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

Wednesday, 11 June 2014

BBC News

• BBC Wales HQ at bus station siteThe site of Cardiff bus station is to undergo a major regeneration with the announcement that BBC Cymru Wales is to move its headquarters there.
• Fleet of electric buses for York city centre [video]York is set to introduce a felt of electric buses to run in the city centre
• Bus routes in Caerphilly replaced after Stagecoach withdrawsSome bus routes which were due to be axed by Wales' largest bus operator Stagecoach in Caerphilly are to be replaced by a local company.
• Haddenham and Thame Parkway station's revamp unveiledA £500,000 revamp of a train station which serves rail users in Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire has been unveiled.
• Boost for green transport networkThe Scottish government is to invest £15m improving cycling infrastructure and increasing the amount of electric cars on the road.
• London braced for anti-Uber protestsTransport for London has warned of traffic disruption on Wednesday as black-cab drivers prepare to protest about rival service Uber.
• US agrees to BP drone flightsThe US Federal Aviation Administration grants its first commercial drone licence over US land to oil giant BP and drone firm AeroVironment to conduct aerial surveys of pipelines.

The Guardian

• Rail season tickets for part-timers in the sidingsCampaigners call on government to honour pledge, saying flexible season tickets could save part-time commuters £1,500
• HS2 safeguarding directions legally flawed, high court toldOpponents say transport secretary's directions, intended to stop work that could interfere with HS2, could halt project indefinitely
• An $18bn valuation for Uber taxi app looks absurdThe price for Uber taxi app looks irrational for a business that delivered earnings of just $200m last yearDrivers of black cabs are up in arms about US taxi app Uber. Some plan to protest in central London. Meanwhile, the high court must decide if the service is breaking the law by using a smartphone app as a meter. The rest of us can watch, baffled, as Uber is valued at $18bn (£10.7bn) in its latest fund-raising, the likely prelude to a flotation.The price looks absurd for a business that reportedly generated revenues of just $200m from $1bn of bookings last year. As ever, the fina...

The Independent

• Maximum fine for motorway speeding to leap to £10,000The maximum fine for speeding on the motorway is to be quadrupled to £10,000, under new Government plans.

The Scotsman

• Independence: Shipbuilding ‘up for discussion’DEFENCE group BAE Systems was last night drawn into another dispute over its plans for the Clyde shipbuilding industry if Scotland votes for independence in September.
• Scotland fails to hit target on carbon emissionsScotland has failed to meet statutory targets for reducing carbon emissions for the third year running, according to new figures.

The Telegraph

• London cab drivers promise 'chaos' in strike tomorrowCentral London will be brought to a standstill tomorrow by a procession of 10,000 black cabs protesting against the mobile app Uber

Mail Online

• Drivers will be too scared to appeal huge tickets, warn motoring groups Motoring organisations said Government plans to quadruple the fines handed out by magistrates for driving too fast were ‘disproportionate and draconian’. However, the stiffer penalties were backed by road safety campaigners.

Birmingham Mail

• Lost in time: 30 stunning pictures look back at trains and stations of Birmingham’s Age of Steam With Birmingham's New Street station undergoing a £600m revamp, we look back at how rail travel has changed in the city over the decades
• Jaguar Land Rover offering female-only scholarships to two budding engineers The JLR initiative was unveiled as figures reveal only four per cent of the registered UK engineering workforce is currently female

Derby Telegraph

• Derby Telegraph commented Drivers say 'heads should roll' over London Road bridge delaysDRIVERS have reacted angrily to news that London Road bridge is set to close for four months longer than expected.The Derby Telegraph revealed on Saturday that the bridge, on one of the main routes into the city, will now reopen "before Christmas" instead of the target of August.This could mean a total closure time of 16 months.Network Rail, which is carrying out the project with Derby City Council, said the delay was down to issues with the "design and build of the bridge"...
• CarolineJones commented Derbyshire motorway speeders could be hit with four-fold increase...A FOUR-FOLD increase in the maximum fines available to magistrates is to be introduced - meaning motorway speeders, including those from Derbyshire, could be forced to pay up to £10,000 and disorderly drunks as much as £4,000, the Government said. Courts will also be able to levy unlimited fines for the first time for the most serious crimes dealt with in the lower courts - such as environmental offences - which at present attract penalties of up to £5,000 or...

Liverpool Echo

• Liverpool bus lanes were working years before they were suspended, evidence claimsEvidence has surfaced that a number of Liverpool’s bus lanes were working in the years before they were suspended.

London Evening Standard

• Ride in London without traffic at biggest cycle festival, says Laura Trott Double Olympic cycling champion Laura Trott today urged Londoners as young as eight to explore the heart of the capital on two wheels without worrying about traffic by joining the world’s biggest cycling festival.
• Cyclists warned to take extra care on roads during Uber protest by London black cab drivers Cyclists are being warned to take extra care on London's roads tomorrow as a protest by London cab drivers looks set to cause travel chaos.

Manchester Evening News

• Half of Arriva ambulance patients taken to appointments at the wrong time at least onceBus company that runs Greater Manchester's non-emergency ambulance service failed to get 54 per cent of patients to appointments on time, survey finds

Nottingham Evening Post

• Nottingham Post commented Shopping trolley 'deliberately' placed on train tracks in...A SHOPPING trolley was

Yorkshire Post

• Bus service review consultation beginsCONSULTATION has begun on a review of bus services in Calderdale, which could see some services across the Ryburn Valley and Sowerby Bridge axed due to funding cuts.

East Anglian Daily Times

• Clacton: Naked bike ride organisers not deterred by calls to cancel eventOrganisers of a naked bike ride in Clacton say they will not be put off by “threats” from Tendring District Council (TDC) and Essex Police to cancel the event.

North Wales Live

• Merseyrail to run later trains for England World Cup games Extra trains will leave from Liverpool Central this Sunday morning at 1.25am

Other Regional Press

• North East Lincolnshire could lose direct Transpennine train services in 2016 North East Lincolnshire could be set to lose its direct rail services across the Pennines.
• Transport Minister warns Dundee Airport still faces major challenges after funding boostThe Scottish Transport Minister has said that Dundee Airport still faces a challenge after multi-million-pound funding guaranteeing its future for two years was approved.

Global Rail News

• ERTMS Level 2 cleared for Albacete-Alicante routeADIF has successfully completed ERTMS Level 2 trials on the high-speed route between Albacete-Alicante. The line will become the first in Spain to utilise the modern signalling system now that it[...]
• Alstom unveils new intercity train designAlstom has released details of its latest long-distance train innovation, the Coradia Liner V200. Revealing the V200 during the European Mobility Exhibition for Public Transport, Alstom said its new design would[...]
• Paris sets out line 4 automation planSTIF and RATP are to spend €256 million automating line 14 of the Paris Metro by 2020. The first automated services are expected to operate on the 12.1-kilometre route within[...]

Aviation Industry

• Do airlines have an image problem?When the CEO of a major international airline says that half of the passengers on his planes are
• Newcastle airport raises fears over Scottish ‘yes’ voteBosses fear northern travellers would use Scottish airports if APD was abolished

Other News Sources

• Opinion: Taxi industry should embrace 'Uber' type solutionsCabfind.com MD argues it was inevitable someone was going to muscle in on the lucrative car-hire industry