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

Saturday, 05 March 2016

BBC News

• Planes delayed in 'de-icer queue'Passengers at Manchester Airport are stuck
• First rail chaplains office opensThe first Rail Chaplains office in Scotland opens at Paisley Gilmour Street station in Renfrewshire.
• Car sales hit 12-year high in FebruaryAlmost 84,000 new cars were sold in February in the UK, industry figures show, the highest level for the month since 2004.

Financial Times

• Network Rail begins sale of power assetsInfrastructure operator launches market testing exercise

The Guardian

• Selling off Network Rail power lines is 'thin end of wedge', says unionNetwork Rail’s hiring of KPMG to market its substations to global investors marks start of privatisation, says RMT’s Mick Cash

Times Online

• Rail operators fail to pass on compensation [Subscription]Train companies were accused yesterday of cheating passengers after passing on only a fraction of the £100 million they had received in compensation for rail delays.
• Convoys of driverless lorries head for the motorway [subscription]Automated lorry convoys will take to British motorways this year under government plans to speed up deliveries and cut congestion.
• Sparks fly after Network Rail announces electricity sell-off [Subscription]Network Rail provoked anger on the Labour front bench and among unions yesterday when it moved to sell off its electricity supply as part of a drive to cut its £50 billion debt.

Mail Online

• London cyclist wins payout after hitting an open pothole on Clapham Road Katrina Kersey, 32, was on the cycle superhighway in Clapham Road in March 2011 when her bike struck a damaged pothole and she was thrown from her bike.
• Airlines are 'failing to pass on fuel price savings and are banking profits' The price of oil, which is used to make aviation fuel, has plunged from well over $100 a barrel to just $35 a barrel, but carriers have effectively kept in place the fuel surcharges they introduced in 2004
• MH370 wreckage 'found off the African coast' by UFO hunter Scott Waring believes an underwater shadow off the coast of South Africa is the outline of a Boeing 777. It is just the latest in a series of theories about the doomed MH370.

Office of Rail and Road (ORR)

• Our approach to innovationThe purpose of this consultation is to seek views on the Office of Rail and Road's (ORR) approach to innovation...
• Track access decisionsRecent track access decisions, including new contracts and amendments to current contracts...

Birmingham Mail

• School bus operator banned after vehicle found in 'exceptionally dangerous condition'Driver also disqualified for getting behind wheel while medically unfit

The York Press

• York taxi firm "first in world" to use cycle detection software A YORK taxi company has become the first cab firm in the world to use safety-boosting cyclist detection technology.

Bucks Free Press

• 'Rail platforms are destroying our shoes' - commuting problems revealed Shoe-destroying chemicals and car park chaos are among the biggest bugbears of High Wycombe commuters, after rail bosses invited questions from passengers.

Daventry Express

• MPs call for eight councils in Northants to be scrapped and replaced with unitary authoritiesAll seven Tory MPs in Northamptonshire have sent a joint letter to heads of the county’s cash-strapped councils calling for them to discuss forming unitary authorities.

Doncaster Free Press

• Tourism boost for Doncaster airportRobin Hood Airport has been named as Welcome to Yorkshire’s official airport partner for 2016 - just days after the opening of the new link road to the M18,

East Anglian Daily Times

• Stansted named Best London Airport at the London Transport AwardsStansted has been named Best London Airport at the 14th annual London Transport Awards.

Other Regional Press

• Residents fear new Headington road scheme will mean very long walks to cars HEADINGTON residents fear they will have to walk the length of six football pitches to access their own homes if plans for
• The Flying Scotsman is heading our way - and here's where you can see the famous steam loco Proposed timings have been released for engine's journey from York to the North Yorkshire Moors Railway
• Plans for a �250m lorry park to 'solve' Operation Stack have been questioned by Eurotunnel and Port of DoverCross channel operators say they have reservations about building a huge lorry park to solve Operation Stack.
• Pay as you go travel with contactless and Oyster extends to Swanley train station Pay as you go rail travel with contactless and Oyster will extend to a Kent station next week.

Rail Technology Magazine

• Network Rail sign alliance agreement with GWR A new alliance between Network Rail and Great Western Railway (GWR) is set to encourage co-operation on large-scale improvements to the western railways. Network Rail and GWR signed a formal alliance at Swindon station today with the aim of delivering a better travelling experience for...
• DfT willing to accept only two 'genuine' bids for franchises  Lord Berkeley, who sits on RTM’s editorial board, had asked the department what the minimum number of bids for rail franchises should be to create the “necessary competitive tension to ensure value for money for the travelling public, and in particular whether they consider...
• Network Rail scopes out sell-off of electrical power assetsNetwork Rail has triggered the potential sell-off of its electrical power assets in a consultation to test the industry’s interest in buying thousands of its overhead lines, substations and pylons. The organisation, which owns around 120 power substations and thousands of cables, could...
• Row over Network Rail's future worsens as campaign launched to stop station salesActivists are joining the debate over Network Rail’s future as anti-privatisation group ‘We Own It’ has launched a week of protests against proposals to sell off 18 major stations. The protests began at King’s Cross station today and will be followed by actions at Bristol...

Aviation Industry

• UK airports see surge from Eastern Europe LCCsStansted and Luton benefitting from boost in Poland traffic
• Easyjet and Virgin among worst airlines on compensation claimsAir Help survey ranks global carriers on flight delays and compensation payouts
• Manchester airport gets approval for �1bn 'transformation programme'10 year project will include expansion of T2 and US pre-clearance facilities

Green Miscellany

• Velocars: Then and nowThe VeloMetro Veemo is a new take on the velocars of old; pedal-powered vehicles were a popular way of getting about towns and cities in France during the 1930s and 40s. The post Velocars: Then and now appeared first on ETA.
• Make some noise for the Oi bicycle bellThe Oi bicycle bell reimagines a much-underrated accessory that has remained largely unchanged since it was invented in 1877. The post Make some noise for the Oi bicycle bell appeared first on ETA.
• 30 pence per mile cash to cycle to work – how about it?Milan aims to boost sustainable transport on its crowded streets by paying people cash to cycle to work. The post 30 pence per mile cash to cycle to work – how about it? appeared first on ETA.
• 22 million Brits can cycle, but never turn a pedal45 per cent of the adult population never cycle, despite knowing how to ride. Of these 22 million potential cyclists, 60% have no easy access to a bike The post 22 million Brits can cycle, but never turn a pedal appeared first on ETA.

Other News Sources

• Airshows at risk of being banned if organisers do not follow new rules AIRSHOWS could be banned from going ahead if organisers do not follow new rules set by the aviation watchdog.