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

Sunday, 24 August 2008

The Observer

• Cable thieves bring trains to a £10m haltRising price of copper set to cost National Rail millions in repairs, train delays and extra securuty

The Telegraph

• BAA shake-up gives bandits a chance to take offAs Britain's hordes of homeward-bound Olympians now know, it takes a lifetime of work to strive for success, yet mere moments to either achieve lasting glory or have it cruelly snatched away. Those in charge of the country's largest airports will now have an idea how they feel.
• Solar powered spy plane breaks flight recordA solar powered spy plane developed by British scientists has broken the record for the longest time spent in flight after remaining in the air for three and a half days.

Times Online

• 20 years of bloody awful airports and BAAThe report on UK airport competition has revealed the full extent of failings at BAA.
• Motorways could soon have £5 VIP lanes Plans for segregated motorway lanes that allow drivers to pay for the privilege of cruising past stationary traffic are expected to receive a boost this week.
• Car dealership Pendragon in the black but cuts dividend BRITAIN’s biggest car dealership, Pendragon, which said eight weeks ago that it was difficult to forecast year-end profits after a sharp fall in sales, will announce this week it will slash its dividend.
• Electric sports car to be made by Tesla Motors in UK A SILICON VALLEY start-up company is to begin UK production of its £92,000 electric sports car.
• Plan for trustee to oversee sale of BAA airports The Competition Commission is considering appointing a special trustee to auction three BAA airports, a move that would take control of the sell-off out of the airport group’s hands.

Network Rail

• Services resume on Dundee - Aberdeen routeThe line between Dundee and Aberdeen has reopened after Network Rail successfully completed works to clear a landslip and flooding.

London Evening Standard

• Council staff too scared to walk streets get free bus rides homeCouncil workers are getting free rides on a private, taxpayer-funded bus service because they are too frightened to walk the streets of their own borough to get home.
• MP hits out as airport security fails to spot knife in hand luggageA senior Labour MP who inadvertently took a 3in knife on to a plane condemned airport bosses BAA last night for an ‘appalling’ security lapse after staff failed to detect it.

Peterborough Telegraph

• Airport firm 'to use untrained staff during strike'A trade union has accused a company of planning to use untrained staff to scan passengers' luggage at Stansted Airport, in breach of security rules, during a pay strike on

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• Eight foreign flagged ships detained in JulyA total of eight foreign flagged ships were detained at UK ports in July this year following failed Port State Control (PSC) inspections.The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) reports that three of the eight vessels were under detention from previous months, while five more foreign flagged ships were held in UK ports during July 2008.

Other News Sources

• Virgin plane forced to turn backA jet bound for Barbados was forced to return to Gatwick Airport after the pilot reported a technical problem.

EIN News Subscription

• The trains in Spain take traffic from the planes ... is feeling from the newly developed high-speed rail network that has been constructed over the ... the past two decades as speedy rail transport has provided plenty of competition for flights ... plenty of competition for flights within various European countries. Germany's Intercity and France's bullet trains ...