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

Monday, 08 December 2014

BBC News

• Air pollution 'public health crisis'New schools, care homes and hospitals should be built far away from major roads because of the dangers of air pollution, a report by MPs says.
• Plans to expand trams to LeithCouncillors are set to consider whether the Edinburgh tram network should be expanded, seven months after the trams began running.
• Drone involved in Heathrow near missAn unidentified drone came close to hitting a plane as it landed at Heathrow, the Civil Aviation Authority confirms.
• French firm takes over London's DLRLondon's Dockland's Light Railway (DLR) is now being operated by French transport group Keolis.

Financial Times

• FirstGroup attempts to turn cornerAfter losing five rail bids attention now focuses on the company's bus divisions
• Milan uses telematics to curb traffic jamsInsurer and ‘black box’ maker in combined public transport push
• Provincial airports go over London's headRegions cash in on long-haul in while Heathrow and Gatwick argue

The Guardian

• How GPS and smart card data is used to reduce city transport congestionCalifornia-based Urban Engines have developed a system of data analysis to help spread the flow of traffic in Singapore and Sao Paulo
• Paris mayor announces plans to ban diesel cars from French capital by 2020Anne Hidalgo’s anti-pollution drive could also see pedestrianised zones and only essential vehicles allowed at weekendsThe mayor of Paris on Sunday announced radical plans to ban diesel cars from the French capital by 2020 as part of an anti-pollution drive.Anne Hidalgo also said parts of central Paris would severely curtail private car use by creating semi-pedestrianised zones, beginning with an experiment on weekends which could be “rapidlyâ€� extended to include weekdays. Vehicle use inside these zones would be limited to the cars of residents, and emergency and delivery vehicles. Buses, taxi...

The Herald

• Bus boss gave lucrative contracts to firm where son workedTHE transparency of Scotland??s largest public transport partnership has been called into question after a senior executive was able to hand nearly £5 million worth of contracts to a bus firm where his son worked without having to declare a conflict of interest.

The Independent

• Stop building schools, hospitals and care homes near pollution blackspots, say MPs A ban on building schools, hospitals and care homes near air pollution blackspots must be introduced to help cut thousands of deaths connected to the “invisible killerâ€� of traffic fumes, MPs say today.

The Telegraph

• All aboard for a trip on the bottom lineTrain commuters say Anne Milton MP is wrong. The problem is not that their bottoms are too big, it is that their trains are too cramped

Mail Online

• How many people does it take to fix a road sign? 22.... And it will take council more than two years Pen-pushers at Somerset County Council have said that they need to consult 22 bodies before they can repair the road sign that has languished in the undergrowth outside the village of Tarnock.
• Drone in near miss scare at 700ft with Heathrow airliner The UK Airprox Board, the air safety panel, gave the incident the highest risk rating of A, meaning there was a ‘serious risk of collision’ after the drone was spotted by pilot - but not by air traffic control.

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• Residents fears over new homes road plan CAMPAIGNERS battling against a proposed housing development are up in arms over an attempt to use a tiny street as an access route.

Manchester Evening News

• Opinion: Future of Manchester Airport is looking brightAndrew Cowan, chief operating officer of Manchester Airports Group (MAG), on regional success
• Business boost as first non-stop direct flight to China takes offService is a boost for tourists and business and places Manchester firmly on the map for Chinese visitors

Wales Online

• Anger as rail and bus ticket prices go up... at a time when oil prices are fallingPassenger campaign groups warn that people will change their minds about using public transport if it's cheaper for them to use their car

Yorkshire Post

• Doubts are raised over electrifcation plan for Northern rail routeDOUBTS have been raised about the completion date for flagship plans to electrify the trans-Pennine rail route.

Bucks Free Press

• Cycle campaigners want to extend town network to schools CAMPAIGNERS who have been instrumental in getting a new £500,000 cycle network implemented in Beaconsfield now want to provide better links for the schools in the town.

East Anglian Daily Times

• Buses and spare train called in after fault cancels morning services between Sudbury and Marks TeyTrains between Marks Tey and Sudbury have been cancelled this morning with a replacement bus service brought in.

The Shields Gazette

• Anger over ‘needless’ barriers installed on Jarrow estateANGRY residents say barriers placed on the roadside of a South Tyneside estate are making drivers’ lives a misery.

Other News Sources

• Farage: is immigration to blame for traffic jams in the UK?Ukip leader Nigel Farage blames high levels of immigration and congestion on the M4 for missing a reception to meet supporters in Port Talbot ahead of the party's first Welsh conference.