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

Wednesday, 25 January 2012

BBC News

• Western Isles firms join ferry fares campaign About 40 companies in the Western Isles have signed up to a campaign asking the Scottish government not to remove discounted ferry travel for hauliers.
• New route for Birmingham AirportRyanair announces a new route to Budapest from Birmingham Airport.
• Foreign lorries face £10 chargeA proposal to start charging foreign-registered lorries up to £10 a day to drive on the UK's roads will be unveiled later.
• A9 dualling plans go on displayPlans for making the A9 dual carriageway between Luncarty and the Tay Crossing in Perthshire are to go on public display.
• Upgrade plan for Aberdeen AirportAberdeen Airport is to get £4.25m of improvements in the coming year, as part of a £45m spend earmarked through to 2021.
• Forth Ports sells Ocean TerminalForth Ports announces the sale of its flagship shopping centre, Ocean Terminal, in Leith to a real estate investor.
• Trams 'damaging city reputation'Manchester's tram network is
• Debt crisis takes toll on SiemensGerman industrial giant Siemens reports a sharp fall in profits after the eurozone debt crisis forced customers to delay certain projects.

Financial Times

• Petroplus debt talks run out of fuelConcerns that administrators might struggle to find buyers for some plants after Europe™s largest independent refiner by capacity files for insolvency
• Strong results keep rail boom on trackRecord fourth-quarter earnings by CSX and Canadian National provide the full-year season™s first evidence of sector™s continuing health

The Herald

• Hauliers to fight ferry fares riseMORE than 40 companies in the Western Isles have launched a lobby group to campaign against the Government's decision to withdraw a new charging system for commercial vehicles, which they claim will mean up to 175% increases in ferry fares.
• Emission claims in TV bus advert criticisedA SCOTTISH transport giant has been rapped by the advertising watchdog for making
• A890 to reopen in three weeks' timeA VITAL road closed by a landslide three days before Christmas is scheduled to partially reopen in three weeks and will be back to full use a month later.
• Race is on to turn whisky by-products into biofuelA SCOTTISH company is leading the race to commercialise a process for producing biofuel made from whisky by-products.

The Scotsman

• Bus company FirstGroup guilty of misleading public over emissions advert SCOTTISH transport company FirstGroup has come under fire from the Advertising Standards Authority for claiming its buses are “low emssion” – when the carbon dioxide reductions are actually six times less than government guidelines.

The Telegraph

• Foreign lorry drivers to be charged to use British roads Foreign lorry drivers will be charged £10 a day to use British roads under Government plans for Britain's first national road pricing scheme.
• Wi-Fi access to be available on London's Tube network by this summerTransport for London has announced that commuters will be able to access the internet in advance of the London 2012 Olympic Games.
• Best-paid Tube driver is on £61,218 a yearLondon's highest paid tube driver enjoys an annual

Mail Online

• Railway to go: Thousands rush to buy Victorian guidebook A Victorian railway guidebook has become a bestseller after almost 150 years - thanks to a TV travel programme.

Belfast Telegraph

• Translink's one stop shop on customer care Translink is set to share the secret of successful engagement with customers at an event hosted by the Association for Project Management (APM). Related StoriesTesco looking to wind down furniture chainDry cleaning group buys rival for £6mAsda to create 5,000 jobs with £500m planTyrone firm lands £1m deal with the SaudisOnly £3k between top five schools

Birmingham Post

• Fall in journeys on M6 toll as economic gloom bitesThe number of people travelling on the M6toll road has fallen by more than 10 per cent after demand was hit by tough economic conditions.

Bristol Live

• Bristol Evening Post published 'An integrated transport authority would be ideal'Article

Derby Telegraph

• Bombardier 'lessons learned' on contract policy, says CableBUSINESS Secretary Vince Cable has told the Derby Telegraph that the Government has learned "the lessons from Derby" on how it gives out big contracts – including those to build trains.
• Derby Telegraph commented I wish Derby had vision to build a tram networkI FIND Neil White's column on public transport perplexing ("Public transport we can all use is route we need to follow," Opinions, January 16).
• Another three MPs support fairer deal for Bombardier bidTHE number of MPs who have signed a Parliamentary petition which calls on the Government to give city train-maker Bombardier a fairer chance of winning its next major rolling stock contract has risen to 33.

London Evening Standard

• Tory MPs condemn Tube driver's £61,000 package as 'platinum-plated deal'London's highest paid Tube driver is receiving a benefits package worth more than £61,000, an Evening Standard investigation can reveal
• Ken's promise to slash public transport fares is fraudulent, says BorisBoris Johnson has accused Ken Livingstone of making
• Petrol prices set to rocket after London's biggest oil refinery goes bustFuel retailers have warned that costs at the pump will hit a record high after Coryton refinery, on the Thames estuary, ceased deliveries

Metro

• London to Birmingham high-speed rail link: A £33bn waste of money, or not?Plans for Britain™s proposed high-speed rail link were unveiled this month. Costing more than £30billion, HS2 has been simultaneously hailed as an answer to commuters™ transport woes and criticised as a huge waste of taxpayers™ money. Metro investigates¦

Blackpool Gazette

• Tourism boss wants return of famous tramBLACKPOOL’S tourism boss is hoping to see the return of the famous Illuminations Rocket Tram for The Lights’ centenary celebrations this year.

Peterborough Telegraph

• Cyclists are sought to help charityCHILDREN’S charity Action Medical Research is looking for cyclists to sign up for its Peterborough 100 bike ride.

Other Regional Press

• Kent MPs demand urgent meeting over airportNorth Kent's MPs have joined forces to press for an urgent meeting with David Cameron on plans for a multi-billion pounds airport in the Thames Estuary.
• Vital transport link could be built by 2017A new Thames Crossing in Dartford would be the 'wrong option™ after Kent™s transport chief said he wanted it built within five years.
• Royal Deeside railway signs make thousands at auction SIGNS from the former Royal Deeside railway line have been snapped up for thousands of pounds by collectors.
• Tougher theory test for Aberdeen driversDRIVERS across the UK face tougher exams before they can take to the roads.
• Aberdeen Airport set for £45 million revampABERDEEN Airport bosses today pledged to spend £45 million on a major revamp over the next decade.

Global Rail News

• Positive news for 2012As 2012 arrives and both the Euro crises and the recession continue, our good fortune is to be in an industry that is still spending money and attracting investment. High Speed Two is headline news but Rail Alliance members will benefit from a plethora of positive developments. In his Autumn Statement, Chancellor George Osborne underlined [...]
• Thales awarded signalling contract for Hong Kong airport APMThales has been awarded a contract by IHI Corporation to re-signal the automated people mover (APM) located within Hong Kong international airport, with a state-of-the-art solution. Thales will supply its radio-based SelTrac CBTC system for the existing lines and for a planned extension to the Midfield Concourse, which will service a third runway. The CBTC technology will also be [...]
• Alstom™s orders ˜remained sound™ during 2011Over the third quarter 2011/12 (from 1 October to 31 December 2011), Alstom registered orders of €4.9 billion, ‘confirming the sustained commercial activity of the past four quarters’. Thermal Power booked the same level of orders as in the previous quarter (€1.9 billion), benefiting from successes in Iraq and Poland. Renewable Power booked €0.3 billion [...]
• c2c alliance ˜builds on industry leading performance™National Express train operator c2c has signed and started a new and innovative alliance with Network Rail. Building on c2c™s ‘industry leading performance in train punctuality and customer satisfaction’, the alliance will deliver new cost savings and put further improved passenger benefits at the forefront of joint decision-making. c2c and Network Rail already have in [...]

Other News Sources

• Ticket Office Mystery Shop Survey London TravelWatch report shows the promised presence of visible and helpful gateline staff at tube stations has failed to materialise in many cases, following the recent reduction in Underground station ticket office opening hours.
• Ticket Office Mystery Shop Survey London TravelWatch report shows the promised presence of visible and helpful gateline staff at tube stations has failed to materialise in many cases, following the recent reduction in Underground station ticket office opening hours.
• Metro cleaners lobby Tyne & Wear transport chiefs over fares scandalCampaign wins '100 per cent support' from Northern TUC
• RHA welcomes Justine Greening's appointment of Nick Denton as Traffic CommissionerThe Road Haulage Association welcomes the news that Secretary of State for Transport, Justine Greening has appointed Nick Denton as Traffic Commissioner for the South Eastern and Metropolitan Area and Kevin Rooney as Commissioner for the North Eastern Area.
• Optare to build on bus move from Blackburn to YorkshireOPTARE™S move out of Blackburn to Yorkshire might not signal the end of all bus production in the town.
• Maersk Line to join Port of Gothenburg™s fuel switch programme Précis:  Maersk Line has become the first container carrier to join Port of Gothenburg's fuel switch programme.   The aim of the programme is to reduce sulphur emissions by 90% within the port control area. Maersk Line announced the fuel switch programme will be implemented on all its vessels calling at the Port of Gothenburg. Image:  Premium`:  No read mor...
• Staffordshire beefs up roads budgetStaffordshire County council will hand an additional £20 million to contractors for road maintenance projects staring in April.
• CH2M Hill named as HS2 delivery partnerHS2 Ltd has announced the proposed appointment of CH2M Hill as its development partner for the next phase of engineering, design and environmental work on the first phase of the £32bn scheme.