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

Tuesday, 28 June 2011

BBC News

• Hidden card charges for travel tickets to be banned Travel companies have been ordered to end the use of hidden surcharges for passengers paying by card.
• Has M74 project been delivered early and under budget? The opening of the M74 extension is being hailed as a triumph for the Scottish government and taxpayers. But has the project been delivered ahead of schedule and under budget?
• Civilian traffic officers begin training for A55 duties A extra team of civilian traffic officers are being taken on to help cut congestion on the A55 in north Wales.
• Repairs to Kessock Bridge in Inverness completed An emergency repair project on the Kessock Bridge on the A9 at Inverness has been completed.
• Shoppers queue to sign Bombardier petition More than 3,000 people have signed a petition urging the government to reverse its decision to deny train-maker Bombardier a £1.4bn contract.
• Councillors reject Merseytravel expenses curb Labour councillors on the body overseeing public transport on Merseyside have rejected a call for their expenses to be set independently.
• Liverpool Street train delays caused by heat continue Train delays between London Liverpool Street and most parts of the East will continue as repairs to overhead power lines are carried out, rail bosses say.
• Clash over new high-speed rail tunnel in Italian Alps Police have clashed with demonstrators in the Italian Alps over the construction of a new high-speed rail link with France.
• Commuters forcing Southeastern train doors cause delays Thousands of people faced major delays after a train broke down in Kent and passengers on a separate service forced the doors open because of the heat.
• Transport employees on £100k payTransport for London (TfL) says it paid 379 people more than £100,000 in the past financial year.
• New £657m motorway route to openThe controversial M74 extension through Glasgow will open to traffic later - almost three times over the original estimated budget.
• Nissan Motor 'on the offensive'Nissan Motor chief executive Carlos Ghosn outlines a six-year growth plan that aims to raise its global market share.
• Saab can now afford to pay staffThe Swedish carmaker Saab announces a big order from a Chinese company, which means it now can afford to pay its staff.
• Branson warns over Virgin strikesA strike by pilots at Virgin Atlantic would leave

Financial Times

• John Denham attacks the government over Thameslink decisionJohn Denham will tomorrow criticise the government for overlooking Britain’s last remaining train factory – Bombardier in Derby - when awarding one of the country’s largest-ever train contracts.
• Beijing shows off latest fast rail linkSafety and cost concerns, and controversy surrounding the downfall of the former railway minister, have lowered speeds on all rapid routes

The Guardian

• London week ahead: police numbers, the Tube and the Lib Dem challenge to Boris and Ken With transport and crime being issues Boris Johnson and Ken Livingstone spend much of their time arguing about, Wednesday's meeting of the Transport for London board and Thursday's gathering of the Metropolitan Police Authority are of particular interest.
• Union warns over Transport for London executive pay RMT union says members unlikely to accept pay restraint after nearly 400 managers took home six-figure salaries last year

The Herald

• Germany™s Siemens secures £500m windfarm contractSCOTTISH Power Renewables and Denmark™s DONG Energy have contracted a German firm to supply and maintain turbines for the giant windfarm they are developing in the Irish Sea.

The Independent

• Heatwave leads to rail speed limits Today's high temperatures led to speed restrictions on a busy rail commuter route.
• 379 Tube staff earn £100,000-plus The number of staff at Transport for London earning over £100,000 a year has increased to 379, new figures showed today.

The Telegraph

• Heathrow data shows capacity crisis costing thousands Tens of thousands of passengers are kept circling over London and tonnes of fuel wasted due to overcrowding at the world's busiest airport, according to new data.
• Parking tickets used to boost council coffers Parking tickets and fines of up to £130 are being used to boost council finances in defiance of rules that ban them making money out of traffic controls.
• Heatwave forces trains to go slow Britain's heat wave has resulted in trains running slowly due to the risk of overhead wires overheating.

Daily Express

• ’POTHOLE AHEAD’ – THE NEW SIGN OF OUR TIMESPOTHOLE damage costs drivers £400 each a year, according to a survey. About two million holes blight our streets and motorists say they encounter an average of 10 a day but 90 per cent also say they aren’t alerted to the menace, the poll of 2,000 drivers found.

Mail Online

• Oil price falls hit 10% as fear of a global slowdown knock demand forecastsThe company said that from tomorrow morning drivers filling up at Asda will pay no more than 128.7p a litre for petrol and no more than 132.7p a litre for diesel.
• Airports 'are more stressful than work or moving house'Millions of travellers find airports so stressful that they have given up flying, a report reveals. Four in ten Britons who have flown find the airport experience stressful.
• Disabled boy barred from easyJet flight because his wheelchair was too heavyDeclan Spencer, 12, from Leicester, was due to fly to Paphos, Cyrpus with his family. But when his mother Alexandra phoned to make special arrangements, she was told her son could not travel.

The Sun

• Decapitated having crafty fag on tube TRAGEDY as smoker falls while standing between two carriages to sneak a crafty ciggie

Belfast Telegraph

• Fuel firm puts faith in 'pay at pump' stations'pay at pump' garages are growing in popularity in Northern Ireland with the opening of a second automated filling station here.Related StoriesTony Blair supports UK joining euro when Greek crisis subsidesWarranty had lapsed on camera that was faultyFirm secures lucrative five-year IT management contractInnovation award is putty in hands of pioneering medical firm companyEducation cuts 'will badly hit economy'

Birmingham Mail

• Planners must end traffic congestion around New Street station Birmingham ARCHITECTS behind the £600 million transformation of New Street Station have been told to improve access for cars and cabs.

Birmingham Post

• New Street architects told to ensure enough access for cars Architects behind the £600 million transformation of New Street Station have been told to get the car and cab access right.

Derby Telegraph

• Back Bombardier petition and join fight for your city's futurePEOPLE power may seem futile at times but if we don't speak out we will never change anything. That's why it is heart- warming to learn that, in a matter of hours, more than 3,000 people had signed a petition urging the Government to reverse its decision to award a £1.4bn train contract to a German firm ahead of Bombardier.
• Thousands of shoppers queue to sign petition to save city train firm SHOPPERS queued in the rain to add their names to a petition urging the Government to reverse its decision to award a lucrative £1.4bn train contract to a German firm ahead of Bombardier. Almost 3,000 people have now signed the document, which was started by Derby North MP Chris Williamson.

Edinburgh Evening News

• City rails against future of tram lineAN exclusive Evening News survey has found almost 80 per cent of people are opposed to building the tram line to the city centre.

London Evening Standard

• Civil servants told: Work from home to reduce 2012 trafficHalf of London's civil servants will be able to work from home or encouraged to take holidays during the Olympics under Government plans to reduce the strain on public transport and roads.
• 379 TfL executives paid more than £100,000The number of Transport for London staff earning more than £100,000 has soared by 50 per cent in a year

Manchester Evening News

• Manchester dearest place to park a car outside London Under the new pricing structure, which comes into force today, on-street parking in the city centre will now cost up to £2.70 an hour “ a rise from £2.20. The minimum 15-minute parking fee increases from 55p to 65p.
• Join the queue: Metrolink services line up at Piccadilly Gardens after tram breaks downMetrolink services in the city centre came to a halt again this afternoon after a tram 'failed', causing a queue on the tracks in Piccadilly Gardens.

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• Tram debacle a small glitch, says leader The leader of Edinburgh City Council has come under fire for describing the problems surrounding the city™s troubled trams project as a œsmall glitch.

The York Press

• Fuel perk costs City of York Council £150k UP to 200 City of York Council staff who use local authority vehicles to commute “ with council taxpayers funding their fuel bills “ could soon lose the perk.

Yorkshire Post

• Asda primes pumps for fuel price warAsda sparked off another battle in the supermarket fuel price war yesterday by knocking a further 2p a litre off the cost of its petrol and diesel.

Bucks Free Press

• School bus charges could still hit pupils starting this yearSOME children who are starting secondary school this September could still be charged for travelling on school buses in later years, says a council boss.

Other Regional Press

• Heatwave as Norwich trains slowed down because of line problems Trains on the National Express East Anglia line have been cancelled and trains running slower because of the heat.
• Overheated cables cause major train problems TRAIN services have been delayed or cancelled today due to heat on overhead power cables.

Global Rail News

• Centro offering summer savings on family days outHassled parents struggling to plan fun activities for their kids over the school summer holidays are being offered cut price admission into some of the region™s ...
• UK rail fares ˜four times™ more expensive than FranceThe RMT are claiming that passengers on privatised UK trains ‘ are having to fork out £4.6bn a year more than equivalent travellers in France’. Research ...
• Trains cancelled ˜due to heat™Due to high temperatures, speed restrictions have been imposed on some lines due to ‘the design of the overhead line equipment’. National Express East Anglia’s hourly ...
• Northern Rail wins Gold Communications AwardTrain operator, Northern Rail, beat stiff competition from some of the UK™s largest brands to win the Gold Award for Strategy at this year™s Institute of ...
• TfL™s Annual Report: ˜Improvements delivered, investment protected and savings secured™Transport for London’s (TfL) Annual Report and Statement of Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2011 will be considered by the TfL Board on 29th ...
• HS2 rail link seeks bids from private investorsTransport Secretary Philip Hammond has announced that HS2, the £33bn project to link London to Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester is to be sold to private investors. ...
• RMT ˜slams™ High Speed 2 sell off plansThe rail union RMT this morning slammed reports that the Government are planning to sell off a ‘gold-plated’ 30 year lease on the proposed High Speed ...
• Eurostar is set for a bumper summerEurostar, the high-speed passenger service between the UK and mainland Europe is scheduling 16 extra services on its London to Paris route, and seven extra services ...
• Alstom in talks to build high speed rail line in IraqAlstom has signed a ‘memorandum of understanding’ with Iraqi officials to build a high speed rail line between Baghdad and Basra. Talks will be held for ...

Railway Gazette

• Siemens awarded €90m Gauteng resignalling contract SOUTH AFRICA: Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa has selected Siemens to supply signalling equipment and an operations control centre for Gauteng province. Siemens said the €90m deal announced on June 27 is the 'largest contract for signalling equipment ever awarded in South Africa.' The contract covers the replacement of obsolete technology some of which dates back to 1930s. By 2016 Siemens will upgrade the communications network and supply 15 Sicas S7 electronic interlockings, an interlocking for Johannesburg Park station, more than 800 axle counters and 380 point machines. The operati...

Aviation Industry

• BAA announces new Chief Operating Officer for HeathrowNormand Boivin, currently Operations Director for Aéroports de Montréal, will be joining BAA as Chief Operating Officer for Heathrow on 29th August 2011...
• Business travel demand prompts Frankfurt-Aberdeen linkLufthansa has announced plans to launch flights to Europe™s oil capital from its Frankfurt hub
• Jet Airways sees record MaySome 2 million passengers were flown last month, the highest number ever for an airline of Indian origin
• Branson pleads with pilots not to strikeSir Richard Branson has written a letter to Virgin Atlantic™s pilots saying a strike would leave an œindelible scar on the airline

Other News Sources

• HS2 ''meant to win Tories votes in north''The high-speed HS2 rail link from London to Manchester and Leeds is deliberately designed to win votes for the Conservative Party in the north and go through parts of the south where Tory votes are guaranteed, according to reports.
• RMT slams High Speed 2 sell off plans and potential involvement of Goldman SachsFROM THEIR annual conference in Fort William, rail union RMT this morning slammed reports that the Government are planning to sell off a gold-plated 30 year lease on the proposed High Speed 2 rail link - with Goldman Sachs, one of the companies at the heart of the banking crisis - leading a consortium eying up the contract.
• Heat causes rail cancellations and delaysHigh temperatures have prompted speed restrictions to be put in place on National Express East Anglia services