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

Wednesday, 28 March 2018

BBC News

• TfL proposes advanced driving test for private hire driversPrivate hire drivers may have to sit extra tests as TfL aims to improve passenger safety.
• Tesla and Nvidia shares fall amid driverless car doubtsShares in Tesla and Nvidia dive amid fresh worries about the promise of self-driving car technology.
• Megabus ads promising £1 seats are bannedThe advertising watchdog finds as few as one seat per coach was available for the bargain price.

Department for Transport

• Government announces £48 million for cleaner, greener busesNew Ultra-Low Emission Bus Scheme to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The Guardian

• Hydrogen-powered transport key to climate targets, says ShellPlanes and trucks powered by hydrogen will be a crucial part of efforts to cut carbon emissions to safe levels, according to oil giant Shell.
• ​Jaguar to supply 20,000 cars to Google's self-driving spin-off WaymoJaguar Land Rover is to supply up to 20,000 of its new electric I-Pace cars to Waymo, a subsidiary of Google owner Alphabet,to be converted into self-driving vehicles for its ride-hailing service.
• EasyJet announces Berlin expansion and new long-haul link-upsAirline in talks with other carriers to allow booking of more connecting flightsEasyJet Europe, the sister airline set up to preserve easyJet after Brexit, has accelerated its growth by announcing rapid expansion in Berlin and new long-haul connections at Paris and Amsterdam.The easyJet chief executive, Johan Lundgren, said: “There’s no doubt that the growth potential is in Europe. The UK will always be a critical market, but we have more to go at in the European mainland.â€� Continue reading...

The Scotsman

• ScotRail Alliance to invest £400,000 in cycling facilities The Scotrail Alliance (a close working relationship between Abellio ScotRail and Network Rail Scotland Route) has announced that they will spend £400,000 on improving access and facilities for cyclists at Scotland’s railway stations.

The Telegraph

• Megabus £1 fare ads banned as watchdog rules low price did not apply to 'significant proportion of seats'
• Qantas chief floats 'cargo class' concept for Australia-to-Britain flights

Times Online

• Stagecoach heading on right route [Subscription]Recent bad weather has dampened sales on Stagecoach’s bus routes, but its rail operations reported growth as the company continues talks with government about restructuring the struggling east coast franchise.
• Drivers of eco-friendly cars hit with road tax increases [Subscription]Eight out of ten owners of new cars will be forced to pay more road tax after the Treasury abolished discounts for many eco-friendly vehicles.
• Jaguar sets pace with self-driving car [Subscription]Britain’s largest carmaker is to develop an upmarket self-driving electric vehicle with Alphabet, the American technology group that owns Google.
• Easyjet VIP flight ejects very inebriated personDrunken air passengers are never a pleasant addition to a flight. However, when the plane is carrying the airline’s chief executive, half a dozen journalists and landing in front of a crowd of VIPs, they can be particularly unwelcome.

City AM

• Uber has applied for an e-money licence in the Netherlands to streamline European paymentsUber has submitted an application for an e-money licence in the Netherlands, where its international headquarters is based, to streamline its payment process.
• Launch of new routes means Easyjet is now Berlin's largest airlineEasyjet has branded itself as Berlin’s “home airline” following the launch of its largest-ever summer schedule that will see eight new routes added from Tegel airport from this summer.
• What you need to know about the 48-hour DLR strike starting today as TfL warns of wider disruption to Tube lines and stationsTransport for London (TfL) has warned a 48-hour DLR strike starting today is set to cause wider disruption for London travel with a number of Tube lines and stations expected to be affected as a result of the walkout.

The Mirror

• Paralysed TV presenter left abandoned on empty easyJet plane for 40 MINUTES when Gatwick staff 'took away wheelchair' Channel 4 Paralaympics presenter Sophie Morgan, 33, was left on her plane for 40 minutes by EasyJet staff at Gatwick

Birmingham Mail

• HS2 high speed rail services could be run by a publicly-owned operator, says Chris GraylingTransport Secretary Chris Grayling indicates shift away from rail privatisation and suggests a partnership with majority public ownership could run HS2 trains

Bolton News

• Car headlights really are too brightBEING classed as an older driver, I just thought that age was to blame when I increasingly found car headlights dazzling at night.

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• Bradford pollution causing 40 per cent of childhood asthmas, study reveals SCIENTISTS are claiming air pollution may be responsible for nearly 40 per cent of childhood asthma cases in Bradford following recent studies.

London Evening Standard

• DLR strike latest: Commuters braced for chaos as 48-hour walkout beginsThousands of Londoners are braced for chaotic journeys to work this morning as a 48-hour strike on the Docklands Light Railway gets under way.
• British Paralympic athlete Sophia Warner 'asked to prove disability' while boarding EasyJet flightA British Paralympian said she was left devastated after she was told to "prove" she had a disability as she boarded a flight at an airport in Italy.

The York Press

• Transport body's first meetingTRANSPORT for the North will hold its first public board meeting next week.

Crewe Chronicle

• Bus service changes come into force next week Cheshire East say subsidised and commercial services are affected

East Anglian Daily Times

• Six East Anglian companies shaping the future of transportFrom cars made of plants to a transport app which knows how you take your coffee, East Anglian companies are pushing the boundaries of transport – both public and private – to reform it for the coming decades. Bethany Whymark looks at innovative companies driving change in the industry.
• Ipswich Buses to launch contactless paymentsIpswich buses has announced it is going contactless - meaning passengers can pay for their fare with just a touch of their bank card.

Other Regional Press

• Would-be cyclists scared off by Oxford's 'unsafe' roads as riders call for cycle lane network WOULD-BE cyclists scared to get on the saddle because of Oxford’s ‘unsafe’ roads joined experienced riders in calling for joined-up network of continuous cycle lanes across the city.

Rail Technology Magazine

• UK's first ever self-drive mainline train runs on Thameslink routeThameslink passengers have this week been given a ride on the first self-drive train journey on the UK mainline network. The technology will be used in the future along with Network Rail’s new digital signalling system to run a train between London St Pancras and London Blackfriars every...
• TfL successfully expands testing of CBTC signalling system to Baker Street junctionTfL yesterday announced that it had successfully expanded the testing of its new Tube signalling system which will be used on the Circle, District, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines. The system, which is already in use on the Northern and Jubilee lines, was tested from Hammersmith...
• Team Orange completes drainage work at Potters Bar stationMajor work to improve the drainage at Potters Bar station to reduce the risk of flooding to the subway. Network Rail completed the work using a £300,000 investment as part of the Railway Upgrade Plan. Engineers replaced old pieces of track with newer ones in order to protect the subway...
• Multimillion-pound Alloa line electrification works beginMajor upgrade work on the Sterling-Alloa route is set to begin this weekend. Hundreds of engineers will work over 16,000 hours during the four-week works to deliver a multimillion pound upgrade to prepare the Alloa line for electrification. The work forms part of the Scottish government-funded...

Railnews

• Falling franchise earnings trigger emergency support The Department for Transport has needed an additional £60 million from the Treasury to balance its books for rail franchises in the current financial year, saying that industrial action is partly to blame. Another £188 million has been obtained by raiding other transport budgets. The total additional support amounts to £248.7 million, a figure which RMT general secretary Mick Cash has described as a ˜scandal™.
• TfL orders more trains for Elizabeth Line Five more trains have been ordered by Transport for London for the Elizabeth Line, taking the total size of the future fleet to 70. Bombardier said the contract for the extra trains, which will be built in Derby, is worth approximately £73 million. The 45 additional vehicles will be formed into five 9-car units, taking the total of vehicles to 630.

Railway Gazette

• Siemens and Alstom sign agreement for ‘the birth of a new champion’INDUSTRY: A business combination agreement for the proposed merger of Siemens’ Mobility division...

The Business Desk

• Bombardier wins £73m deal for more London trainsDerby-based train-maker Bombardier has received a £73m order from Transport for London (TfL) for five more Bombardier Aventra trains to be used on the capital’s new Elizabeth line.

RMT

• Call for meet with German Transport Minister over NorthernOn the eve of the next 24 hour phase of strike action on Northern Rail in the dispute over guards and rail safety, RMT has confirmed that it has written to the German transport minister seeking an urgent meeting aimed at breaking the current deadlock.

Aviation Industry

• EU passenger rights audit to be completed in 2018The application of Europe’s passenger-rights rules—often referred to as EU261—is being scrutinized by the European Court of Auditors, but a wider revamp remains in limbo. read more
• Russian passenger traffic up 12.6% in January-FebruaryRussian airlines carried 14.3 million passengers for January and February 2018, up 12.6% year-over-year (YOY). read more

Other News Sources

• Chris Grayling refuses to rule out Virgin and Stagecoach bidding to run East Coast rail franchise again The Transport Secretary has refused to rule out Virgin and Stagecoach re-bidding for the East Coast rail franchise, despite being dropped from their current contract three years early.
• HS2 high speed rail services could be run by a publicly-owned operator, says Chris GraylingRachel Reeves, MP for Leeds West said the government are 'going to have to make a decision' soon and pick a new operator
• Surbiton station overcrowding: 'It's late. It's full. But it's a train' announces driver amid South Western Railway chaos One train driver got into "the spirit" when frustrated passengers finally packed onto the train on Tuesday morning (March 27)
• Lifting 300 miles of roadworks will help deliver EasterThe Easter Bank Holiday weekend is one of the UK’s first big travel times of the year, with holiday traffic added to the usual number of vehicles ...