A SCOTTISH Government watchdog has slammed the design of the city’s tram line.
The report by Architecture and Design Scotland (ADS) highlights potential “safety issues” from having tram stops in the middle of the city’s busiest streets and also hits out at tram chiefs for having produced no “meaningful” graphics of the trams, platforms and stops so far into the scheme. for more click herep>
IN THE light of unconfirmed reports that Alex Salmond will back a new high-speed Glasgow-London rail link, more light is now focused on the Scottish Government’s “delivery” quango Transport Scotland (TS), who will be charged with making this vision a reality.
What grounds are there for confidence? TS is clearly “unfit for purpose” having let down both the business community and the travelling public. for more click here
Having survived a change of government (and transport policy) in Scotland, efforts to return trams to Edinburgh are now being ratcheted up as engineers and other specialists strive to meet the 2010 target opening date for the core route.
Both Edinburgh trams and Lothian Buses will be owned by the City of Edinburgh Council, allowing transport chiefs in the city to run the bus and tram network as an integrated system. The plan is for the trams to support other bus and train companies to achieve an integrated public transport system for the Scottish capital and emulate the success of light rail systems on the Continent. for more click here
National Express secured an eight-year franchise yesterday to operate the East Coast railway network, defeating the incumbent operator GNER with a pledge to pay the Government £1.4bn over the term of the contract.
The transport company, which will take over the routes in December and run them until March 2015, promised to cut journey times from London to Leeds, York and Edinburgh, but also warned it would impose price increases above the rate of inflation. for more click here
IT WILL involve looking out for unexploded bombs, potential archaeological traces and even the remains of Edinburgh’s former tramway. Up to 125 workers will start digging up the capital’s roads in earnest next month in the latest £60 million phase to return trams to the city in 2011 after a gap of 55 years. for more click here
More than 16,000 people used a new hovercraft service in the Forth estuary in its first week, operators have revealed. Commuter numbers also doubled after the introduction of a priority booking line on the route between Kirkcaldy in Fife and Portobello in Edinburgh. for more click here
Police forces across Scotland have combined in a summer road safety campaign targeted on the ‘persistent miniority’ of motorists who think they can ignore the drink drive limit.
Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson said:
“We have all seen the devastating effects caused by those who drink and drive. Every day it seems people are prepared to take a risk in the misguided assumption that it either won’t happen to them or that they won’t be caught.”
Tayside Chief Constable John Vine, chairman of the road policing unit of the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS), said:
“There is still a persistent minority of drivers who believe they can have a few drinks and be fit to drive. It seems people who drink and drive believe the risks of killing, being killed or getting caught are low.
“The evidence clearly points to the contrary. One in seven road deaths in Scotland is a result of drink driving.
“Police forces across Scotland are always vigilant to drink driving, but this campaign means you’re more likely than ever to be stopped, breathalysed and prosecuted.” for more click here
A new way of crossing the Firth of Forth between Fife and Edinburgh got off the ground yesterday when Scottish Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson officially launched the trial of Stagecoach’s hovercraft service. for more click here
Chinese scientists have reportedly developed a “Wing-In-Ground” (WIG) aircraft which can fly long distances just a few feet above the sea surface.
The plane can fly as low as half a metre off the surface, hitting speeds of up to 300 kmh and can carry up to 4 tonnes on takeoff. for more click here
The company formed to deliver transport projects for Edinburgh has announced 15 redundancies. Transport Initiatives Edinburgh, known as Tie, was set up by Edinburgh City Council to work on projects such as the trams and the airport rail link. for more click here