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

Tuesday, 08 November 2016

BBC News

• Great Western electrification: Intercity line work 'deferred'Part of a £2.8bn project to electrify the Great Western route has been "deferred".
• 'Awkward' swan on line causes delays on South West TrainsRail services between Berkshire and London are disrupted by leaves, a power cut and a swan on the line.
• BA will add extra seats in economy cabinsBritish Airways plans to add extra seats into each economy class row on its Boeing 777 aircraft.

Department for Transport

• Rail update: rail investment in the Great Western routeUpdate on the programme of rail investment in the Great Western route.
• Better transport in county council areasTransport Secretary Chris Grayling speaks about supporting county councils to improve local transport.
• Skills Minister and Crossrail’s 600th apprentice mark the start of ‘Tomorrow’s Engineers Week’Skills Minister John Hayes meets apprentices at Crossrail’s Liverpool Street station site to promote the vital role of engineering to society.

Financial Times

• Ryanair raises long-term passenger growth forecastBudget airline expects lower costs and prices will boost its market share
• Ryanair: web spinningAirline’s latest prey are intermediaries in online travel industry
• Vices and virtues of Uber’s insolenceHumans may remain useful but the service is vulnerable to a competitive backlash

The Guardian

• Heathrow is being extended…So, the decision has finally been made to extend Heathrow, destroying Gatwick’s dreams of enlargement, and no one is even mentioning the option of going back and turning Maplin Sands into a vast runway.
• Ryanair boss says fares will fall up to 15% this winterMichael O’Leary says more competition is driving cheaper fares but bemoans UK government’s lack of Brexit strategyRyanair’s chief executive has said fares in Europe will fall heavily this winter as he criticised Theresa May for having no strategy for Brexit.Reporting results for the first half of the year, Michael O’Leary said there would be “extraordinary fare declines” over the year. Continue reading...

Times Online

• Open skies risk being shot down in Brexit farce [subscription]Sometimes it does take a foul-mouthed Irishman to clarify the issue. If Brexit means anything for the UK aviation industry, then it means a “regulatory clusterf***.”

City AM

• DfT says the requirement for driver-only operated trains wasn't consulted on before the letting of Southern Rail franchiseThe department for transport (DfT) has confirmed the requirement for driver-only operated (DOO) trains was not consulted on prior to the letting of the Southern Rail franchise.

Mail Online

• Wheelchair user Joshua Gardner 'humiliated' after being carried onto Jet2 flight Joshua Gardner (pictured), was told he could either let the Leeds Bradford Airport staff carry him up the steps or miss out on his family holiday to Disneyland Paris.
• Ryanair cuts its fares by 15% despite the falling pound Yesterday Ryanair revealed plans to cut fares by up to 15 per cent this winter. Experts predicted the move would spark a price war with other airlines.
• ‘Smart’ motorway fines for speeding soar by 50,000 in five years There are more than 236 miles of smart motorways in England – which use the hard shoulder and variable speed limits to control traffic flow.

The Mirror

• 'Even Hillary wouldn't delete this email' Ryanair launches US election sale with cheeky message poking fun at candidates The airline caught the attention of customers with the subject line "even Hillary wouldn't delete this email" – but also poked fun at Trump

Birmingham Mail

• New Street station revamp up for ICE national award Regeneration of tired old station and the new Grand Central shopping is in the final of new civil engineering award

London Evening Standard

• Commuters' fury after topless rapper's Norwood Junction station standoff which caused chaos on railwaysCommuters told of their anger after rush-hour rail services across south London were plunged into chaos when a man jumped onto a railway line, removed his shirt and started rapping.
• Ryanair takes flight as Brexit drives it abroadRyanair boss Michael O'Leary has put his flights where his mouth is, slashing the budget airline's planned growth in the UK from 12% to just 5% to expand in Italy and Germany instead, months after warning that a vote to leave the EU would be "absolutely crazy".

Sheffield Telegraph

• Supertram and Weston Park sign deal to promote Sheffield charitySheffield Stagecoach Supertram and Weston Park Cancer Charity have signed a new deal to promote the good work being done at the hospital to thousands of commuters.

Get West London

• Hounslow businesses pledge to work with Heathrow to deliver jobs and growth in the communityBusiness leader Stephen Fry says jobs and investment in the Hounslow community will be a priority

Other Regional Press

• The Poole firm transforming how world used public transport

Buying Business Travel

• Ryanair switches focus away from UK after BrexitAirline plans to carry 200 million passengers a year by 2024

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• CILT Transport & Logistics Safety Forum launch driver behaviour training programmeThe CILT Transport and Logistics Safety Forum hosted their annual conference last week, in partnership with AA DriveTech at The AA, Basingstoke. Our drivers, our fleets, our responsibility: Raising Professional Driving Standards was the title of this year’s conference and focussed on sharing best practice and raising professional driving standards. The event reflected on the recent launch of the Forum’s award winning videoOur vehicles, our safety, our responsibility: Improving road safety for vulnerable road users, which has now been developed into a brand new, and completely free...
• Skills Minister and Crossrail’s 600th apprentice mark the start of ‘Tomorrow’s Engineers Week’ Skills Minister John Hayes recently (7 November 2016) visited apprentices working on Crossrail to support EngineeringUK’s Tomorrow’s Engineers Week. He met the project’s 600th apprentice Kayne Wilson, 21, from Croydon, London, and his colleagues to highlight the amazing career opportunities on offer as a result of government investment in transport. The minister saw some of the skills and experience the apprentices are gaining working on Crossrail – Europe’s largest infrastructure project, which is now almost 80% complete and is on schedule to open on time and b...

Rail Technology Magazine

• Siemens awarded contract for Heathrow rail link software upgradeSiemens will provide the software platform central to upgrading the Heathrow rail Tunnel Control System (TCS) under a new contract announced today.

Aviation Industry

• Air Canada 3Q net profit up 76%; 3Q capacity up 21%Montreal-based Air Canada reported a third-quarter 2016 net profit of C$768 million ($586.6 million), up 75.7% over net income of C$437 million in the 2015 September quarter, as the carrier continues to aggressively grow. read more

Other News Sources

• Heathrow chairman voices support for regional UK airport expansionUK airports should all be allowed to grow, as long as there is enough demand for their services, according to the chairman of Heathrow. The comments from Lord Deighton follow the London hub winning permission to expand with a third runway.
• Cambridge MP calls for government to back Addenbrooke’s StationDaniel Zeichner MP will today call on the Government to back a new station at Addenbrooke’s in a Parliamentary debate on rail improvements in Cambridgeshire and the East Anglia region.