model and video of new Thameslink train will make a halt at Bedford rail stationRail passengers from Bedford and Flitwick can see a model and video of the new Thameslink train and speak to the First Capital Connect project team at Bedford station on Tuesday, February 11, from 3.30pm-8pm.