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

Thursday, 19 January 2017

BBC News

• ScotRail 'can't vouch' for passenger compensation schemeScotRail bosses
• Southern rail 'full service' to resume next weekTrain drivers suspend their walkouts, with a full timetable in place on Tuesday, the company says.

Department for Transport

• New opportunities offered as details of new rail franchise are releasedGovernment releases details of new West Coast Partnership rail franchise.

Financial Times

• Southern to offer full train service next weekRail operator has not been running normal timetable since December 6
• Italy’s state railway buys struggling Greek operatorBailout lenders press Athens to speed up privatisation programme

The Guardian

• Southern rail: could more commuters claim a credit card refund?One passenger recovered half his season ticket cost from Amex. We examine the chances of others following himSeason ticket holders on strike-hit train lines could be in line for thousands of pounds in compensation after one commuter successfully claimed £2,400 back from his credit card company.The regular commuter on Southern trains, known only as “Sean”, applied to American Express for a 50% refund claiming non-delivery of the service. But how did he manage it, and does this mean that thousands of other commuters can do the same? Continue reading...

The Telegraph

• East Wind train blows in from China to re-open Silk Road trail
• Southern Rail to restore full timetable next week

Times Online

• Union suspends three-day Southern strike for talks [Subscription]Southern Rail will restore a full train service for long-suffering commuters from Tuesday after a drivers’ union suspended planned industrial action.
• Slow train from China to Britain pulls in for the first time [Subscription]After 18 days crossing seven countries and 7,500 miles, a train stuffed with £4 million worth of socks, cloth, bags and suitcases pulled into Barking yesterday afternoon.

London Evening Standard

• Southern rail to run full service next week and suspends three days of walkouts Southern Rail's hundreds of thousands of long-suffering passengers were today promised the return of a full train service - but not until next week.

The York Press

• New Flying Scotsman opportunities in York next month STEAM rides and footplate experiences on Flying Scotsman will be highlights of the half-term week of February Family Fun at the National Railway Museum in York.

Wales Online

• Arriva Trains Wales has bought a virtual reality simulator to improve passenger safetyIt was created using computer game technology

East Anglian Daily Times

• Halesworth rail crossing could still be closed – unless it is used safelyWork will be carried out next week to install gates at a station crossing on the east Suffolk rail line after campaigners fought off moves to close it.

Buying Business Travel

• Chiltern Railways and SilverRail trial ‘ticket-free’ travelPassengers automatically charged the best price for the day

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• New ticket hall and entrance open at Victoria StationJourneys through Victoria Underground station are set to become easier as a new North ticket hall, a key part of the £700m project to upgrade Victoria Tube station, has opened. A new entrance on Victoria Street, at the junction of Bressenden Place, near Cardinal Place, is now open and leads to the ticket hall and Victoria line. ‎The entrance means that customers can now easily exit the station onto Victoria Street without having to cross the series of busy road junctions outside the station. Victoria, the fourth busiest Tube station, currently serves more than 82 million customer jou...

Rail Magazine

• CCTV footage highlights level crossing dangersNetwork Rail and British Transport Police release new incidents of crossing misuse
• Maynard: Sheffield tram-train on scheduleThe tram-train project in Sheffield is “on track and on schedule”, says Rail Minister Paul Maynard.
• Passengers deserve better informationTrain operating companies (TOCs) and Network Rail need to improve passenger information, according to Rail Minister Paul Maynard on January 16.
• Chinese freight train arrives in UKThe first container train travelling between China and the UK arrived at DB Cargo’s London Eurohub terminal at Barking today (January 18).
• Grayling: Opposition “do not care”Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling has accused Labour of not caring, regarding the continued industrial action on Southern.

Rail Technology Magazine

• DLR's KeolisAmey set to run Manchester MetrolinkGreater Manchester’s Metrolink network is set to be run by a new joint venture partnership starting from this summer up until 2027. KeolisAmey, a partnership between transport operator Keolis and infrastructure specialist Amey – the same team in charge of London’s DLR –...
• RMT agrees revised pay deal with NorthernThe RMT has agreed a revised deal with Northern over worker pay, leading the union to halt its current vote for industrial action against the franchise. The rail union started balloting its members two weeks ago on whether they wished to take strike action over what it had called an...

Railnews

• Government gives way on HS2 blight claims Transport secretary Chris Grayling has told MPs that HS2 continues to be 'worthy of Parliament�s support', but he has also revealed that some claims for compensation have been reconsidered. He was commenting on the latest report from the House of Lords about the project, which concentrates on the implications of the construction of Phase 1 of the high speed line between London and Birmingham. The purpose of the Committee, which was set up in May last year, was to hear petitions from people who feared they would be affected by HS2, and it has heard some 600 cases.
• Chinese railfreight containers arrive in London The first container train travelling between China and the UK has arrived at Barking in east London after making a 12,000km journey across Asia and Europe before arriving in Britain via the Channel Tunnel. The train, carrying textiles and other consumer goods, was operated by the InterRail Group on behalf of China Railway subsidiary CRIMT, and DB Cargo worked the final section from Duisberg to London.

Other News Sources

• KeolisAmey appointed to 10-year Manchester Metrolink operations contractTransport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has appointed a Keolis / Amey joint venture to operate the city’s Metrolink tram system.
• Southern Rail to restore full train service after drivers' union strike suspended Drivers' union ASLEF and the RMT had both originally planned to strike next week but ASLEF pulled out in a last minute decision
• Consumer expert believes floodgates could open on Southern season ticket refunds MONEY expert Martin Lewis has offered a lifeline to beleaguered Southern commuters.