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

Tuesday, 12 February 2019

BBC News

• Chelmsford 'confusing' bus gate signs need review, says MPAn MP has called for road signs at a bus gate to be reviewed after a psychologist had a fine quashed because there were too many signs to look at.
• Traffic jams 'cost drivers a week of their lives a year'Drivers are warned London's A406 North Circular Road should be
• NI hauliers fail to get EU border permitsSeveral haulage firms fail in their bid to get special permits to trade over EU borders after Brexit.
• Government sued over no-deal ferry contractsThe government is being sued for its decision to charter firms to run extra ferries, including one with no ships, in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

Department for Transport

• Rail Minister reiterates northern benefits of HS2Programme already supports 7,000 jobs and over 2,000 businesses have HS2 contracts.

The Guardian

• CCTV could be made mandatory in taxis in England and WalesLicensing law proposals also include more rigorous regime on driver background checks
• Grayling urged to quit as spending on Brexit ferry deal consultants revealedTransport secretary had told MPs no money went on £13.8m Seaborne Freight contract

The Herald

• ScotRail is way off trackI NOTE with interest your article indicating the extent of customer unhappiness with ScotRail ("ScotRail told to get customers back on happy track as new warning issued", The Herald, February 9). My experience at Bearsden Station on Saturday morning perhaps exemplifies much of what is wrong with our national rail operator.

The Independent

• Chris Grayling refuses to resign over ferry contract fiasco after being branded 'off the Richter scale of incompetence'Transport secretary told he is 'rewriting the textbook on ministerial incompetence' amid row over Seaborne Freight deal

The Telegraph

• Police forces earning £50m a year as record number of motorists attend speed awareness coursesThe number of motorists completing speed awareness courses has soared by a third in the past five years, with police forces now pulling in more than £50 million annually from the schemes, new figures have revealed.

Times Online

• Chris Grayling faces Commons grilling over axed ferry contract [Subscription]Chris Grayling has been accused of “rewriting the textbook for ministerial incompetence” as he faced questions over his handling of a controversial no-deal Brexit ferry contract.
• Rise of the driverless car is halted by potholes and slow broadband [subscription]The arrival of driverless cars is being held back by potholes and low-quality broadband in Britain.
• Clogged old roads cost British economy £8bn in productivity [Subscription]Congestion costs the British economy almost £8 billion a year as ageing roads struggle with the rising number of cars.
• The ferry tale is over for Chris Grayling [Subscription]Good news stories about Chris Grayling are like buses: you wait ages for one but they never turn up as a result of chronic mismanagement of the transport system.

Reuters News

• Swiss say Bombardier trains still fall short of expectationsZURICH (Reuters) - Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) said on Monday that new Bombardier trains have yet to live up to expectations and that both companies were working to correct issues, including improving software and fixing problematic doors.

Sky News

• Bristol Port hopes to profit from a Brexit boostBristol Port says it has put aside land to help other major UK ports in the event of disruption caused by a no-deal Brexit. 
• Taxi drivers could face tougher security checksTaxi and minicab drivers could have to pass more detailed criminal record checks in a bid to boost passenger safety.

Birmingham Mail

• Furious Channel 4 Dispatches viewers demand 'joke' HS2 project scrapped after documentaryThe special from Channel 4, which lasted half an hour, broadcast on Monday at 8pm and was titled: "HS2 - The Great Train Robbery: Channel 4."

London Evening Standard

• All taxi and minicab drivers could need enhanced criminal record checks under Government plansAll taxi and minicab drivers could have to pass enhanced criminal record checks under Government plans to protect vulnerable passengers.
• 'Londoners lose equivalent of £1,680 a year while stuck in traffic jams'Motorists stuck in traffic jams caused a loss of nearly £8 billion to Britain's economy last year, according to new analysis.
• Southeastern delays: Major train route into London suspended for rest of day after landslip near BarnehurstUPDATE: line will be closed ALL WEEK
• Chris Grayling defends handing no deal Brexit ferry contract to Seaborne Freight - the firm with no shipsTransport secretary Chris Grayling has defended the government's decision to hand a £13.8million Brexit ferry contract to a company with no ships, saying
• Eurostar passengers flee in 'mass panic' over exploding phone at St Pancras stationAn exploding phone battery caused Eurostar passengers to flee in panic at St Pancras station.

Manchester Evening News

• This is what one platform at Manchester Piccadilly looked like tonightThis is what a platform at the busiest train station in Manchester looked like tonight.

Yorkshire Post

• The Yorkshire Post says: Three tests for Rail Minister Andrew Jones to pass AT LEAST Andrew Jones, the Rail Minister, acknowledged the size of his task facing him when he addressed Transport for the North’s latest policy conference. “I am keenly aware of under-investment in transport,” the Harrogate MP told his audience.
• Reports of HS2 being scrapped are "nonsense", Rail Minister Andrew Jones tells Sheffield transport conferenceThe Rail Minister has described claims that the northern stages of HS2 will be scrapped as "nonsense" amid fears that the Government is planning to scale back the project because of its mounting costs.

Bucks Free Press

• Ministers 'actively considering' scrapping controversial HS2 projectChannel 4 Dispatches will investigate whether High Speed Two (HS2) - a high-speed rail line connecting London to Birmingham by 2026 and then Manchester and Leeds by 2033 - will bring the jobs and economic growth the government is promising.

Plymouth Herald

• No one fined for cycling on pavements, despite record numbers of pedestrians injured by bikesNo one in Devon and Cornwall was fined for cycling on the pavement last year.

Sunderland Echo

• LNER launches bid to protect regional accents as people admit they can't tell them apart Train company LNER is championing regional accents after a study revealed many people can't identify a Sunderland or Newcastle one.

Other Regional Press

• Seaside train station will shut for over a month as new platform rolls inSheringham Railway Station will shut for over a month so a new platform can be installed.
• Batley’s rail services will be under scrutiny at public meeting Network Rail have agreed to attend a public meeting secured by Batley MP Tracy Brabin where commuters will have the chance to raise their concerns about local services and the future of the rail network.
• Three Bridges station car park transformed into 'bus hub' ahead of mainline closureThree Bridges station car park will be closed for almost a month as it will be transformed into a 'bus hub' ahead of railway works.
• Southend Airport celebrates its 1,000,000th Stobart Air passengerSOUTHEND Airport is celebrating after its one millionth passenger passed through its gates.

London TravelWatch

• Millions of Tube passengers to benefit from more visible staff as TfL implements key London TravelWatch recommendationMillions of Tube passengers will now be able to spot London Underground station staff more easily after Transport for London (TfL) put in place one of the final recommendations from London TravelWatch’s review of ticket office closures.

New Civil Engineer

• Cameras strapped to trains help Network Rail fix tracks in record timeNetwork Rail has launched a fleet of monitoring trains aimed at doubling the operator’s track maintenance capacity over the next five years.
• Highways England calls for self-healing roadsSelf-healing roads and robots carrying out road works are among ideas that Highways England wants to see submitted as part of two new funding competitons.
• HS2 lacks ‘big picture analysis’, ex rail regulator chair saysThe former chair of the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has claimed that “no big picture analysis” of spending on High Speed 2 (HS2) has ever been conducted.
• HS2 London stations losers ponder challengeLosing bidders for High Speed 2’s (HS2’s) key London stations contracts are considering challenging the contract award decisions, New Civil Engineer can reveal.
• Eight light rail schemes that could enter DfT competitionBackers of light rail schemes across the country were given a boost last week, when the government called on rail providers to table their proposals under a new Department for Transport (DfT) competition.

The Business Desk

• Franchise extension for East Midlands TrainsStagecoach Group has confirmed that its subsidiary, East Midlands Trains, has agreed a new short-term rail franchise with the Department for Transport (DfT).

Transportxtra

• Old Oak Common rail depot to become HS2 ‘superhub’Plans for a ‘super hub’ are being drawn up on the site of the Old Oak Common railway depot in north-west London. The high-speed rail station, due to open in 2026, would offer services to the Midlands, Scotland and the North and access to central London and Heathrow via Crossrail.

Aviation Industry

• Boeing, Spirit AeroSystems train for 57-per-month 737 production rate Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems, a subassembly provider to Boeing 737 and other commercial programs, are practicing for a narrowbody production rate of 57 aircraft a month in Wichita, Kansas. read more
• Airbus: Public accepts urban air mobility; safety, noise a concernSafety and noise are the public’s biggest concerns about urban air mobility (UAM), but initial acceptance of the concept is surprisingly high, a public perception survey conducted by Airbus has concluded. read more
• Boeing sees $745 billion services market in Middle East An aging fleet of widebody aircraft in the Middle East and the need to refresh them will drive higher than average maintenance and engineering growth in the region, according to Boeing. read more
• O’Leary could get huge bonus from Ryanair share option incentive planRyanair CEO Michael O’Leary stands to make almost €100 million ($117 million) in bonuses if he can either double the LCC’s profit figures or its share price within five years. read more

Other News Sources

• NEW GENERAL MANAGER AT BUS COMPANYA new general manager of a Loughborough company which has a 35-strong fleet of buses and about 100 drivers has been named.
• 2018 Electric Bus Market Report: Analysis & Forecasts by Vehicle Type, by Hybrid Powertrain, Length, Customer - Global Market, 2013-2025 The "Electric Bus Market by Vehicle Type, by Hybrid Powertrain, by Length, by Customer, by Country - Global Market Size, Share, Development, Growth, and Demand Forecast, 2013-2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.
• New Forest railway line proposedA NEW REPORT is recommending that the New Forest gets a new railway line from Brockenhurst to Ringwood and that the government considers re-opening stations closed under the 'Beeching Axe'.
• Rail 867: The truth behind rail’s growth - Christian WolmarThe doubling of rail passengers since the mid 1990s has been unprecedented and, in many respects, inexplicable. No coherent theory of why the growth has been so strong over such a prolonged period of time has been put forward.
• Awards success for Knutsford, Goostrey and Chelford Railway StationsKNUTSFORD and Goostrey Railway Stations have scooped awards at the Cheshire Best Kept Stations awards evening, with Chelford Railway Station gaining a commendation.
• Elizabeth Line: when will it open and how much will it cost?London’s delayed £17.6bn Crossrail link costing £30m a week
• Plans to re-open Skipton to Colne one step closer to becoming a realityTransport Secretary Chris Grayling has backed the re-opening of the Colne to Skipton rail link, moving the project one step closer to proceeding.