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

Thursday, 10 November 2016

BBC News

• New trains 'a must' for rail contract and £600m MetroFirms competing to run rail services in Wales must provide new trains which "meet passenger expectations and demands", a minister has said.
• Steamer TS Queen Mary returns to GlasgowA steam ship that worked the Clyde for decades has returned to Glasgow for the first time since 1977.
• Electric car charge point use doublesThe use of electric car charging points across Scotland has more than doubled in the last year.
• Croydon tram crash: Driver held on suspicion on manslaughterThe driver of a tram that crashed, killing seven people, is held on suspicion of manslaughter.

ITV News

• Valley lines may not get "conventional electrification”The firms bidding for the new Wales rail franchise will be asked to look at alternatives for delivering electrification of the main valley lines services. The Welsh Government has told them that the planned £350 million "conventional electrification" is not the only option.

Financial Times

• Death toll climbs to seven in south London tram crashDriver arrested after vehicle overturns in Croydon, injuring dozens

The Guardian

• Croydon tram crash kills at least seven and injures more than 50Driver is arrested as investigators say they believe tram was going too fast when it derailed in south LondonAt least seven people have been killed and more than 50 taken to hospital after a tram, believed to have been going too fast, crashed in south London on Wednesday morning.Survivors of the accident said people went flying as the tram left the tracks, with bodies and blood inside the carriages following the derailment, which occurred at about 6.10am. Some passengers said the driver of the vehicle, who was arrested afterwards, had blacked out. Continue reading...

The Telegraph

• HS2 rail link 'will destroy irreplaceable ancient woodland'
• Croydon tram derailment: Driver arrested after seven killed and dozens injured

Times Online

• RMT calls for ScotRail to be under public ownership [subscription]The RMT union staged a day of protest yesterday calling for the ScotRail franchise to be put into public ownership.
• Fare-dodgers forgiven if they watch adverts on smartphone [subscription]Thousands of German commuters have signed up to an app that offers a free ticket for the bus, train or tram in exchange for watching 80 seconds of advertising on their mobile phone.
• Tram driver arrested after seven die in rush-hour crash [subscription]At least seven passengers were killed and more than 50 injured when a tram overturned while speeding around a bend yesterday morning.

The Mirror

• Did Croydon tram crash driver fall asleep at controls? 'Black out' claims as seven killedThe 42-year-old driver of the tram was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter after the speeding tram crashed yesterday morning

Bolton News

• Rail services hit from Bolton at weekends for rest of year RAIL services between Bolton and Manchester will be limited at weekends until the New Year, transport bosses have said.

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Why Airbus fears planned Broughton Shopping Park restaurant could lead to 'deadly bird strikes' Hercules Unit Trust want to build two aviation inspired eating places in homage to Airbus at the shopping park

London Evening Standard

• Floating an idea: The �1 billion China trade project in London's DocklandsWhen Australian property developer Geoff Baker's great-great-great-grandfather was a convict in a prison hulk on the Thames, waiting to be deported to Sydney for stealing a book, little did he know that 228 years later one of his descendants would return to England, armed with an ambitious �1 billion "China on Thames" property plan.
• Green Park Tube station evacuated at rush hour after fire alertGreen Park Tube station was evacuated and closed at rush hour after a fire alert.
• Heathrow Airport fire: reports of burning on British Airways planeFirefighters were called to Heathrow Airport after a burning smell was reported on a British Airways plane this morning.
• St Pancras delays: Commuters to face third day of rush hour chaos Furious commuters have faced a second day of chaos as north-bound trains from London St Pancras were hit by delays and severe cancellations.
• Croydon tram derailment: Sadiq Khan warns fatalities 'may well increase' after tram crash horrorSadiq Khan said the death toll in the Croydon tram derailment "may well increase" after he visited the crash scene in south London.
• Croydon tram derailment: Tram driver arrested as death toll rises to sevenPolice have confirmed the death toll in the Croydon tram crash has risen to seven people as a man was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter.

Manchester Evening News

• Manchester Airport reaches 25m passengers for the first time And there’s room to more than double passenger numbers to 55m per year generating £75bn worth of economic benefit to the north west. 

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• Don’t rule out new flights from Aberdeen to HeathrowFlybe is still involved in talks which could lead to it going head-to-head with British Airways (BA) on flights from Aberdeen into London Heathrow.

Yorkshire Evening Post

• Leeds-Bradford Cycle Superhighway ‘could be fatal’A cyclist fears it is only a matter of time until there is a fatal accident on a new ‘cycle superhighway’ after she was injured twice on the road.
• Expert panel aims to get Leeds transport plans on the moveCouncil bosses in Leeds have assembled a new panel of experts to help them drive forward the city’s transport ambitions.

Yorkshire Post

• Ten held in dawn raids over �2m rail track theft in South YorkshireTEN people were arrested today in a series of dawn swoops by police investigating the theft of rail tracks worth £2m from South Yorkshire and the East Midlands.

Crewe Chronicle

• Special council meeting call over Nantwich and Macclesfield school bus axe decision Conservative, Labour, Independent and Lib Dem councillors are calling for a vote of no confidence in the Tory cabinet decision to scrap free school buses on 'unsafe' walking routes

East Anglian Daily Times

• Driver of tram involved in south London crash which left five dead has been arrested, police confirmFive people have died after a tram in London derailed during rush-hour this morning.

Other Regional Press

• Act now on Huddersfield's bus gates or more shops will closeAngry traders urge Kirklees councillors to scrap traffic fines
• Is car use declining? Calderdale thinks so as it looks to re-shape its transport strategyCouncil says more people are walking, cycling and using trains
• UPDATE WITH VIDEO: Passengers escape after electrical explosion under train carriage RAIL passengers have told of the dramatic moment massive electrical flashes struck under train
• UPDATED: New strike action to hit First Dorset buses A NEW wave of strike action is to hit bus services.
• Coventry dad calls for resignation of city education chief over planned cuts to school transport Wyken father Gavin Clifton hits out at the 'unsympathetic' handling of cuts which could affect hundreds of vulnerable youngsters
• UPDATE: Train delays after overhead wire damageNetwork Rail is sorry for the disruption to rail passengers as engineers work to fix rail equipment at Luton.

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• Air Freight posts stronger September growthGeneva – The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released data for global air freight markets in September 2016 showing that demand, measured in freight tonne kilometers (FTKs), rose 6.1% year-on-year. This was the fastest pace of growth since the disruption caused by the US West Coast seaports strike in February 2015. Freight capacity, measured in available freight tonne kilometers (AFTKs), increased 4.7% over the same period. Load factors remained historically low, keeping yields under pressure.   September’s positive performance coincided with an apparent turnaro...

Rail Technology Magazine

• UK’s Network Rail reopens Bromsgrove line after £100m upgrade UK’s Network Rail has reopened the railway line at Bromsgrove after completing a £100m track and signalling upgrade.
• Taking it to the cloud with Trainline It’s been a busy few months at Trainline as the travel website has recently moved its systems to the cloud and launched a dedicated business platform. How will this change the passenger experience, as the company seeks to consolidate its position as …

Railnews

• Death toll rises to seven after 'overspeed' tram crash SEVEN people have been killed and around 50 others injured after a tram overturned in south London early on 9 November. Some of the survivors were seriously hurt. The Rail Accident Investigation Branch said the tram was travelling at a 'significantly higher speed than is permitted'. The limit through the junction near Croydon town centre is understood to be 25km/h, and unconfirmed reports have suggested the driver could have blacked out.

Railway Gazette

• China backs Serbian railway modernisationSERBIA: China Railway International, China Communications Construction Co and Serbia’s Minister of...

Aviation Industry

• IAG CEO Willie Walsh urges new UK-US Open Skies agreementInternational Airlines Group (IAG) CEO Willie Walsh, speaking in Washington DC Nov. 9 at the International Aviation Club, congratulated President-elect Donald Trump on his election victory and urged the US government and the aviation industry to support a new US-UK Open Skies agreement modeled on the existing US-European Union (EU) Open Skies agreement. read more

Other News Sources

• Finance report slams delays to rail overhaulA PROJECT modernising the railway running through Gwent has been branded “a case study in how not to manage a major programme” by a public spending watchdog.
• More Bombardier trains for Hamburg S-BahnHAMBURG city senator for economics, transport and innovation Mr Frank Horch announced on November 8 that the city has instructed German Rail (DB) subsidiary S-Bahn Hamburg to exercise an option for 12 additional Bombardier class 490 EMUs to increase capacity on lines S3 and S11.