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

Monday, 14 December 2015

BBC News

• Festive transport guide: Helping you with your travel plansReduced train, plane, coach and ferry services and maintenance work on the railway are planned in Wales this Christmas.
• VIDEO: Riders try out British-made electric unicycleA British-made device which could change the way people get around has been launched in London.
• 'New thinking' call over London airportsEdinburgh Airport's boss has called for Scotland to "rethink" its relationship with London's airports.
• 'Urgent repair' claim over Forth BridgeScotland's transport authority was told of an urgent need to repair the Forth Road Bridge 10 months ago, a leaked email reveals.
• Bombardier workers reject pay offerWorkers at Bombardier in Northern Ireland reject a pay offer as part of cuts to their Belfast operation.
• Extra trains on new commuter timetableA new timetable for trains linking London to Reading, Windsor and Hounslow is launched, with extra services and more carriages.
• New £12m CalMac hybrid ferry launchedA new £12.3m diesel-electric hybrid ferry is launched at the Ferguson Marine shipyard in Port Glasgow.

Financial Times

• ‘White hats’ join effort to stop the bad guysOld and creaky systems leave travel networks vulnerable to attack
• Self-drive trucks bring new era for hauliersThe first automated vehicle has been licensed, but will it take off?
• Developers help shake up public transportTechnology puts the passenger at the centre of rail travel

The Guardian

• UK pushing for limits on air pollution to be relaxed, documents revealIn papers seen by the Guardian, government calls for carmakers to be allowed to far exceed the nitrogen oxides limit until 2021The UK is pushing for a weakening of air pollution limits and a delay to their introduction in response to lobbying from the motor industry, documents reveal.In revelations that will raise questions over the British government’s commitment to the climate change deal agreed in Paris at the weekend, papers obtained by ClientEarth, a firm of environmental legal experts, and seen by the Guardian, showed the UK had pushed for limits on pollution to be relaxed. Continue read...

The Herald

• UK Government set to face MPs' anger over airport expansion delay THE UK Government is due today to defend its controversial decision to delay an announcement, on whether to expand Heathrow or Gatwick airports, beyond the London mayoral election when it gives a House of Commons statement.
• The Flying Scotsman almost ready to rollThe restoration of the most famous locomotive in British railway history is on track. The Flying Scotsman locomotive is almost ready to return to the nation’s rail lines after a complex and lengthy process that has taken more than a decade and more than £4m to complete.
• Transport campaigners support moves to keep extra trains in Scotland as contingency after problem Forth bridge re-opensPUBLIC transport campaigners are backing moves to keep extra trains and rolling stock in Scotland to help deal with the Forth Road Bridge closure, even after it is up and running again.

The Independent

• George Osborne 'risking national security by failing to guarantee Transport, Military and Civil Nuclear Police will be saved from cuts'George Osborne has been accused of risking national security by failing to guarantee that the three forces which guard railways, military sites and nuclear installations from terrorist attack would be protected from spending cuts.

The Scotsman

• Leaders: Swinney to feel transport budget pressureForth Road Bridge closure has shown that maintenance cannot be cut without consequences, even if times are tough financially
• SNP urged to ‘come clean’ on Forth Road Bridge repairsMinisters are under growing pressure to release all documents on ­maintenance of the Forth Road Bridge following revelations that officials were warned of the need for urgent repairs ten months ago.

Times Online

• Call for inquiry into Forth Road Bridge funding cuts [ subscription]FRESH calls have been made for a parliamentary inquiry into the Forth Road Bridge fiasco amid damning evidence that slashed budgets and a rejected plea to the Scottish government for financial support caused delays in urgent repairs.
• Tight knot on old school tie [subscription]There are more bodies strewn about in The Curious Case of the Missing Runway than if Agatha Christie had been put in charge of the commission for airport expansion. The primary victim is any vestige that big business in the form of the CBI has any influence with government.

Mail Online

• Electric unicycle sparks fire which guts house in Bulkington, Warwickshire Catherine and Gavin Hancock have spent the last week living in a hotel after the electronic unicycle's batteries ignited, setting their sofa alight in Bulkington, Warwickshire on Monday.

Birmingham Post

• Over 70 people attended ​​Innovation Birmingham's latest transport eventOver 70 people attended ​​Innovation Birmingham’s Transport Innovation Challenges Workshop event, which marked the start of activity prior to the opening of the Intelligent Mobility incubator in March.
• Midland rail service letting down passengers, watchdog warnsLondon Midland rail network is letting down passengers with overcrowded trains, frequent delays and poor communication with passengers, the official passenger watchdog has warned

London Evening Standard

• South West Trains: Thousands of extra seats rolled out across Reading and Windsor servicesCommuters who travel to Waterloo from Reading and Windsor will benefit from thousands of extra seats under a new weekday timetable from Monday morning.

Manchester Evening News

• New images show iconic Flying Scotsman as it nears a long-awaited return to the railway A painstaking £4.2m restoration project is being worked on by specialist engineers at Bury-based Riley and Son Ltd

Newcastle Evening Chronicle

• Tyne and Wear Metro modernisation plans hit by £33m cut in government fundingGovernment will contribute £317m towards revamp costs - leading to questions over itscommitment to Northern Powerhouse

Northern Echo

• Dramatic pictures and video as double decker bus bursts into flames PASSENGERS were evacuated after a double-decker bus burst into flames as heavy snow fell over the weekend.

Sheffield Star

• BUSES: New timetables to be drawn up for Sheffield services to tackle ‘bus bunching’ Bus chiefs in Sheffield are planning to draw up new timetables to align with extra services after cuts caused chaos.

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• New railway station at Inverness Airport could open in 2017A railway station at Inverness Airport could be on track to open in 2017 – years ahead of schedule.
• New railway station at Inverness Airport could open in 2017A railway station at Inverness Airport could be on track to open in 2017 – years ahead of schedule.

The York Press

• Under-18s get free bus travel in York on first 9 weekends of 2016 YOUNGSTERS in York will get free bus travel every weekend throughout January and February.

Yorkshire Evening Post

• All aboard as first trains in 50 years pull into Apperley Bridge stationTrains have stopped at the village of Apperley Bridge for the first time in 50 years today after the opening of a new £8 million railway station.

Yorkshire Post

• All aboard as first trains in 50 years pull into Apperley Bridge stationTrains have stopped at the village of Apperley Bridge for the first time in 50 years today after the opening of a new £8 million railway station.

East Anglian Daily Times

• Rail delays between Norwich and London due to over-running engineering worksRail commuters on the Norwich to London Liverpool Street line face severe disruption today because of engineering works finishing late.

Sleaford Standard

• Survey on Greylees trainsResidents in the Greylees area are being asked if they would make use of an increased rail service from Rauceby station.

Other Regional Press

• New Rochester Railway Station will open today, pledge railway bosses Teams from Network Rail and Southeastern have been working round the clock to prepare a �26m new station for its planned opening today.
• Lydd airport will buy back land to build runway extension A Kent airport may be forced to compulsorily purchase land for its runway extension.

Airportwatch

• Letters - Nimbyism not to blame for Heathrow expansion delay [Subscription]I AGREE with Sarah Baxter that we need a decision on airports now, but it is not a third runway at Heathrow (“We can’t let Heathrow be grounded by all this Nimby baggage”, Comment, last week). For those who do not live under the flight path and like to travel, labelling opponents of the terminal’s expansion as Nimbys and anti-capitalist is simplistic.

Rail Magazine

• Apperley Bridge finally opensApperley Bridge station finally opens to passengers.
• Caledonian Sleeper trials Oban as future destinationA trial Sleeper service will run to Oban next year, as Caledonian Sleeper looks to develop its existing operations.

Other News Sources

• Mike Hookem writes to the Secretary of State for TransportUKIP Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire MEP Mike Hookem has written to Patrick McLoughlin MP, the Secretary of State for Transport on behalf of a number of drivers and haulage companies in his constituency of who are concerned and angered about the fines placed on them should they be discovered to have any illegal immigrants in the back of their vehicles.
• Mike Hookem writes to the Secretary of State for TransportUKIP Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire MEP Mike Hookem has written to Patrick McLoughlin MP, the Secretary of State for Transport on behalf of a number of drivers and haulage companies in his constituency of who are concerned and angered about the fines placed on them should they be discovered to have any illegal immigrants in the back of their vehicles.