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

Saturday, 03 February 2018

BBC News

• Missing children search after bus blunderA council says it will learn lessons after two school children were left by a roadside miles from their stop.
• Criticism of late-night flights at airportA watchdog has found there was maladministration by a Stormont department over late-night flights at George Best Belfast City Airport.
• Belfast City Airport late-night flight 'failures' criticisedA watchdog finds against Stormont over late-night flights at George Best Belfast City Airport.
• Carillion collapse: UK puts up £100m to back Carillion contractor loansThe British Business Bank will guarantee £100m lending to its contractors, the government says.

The Guardian

• So huge, so beautiful: how classic ocean liners steamed into our hearts | Ian JackI was lucky enough to cross the Atlantic on the QE2. Now a show at the V&A rekindles that era’s impossible glamourUntil the recent advent of other kinds of vessel – vast tankers and container ships – ocean liners were the largest moving objects that humans had ever made. They were also very beautiful. How was it, then, that when the last great transatlantic liner was being built, only a few miles from where I lived, I never went to see it on the stocks? That my glimpses of it were always distant and accidental?It was as though there was nothing exceptional about the sight of a steel hu...

The Herald

• £41m Edinburgh railway station branded a flop as it fails to attract passengersONE of Scotland’s newest railway stations has been branded a flop after attracting less than half of the estimated users in its first year.

The Scotsman

• Three arrested after stabbing on London UndergroundThree people have been arrested following a stabbing on a London Underground platform, police said.
• Mum demands answers as school children dropped two miles from homeA mother has told how her young children have been having nightmares after they were dropped at the wrong stop by the school bus.
• ‘Pop up’ railway stations could test passenger demand, say Greens“Pop-up” rail stations should be built to test passenger demand at new stops, the Scottish Greens have urged.

The Telegraph

• France army helicopters crash: At least five killed near Saint-Tropez
• HMS Queen Elizabeth sets sail for helicopter trials

Times Online

• Dublin council clamps down on abandoned bikes [Subscription]A clampdown on abandoned bicycles is being planned by Dublin city council to free up parking space for cyclists in the capital.
• O’Sullivan supports law on overtaking to save cyclists [Subscription]Sonia O’Sullivan has pledged her support to the campaign for a minimum passing distance law, and criticised impatient drivers who dangerously overtake cyclists.
• Ryanair in new battle with union [Subscription]Ryanair has asked Dublin-based pilots to bypass their trade union and directly accept a pay increase, a month after its decision to recognise workers’ groups.
• Police seek unpaid drivers for 10hr days [Subscription]A police force is recruiting unpaid volunteers to drive officers around.
• Dodgy parking operators who fine the dead face ban [Subscription]New rules will be introduced to ban cowboy parking companies after operators tried to fine a dead person and a woman too short to read parking signs.

Daily Record

• Furious parents told children are missing after school bus driver dropped them two miles away The primary school children, aged 5 and 6, were dropped at a bus stop two miles from their destination.

Mail Online

• End hospital car parking charges, demands senior Tory MP Ministers should raid the overseas aid budget to end the ‘stealth tax’ of hospital car parking charges, a senior Tory MP Rob Halfon demanded yesterday.
• Probe launched amid claims of airline seat splitting The CAA will investigate whether airlines use programmes that deliberately separate families when they book together in order to force them to pay extra for seats next to each other.

The Mirror

• Cash-strapped Brits hit at the pumps as petrol hikes to continue for three more months Drivers already pay 4p more for unleaded and 5p extra for diesel than in October - and the prices are set to rise further

This is Money

• New Aston Martins to be sold with birth certificates Aston Martin has installed 20 fixed cameras to capture every key moment in the creation of the owner’s new car.
• RAY MASSEY: Honda gambles on a new diesel-powered civic Honda is boldly adding a diesel variant to the line-up of its British-built Civic. Is it mad? Bosses don't think so. Modern diesels that are cleaner, leaner and more fuel-efficient are still in demand.

Birmingham Mail

• £5,000 reward offered after £25,000 worth of vehicles destroyed in arson attackQasib Iqbal, boss of IQ Services Ltd, on Valley Road, Earlswood, near Solihull, said the January 7 attack had taken away his livelihood
• What would you do in a driverless car - you'll never believe what 1 in 10 people saidRead a book, learn a language, play video games or try something more risqué perhaps

Birmingham Post

• Design teams chosen for Birmingham's HS2 stationsArchitects who worked on Eden Project and Millennium Bridge among those who will design new stations in Curzon Street and Solihull

Bolton News

• COMMENT: New Northern Rail fleet provides much-needed light at the end of the tunnelBolton News politics reporter Daniel Holland shares his thoughts after visiting Spain this week to see Northern Rail’s new fleet under construction...
• Northern Rail reveals first glimpse of new electric trains coming to Bolton THIS train is the first of a bigger, faster, and better fleet that will be arriving in Bolton.

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Work begins to re-open ghost railway line dormant for 40 years The stretch of line, closed in the 1970s, is benefiting from an £18m investment

London Evening Standard

• 40 cab firms go out of business just months after 5,000% rise in fees"Mind-boggling" hikes to the cost of minicab operator licence fees in London have had a "devastating" impact on long-established family firms, figures reveal today.

Newcastle Evening Chronicle

• Lord Adonis on East Coast Main Line: 'Government is bailing out millionaires' The Government are releasing Virgin and Stagecoach from their long-term commitments to run the franchise
• Has your car been damaged by a pothole? This is what you need to do to make a claimMotoring organisation says the number of accidents caused by potholes has increased
• Metro strike: Last gasp talks to avert disruption take place between RMT and Nexus The rail union has announced it will vote on industrial action over a pay dispute but "productive" talks have been held

The York Press

• Crockey Hill A19 roadworks warningTHE A19 will be down to a single lane at Crockey Hill on Saturday morning as roadworks push on.

Wales Online

• A car with only three wheels was stopped by police on a Welsh road Driven by a newly-qualified driver it also didn't have an MOT and no bumper
• Major Valleys road will be closed this weekend for roadworks It is all part of the £800m upgrade of the A465 Heads of the Valleys road

Crewe Chronicle

• Council to develop Crewe hub station HS2 masterplan following consultation Second detailed consultation following government decision on Crewe Hub

Daventry Express

• Some speed cameras have now been switched on in Northamptonshire and here's whereMotorists driving above the speed limit on the new smart motorway in Northamptonshire will now be hit with a fine.

East Anglian Daily Times

• Review orders more ambulances on the road and hospitals to check patients in quicker after winter crisisThe region’s ambulance trust will put extra crews on the road by using private ambulance services and hospitals have been ordered to take patients into A&E quicker.
• A134 linking Suffolk to Essex named among most dangerous roads in Britain by motoring companyThe A134 which links Suffolk to north Essex has been named as one of Britain’s most dangerous roads.

West Sussex Gazette

• More drink-drivers convictedMore people have been taken off the road after the latest round of convictions for drink and drug-driving.
• ‘Working hard’ to repair West Sussex potholesRecent wet weather and frequent variations between mild and cold/freezing temperatures have led to an increased number of potholes on West Sussex roads, according to the county council.

Other Regional Press

• Rail passengers warned of disruption due to upgrade workRAIL passengers are being urged to check before they travel ahead of modernisation work between Newport and Cardiff this month.
• Oxfordshire at cutting edge of electric tech as new factory opened A NEW electric motor production facility for car makers has been officially opened by Business Secretary Greg Clark.
• £30k grant means axed bus services could return to Abingdon BUS SERVICES to help the most vulnerable get into Abingdon could return following a £30,000 funding pledge from the town council.
• Government funding to upgrade 'overused' link road in BicesterPLANS to improve a major trunk road through Bicester have been granted £6.7m government funding.
• John Radcliffe car park partly closed this weekend PARKING will be significantly limited at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford this weekend.
• Are Uber about to launch in Swindon?UBER are making in roads into the Swindon mini-cab market – with several drivers taking fares in the town.
• Council 'should bite the bullet' and admit it made a mistake with High Street bottleneck TALKS have been taking place to beat a bottleneck for buses in Oxford High Street.
• Bluestar launches new hospital bus route after First service axed BUS bosses and councillors came together to celebrate the launch of a new extended bus route.
• Hampshire rail company is one of the worst for passenger satisfaction HAMPSHIRE’s principal train operating company has been ranked one of the worst in the country.
• READER LETTER: Make cyclists cycle against the trafficOVER the years, reading about accidents involving cyclists, nearly all of them have been hit from behind or from the side by vehicles turning left without seeing them.
• Plans to build first new Hampshire railway station in 25 years NEW proposals are being put together for the first new railway station in Hampshire for 25 years, the Daily Echo can reveal.
• Stevenage station’s fifth platform could be built in 2020, says transport ministerThe Government has put pressure on Network Rail to try to make sure rail replacement bus services between Stevenage and Hertford North only have to be in place for just over two years – 18 months less than has previously been stated.

Buying Business Travel

• BA rolling out wifi on long-haul aircraftAirline plans to connect 118 planes

Rail Technology Magazine

• 'Affordable' Hopper fares to be extended on London Tube networkThe mayor of London has this week confirmed the extension of Hopper fares on London rail services and the Underground. Sadiq Khan’s policy means passengers will be able to pay a fee to travel for a one-hour period on most of London’s public transport services, including rail, the...

Railway Gazette

• HS2 station design and development partners announcedUK: The design and development partners selected to undertake detailed design for the ‘landmark’...

Aviation Industry

• Industry condemns video of drone close encounter with Frontier aircraft Kelsey Atherton The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) industry and hobbyists alike have been quick to condemn an alleged close encounter with commercial airliner. read more

Other News Sources

• Rural parking charges: Could card and phone payments exclude the elderly from Surrey's top countryside estates?It was agreed on Tuesday (January 30) that paying the fees with a card or phone is safer and quicker   Concerns over modern car park payments deterring the elderly
• Electric VTOL air taxi raises $100m in Series B fundingJoby Aviation, a secretive US startup developing an electric Vertical Take Off and Landing (eVOTL) air taxi, has raised $100m in Series B funding from companies including Intel and Toyota. The only artist’s impressions of the secretive vehicle date from 2015 (Credit: Joby Aviation) According to the California-based company, its four-passenger vehicle will be able […] The post Electric VTOL air taxi raises $100m in Series B funding appeared first on The Engineer.