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

Wednesday, 06 January 2016

BBC News

• Support to re-open railway stationA 14-year campaign to reopen a railway station which closed in the 1960s on the Aberystwyth to Shrewsbury line comes closer to fruition.
• VIDEO: 'Forgotten' wartime Tube station openedA warren of tunnels which provided shelter for 8,000 Londoners during World War Two are to be opened to the public.
• Lib Dems pledge Tube fare discountLib Dem mayoral candidate Caroline Pidgeon says if she is elected in May she will cut Tube and rail fares for those travelling before 07:30 by half.
• VIDEO: Ford says it leads in self-driving techFord's boss tells the BBC that his company is one of the leaders in self-driving car technologies.

Financial Times

• US car industry scores 2015 sales recordRecovery to continue this year though pace of growth may slow, analysts say
• Online orders boost UK parcel marketSector worth almost �9bn but competition means carriers receive less for deliveries
• ANA rushes to make its outbound flightJapanese airline plans expansion before competition takes off

The Guardian

• VW 'close to agreement with US regulators' over emissions scandalVehicle manufacturer negotiating how to recall half a million diesel cars in US after episode which ‘disappointed the American people’, top executive saysA senior Volkswagen executive has apologised to German consumers and said that the German car maker is close to reaching an agreement with US regulators on how it will recall some half a million cars that have illegally exceeded emissions targets for years. Dr Herbert Diess, Volkswagen’s chief executive of passenger vehicles, told a packed audience at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas the company was “focused on ensuring something li...
• Helsinki-Tallinn tunnel proposals look to bring cities closer than everFinland and Estonia promise to look into potential €13bn rail link that would reduce journey time from two hours to 30 minutesDrifting apart since the first Bronze Age fortifications were built, the Baltic Finns populating opposite sides of the Gulf of Finland were for centuries separated by empire, ideology and cold sea. Now, the historic brethren of present-day Estonia and Finland could be directly linked, as plans accelerate for a 50-mile tunnel running between their capital cities.Although Helsinki can be glimpsed on a clear day from the top of Tallinn’s tallest tower, the only way across ...
• BA blames UK government for scrapping of £340m green fuels projectGroundbreaking plan to turn London’s rubbish into green jet fuel has been abandoned due to a lack of UK government support, airline saysBritish Airways says that it has been forced to shelve a groundbreaking £340m scheme to create 16m gallons of jet fuel from London’s rubbish every year, partly due to a lack of government support.

The Herald

• Government to continually monitor e-cigarette health evidence after ban on in-car vaping is rejectedTHE Scottish Government has said it will continue to review whether there is any effect to health over second-hand smoke in e-cigarettes, after MSPs rejected a solicitors' call for vaping to be banned in cars.

The Telegraph

• Over a third of major infrastructure projects branded 'undeliverable' or 'in doubt', report findsThe projects, which could include the HS2 rail line and Hinkley Point nuclear power station, run the risk of missing targets because of 'unrealistic expectations', the National Audit Office has said

Times Online

• Damaged tracks leave rail travellers facing weeks of disruptionWeeks of disruption lie ahead for train passengers after Network Rail warned of a lengthy wait for repairs to two lines knocked out by flooding.

Daily Express

• Passenger jet forced to turn around in mid-air after plane door left openA JET carrying hundreds of passengers was forced to turn around 40 minutes into a horror flight after crew members realised the door wasn't shut.

Network Rail

• £150m Christmas and New Year improvement works finish successfully and to scheduleNetwork Rail’s Christmas works have been completed on time, with the £150m modernisation programme – part of the Railway Upgrade Plan – resulting in better, more reliable train journeys for passengers and businesses, as well as improved passenger facilities.

London Evening Standard

• Primary schools given earthquake shelters to protect pupils from Heathrow noiseMore than 20 primary schools in west London will get earthquake shelters in their playgrounds to protect children from noise from Heathrow airport.
• Heathrow will only be expanded if environmental tests are 'rigged', Zac Goldsmith claimsZac Goldsmith today claimed Heathrow Airport will only be expanded if environmental tests are "rigged".
• South West Trains delays: Commuters' fury as chaos hits railways on second working day of 2016Exasperated commuters have hit out at rail bosses after the first two working days of 2016 were plagued by delays and cancellations.
• London bus drivers can now report complaints without fear of being sacked for whistleblowingBus drivers can now report unsafe work practices without fear of being dismissed, in what is being called a "huge victory" for road safety in London.
• First look at plans for new garden city near HeathrowA series of artist's impressions for an ambitious new garden city development near Heathrow have been unveiled.
• Night Tube: Boris Johnson 'to use 180 new part-time drivers' to launch serviceThe Night Tube service will see around 180 part-time jobs created for drivers, it has been announced.
• Lib Dems plan half price Tube travel before 7.30amEarly bird commuters would only have to pay half their usual fare to get to work under plans set out by the Lib Dems today.

Newcastle Evening Chronicle

• How do traffic lights work? We explain as work on a �2.5m traffic light scheme in Durham begins Car journeys in Durham should be made easier by a new traffic light system.

Northern Echo

• MP criticises Government's continued failings over Northern Powerhouse pledge ONE of the region's MPs says real action must be taken if the Government’s ambitious aim of reinvigorating the North's regional economies is to become a reality.

Sheffield Star

• Sheffield MP makes case to Transport Secretary for city centre HS2 stationFormer Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has drawn up battle lines with his former coalition partners by speaking out in support of a HS2 station in Sheffield city centre.

Wales Online

• Drivers fined for using Cardiff's bus lanes now reaches 88,000 earning council �2.6mIn their 12th operational month, the cameras have caught 88,687 drivers in Cardiff

East Anglian Daily Times

• Weekend rail passengers face 10 weeks of misery as engineers move inThe main rail line between East Anglia and London is to be closed for 10 weekends from early February to the middle of April.

Get West London

• Heathrow updates pledge to reduce airport noise, emissions and traffic in 2016Heathrow adds 260 electric vehicles to its fleet in a bid to 'go electric' and reduce emissions around the airport

North Wales Live

• Liverpool John Lennon Airport operator Wizz Air sees continued passenger growth New routes and expansion of operating bases help low-cost airline maintain momentum

Peterborough Telegraph

• VIDEO: Peterborough MP Stewart Jackson defends ‘low’ train price rise after Labour supporters protestPeterborough MP Stewart Jackson and Virgin Trains have defended the recent rail fare price rise after a protest was held outside Peterborough Station.

Reading Evening Post

• Reading Buses launches new timetable at Wokingham StationThe bus operating company's new timetable was launched on Monday, January 4

The Shields Gazette

• South Shields MP set for Westminster talks as travellers are hit by fresh delays on ‘unacceptable’ Metro serviceA South Tyneside MP is to hold crunch talks after beleaguered rail passengers kicked off the new year with fresh Metro misery.

Other Regional Press

• YOUR MP WRITES: Monmouth MP David DaviesA New Year and the Severn Bridge tolls have gone up again. This was always going to happen following an agreement struck between the UK Government and the consortium which built the Second Severn Crossing in 1992. However, change is afoot. In April 2018, both bridges will return to public ownership – allowing the government to charge as much or as little as it wants.
• Anti Heathrow Airport expansion campaigners plant 2,000 black paper planes outside ParliamentEach black plane "planted" outside The Houses of Parliament represented the 2,000 daily flights taken if the airport is expanded
• Council proposes controversial move to add more bus gates to Oxford MORE bus gates in Oxford could “split the city in half” and drive away business, it is feared.

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• Thameslink viaduct now in use in LondonThameslink Programme's Christmas and New Year work has seen a new viaduct brought into use at London Bridge. Set to carry trains to Charing Cross and Waterloo East, the engineering for the viaduct took a full ten days over the holidays to complete. This viaduct forms part of the Thameslink Programme's rebuilding of the railway and station at London Bridge and this part of the project also opened new track, signalling and the transfer of control from London Bridge to Three Bridges operating centre. Thameslink Programme director Simon Blanchflower addressed the interruptions that occurred during...
• �150m Railway Upgrade Plan completedNetwork Rail has announced that its Railway Upgrade Plan has been successfully completed, due to work from its staff over the Christmas period. Over 20,000 members of the rail service provider's staff worked over Christmas and New Year, completing over 500 projects and finishing the company's proposed upgrades. Its staff worked through tough weather conditions but delivered an improved railway for the benefit of hundreds of thousands of its passengers and businesses. The program used an investment of �150 million, which was spent on building and constructing new station facilities, longer plat...

Rail Magazine

• VIDEO: London Bridge station engineering workThameslink's engineering project on the London Bridge viaduct, which was completed over Christmas.

Rail Technology Magazine

• Chicago Transit Authority offers 4G wireless service across all subways The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) in the US is now offering 4G wireless service coverage for the entire subway system on the Red and Blue lines.

Railnews

• Hope for early settlement of Welsh dispute Talks are restarting today in the Arriva Trains Wales pay and conditions dispute, following yesterday's all-out strike by Aslef drivers which left the Principality with no trains on most routes. ATW has apologised for the disruption, while a union spokesman said he was 'positive' that there will be a deal.

Railway Gazette

• More tram-trains ordered for ParisFRANCE: On behalf of Paris regional transport authority STIF, SNCF has ordered a further 15 Citadis...
• Bombardier to supply new Guadalajara fleetMEXICO: The Jalisco state government has selected Bombardier as preferred bidder for a contract to...

Aviation Industry

• Spirit Airlines CEO Baldanza replaced by former AirTran CEO FornaroSpirit Airlines president and CEO Ben Baldanza has been replaced by former AirTran Airways CEO Bob Fornaro, effective immediately. read more
• Lufthansa to add more than 4,000 workers in 2016The Lufthansa Group will hire more than 4,000 workers in 2016, which includes nearly 2,800 flight attendants, 240 pilots and 150 service staff at Munich Airport. read more
• Wizz Air reports 22% hike in passenger trafficEastern European carrier enjoys strong year helped by growth in capacity
• Goldsmith: Heathrow will only be expanded if pollution tests are ‘rigged’Mayoral candidate says Heathrow now 'off the agenda'
• United offers ‘bundle’ options to Economy PlusTravellers can pre-purchase benefits at a reduced price

Other News Sources

• Manchester Airport Group hires public affairs director from Heathrow Manchester Airports Group has appointed Graeme Elliott (pictured) as its group public affairs director, based in London.