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

Tuesday, 28 June 2016

BBC News

• HS2 has unrealistic timetable, says National Audit OfficeThe HS2 high-speed rail project has an "unrealistic timetable" and faces major cost pressures, a report by the National Audit Office has said.

Financial Times

• Fresh doubt cast on HS2Plans to open the first section of line between London and Birmingham by 2026 branded ‘unrealistic’

The Scotsman

• Brexit could spark rush on Channel Tunnel, says Eurotunnel bossBritain’s decision to quit the EU could lead to a summer surge in illegal migrants trying to enter the country from France, the head of Eurotunnel has warned.

The Telegraph

• HS2 rail project could be delayed by a year due to 'financial strain', Whitehall spending watchdog warns

Mail Online

• Eurotunnel boss warns of a surge of illegals trying to enter UK before Brexit� Jacques Gounon said Brexit had given migrants a 'clear signal' that the Anglo-French border would become 'a huge wall, similar to the Berlin Wall, almost impossible to overcome'.

Birmingham Mail

• Brexit: HS2 investment hangs in balance says Birmingham MP Warning that flagship £50bn high speed rail project could fall victim to Brexit vote with knock on hit for Birmingham regeneration projects

Derby Telegraph

• £56 billion plan for HS2 link to Derbyshire under fire from spending watchdog A PUBLIC spending watchdog has said that the HS2 high-speed rail project faces major cost pressures.
• Derby workers on tenterhooks over contract worth BILLIONS WORKERS at Bombardier's Derby factory are eagerly awaiting an announcement on who will run a key UK rail franchise - the outcome of which could result in the firm receiving orders for hundreds of new carriages.

London Evening Standard

• Southeastern delays: Rush hour misery for commuters after train hits tree on trackCommuters have been hit by rush hour misery this morning after a train struck a tree in south-east London.
• Summer crackdown on train fare dodgers who cost rail firms �200m a yearA summer crackdown on rail fare dodgers is planned by train and police chiefs to combat losses amounting to more than �200 million a year.

Sheffield Telegraph

• ‘It HS2 be Sheffield city centre’ say rail bosses as Meadowhall is dropped as high-speed station siteSheffield’s HS2 station is set to be in the city centre, The Star has learned.

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• Smart ticketing could kill off paper tickets by 2024Paper train tickets could become a thing of the past within eight years under new plans to make rail passengers use their smartphone or bank card to travel instead. Smart cards, which can be topped-up online, are also being considered an option as rail bosses try to devise ways of cutting queues and costs. Orange paper tickets, which have been around for nearly 150 years, are deemed an unnecessary expensive and hugely flawed due to the small print which can be easy to smudge and hard to read. They could be on their way out by 2022, one transport insider told the Daily Mail, adding that bar cod...

Rail Magazine

• WiFi milestone on MetrolinkMore than five million sessions have been logged on Manchester Metrolink’s free WiFi service since it was launched in March 2015.
• Eurostar’s e320s are Belgium-boundEurostar plans to start running its e320 Class 374 Velaros to Belgium in the first or second quarter of 2017.
• Barcode readers move AGA closer to paperless systemBarcode readers installed at ticket gates at Abellio Greater Anglia stations, in a �3 million scheme.
• c2c commuters take advantage of new flexi-ticketMore than 5,000 journeys were made using c2c’s Flexi-Season ticket for part-time commuters, in the fortnight after its launch.
• Beacon acquires rolling stock firmBeacon Rail Leasing has bought Ascendos Rail Leasing, a European locomotive and rolling stock leasing company.
• Campaigners hit out at “pessimistic” forecastsCampaigners seeking to re-open Thornton North Junction-Methil line say “ludicrously pessimistic” passenger forecasts could threaten that and similar projects.
• IMechE calls for new national freight strategyThe Institution of Mechanical Engineers wants Government to introduce a new freight strategy to reduce congestion, improve air quality and boost the economy.
• ‘Business-led plan’ needed for Northern PowerhouseThe current approach to the Northern Powerhouse is “piecemeal, partial and parochial”, and a ‘Great North Plan’ led by Northern businesses is needed - IPPR
• ASLEF to pay �250,000 legal bill over GatEx disputeASLEF must pay �250,000 in legal costs to GTR, after final High Court ruling against industrial action over the operation of 12-car trains on Gatwick Express.
• RSSB backs DOO safety as Southern suffers latest strikeThe RSSB says Driver Only Operation offers no increased risk to safety. Its announcement was made on June 21, the day of the latest RMT strike on Southern.
• WCR fined �200k for safety failingsWest Coast Railway Company is fined following prosecution brought by the ORR for the signal passed at danger near Wootton Bassett on March 7 2015
• Verster hits out at RMT over Scottish strikes campaignScotRail Managing Director says the RMT is “trying to cynically rope ScotRail into a national campaign” over the extension of driver control of train doors.

Rail Technology Magazine

• BWCS The European Market for Train Based Broadband Wireless Services Rail operators are not only in competition amongst themselves but much more significantly with other modes of transport. Some countries in Central Europe have experienced severe, even alarming, falls in passenger numbers over the last 30 years and ar…
• Avara Technologies Enhances Connectivity Using SHDSL Copper Transport for Signalling and Control in Rail and Power Applications The Avara Technologies DynaFlex SHDSL family is enabling the lowest possible total cost of ownership in rail communications by extending the life of existing services over copper.
• Kampa-Noise Reduction and Rail Infrastructure Optimisation Solutions Kampa supplies innovative products for rail infrastructure and rolling stock applications.
• First Rail Week launches to promote railway careersRail organisations and companies are hosting a week of events to encourage more people to seek rail careers. Rail Week will feature a series of events aimed at all ages in order to bridge the rail skills gap, with John Evans, CEO of the new College for High Speed Rail, saying that an additional...
• TransCityRail Once again, leaders from across the North of England responsible for procuring and delivering Northern Powerhouse Rail converge to discuss and debate its strategy and delivery, as well as how to better engage with the supply chain, at the North’s leading rail industry event. Over 68% of attendees are Director level or above fr...
• HS2 may no longer be 'a priority' after Brexit, says Lord BerkeleyThe vote for the UK to leave the European Union may mean that the future of HS2 is in doubt, Lord Berkeley has said. Thursday’s vote has created political and economy uncertainty, with David Cameron resigning as prime minister, as reported in RTM’s sister title PSE, and the pound has...
• Rail line between Manchester and Buxton opens after landslipRepair work on the line between Manchester and Buxton has been successfully completed following a landslip. Services resumed on Saturday morning after Network Rail engineers rebuilt a section of embankment and removed track and ballast to repair the damage caused by the 6,000 tonne landslip near...

Railnews

• HS2 could be casualty of Brexit The implications of Brexit for the railway industry could include the abandonment, reduction or at least a delay to HS2, it is feared. Following the vote in favour of the UK leaving the European Union, the Office of Budget Responsibility will now be re-assessing national infrastructure projects, although its conclusions are not expected to be published before the autumn. Lord Tony Berkeley, who chairs the Rail Freight Group and as an industry commentator has frequently criticised the effects of successive EU Railway Packages, said:

Railway Gazette

• EcoTrain hybrid DMU demonstrator takes shapeGERMANY: The EcoTrain project to test electric energy storage on a DB Regio Class VT642 diesel...
• 100 test rigs in new Knorr-Bremse development centreGERMANY: The Knorr-Bremse Group's Development Centre in M�nchen was officially opened with a...

Other News Sources

• Oyster card campaign for Spelthorne stations backed by Thorpe Park, Pinewood Studios and Heathrow The Spelthorne in the Zone campaign began two years ago and will hold its first public meeting on July 7