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

Wednesday, 17 October 2012

BBC News

• Warrington Borough Council makes school transport cutbacks A Cheshire council is making cuts to free school transport for pupils as part of budget savings.
• Tram service's 10,000 complaintsThe operator of Greater Manchester's tram service apologises after revealing the number of complaints it received last year.
• Electric cars on political agendaAre electric cars a more attractive option to low mileage London motorists as petrol costs soar?
• Surrey leaders reject runway planSurrey County Council rejects plans to build more runways at Heathrow and Gatwick airports amid concerns about the environmental impact.
• Jet2 to launch new Glasgow routesBudget airline Jet2 is to introduce three new routes from Glasgow Airport next year - to Murcia, Pula and Menorca.

The Herald

• Airline to create 50 job at Scots airportAN airline is to base a fourth plane at a Scottish airport, creating 50 jobs.

The Independent

• I've lived under the flight path to Heathrow much too long to doubt the damage air pollution can do We pay more attention, I would wager, to arguments we like than to those we don’t. Which is doubtless why I was so taken with reports of research saying that building a third runway at Heathrow could treble deaths related to air pollution (bringing them to 150 a year by 2030), while a brand new “Boris Island” airport could reduce them by two thirds. Of course, I’d hardly given the time of day to a report, just a couple of weeks before, projecting the huge cost of transport links to a new airport – money that would come out of our taxes!

The Telegraph

• Government 'vulnerable' to legal action as Virgin retains West Coast keys The Department for Transport has been warned that it has left itself vulnerable to legal challenges after confirming it will allow Virgin Rail Group to continue running the West Coast Main Line until at least September next year.
• Free tube Wifi extended until 2013 The network was installed in central London stations in time for the Olympics, and it was originally intended that those who do not subscribe to Virgin Media home broadband would have to pay to use the service after the Games.
• Ryanair 'probed for social security evasion in Italy' Europe's biggest budget airline, Ryanair, is being investigated in Italy for allegedly dodging around €12 m of social security payments, a judicial source said.
• West Coast investigator yet to contact bidders The two main bidders for the cancelled West Coast rail contract have expressed surprise that they are yet to be contacted by the senior businessman investigating what went wrong on the bid.

Network Rail

• MORE HUMPS FOR CUMBRIA

Daily Post (North Wales)

• North Wales may get high-speed rail, but won't get Barnett cashHigh speed rail could eventually be extended to North Wales, Rail Minister Simon Burns has said.

London Evening Standard

• London property prices: Crossrail ˜will boost house prices by up to 25 per cent™Homeowners living along the route of Crossrail are expected to enjoy a huge windfall over the next decade as property values soar by 25 per cent, according to a new study.

Manchester Evening News

• £12m upgrade starts on overcrowded Salford Crescent stationRail bosses have begun work to fix one of Britain™s most crowded stations “ and ease the threat of passengers falling on the tracks.

Sheffield Telegraph

• Anger at extra cash for city™s ˜best bus service™PLANS have been approved for a package of improvements to a major Sheffield bus route – using a share of £1.3 million transport funding.

The York Press

• United front for East Coast rail franchise COUNCIL bosses from towns and cities along the East Coast main line have met in York in a bid to have a greater say in the future of its franchise.

Wolverhampton Express and Star

• Grit lorries are ready to roll as winter loomsThousands of tons of grit have been stockpiled across the Black Country as councils prepare for the winter months.

Carlisle News & Star

• Senior councillor wants assurances over West Coast Mainline trains A transport leader has demanded that rail services through Cumbria are maintained and fares protected following the confirmation that Virgin Trains is to continue running the West Coast line.

Other Regional Press

• Campaign for better bus service for the blind A blind Mattishall woman who missed her last bus home from Norwich city centre is part of a national campaign to make bus travel easier for people with sight problems.
• Railway footbridge to get go ahead?A new railway footbridge, over the Bedford to Bletchley railway line in Ford End Road could get the go ahead on Monday.

Bus and Coach.com

• McGill's expands with McColl's takeoverMcGill™s, Scotland™s biggest independent bus operator, has announced further expansion with agreement to acquire the bus operations of McColl's of Dumbarton.

Global Rail News

• Rail freight needs to undergo ˜culture change™ to reach modern marketRail freight needs to adopt a similar approach to the commercial airline industry if it’s to fully recover from the 2009 crisis, an industry expert has said. The claims follow figures released by SCI Transport showing that European rail freight companies are continuing to record weak margins despite growing transport volumes. Anand Medapali, vice president [...]
• Wet summer highlights need for better drainage on Britain™s railwayThis summer has undoubtedly been one that will go down in the history books. The Jubilee, the Olympics, the Paralympics – the eyes of the world has been on the UK. The doubters have been silenced, the Union Jacks flown, and the country displayed at its very best – the UK in summer 2012 was [...]
• Tunnel aid for Wallasea IslandOne of Europe™s largest wetland wild life projects is emerging in Essex thanks to Crossrail. Wallasea Island, on the River Crouch, near the Thames Estuary, will be transformed from levee- protected farmland into thriving wetland using earth from the tunnels being bored under London. The new wetlands will be twice the size of the City [...]
• Taking you to the topSmart personnel are the most important element of any company. In the rail industry, in particular, they represent their firm at every level and are often the face, image and brand of the business. So if employers go to all the trouble of putting time and money into selecting the most desirable candidates, it makes [...]

Aviation Industry

• Management shake up at Air FranceAirline bids to return to profit

Other News Sources

• FARNBOROUGH PASSENGERS BENEFIT FROM HALF A MILLION POUND INVESTMENT IN IMPROVED STATION FACILITIES Passengers using Farnborough railway station are now benefitting from the completion of the £550,000 upgrade of the stations facilities.
• ’Expand Heathrow or business will suffer’ Failure to expand Heathrow Airport will jeopardise economic growth in Reading and the Thames Valley, a business organisation has claimed.