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

Tuesday, 04 September 2018

BBC News

• Paradise Circus closes for Metro tram extension for a yearCommuters are warned to expect delays and congestion as vehicles and buses are diverted.
• Offences drop on Scotland's first urban road with average speed camerasOld Dalkeith Road in Edinburgh was Scotland's first urban street to have average speed cameras installed.
• 'Smart motorway' work to start on M4 in SeptemberThe motorway between London and Theale will be widened in both directions with four lanes.
• Nine London streets in 'ultra-low emission' vehicle schemePetrol, diesel and older hybrid cars are banned during rush hour as councils try to cut pollution.
• Airline Jet2 creates 300 new jobs in Glasgow and EdinburghAdditional cabin crew and ground staff will be based at Glasgow and Edinburgh airports in summer 2019.

The Scotsman

• Scottish Government to invest £17m in green transport technologyAlmost £17 million is to be spent on 1,500 new electric charge points for vehicles and more than 100 green buses, the First Minister has said.

Times Online

• HS2 boss quits as northern section delayed for a year [Subscription]The head of the northern section of HS2 is to quit as it emerged that legislation to build the line to Manchester and Leeds would be delayed by a year.
• Scotland must lead the way on green transport, says Nicola Sturgeon [Subscription]Nicola Sturgeon will attempt to regain the initiative at Holyrood today by promising to make Scotland a world leader in green travel.
• Leavers have a cheek trying to block HS2 [Subscription]Tories happy to write a blank cheque for quitting the EU are irrationally nervous about paying for decent rail services

City AM

• Taxpayers’ Alliance launches competition to find HS2 replacementArmchair transport ministers have been given their chance to shine by a new competition to devise an alternative to HS2, the planned high-speed railway.
• HS2 hit by 12-month delay in further blow to controversial £56bn projectThe £56bn HS2 project linking London to the north has been dealt a further blow after the government admitted it would be subject to a 12-month delay in parliament.

Belfast Telegraph

• A few bumps along the way as Glider bus service makes its Belfast bowProtests and praise greet new era for public transport

Bolton News

• Bus depot plans for Horwich freight siteA FREIGHT depot and yard could soon be used as a base for rail-replacement buses and staff.

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• Jet2 to recruit 350 extra airport staffJET2 is recruiting 3,000 extra staff with 350 alone to be employed at Leeds-Bradford Airport as part of its expansion plans.

Edinburgh Evening News

• Jet2 announces over 130 jobs to be created at Edinburgh AirportJet2 has announced that they will be creating 130 local jobs at Edinburgh Airport as part of a recruitment drive.
• Speed cameras on Old Dalkeith Road have been a success, say policeScotland’s first urban Average Speed Camera has helped transform driver behaviour since it went live on Edinburgh’s Old Dalkeith Road a year ago today, police say.

London Evening Standard

• Shocking moment Tube train travels along Jubilee line with passengers on board and doors wide openShocking footage shows the moment a Tube train carrying passengers travelled along the Jubilee line with carriage doors wide open.
• Tube driver who dragged woman 75 metres into tunnel 'may have failed to adequately check CCTV'A Tube driver whose train dragged an elderly woman into a tunnel may have failed to adequately check a CCTV monitor, an accident investigation has found.

Manchester Evening News

• Police arrest 13 people in crackdown on anti-social behaviour on Manchester's Metrolink tramsPatrols have been focused on the Oldham and Rochdale line

Newcastle Evening Chronicle

• HS2 rail project delayed by a year - but here's why it could mean better services for NewcastleThe Government says it wants to include ambitious 'Northern Powerhouse Rail' plans in HS2 high speed line

Wolverhampton Express and Star

• Fake bus and train passes produced and sold in £50k fraudA couple produced and sold hundreds of fake bus and train passes in a £50,000 fraud, a court heard.

Yorkshire Post

• The Yorkshire Post says: Government hands Jeremy Corbyn an open goal on Northern rail woes If Theresa May and Chris Grayling needed any further evidence of the political cost of the continuing failure to deal with the North’s creaking transport infrastructure, they could not have asked for a better illustration than that of Jeremy Corbyn spending the day on the region’s railways to highlight passengers’s continuing unhappiness at slow-moving and unreliable services.

Blackpool Gazette

• Blackpool North station called "appalling" amid queues - days after disabled woman is refused train travel Blackpool North train station was called "appalling" as pictures showed a crowd of passengers waiting for trains.

Other Regional Press

• Nexus training academy to boost services Councillors have welcomed a boost to Metro services in South Tyneside after it was revealed a new Nexus training centre will secure improved train times.
• WAR ON POTHOLES: Compensation for damaged vehicles has more than doubled in a year PAYOUTS to motorists whose vehicles have been damaged on Oxfordshire’s roads have increased by two and a half times in just a year.

Rail Technology Magazine

• First stage of repairs to Nottingham station completeThe first stage of repairs to Nottingham train station after damage caused by a fire has been completed by Network Rail, whose engineers have been on site since January.
• The benefits of aluminium honeycomb to the rail industryGillian Haverson, senior marketing executive at Corex Honeycomb, explains how the company’s innovative aluminium honeycomb material is supporting several large-scale rail projects in the UK.
• LU not properly preparing drivers to deal with ATO operation, RAIB saysLondon Underground’s training programme does not adequately prepare operators for some of the particular demands associated with train despatch, especially when running ATO stock – an issue that was likely linked to an accident which saw an elderly woman dragged into a tunnel after getting her bag trapped in the doors.
• HS2 suffers setback as legislation delayed by 12 monthsPreparations for the introduction of HS2 have suffered a blow after reports surfaced of the government preparing to impose a 12-month parliamentary delay to the £56bn project.

Railnews

• HS2 ‘delayed’, while critics plan alternative transport schemesTHE legislation needed to authorise Phase 2 of HS2 north of the West Midlands to Leeds and Manchester has been postponed for a year, according to reports, while one campaigning group which is doubtful about the present scheme is inviting suggestions for alternative investment in transport.

Aviation Industry

• UK lifts personal electronic device restrictions on some Cairo flightsThe UK government has lifted restrictions on passengers bringing large personal electronic devices (PEDs) into the cabin of UK-bound flights from Cairo—but apparently only on British Airways services. read more
• United raises baggage fees, following JetBlue, Air Canada and WestJetChicago-based United Airlines became the latest North American carrier to raise checked bag fees, as airlines contend with lower revenues amid climbing prices for jet fuel. read more

Other News Sources

• Heathrow to act as test bed for green corridors and plastic-waste roadsHeathrow Airport is set to install innovative road surfacing made from recycled plastic waste alongside "green corridors", after announcing the winners of its inaugural Sustainable Innovation Prize.
• Land purchase paves way for new railway station at DarlastonWest Midlands mayor Andy Street has announced that seven acres of land in Darlaston have been secured to build a new railway station.
• Jeremy Corbyn accuses ministers of 'utter disregard' for the North amid spike in rail delaysJeremy Corbyn has accused the Government of having an "utter disregard" for commuters in the north of England, as new figures from Labour revealed a spike in train cancellations.