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

Wednesday, 30 August 2017

BBC News

• New £1.35bn Queensferry Crossing opens to vehiclesThe bridge will take most of the traffic that currently travels over the 53-year-old Forth Road Bridge.
• Self-driving pizza delivery cars to be tested in the USFord and Domino's to test self-driving cars to deliver pizzas.
• Renault-Nissan to build electric cars in ChinaThe firm announced it will build electric cars in China - the world's biggest electric vehicle market.
• Scooter sharing gets rolling in sweaty SingaporeNew businesses hope scooters will be a popular alternative to walking in Singapore's heat.

Financial Times

• Uber to offer drivers in India free life and accident insuranceRide-hailing company looks to blunt anger over unrealistic earnings
• Uber confirms Dara Khosrowshahi as chief executiveInvestors hope new leader will unify fractured board and set company on fresh course
• US container ports busier despite Trump trade protection threatsSix of the nine largest ports break monthly records for traffic in the past year
• South Korean shipbuilders’ recovery gathers paceTwo shipyards poised to win $1.5bn order in latest sign prolonged slump is ending

The Guardian

• Assume self-driving cars are a hacker's dream? Think againAutonomous vehicles have long been seen as a major security issue, but experts say they’re less vulnerable to hacks than human-controlled vehiclesSelf-driving cars feel like they should provide a nice juicy target for hackers.After all, a normal car has a driver with their hands on the wheel and feet on the pedals. Common sense suggeststhis provides a modicum of protection against a car takeover which a self-driving car, or even one with just the sort of assisted driving features already found on the road today, lacks. Continue reading...
• Fall in number of people opposing air travel on environmental groundsFindings of British Social Attitudes Survey coincide with years of lobbying and government U-turn on Heathrow expansionThe number of people opposed on environmental grounds to expanding airports and travelling by plane has dropped sharply in recent years, according to government research.In 2010, a narrow majority backed unlimited plane travel if it meant building new runways, but more than twice as many people now prefer airport expansion to curbs on demand.
• Queensferry Crossing across the Firth of Forth to open to trafficLong-awaited crossing joins Forth road and rail bridges connecting Edinburgh and Fife, with hope of queue-free travel for motorists. Britain's newest road bridge, suspended by 23,000 miles of cables over the Firth of Forth, has opened to traffic.At 1.6 miles (2.7km) in length, the Queensferry Crossing is the longest bridge of its type in the world and, at 210m (689ft) high, Britain's tallest, say its designers.

The Herald

• Edinburgh Trams: Cyclists to get dedicated lanes on new lineCYCLISTS are to get dedicated lanes on the Edinburgh Tram extension under the latest plans for the new line.

The Scotsman

• Scott Macnab: Edinburgh braced for more tram chaosThe prospect of extending Edinburgh’s tram system suggests city fathers haven’t learned from the past, says Scott Macnab.
• New Forth bridge decision was made after corrosion discoveryWithin hours of The Scotsman making inquiries to the Scottish Executive on Thursday, 10 November 2005 about the state of the Forth Road Bridge’s main support cable, ministers rushed out an announcement that was to lead to the building of the Queensferry Crossing.

Times Online

• Fewer people favour planet over air travel [Subscription]The number of people opposing air travel on environmental grounds is in decline, despite criticism over plans for expansion at Heathrow, figures show.
• Riveroak Strategic plans to get Manston airfield off the ground as cargo hub [Subscription]It is the airport that refuses to take off. But the latest attempt to turn the former Battle of Britain airfield of Manston into a sustainable commercial proposition could take wing this autumn.
• Driverless cars ’will lead exodus to the suburbs’ [Subscription]Driverless cars will lead to the creation of huge urban sprawls as lengthy commutes become painless and workers flock to the suburbs, an academic has claimed.

Mail Online

• Security alert shuts down Liverpool John Lennon Airport An army bomb disposal unit attended a suspicious package at Liverpool John Lennon Airport after the terminal building was evacuated around 6pm, file photograph.

The National

• Andrew Tickell: Here's why Labour's complaints about the ScotRail franchise are nonsenseALMOST a quarter of a century ago, John Major’s government passed the Railways Act. Public ownership and polystyrene sandwiches were out, to be replaced by a zesty new generation of rail providers from the world of private enterprise. Glum socialised uniformity would be displaced by a giddy world of affordability and efficiency.

Birmingham Mail

• Birmingham gets TWENTY new bus lane cameras: What the council says City council warning over new enforcement which will see drivers handed £60 fines for straying into bus lanes

Bolton News

• Bolton News reader's letter: Bus journey is not ideal but is far less of an inconvenienceI AM no railway timetable expert, but if the railway line at Moses Gate is to be closed for up to six weeks, is it not possible to run trains from Manchester and the south to Kearsley or Farnworth stations and from Bolton northwards with a bus shuttle along St Peter's Way between the two — or is this solution too simple?

Daily Post (North Wales)

• This man has been tasked with driving better train services in North WalesTom Joyner has been appointed the new managing director at Arriva Trains Wales

London Evening Standard

• Surge in rough sleeping on London's Night Tube and night busesCity Hall creates task force to tackle the problem. A surge in rough sleeping on London’s night Tubes and buses has prompted City Hall to send in a task force to tackle the problem.
• Waterloo station upgrade: Network Rail boss apologises as signalling problem causes fresh chaos for commutersThe boss of Network Rail has apologised to commuters after major upgrade works at Waterloo overran, causing fresh misery for commuters in the capital.
• Euston Station: Exploding e-cigarette sparks bomb scare as busy commuter station evacuatedArmed police descended on Euston Station after it was evacuated due to a bomb scare - which turned out to be an e-cigarette explosion.

Sheffield Star

• 'Doncaster should bid for HS2 station - but only if it's real possibility' Doncaster should bid for a parkway station if the line comes through Doncaster - but only if it is a genuine possibility.

The York Press

• Rail works ready for new Azuma trainsRAIL engineers say they have completed a major upgrade needed before of state-of-the-art new trains can be used on the line through York next year.

Wales Online

• A train company changed the timetable for one week only and made loads of people late for workA temporary time-table change to early morning trains into Swansea station has left some commuters steaming with rage. The bank holiday weekend fun ended abruptly for those unaware of a planned change in train times from Newport to Swansea.

Doncaster Free Press

• RMT demands rail strike talks with Chris Grayling after 'deal with Aslef' The biggest rail workers' union is calling for urgent talks with the Transport Secretary ahead of a fresh wave of strikes after claiming he has signed off a deal with another union in one of the longest ever industrial disputes.

Other Regional Press

• Chelmsford MP plans to meet with train operators to improve delays to the city's train timetable Chelmsford MP Vicky Ford will be meeting with representatives of train operator Greater Anglia in a bid to tackle train delays in the city.
• ’South Wales needs rail electrification, but Network Rail cannot even string a few wires together’Two years ago, my wife and I were on a platform at Cardiff Central and as a train pulled away, we were engulfed in diesel fumes.
• New motors to be installed on Central line trains which TfL say will reduce delaysNew motors will be installed in the Central line’s 26 year old trains to improve reliability and reduce delays, Transport for London (TfL) has said.
• The world loves Huddersfield railway cat FelixCopies of 'Felix the Railway Cat' are being shipped nearly 7,000 miles away!

Buying Business Travel

• Easyjet to offer hands-free baggage optionPassengers will be able to check in hand luggage at the airport for a fee
• Expedia boss set to take over at UberLong-serving online travel CEO expected to make high-profile switch

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• Planes fuelled by waste could take off from British airports As part of plans to promote clean alternative fuels, the government is offering funding for projects in the UK to develop low carbon waste-based fuels for planes and lorries, with matching funding from industry. The government is already planning to revolutionise the motor industry with ultra-low emission electric cars, and now we are going further and investing in a new generation of fuels which will power our aircraft and lorries. Trials of sustainable jet fuel, made from waste materials, have taken place in Europe and North America, and now the launch of a UK competition will see Britis...
• Cleaner journeys as government commits £11 million to greener buses Local authorities and bus companies in Bristol, York, Brighton, Surrey, Denbighshire and Wiltshire have been awarded funding under the government’s ’Low emission bus scheme’ to help them buy 153 cleaner buses. The successful bidders will use the funding to buy new electric and gas buses, and to install stations to fuel or charge them. The government is determined to clean up air in towns and cities across the country, and today’s (28 August 2017) investment in green buses comes after our air quality plan was published last month. Transport Minister Paul Maynard said...
• Strategic step towards decommissioning at Port of Dundee Forth Ports Limited and AF Offshore Decom UK have announced the signing of a Heads of Agreement with the intent to establish a new joint venture, AF Dundee, which will lay the foundations of creating a North Sea oil and gas decommissioning hub in the city of Dundee, with its nucleus at the port.  AF Offshore Decom UK, a subsidiary of AF Gruppen, is one of the North Sea’s most respected and prominent decommissioning contractors and operates AF VATS Environmental Base in Norway, the North Sea’s most advanced facility for decommissioning offshore installations.  The Port o...

Aviation Industry

• American to unbundle fares on some transatlantic routes American Airlines is responding to transatlantic LCCs with an unbundled “basic economy” product, an executive for the carrier told ATW’s sister publication Aviation Daily in an interview. read more
• Airberlin to cut long-haul routes following insolvencyAirberlin—which filed for bankruptcy earlier this month—will reduce long-haul routes from Berlin Tegel as bookings have dropped dramatically. read more
• China’s Chongqing Airport begins third terminal, runway operationsChongqing Jiangbei International Airport began operations from a newly built third terminal and third runway Aug. 29. read more
• Alaska Airlines to operate Virgin Atlantic A320s through 2020s Alaska Airlines will keep the Airbus A320 fleet it got through its acquisition of Virgin America for at least 10 more years, an executive with the carrier told ATW’s sister publication Aviation Daily. read more

Other News Sources

• Arriva Trains Wales appoints new Managing DirectorArriva has announced that Tom Joyner has been appointed as Managing Director of Arriva Train Wales, which operates the Wales and Border franchise.
• Plans for major rail upgrade are unveiledTRAIN passengers on the York to Scarborough railway line are set for an array of upgrades over the next year, including new services, bigger trains, free Wi-Fi and improvements to Malton station.
• Four drivers EVERY DAY are being taken off the roads for failing new drug tests Conviction rates for driving while on drugs hit 98%, the same as for drink driving, since new rules were introduced in 2015