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

Friday, 08 June 2012

BBC News

• Tyne and Wear Metro staff's 24-hour strike endsTyne and Wear Metro train services are returning to normal after a 24-hour strike came to an end at midnight
• Water torture on the UndergroundIt looks like something from the Titanic movie and certainly no place for trains
• Wi-fi turned on at Tube stationsFree wi-fi at some London Underground stations is turned on in time for the Olympic Games.
• Tube line reopens after floodingThe Central Line resumes services in east London after it was suspended when water flooded the track.
• AUDIO: Network Rail sees profits risePatrick Butcher from Network Rail tells BBC Radio 5 live's Mickey Clarke how it managed to increase its pre-tax profits.
• Network Rail profits and debts upNetwork Rail, which maintains Britain's rail track and signalling system, announces a rise in both its profits and debts but expects to cut more jobs.

Financial Times

• Network Rail costs on trackUK operator is to meet a government target for reducing its cost base by almost a quarter by 2014 but has had to take on more debt through projects

The Guardian

• Train fares too confusing, warns rail regulatorOffice of Rail Regulation says there is much more work to be done to make ticket rules clearer and purchases easier
• Network Rail: £27bn is a lot of strain for the trainThe national rail network operator owes a huge amount of money. In these hard times, new forms of infrastructure funding must surely be found soon
• Olympics 2012: tube flood raises fears over London's transport systemTube link to Stratford in east London closed after burst water main floods Central line

The Independent

• Rail ticket system causes confusion, survey revealsMany train passengers find selecting and buying tickets confusing and frustrating, a survey by rail regulators revealed today.

The Telegraph

• Four in ten rail passengers pay too much for train ticketsRail passengers are confused when they buy a train ticket and four in ten pay over the odds, a study by the Office of Rail Regulation has found.
• Network Rail debt rises to £27bn as profits doubleNetwork Rail increased its profits 7.5pc in the year to the end of March, but saw debt soar by £2.2bn owing to major projects such as London Thameslink.

Reuters News

• Office meets railway platform meets service stationTelecommuters no longer have to share the kitchen table at home or a busy cafe. Business lounges and rent-a-day work spaces are springing up in unusual places to take advantage of the growing mobile-worker population.

Mail Online

• Train passengers left confused and frustrated when trying to select and buy tickets, rail watchdog warnsSome travellers struggle to understand the validity and restrictions of tickets while others have difficulty finding and buying the most cost-effective fares

The Mirror

• "They want a train ticket, not a lottery ticket": Passengers baffled by rail fares Nearly 75% have no idea what the ­off-peak times are despite being able to save by sticking to quieter schedules

Network Rail

• STATION IMPROVEMENTS AT OCKENDON COMPLETED
• MORE LEVEL CROSSING CAMERA VANS TO DETER MISUSE
• NETWORK RAIL AND BTP LAUNCH LEVEL CROSSING SAFETY DRIVE

Journal Live

• No resolution to drivers' pay row after Metro strikeAFTER a day of disruption, union leaders and Metro bosses are still no closer to reaching a resolution in the row over drivers’ pay. The full fleet of Metro trains came to a standstill yesterdayduring the first of two planned days of industrial action by drivers.
• Transport bosses hit out over Tyne and Wear Metro strikeMETRO drivers gearing up for strike action have been criticised by transport chiefs.

Liverpool Post

• Merseytravel chairman Mark Dowd quits 'untenable' positionCllr Dowd has been under sustained pressure to resign since last week when eight of the 16 ruling Labour group on the transport authority demanded his resignation.

Manchester Evening News

• Metrolink Oldham line set to open next WednesdayPassengers will start boarding trams on the long-awaited Metrolink line to Oldham in less than a week “ if final tests prove a success. The first-ever service from Manchester Victoria to Oldham Mumps is due to depart at 5.24am on Wednesday.

The York Press

• Rail crossing safety awareness campaign launched A LEVEL crossing in North Yorkshire which has been marked out as one of the most dangerous in the north-east has become the focal point of a safety awareness campaign.

Western Daily Press

• Transport Minister on West rail tourTransport Minister Theresa Villiers conducted a whistle-stop tour of the booming Westcountry rail network

Other Regional Press

• Hospital to get its own train stationWHITBY and Esk Valley patients are set to receive a boost following the news that Middlesbrough’s James Cook University Hospital is to soon have its own dedicated railway station.
• Malvern Link railway station to get revamp£500,000 is to be pumped into improving facilities at Malvern Link railway station. The cash boost is coming from Worcestershire County Council, which has been awarded £14.2 million from the Department of Transport to help implement the first phase of its Worcester Transport Strategy (WTS).