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

Friday, 08 February 2019

BBC News

• 'Unattractive' Gloucester railway station work to beginWork to revamp an "unattractive" railway station is due to begin sooner than expected after a council agreed to pay for design work.
• Ford Bridgend: New Ineos 4x4 contract 'won't secure jobs'The Ineos contract Ford Bridgend hopes to win is seen by some as a
• Decision on Ramsgate Brexit port funding on holdThe transport secretary asks Thanet council not to make a decision on the future of Ramsgate's port.
• South Western Railway: Further round of strikes announcedThe RMT union said 88% of its members voted in favour of continuing strike action.
• Thomas Cook considers sale of airlineThe travel company says it is conducting a
• Babcock announces 150 more job losses at RosythBabcock says the roles are no longer needed at its Rosyth dock, where two aircraft carriers have been assembled.
• Flybe will wind up company if shareholders reject saleThe low-cost airline has urged shareholders to accept a £2.2m takeover offer from Connect Airways.

Department for Transport

• Buses that build a better societyMinister Nusrat Ghani describes the steps being taken to ensure the bus network serves people’s transport needs and helps them meet 21st Century challenges.

The Guardian

• Penzance to Scilly helicopter service to restart with EU fundingYear-round flights due to return in 2020 after injection of EU and private investment

The Herald

• Michael Matheson hits back over rail link criticismTransport Secretary Michael Matheson hit back at Tory and Labourclaims that the Scottish Government has "betrayed" people in Glasgowafter plans for a rail link to the city's airport were ditched for a second time.

The Independent

• Pay-as-you-go train travel could expand nationwideThe UK comes a step closer to offering pay-as-you-go rail travel nationwide as the Department for Transport (DfT) today launches a consultation into expanding the ticketing model.

The Scotsman

• Edinburgh’s hills may be helping cycle-hire scheme – Charles GrahamTravelling downhill on one of Edinburgh’s bicycles for hire seems to be rather popular, writes Charles Graham of Just Eat Cycles.

The Telegraph

• Cross-channel ferry trips rise as Brits stock up on no-deal supplies [Subscription]ritish cross-channel ferry journeys are on the rise ahead of March 29, according to a ferry comparison and ticketing firm.
• Thomas Cook is on the right flight path with airline salet’s not a great time to be a holiday company. Or an airline. Thomas Cook finds itself in the position of being both. So the venerable tour operator has decided to bet the farm on its hotels business and has announced a “strategic review” of its airline to “increase financial flexibility”.

Times Online

• Half a million motorists use mobile phones while driving [Subscription]The equivalent of 445,000 motorists may be using a phone while driving despite a drop in the number of offenders over the past three years.
• Super-jumbo future is in doubt after losing order [subscription]Qantas has cancelled a longstanding order for eight Airbus SE A380 super-jumbos, a decision that could sound the death knell for the world’s largest passenger plane.
• Trams powered by batteries to beat congestion [Subscription]New tram networks could be rolled out in towns and cities across England under government plans to cut congestion and pollution.
• Thousands could be ‘fleeced’ by yearly tax on workplace parkingScotland’s two largest councils are expected to tax workplace parking spaces after the SNP government was held to ransom by the Greens to shoehorn more environmental levies into its budget.
• Jaguar stutters to £3.4bn loss after demand stalls [Subscription]Financial problems blamed on diesel woes and China slowdown

City AM

• Qantas drops order for eight Airbus superjumbo jetsAustralian airline Qantas has cancelled an order for eight Airbus SE A380 superjumbo jets, in the latest blow for the model.

The National

• Patrick Harvie calls for public ownership of Scotland's railwayTHE option of a public sector bid to run Scotland's railways must be kept on the table, Scottish Greens co-convener Patrick Harvie has said.

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• How to get a refund if your West Yorkshire bus was lateIf you're waiting for the last bus and it doesn't show up, did you know you can get a taxi and get the bus company to pay for it?

Bristol Live

• First Bus branded 'disgraceful' after pensioner left bus stop in tears“This has to be the worst bus service in Bristol”

Northern Echo

• Plans to move Durham's bus station dropped - but the council still wants to knock it downA NORTH-East council is going back to the drawing board with its plans to come up with a new design for a city bus station.

Yorkshire Evening Post

• These are the three potential routes for the new Leeds Bradford Airport link roadLeeds City Council have opened their public consultation on three potential routes for the new Leeds Bradford Airport link road.

Yorkshire Post

• Northern Powerhouse Rail plan handed in to government 'is biggest scheme for North since Industrial Revolution'High speed rail plans described as the biggest single transport intervention for the North since the Industrial Revolution are to be submitted to the Government after securing the backing of political and business leaders.

Other Regional Press

• Cyclists call for 'most useless cycle lane' nominationsCYCLISTS want nominations for the 'most useless cycle lane in Oxford' after a string of complaints about cars.

Coach and Bus Week

• Government updates no-deal Brexit guidanceThe Government has updated its no-deal Brexit guidance for coach and bus drivers, adding further detail on the subject of number plates, registration documents and insurance requirements.
• Corbyn: Private operators ‘running bus services into the ground’CPT argues that returning to a regulated market would put ‘intolerable’ strain on local authority budgets
• Patronage continues to tumble in latest DfT bus stats There were 85m fewer bus journeys made in England during the year ending March 2018 than in the previous year, the latest Department for Transport (DfT) annual bus statistics have revealed.

Construction Enquirer

• Galliford Try £43m bid wins Broadmarsh bus station jobNottingham City Council has awarded Galliford Try the contract to rebuild the Broadmarsh car park and bus station.

Rail Technology Magazine

• DfT consulting on plans to expand pay-as-you-go rail travel nationwideThe DfT has launched a consultation into expanding the pay-as-you-go (PAYG) ticketing model currently used in London. Rail minister Andrew Jones had announced a renewed government drive to expand ‘smart ticketing’ nationwide, and is now seeking views from passengers and rail...
• Land acquisition costs for HS2 spiral five times higher than originally projected The cost of acquiring land and property for Phase 1 of HS2 could be almost five times the original estimation. Forecasts based on freedom of information requests from an anti-HS2 campaign group have revealed that the total land costs could now be around £5bn, and has already now far...

Railway Gazette

• DB launches digital research trainGERMANY: Deutsche Bahn has unveiled a four-car laboratory train which will be available to the rail sector across Germany for testing digital technologies. Branded the Advanced TrainLab, the train is a former ICE-TD diesel-electric set able to run at 200 km/h.

Route One (Bus and Coach)

• Lothian launches Bus2020 environmental planEdinburgh operator Lothian Buses will place its 42 high-capacity Alexander Dennis Enviro400XLBs into service in March. The Volvo-based buses form part of its ambitious Bus2020 environmental strategy
• Zeelo closes £4.25m funding round to continue expansionZeelo, the shared mobility service, has closed a £4.25m funding round, which it plans to use to drive deeper into different markets in the UK and new markets abroad, as well as investing in new initiatives.
• Bus passenger numbers in England down by 1.9%Drop is highest outside London although passenger satisfaction rate remains high; mileage also reduces

Aviation Industry

• EasyJet outlines post-Brexit ownership compliance planUK LCC easyJet has detailed the steps it has taken to Brexit-proof its operations and says it has a plan in place to ensure it meets European Union (EU) ownership and control regulations, regardless of whether or not airlines are given an adjustment period after the UK departs the bloc. read more
• London City CEO: Further drone incidents inevitable Further unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), or drone, incidents at major airports are inevitable and the civil aviation sector must be prepared to deal with them, London City Airport CEO Robert Sinclair said Feb. 7. read more
• Thomas Cook may sell airline division following strategy reviewLufthansa Group has shown an interest in buying Condor’s Frankfurt-based long-haul operation, industry sources said Feb. 7. read more
• Germany OKs Zeitfracht Group stake in Romania’s Blue AirThe German Federal Cartel Office has approved the purchase of shares in Romania’s LCC Blue Air by Berlin-based logistics group Zeitfracht in an expansion bid. read more
• Airbus A220 makes North American debut with Delta Air LinesDelta Air Lines on Feb. 7 became the first airline in the Americas to debut the Airbus A220, operating flights between New York LaGuardia (LGA) and both Boston Logan and Dallas-Fort Worth International (DFW). read more

Other News Sources

• ​​​​​​​Heathrow expansion process ListenCllr John Boughtflower, Chair of Spelthorne's Heathrow Expansion Working Group, said: "Today we are registering some major concerns with the expansion process that threatens the scheme's credibility and timely deliverability. These concerns have been flagged over a prolonged period with HAL and we remain surprised that such shortcomings should exist at all in such an important scheme.
• Nobel laureate Paul M. Romer targets Nor-Shipping Ocean Leadership ConferencePaul M. Romer, a recipient of the 2018 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics, has been confirmed as the latest high profile speaker for Nor-Shipping’s Ocean Leadership Conference on 4th June.
• Wrexham bus station to get £250,000 worth of repairs and refurbishmentWREXHAM bus station is to receive almost £250,000 of essential repairs and refurbishment following grant approval from the Welsh Government’s Local Transport Network Fund.
• Major upgrade for Gatwick Airport’s railway stationPlans for major improvements to Gatwick Airport’s ageing railway station are expected to be given the nod by Crawley Borough Council.
• Glasgow Airport has boosted its efforts against the use of single-use plastic by offering staff free refillable water bottles.More than 5,300 people work in and around the airport and each one – from pilots to aircraft engineers and cabin crew to security guards – will be encouraged to pick up one of the reusable bottles.
• A new helicopter link between Penzance and the Isles of Scilly gets one step closer with more funding.Penzance Heliport Ltd received a massive boost from the European Union this week after being awarded £1.8 million from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). This new investment brings the restoration of a helicopter link between the Scilly Isles and Penzance a big step forward.
• Birmingham Airport awarded grant funding of £1.4 million towards electric buses The UK's Department for Transport (DfT) and the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) has awarded Birmingham Airport £1.4million from the Ultra Low Emission Bus Scheme, it was announced on Wednesday 6th February.
• Disabled passengers hit out at MP tweets promising improvements to ‘discriminatory’ stationCampaigners have hit out at politicians for their lack of action in carrying out long-awaited improvements to a train station branded “outdated and discriminatory” by disabled passengers.
• Helensburgh's MSP presses transport secretary on train capacity cutsHELENSBURGH'S MSP has urged Scotland's transport secretary to tackle capacity issues on the town's rail service.
• Michael Matheson reveals WHY Glasgow Airport rail link scrappedTHE rail link to Glasgow Airport was scrapped because it would have led to many other commuter services being cancelled, the Transport Secretary has said.
• Haines aims to restore status of rail operationNew chief executive aims to return reliable operation to the heart of Network Rail strategy and raise the status of the railway as a profession