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

Monday, 22 September 2008

BBC News

• Car free day for countyMotorists in Hereford are being encouraged to leave their cars at home as part of an environmental council scheme.
• Plea to motorists to ditch carsFamilies in County Durham are being urged to "do it differently" and leave their cars at home for a day.
• Meetings address transport issuesPeople in South Cumbria are being invited to have their say on passenger transport issues.
• Cyclists wheel through city roadsCyclists have taken to the streets of central London as large parts of the city became traffic-free for a day.
• Our love affair with the trainCommuting by train brings us together in a very down to earth way - something flying and all its associated queues and security cannot do, says Lisa Jardine.
• Probe into rail crossing claimsAllegations faulty warning lights at a railway crossing are to blame for accidents are to be investigated.
• Full service resuming on EurostarEurostar trains will be running from St Pancras at
• Unions urge new Alitalia effortItaly's biggest labour organisation urges the government to push for new talks to save the national airline, Alitalia.

Department for Transport

• 106 extra Pendolino Carriages for West Coast Main LinePassengers on the West Coast Main Line will benefit from 106 extra Pendolino carriages following the successful conclusion of commercial negotiations between the Department for Transport, Angel Trains and Alstom.

Financial Times

• Crisis may derail commuter boomJob losses in the city are expected to affect the growth of London rail commuter traffic. All the large, listed bus and rail companies “ with the exception of Arriva “ have exposure to the expected further contraction in the London job market

The Guardian

• Bedbugs return - via low-cost flightsIncreased foreign travel and lack of awareness blamed for rise in infestations reported by transport industry

The Telegraph

• Boris Johnson wants London airport on island in Thames to replace HeathrowLondon mayor Boris Johnson wants to close Heathrow and build a new airport on an island in the Thames Estuary.
• Eurostar to return to 100 per cent service after fireEurostar trains will be running from St Pancras at
• Foreign lorries eight times more dangerous than British trucksForeign lorry drivers are eight times more likely to be involved in a serious or fatal accident than their British counterparts official figures show.

Times Online

• Questions answered: double-decker tilt tests and dental honorificsSometimes when going round a corner, a double-decker bus appears to be about to keel over. What would the angle from the vertical have to be before this would occur?
• Flying across the Channel by jetpackOn a normal day Yves Rossy can be found flying Airbus 320s between Zurich and Heathrow for Swiss International Air Lines. However, when the 49-year-old pilot takes to the skies later this week, he will have nothing but an 8ft-long carbon fibre wing to carry him, powered by four small jet turbines of the sort more usually found on model aircraft.
• 1946 engine rescued from a railway ’graveyard’ A 62-year-old steam engine is taking to the rails again after being rescued from a scrapyard where it had spent decades rusting and covered in graffiti. Braunton, a former Southern Railway West Country Class locomotive, was taken back to its roots and restored by about 100 volunteers at West Somerset Railway, Britain’s longest heritage steam railway. Braunton begins its new life at a charity day on Wednesday and will carry passengers on the 23-mile line from next week. The engine had a 19-year working life in the West Country before being dumped in a yard in Sout...
• Mayor wants to close Heathrow THE London mayor Boris Johnson is proposing to close down Heathrow and replace it with a 24-hour airport in the Thames estuary.

Transport Briefing

• Victoria Transport Interchange bid from Land SecuritiesProperty developer Land Securities has submitted a planning application for its Victoria Transport Interchange (VTI2) development proposal, part of a bid to transform the Victoria area and focusing on the area to the north of Victoria Street.
• Network Rail rejigs board with three appointmentsNetwork Rail has appointed three new executive directors to its board in a move it says will strengthen its leadership team to face the challenges of the next five years.
• Transport bills left unpaid for Oxfordshire eco-townOxfordshire County Council is refusing to do any more work on proposals for an eco-town at Weston Otmoor until developer Parkridge pays more than £100,000 for work done so far.
• £1.5bn Alstom Pendolino West Coast train deal sealedCommercial negotiations for the supply of 106 extra Pendolino carriages for the West Coast Main Line have been concluded between the Department for Transport, rolling stock leasing company Angel Trains and train manufacturer Alstom.
• Competition Commission urged to peg train pricesThe Department for Transport has called on the Competition Commission to force rolling stock leasing companies to charge lower prices when supplying former British Rail procured train sets to operating companies.

Edinburgh Evening News

• Station boss is a rail star at top ceremonyHAYMARKET Station's manager has been highly commended in the National Rail Awards.
• Aitken slams delay in city's bus decisionTHE city council's way of dealing with business has come under fire from a councillor trying to save bus services in Craigentinny.
• Massive road shake-up in preparation for tramsA MASSIVE shake-up of Edinburgh's roads to make way for the new trams will mean parking spaces lost, streets closed to cars and a reorganisation of nearly every major junction in the city centre.

Manchester Evening News

• Families lose m-way noise fightHOUSEHOLDERS who say their lives have been made a misery by the roar from passing motorway traffic have lost their fight to have their council tax cut.

The York Press

• 186mph train hope for YorkA HIGH-profile campaign to bring high-speed trains through York has been launched in the city.
• Village hails lorries banCAMPAIGNERS in Selby district are celebrating after the county council put up signs directing heavy goods vehicles away from their village and toward a local industrial estate.

Northants Evening Telegraph

• Trespassers dice with death on the railway tracksTransport police have caught more than 130 people dicing with death by trespassing on the county's railway lines in the past three years.

Peterborough Telegraph

• Airport luggage workers call off strikesStrikes planned by workers who operate luggage scanning machines at Stansted Airport in Essex have been called off so that fresh talks can be held in a bid to resolve a row ov

Washington Post

• SmarTrip Upgrades Pushed To 2010 Metro is overhauling the office in charge of the popular SmarTrip electronic fare cards after internal audits found that failures by the main contractor and agency managers have added at least $2 million in costs and three years in delays for long-awaited, customer-friendly features.
• In India, 'People's Car' Stirs Popular Ire BAJEMELIA, India -- Rickshaw-puller Robin Gosh hoped for a better-paying job when Tata Motors announced plans to build a factory in India's West Bengal state to churn out the world's cheapest car. The $2,500 Nano was hailed as

Aviation Industry

• Woodland Wants Manchester Freight Plan to Take OffIndependent freight forwarder Woodland International Transport Co has voiced its support for plans to significantly boost freight capacity at Manchester Airport.
• MAN plans 6-acre Manchester dealershipMAN Truck & Bus UK has begun work on a six-acre specialist dealership in Manchester as part of its £30 million investment programme.
• Rail Travel 'Could Become More Competitive'A rail travel expert has suggested that the operator of Eurostar will have to increase its product offering to remain competitive.
• National Rail Awards 2008 - WinnersThe NRA scheme is the rail industry's biggest and most respected awards scheme - our now-familiar trophys are often very proudly displayed and they really are the 'Railway Oscars' Winning a National Rail Award is not easy, but that's why they are so coveted and respected. - Nigel Harris
• Greengauge 21’s Inaugural Public Interest Group MeetingToday, Greengauge 21 announces the formation of a Public Interest Group to take forward a £0.75m programme to carry out the strategic planning of the nation’s high-speed rail (HSR) network. We announce the membership of the Group, and the appointment of consultants and advisers to carry out the work that the Public Interest Group is funding.”
• Boris Johnson's New London Airport IdeaLondon Mayor Boris Johnson has proposed that Heathrow Airport should be closed down and replaced with a new airport in the Thames Estuary.Johnson has followed up comments he made in August about a new "environmentally friendly" London airport by releasing more details about his planned airport, which would be located on reclaimed land near the Isle of Sheppey in Kent.The plan, produced by Johnson's transport officials at the Greater London Assembly, outlines the concept of a four-runway airport supported by high-speed rail links to central London and the Channel Tunnel.The pl...
• Qantas takes 'super jumbo' for a spin over SydneyBig bird: An A380 superjumbo jet Map: Sydney 2000 Qantas is celebrating the delivery of its first double-decker plane with a mid-morning flight over Sydney Harbour.
• Italy in last bid to sell Alitalia as closure loomsAlitalia faces liquidation in a matter of days after a plan to rescue the carrier by Italian investors collapsed last week when unions refused to accept its conditions.

Other News Sources

• Airport future open to questionAs concern continues to grow in Suffolk over the number of jets which will overfly the county every day in the years ahead, a government watchdog says ministers must review their own policy.
• IMB mulls advice changes after latest Somalia pirates attacksANTI-piracy watchdogs may advise shipowners and operators to maintain a greater distance from the Somalia coast after a rise in the number of attacks on the eastern side of the country.
• US bosses say shipping is safe haven amid gloomIN THE face of a global financial market meltdown, a battery of shipping executives suggested in New York last week that their industry — and their companies’ shares — are a safe haven against the fickle glamour of Wall Street.
• Station on track for top gongWindermere railway station in the Lake District has been short-listed for an international award.
• Bus cuts 'will leave many stranded'RESIDENTS and councillors have warned thousands of workers and students could be stranded if their evening bus services are axed.
• Group slams rail plan axeA business group has criticised a possible move to scrap a £38m rail upgrade between Kemble and Swindon.
• Rail watchdog says disabled left stranded by trainsDISABLED passengers are being left stranded on the platform or abandoned on the train, says a rail watchdog.
• Local rail's 'decrepit' services criticisedCAMPAIGNERS have criticised “decrepit” trains serving the Colne Valley.
• Mystery at coach firmMYSTERY surrounds a well-established Huddersfield coach and holiday company amid claims it has gone out of business.
• MP hits at ’rundown’ express rail serviceRAIL passengers are suffering from a “deteriorating” service between Yorkshire and London, says an MP.
• Lafarge cements its £15 million rail expansionLafarge Cement's Hope Works has celebrated the completion of a £15 million rail expansion programme with an open weekend attended by thousands of local people.
• Durham named - Britain's best railway stationTRAIN operator National Express East Coast is celebrating a double victory at the National Rail Awards 2008, the rail industry’s Oscars.
• Transport habits studiedA major study of transport habits in Devon is being conducted by a team from the University of Exeter, Devon County Council and other local groups.