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

Monday, 08 March 2010

BBC News

• Train to be named after the University of Worcester A new train is to be named after The University of Worcester in honour of it gaining university status five years ago, First Great Western has announced.
• City to get £270,000 bike lock-up A new £270,000 facility for cyclists is to be built in York city centre.

Financial Times

• Mandarins park cars in name of prudenceTravelling to work on public transport could save up to £80,000 per year for each top civil servant, giving a lead in cutting public spending in austere times
• Forth Ports battle looms as it rejects bid The two offers by a consortium for the UK port operator “ one valuing the port and property group at £612m “ have been rejected by the management, believing they undervalue the company
• Shippers blamed for price volatility MSC chief says shipping lines' customers abused industry overcapacity to stir up price competition
• Shenzhen Air president is replaced The airline's president, Li Kun, has been removed from his role and is under investigation for 'economic crimes'

The Guardian

• £15m station entrance approved Are plans a brave bid to ease congestion at station - or a £15m white elephant?
• The painful limits of localism As the high-speed rail plans prove, the latest Tory attempt to distinguish between the national and the local is essential
• Tube PPP may cost taxpayers £400m¢ LU says firm should put up cash needed for upgrades¢ Operator warns it will be forced to make cuts to fill gapLondon Underground has warned that taxpayers are on the verge of being saddled with the £400m cost of keeping alive the controversial public-private partnership to repair the capital's tube network.The tube PPP is one of the most controversial legacies of Gordon Brown's tenure as chancellor due to a complex structure that lets the private sector have considerable influence over a major public asset.An exchange of letters between LU, the government and the PPP contract referee, seen b...

The Herald

• Utility and futility ... just when will the tram saga terminate? At Edinburgh’s Haymarket, whose entrails have been exposed for much longer than is decent, one tram worker stands watching his colleagues by the side of the road.
• Adonis: Scotland won™t miss out on high-speed revolutionHigh-speed trains will operate between London and Scotland years before the construction of a multi-billion-pound track, under plans due to be announced this week.

The Independent

• Business Diary: Tories in trouble over Heathrow The Institute of Directors today offers tacit support to the Conservatives with a business manifesto calling for immediate steps to cut the deficit. One demand will cause problems: the IoD wants the next Government to agree to a third runway at Heathrow, to which the Tories are implacably opposed.

The Telegraph

• 'Capacity crisis looms for Britain's railways' The boss of Virgin Trains has called on the Government to embrace new financing techniques to address a looming capacity shortage on the railways.
• London cab drivers to be told when to shut up London black cab drivers, famous for their willingness to share their opinions, may soon be given training on when to keep quiet.
• High-speed rail link plans to be announced Details of a 250mph rail network capable of taking passengers from London to Birmingham in three-quarters of an hour are expected to be unveiled this week.

Press Association

• Stagecoach profit stays on track Transport firm Stagecoach spotted a light at the end of the recessionary tunnel as it said rail revenues improved in line with a slight upturn in the economy.

Liverpool Post

• Bus and train group Stagecoach says growth remains on track STAGECOACH, the bus and trains group which owns 49% of the Virgin Trains West Coast Mainline rail link service between Liverpool and London, today said like-for-like revenue growth was in line with forecasts for the period from November 1, 2009.

London Evening Standard

• Stagecoach makes more from bus and rail faresStagecoach today said revenues from fares at its bus and rail businesses were growing despite the severe weather early in the year.

Yorkshire Evening Post

• Leeds City railway station: Entrance plans approved Plans for a new £15m southern entrance to Leeds City railway station have been approved – despite a councillor's fears it will be no more than a white elephant.

Other News Sources

• Why not try ganging up on rail firm? I write in response to Mr Turner's recent letter regarding the response from First Great Western to a complaint.
• Plan could see station closed at weekends WHITCHURCH station ticket office could close all weekend in new proposals from South West Trains.
• Arriva talks with SNCF are finished ARRIVA has called off talks with SNCF, the French state railway group, over an equity tie-up with its transport unit Keolis.
• Let's not be eager for new trains yet I refer to your article Blow for rail passengers as trains plan is delayed, March 1, regarding the delay for new trains on the Great Western Line.
• Public get look at roundabout plans Transport planners have laid out proposals to improve safety and cut congestion at one of the district™s worst bottlenecks at the beginning of a major consultation.

News from Europe

• High speed tunnels broken through GERMANY: Federal Transport Minister Peter Ramsauer, DB Chief Executive Rüdiger Grube and Sachsen-Anhalt Transport Minster Karl-Heinz Daehre watched the breakthrough of the 6 466 m western bore of the Bibra tunnel on March 3. The 6 970 m Finne tunnel was also holed through on the same day.