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

Saturday, 13 December 2014

BBC News

• Drone flown 20ft from Heathrow jetThe moment a device believed to have been a drone came within 20ft (6m) of a plane landing at Heathrow Airport is described in a report by an air safety body.
• Snowploughs reopen A9 in HighlandsTraffic Scotland says the A9 has been reopened after being closed from near Aviemore to Inverness to allow snowploughs to clear the road.
• Lib Dem resigns in transport rowLiberal Democrat MP Stephen Lloyd quits as a ministerial aide, saying he has been
• Free buses 'only for nearest school'A review of home to school transport recommends that free buses or taxis should only be provided to pupils' nearest school.
• Airports recover after system failureAirports are returning to normal, with about 40 flights having to be rescheduled at Heathrow, the day after a computer failure at the UK's air traffic control centre.

Financial Times

• Oil price fall sparks market turmoilFresh lows in crude benchmarks focus investor attention on broader economic ramifications
• Brompton bicycle sales rise in Asia PacificLondon folding bike maker steps up production to meet growing demand in cities around the world

The Guardian

• Yodel warns of parcel backlog as Christmas deliveries face delaysFears of a Christmas parcels logjam have escalated, with Yodel, the UK’s biggest delivery company after Royal Mail, admitting that it has stopped collecting parcels from retailers as it struggles to deliver the vast volume of online present shopping.
• Rail fare rises of 5% coming down the trackBritons will be paying the highest train fares ever – up by a further 2.5% – in the new year, pushing even more commuters above the £5,000 annual season ticket barrier for the first time. Some off-peak fares, it has emerged, are to rise by more than 5.6% on 2 January.
• Sudanese man killed on M25 after clinging to underside of lorryMan, who is believed to have travelled to UK from Calais, is thought to have fallen under wheels of lorryA man from Sudan who is believed to have travelled to the the UK from Calais while clinging to the bottom of a lorry has died after falling beneath the vehicle’s wheels.Officers from the Roads and Transport Policing Command are appealing for witnesses to the fatal collision that took place at 7pm on Friday between junctions 24 and 25 of the M25. Continue reading...

The Herald

• Hail Caledonia: Sturgeon opens UK's biggest bus depot in GlasgowThe biggest bus depot in the UK has been officially opened by the First Minister.
• Director resigns from troubled bus firm boardONE of the directors at a troubled publicly-owned bus firm has resigned from the board.

The Independent

• Double decker wheelchair odyssey: How hard can it be for a wheelchair user to travel around London on buses? It was yet another setback for Britain’s beleaguered disabled community: earlier this week the Appeal Court threw out a ruling that would have required bus companies to force people with buggies to move aside in favour of disabled passengers.
• Passengers and airlines left furious as London airspace closes after computer error With tens of thousands of airline passengers in the wrong places, and aviation disruption set to continue into the weekend, the air-traffic control firm Nats faces fury from airlines, passengers and the Transport Secretary about another failure of the world’s most complex air navigation system.

The Scotsman

• Edinburgh trams to exceed 3 million passenger markTHE number of passengers travelling on Edinburgh’s trams is expected to smash the three million mark before the end of the year, it has been revealed.

The Telegraph

• UK Flights Chaos: Air Traffic Control commputers using software from the 1960s A computer failure that led to southern England being closed to air traffic on Friday could be repeated because software used to control flights dates from the 1960s, it has emerged. Patrick McLoughlin, the Transport Secretary, demanded answers from the air traffic control service Nats after the glitch led to “unacceptable” flight cancellations and delays for 10,000 passengers.
• Terrorism not suspected in computer glitch at air traffic controlInvestigators will now examine whether the IT failure was the result of a malicious hack or a genuine accident, sources say

Mail Online

• M4 worse affected motorway with 34 scheduled repairs over Christmas week Families planning car journeys face added misery this year – with a staggering 403 roadworks projects going on during Christmas week, and the M4 will be the worst affected motorway.
• Welsh driver wins battle after proving road markings were the wrong size  David Erasmus, of Hendy, Wales, was able to get the charge of speeding, going 36mph past a primary school in a 30mph zone, dropped after he proved the road markings were three inches too short.

Network Rail

• Northampton station to open no later than 12 JanuaryNetwork Rail and London Midland have confirmed that the new £20 million station will open no later than Monday 12 January.

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Welsh Government announces funding for 20mph zones outside three Gwynedd schoolsTransport Minister Edwina Hart announces safety measures to benefit Ysgol Y Ganllwyd, Ysgol Gynradd Bontnewydd and Ysgol OM Edwards

Derby Telegraph

• Derby Telegraph published Rolls-Royce: Airbus vote of confidence in Derby engine despite...AIRCRAFT manufacturer Airbus has delivered a ringing endorsement and vote of confidence in Rolls-Royce .It said "it continues to believe strongly" in the future of a plane which uses Derby-built engines, following speculation that it could halt production.It follows comments by the French aviation firm's chief financial officer, who hinted that Airbus could drop the A380 super-jumbo in 2018.The engine of choice for the aircraft is the Trent 900 – designed, developed...

London Evening Standard

• Improving transport to Heathrow could cost taxpayer £2bn Heathrow today came under pressure from rival Gatwick to explain how it proposes to pay for multi-billion-pound improvements to transport links if it wins the right to expand.
• TfL fails to find sponsor for free New Year's Eve travel scheme Transport for London has failed to find a sponsor for this year’s New Year’s Eve free travel scheme.
• Multimillion-pound link between London and Norwich set to open after 40 years A multimillion-pound dual carriageway first proposed 40 years ago has been officially opened amid promises it will provide an economic boost.

Sheffield Telegraph

• Stagecoach announce Sheffield bus timetables for Christmas and New YearBus operator Stagecoach has announced its timetable changes in South Yorkshire for the festive season.

This Is Local London Network

• Formula 1 legend's former Surbiton garage up for sale The old Cooper garage was once a base for legendary two-time Formula 1 world champion Sir Jack Brabham.

Wales Online

• Waiting for the train? That's going to be at least five years... Dismay over new Welsh transport plan announcementCampaigners disappointed as new draft National Transport Plan for Wales defers proposed new railway stations by at least five years

Doncaster Free Press

• Devolution deal for Doncaster welcomedA devolution deal for Doncaster - shifting powers over transport, skills, business and housing from Whitehall - has been welcomed in the town.

East Anglian Daily Times

• Essex highways chief pledges £5m to kick-start A120 dualling campaignThe councillor in charge of roads in Essex is set this afternoon to announce a £5million boost to the campaign to dual the A120 between Marks Tey and Braintree
• Suffolk Chamber vows to fight plan to axe direct Ipswich-Peterborough rail linkA proposal to end direct train services between Ipswich and Peterborough has been branded by Suffolk Chamber of Commerce as “totally unacceptable”.

The Shields Gazette

• Vibrations from traffic not unusual, concerned residents toldsouth Shields residents concerned about vibrations caused by traffic using the road outside their homes have been told the problem is not unusual.

Other Regional Press

• £4.5 million to improve Northamptonshire roundabout on the A43South Northamptonshire Council (SNC) has been given £4.5 million in funding to make improvements to the Abthorpe roundabout as part of its ongoing work to connect the Towcester Relief Road to the A43.
• Last survivor of sinking passenger ship in Portsmouth Harbour has diedTHE last survivor of the sinking of a passenger ship in Portsmouth Harbour has died at the age of 96.
• Parking fines net Portsmouth City Council £3.5m in just two yearsMILLIONS of pounds have been made in Portsmouth from parking charges and fines, The News can reveal.

Aviation Industry

• European airlines oppose Norwegian entrantThree major European carriers have made representations to the European Commission (EC), opposing plans by Norwegian Air International (NAI) to start transatlantic operations. read more
• UK flights heavily disrupted after IT failureComputer problems at NATS control centre

Other News Sources

• Regenerative braking system lowers carbon footprint of trainsA new flywheel-based regenerative braking system has shown it can reduce the carbon footprint of rail travel on Britain’s diesel-powered trains.
• A11 dual carriageway opensA multi-million pound investment to upgrade a vital transport link in the East of England came to fruition today (Friday 12 December) as the new A11 dual carriageway was opened by the Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin.
• Driver anger over Stagecoach 'arrogance'An Alresford villager has reported Stagecoach to the police after he says he was forced into the gutter by a bus.
• Chinese market will underpin Dubai's new cruise terminalWith the formal opening last week of DP World’s third cruise terminal at Mina Rashid, Dubai has made clear its determination to replicate in the cruise market the kind of dominance it has already achieved in container transhipment and passenger aviation.
• Smarter data analysis to influence traveller behaviour in 2015HRG predicts buyers will have a better understanding of data in 2015

EIN News Subscription

• European Commission updates EU air safety list … restrictions within the European Union (EU air safety list). All airlines from Libya have … the EU Air Safety List and are banned from operating in European airspace. No … ;s website. Violeta Bulc, EU Commissioner for Transport said: "Recent events …