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

Tuesday, 10 July 2012

BBC News

• Reading railway station bridge lifted into place [video] Engineers have worked through four nights to lift a new passenger footbridge into place at Reading station.

Financial Times

• Globaltrans plans $450m capital raisingLondon-listed rail car operator seeks to increase its free float by selling GDRs, as it attempts consolidation in Russia™s transport sector

The Herald

• Miners' jobs at risk over freight costsHUNDREDS of Scottish mining jobs would be put at risk by plans to increase the charges freight companies pay for transporting coal by rail, the country's biggest producer has warned.

Birmingham Post

• Risk of train disruption during Olympics as union backs workers' disputeTrain drivers are backing a fight over the sacking of a Birmingham junior manager for alleged poor timekeeping – increasing the risk of disruption for travellers to the Olympics.

London Evening Standard

• 4.5 million hours wasted on the Tube - on same day as service is hit by yet more delaysCommuters faced chaos on the Tube in rush hour today thanks to a signal failure.

Other Regional Press

• Refunds for Jubilee passengersRAIL passengers who bought tickets from self-service machines over the Jubilee bank holiday could be entitled to a part-refund.

Campaign for Better Transport

• Reopening Railways: Reshaping the future?9 July 2012: Almost 50 years after the Beeching report that resulted in the closure of a third of the rail network, the issue of new or reopened connections is more relevant than ever. read more

Global Rail News

• Britain leads Europe in providing internet on trainsThe UK is leading Europe in the race to get broadband wireless services onto trains, according to a new report from the consulting firm BWCS. The number of Wi-Fi-equipped train carriages in Britain has reached 2,000, beating closest rivals Germany (911) and Italy (995). œCompetition is the major factor driving train operators to make this [...]
• South West Trains outlines reliability plansSouth West Trains has been proactive in improving reliability across its fleet of trains and during a press conference on July 4, the company outlined what measures had been taken and what measures are to be taken in the future to increase reliability and passenger comfort even further. The train operator is aiming to reduce [...]
• Southeastern fined over œout of control� trainSoutheastern has been fined £65,000 after health and safety breaches caused a train to overrun its station by more than three miles. The train operator has also been ordered to pay costs of £22,589.50, following a prosecution brought by the Office for Rail Regulation (ORR). In 2010, a braking failure caused the 06.45 London Charing [...]
• California approves high-speed railThe California State Senate has given the go-ahead to a high-speed rail line between San Francisco and Los Angeles – the first dedicated high-speed system in the country. The California bullet train project was passed by a closely fought 21-16 vote on Friday, June 6. California High-Speed Rail Authority Board chairman Dan Richard said in a [...]
• Getting a grip on BIMWrites Mark King, Severn Partnership With the UK Government™s announcement in the summer of 2011, Building Information Modelling (BIM) is quickly becoming the buzz word in infrastructure for 2012. Paul Morrell, the UK Government™s Chief Construction Officer, publicly told the construction sector to work more collaboratively and to use information technology such as BIM to [...]
• Southern Railway staff agree Olympic pay dealSouthern Railway staff have voted overwhelmingly in favour of accepting the company’s Olympic pay package. The deal will see all staff receiving a basic payment of £300, with an additional £28 per day available for rest day and Sunday working and £50 for additional late night turns. Rail union RMT believes the agreement will ratchet [...]
• Current approach will never achieve the zero in safety we all seekWritten by Colin Wheeler On April 23rd Steve Hails became the new Health and Safety Director for Crossrail. In line with most of our railway industry, Crossrail’s aim is to prevent accidents happening. I have no difficulty in supporting this principle. The Press Release however refers to their œtarget zero philosophy as driving every action [...]

Railnews

• Olympics settlement at Southern RMT members on Southern have voted to accept an Olympics pay deal, but the issue of extra pay during the Games has yet to be settled with some other operators in the London area.
• Network Rail launches international arm Network Rail has launched an international rail consultancy, echoing the former Transmark business which was run by British Rail. Network Rail said: 'Network Rail Consulting will harness the vast range of skills and experience available within Network Rail to demonstrate British expertise overseas and be an international ambassador for Britain’s rail industry.'
• New 'deep alliance' to cut electrification costs The next 'Deep Alliance' between Network Rail and a train operating company will be announced tomorrow, Railnews has learned. The partnership will link Network Rail and ScotRail, and the long-discussed electrification of the Paisley Canal line in Glasgow also comes as part of the new deal.

Other News Sources

• REFURBISHED WORKINGTON RAILWAY STATION UNVEILED Passengers and rail enthusiasts have welcomed the official opening of Workington’s newly-refurbished railway station.
• RMT demands investigation and assurances on staff and passenger safety as reports suggest thousands of tons of dangerous waste dumped by Beckton DLRTRANSPORT UNION RMT today demanded a full investigation by the safety authorities and assurances on staff and passenger safety as the union received reports over the weekend that police has arrested a gang on Friday thought to be responsible for the dumping of thousands of tons of asbestos and other hazardous waste adjacent to Beckton DLR station where the main DLR depot is also sited.
• Transpennine Express cleaners to strike in pay fightRAIL UNION RMT confirmed today that cleaners working on the Carlisle contract on Transpennine Express will strike in a fight over pay and conditions.
• NORTH EAST TRANSPORT CLEANERS STRIKE AGAIN IN FIGHT FOR PAY JUSTICEFurther 24 hour strike announced as RMT steps up fight for pay justice for Tyne and Wear Metro cleaners
• RMT members vote to accept latest Olympics dealRMT members on Southern trains have voted overwhelmingly in a referendum ballot to accept an Olympics recognition and reward deal which will see all staff receiving a basic payment of £300 with an additional £28 per day available for rest day and Sunday working and £50 for additional late night turns.