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

Saturday, 28 March 2015

BBC News

• '£260m cost' if line not electrifiedFailure to electrify the main railway line in north Wales could cost the Welsh economy £260m, the transport minister says.
• VIDEO: Crossrail 'on time, on budget'London Mayor Boris Johnson says Crossrail tunnelling is now 60% complete and is
• Germanwings 'be surprised' ad removedAdverts for Germanwings with slogan
• Airport security staff to strikeSecurity staff working at Scotland's regional airports vote in favour of taking industrial action over their terms and conditions.
• Coach plunge passengers tell of fearPassengers on a tour coach which came off the A83 in Argyll at the Rest and Be Thankful have recalled their terror as the bus overturned towards water.
• Germanwings crash: Counting the costWhat compensation is the airline legally obliged to pay?
• VIDEO: Revamping Uganda's motorcycle taxisEntrepreneurs in Uganda are helping to improve safety for passengers riding on boda boda motorcycle taxis.
• VIDEO: New airport to help Nigerian economyThe global fall in the price of oil has prompted Nigeria to build an airport and diversify its exports.

Financial Times

• Germanwings co-pilot concealed illnessUN warned three years ago that medical checks were not sufficiently focused on mental health
• Insurers face €300m payout for air crashGermanwings compensation claims unlikely to be challenged, say lawyers

The Guardian

• ‘I feel no anger towards Andreas Lubitz,’ says crash victim’s father - videoThe father of an American victim of the French Alps plane crash says he does not feel anger towards Andreas Lubitz, the co-pilot of the Germanwings plane. Robert Tansill Oliver, who lost his 37-year-old son Robert Oliver Calvo, says his thoughts go out to Lubitz's family. Oliver says he hopes all airlines take action to prevent such a tragedy recurring Continue reading...
• Former JetBlue pilot who had midair meltdown sues airline for letting him flyClayton Osbon files $14.9m suit saying JetBlue made no effort ‘to ensure that he was fit’ for work despite warning signs exactly three years agoA former JetBlue Airways Corp pilot whose midair meltdown forced an emergency landing of a 2012 flight on Friday sued the carrier for $14.9m, saying it should have grounded him because it knew he was incapable of flying. Clayton Osbon, 52, filed his lawsuit in Manhattan federal court three days after the crash of a Germanwings plane in the French Alps, which killed 150 passengers and crew. Authorities believe that plane’s co-pilot deliberately caused t...
• Facebook successfully tests laser drones in UK skiesSocial network prepares to use solar-powered drones with wingspan of a commercial airliner to beam internet access to rural areasFacebook has been testing large, solar-powered drones in the skies over the UK, chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has announced.The drones use lasers to beam internet access down to the ground, designed to provide connections to rural and internet-free zones. Continue reading...
• The Germanwings tragedy: inside the mind of a pilotAs a qualified pilot and psychiatrist, I am certain that no prior psychological test to Andreas Lubitz would have predicted his actionsFrench prosecutors have reported that first officer Andreas Lubitz appeared to want to destroy the aircraft carrying 149 innocent people aboard Germanwings flight 4U9525. As a qualified pilot and a psychiatrist, I have since repeatedly imagined nightmare scenarios in that cockpit. Although we will never know what was truly going through Lubitz’s mind as the aircraft plunged, one of the many alarming aspects of this tragedy is that his depression is being quickl...
• Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz ‘wanted to make everyone remember him’Lubitz told his former girlfriend that he wanted to do something to ‘change the system’, Bild reports, as investigators find torn-up sick note covering the day of the crashThe co-pilot on the Germanwings flight that crashed in the French Alps wanted to do “do somethingâ€� history would remember him by, according to reports. Andreas Lubitz, 27, had hidden a sick note declaring him unfit to work on the day of the disaster before boarding the Dusseldorf-bound Airbus A320 and piloting it into a mountain in the southern French Alps, killing all 150 people on board. Related: The last minutes of Germa...

The Herald

• Survivors of A83 coach crash are 'lucky to be alive'HOLIDAYMAKERS who survived the A83 crash have described how a freak gust of wind 'punched' their coach into a barrel roll, sending it careering down an embankment.

The Independent

• Facebook test flies solar-powered drones over the UK in attempt to increase internet access A pilotless plane with a wingspan bigger than a Boeing 737 but weighing less than a car has been tested over the UK by Facebook.

The Telegraph

• 'Pay less for parking in the rain' plan for seaside townCouncillors in Brighton and Hove hope to attract visitors on rainy summer days with cheaper parking charges
• Airlines 'not doing enough' to monitor mental conditions of crew, say family of woman murdered by BA pilotFamily of Joanna Brown say airlines are still not monitoring the mental well-being of their pilots robustly enough

City AM

• Support for the Bakerloo line extension is hugeLondoners have given overwhelming support to long-awaited plans for extending the Bakerloo line further into south London from Elephant Castle.Transport for London has received one of its largest-ever responses to a consultation, which is proposing the extension of the Tube to Lewisham, and potentially even as far as Hayes.Some 96 per cent of the 15,000 people who responded backed the project, which has been mooted for many years and is estimated to cost around £3bn.More than 11,000 people said they supported it on the basis it would regenerate the area, which is currently leas...

Daily Express

• Germanwings A320 crash: Captain tried to break in with axeTHE frantic captain of the doomed Germanwings flight used an axe to try to smash down the cockpit door locked by his crazed co-pilot, it emerged yesterday.
• Killer pilot 'wanted to be remembered' and once woke up screaming: 'WE'RE GOING DOWN'KILLER pilot Andreas Lubitz had long plotted an event so horrific that he would be remembered, his ex-girlfriend has claimed.

Mail Online

• 'I'm planning a heinous act that will be remembered forever': Killer pilot's ex-girlfriend says he shared chilling prophecy before Alps crash and woke up from nightmares shouting 'we're going down' Andreas Lubitz was a tormented, erratic man who was a master of hiding his darkest thoughts and would wake up from nightmares screaming ‘we’re going down’, his former partner said.

The Mirror

• Germanwings plane crash: Andreas Lubitz scared ex-girlfriend reveals he had long planned 'spectacular and unforgettable event'The unnamed ex-girlfriend claimed he had plotted for a long time to commit an act so terrible that his name would never be forgotten

Birmingham Post

• Birmingham leader says HS2 rail link on track despite Shadow Chancellor's claim it should be delayed Birmingham leader Sir Albert Bore insists Birmingham to northern cities HS2 phase 2 link going ahead after Ed Balls said build HS3 first

Derby Telegraph

• Derby Telegraph published Mansfield Road in Derby now reopened following six day closureA MAIN road in Derby that closed for six days after a water main burst has now reopened. Mansfield Road, Chester Green, reopened at 6pm tonight. Work to fix the 30-inch-wide pipe under the street has been ongoing since it burst on Sunday morning, flooding the area. The resulting problems affected thousands of people's water supplies and Severn Trent Water has had to bring in more than 20 large tankers to deliver water to homes in the area.

London Evening Standard

• London motorcyclists are offered £1,500 grants to go electric Londoners are to be offered grants of up to £1,500 to buy electric rather than petrol motorbikes.
• French Alps crash: Germanwings airline removes 'Get ready to be surprised' adverts from London Tube stations The airline Germanwings has pulled dozens of adverts bearing the slogan "Get ready to be surprised" from London's Tube network following the Alps plane crash.
• Pedestrian left with 'potentially life-changing injuries' after night bus ran over her foot on London Bridge A woman was treated for serious leg injuries in hospital today after a night bus ran over her foot on London Bridge, police said.
• Motorist escapes parking fine after leaving hilarious begging letter A lucky motorist escaped a parking fine after leaving a hilarious letter on their car pleading with traffic wardens not to give them a ticket.

Wales Online

• Councillor steps into Cardiff bus row with pledge that passengers will be able to use new bus stationThe current bus station is due to close in June in advance of major redevelopment in front of Cardiff Central railway station

Yorkshire Post

• New move to take control of busesWEST YORKSHIRE will take further steps towards bus regulation after councillors were unimpressed by the latest offer from operators.

Bucks Free Press

• Report calls for HS2 tunnel to go the whole way through Chilterns A new study has said creating a tunnel for HS2 through the whole width of the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is more viable than the current proposals.

Burnley Express

• Drivers slam Burnley M65 approach ‘chicane’Highways bosses have been slammed for creating a dangerous “S” bend chicane on one of the busiest dual carriageways in Burnley.

East Anglian Daily Times

• Flights around Stansted Airport targeted by lasers 45 times last yearAircraft pilots were targeted with lasers around Stansted Airport 45 times last year.

Other Regional Press

• Exclusive pictures of Bedford’s new bus station ahead of its big opening on SundayWith just days to go to the official opening of Bedford’s new bus station, the T&C can reveal some exclusive previews.

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• Public transport gets smartTransport minister Baroness Kramer has announced a number of measures designed to make public transport more connected and convenient. Smart ticketing will be rolled out across the Centro West Midlands rail network over the next two years, thanks to £620,000 of funding. An agreement has also been reached with bus drivers to start developing multi-operator smart tickets this year. This means that passengers will be able to use smart ticketing at Birmingham New Street station once its redevelopment is completed in September. In addition to this, the government plans to work with the UK...

Rail Magazine

• Contract awarded for Northern Line extension TBMsTunnel Boring Machines will launch in the summer of 2016 to extend the Charing Cross branch of the line to Battersea Power Station.

Rail Technology Magazine

• Rail passengers on South West Trains to benefit from £50m improvements The UK Department for Transport (DfT) has signed an agreement with Stagecoach, in a bid to deliver a £50m package of improvements on South West Trains.

Aviation Industry

• Airlines worldwide move to adopt new cockpit policyIn response to the Germanwings Airbus A320 crash, airlines around the world continued to move to implement a policy of requiring two crew members to be in the cockpit at all times during flights. read more
• Boris moves to reject London City expansion plansLondon mayor refuses application on noise grounds

Other News Sources

• Road repairs backlog stretches to 13 years‘Alarm’ survey finds councils still forced into costly patching-up work
• Gatwick Airport campaigners fear second runway will have 'devastating impact'Six campaign groups - including Plane Wrong - are opposing the expansion, fearing it will
• Staines bus crash: Roof torn off vehicle carrying 76 students after smashing into railway bridgeStudents were described as
• Body worn cameras issued to traffic wardens to make motorists "think twice" before attacking them TRAFFIC wardens are being fitted with cameras to catch those who give them a torrent of abuse while they are issuing parking tickets.