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

Tuesday, 09 October 2012

BBC News

• Why all the West Coast bids were wrong [Robert Peston]I have learned a bit more about the mistakes made by the Department for Transport in overseeing the contest to win West Coast Main Line rail franchise.
• West Coast Main Line: Taxpayers 'at risk' in rail bid [Robert Peston]All bidders for the West Coast rail franchise were offering too little protection to protect taxpayers against potential losses, the BBC has learned.
• Jobs boost as £13m spent on Hampshire's main roads Nearly £13m is to be spent upgrading motorways and A-roads in Hampshire, the transport secretary has announced.
• Jobs boost as £22m spent on East road improvements Almost £22m has been earmarked for "vital" road improvements in the East, the transport secretary has announced.
• Conwy Tunnel: Details of £25m improvement scheme revealed Further details of a £25m scheme to improve the Conwy Tunnel on the A55 have been revealed.
• More seats on rush-hour trainsAn extra 1,080 seats a week are added to Chiltern Railways morning peak services from Banbury to London.
• Funding boost to improve roadsNew transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin has told delegates at Tory Party conference the government will spend £170m on improving roads.
• No new buses as budget cuts biteDrastic cuts in public transport funding mean that Translink will not be able to buy a single bus in the next two years.
• Hammond set to discuss BAE mergerDefence Secretary Philip Hammond will discuss the proposed merger between BAE and EADS with his French and German counterparts at a Nato meeting in Brussels later.

Financial Times

• West Coast contract faces 18 month delayIncumbent Virgin Rail could gain extension on franchise
• An anguished age for the trainThe West Coast affair, in which the DfT cancelled FirstGroup™s deal, takes the sector™s tortuous history into a new phase, writes Brian Groom
• West Coast saga splits FirstGroup investorsOpinions differ over how the debt-laden transport company should move forward after the collapse of its winning bid to run the main line
• American Airlines seeks peace with pilotsPoor punctuality and wave of flight cancellations to cope with pilot absences and maintenance weighs on efforts to increase passenger revenue

The Herald

• Privatised rail network is on the right track The West Coast Main Line franchise fiasco has dealt a calamitous, credibility–destroying blow to the privatised rail service in Britain.
• Rail signal workers plan strikeRAIL signal workers are to stage strikes this weekend over demands to work a three-day week.
• Study on high-speed rail link 'to begin this year'WORK on extending a high-speed rail network to Scotland, offering a train journey of less than three hours to London, will start later this year, UK Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin has said.

The Scotsman

• Uninsured motorists risk watching their cars meet the crusherUNINSURED DRIVERS are to be targeted in a new campaign launched by Scotland’s largest police force yesterday.
• UK™s most reliable car is half the price of the least reliableTHE most reliable new car in Britain costs half as much as the most unreliable one, according to tests on 47,000 vehicles by consumer watchdogs.

The Telegraph

• Virgin warns of fresh chaos if Government-backed operator runs West Coast line Virgin Rail has told the Department for Transport that transferring the West Coast train franchise to a state-owned operator threatens further chaos as it would involve re-writing 150 contracts.
• Extending Virgin's contract is the only way out of this West Coast train wreck Having presided over a train wreck, the least Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin can do is make an efficient job of picking up the pieces. So, why he is listening to the civil servants and lawyers that got him into this mess is anyone’s guess.
• Road tolling backed by Britain's employersMotorists could see the cost of driving rise under proposals to privatise motorways and A-roads and introduce tolling, drawn up by the Confederation of British Industry.
• Network rail release shocking CCTV of level crossing near-miss in EdinburghAs part of a new awareness campaign, Network Rail have released CCTV of a near miss at a level crossing in Kingsknowe, Edinburgh. The driver of the car was fined £300 and banned for six months.
• High speed rail line could cut journey time to Scotland to below three hoursA high speed rail line could bring Glasgow within three hours of London by train, Patrick McLoughlin, the Transport Secretary said.

Mail Online

• British Rail Lives On Time to expand on my column point that British Rail still exists. How do I know? Because the Transport Department tells me so. My discovery came because of my preoccupation (rude people would call it an obsession) with the all-but-abandoned railway line between Oxford and Cambridge.
• Bungling council paint cycle lane on a footbridge leaving only an inch-wide gap for pedestriansPedestrians in Stevenage are being forced to shuffle along in single file on a tiny pavement after the council painted a giant cycle lane which almost occupies an entire footbridge.

The Mirror

• Daftest cycle lane in Britain? So wide there's less than a foot left over for pedestrians Locals have protested that it is impossible for many users not obstruct the cycle lane - particularly pushchairs and wheelchairs

This is Money

• Government caps train fare rise to RPI plus 1% in January 2013Rail commuters received some good news today when the Government announced that the annual fare rises in January 2013 and January 2014 will not be as high as planned.

Belfast Telegraph

• Theresa Villiers denies being shunted from transport over rail fiasco Secretary of State Theresa Villiers has denied she was moved to Northern Ireland because of the catastrophe over rail franchises.

Birmingham Mail

• Tory party conference: George Osborne announces new £60m Rolls Royce research centre at University of BirminghamThe Chancellor George Osbourne announced today (8th October) that the University of Birmingham and Rolls-Royce, the global power systems company, will be establishing a new £60m High Temperature Research Centre. The Centre will help develop future generations of aero engines, making greener, more efficient air travel possible. Bringing together a leading global company with an internationally-recognised research group this new centre builds on a longstanding successful collaboration between the two organisations.

Bristol Live

• The Bristol Post published 'Put bus plans on ice until vote'Article
• The Bristol Post published Scrap bus lane, say transport campaignersArticle

Journal Live

• David Cameron: East Coast rail line must go privateDAVID Cameron has rejected calls to keep East Coast train services in public hands – dismissing nationalisation of the railways as

London Evening Standard

• The answer to England's gridlocked motorways? Pay a toll, says CBIProposals for road charging and tolls for motorists on some major English routes were put forward today by the CBI.
• Rail users warned to expect inflation-busting fare increasesTends of thousands of London commuters could still be hit by rail fare hikes of up to eight per cent from January - double the "cap" of 4.2 per cent announced by Prime Minister David Cameron.
• Harrow station remembers Britain's worst peacetime rail disaster Survivors today attended a memorial service to mark the 60th anniversary of Britain™s worst peacetime rail disaster.
• London to Scotland in three hours will be a reality, Transport secretary saysFast trains would link London to Scotland in less than three hours under plans unveiled today.
• London Underground scrap plans for driverless trains after safety concernsLondon Underground bosses have ruled out driverless trains for the forseeable future, it was revealed today.
• Londoners most likely to drive off after hitting parked cars, says studyLondoners are the most likely to cause damage to a parked car and then drive off without owning up, a new study has found.

Manchester Evening News

• No airline staff sacked after boy, 11, flew to Rome alone None of the airline staff who were suspended after a boy flew from Manchester to Rome alone without a passport, cash or boarding pass have been sacked, the M.E.N. can reveal. Three Jet2.com workers were suspended following the incident in July “ and were facing disciplinary action.

Sheffield Star

• Sheffield bus service reprieved after campaignDETAILS have been announced of retained bus services along Sheffield’s Psalter Lane and to Ringinglow.

The York Press

• Hugh Bayley calls for new look at East Coast franchise BIDDING for the East Coast Mainline franchise should be stopped in light of the West Coast Mainline fiasco, York Central MP Hugh Bayley has said.

Blackpool Gazette

• New look bus station confuses passengersFURTHER changes are set to be made to a Fylde coast bus station – where previous work has left passengers confused.

Other Regional Press

• £3.2m upgrade to A45 Wilby Way roundaboutThe Government today revealed plans to spend £3.2m on improvements to one of the busiest roundabouts in Northamptonshire.

Global Rail News

• Government caps fare rises for 2013-14The government is to cap fare rises by RPI+ one per cent for 2013 and 2014. Prime Minister David Cameron made the announcement on the first day of the Conservative conference. Rail fares were to increase by three per cent plus inflation following an announcement in August, with some tickets predicted to rise by as [...]
• Treat rail footpaths like busy roads, says Network Rail in new adA new Network Rail advert is urging people walking through the British countryside to stay safe and treat rail footpath crossings as they would a busy road. The campaign follows an online video released this summer staring British rap artist Professor Green, asking people to remove their headphones at level crossings. Network Rail currently has [...]
• Just how big is InnoTrans?InnoTrans. Held every two years in Berlin, it is billed as œthe world™s leading business meeting place for transport technology. But, just how big is it? It™s big enough to encompass about 2,500 exhibitors and 110,000 trade visitors. There are representatives from 47 countries spread over 81,000 square metres of exhibition space and on 3,500 [...]
• Polish-Romanian rail delegation visits LondonBritish rail bosses met with a Polish-Romanian delegation last week during a UK trade mission to London. Representatives from Network Rail, the Office of Rail Regulation and the Railway Industry Association discussed how Britain’s rail sector could support the countries, which represent two of the largest markets in Central and Eastern Europe. The British Ambassador [...]
• MP questions handling of West Coast ahead of committee hearingThe chair of the Transport select committee has written to Patrick McLoughlin, further questioning the DfT’s handling of the West Coast Main Line franchise. In a letter to the Transport Secretary, Louise Ellman has asked for details about the suspended civil servants and the independent reviews being carried out in the wake of the government’s [...]
• Video: Excavation reaches track level at Crossrail™s Tottenham Court Road western ticket hallCrossrail has released a time-lapse video showing the temporary propping up of the station box during the excavation work at Tottenham Court Road, which has now reached track level. More information about the work at Tottenham Court Road station can be found here.
• Harrow and Wealdstone train crash 60 years onMore than 100 people lost their lives in the Harrow and Wealdstone station disaster – the second worst loss of life in the history Britain’s railways. It’s 60-years ago to the day that the Perth to Euston express train ran into the back of the Tring to Euston train at the north-west London station. Debris [...]

Railnews

• Special West Coast edition of Railnews out now Railnews has produced a special edition of the industry's only newspaper, following the remarkable events of last week in which the DfT cancelled the award of the Intercity West Coast contract to FirstGroup.

Aviation Industry

• American Airlines CEO acknowledges a rough few weeks but says operations are improvingAmerican Airlines' CEO acknowledges that passengers have had a rough few weeks on the airline but says the carrier is working through its issues.
• Etihad signs codeshare deal with Air France-KLMMiddle Eastern carrier strengthens presence in mainland Europe
• Parties must unite over airports policy - McLoughlinTransport secretary says capacity crunch cannot be solved with ˜click of fingers™

Other News Sources

• Comment: HS2 – This bright shiny train does not do what it says on the box - Cheryl Gillan MPIt is time to call a halt to the High Speech Two (HS2) rail project and fundamentally re-examine the position.
• Heathrow was 'build on a fraud' claims author Author Philip Sherwood was just a teenager living in Sipson when it was announced that a new airport was going to be built on his doorstep.
• Huppert celebrates as rail fare rise reducedMP Julian Huppert is celebrating after news that the government has changed its mind over a massive hike in rail fares in the New Year.
• Sussex school bus firm Countryliner goes into administration Council staff were last night scrambling to arrange emergency school buses after transport firm Countryliner Sussex went bust
• ANA announces shortlist for aircraft body design contest ANA Group, Japanrsquo;s largest airline group, today announces the shortlisted entries in its competition to paint a new design for the Boeing 767-300 aircraft. The competition, which took...