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

Thursday, 17 August 2017

BBC News

• Stranded: What happens if you can't pay your way home?The story of 16-year-old India Ballancore, who was gifted the £85 cost of a train ticket home by a kind-hearted stranger after she had missed her service, has captured the imagination of people on social media.
• Birmingham Airport luggage delays unacceptable, says familyMore baggage handlers are being trained at Birmingham Airport after complaints about delays over the summer.
• Rail fares: Commuters to pay £100 more in 2018Analysis of six cities finds average season ticket price will increase to £2,840.
• Can you spot the border crossings?BBC News NI travels along the Cavan Road, which crosses the Irish border four times in ten minutes.
• TfL 'wastes' £45m on London Underground redundancy payoutsMore than 800 people were made redundant following the ticket office closure plan, but 325 jobs were reintroduced.
• Ryanair accuses Lufthansa of Air Berlin 'conspiracy'Ryanair accuses Lufthansa and the German government of colluding to carve up the failed airline.

Department for Transport

• Transport apprenticeships celebrated ahead of A-level results dayTransport Minister John Hayes meets Heathrow apprentices and celebrates A-level results day.

Financial Times

• Optimism over electric cars sparks rare earthsKey metals soar more than 50% this year, lifting profits of Chinese producers
• Failed Ryanair Ukraine deal is a blow to pro-western leadershipKiev officials desperately need to attract foreign investment to boost growth
• Moller-Maersk puts cost of cyber attack at up to $300mContainer shipping conditions best since financial crisis, says Danish conglomerate
• Air Berlin collapse threatens to clip rivals’ wingsLufthansa’s talks for parts of carrier’s business called ‘a conspiracy’ by Ryanair
• Uber crafts share sale plan to prop up valuationInvestors could pair new shares with cut-price stock from existing holders

The Guardian

• UK car buyers turn to secondhand vehiclesFigures suggesting new car market is cooling could alleviate concerns over credit bubble in motor financeThe British car market is coming under increasing pressure as consumers turn away from buying new models after a squeeze on earnings, favouring secondhand cars instead. Figures show the number of used cars bought using finance increased by 7% in June compared with the same month a year ago, according to the Finance and Leasing Association, which represents about 86% of borrowing against vehicles in the UK. Continue reading...
• Trains are too expensive. But transport’s real problem is subsidies for London | Wanda WyporskaLarger rail and bus subsidies for the capital and south-east mean many on low incomes lose out. The government needs to prioritise transport in poorer areasIf there is one piece of news guaranteed to draw ire from embattled commuters, it is the annual hiking of season rail ticket fares. As anyone forced to endure the nightmarish vagaries of public transport can attest, whatever the cost of a seat (if you’re lucky enough to get a seat), commuting on trains that are often overcrowded and late rarely feels like value for money. With price hikes of 3.6% now expected for many – the biggest annual i...

The Herald

• Azuma train on track to cut London-Edinburgh journey times visits ScotlandA new high-speed train aimed at cutting rail journeys between London and Edinburgh to four hours has travelled to Scotland for the first time.

The Telegraph

• EasyJet 'putting passengers at risk' by scheduling too many flights, French pilots say

Times Online

• Bring back the bendy bus, transport chiefs urged [Subscription]The “bendy buses” so hated by Boris Johnson would cut journey times and provide better disabled access if they returned to London’s streets, an influential committee has suggested.
• Al-Qaeda calls for jihadists in the West to derail trains [Subscription]Al-Qaeda is telling supporters to target trains with homemade “derailment devices” to inflict mass casualties and regain the prominence it has lost to Isis.

City AM

• A ‘truly global Britain’ would abolish air passenger dutyAirlines play a fundamental role in connecting the UK to the world.
• BMW brings Fiat Chrysler on board its driverless car collaboration with Intel and MobileyeFiat Chrysler has become the latest name to sign up to BMW's collaborative driverless car project.
• Danish shipping giant Maersk says June's cyber attack will cost it up to $300mShipping giant Maersk said today it still expects full-year underlying profit to top last year's, despite the fact it will take a financial hit of up to $300m (£233m) from a massive cyber attack in June.
• Five technologies Transport for London is testing to change bus travel by improving safetyTransport for London is testing out new technologies on the capital's public transport that could bring sound warnings to buses, like those found on reversing trucks, to improve safety.
• The death of presenteeism is the birth of flexible workingAs you're reading this article, perhaps trundling along in a crowded Tube carriage, try to imagine a saner, less stressful way of working.

Daily Record

• High-speed train rolls into Scotland as Virgin looks to cut Edinburgh to London travel to four hours The Azuma uses technology developed from Japan's world famous bullet trains.

Mail Online

• High-tech airport-style body scanners are being trialed on the LA subway to test for explosive compounds Los Angeles officials are running a two-day trial of new scanning technology that aims to spot firearms and explosives being carried onto the subway.

The Mirror

• Foreign-backed investors are pocketing £200m a year from Britain's privatised railways just by leasing them trainsForeign-backed speculators are making £200m a year out of Britain’s privatised railways just by leasing trains to train operating companies, official figures reveal. An analysis of government data by the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union shows that rail users could see a fare cut of 2.1% if the ‘rip-off’ was ended.

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• New study looks at costs and benefits of ambitious rail tunnel cycle path planEXPERTS can’t yet tell whether it would be good value-for-money to turn a disused railway tunnel into a new cycle route, a new study shows.

London Evening Standard

• New high-speed train due to cut travel times from London to Edinburgh makes first trip to ScotlandA new high-speed train aimed at slashing journey time between London and Edinburgh to four hours has travelled to Scotland for the first time.
• TfL 'spent £45m on redundancy payouts for 800 staff members' over ticket office closuresTransport for London has reportedly spent about £45m making more than 800 people redundant over a controversial plan to close ticket offices.

Yorkshire Evening Post

• Plea to rail bosses to rethink ‘flawed’ proposed changes to railway timetables in YorkshireThe controversial timetable changes proposed for May 2018 will build on a planned new structure for which will take effect from December this year.

Yorkshire Post

• The Yorkshire Post Says: As rail fares skyrocket, Northern must remember it's running a public service IN the week that it was confirmed that rail commuters will face a 3.6 per cent fare increase in 2018, the highest for five years, it’s even more important that train operators like Northern recognise that they’re supposed to be providing a public service. If only this was the case.

East Anglian Daily Times

• Ipswich station up for national award after a transformational yearIpswich railway station has been nominated for a prestigious award as we near the end of a year when it has been transformed by a £2m facelift.

North Wales Live

• Merseyrail staff member allegedly assaulted on train Services had to be cancelled and were subject to delays

Peterborough Telegraph

• Train derailment causes week of delaysA freight train which derailed has blocked a major railway line linking Peterborough with a number of cities.

Other Regional Press

• One in ten UK holidaymakers stopped at airports due to misplaced techMore than one in ten UK holidaymakers have misplaced an electronic device in their luggage, resulting in them being stopped by airport security, according to a new report.
• Find another route, HS2 protesters toldCampaigners have been told by HS2 bosses to come up with alternative routes for construction traffic building the high speed rail line.
• YOUR VIEWS: Commuters on the 2 week station closure and bus replacement serviceCOMMUTERS have given a mixed reaction to having to use replacement buses from Bolton train station.

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• Transport for London awards new cleaning contract to ABM UK (Image Source: FMJ) Transport for London (TfL) has announced that it has awarded a five-year contract for the provision of cleaning and associated services to ABM UK - guaranteeing 2,800 people will receive the London Living Wage. The contract includes the cleaning of Tube stations and trains, bus depots, head office buildings and the London Transport Museum. It is one of six facilities management contracts that have been consolidated from 50 as part of TfL's work to deliver the Mayor's plans to improve public transport whilst reducing day-to-day operating costs and delivering the best pos...
• New technology trials to transform bus safety in London (Image Source: Alexander Dennis) Transport for London has announced plans to test new safety technology on London buses. Automatic braking and audible warning systems will be trialled alongside measures including new mirrors to improve the driver’s vision.  Earlier this year the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, set out a ‘Vision Zero’ approach to road danger in his draft transport strategy. It aims for no one to be killed in or by a London bus by 2030, and for deaths and serious injuries from road collisions to be eliminated from London’s streets by 2041. All of th...

Rail Magazine

• The number of escalators on Crossrail escalatesMore than half of all escalators on the Crossrail project have been installed, with a special timelapse video released showing the progress.

Rail Technology Magazine

• Free Public WiFi at Cardiff Central Railway Station Travellers expect Wi-Fi connection at every stage of their journey. Arriva Trains wanted to further improve what Cardiff Station offered by installing a free Wi-Fi service so that travellers could easily check e-mails, catch up with friends and famil…
• Thieves make off with £90,000 of copper wire from railway in StaffordshireThieves have stolen more than £90,000 worth of copper wire from the railway over the past six weeks in Staffordshire, Network Rail has today stated. Around 3,650 metres of copper cable was removed by criminals, and police believe that the power, signalling and communications wire was...
• Atkins awarded £29m deal for innovative Anglia re-signalling programmeNetwork Rail today announced that Atkins has been awarded a £29m contract for re-signalling of the Norwich-Yarmouth-Lowestoft route. The company will provide a full suite of GRIP 5-8 design, engineering, construction, testing and commissioning services for the project, which aims to bring...
• NR recovery operation after Ely derailment set to cause more disruptionNetwork Rail has today been working to lift a derailed train off the track in Ely, which has been causing serious disruption over the last few days. Eleven carriages of a freight train came off the tracks at Queen Adelaide near the Ely North junction on Monday, and has since blocked the line and...

Railnews

• Platforms reopen after Waterloo derailment Disruption has eased at London Waterloo today after one bogie of a Class 456 unit derailed as it was leaving Platform 13 about 05.40 yesterday, tilting the leading driving car into the side of wagons involved in this month™s blockade. No one was injured, but the incident caused serious disruption to services, while an unrelated points failure meant that the former international platforms 20 to 24 were also isolated. Other incidents which have been disrupting services include a slow-speed buffer stops collision at King™s Cross and a derailed freight train near Ely.

Aviation Industry

• Ryanair adds more connecting flightsIrish LCC Ryanair has doubled its connecting flights at Milan Bergamo from 25 to 50 routes, marking the latest step in a wider expansion in Ryanair-to-Ryanair connections.
• London Stansted and Manchester airports to swap CEOsUK airports operator Manchester Airports Group (MAG) is rolling out a £1 billion ($1.3 billion) investment program and swapping the CEOs of Manchester and London Stansted airports into one another's roles.
• Surging expenses drive down US airlines' 1H 2017 earningsUS airlines' expenses grew at more than twice the rate of revenue in the 2017 first half, leading to a 23.3% year-over-year (YOY) decline in pre-tax profitability. read more

Other News Sources

• Crossrail: All you need to know about the multi-billion pound project as it nears completion From tunnelling and tracks, to new trains and stations.... the countdown to the Elizabeth line begins
• Call for speed traps after fatal A259 crash CALLS have been made to tackle drivers speeding on the A259 after a woman was run over and killed near a pelican crossing.