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

Thursday, 19 January 2017

BBC News

• ScotRail 'can't vouch' for passenger compensation schemeScotRail bosses
• Southern rail 'full service' to resume next weekTrain drivers suspend their walkouts, with a full timetable in place on Tuesday, the company says.
• London's congestion charge must be reformed, report findsLondon's congestion charge should target vehicles which add to congestion the most, a report finds.
• Korean Air used electric stun gun on five passengersKorean Air is believed to be the only major airline that routinely carries electric stun guns on its planes.

Department for Transport

• New opportunities offered as details of new rail franchise are releasedGovernment releases details of new West Coast Partnership rail franchise.

Financial Times

• Southern to offer full train service next weekRail operator has not been running normal timetable since December 6
• Italy’s state railway buys struggling Greek operatorBailout lenders press Athens to speed up privatisation programme
• Etihad chief stands by long-haul investmentsJames Hogan fights back as group denies plans to take stake in Germany’s Lufthansa

The Guardian

• Southern rail: could more commuters claim a credit card refund?One passenger recovered half his season ticket cost from Amex. We examine the chances of others following himSeason ticket holders on strike-hit train lines could be in line for thousands of pounds in compensation after one commuter successfully claimed £2,400 back from his credit card company.The regular commuter on Southern trains, known only as “Sean”, applied to American Express for a 50% refund claiming non-delivery of the service. But how did he manage it, and does this mean that thousands of other commuters can do the same? Continue reading...

The Herald

• Union calls for public control of bus routes, fares and timetablesBUS passengers in Scotland face a worse deal and poorer travelling experience than the public in England unless local authorities are given power to take control over routes, timetables and fares, a major union has claimed.

The Telegraph

• East Wind train blows in from China to re-open Silk Road trail
• Southern Rail to restore full timetable next week

Times Online

• Union suspends three-day Southern strike for talks [Subscription]Southern Rail will restore a full train service for long-suffering commuters from Tuesday after a drivers’ union suspended planned industrial action.
• Slow train from China to Britain pulls in for the first time [Subscription]After 18 days crossing seven countries and 7,500 miles, a train stuffed with £4 million worth of socks, cloth, bags and suitcases pulled into Barking yesterday afternoon.

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• Bradford to be UK’s 2017 'cycle city' as major conference heads to district A NATIONAL conference pushing for Britain to become a Dutch-style cycling society is heading to Bradford this year.

London Evening Standard

• Southern rail to run full service next week and suspends three days of walkouts Southern Rail's hundreds of thousands of long-suffering passengers were today promised the return of a full train service - but not until next week.
• Bank Junction: Black cab drivers surround Parliament Square in third day of protestBlack cabs surrounded Parliament Square on Wednesday afternoon in an ongoing dispute over the closure of a busy junction to traffic.
• London congestion charge should be scrapped as it is no longer 'fit for purpose,' report warnsSadiq Khan should bring in radical plans for 'intelligent' road user pricing to tackle growing congestion across London, an influential report said today.

Newcastle Evening Chronicle

• 'We're cut off': Student launches petition for nightly bus service to South TynesideAdele Smith believes many in areas such as Boldon, Cleadon, and South Shields share her frustration

The York Press

• New Flying Scotsman opportunities in York next month STEAM rides and footplate experiences on Flying Scotsman will be highlights of the half-term week of February Family Fun at the National Railway Museum in York.
• Calls for changes on busy York road after flurry of crashes A COUPLE living next to an accident blackspot fear someone will be seriously injured or killed and are calling for road changes.

Wales Online

• Arriva Trains Wales has bought a virtual reality simulator to improve passenger safetyIt was created using computer game technology
• Cardiff's most dangerous 30mph roads revealed These are the 30mph streets with the most accidents in 2015

East Anglian Daily Times

• Halesworth rail crossing could still be closed – unless it is used safelyWork will be carried out next week to install gates at a station crossing on the east Suffolk rail line after campaigners fought off moves to close it.

Other Regional Press

• New fares set for bus routes in HampshireStagecoach has announced ticket price increases for customers travelling across Hampshire.
• Second Gosport ferry sold to be a party boatA BOAT which carried thousands of people across Portsmouth Harbour for nearly half a century has been sold.

Buying Business Travel

• Flybe adds London City-Cardiff route to summer scheduleAirline will operate two flights a day, seven days a week
• Gatwick plans to be carbon neutral by springGatwick aims to be carbon neutral by the spring.The airport has joined more than 80 global companies in a programme designed to generate a “massive increase” in the demand for renewable electricity.
• Etihad: no plans to invest in LufthansaCEO James Hogan rejects claims he’s looking to acquire a stake in German airline
• Chiltern Railways and SilverRail trial ‘ticket-free’ travelPassengers automatically charged the best price for the day

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• New ticket hall and entrance open at Victoria StationJourneys through Victoria Underground station are set to become easier as a new North ticket hall, a key part of the £700m project to upgrade Victoria Tube station, has opened. A new entrance on Victoria Street, at the junction of Bressenden Place, near Cardinal Place, is now open and leads to the ticket hall and Victoria line. ‎The entrance means that customers can now easily exit the station onto Victoria Street without having to cross the series of busy road junctions outside the station. Victoria, the fourth busiest Tube station, currently serves more than 82 million customer jou...
• FirstGroup increases use of alternative fuels•        2016 sees 1,300% increase in FirstGroup’s Euro VI bus mileage in the UK •        63 million miles travelled by greener alternative fuel vehicles in USA and Canada Figures from FirstGroup demonstrate an expanded use of latest-generation bus engines and alternative fuel sources across the company’s fleets in 2016. Over the past 12 months, the transport operator has increased its use of alternative fuels, such as biodiesel, gas, and electric engines. The company has also ramped up its investment in Euro VI bus engines in th...
• New 24 hour HGV refuelling site opens at Port of LiverpoolCertas Energy, working in partnership with Peel Ports Group, hosted the grand opening of the new state-of-the-art HGV refuelling site at the Port of Liverpool. Accompanied by port users, the launch celebrated the significant investment in the site and the recognition of the Certas Energy and Peel Ports Group partnership to complete the project. Following twelve weeks of construction, the site will now provide diesel, gas oil and AdBlue® for port users. High speed pumps that pump 120 litres of fuel per minute will allow eight vehicles to fill up at the same time.   To mark the grand o...

Rail Magazine

• CCTV footage highlights level crossing dangersNetwork Rail and British Transport Police release new incidents of crossing misuse
• Maynard: Sheffield tram-train on scheduleThe tram-train project in Sheffield is “on track and on schedule”, says Rail Minister Paul Maynard.
• Passengers deserve better informationTrain operating companies (TOCs) and Network Rail need to improve passenger information, according to Rail Minister Paul Maynard on January 16.
• Chinese freight train arrives in UKThe first container train travelling between China and the UK arrived at DB Cargo’s London Eurohub terminal at Barking today (January 18).
• Grayling: Opposition “do not care”Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling has accused Labour of not caring, regarding the continued industrial action on Southern.

Rail Technology Magazine

• DLR's KeolisAmey set to run Manchester MetrolinkGreater Manchester’s Metrolink network is set to be run by a new joint venture partnership starting from this summer up until 2027. KeolisAmey, a partnership between transport operator Keolis and infrastructure specialist Amey – the same team in charge of London’s DLR –...
• RMT agrees revised pay deal with NorthernThe RMT has agreed a revised deal with Northern over worker pay, leading the union to halt its current vote for industrial action against the franchise. The rail union started balloting its members two weeks ago on whether they wished to take strike action over what it had called an...

Railnews

• Government gives way on HS2 blight claims Transport secretary Chris Grayling has told MPs that HS2 continues to be 'worthy of Parliament�s support', but he has also revealed that some claims for compensation have been reconsidered. He was commenting on the latest report from the House of Lords about the project, which concentrates on the implications of the construction of Phase 1 of the high speed line between London and Birmingham. The purpose of the Committee, which was set up in May last year, was to hear petitions from people who feared they would be affected by HS2, and it has heard some 600 cases.
• Chinese railfreight containers arrive in London The first container train travelling between China and the UK has arrived at Barking in east London after making a 12,000km journey across Asia and Europe before arriving in Britain via the Channel Tunnel. The train, carrying textiles and other consumer goods, was operated by the InterRail Group on behalf of China Railway subsidiary CRIMT, and DB Cargo worked the final section from Duisberg to London.

Aviation Industry

• Gatwick’s carbon neutral commitment excludes 99% of emissionsGatwick Airport announced today its participation in a global renewable electricity alliance designed to generate increased demand for renewable electricity, alongside plans to become ‘carbon neutral’ by the spring. Gatwick will be the first UK airport to join the RE100 …
• AerCap handles transactions covering 458 aircraft in 2016Dublin-headquartered leasing giant AerCap leased, purchased and sold a total of 458 aircraft in 2016 and signed $4.6 billion in financing transactions. read more
• DOT proposes new baggage fee disclosure rules In the last week of the Obama Administration, the US Department of Transportation (DOT) proposed that airlines and ticket agents be required to disclose specific baggage fees when providing airfare information. read more

Green Miscellany

• Hierarchy to help transport engineers get priorities in orderJust as the refrain reduce, reuse, recycle has been adopted by environmentalists worldwide to prioritise steps towards more sustainable practice, so the transport engineering sector has its own equivalent – the Transport Hierarchy. Developed by Duncan Kay and Daniel Kenning, engineers with decades of experience in the field, and published by the Institute of Mechanical Engineers (IMeche), the Transport Hierarchy report is designed as… The post Hierarchy to help transport engineers get priorities in order appeared first on ETA.

Other News Sources

• KeolisAmey appointed to 10-year Manchester Metrolink operations contractTransport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has appointed a Keolis / Amey joint venture to operate the city’s Metrolink tram system.
• Southern Rail to restore full train service after drivers' union strike suspended Drivers' union ASLEF and the RMT had both originally planned to strike next week but ASLEF pulled out in a last minute decision
• Wheelchair user win partial victory over bus firm
• Consumer expert believes floodgates could open on Southern season ticket refunds MONEY expert Martin Lewis has offered a lifeline to beleaguered Southern commuters.