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

Thursday, 24 July 2008

BBC News

• MPs pass Crossrail project billMPs have approved a bill which paves the way for the £16bn Crossrail project to go-ahead.
• Ryanair price error 'to be fixed'Budget airline Ryanair has said it will fix a fault on its website that means it is breaking rules on price clarity.
• Cheap transport call to help poorCheaper public transport should be more widely available in rural areas to try to ease poverty, a report says.
• Dreamliner hits Boeing's resultsDelays to a military order and the 787 Dreamliner project take their toll on Boeing's three-month results.

Department for Transport

• Crossrail given go ahead by ParliamentWork on the largest civil engineering project in Europe to get underway Crossrail, the largest addition to the transport network in London and the South East for more than 50 years has completed its Parliamentary process, with the Crossrail Bill receiving Royal Assent last night.
• New rights to give disabled travellers a better journeyTransport Minister Rosie Winterton, the Equality and Human Rights Commission and the Civil Aviation Authority were at London City Airport today to outline measures coming into force this month giving up to 15 million disabled people and those with limited mobility new rights when travelling through airports in Europe.
• New plan to improve safety for MotorcyclistsPlans to tackle the numbers of motorcyclists killed or injured on Britain's roads were published today by Road Safety Minister Jim Fitzpatrick.

Financial Times

• Boeing braces itself for cancellationsBoeing warned that orders for its commercial aircraft could be cancelled or deferred as airlines struggled to cope with the high cost of fuel. Income for the quarter of $852m came in well below analysts' expectations
• Crude and food falls help lift equitiesOil prices continued to fall, dropping below $125 for the first time in six weeks and fuelling declines in other commodities that hit record highs earlier in the month such as corn and soyabeans
• Ambitious rail plan leaves sidingsCrossrail, the £15.9bn project to link Heathrow directly with London's financial centre, finally reached the end of a tortuous journey to secure royal assent on Wednesday

The Guardian

• Transport: Mayor insists Crossrail won't take cash from tube upgradeLondon mayor Boris Johnson warned yesterday that the £16bn Crossrail line must not take priority over a £30bn upgrade of the capital's tube network, amid concerns over the level of public funding required to cover both transport projects.
• Carmaker Mini plans to bring electric models to USThe US car market may be moving toward Mini's kind of small, fashionable and fuel-efficient vehicles, and the British brand will be ready as it prepares to launch its first electric vehicles in the US in 2009 and a small crossover utility vehicle not long after.
• British Motor Show goes greenFrom a car with no dashboard to one partly made of hemp: Patrick Barkham casts an eye over the green offerings at this year's British Motor Show, which opens to the public tomorrow

The Herald

• Highland’s largest port sees profits tumbleThe Cromarty Firth Port Authority (CFPA), the Highland’s largest deep-water port, has published its annual report which shows turnover in 2007 was down to £2.8m from the previous year’s figure of £3.3m.
• Oil prices continue slide amid worries over US demandCrude oil prices fell yesterday for a second straight session and are now more than $20 a barrel off a recent peak, as a US Government report showed larger-than-expected increases in inventories of refined petrol and distillates.
• Canals better used now than in industrial revolutionThe number of boats on Britain's waterways is now greater than at the height of the industrial revolution, it was revealed yesterday.

The Scotsman

• Lothian Buses has an easy ride with its subsidyALMOST fell out of my chair laughing when I read about Lothian Buses hoping to get some of the bonus paid to the city council back due to rising operational costs this year (Evening News, July 11).

The Telegraph

• Eco-town residents could pay £500 a year service chargeResidents of eco-towns could have to pay a service charge on top of their council tax bills to pay for subsidised bus travel and other costs.
• Olympics and Crossrail to be protected from credit crisisThe Olympics, Crossrail and other vital Government projects will not suffer because of the poor state of Government finances and the credit crisis, Alistair Darling has assured Cabinet colleagues.
• Thirteen million drivers to pay higher road taxesThirteen million drivers will pay higher road taxes from next year, new official figures show
• Rail line to link Heathrow to continent proposedPassengers could take a high speed train from Heathrow direct to the continent, under plans unveiled by a firm of engineers.

Times Online

• Airlines: why have we stopped complaining?Flight delays are more common now than they were five years ago, but airline complaints among travellers have fallen.
• Tall ships make a comeback as oil price hits exports A British schooner docked in Penzance yesterday carrying 30,000 bottles of wine on a voyage that enthusiasts believe will herald a return to wind power in merchant shipping.
• Renaissance for canals as new boaters come aboard More than 200 years after the nation’s canals ferried materials that fuelled the Industrial Revolution, inland waterways are enjoying an extraordinary resurgence. Rather than carrying coal and cotton, however, the boats of the 21st century are crammed with families, couples and friends all seeking a fast way to slow down.
• Profits up for Volkswagen and Peugeot Citroën as General Motors sales fall Europe’s top two carmakers bucked the prevailing car market gloom yesterday with better than expected second-quarter results.

Transport Briefing

• Crossrail Act prompts flurry of preparatory workLondon's £15.9bn Crossrail project is officially off the starting blocks today (23 July) after the Crossrail Bill received Royal Assent last night.
• Exhibition to showcase Crossrail station expansionWith the Crossrail Act now on the statute book, members of the public are being offered a glimpse of things to come at an exhibition outlining the transport improvements due to take place at Tottenham Court Road station.
• Croxley Rail Link promoter gains regional sponsorThe Croxley Rail Link project has inched a step forward after scheme promoter Hertfordshire County Council signed up the East of England Regional Planning Panel to support the scheme.

Daily Post (North Wales)

• A380 model record breakerTHE biggest ever model of the biggest ever passenger aircraft is set to glide into the record books at the gateway to London’s Heathrow Airport.

Edinburgh Evening News

• Petrol price war leaves drivers motoringSUPERMARKETS launched a petrol price war today, with three of Britain's biggest chains cutting the cost of unleaded and diesel by up to 5p a litre.
• Station development on track as plans for homes unveiledDETAILS of a multi-million-pound redevelopment of Ratho Station have been unveiled, including 200 new homes, an expanded village school, and a new community centre.

London Evening Standard

• Heathrow airport's BA Concorde landmark replaced by foreign airline's AirbusA roundabout approach to Heathrow airport which for many years was dominated by a large model of a Concorde got a new look and an even more spectacular model today.
• Budget airline Ryanair admits breaking fare clarity rules on its websiteRyanair has been breaching official fare clarity rules on its website for nearly a month, it was revealed today.
• All systems go for a world class railwayThe £16 billion rail link which will transform transport in London has passed a historic milestone

Newcastle Journal

• Interview: Driving towards the 100-mpg carMillions of dollars in prizes and free publicity await the team that can build a production-ready 100-mpg car. The competition's director John Shore tells New Scientist about the Automotive X Prize

The News (Portsmouth)

• Station takes a new trackA CONSTRUCTION company has been chosen to convert Gosport's railway station.
• A great relief as road is finally completedA MUCH-NEEDED relief road for a Lee-on-the-Solent housing estate has finally been built after years of legal wrangling and broken promises.

The York Press

• More York buses may face the axe FRESH fears have been raised for bus services in York, after city transport bosses recommended cutting a number of subsidies.
• Grand Central back on track A TRAIN operator has re-launched a full service on the East Coast Mainline route from York to London, following major repairs to several power cars.

This Is Local London Network

• Crossrail gets the green lightWork on the £16bn Crossrail project has been given the go ahead after legislation went through Parliament.

Wales Online

• Avonmouth expansion 'unlikely to help Wales'THE man behind plans for a massive expansion of Avonmouth docks has claimed that ports in Wales have nothing to fear from the proposals.

Aviation Industry

• EU green-lights airline emission cutbacksEffective as of January 2012, airlines will be included in the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS). The European Parliament gave the measure the green light earlier this month, with 640 votes in favour, 30 against and 20 abstentions
• Arup to put £4.5bn Heathrow rail plan to ministerEngineer proposes private finance model for extended high-speed rail network linking airport to Continent and regions
• Passenger numbers up at Prestwick AirportFigures released show that the Prestwick airport handled 222,940 passengers in June, a 3% rise compared with June 2007, and a 1% increase on May 2008.
• The Greening of Business Aviation, Part IIIFor transportation, and particularly for air transport, the primary tool in combating global warming happens to be the same one prized by designers and manufacturers from the outset -- efficiency.
• World's Smallest Camera Plane Shows Off in PublicBilled as the world's smallest camera-equipped aircraft, the DelFly Micro ornithopter flew in public for the first time on July 23.
• International Passengers Misdirected Through Heathrow T5It emerged on July 21st that passengers arriving on international flights were able to make their way through Heathrow Terminal 5 without passing through essential security checks.The error, which occurred after the opening of T5, was made either by BAA employees or British Airways staff, and saw the passengers being incorrectly sent through Domestic Arrivals as opposed to International Arrivals.Passengers MisdirectedAccording to Liam Byrne, Borders and Immigration Minister, passengers were misdirected on five occasions. On two of these, the mistake was picked up on and corrected, but not so o...
• Airport Workers Face Criminal Record ChecksThe UK government has announced that people applying for airside jobs at airports will undergo foreign criminal record checks by the end of this year.The decision follows the publication of a government-commissioned report on the security of the UK's entire transport infrastructure.The report, chaired by former Home Office official Stephen Boys Smith, recommended that overseas criminal record checks on applicants for airport jobs in restricted areas should be made mandatory.Boys Smith said action should be taken to "strengthen where there is weakness and insure all reasonable steps ha...
• Economic Case For Heathrow ExpansionA new report argues that the economic case for Heathrow Airport's expansion is flawed because it assumes air travel demand will increase in future years.As reported extensively by Airport International in articles on the Heathrow expansion plans and consultation, one of the arguments for Heathrow's development forwarded by those supporting the expansion is that a third runway and sixth terminal is needed in order to cope with the anticipated increase in global demand for air travel.For example, Virgin Atlantic chairman Sir Richard Branson recently argued that people have a natural "de...
• Disabled Air Passengers Rights At AirportsNew legislation regarding disabled passengers' rights at European airports come into force next weekend.From Saturday 26th July passengers using European Union (EU) airports who have a disability, or suffer from reduced mobility, must be given appropriate and suitable help by airports to help them through the airport process.The regulation covers passengers using flights from, transiting through or arriving at an airport situated in the EU.It also applies to airlines operating into the EU from a third country.EC Regulation No 1107/2006The regulation, formally known as EC Regulation No 1107/200...
• More airlines report losses because of fuel costsThe losses keep piling up for airlines, as three of the nation's biggest carriers said Tuesday high fuel costs overwhelmed higher revenue in the quarter that ended June 30.

Other News Sources

• Cycle Cardiff comments on city centre infrastructureCardiff Council are planning an investment in city centre cycling infrastructure as part of the next phase of the city’s transport strategy, and it appears as if the new power-sharing executive is more committed to sustainable transport modes.
• Foreign hauliers' advantage is 'patently unfair'The RHA has welcomed the findings of an influential House of Commons committee report, which says it is "patently unfair" that foreign trucks can use UK roads without being charged.
• PASSENGERS GIVE THUMBS UP TO NEW VISION FOR PASSENGER INFORMATION ON THE RAILWAYPassenger Focus and National Rail Enquiries have teamed up to assess passengers’ views about the information they need when using the railway, their current experiences and to gauge reaction to the industry’s proposed vision for passenger information.
• Big majority against aircraft stacking plansMore than 80% of those who responded were against changes to flightpaths over Suffolk and the south-east, it was revealed today.
• New rail line could damage Gaudí churchEuropean ombudsman demands review of a new high-speed rail track running through Barcelona™s historical centre.
• Porsche™s takeover of Volkswagen given green lightEU executive concludes that the merger between two of Germany™s leading car-makers would not limit competition.