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

Monday, 05 March 2018

BBC News

• Traffic lights speeding up bus journeys in SwanseaGPS will track where the buses are with what time they should be at each bus stop in Swansea.

The Guardian

• Government let slip chance to retrieve £364m from CarillionCabinet Office did not pursue directors to accept proposal that could have cut cost of collapse to taxpayersThe government knew of a plan that could have retrieved more than £360m from Carillion, limiting the cost of its collapse to taxpayers and sparing pension scheme members from cuts to their retirement payouts, but did not encourage directors to pursue it.Multiple sources told the Guardian that the Cabinet Office, responsible for oversight of government contractors, did not apply any pressure on Carillion’s directors to adopt the proposals, presented by accounting firm EY in mid-December l...

Times Online

• Virgin Trains ‘punishes’ travellers as end of rail franchise looms [subscription]Virgin Trains has been accused of “zero tolerance” towards passengers who make honest mistakes such as boarding the wrong train, forcing them to pay large sums for new tickets.

City AM

• Storm Emma: Airport travel updates as Beast from the East begins to thawStorm Emma has caused several cancellations and delays across the UK's airways this week.
• Carillion inquiry: MP probes must shed more light than heat if they are to be worthwhileCarillion's former top brass yesterday pushed back against a parliamentary inquiry into the failure of the doomed contractor. They are particularly aggrieved by MPs drip-feeding information to the media alongside headline-grabbing quotes.

Network Rail

• Northern Chambers of Commerce Summit: Mark Carne discusses transport in the NorthChief Executive Mark Carne spoke to the Northern Chambers Transpennine Summit in Leeds on Tuesday 20 February.

Derby Telegraph

• Derby bus firm to probe claims its vehicles are 'dangerously noisy'A Derby bus company is to investigate claims that some its vehicles are dangerously noisy and says it will "rectify" the problem.
• National Rail announces further difficulties at Grindleford’s Totley Tunnel with hanging wires National Rail has confirmed that ice had been blocking the Totley Tunnel at Grindleford causing a railway lines closure earlier today, Sunday, March 4.

London Evening Standard

• Remarkable old Tube maps show how London Underground network has changed over the past 100 yearsThese remarkable old Tube maps reveal just how much the London Underground network has evolved over the past 100 years.

Manchester Evening News

• Axed number 88 bus service to be salvaged - but only one section of itLeaders will meet to talk about the 88 after community outcry

Metro

• Former Paralympic athlete stranded on train platform in freezing cold after station staff leave A former Paralympian has said he felt like he had been ‘abandoned’ on a platform in the freezing cold.

Newcastle Evening Chronicle

• Newcastle Airport flight cancellations and delays due to severe weatherThe Beast from the East and Storm Emma have caused disruption to flights but Newcastle Airport has returned to normal
• Newcastle leader Nick Forbes demands answers over improvements to East Coast Main LineThe Newcastle City Council leader said improvements must be delivered despite the collapse of the franchise

Sheffield Star

• Rail passengers in Sheffield to be 'sold short again' with 30-year-old carriages, claims MP Rail passengers in Sheffield will be 'sold short again' with the introduction of 'new' 30-year-old carriages, an MP says - but the claim has been dismissed by the Government.

Get West London

• West London Orbital Railway: Plans to trial electric trains with a new west London railway in mind"We are exploring battery powered trains among the options that available" - Leader of Brent Council, Councillor Muhammed Butt
• Harrow Council backing Heathrow Airport expansion 'to put borough's residents first' despite RAF Northolt oppositionThe leader of Harrow Council has joined a campaign in favour of expansion at Heathrow Airport "to put residents in his borough first."

Kent Online

• Southeastern trains return to normal after snow and ice in KentRail services have returned to normal after a week of travel chaos - but commuters may still suffer disruption.

Other Regional Press

• Bus companies to be fined £15 a day if they don't clean up polluting vehiclesBus companies will fined £15 per day per bus if their vehicles do not have cleaner engines under plans to cut air pollution in Leicester.

Construction Enquirer

• Grayling sets 2019 start for £3bn Transpennine rail upgradeTransport Secretary Chris Grayling has confirmed that work will start in Spring 2019 on a £3bn programme of upgrades to the Transpennine route.

New Civil Engineer

• Grayling: £3bn trans-Pennine 2019 start, but cost review for Crossrail 2Transport secretary Chris Grayling has said he expects the £3bn trans-Pennine rail route upgrade to start in spring 2019, however he has also set up an independent review to investigate the affordability of Crossrail 2.
• MTR vying to join Heathrow Southern Rail bidHong Kong based rail operator MTR is understood to be interested in joining the bid to build the proposed privately financed Heathrow Southern Rail link.

Rail Magazine

• Withdrawal of HSTs prompts fears of Midland Main Line stock shortfall“I do not know what stories the Labour party has been listening to. The Midland Main Line will have brand new, bi-mode trains delivered in the early 2020s, which is years ahead of what would otherwise have been the case under the original scheme.”
• More Class 345s completed ready for Crossrail dutyProduction of the initial order of 65 Class 345s for Crossrail is progressing, Bombardier told RAIL on February 28.