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

Saturday, 31 August 2019

BBC News

• British Steel York division sold to French-based groupA division of British Steel specialising in rail projects has been sold protecting 400 jobs. TSP Projects is an engineering firm founded in York in 1987. It has offices in Manchester, Birmingham, Reading and Bristol.
• School buses: Pupils to miss out after law changeOne mother says she and her friends have had to draw up a rota to drive their children to school.
• Buyers express interest in nationalised shipyardAdministrators for the Ferguson shipyard have held talks with a number of potentially interested parties.
• South Western Railway strike: Workers begin four-day walkoutThe industrial action will see about half of South Western Railway services cancelled.

The Guardian

• Gove watches no-deal Brexit practice run in Port of CalaisNew systems to ensure smooth transit of goods are tested in France before UK’s exit from EU
• Pollutionwatch: why efforts to tackle air pollution can backfireNew laws can have unforeseen consequences so it is vital to regularly track progress

The Telegraph

• Slow take-up of electric vehicles is turning lithium dreams into dust [subscription]Trade wars and geopolitical uncertainty have made 2019 a challenging year for commodities investors in general. However, few resources have been trickier to fathom, or more unpredictable, than cobalt and lithium.

Times Online

• Curse of the sat-nav calls for new fines, say councils [subscription]Councils should be given powers to fine lorry drivers after a spate of HGVs becoming wedged in country lanes and under bridges, ministers have been told.
• Rail franchising rewards form fillers, says Stagecoach boss Sir Brian Souter [subscription]The chairman of Stagecoach said that the rail industry franchising system in Britain was “fundamentally flawed” as the transport group beat a shareholder rebellion over its executive pay.

Reuters News

• Toyota won't build cars at UK factory the day after BrexitJapan's Toyota will not build cars at its British factory the day after Britain leaves the European Union as part of plans to handle any disruption from a potentially disorderly Brexit.

City AM

• Eco-warriors still threaten Heathrow drone chaos despite ’positive’ talks with airport Climate change activists are still planning on flying drones over Heathrow in protest next month, despite a “positive” meeting with representatives from the airport this morning.
• Londoners pay highest UK house price premium to live closer to a station London home buyers are willing to pay almost 10 per cent more on a house in order to live closer to a station, according to Nationwide.
• Heathrow told to keep check on credit rating amid expansion plans Heathrow airport has been warned it may be obliged to maintain an investment grade credit rating to reassure investors of its financial position while its third runway gets built.

Bristol Live

• All the changes to Bristol First Bus timetable coming in next monthChanges to dozens of bus services in and around Bristol will come into force next month. First Bus has said it is investing a significant number of extra buses across the city to coincide with the start of the busiest time of year on Bristol’s roads.

Lincolnshire Echo

• 'Revolution' on the railway lines as LNER announces big increase in daily direct trains for the Lincoln to London routeGood news for train users - additional direct trains between Lincoln and London are being brought in from October that will transform the service in our city.

Liverpool Echo

• New Merseyrail stations could help link up town with no rail linksPlans to build two new train stations in Merseyside could be the first step in a plan to link up a town with no rail links, a local MP has claimed.

London Evening Standard

• Heathrow Airport drone protest: Environmental activists will go ahead with week-long protest to disrupt flights with toy drones, airport saysClimate change activists are going ahead with their plan to cause major disruption at Heathrow Airport by flying toy drones in a week-long protest, the airport has said.
• Gatwick Airport 'drugs bust' turns out to be vegan bakery cake ingredientsA

Morning Star

• RMT's Eddie Dempsey calls for unity against Boris Johnson after 'no-platform' bid by Owen Jones and Ash SarkarRMT activist Eddie Dempsey insisted that “bringing people together to call a general election” should be the left’s priority after two activist journalists pulled out of a rally because of his presence.

The York Press

• York's National Railway Museum staff go on strike over paySTAFF at York's National Railway Museum took part in a second round of strikes today (Friday) in a dispute over pay.

Lancashire Telegraph

• Bus fares announced to increaseTRANSDEV have announced bus fares are to be increased starting from September. The bus company will roll out brand new monthly tickets as well as make slight changes to existing ones.

Other Regional Press

• New Harrogate bus service to be launched this weekendHarrogate Bus Company is launching a band new bus service on a new route from Harrogate to Knaresborough. Called the 1D, it will travel along Knaresborough Road from this Sunday, September 1.
• Train trainees on track for success on their own journeyIn January, 2018, the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways secured a £454,500 National Lottery Heritage Fund grant for a training programme introducing heritage skills to a more diverse audience.
• Train operator restores important hourly service to Manchester stations running through WiganA train operator is restoring an important public transport link between Wigan and parts of Manchester city centre following a storm of protest from unhappy commuters.

New Civil Engineer

• Birmingham Airport’s £500M expansion could need overhaul following HS2 reviewBirmingham Airport's plans for major £500M expansion could need to be redrawn if the scope of HS2 is changed following a review into the project, New Civil Engineer understands.
• Crossrail expects ’further changes’ to Bond Street delivery teamMinutes from Crossrail’s board meeting in June have revealed that the body ’expects further changes’ to the leadership team of the Costain Skanska joint venture (CSJV) delivering Bond Street Station.

Transportxtra

• Transpennine rail upgrade consultationNetwork Rail will launch a consultation in September on upgrading the railway between Huddersfield and Dewsbury as part of the wider £2.9bn upgrade to the Transpennine railway between Manchester, Huddersfield, Leeds and York.
• Lord Berkeley’s plan to slash HS2’s costsLord Berkeley, the review ream’s deputy chair, suggested last year that the HS2 lines to central London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds should all be axed, with the project’s purpose reduced to a capacity relief scheme between Old Oak Common and Crewe (LTT?17 Dec 18).
• Serious Fraud Office ’studying HS2 activitiesThe Serious Fraud Office is exploring if there are grounds for a full-blown investigation into the HS2 project.

Aviation Industry

• Gatwick Airport seeks permission to develop standby runwayLondon Gatwick Airport has started acting on plans to develop its existing northern runway, which is currently used as a standby, so smaller aircraft can depart alongside its main runway by the mid-2020s. read more

Other News Sources

• Bus operator takes over key Somerset bus route from SundayA bus operator has taken over the operation of a key North Somerset bus route. Stagecoach West, which currently runs buses across Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Bristol, will take over the X5 - previously run by First West of England.
• Edinburgh bus users reach one million ’taps’ in new contactless systemLothian bus customers have reached one million ’taps’ following the bus operator’s new contactless and capped payment system.
• ScotRail nominated for award - for biodiversityScotRail is up for a top environmental award in recognition for its work to improve biodiversity across Scotland’s railway.
• Inside Japan’s new high-speed train that is dubbed as a living room on wheelsBack in 2016, famed Japanese architect kazuyo sejima was asked to design a uber-luxurious train that would be unlike anything that the world has seen before. And in taking on the task seriously, the designer has now unveiled the first look to the awe-inspiring wagon for Seibu Railways, which is also rightly dubbed as a ’living room on wheels’.
• TfL warning of fewer trains on the Met line next weekLondon Underground has warned that there will be fewer trains on the Metropolitan line next week, while a new signalling system is introduced.