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

Monday, 08 February 2016

BBC News

• Road flooding as weather warnings issuedFlooding hits the M9 and a major road in Greenock, as another period of wet and windy weather affects Scotland.

Financial Times

• The art of living car-lessly in the cityNon car-owning is almost becoming a status symbol, different from greener-than-thou one-downmanship
• Network Rail urges against privatisationMinisters puzzling over how to deal with operator’s £38bn of debt
• Portugal to unwind TAP Air privatisationDeal leaves carrier under private management but gives state veto over strategy
• Uber drivers plan ‘Super Bowl’ protestFare cuts challenge could embarrass transport company

The Guardian

• London bus explosion for movie alarms onlookers fearing terror attackDoubledecker bus blown up for scene in Jackie Chan film alarms Londoners with its ‘scale and realism’A London doubledecker that exploded while crossing Lambeth Bridge in a Hollywood film stunt alarmed onlookers who feared it was a terror attack.Children in a nearby park “freaked”, according to author Sophie Kinsella, who saw the top deck of the bus blow up as it travelled towards Westminster on Sunday morning. Continue reading...
• Northern England transport planners reject 'Noyster cards'Transport for the North rules out use of ‘outdated’ smartcard ticketing, but aims to improve east-west links with trans-Pennine rail and road tunnelTravellers in the north of England will not be offered a “Noyster card”, a contactless plastic smartcard based on London’s electronic ticketing system, after officials decided the technology was outdated.Nor will a new east-west rail link be called “Crossrail for the North” after northern leaders took umbrage at the idea of a new line being named after one in the capital. Instead, the priority for the new chief executive and chair of Transport for ...

The Herald

• From leaves on the line to security alerts: why 61,500 trains were delayed or cancelled in Scotland last yearBROKEN rails, leaves on the line and overgrown trees were responsible for hundreds of train delays and cancellations in Scotland last year.

City AM

• Exasperated business bosses want second runway at Gatwick if Heathrow expansion faces further delaySENIOR business figures are demanding that the government grants Gatwick the right to build another runway, if expansion at Heathrow continues to be thwarted by political and legal obstacles.

This is Money

• GATWICK BOSS: If we choose growth at Gatwick over inertia at Heathrow, 2016 can be year Britain finally solves its airport challenge For the first time, and after decades of delays and dead ends, there is now a deliverable alternative to the UK’s air capacity question.

Birmingham Mail

• Aston Bridge repair work to start 18 months after closure Infrastructure group Amey will finally begin working on the repair of vital bridge which was forced to close in 2014 after being struck twice

Birmingham Post

• Solihull roads will be a real-life test track for smart carsMore than 40 miles of road around Solihull and Coventry will be used to test a new generation of “smart” cars

London Evening Standard

• Storm Imogen: London commuters warned to expect rail delays as Met Office issues yellow weather alertLondon's commuters have been warned to expect delays on the way into work as Storm Imogen hammers the UK with gale-force winds and heavy showers.
• Mayor plans three new cycle superhighways for LondonThe plans would see a route for cyclists built on the Westway

Newcastle Evening Chronicle

• Northern Powerhouse critics describe transport revolution a 'sham' over smartcard divideCommunters in the North East are being left behind when it comes to rail travel services and modern technology, Labour has warned

Wales Online

• Construction firms urge George Osborne to support expansion at Heathrow AirportFirms such as Balfour Beatty, Morgan Sindall and Laing O' Rourke have written to the Chancellor calling for runway expansion at Heathrow Airport

Wolverhampton Express and Star

• MPs to quiz Transport Secretary over airport decision delayTransport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin will be grilled by MPs over the Government's delay in making a final decision over airport expansion in the south east.

Yorkshire Evening Post

• Railway station revamp plan welcomed by city leadersCOUNCIL and business chiefs have welcomed plans to make Preston railway station “HS2 ready” as part of the city’s bid to join the Northern Powerhouse.
• Calls for a radical overhaul of Leeds bus servicesTransport bosses have issued a rallying call for an overhaul of bus services in Leeds and West Yorkshire - amid shouts of “what’s good enough for London is good enough for us”.

Yorkshire Post

• Appeal for county’s bus links to receive overhaulTRANSPORT BOSSES have issued a rallying call for an overhaul of bus services in West Yorkshire amid shouts of “what’s good enough for London is good enough for us”.

Blackpool Gazette

• Bus group to meet over funding cutsA new group to consider the impact of the proposal to withdraw funding for subsidised bus services will meet for the first time today.

Other Regional Press

• Permanent home needed for vital Penilee bus terminusA VITAL city bus service could cause travel chaos after housing developments forced its terminus to close.
• Monorail-style transport system is the answer to city's congestion, says businessman A RECORD producer and businessman has called for a monorail system to be installed as an answer to growing congestion problems.
• Swanage Railway has record number of passengers in 2015 A HERITAGE rail line is steaming ahead as it is revealed it carried a record-breaking 217,080 passengers during 2015.
• Ancient tree under threat from HS2 in European Tree of the Year contest The tree from South Cubbington was named this year's English Tree of the Year
• Hundreds of drivers could escape Coventry bus lane fines because of 'inadequate' signsThe council has collected more than £500,000 in fines from the Quinton road bus gate with nearly £600,000 outstanding

Construction Enquirer

• Construction giants urge Osborne to extend HeathrowBosses at some of the biggest names in construction have written to Chancellor George Osborne urging him to press ahead with expansion plans at Heathrow Airport.

Railway Gazette

• High-calibre opening for InnoTrans 2016INNOTRANS: More than 1 000 senior representatives of the railway, scientific and political...
• Rambus buys Smart Card Software LtdTICKETING: California-based semiconductor and IP products company Rambus Inc has paid �64�7m in...

Other News Sources

• Bus travel made safer in BulkingtonMAKING public travel safer has been the driving force behind a number of new additions in a village on the outskirts of Nuneaton.
• Batteries provide fresh jolt to desalination technologyEngineers at the University of Illinois are developing a desalination device that uses materials in batteries to remove salt from water. Illinois mechanical science and engineering professor Kyle Smith and graduate student Rylan Dmello published their work in the Journal of the Electrochemical Society. Smith said: “By publishing this paper, we’re introducing a new type […]
• WMG to scan Coventry’s roads for driverless pod trialDriverless pods are to be put through their paces on a simulated version of Coventry, as part of efforts to introduce autonomous vehicles to the UK. Researchers at Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) at Warwick University will use a lIDAR scan – a high resolution laser scan – of 30 miles of Coventry’s roads to test […]
• Hundreds brave cold and rain to see historic Flying Scotsman stop at Blackburn Railway Station Hundreds brave the bad weather to see the Flying Scotsman stop at Blackburn Railway Station. Running over 30 minutes late the famous locomotive was greeted with cheers and applause.
• Tributes paid to "hugely respected" bus enthusiast who dedicated his life to making travel better for passengers TRIBUTES have been paid to a