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

Tuesday, 17 January 2017

ITV News

• Leaked documents reveal Aslef drivers had agreed to driver-only operated trainsLeaked documents reveal the train drivers union Aslef supported the introduction of Driver Only Operation (DOO) in the south just five years ago.

Financial Times

• Djibouti-Ethiopia railway lifts Africa trade hopesAddis Ababa line to the sea hailed as first step in tapping vast commercial potential

Times Online

• Credit card refund offers hope for rail commuters [subscription]Tens of thousands of Southern rail commuters could be in line for compensation from their credit card companies after a passenger claimed he had won £2,400 back from American Express for his season ticket.

City AM

• Are you travelling with Britain's worst train operator? Here's the definitive listSouthern's customer satisfaction has plummeted on everything from punctuality to reliability and seat availability.

Mail Online

• Transport chiefs issue warning to commuters who watch porn Britons have been warned that they face a fine or even a jail sentence if they are caught watching porn while on trains, after a spate of reports of people viewing sexual material on public transport.

Network Rail

• Major investment planned for North Yorkshire railwaysNetwork Rail will carry out vital improvements to the East Coast Main Line in North Yorkshire in a £6million investment project as part of its Railway Upgrade Plan

Derby Telegraph

• HS2: Public arrive in droves to have their say on Derbyshire rail route Villagers affected by the high speed rail system due to be built close to Derby have been given their first opportunity to grill those behind the scheme.

Liverpool Echo

• Merseyrail tops national customer satisfaction surveyConsumer group Which? names Merseyrail the top provider in the UK

London Evening Standard

• Revealed: £235m is left unused on Oyster cards... and that figure is rising fastMoney left on unused Oyster cards is increasing by £1 million a month and now stands at more than £235 million, official figures reveal today.
• Victoria and Piccadilly lines hit with delays and overcrowding as passengers describe 'travel hell'Passengers on the Piccadilly and Victoria lines were today hit with severe delays with some describing it as travel "hell".
• Tube strikes 2017: Threat of further walkout looms as talks adjournedTalks aimed at averting more Tube strikes by London Underground workers have been adjourned, as the threat of further industrial action looms.

Yorkshire Post

• YP Letters: EU diktat added to problems of railways fragmentationFrom: Don Wood, Howden.

Other Regional Press

• Any new franchise on Wales and Borders rail line must tackle overcrowding, says Daniel Kawczynski MP Any new franchise on the Wales and Borders rail line must tackle overcrowding and provide more direct services from Shrewsbury to Birmingham and Manchester airports, an MP has said.
• Meet the new chief of community railways - working in HuddersfieldAssociation of Community Rail Partnerships builds up to busy year
• Enhanced Thameslink timetable is ‘unworkable’ say railway experts - which could scupper St Albans rail freight plansWarnings in a respected railway publication that an enhanced Thameslink timetable from 2018 is unworkable have generated more concerns about the addition of rail freight trains on the same tracks.
• How Cambridge’s trains first took to the tracks 170 years agoThe imminent opening of a new station for Cambridge has caused quite a bit of excitement - and it has been a long time coming

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• Network Rail awards �49m Shotts Line electrification contractNetwork Rail has announced that Carillion Powerlines Ltd has won the contract to deliver the electrification of the Shotts line between Holytown Junction and Midcalder Junction. The £49m contract will deliver 74km of electrified railway, as part of a wider £160m Scottish Government investment in the line between Scotland’s largest cities. The contract covers the physical delivery of all elements required to electrify the line, such as erecting stanchions and stringing the overhead powerlines, and will be carried out in tandem with work on a range of bridges as part of a rou...

Global Rail News

• Midland Metro begins prepping route of extension to Brierley HillThe Midland Metro Alliance (MMA) will start clearing vegetation later this week along the proposed route of an extension of Birmingham’s light rail network from Wednesbury to Brierley Hill.

Rail Magazine

• Czech trip for Caledonian Sleeper Class 73A Class 73 is heading for the Czech Republic for testing this year.
• Passengers get a behind-the-scenes peek at the Waterloo station upgradeNetwork Rail is giving passengers a behind-the-scenes look at the major upgrade of London’s Waterloo station.

Rail Technology Magazine

• Construction of $1.5bn Lagos-Ibadan rail line in Nigeria to begin The Nigerian Federal Government is set to begin construction of a 156.65km standard gauge rail line from Lagos to Ibadan.
• Bombardier delivers first Innovia APM 300 to Shanghai Shentong Bombardier Transportation has delivered the first driverless Innovia automated people mover (APM) 300 vehicle to Shanghai Shentong Metro Group in China.
• Carillion to electrify Shotts line for Holytown-Midcalder Junctions Carillion Powerlines has won a £49m contract to deliver the electrification of UK Network Rail’s Shotts line between Holytown and Midcalder Junctions in Scotland.
• Train inspector: turning locomotives into track monitors The University of Huddersfield’s Institute of Railway Research is working with Siemens to develop a sensor system that could turn any rail vehicle into a track monitor that can inspect the condition of rails and the track bed. Rod James looks at how …
• AC and DC-Powered Air Conditioners DC Airco has specialised in energy-efficient air conditioning since 1997, after many years of research and development.
• Camden Council forces DfT to review HS2 Bill amendmentsWhitehall has been forced to reconsider its plans for its HS2 Bill after Camden Council complained about the power the amended legislation would give the government over its roads. Camden argued that last-minute amendments tabled by the government without consultation with the council included...
• Vivarail: Cause of D-train fire ‘not immediately obvious’Vivarail has completed its initial investigation into the Class 230 test train fire over the festive period, concluding that the cause of the fire is “not immediately obvious”.

Railway Gazette

• World rail freight news round-upEurotunnel reports that Truck Shuttle traffic in 2016 was up 11% compared to 2015, with an...

Other News Sources

• Credit card company decision to refund Southern passenger could open floodgates for delay claimsLong-suffering Southern Rail season ticket holders may be able to claw back £1,000s if other credit card companies follow the example set by American Express in refunding a passenger who had been plagued by delays.
• West Norfolk train company "worst in the UK"Great Northern's been rated as one of the worst train companies in the UK by it's own customers.