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

Friday, 29 March 2019

BBC News

• Heathrow construction: Two NI sites on listThe sites will assemble components for the Heathrow project ,which will be transported there when needed.
• Scottish rail changes you can expect in your regionNetwork Rail has set out its plans to spend more than £4bn on Scotland's rail network - here are the details.
• McGill's invests £4.75m in 26 new busesMcGill's buys 26 buses, bringing its investment in new fleet over the past five years to about £24m.
• Wow Air failure: 'They gave us pizza - then cancelled our flight'Icelandic carrier Wow Air ceased operations abruptly on Thursday, stranding thousands of passengers.
• Airlines face lawsuits over 'toxic' cabin airPilots and cabin crew are taking legal action saying they are exposed to

The Guardian

• Wow Air: half of UK travel policies do not cover airline failureAs the Icelandic budget carrier closes, analysis reveals that almost 50% of insurance policies do not protect against airlines going bust
• Riding the tube – a photo essay by Stefan RousseauFor over 20 years as a photographer I have commuted into central London by car, experiencing a rush hour of anonymous, expressionless drivers hidden in their mobile steel boxes with no interaction other than through beeps of horns and the flashing of headlights. More recently I’ve been leaving my car at home and have joined the bankers and the builders, the day trippers and the tourists on the London Underground for a quicker, less stressful journey into work.

The Herald

• Bus firm McGill's spends big to expand fleetGREENOCK-based bus firm McGill’s has invested £4.75 million to swell its fleet serving routes in Glasgow and the west of Scotland.

The Scotsman

• Edinburgh Airport expansion to turn Castle into duty-free shop – Susan MorrisonEdinburgh Airport’s ­relentless expansion makes me fear for the city itself. It is an impressive feat, but just where will this construction stop?
• Is Scottish Government out to get ScotRail? – Alastair DaltonIt was a tale of two cities – and two entirely different perspectives on the enduring saga of ScotRail’s fortunes.

Times Online

• Boeing 737 Max jets could be banned outside US for months [Subscription]Boeing’s grounded 737 planes are unlikely to be allowed to fly outside the United States for several months, after a breakdown in trust between global and US regulators.
• Lift-off for tech floats as taxi app priced high [Subscription]Wall Street expects Lyft to raise $2.3bn from IPO
• Lord Winston demands licence plates for cyclists after street attack [Subscription]The IVF pioneer Lord Winston has called for cyclists to be forced to wear licence plates after he was attacked by a woman he had challenged for riding on the pavement.

City AM

• Tui takes €200m hit after Boeing 737 Max jets grounded following crashTravel operator Tui has taken a €200m (£172.5m) hit from the grounding of Boeing’s 737 Max planes.
• Boeing unveils software patch for 737 Max after Ethiopia and Indonesia crashesUS aircraft company Boeing has released a software patch for its 737 Max jet after 346 people were killed in crashes involving the plane in Indonesia and Ethiopia.
• Eddie Stobart keeps on trucking with revenue and profit up stronglyLogistics company Eddie Stobart grew profit 14 per cent and revenue 35 per cent last year, it announced today.
• Icelandic airline Wow Air closes operations as it fails to secure rescue dealDebt-ridden Wow Air shut operations and grounded planes this morning after a last-minute fight for funding failed, leaving thousands stranded and seeking alternative transport.
• Ford and Volkswagen to team up on development of next-generation pickup truckGerman car making giant Volkswagen has penned a deal to produce a pickup truck with US rival Ford, as discussions continue over extending an alliance between the two firms.
• Network Rail to spend £42bn on railway improvements after year of chaosNetwork Rail is to spend £42bn on the railways over the next five years after passengers endured a torrid year of delays and cancellations.

London Evening Standard

• Wow Air collapse: What to do if your flight has been cancelled Icelandic airline Wow Air has cancelled all flights after announcing it was ceasing operations.
• Not a single new Crossrail station complete and train testing on holdNone of the nine new Crossrail stations are complete and testing of the £1 billion fleet of trains in tunnels has been

Sheffield Star

• Bus, train and tram passengers in South Yorkshire will soon be able to buy their travel tickets onlineBus, train and tram passengers will soon be able to buy their travel tickets at a time to suit them, thanks to the introduction of a new online buying service.

Wolverhampton Express and Star

• Tom Watson calls for Network Rail to abandon plans for sleeper factory on Walsall-Sandwell borderTom Watson has urged residents to block plans for a controversial new sleeper factory that he says will be "terrible" for the local area.

Yorkshire Post

• Leeds Station ticket barriers will be moved to new position as part of major upgrade The arrangement of the ticket barriers will be improved as part of a huge investment in the Leeds Station concourse. Network Rail confirmed that the ticket gates would be re-aligned to improve passenger flows and reduce crowding and funneling.
• Will HS2 ever make it to Leeds? I doubt it - Yorkshire Post LettersI REFER to the article entitled “HS2 will be railway of the next generation” (The Yorkshire Post, February 19). This is yet another attempt to perpetrate the myth that HS2 is coming to Leeds when I believe it is not.

Other Regional Press

• New bus route for Penarth to hospital funded by Vale councilTHE Vale of Glamorgan Council has stepped in to support a local bus service

Coach and Bus Week

• Committed to GasNottingham City Transport Engineering Director Gary Mason talks to Andy Izatt about how a fleet of gas-fuelled double-deckers will help the operator achieve Euro VI across its entire operation by the end of this year
• Statement on TfL budget releasedOn Wednesday 20 March 2019 Transport for London (TfL) released its budget which demonstrated that its operating deficit has almost halved from £968m to £500m in 2018/2019.
• York set for 21-strong Optare Metrodecker electric fleetThe city of York will soon be home to one of the biggest electric double-decker fleets outside of London, thanks to investment from First York and funding from the City Council and Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV).
• £25m funding boost for bus retrofitsOver 1,800 buses will become Euro VI-compliant thanks to the funding. Local authorities across Britain are to benefit from a £25m bus retrofit grant.
• Accessible Transport Group ‘saved’ by council fundingAccessible Transport Group (ATG), provider of Ring and Ride and igo bus services in the West Midlands, has been saved by council funding after entering administration, the BBC has reported.

New Civil Engineer

• Heathrow expansion team working around ‘frustrating’ delays to rail accessThe government’s delay in making a decision on a southern rail connection to Heathrow has been described as “frustrating” by one of the airport’s bosses.

Rail Technology Magazine

• London mayor calls for government to devolve rail infrastructure powers and funding to TfLLondon mayor Sadiq Khan has called for the government to transfer control of rail infrastructure management to TfL and manage its devolved suburban services. Khan said the move would pave the way for a metro-style service in south and southeast London. The plan would see responsibility and...
• Network Rail to spend £42bn on railway improvements to 'restore public trust'Network Rail is to spend £42bn on the railway over the next five years in a bid to improve poor punctuality in “the biggest modernisation of our rail network in over a century.” The arm’s length body has published detailed plans outlining investment into better trains...
• ORR could cut Network Rail managers' bonuses as new regulatory policies introducedThe ORR is to introduce new regulations to hold Network Rail to account by targeting the areas that have the most serious impact on passengers and funders. The new regulatory policy will be introduced for the start of CP6, and could see senior managers lose their bonuses for missed performance...

Route One (Bus and Coach)

• UK’s first electric bus training course launchesNottingham Community Transport and its trading arm CT4N have teamed up with Midland Transport Training to pioneer and launch the first electric bus training course in the UK.
• Liverpool traffic lights will prioritise late running busesLiverpool is getting new traffic light technology that can prioritise buses that are running late.
• Will MaaS destroy public transport?ITS International’s latest conference examined the developments in the fast-changing Mobility as a Service sector
• Omnibus and Freeway connect for smarter softwareOperations and maintenance management are combined with two companies’ integration
• West Mids gets £5.5m boostThe West Midlands has received a £5.5m government award, giving a major boost to Mayor of the West Midlands Andy Street’s commitment to deliver the cleanest bus fleet in the UK outside London
• Coach and bus industry is own worst enemyA number of things have struck me in recent issues of routeone. President’s Diary [routeone/27 February] focused on the driver crisis and how Brexit may amplify the shortage.
• Liverpool to get up to 25 hydrogen busesLiverpool is to get hydrogen buses, having made a successful £6.4m bid to the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV).
• Retention is the issue‘The truth about driver shortages’ article [routeone/Big Story/13 March] is interesting and long overdue, though I believe a bigger problem is driver retention rather than recruitment.
• Rural areas to get city-style journey planning appsBuses Minister Nusrat Ghani has announced £4 million funding for a digital platform to provide location information about bus services across the country, including in rural and remote area
• NXWM bucks the bus usage trendNational Express West Midlands (NXWM) has seen a 12% increase in journeys by young people as a result of introducing half-price travel for under-18s and low-fare zones.
• First York orders 21 electricFirst York will take delivery of 21 new electric double-deckers in October, making it one of the biggest electric ‘decker fleets outside of London.
• NXWM bucks the bus usage trendNational Express West Midlands (NXWM) has seen a 12% increase in journeys by young people as a result of introducing half-price travel for under-18s and low-fare zones.
• Travel in Style with Pink PassengerRunning a successful business is enough of a challenge, so when a driver shortage throws a spanner in the works, one operator has a solution
• Burnham returns fire towards critics of GM CAZIndustry claims that £100 charge constitutes a tax on passengers are ‘simply misleading’, says Mayor

Aviation Industry

• WOW Air ceases operations after investment talks collapseAfter failing to attract investors, Icelandic ultra-LCC WOW Air ceased operations March 28. read more
• Saudia CEO: Service upgrades pay off in passenger satisfactionWith significant investments in new onboard services, Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) has seen a 20% boost in passenger satisfaction on the affected routes, CEO Jaan Albrecht said. read more
• Air China 2018 net profit rises on traffic growthImproved passenger traffic revenue helped Air China Ltd. post a 2018 net profit of CNY7.3 billion ($1.07 billion), up 1.3% from CNY7.2 billion in the previous year. read more
• Rail company says more work needed on Alitalia strategyItalian railway company Ferrovie dello Stato (FS) said more work is needed to develop a sustainable business strategy for Alitalia, the bankrupt airline it is negotiating to take over with Delta Air Lines as a potential partner. read more
• CAE to train AirAsia X A330 pilotsTraining provider CAE has signed a new five-year agreement with long-haul LCC AirAsia X to train pilots on the Airbus A330. read more

Other News Sources

• Heathrow Terminal 5 named “World’s Best” at Skytrax AwardsHeathrow Terminal 5 has been voted the “passengers’ pick”, topping the list of the world’s best airport terminals at the annual Skytrax Awards.