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

Wednesday, 09 March 2016

BBC News

• How can you improve upon 'automotive perfection'?How Bugatti used technology to improve its 'faultless' supercar
• Tube drivers to strike over 'bullying'Piccadilly line Tube drivers vote to strike after the RMT union accused London Underground managers of
• Prosecutors widen VW investigationsProsecutors in Germany and France broaden their investigations into the emissions scandal at Volkswagen.

Financial Times

• Shipping’s size obsession could be endingBuilding ever-larger container vessels unlikely to be cost-efficient, research discovers
• Bethune leads proxy battle at UnitedFormer Continental chief seeks to join airline’s board amid claims of underperformance
• Competition body calls for rail shake-upCMA watchdog urges increased ‘open-access’ services or scrapping franchise system

The Guardian

• Boris Johnson: 'I wish I'd built more segregated cycling routes for London'As the London mayor nears the end of his time in office he looks back on what he’s achieved for cycling in the capital – and the hostility he’s facedStanding next to what he calls the “billiard table-smooth” surface of the new segregated bike route along the Embankment in central London, Boris Johnson is paying tribute to the Transport for London team that helped create it, and the other mixed bag of cycling infrastructure he will leave behind after eight years as mayor.“They’ve done an amazing job, considering how difficult it is in London to take road space and give it to cycling,” he says. ...

The Scotsman

• Aberdeen to offer Scotland’s first hydrogen carsDrivers in Aberdeen will be the first in Europe to try out hydrogen-powered cars through a car-sharing club, the city council and operator Co-wheels announced today.

The Telegraph

• The world's 10 best designed bus stations and stops for 2016, in picturesIn pics: The world's 10 best designed bus stations and stops for 2016

This is Money

• Heathrow's masterstroke in race for new runway as Olympics supremo and former Treasury advisor is made airport chairman Heathrow has achieved a coup in its battle to build a third runway by appointing as its chairman the millionaire banker credited with delivering the London Olympics.

Birmingham Mail

• Make the M6 Toll free when other roads are jammed, Government urged Solihull MP Julian Knight is asking Transport Ministers to make the M6 Toll road free for motorists when needed, following a day of chaos on the M6 in February

London Evening Standard

• King's Cross St Pancras evacuated: Busy Tube station closed amid rush hour overcrowdingOne of London’s busiest Tube stations was evacuated after becoming overwhelmed with rush hour commuters.
• London's roads are too dangerous for child cyclists, say parentsThe vast majority of London parents believe the capital's traffic-choked roads are too dangerous for their children to cycle on, new research suggests.
• Tube strike: Piccadilly line drivers vote for walkoutWorkers voted in favour of action over claims of a breakdown in industrial relations, the RMT union said.
• London's worst airports for summer flight delays are named and shamedGatwick has been named the UK’s worst airport for flight delays during the busy summer months.
• Evening Standard comment: An email that states the obvious about the TubeIt takes a good deal to ruffle the stoicism of the London commuter but an email from London Underground's managing director for customer experience advising commuters to avoid Tube services from Victoria between 8am and 9am because they are "particularly busy" may do so. There is no probably no group of individuals more keenly aware of the various impediments between them and getting to work on time; the advice that travelling through Victoria outside rush hour may be more comfortable or that walking may be quicker is a statement of the obvious that ignores the fact that Londoners' w...

Newcastle Evening Chronicle

• Northern Powerhouse transport report - What's in it for the North East? Major transport proposals for the North East have been put forward in a report outlining improvements to help boost the North

Sheffield Telegraph

• Sheffield MP quizzes Government over where staff reponsible for ‘northern powerhouse’ are basedAlmost all of the senior civil servants employed by the Government department responsible for promoting the so-called northern powerhouse initiative are based in London.

The York Press

• OLD PHOTOS: a trip back in time on the buses We have been sent some great photos of buses in and around York just after the war, courtesy of reader Reginald Chambers, who supplied us with the photographs of vans and lorries belonging to NMU (1953) that we ran recently.
• York-Leeds rail line must be improved, say campaigners TRANSPORT chiefs have set out ambitious plans that could transform rail and road across the north - but say more money needs to be put in if they are to come to fruition.

Yorkshire Post

• Colin Speakman: How the train can take the strain to Leeds Bradford AirportIN a hard-hitting representation to Leeds City Council, the local group of the Campaign for Better Transport, the national campaigning body, sets out its case that the proposed Leeds-Bradford Airport major new road schemes are the “wrong solution for the wrongly identified problem”.

East Anglian Daily Times

• MP takes ticket to ParliamentSouth Suffolk MP James Cartlidge is to bring up the plight of part-time commuters to the House of Commons at an adjournment debate tomorrow.

Get West London

• Heathrow could expand without adding to pollution, suggests new reportHeathrow welcomes the Independent Transport Commission's report, but campaigners dismiss it as 'ivory tower research'

Other Regional Press

• Smart motorway misery for six more years from Huddersfield and Leeds to Manchester The high tech upgrade of M62 will stretch all the way past Huddersfield to Leeds - but it won't be finished until 2022
• Flying Scotsman: Public urged to stay safe when locomotive visits Teesside Advice issued by loco's owners ahead of its stay on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway and journey through Teesside on Thursday
• Bus routes cut or merged as Kent County Council bids to save �400,000 on rural routesTransport chiefs have warned some rural bus routes could be slashed or merged in a bid to save �400,000.

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• DfT confirms driverless HGV trial in the UKThe Department for Transport (DfT) has confirmed its plans to carry out an initial trial of driverless HGV fleets in the United Kingdom. Reporting on this subject last year, AXA UK and firm Douglas MacNeil said that the UK logistics industry could save itself nearly �43 billion per year if it swapped to driverless vehicles for heavy goods purposes. Germany has already begun testing out the vehicles in its logistics sector, as it trialled its first driverless truck on the motorway last year. A spokesperson for the DfT said:
• Railway bridge in Cowbridge set to get a faceliftAs part of Network Rail's �40 billion Railway Upgrade Plan, Cowbridge Road railway bridge in Bridgend is set to be refurbished to bring a bigger, better and more reliable railway for the train line's customers. Staff from Network Rail will be carrying out essential repairs to the bridge, which has been damaged due to being struck repeatedly by various vehicles. As well as structural changes, the bridge will also receive improvements to its appearance by stripping and repainting it. For the refurbishment to go ahead, Cowbridge Road will be closed from Friday 11th to Monday 14th March and a dive...

Rail Technology Magazine

• The big stink: how much do trains really emit? Peak time emissions from diesel trains at London’s Paddington Station far exceed European recommendations, a new study has found. With emissions within the station far higher than those on a nearby busy road, the results serve as a reminder that, des…
• Network Rail signs agreement with Great Western Railway UK rail infrastructure manager Network Rail (NR) has signed an agreement with train operator Great Western Railway (GWR) with the aim to encourage co-operation on large-scale improvements to western railways.
• Thought-Provoking Ideas on the Challenges Facing Passenger Transport Service Providers in Europe 'Transport Management and Control In A World of Change And Complexity' brings together insight and opinion from politicians, senior decision-makers and industry commentators. It looks at the challenges of growing demand, rising congestion and increas…
• m2 railgroup-Safety Systems and On-Board Service on Railway Worksites m2 railgroup provides automatic track warning systems (ATWS), as well as on-board and engineering services for the railway infrastructure maintenance sector.
• TfN plans for improving airport rail links 'crucial to Northern Powerhouse'Plans to connect major northern cities to Manchester Airport by rail are crucial for building the Northern Powerhouse, the airport has said. The proposals, laid out in yesterday’s spring report from Transport for the North (TfN), include increased capacity to make it easier to access...
• Action 'needed now' to move into competitive TOC licensing modelIncreased competition in railway franchising, potentially including a licensing system in the future, could deliver significant benefits for passengers, according to the results of a Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) consultation. The non-ministerial body published an interim report from...
• Wootton Bassett SPAD occurred after driver bypassed brake demand - RAIBA safety breach at Wootton Basset junction last year involved a crew member on a steam locomotive using an AWS isolating cock to bypass a brake demand, according to an interim report from the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB). The signal passed at danger (SPAD) incident occurred at...
• Transport Security Expo 2015Event (multiple dates) - Recent events making the headlines underpin just how vulnerable our transport systems are. Indeed, the head of MI5, Andrew Parker, highlighted 'transport systems' as a key target in his public speech on the 8th January 2015. Now in its 13th edition, Transport Security Expo (TRS) has become the main global platform bring...

Railnews

• Competition authority calls for more open access The Competition and Markets Authority has called for greater competition on the railways, with a substantial increase in the number of open access operators. However, such operators could be called upon to help subsidise unprofitable routes and make a greater contribution to network costs. The CMA said its report had 'identified a range of benefits that could arise from allowing other operators to run competing services against the existing franchise operators'.
• More funding for East Anglian community lines ABELLIO Greater Anglia has announced more funding for Community Rail Partnerships in its region, intended to help them to continue to promote and improve rural railways. Projects undertaken to date by CRPs in Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire include the production of local area guides, guided walks, special event trains, volunteering initiatives, community art projects, wildlife initiatives, partnership initiatives to deliver service improvements and station upgrades and wider community involvement schemes.

Aviation Industry

• Leeds Bradford airport tops UK’s list for on-time flightsLondon airports see fall in punctuality performance
• Heathrow names Lord Deighton as chairmanFormer Goldman Sachs banker to succeed Nigel Rudd
• Qatar Airways completes first phase of NDC pilotAirline will now offer a sales platform to showcase its premium products