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

Tuesday, 31 July 2012

BBC News

• Train line closed for nine monthsA section of the railway linking Londonderry to Belfast has been closed for the next nine months, affecting the UK City of Culture 2013 celebrations.

The Guardian

• Olympics travel: commuters urged to continue avoiding London hotspots TfL says passengers still need to keep planning ahead during Games despite quiet start during Monday morning's rush hour

The Telegraph

• London 2012 Olympics: tubes and trains 'have been fantastic'Commuters at London Bridge say their journeys have been
• London 2012: David Cameron rides Tube to Olympic ParkThe Prime Minister chats to passengers about Olympic events and the opening ceremony as he takes the London Underground to Stratford.

ATOC

• Olympic National Rail travel bulletin: Monday 30 JulyOn the first weekday of competition, the railway has significantly increased capacity to carry both commuters and the hundreds of thousands of spectators travelling to London 2012 events,...

Manchester Evening News

• Trains from Manchester to Sheffield delayed after tree brings down overhead linesTrains running from Manchester to Sheffield faced major disruption after a tree fell on to the line at Stockport. The tree brought down overhead lines when it fell on to the track just outside the Woods Moor station at around 3.45pm.

Other Regional Press

• Manned ticket barriers for Cheltenham railway stationTICKET barriers will be in place at Cheltenham Station by November. And staff will be guarding the entrances until then.
• Leicester railway station's £3.7m revamp completedA £3.7 million revamp of Leicester railway station has been completed barring a few finishing touches.

Global Rail News

• Organisers warn of ˜exceptionally™ busy day on rail networkOlympics organisers have issued travel advice ahead of what they predict will be the busiest day of the Games for the Docklands Light Railway (DLR). Around 50,000 spectators are expected to make their way to the Equestrian Cross Country event at Greenwich Park today. Many stations across the network are expecting a huge rise in [...]
• Indian Railways to get bio-toilets on all trains by 2017The world™s fourth largest railway network, Indian Railways, will get bio-toilets on all trains by 2017. œIndian Railway is the largest open toilet in the world,� said the country’s Minister for Rural Development and Drinking Water and Sanitation, Jairam Ramesh. An estimated 11 million passengers travel every day by train and at present, waste is [...]
• Etihad Rail tenders first contracts for Stage Two of UAE networkEtihad Rail has invited bids for the first three contracts in the second phase of the national rail network’s construction. Stage Two will see the railway connect with the planned GCC network – linking with Saudi Arabia at Ghweifat and Oman at Al Ain. The three invitations to tender, which were issued to all pre-qualified [...]
• Rail to receive £9.4 billion funding bonanzaThe government has announced plans to invest £9.4 billion on rail enhancements  between April 1 2014 and March 31, 2019 as part of the High Level Output Specification (HLOS ) for Control Period 5. The money includes £ 5. 2 billion of schemes that are already committed including Thameslink, Crossrail, electrification of the London to [...]
• First incline lifts to be installed at UK rail stationsCrossrail and Transport for London (TfL) have awarded a major contract to Kone for around 50 incline lifts for the new Crossrail stations. The contract, which also includes five lifts for Bank, Greenford and Hammersmith Tube stations, will see Crossrail pioneer the use of incline lifts to deliver step-free access at two of the major [...]
• Drugs in the workplaceEmployers should be aware of rising drug use in Britain, says a leading screening provider. One in 30 employees has drugs in their system while at work, statistics released by Concateno, a European drug and alcohol screening specialist, show. These figures are general and not specific to the rail industry, which has strict drugs and [...]

Other News Sources

• Legal challenge set for HS2 plansThe timetable has been set for the legal challenges launched against ministers’ plans for a High Speed rail link (HS2) between London and Birmingham.
• HS2 Legal Challenges to be Heard in High Court in December All five separate legal challenges, launched against High Speed 2 will be heard in the High Court before the end of the year.
• 'Casino rail franchising' takes another spin as First Group touted to take over West Coast from VirginRAIL UNION RMT warned today that the profiteering chaos of rail franchising is about to descend into total anarchy as it was reported this morning that First Group - who only months ago pulled the plug on their Great Western franchise to dodge £800 million in payments to the UK taxpayer - are being touted as favourites to take over the West Coast route from Virgin.
• Further 48 hour strike announced as RMT steps up fight for pay and workplace justice for Tyne and Wear Metro cleanersTRANSPORT UNION RMT confirmed today that cleaners working for Churchill's on the Tyne and Wear Metro will take a further 48 hours of strike action from Sunday in their battle against poverty pay and the victimisation of a work colleague: