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

Friday, 29 November 2013

BBC News

• Network Rail failings 'cause delays', regulators warnNetwork Rail failings are causing passengers to suffer increased delays, regulators have warned.
• Marston Moor signal box given listed statusA 165-year-old railway signal box in North Yorkshire has been given Grade II listed status.
• Peterborough Bourges Boulevard to become 'real boulevard'Bourges Boulevard, a busy dual carriageway which has "never really been a boulevard", could finally become one under new plans for Peterborough.
• More jobs to go at South Yorkshire transport executiveForty-five jobs could be axed at the organisation supervising public transport services in South Yorkshire.
• Tyne and Wear Metro fares to rise by 2.5% in New YearTyne and Wear Metro fares are to increase in the New Year, Nexus has confirmed. Nexus, which owns and manages Metro, said fares will go up by an average of 2.5%.
• Final bid to stop Heysham-M6 road link failsA road linking Heysham and Morecambe to the M6 will be built after a final attempt to halt it was rejected by the Court of Appeal.
• Cumbria County Council proposes cutting bus subsidiesSubsidies supporting 70 loss-making bus services across Cumbria could be axed by the county council.
• Public inquiry for Leeds trolleybus schemeA £250m trolleybus system planned for Leeds is to be subject to a public inquiry, Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin has ruled.
• New group to consider Cambrian rail line improvementsA group is being created to consider proposals to improve the Cambrian main and coastal lines through mid Wales.
• New East African railway launchedKenya formally launches a new Chinese-financed to extend across East Africa, eventually reaching South Sudan, DR Congo and Burundi.

Financial Times

• Qantas: tying the flying kangaroo downAustralians have tied their flying marsupial down, Sport. So implies the country’s treasurer after some heavy lobbying by the airline itself

The Guardian

• A police ticket quota for cyclists won't stop the deaths on London's streetsEfforts to make drivers and cyclists to stick to the highway code are welcome but not at the expense of measures that save lives
• Network Rail could be fined £80m after infrastructure faults cause rise in delaysOffice of Rail Regulation says firm to blame for more than half of delays and points to £1.2bn underspending on maintenance

The Herald

• Plymouth MP calls for debate on transport links PARLIAMENT has been urged to hold a full debate on transport links to the South West. Oliver Colvile, Conservative MP for Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport, called for the debate in the House of Commons yesterday.

The Telegraph

• HS2 Bill is 'the worst Christmas present ever'HS2 protesters have just 57 days to object to a 50,000-page Bill. Sarah Rainey meets the campaigners facing an uphill task    

Mail Online

• Tokyo commuters PUSH train off suicidal woman who had jumped in front of Japanese subwayThe incident happened yesterday afternoon on the JR Yamanote Line at Shibuya Station in Tokyo, Japan. The woman, reportedly in her 60s, was heard crying out for help from beneath the train.

Birmingham Mail

• Business leaders call for new Birmingham monorail to beat congestion Birmingham Business Focus believes scheme could tackle traffic queues and boost use of public transport

Birmingham Post

• Jaguar Land Rover 'to announce' £267m Brazilian factoryAlthough Brazilian government sources were not named, Reuters reported Itatiaia’s mayor Luiz Carlos Ferreira Bastos as saying: “Everything is very advanced with only minor details to be worked out.”

Daily Post (North Wales)

• New road layout on A541 'could lead to an accident'Local residents are concerned that signs could be confusing after recent changes
• Thieves risk lives taking 30ft of cable from Shotton railway lineTrains delayed after the theft with British Transport Police investigating the incident
• Bus axe in Caeathro 'forcing children onto dangerous road' Parents, councillors and MP all express their concern at Gwynedd Councill ditching the service

London Evening Standard

• Piccadilly line workers to go on strike next weekPiccadilly line workers are to strike for 24 hours next week in a row over agreements being “ripped up”, with the union responsible threatening longer action in future if the dispute is not resolved.
• London to get 'all-seeing' speed cameras which catch drivers trying to avoid road limitsNew speed cameras that cannot be cheated by motorists who step on the brakes to avoid being flashed are going up across London.
• Tube travellers get first taste of paying by contactless cardThe shift to “contactless” payment to start on the London Underground next month will help deliver an annual £80 million saving on fare collection, transport chiefs claimed today.

Manchester Evening News

• Airport passengers rise 5pc More than 1.8m passengers travelled through the terminals at Manchester Airport in October, a 6.6 per cent rise on 2012.
• Plea to speed up launch of HS2 rail link Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership has asked George Osborne to say whether HS2 will go ahead.

Northern Echo

• Newcastle International Airport wins £8.5m bonus row - but receives damages of just £2 NEWCASTLE Airport's six-year legal battle to prove a law firm was responsible for £8.5m in bonuses claimed by two executives has ended with the international hub being awarded just £2 in damages.

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• Angry truckers urged not to block A9 over ChristmasA MSP has urged lorry drivers campaigning for higher speed limits on the A9 not to blockade the road north to Inverness over Christmas.

Yorkshire Evening Post

• Public inquiry into Leeds trolleybus plansThe Government today announced that the Leeds trolleybus scheme will be the subject of a public inquiry.

Yorkshire Post

• Regulator blames rail firm for delaysPassengers are suffering increased delays because of Network Rail’s (NR) failings, regulators have said. NR has underspent on maintenance work, deferred plans to renew infrastructure and let engineering work overrun at times, the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) revealed yesterday.

East Anglian Daily Times

• A14: Transport secretary lobbied on toll plans ahead of Autumn StatementSuffolk businesses have taken their fight to have the A14 road toll plans axed to the Department for Transport, leaving transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin in no doubt about the damage it would do to the region’s economy.

Other Regional Press

• Great Barton/Thurston: Network Rail plans to replace level crossing with footbridgeA level crossing near Bury St Edmunds is planned to be replaced with a footbridge to improve safety.
• Children bury time capsule at Northampton bus stationChildren from Spring Lane School in Northampton buried a time capsule at the new North Gate Bus Station.
• City keeps motoring green with new electric chargersNew charging points for electric cars are now up and running in Preston.
• Gatwick chief executive Stewart Wingate urges Howard Davies Airport Commission report to ignore 40bn Boris Island plans in Thames EstuaryThe chief executive of Gatwick says a government report should rule out a £40bn so-called Boris Island airport.

Airportwatch

• Gainsborough MP blasts Network Rail Saxilby crossing closure The MP for Gainsborough has blasted a decision by Network Rail to close a train crossing at Saxilby, which residents argue will leave them “marooned” over Christmas.

Global Rail News

• Paris-Barcelona TGV confirmed for December 15 launchOfficials in Spain and France have confirmed that direct high-speed rail services linking Paris and Barcelona will start from December 15. The announcement follows months of speculation about the launch[...]
• Abellio unveils new Wuppertal-Solingen DMUsThe first of nine new Coradia LINT DMUs for the S7 Wuppertal-Solingen route has been unveiled by Abellio. From the December 15 timetable change, Abellio will operate the route for[...]
• Piccadilly line drivers strike announcedTrain drivers and other operational staff are to strike next week after claiming that TfL had gone back on an agreement reached in May this year. RMT members voted 88[...]
• Class 317 – half old, half newWhen The Rail Engineer last saw train 317722, it was parked in a corner of Bombardier’s Ilford depot (issue 98, December 2012). The interior was missing from two carriages, all of the traction equipment was out from under the frame, and it looked quite forlorn. In fact, this was to be the new Class 317 [...]
• Milestone reached on Reading viaduct constructionContractors have installed the first pre-cast concrete beams that will form the deck of a two-kilometre viaduct in Reading. The new viaduct, which is one component of a £895 million[...]
• Europe commits more money to Italian national networkThe European Union is to co-finance two rail improvement projects in Italy as part of the continued investment in the Scandinavian-Mediterranean priority corridor. The EU will contribute €15 million to[...]
• Polish Pendolino breaks speed recordsThe EIC Premium Pendolino has broken both the Polish track record and Pendolino speed record during testing. Having started dynamic testing earlier this month, the new PKP Intercity train first[...]

London TravelWatch

• Travelling around London during Christmas and New Year London TravelWatch has advice for anyone travelling around London during Christmas and New Year.

Railnews

• Infrastructure is being 'pushed to its limits' The Office of Rail Regulation has launched a new attack on Network Rail™s record of maintaining railway infrastructure, pointing out that more than half of all recent delays were caused by problems attributable to the company. But Network Rail has said there are wider issues, including the pressure on 'Victorian infrastructure'.

Aviation Industry

• Walsh condemns UK visa ‘madness’IAG boss calls on government to ease restrictions for Chinese visitors