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

Friday, 09 May 2014

BBC News

• Poole bus service cuts 'will hit elderly', says Age UKCuts to bus services in Poole have been condemned by Age UK who fear elderly people will be left "stranded".
• Company investigates bus blazePassengers and a driver flee a single-deck bus in Gwynedd after it fills with smoke and bursts into flames.
• London taxis plan anti-Uber gridlockThe Licensed Taxi Drivers Association plans to block London's roads to protest against Uber's hi-tech car-hire service being allowed in the capital.

Financial Times

• Emirates’ profit soars on passenger riseDubai-based airline’s profit increases 43% to $887m after big investments as well as an increase in capacity and nine new destinations
• Singapore Airlines hit by discountingGroup warns of uncertainty ahead after its operating loss grows by S$16m amid weaker revenue per passenger as cut-price competition steps up
• Heathrow names new chief executiveDevelopment director John Holland-Kaye, who played key role in delivery of Terminal 2, to take over from Colin Matthews to help fight for third runway

The Guardian

• Chinese experts 'in discussions' over building high-speed Beijing-US railway'China-Russia plus America line' would run for 13,000km across Siberia and pass under Bering Strait through 200km tunnel
• Top job at Heathrow airport goes to internal candidate John Holland-KayeDevelopment director will take over from Colin Matthews as chief executive, and will now lead Heathrow's push for a third runway
• From the archive, 8 May 1957: A mile a day towards rail electrificationWork on electrifying the Manchester-London railway line is underway, readying the rail network for trains which, in a decade or so, may reach speeds of 100 miles per hour
• The Fat Controller and the cabbies' conventionWhether it's roadworks or railway lines, transport questions time is a lot more useful than calling a hotline

The Telegraph

• Traffic lights could stay red for longer to help pensioners cross roadsTransport ministers are reviewing crossing times across the country following concerns that some pedestrians do not have enough time to negotiate busy roads

Mail Online

• Traffic lights to stay red for longer... to give Britain's growing number of OAPs time to cross the road Traffic lights timed on the basis pedestrians walk at a speed of 1.2 metres per second. However, those over 65 walk between 0.8 and 0.9 metres per second

The Mirror

• Traffic lights to stay on red for longer to give older people more time to cross the roadPelican crossings will be phased out and replaced with puffin crossings in a bid to improve road safety

London Evening Standard

• Rush hour sprinters race to beat the District Line over four stationsIt was an unusual reunion — 11 amateur athletes dressed in suits and matching trainers, one District Line train and a stopwatch.
• Walk away from kerb to avoid fumes in London, adviser urgesLondoners should keep away from the kerb as they walk along  busy roads to avoid traffic-polluted air blamed for thousands of premature deaths, a  Government adviser urged today.
• Video: Sir Peter Hendy answers questions on Tube strike and ticket station closures for London LiveThe commissioner of Transport for London said scrapping all ticket stations will get staff helping commuters, rather than being trapped behind glass.

Newcastle Evening Chronicle

• Newcastle and North Shields Railway set to celebrate 175th anniversary Families will roll back the years with a special event to celebrate the 175th anniversary of Tyneside railways

Nottingham Evening Post

• Beeston bus station closure plan divides councils and bus companies Councils and bus companies are at are odds over the future of Beeston’s bus station.

Sheffield Star

• Air quality problems in Sheffield and Derbyshire exposedPeople in Sheffield and Chesterfield are being exposed to unsafe levels of potentially deadly air pollution, a new report claims.

Wales Online

• Reduction in security staff at Cardiff Airport will lead to 'huge delays' critics claimCritics say a move to make the group of security workers redundant will increase check-in times and drive passengers to rival airports

Wolverhampton Express and Star

• Build new roads then sell them off, says West Midlands transport authorityNew roads in the West Midlands should be built at public expense then sold off to private firms to get the money back, transport bosses have claimed. The radical plan by transport authority Centro was put to a committee of MPs looking at ways to fund future road projects.

Other Regional Press

• Charlottes go free at Manchester AirportTo mark the launch of American Airlines’ inaugural flight to Charlotte, North Carolina on May 23, Manchester Airport is offering anyone called Charlotte free access to its Escape Lounges in terminals one, two and three that day.

Bus and Coach.com

• £80m orders for new Enviro400Alexander Dennis has confirmed £80million worth of orders for up to 400 of its new Enviro400 double-deck, which was launched in Larbert last week.
• Souter invests in Finnish operatorSouter Investments, the private investment operation of Brian Souter, has taken a majority stake in OnniBus, the Finnish intercity express coach business founded in 2012.
• Commonwealth Games win for FirstFirst has been named as the official supplier of bus services for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
• Rotala to sue National ExpressRotala has commenced legal proceedings against National Express for alleged breach of contract following the loss of two route diagrams.
• £5million interchange for WythenshaweConstruction of a new £5million bus and tram interchange in Wythenshawe starts next month.
• First goes green in YorkFive Wrightbus hybrid double-deckers have entered service with First in York, operating on cross-city service 4 between Acomb and the University.
• Stagecoach takes over from JP TravelStagecoach Manchester has taken over the operations of one of the region’s longest-established independent operators, JP Travel of Middleton.
• Greyhound speeds airport link to BristolThe sole surviving Greyhound UK coach service, between Swansea and Bristol Airport, has been re-routed to omit Bristol Bus Station and the University of the West of England.
• Mercedes completes line-upMercedes-Benz has completed its Euro 6 chassis range with the launch of the Spanish-built three-axle OC500RF coach chassis powered by the 7.
• Get ready for DDA deadlineBus refurbishment specialist, Hants and Dorset Trim, is reminding bus operators to bring their vehicles up to the required Disabled Discrimination Act (DDA) standards in time for impending deadlines.

Global Rail News

• Communications Based Train ControlCommunications Based Train Control (CBTC) means different things to different people, so says Tom Lee from the Rail Standards and Safety Board who chaired a recent conference in London on the subject organised by Sagacity Media. The engineering / technical aspects are often not seen in the context of operations or passenger service and, whilst CBTC […]
• Queensland approves massive coal mine and rail projectQueensland has ushered through the construction of a $16.5 billion coal mine and rail project in the state’s resource-rich Galilee Basin. Although subject to environmental approvals, the Carmichael Coal Mine and[...]
• ADIF progressing with Mediterranean Corridor S&T upgradeSpain’s infrastructure manager, ADIF, has awarded a €44 million contract to upgrade the signalling along a stretch of the country’s Mediterranean Corridor to a Bombardier/Thales consortium. The contract, which is the[...]
• Jernbaneverket awards Ulriken tunnelling contractJernbaneverket has awarded the NOK 1.3 billion tunnelling contract for a second Ulriken tunnel in Western Norway. Skanska Norway and Strabag AG are to construct a new tunnel beside the[...]
• Voith couplers ordered for South African commuter train fleetVoith is to supply 4,800 couplers for a new fleet of suburban trainsets ordered by South African rail authority PRASA. Scharfenberg Couplers will be fitted to all 600 X’Trapolis Mega[...]
• Siemens will not be ‘pushed’ into Alstom acquisitionSiemens chief executive Joe Kaeser has said the company won’t be bullied into making a deal with Alstom. Speaking at a press conference to outline a planned restructuring of the company,[...]
• Norwegian intercity fleet to undergo mid-life overhaulNorwegian Railways (NSB) have given NedTrain the contract to complete the mid-life overhaul of 20 Class 73 electrical multiple units. The Class 73 fleet, which were built in A and[...]

Aviation Industry

• Emirates Airline fiscal year profit up 43% Dubai-based Emirates Airline reported a profit of AED3.3 billion ($900 million) for the financial year ended March 31, 2014, up 43% from AED2.3 billion for the previous financial year. read more
• Lufthansa pursues joint venture with Air ChinaLufthansa and Air China are in talks that could lead the German and Chinese carriers to forming a revenue-sharing joint venture similar to those that Lufthansa has with United Airlines, Air Canada and All Nippon Airways. read more
• US airlines boost profits with $3.35bn in baggage feesDelta heads list of 16 carriers in the US Department of Transportation’s baggage fees league

Other News Sources

• Heathrow congestion charge could be used to fund public transport improvementsHeathrow Airport will say to the Airports Commission this month that there may be a case for introducing a congestion charge for people travelling to the airport once improvements in public transport have been delivered.
• Virgin Atlantic’s iBeacon trial goes live at Heathrow AirportVirgin Atlantic has started its trial of iBeacon technology in the Upper Class Wing at London Heathrow Airport, which will allow premium passengers to receive personalised notifications and offers via their iPhone.
• Boris ramps up his Heathrow demolition plans, appointing architects for new schemeLondon Mayor Boris Johnson really does not like Heathrow. In the past he has described plans for expansion at the west London airport as “completely crackers”, and “totally wrong for the country”.
• Boris spends £90,000 on plans to build over Heathrow airportBoris Johnson is paying architects £90,000 to draw up plans for new homes on the site of Heathrow airport despite there being no plans to demolish it and City Hall having no control over its future. The Mayor wants to replace the airport with a new airport in the Thames Estuary in Kent, however his plans lack the support of the UK Government, which controls aviation policy, and many major airlines
• Heathrow names former Taylor Woodrow ops director as CEOHeathrow’s development director and former Taylor Woodrow operations director John Holland-Kaye has been named as its new chief executive.