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

Friday, 27 January 2017

BBC News

• Edinburgh tram inquiry: Public hearings to start in SeptemberThe inquiry into the Edinburgh trams project will begin public hearings in September.
• London Waterloo platform closures: Summer disruption warningNetwork Rail advises passengers to stay away from London Waterloo during summer redevelopment work.
• Tube strike on Central and Waterloo and City lines endsA 24-hour strike on two London Underground lines came has come to an end, but commuters are warned of continued disruption into the night.
• Ford hourly US workers to get $9,000 profit-share bonusUS car giant Ford makes its second-best profit to date, giving US workers a chunky salary boost.

Financial Times

• What are the options for strike-hit Southern rail?Some have claimed the franchise could be stripped from Govia Thameslink

The Scotsman

• Alastair Dalton: Is running the ScotRail Alliance a poisoned chalice?Delays for ScotRail passengers may now be easing slightly, but there’s a deep malaise on Scotland’s railways.

The Mirror

• Troubled Southern Rail 'may return to public ownership' as Tory MPs back government takeoverMinisters are reportedly considering hauling the troubled service back into public ownership after months of disruption and misery for 300,000 commuters

Yorkshire Evening Post

• Minister insists Leeds transport will get better MILLIONS OF POUNDS set to be invested in Leeds transport will make a “real difference” despite the scrapping of the city’s trolleybus scheme, a senior minister has claimed.

Yorkshire Post

• Grayling: We will fix ‘not good enough’ Yorkshire transportSHIFTING economic power North will be the key to Britain prospering when it leaves the European Union, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said tonight. The Minister admitted transport in Yorkshire was “not nearly good enough” but insisted the Government was committed to “putting it right”.

East Anglian Daily Times

• Over 80 train cancellations after electric wire damage near London blocks main lineRail commuters face a morning of travel misery in the region after damage to overhead electric wires near London blocked the main line.

Other Regional Press

• Chirk councillor joins fight for new trains on Wales rail networkTHERE is an “urgent need” for new trains on Wales’s rail network, a committee of MPs has said.
• Council awarded £85k to develop ‘active travel projects’ in Queensferry and Deeside Industrial ParkFlintshire Council has been awarded £85,000 to help it develop bus and active travel projects along the B5129 at Queensferry and to Deeside Industrial Park in order to improve transport links to key employment sites.
• VIEW FROM THE SENEDD: By-Pass will benefit all - Andrew RT Davies AM... One thing I hope we can make some good progress on this year is the campaign for a Dinas Powys By-Pass, which has been ongoing for some time.
• Arriva Trains Wales to roll out free Wi-Fi across its servicesRAIL passengers from Abergele, Rhyl and Prestatyn will soon be able to take advantage of free wi-fi and ‘browse on board.’

Buying Business Travel

• Uber grabs half of US ground transport spendStudy shows Uber now accounts for 52% of the US ground transport market among business travellers
• Ryanair to launch Liverpool John Lennon-Milan routeRyanair is to launch a new route from Liverpool John Lennon to Milan Malpensa.The three-times weekly service will start in October and is part of its winter 2017 schedule.

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• �64 million government funding to encourage more cycling and walking to workThousands more people will be encouraged to cycle and walk to work thanks to a £64 million government investment, Transport Minister Andrew Jones has announced. The funding will support local projects over 3 years from 2017 to 2020 and form part of a wider government package of more than £300 million to boost walking and cycling during the current parliament. By 2040 the government aims to make this part of everyday life and walking and cycling the natural choice for shorter journeys. The money will deliver: • more safety and awareness training for cyclists • extra secu...

Rail Technology Magazine

• New strategy needed to tackle ‘digital deserts’ on rail routesRTM’s David Stevenson looks at the perennial issue of poor mobile coverage on the railways, and how the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) wants the problem to be tackled.
• CH2M European MD appointed new HS2 chief executiveMark Thurston, European managing director for the global engineering company CH2M, has been appointed as the new chief executive of HS2. The post has been filled in by the former HS2 development director Roy Hill for almost three months since Simon Kirby left HS2 to become Rolls Royce’s...
• Lewisham derailment to disrupt Southeastern commuters for daysSoutheastern services are set to be disrupted for the rest of the week following the partial derailing of a freight train in Lewisham, south east London. Network Rail has confirmed that a 50-metre stretch of railway is being “completely rebuilt” round-the-clock by engineers after the...
• DfT told to stop 'ducking' Southern contract issue and make up its mindThe Transport Select Committee has urged the DfT to hurry up in deciding whether Southern is failing to run adequate services, arguing that ministers cannot “duck” the issue further and should come to a conclusion urgently. But rail minister Paul Maynard has claimed that the DfT...
• HS2 reveals eight South Yorkshire parkway station proposal sitesHS2 Ltd has revealed a shortlist of eight sites for its potential parkway station to serve South Yorkshire. The eight sites are situated across rural locations in Doncaster, Rotherham and Wakefield, leading to further criticism that HS2 could be a detriment rather than a benefit to certain parts...

Aviation Industry

• Russia’s S7 Airlines traffic up 24% in 2016Russia’s S7 Airlines carried 13.15 million passengers in 2016, up 24% year-over-year (YOY). read more

Green Miscellany

• What’s the heaviest thing you’ve carried by bicycle?What’s the heaviest thing you’ve carried on a bicycle? With the exception of child seats, few people here in Britain use bicycles as a way of carrying stuff. Elsewhere, cyclists have become expert at balancing or lashing cargo to a standard bike. The addition of luggage racks fore and aft transforms it into a veritable workhorse and specialist designs can… The post What’s the heaviest thing you’ve carried by bicycle? appeared first on ETA.

Other News Sources

• Deals this week: Thales, Alstom, Bombardier TransportationAs part of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) extension in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, China Steel Corporation has appointed Thales for the implementation of a signalling system.
• The Long Read: Tragedy and farce - rail, rail everywhereFormer chancellor George Osborne will no doubt be best remembered for his policy of austerity; however it was the nation’s flagging productivity that he called ‘the challenge of our time’.
• Exclusive: Welsh minister moots code of practice for bus stopsWelsh infrastructure secretary Ken Skates has acknowledged the variable quality of the country’s bus stops and suggested that local authorities could help produce a code of practice.
• Longer semi-trailer trial demonstrates safety and environmental benefits, says FTAThe Freight Transport Association has welcomed the Department for Transport (DfT)’s announcement today (26 January 2017) that it will be ...

EIN News Subscription

• Grayling: We will fix ‘not good enough’ Yorkshire transport … the European Union, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said tonight. The Minister admitted transport in … Britain’s departure from the European Union as an “exciting time” for … country to thrive outside the EU, we need a more balanced …