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

Friday, 15 August 2008

BBC News

• BA seals alliance with AmericanBritish Airways seals a deal with American Airlines that will allow the two carriers to co-operate on fares, routes and schedules.
• Airline allianceBritish Airways seals a deal with American Airlines that will allow the two carriers to co-operate on fares, routes and schedules.
• Olympic star joining TfL's boardParalympics gold medal winner Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson has been appointed a board member of Transport for London.
• Transport aid for rural residentsCommunities in Cumbria are being given a transport lifeline with a subsidised travel scheme.
• Heathrow chaos as computers crashFlights are delayed and one is cancelled after a computer glitch causes chaos at Heathrow's Terminal 3.
• Careless drivers set to face jailA new offence of causing death by careless driving come into force next week, says the BBC's Sue Littlemore.
• US airline 'broke safety rules'American Airlines committed safety breaches including flying planes known to need repairing, US aviation officials allege.

Financial Times

• Virgin worried about squeezeThe UK is unique in Europe in having two strong long-haul carriers in British Airways and Virgin Atlantic. Virgin, for long an irritant to BA, is worried it will end...
• Transatlantic venture faces close scrutinyBritish Airways and American Airlines must decide how much pain they can take from US and European competition regulators, as they try yet again to form a joint venture across the North Atlantic

The Guardian

• Russian billionaire in talks to buy Hummer brandRussia's richest man, Oleg Deripaska, has held talks with General Motors about buying Hummer, the brand of gas-guzzling cars modelled on the US military's heavily armoured Humvee combat vehicles.
• Rivals fear BA-AA deal will drive up faresBritish Airways today unveiled plans for a global alliance with American Airlines that will allow cooperation on fares and schedules - prompting warnings from rivals that passengers will be hit by higher ticket prices as a result.

The Herald

• Bus service bid to link business hubsPlans for a new multi- million pound bus service in Edinburgh aimed at creating swifter "greener" links between key business sites will be discussed today by transport officials.

The Telegraph

• Fears over transatlantic fare rise as British Airways strikes deal with American Airlines Passengers could see transatlantic fares rise as a result of a new tie up announced between British Airways and American Airlines.
• The Sat-Nav wristwatch from 1920It contains no temperamental microchips and would never send a lorry down a bike track.

Edinburgh Evening News

• Parking protest steps up a gearHUNDREDS of residents are objecting to the idea of the city's controlled parking zone being expanded into their neighbourhood.

London Evening Standard

• 4,000 stranded as computer glitch causes Heathrow check-in chaosThousands of passengers were stranded at Heathrow after a computer glitch caused major delays to flights.
• Weekend rail chaos as West Coast line is 'severed' for track upgradeRail passengers face chaos this weekend when one of the main London to Scotland routes is 'severed' for engineering works.
• BA fares 'may soar' after deal with American Airlines, watchdog warnsAir fares could soar after British Airways struck a deal with U.S. giant American Airlines, consumer watchdogs have warned.
• Moves to stop eight days of Tube strikesEfforts are under way to bring about talks in a bid to prevent a 72-hour walkout which would cripple the Tube next week

Manchester Evening News

• Sir Howard's disappointment at FSBMANCHESTER city council chief Sir Howard Bernstein, the leading force behind the plans for a £3bn transport revolution, has hit out at a small business pressure group for its attitude on the plans contained in the Transport Infrastructure Fund bid, which include congestion charging.

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• Kirkwall transport spending boostORKNEY Islands Council has been awarded £800,000 to fund transport projects at Kirkwall, it emerged yesterday.
• Thousands back A9 upgrade callA petition calling for a notorious trunk road to be turned into a dual-carriageway has gathered thousands of signatures, it was revealed yesterday.

The York Press

• Train firms urged to promote cyclingYORK’S MP has called for new rules to make it easier for cyclists to travel by rail.
• Marina idea sparks angerPLANNING bosses have been flooded with objections to a scheme to create a new marina for 39 boats on the River Ouse downstream of York.
• Campus tension over car parking RESIDENTS could finally reclaim their streets from university students who park near their homes through the introduction of a new parking scheme.

Wales Online

• Dame Tanni lands transport jobParalympics gold medal winner Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson has been appointed a board member of Transport for London, it was announced today.

Peterborough Telegraph

• Airline chief dismisses Stansted bid claimsRyanair boss Michael O'Leary has dismissed reports that the low-fares carrier has plans to buy London's Stansted airport.

Western Daily Press

• Cheltenham MP backs fight to end swindon-kemble rail delaysCampaigning commuters yesterday stepped up a bid to persuade railway authorities to turn the clocks back 40 years by doubling a key but heavily congested line through the West.

International Herald Tribune

• British Airways and American Airlines seek right to fly togetherFor the third time, the two airlines, this time joined by Iberia, are asking Washington to allow them to operate jointly across the Atlantic.
• U.S. cities plan to bring back streetcarsCincinnati and at least 40 other cities are exploring streetcar plans to spur economic development, ease traffic congestion and draw people back from the suburbs.

The Economist

• The American car market: Detroit?s race against timeWill the Big Three's cash last long enough for them to fix themselves?WITH each successive month the plight of Detroit's Big Three manufacturers--General Motors (GM), Ford and Chrysler--becomes a little more desperate and their eventual fate less certain. July's figures for light-vehicle sales in America, released last week, were unremittingly awful. Seasonally adjusted and annualised, sales fell to 12.5m from 15.3m last year. As in previous months, sales of pickups and sport-utility vehicles (SUVs), down by 31% year on year, were worst hit. But even car sales, hampered by supply shortages of ...
• Airlines: Still a bumpy rideFalling oil prices have lifted airlines' share prices. Is the crisis over?SEVEN of America's biggest airlines chalked up combined losses of $5.9 billion in the second quarter of the year, but this week their share prices continued their month-long, gravity-defying rebound. Fuelling the new optimism was a report from Morgan Stanley, an investment bank, suggesting that much of the troubled industry could return to profit as early as 2009. Could the tempest of rising costs and sagging demand that so recently seemed to jeopardise many airlines' survival already be blowing itself out?The cause of t...
• Crossing the Thames: Flying carsTrouble over bridging watersYOU would not expect Boris Johnson, London's newly elected Conservative mayor, to be popular in Newham, a poor east London borough and Labour stronghold that has become a byword for deprivation and poverty. Yet the shock-haired Mr Johnson will have won at least a few grudging admirers with his opposition to the Thames Gateway Bridge, a GBP455m ($890m), six-lane road bridge across the Thames that was championed by Ken Livingstone, his predecessor.East London has traditionally been poorly served by transport infrastructure. The prospect of hosting the Olympic games in...
• Electric cars: Plugging inFor all the political hype, London is still ambivalent about themONCE the preserve of ageing former presidents, overfed golf stars and milkmen, electric vehicles are much in vogue these days. A survey this month by esure, a car-insurance company, found that 71% of British motorists would consider driving one, and all the main political parties have burnished their green credentials by supporting financial incentives for owners of cars with low carbon-dioxide emissions. This, and the painfully high price of petrol, has seen the number of electric cars in London increase dramatically, from 90 in...
• Oyster cards: New tickets, pleaseThe contract for London's transport card is up for grabsFEW phrases in British politics are more radioactive than

Washington Post

• BA, American and Iberia sign deal LONDON -- British Airways PLC, American Airlines and Spain's Iberia SA said Thursday they have signed a revenue-sharing deal that _ if approved by regulators _ will see the trio set prices together and share seat capacity on trans-Atlantic flights.
• FAA seeks $7M fine against American Airlines WASHINGTON -- The Federal Aviation Administration said Thursday it is seeking $7.1 million from American Airlines for continuing to fly airliners after safety problems were reported and for drug-testing violations.

Transport for London

• Mayor announces a board to take transport forwardThis press release was originally issued by the press office at the Greater London Authority.

Aviation Industry

• SMARTER STRONGER CITIES: UK URBAN POLICY INNOVATIONS AND LESSONS FOR THE USThis report from the Centre for Cities and Washington’s Brookings Institution has found that the USA has a lot to learn from Britain’s urban renaissance.
• American Airlines orders six additional 737s for 2010American Airlines said Wednesday it will purchase six additional Boeing Co. 737-800 aircraft, raising the airline's total 737 deliveries between 2009 and 2010 to 76.
• JAL suspends Heathrow-Osaka serviceLondon left without direct connection to the city.

Other News Sources

• Short-sea offered 'a break with tradition'An 'invitation to break with maritime tradition' is being offered in the form of a pilot study by Dutch firms Wagenborg Shipping, Flinter Management and Amasus Shipping.
• 'Inadequate budgeting' blamed for loss of bus routesKIRKCALDY'S Labour councillors and MSP have hit out at revisions to the town's bus routes ahead of the changes being implemented on Monday.
• Rain-away train leaves passengers soakedPASSENGERS were left with soaking clothes and needing to use umbrellas inside as their train was battered by the storm as it travelled from Ipswich to Cambridge.
• EMT starts to refurb its Class 158sDelta Rail of Derby have started the first refurbishment of East Midlands Trains' Class 158s this week, with 158783 being the first through its doors; it is expected to enter service at the start of October. The refurb' programme is expected to be complete by April 2010 and will see all EMT's 25 Class 158 trains overhauled, including:
• Greener biofuelOxford Catalysts has developed an improved specialist catalyst that could make second-generation biofuel production cheaper and greener.
• Airbus contractCobham Avionics and Surveillance, a division of Dorset-based Cobham, has been selected by Rockwell Collins to provide the Radio and Audio Integrated Management System for the Airbus A350 XWB.
• Rail freight predicted to double by 2030 A new study published by the Freight Transport Association (FTA) and Rail Freight Group (RFG), predicts demand for rail...
• Sealink to Expand FleetSealink plans to expand its fleet size of 29 vessels to more than 40 vessels over the next three years, mostly tugboats and barges for chartering, Sinchew reported. Also in the pipeline were plans to transform the 31-acre shipyard into a shipbuilding site with deepwater capability as deepwater vessels generally fetched better margins...
• Freightliner’s investor acquisition signals next growth stageLeading rail haulier of maritime containers Freightliner is courted by corporate investor, but it is 'busines as normal'.
• P&O to attack cross-Channel run with ’largest-ever’ ferriesNew ferry order looks set to send freight capacity soaring on the bustling Dover-Calais route.
• Freight bulks up Hapag profitsSTRONGER freight rates on trade lanes have helped Hapag-Lloyd turn around its operating performance for the first six months to profits of €131M ($195M).
• Mayor announces a board to take transport forwardsThe Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has made further appointments to the Transport for London board. Several new members include the Paralympic gold medal winner and former world record holder Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson.
• Assembly welcomes regional influence over how Government money will be spent in the South West.Funding for transport, housing, regeneration and skills need to be prioritised and the region is being asked by Government to balance aspirations for investment against the level of funding available.
• Funding to encourage green travel in ScotlandScotland will join European leaders in developing innovative transport initiatives to encourage more Scots out of their cars.
• UN backed expert group takes steps to establish new Biofuel standardsA United Nations-backed group of international experts has endorsed a first draft of a new global sustainability standard for biofuels to assess their economic, social and environmental effects.
• Council employees helping to reduce Portsmouth™s carbon footprintA recent travel-to-work survey carried out by Portsmouth City Council shows council employees are doing their bit to help reduce their carbon footprint.
• Developers take on Peterborough zero-carbon challenge A consortium of developers is set to build a zero-carbon neighbourhood in the centre of Peterborough.
• Images of Altrincham transport interchange unveiledGreater Manchester Future Transport has released images of another transport interchange that could be built in the region if the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities’ £2.7bn Transport Innovation Fund package is approved.
• Call for greater investment in British waterwaysBritain's canal and river system is under threat and immediate investment is needed to repair it and protect wildlife, users of the network claim.
• Ryanair denies Stansted bid claimsRyanair boss Michael O'Leary has dismissed reports that the low fares carrier has plans to buy London's Stansted airport.

EIN News Subscription

• Airport opens late and over budget ... SCOTLAND's newest airport was officially opened yesterday, more than a ... as the airport was officially opened by transport minister Stewart Stevenson. Flights will operate on ... Bute Council, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Hitrans, European Regional Development Fund and the Oban Common ...
• Rivals fear BA-AA deal will raise fares ... plans for a global alliance with American Airlines that will allow cooperation on fares and ... by competition authorities in the US and EU, would offer consumers more destinations and a ... that will be heard by Department of Transport officials in Washington over the next few ...