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

Friday, 12 September 2014

BBC News

• £50 fine plan for smoking in carsPeople caught smoking in cars with children on board could face a £50 on-the-spot fine in Wales.
• Bus drivers protest over equal payHundreds of London's bus drivers take part in a protest march over collective bargaining and an end to salary discrepancies between firms.
• Art show on top of bus sheltersWorks by one of the world's most famous photographers go on display on the top of bus stops in central London.
• Rescued shipbuilder re-hiring staffThe new owner of Ferguson Shipbuilder starts to re-hire staff who were made redundant when the Port Glasgow yard went into administration.
• Airports see passengers soar againScotland's three main airports continue to see passenger numbers rise, with the Commonwealth Games helping boost Glasgow's figures.

Department for Transport

• Baroness Kramer visits rail improvements worksTransport minister sees how investment has improved stations in Lincolnshire and Hertfordshire.

Financial Times

• Air France-KLM: lacking thrustThe Franco-Dutch airline has a new strategy to take on low cost carriers, but is it a good one?
• Air France raises stakes in pilot disputeFranco-Dutch airline group seeks to recover lost ground in European short-haul market ceded to Ryanair and easyJet over past two decades
• German cabbies carry out Uber stingApp driver hired solely to have injunction served on him backed by the threat of a €250,000 fine or a six month jail sentence

The Guardian

• UK may allow US security checks on passengers before transatlantic travelBritain only country of five approached by US that welcomed preclearance proposal, according to German governmentPassengers flying to America from Britain could face strict searches and interrogations by Homeland Security staff at UK airports, after the British government showed an interest in entering into a "preclearance" agreement with the US.Documents obtained by the Guardian show US authorities approached Britain and four other EU member states about setting up preclearance checks at European airports at two meetings of the European council's transatlantic relations work...

Reuters News

• UK's Heathrow, Gatwick airports have busiest month on record in AugustBritain's two biggest airports, London's Heathrow and Gatwick, both reported their busiest months on record in August as they battle to be chosen by the government as the site for a planned expansion.

Network Rail

• Rail minister visits £280m rail project in LincolnshireMinister of State for Transport, Baroness Kramer, visited Lincolnshire on Thursday 11 September to view progress on the £280m project to upgrade and modernise a key rail artery that will enable more and better services to run.
• Narborough Road Bridge improvementsNarborough Road bridge is getting a facelift. Network Rail engineers are cleaning and painting the bridge, which crosses the A5460 Narborough Road in Leicester between its junctions with Ivy Road and Winchester Avenue.

Birmingham Mail

• Solihull MP in row over HS2 rail depot planCouncil angry at Lorely Burt proposal for marshalling yards to be sited on green belt land at Bickenhill or Chelmsley Wood

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• Government grant allows green makeover of most polluting buses SOME of the district's most polluting buses are set to get a green makeover - thanks to a new Government grant.

Lincolnshire Echo

• Minister for Transport officially opens new underpass at Heighington The new railway underpass, which cost half a million pounds to build, was considered by the Baroness as a “lynchpin” to the larger £280 million project being developed by Network Rail across the Peterborough to Doncaster line.

London Evening Standard

• Business leaders in revolt over Boris Johnson's cycle superhighway plans Some of London’s biggest businesses are in revolt at a proposed £48 million cycle superhighway — branding the scheme “a messâ€�.
• Letters to the editor: New runways are not the answer Given the competing claims made about the number of jobs a runway at Gatwick or Heathrow would create, you could be forgiven for thinking that the only remaining challenge in the airports debate is to weigh up the merits of the expansion schemes.

Manchester Evening News

• M60 roadworks bosses defend 50mph limit and claims of 'invisible workers'Construction bosses respond to drivers mystified by limit on 17-mile stretch of M60 while the workers issue a plea to motorists to 'respect their office'

This Is Local London Network

• Former MP slams South West Trains over Chessington South disabled access Andrew Mackinlay, former Labour MP for Thurrock - who lives in Chessington - said a closed sloping path in Garrison Lane should be opened for use.

East Anglian Daily Times

• Stansted: Airport’s passenger numbers top 2m for first time in four yearsStansted Airport has reported double-digit growth in passenger numbers for the third month running, with the total topping the 2million mark for the first time in four years.
• East Anglia: Region’s firms urged to bid for HS2 contractsConstruction of the High Speed 2 (HS2) rail link could help to secure hundreds of jobs in East Anglia, the promoters of the scheme have claimed.

Other Regional Press

• Commuters back on track with railway openingRAIL commuters were back on track this morning (Monday) after the line between Barnt Green and Redditch reopened.
• Bedford morning train among UK’s busiestA new report has confirmed what weary train commuters already knew – the 7.34 First Capital Connect (FCC) from Bedford to Brighton is one of the most crowded services in the entire country.

Aviation Industry

• Travellers left ‘underwhelmed’ by London airportsSurvey shows visitors have ‘low perception’ of the capital’s airports
• Lufthansa unveils premium economy classNew seat will have 50% more legroom than economy class

Other News Sources

• Hertfordshire County Council's bus cut proposals show 'blatant discrimination' against vulnerable people, say Three Rivers politiciansProposals which could see nearly half of Hertfordshire’s subsidised bus services axed have been criticised by Three Rivers politicians as showing "blatant discrimination" against vulnerable residents.