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

Wednesday, 05 November 2014

BBC News

• Would these five changes actually help cyclists?Many cyclists believe improving culture among drivers and boosting infrastructure are the only meaningful ways to save lives. But how much effect would some of these smaller changes have?
• Improved rail service promising jobsA £476m plan to upgrade rail services between Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and London is being considered by Chancellor George Osborne.
• Bus drivers consider strike actionLondon bus drivers say they are willing to take strike action to end the
• Is your car spying on you?Is the connected car a threat to data privacy?

Department for Transport

• Speech at the EuroBus Expo in Birmingham about the important role buses play in the backbone of transport and the economy.It’s a pleasure to be here at Euro Bus Expo 2014. One of the highlights of the bus calendar. And a fantastic advertisement for this industry.

The Guardian

• Some Virgin Galactic seatholders ask for refund on tickets after crashCompany reveals 3% of customers have cancelled as investigators release analysis of pilots actions prior to crash Virgin Galactic space planes re-entry system activated early, say investigatorsVirgin Galactic has revealed that about 20 of the 700 customers who have paid up to £150,000 a head to reserve seats on the space tourism ventures first flights have asked for their money back.After Friday nights fatal test flight, which killed one pilot and left the other seriously injured in hospital, about 3% of Virgin Galactics customers had cancelled, a spokesperson for Sir Richard Branson...

The Herald

• Council has costly highway problem to solveHighland councillors meet today to consider how to make safe a road built more than 40 years ago in an area of geological weakness which has been repeatedly closed since.
• Rail fans can get above their station with a tour of CentralLONG-awaited behind-the-scenes tours of Scotland's busiest train station will launch this week, allowing fans to scale Glasgow Central Station's historic glass roof and delve into an abandoned Victorian village buried underground.

The Scotsman

• Comment: Public transport for disabled to improveCOMMITTMENT to provide good level of access to transport for those with special needs is up and running but still needs work, says David Hunter

The Telegraph

• Safety 'star rating' for UK roadsRoads in Britain could be given 'star ratings' for safety in attempt to tackle accident black spots, roads minister Robert Goodwill announces

Mail Online

• Virgin Australia flight forced to turn back to LA after 'human waste' floods cabin Virgin Australia described it as a 'fresh water overflow'; from lavatory sinks and denied passengers' stomach-churning claims that human waste had seeped into the cabin.

Liverpool Echo

• Merseyrail boss Maarten Spaargaren to leave in the New YearDutch managing director resignation for January 1, 2015 so he can consider career options. The head of Merseyrail will leave in the New Year after leading the organisation for three years during which time it achieved best ever passenger survey scores.
• Supply chain for carmakers could be worth an extra £2bn a year, Automotive Council report saysReport says  companies such as Jaguar Land Rover  and Vauxhall could source even more of their components locally

London Evening Standard

• Unite gets 96 per cent support from bus drivers for strike over pay London's 22,000 bus drivers today took the first step towards strike action as they bid to force bosses into introducing a single pay rate.
• Cycle superhighway ‘will stop coach parties coming to the capital’ Coach parties may be deterred from visiting London as the number of parking spaces is slashed to make way for the mayor’s new £50m cycle superhighway, it was claimed today.

Sheffield Telegraph

• Special Sheffield railway station tour for brave teenA brave teenager who has raised hundreds of pounds for Sheffield’s Children’s Hospital Charity has been given a first class experience on the railways to thank her for her hard work.

Yorkshire Post

• HS2 boss says route ‘could change’Changes to the route of phase two of the £50 billion HS2 high-speed rail project cannot be ruled out, the Government has announced.

North Wales Live

• Transport chiefs planning £9m work over two years on Mersey tunnel  Merseytravel warned that there will be closures at times when it is being carried out

Other Regional Press

• Talking on the Borders Railway lineWork to install a network of communications masts, which will allow the train drivers to talk to signallers, controllers and other railway managers, is underway along the Borders Railway.
• South West transport ’top priority’, Treasury's Danny Alexander says A senior Treasury minister has said road and rail investment in the South West is his "top priority" as another revealed a multi-billion pound transport upgrade for the peninsula is being examined.

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• Network Rail acquires UK freight sitesNetwork Rail has announced it has reached a deal to acquire ownership of many of Britain’s key rail freight sites from three of the country's biggest freight-operating companies. More than 100 leasehold sites are to be transferred from DB Schenker, Freightliner and GB Railfreight as part of a self-financing transaction. As a result of the deal, Britain's freight sites will be more readily available to the growing number of rail freight operators and end users. The agreement will spur competition and growth in a sector that contributes nearly £900 million to ...

Aviation Industry

• Business travellers help Ryanair profits soarAirline’s traffic for H1 rises 4% to 51.3m
• Ethiopian Airlines releases schedule for Dublin – LA routeService from Addis Ababa to start in June 2015

Other News Sources

• Friends of the Earth back Sir Peter Soulsby's transport schemes after petition nears 900 names Environmental campaigners have backed city mayor Sir Peter Soulsby’s Connecting Leicester vision after a petition was set up criticising his transport projects.
• West Yorkshire seeks to regulate busesCombined authority resurrects plans to take control of bus services across all of its council areas
• Alok Sharma MP: Toughening up on dangerous drivingAhead of his debate, Alok Sharma MP encourages the public to support his petition to toughen the sentences given out to dangerous drivers.
• Full steam ahead with a French flavour RAIL enthusiasts came from miles around to catch a train with a difference.