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

Wednesday, 12 November 2014

BBC News

• Bus firm appeals against wheelchair legal decisionAppeal court judges are hearing a case to confirm whether disabled passengers have priority access to disabled bays on buses.
• M4 relief road consultation defendedClaims of a flawed process when choosing the new route for the £1bn M4 relief road around Newport are rejected by the economy minister.
• Rocket bike sets 207mph speed recordThe pilot of a rocket-equipped push bicycle tells the BBC it was
• Cut in pay-as-you-go Oyster faresPart-time workers could save cash after a change to bus and Underground fares in London.
• Airports boosted by new flightsScottish airports see a boost in passengers last month as new flights are added to their schedules.
• Sturgeon to address airport's futureThe deputy first minister is to answer questions before a committee about the long-term future of state-owned Prestwick Airport.

Financial Times

• Heathrow expansion offers greatest benefitDavies commission says all schemes are likely to cost billions more than forecast
• China accelerates passenger plane projectState-owned manufacturer aims to take on Boeing and Airbus with range of commercial aircraft
• Comac’s C919 a twist on 1960s technologyChinese aircraft project to use structural aluminium instead of composite materials
• Maersk warns of slowing global tradeDanish group says demand slips in the third quarter compared with start of the year
• Q&A: Airports Commission reportCosts of all three options likely to be more than bidders indicated

The Guardian

• Disabled man forced off bus by refusal to move pram sparks equality test caseAppeal court weighs legal duty of transport operators to enforce wheelchair users’ priority over other passengers

The Herald

• Boss of Prestwick Airport firm hits out at Government after lease is axed THE boss of a Prestwick Airport-based ground handling firm has accused the Scottish Government of putting his company

The Scotsman

• London airports to clash over rival Scottish plansRIVAL airports Heathrow and Gatwick will clash tomorrow over the impact of their competing new runway plans on Scottish passengers at a major aviation conference in Glasgow organised by business group SCDI.
• Firm chief hits out at Prestwick nationalisationTHE head of aircraft handling firm Greer Aviation today condemned ministers for evicting it and counterparts Landmark Aviation from Scottish Government-run Prestwick Airport.

The Telegraph

• Unfair rail fine or unused train tickets? This is how to reclaim your moneyWin thousands of pounds in compensation for useless train tickets and unfair fines. A passenger campaigner explains how to claim

Mail Online

• British Airways unveils giant red poppy on Boeing 747 'poppy plane' The 8ft by 8ft tribute was seen on the aircraft as it flew to New York's John F Kennedy Airport today on an 8.20am flight, to mark Armistice Day.

Network Rail

• Passengers reminded of Abbey Line closure as Watford upgrades continueMajor work to renew a junction connecting the railway line between Watford Junction and St Albans Abbey and the West Coast Main Line will start on 29 November.
• London Bridge skills academy produces 500th graduate to work on massive station rebuildA previously unemployed man from Southwark has become the 500th graduate of the London Bridge Skills Academy. The project based centre of learning is helping engineers deliver the massive £6.5bn Thameslink rail improvement programme – including the complete redevelopment of London Bridge station – while preparing them for the projects of tomorrow.

Birmingham Post

• Birmingham Airport is going places The Birmingham Post Business Awards is back and bigger than ever. Sponsor Birmingham Airport explains why it is getting behind the awards

London Evening Standard

• Evening Standard Comment: Decide over airports as quickly as possible The Airports Commission’s report on the three main options for the expansion of airport capacity in the South-East has not come down in favour of any one of them. Yet by setting out a clear analysis of the options now that alternative proposals have been seen off, Sir Howard Davies, head of the Commission, has underlined the sheer irresponsibility of deferring a decision on the matter for so long. This could have been decided a decade ago when costs would have been far lower; the fact it wasn’t is down to political cowardice.
• London Underground fares shake-up: part-time workers to save hundreds of pounds under new Tube and bus fares system London's army of part-time workers will save hundreds of pounds a year on the cost of travelling by Tube and bus under a new flexible fares system announced today.
• Gatwick second runway: Planes would be just 400 yards from village homes, claim residents planning to fight expansion plans Villagers today vowed to keep fighting a second runway at Gatwick, claiming that planes would take off a few hundred yards from their properties.
• London's new airport runway: Passengers face higher charges ... whichever option is chosen Ed Balls and George Osborne are impatient over it. Nick Clegg is agonising. Boris Johnson is fuming. Yet we still have no decision over where the South-East’s new airport runway will be built.

Manchester Evening News

• Crooked bus inspector behind £400,000 'crash for cash' scam on No 42 bus in RusholmeAsan Akram, from Longsight, is jailed over con which saw Finglands double decker smash into Mercedes driven by his pal Tariq Iqbal

Yorkshire Evening Post

• New legal battle over wheelchair bus rights rowA woman’s refusal to move a pushchair with a sleeping baby from a bay on a bus used by wheelchair passengers - causing a disabled man to have to leave the vehicle - is at the centre of a test case legal battle in the Court of Appeal.

Burnley Express

• Iconic new Burnley railway station ‘will open next week’ BURNLEY's iconic new railway station is finally set to open after a deal was ironed out between council bosses and train operator Northern Rail.
• New rail station is set to open next weekThe doors to the new Manchester Road train station are finally due to open next week – months behind schedule.

Carlisle News & Star

• Cumbrian bus company shuts down two key routes A bus company has shut down two key routes just days after taking them over commercially.
• MPs press case to dual A69 road between Carlisle and Newcastle A campaign to dual the A69 Carlisle to Newcastle road has taken a step forward following a meeting with the chancellor.
• Carlisle MP launches anti-parking petition Carlisle MP John Stevenson has launched a petition to try and stop controversial car parking.

East Anglian Daily Times

• £1.5m railway bridge at Thurston is dubbed a ‘total waste of money’A rail tack operator has been accused of wasting £1.5million on a “monster” of a bridge at a west Suffolk cycle route which a sustainable transport charity felt was already safe.
• Conservatives hit out at Labour shadow minister over absence from rail debateThe Conservative MPs behind the Great Eastern Rail Line upgrade campaign have rounded on Labour for failing to turn up to a debate on the rail link in parliament.

Other Regional Press

• Cimla councillor calls for bus fares to be reduced Read more: http://www.southwales-eveningpost.co.uk/Cimla-councillor-calls-bus-fares-reduced/story-24508294-detail/story.html#ixzz3Iq1n5Gcq Follow us: @SWEveningPost on Twitter | SWEveningPost on FaceboCALLS are being made for bus fares to be reduced for residents in the Neath Port Talbot area.
• Airport debate soarsBusiness leaders have called for the expansion of Heathrow Airport. But Manchester has hit back. David Nowell reports.
• Airports Commission opens consultation on proposals to expand Gatwick to increase air capacity - costing £9.3 billionWest Kent families are to have their say on huge plans which could transform Gatwick - and potentially redirect flight paths over the county.

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• Stansted expansion 'could create 10,000 jobs'Ten thousand jobs could be created if Stansted Airport is allowed to accommodate more passengers, according to managing director Andrew Harrison. Mr Harrison has written a letter to the Airports Commission, co-signed by local business leaders, urging it to allow Stansted to expand its business. The airport is currently limited to a capacity of five million passengers a year by its planning permission but wishes to increase this to 40 to 45 million a year. "Making the best use of Stansted's single runway will be vital to both the region and to London over the next 10-15 years,&...

Aviation Industry

• Falcon Aviation Services firms up Bombardier Q400 orderAbu Dhabi’s Falcon Aviation Services has confirmed an order for three Bombardier Q400 NextGen turboprops. Bombardier said the aircraft form part of a letter of intent for five Q400 NextGens signed by Falcon at last July’s Farnborough Airshow. read more
• Heathrow and Gatwick plans to cost billions more than forecastAirports Commission publishes latest analysis of runway bids
• Public back airport expansion in south east, ABTA study findsAlmost half want expansion at either Heathrow or Gatwick

Other News Sources

• Public consultation launched on Gatwick and Heathrow expansion proposals The Airports Commission is seeking feedback from the public after publishing analysis of three options to increase runway capacity which were shortlisted last year
• Surrey commuters 'cross' after latest South West Trains failureHalf-hour delay at Claygate railway station backs up MP's criticism of South West Trains in Parliament