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

Friday, 05 September 2008

BBC News

• Chaos at £20,000 petrol giveawayThere have been angry scenes between motorists at a petrol station which is giving away £20,000 worth of fuel.
• Year round summer on rail lineThe number of trains running on a Cornish branch line will not be reduced over the winter, a rail operator has announced.
• Concern over airport links futureConcerns over a lack of funding for railway links at Gatwick Airport have been raised by Surrey County Council.
• Rail group slams non-stop trainsThe number of trains calling at several stations in Nottinghamshire has been cut by up to half, users have said.
• Transport boosted for spider showMore ferries and trains will be running in Liverpool this weekend to cope with the extra visitors expected in the city for the La Machine spider spectacle.
• Calls for end to ferry monopolyTwo of the first submissions to the European Commission inquiry into Scottish ferries have called for the break up of Caledonian MacBrayne's monopoly on Clyde and Hebridean and Northern Isles routes.
• Traffic roadside study to resumeDrivers in Dorset and Hampshire will be asked to pull over and fill in a form as part of an ongoing £2m survey into improving the flow of traffic.
• Trams and trains could share linePlans to run trains and trams on the same line in the West Midlands are being considered.
• 'Ice in fuel' caused BA jet crashThe BA plane that crashed at Heathrow in January was probably brought down by ice in its fuel system, a report says.
• Boeing workers decide to strikeAssembly workers at Boeing have voted to go on strike following a dispute over pay and benefits.
• New car sales 'hit by downturn'New UK car registrations last month were at their lowest level for any August since 1966, figures show.

Financial Times

• Ryanair's passenger volumes soarThe Irish low-cost carrier says its passenger numbers increased by 19% in August in spite of the economic slowdown and weakening growth in demand for air travel in Europe
• Boeing faces possible imminent strikeBoeing has until Friday night to avoid a strike that would paralyse its commercial aircraft production after members of its largest union voted overwhelmingly to down tools over a new three-year contract

The Guardian

• Cycling is officially chicCycle commuting in London has increased by 91 per cent since 2000, and with that comes a natural evolution of style

The Herald

• Motorists prove they like driving in the lap of luxurySales of luxury cars are up despite the numbers of new vehicles being bought having fallen to their lowest level since 1966, according to new figures.

The Independent

• Safety fears over long-haul flightsAirlines are being urged to implement new safety measures for long-haul aircraft after investigators found that the crash-landing of a Boeing 777 at Heathrow was probably caused by ice in its fuel system.

The Scotsman

• New car sales slowest since 1966SALES of new cars are forecast to continue to plunge over the next year after manufacturers announced the worst August figures for 42 years.

The Telegraph

• Canal drained 'for carp' by poachersA canal was emptied when poachers opened the lock gates to get their hands on carp anglers have claimed.

Times Online

• London Tube and bus fares rise by 6 per cent Boris Johnson risked the wrath of commuters yesterday when he announced a 6 per cent increase in Tube and bus fares. The Mayor of London blamed the hike on his predecessor, Ken Livingstone, claiming that he had left him with a black hole in Transport for London funding this year of more than £80 million. Mr Johnson said: “I have been left to tackle the unfunded legacy of Livingstone’s largesse.”
• Car sales crash as economy hits skids Car sales fell to their lowest level for more than 40 years last month in the most dramatic sign yet that the country is heading into a recession.

Daily Express

• BA takes a poundingTHE plunge in the value of the pound has wiped out the benefits of recent falls in oil prices, British Airways said yesterday.

Mail Online

• Safety checks for THOUSANDS of planes after ice in fuel caused BA crash at HeathrowEvery long-haul passenger plane in the world faces strict new safety checks to prevent a repetition of the Heathrow crash-landing in January.

The Mirror

• 31 per cent of all accidents caused by lorriesCarnage on the roads could be cut by shifting more freight from lorries to the railways, it was argued yesterday.

Edinburgh Evening News

• School wins cycle awardTHE first Cycle Friendly School Award has been given to a school in Midlothian.
• Dawe joins calls for Lothian Buses to rethink prams policyCITY leader Jenny Dawe today joined the condemnation of Lothian Buses' controversial ban on prams and said drivers should be allowed to use their discretion.

Journal Live

• Chester-le-Street commuters derailed by tunnel closureHUNDREDS of commuters are facing three months of travel chaos because of engineering works taking place more than 100 miles away.

London Evening Standard

• New car sales down 19% after motor trade suffers worst August for 42 yearsNew car sales in August have fallen to their lowest level since 1966, figures revealed. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said new car registrations were down 18.6 per cent to 63,225.

Manchester Evening News

• Taxis stage wildcat strikeHUNDREDS of black-cab drivers staged a six-hour wildcat strike in protest against spiralling charges at Manchester airport.

Metro

• Mother to travel around Europe for just £1A 42-year-old mother of four has resigned from her job to take advantage of a budget airline's £1 offer.
• Rail staff refuse to help disabled passenger board trainRail staff refused to help a disabled woman board a train because it was late and they had no time to fetch a ramp for her wheelchair.
• 10% tube and bus fare rise for £84m gimmickTube and bus fares will rise by up to ten per cent in January to plug an £84million hole in Londons transport budget, Boris Johnson said on Thursday.

Newcastle Evening Chronicle

• How cycling to work can transform your lifeCYCLE to work for one day and, who knows, you just might like it! We are encouraging readers to take part in our Leave Your Car At Home Day on September 22.

The News (Portsmouth)

• Renovation work at rail station closes liftsLIFTS at the Portsmouth and Southsea train station have been closed for refurbishment.

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• Zero tolerance policing on Tayside roadsPolice in Tayside are taking a œzero tolerance approach to criminals on the region™s roads in an operation which began yesterday.
• Vandals target buses at Broch depotPolice are hunting vandals who caused nearly £10,000 of damage at a north-east bus firm.
• Disabled man may take legal action against airlineA DISABLED man is considering legal action against British Airways after claiming he had to œbeg for his wheelchair from the pilot of a plane bound for Aberdeen.
• Councillors urged to spend £180,000 more on road safetyCOUNCILLORS in Dundee are being urged to spend an extra £180,000 to drive down the city™s road accident figures.

The York Press

• Bus ticketing cost concern ALLOWING bus passengers in York to use the same ticket on different companies™ services would cost hundreds of thousands of pounds, traffic chiefs have warned.
• Blitz on parent parking CHILDREN are taking charge of a new road safety campaign aimed at hammering home a message to parents not to park outside York schools.

Wales Online

• Lorry bridge at centre of new look for parkA MASSIVE restoration scheme for Cardiff’s treasured Bute Park has been unveiled – with a controversial lorry bridge at its heart.

Doncaster Free Press

• £15.4 million park and ride scheme opens for businessAS the new A638 Quality Bus Corridor opened for the first time Free Press reporter Paul Goodwin jumped on board to sample the borough's new transport network and get the v
• Road repairs could put £40m hole in council's budgetsBRINGING Doncaster's damaged roads up to scratch will cost at least £40 million, it has emerged.

Peterborough Telegraph

• Prize motive for wearing cycle helmetsKIDS and youngsters who wear cycle helmets when riding bikes could win prizes.
• Firm checks over BA jetsA Norfolk firm has been awarded a £1.5m contract to perform "end of lease" checks on four British Airways planes.

International Herald Tribune

• Shipyards overbooked, but analysts worry about acquisition boomThe shipbuilding industry may soon face a downturn, and some worry that multibillion-dollar bids for shipbuilders like Daewoo could backfire in a costly way.
• As oil prices plunge, OPEC faces production dilemmaCutting production to stem the price drop could spark a backlash and paint the oil cartel as greedy and short-sighted. Leaving production unchanged may precipitate the decline in prices at a time when oil demand is slowing.

The Economist

• Monitor: Whirlybirds go greenTransport: Switching to diesel engines could make helicopters, and other aircraft, more efficient and less damaging to the environmentTHE ability to take off and land vertically, and to hover, makes helicopters useful machines. Unfortunately, because they lack fixed wings to help provide lift, they are also expensive to operate. Helicopters need powerful engines to drive their rotors, and that means they use a lot of fuel. So could they benefit from one of the developments being used to make car engines more efficient—a switch to diesel fuel? EADS, Europe’s aerospace giant, seems t...
• Hydrogen cars: The car of the perpetual futureTransport: Mass-produced hydrogen fuel-cell cars have been promised for a decade. Where are they?DURING a keynote address at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January, the boss of General Motors (GM), Rick Wagoner, unveiled the Cadillac Provoq, a new hydrogen fuel-cell concept car. With a drivetrain emitting only water vapour, a 300-mile range and a top speed of 160kph (100mph), the vehicle, said Mr Wagoner, represented “the promise of truly sustainable transportation”. It was a promise that sounded vaguely familiar.A decade earlier, in 1998, Mr Wagoner’s predeces...
• Cars: The road aheadThe world’s carmakers have mapped out their route to a greener futureTHERE is nothing like high oil prices, panic-selling of big cars and the prospect of swingeing new penalties on carbon-spewing vehicles to concentrate the minds of the world’s carmakers. In less than two years something remarkable has happened. Technologies once regarded by horsepower-obsessed marketing departments as politically correct public-relations fluff, never likely to see the light of day, are entering the mainstream just as fast as the car firms can get them there. Only 18 months ago it was common to hea...

Railnews

• News: Dalston prepares for new East London Line RECONSTRUCTION work is well under way at Dalston station to transform it into a step-free access to the northern extension of London Overground’s modernised East London Line which is due for completion by June 2010.

Transport for London

• Are you sitting comfortably?Nearly three quarters of London's cyclists are not, according to new research from Transport for London (TfL).
• 100 artists celebrate 100 years of Tube logo100 Years, 100 Artists, 100 Works of Art

Aviation Industry

• A Bicycle Made By TwoThe Elite Custom Carbon bottle cage is a thing of rare beauty. Not so rare that you couldn’t have one if you splashed €90 at a speciality bicycle store, but it’s a lot to pay just to clamp a water bottle to a bike. The reason for the expense is in the name: make a bike product from carbon fibre and you can hike the price.
• Health and safety uncertainty disrupts workConstruction on the Union Square mall has halted due to a misunderstanding about health and safety rules regulating the colour of hard hats, a source says.
• Moving MountainsIt’s travel at its most relaxing, but for luxury train operators it isn’t always an easy ride. Anthony Lambert discovers the keys to making a success of it
• The Age Of The Train For EU FreightGreater use of rail networks to transport freight, as much as 40%, should be a priority - thats according to the European Parliament.
• Bendy bus blitz on fare dodgersTransport for London have swooped on almost 200 fare dodgers on two notorious bendy bus routes
• Gatwick gains Istanbul serviceNew route links the Asian side of the city to London™s second airport for the first time.
• Kingfisher to fly London Heathrow to Mumbai daily from October 26Indian airline also announces flights to Singapore, Hong Kong and San Francisco.
• Argentina confirms re-nationalisation of Aerolineas ArgentinasState to takeover airline in a reversal of privatisation trend.

Other News Sources

• Menai crossing shows serious signs of corrosion warns engineerTWO agencies are holding discussions to decide who is responsible for maintaining the supporting pillars of Britannia Bridge after a retired engineer alerted them to possible serious corrosion.
• Five years of the M6 toll roadWhile the Welsh Assembly considers the implications of a toll road parallel to the M4, it would be very wise for it to consider MPs' concerns about the country's first pay-as-you-go motorway.
• St Andrew’s Cross Adorns New CoachA NEW National Express coach adorned with a St Andrew’s Cross visited Hamilton on its inaugural journey.
• Protesters converge on transport summitAnti-road tunnel protesters gather outside a transport conference in Melbourne on September 5, 2008, to voice their opposition to the east-west link proposed for Melbourne. (ABC News: Kellie Lazzaro)
• Angry commuters torch trains in Buenos AiresAngry commuters have set fire to train carriages outside the Argentine capital Buenos Aires after morning rush hour delays. The trouble began when a malfunctioning train came to a stop before the wes...
• UAE denies discrimination at airportsAn official in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) foreign ministry has said that no discrimination is shown against any particular nationality at the country's various airports.
• Reseachers working to make skies safer for flyingResearchers are developing an air traffic decision-making system that is not dependent on human controllers, but will act autonomously to optimise flight operations.
• Stone washedResearchers trial air-purifying concrete they hope will convert NOx from car exhaust fumes into harmless nitrates. Siobhan Wagner reports
• Coach classA consortium comprising Siemens and Bombardier has received an order worth €189m from the Swiss Federal Railways for the supply of 121 low-floor intermediate double-deck coaches
• Feedback wanted for inquiry into high-speed rail link for ScotlandViews are being sought for a Scottish Parliament inquiry into high-speed rail links from Scotland to the rest of the UK and Europe. The Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change Committee wants to hear from parties interested in how improved links could potentially reduce train journey times and see an increase in passenger numbers between Scotland and the rest of the UK and Europe.
• Talks to restart Swansea and Cork ro-ro serviceA roll-on-roll-off (ro-ro) service between Swansea and Cork could be back in place by the beginning of 2009, says the commercial manager of the Port of Cork.
• Foreign drivers in the UK run empty 50% of the timeMore than half the journeys made by foreign trucks within the UK last year involved empty trailers.
• DfT to farm out congestion zone monitoringThe Department for Transport (DfT) has confirmed that it is about to commission technology companies to come up with new methods of monitoring congestion zones.
• Questions On Motor Freight Classification?Community Response: The National Motor Freight Traffic Association (NMFTA) continues to offer its classification guide and provide support for questions on freight classification
• Sustainability criteria targets approvedBiofuels should produce 50% less of greenhouse gas emissions by 2017.
• Transport ministers back optional road tollsMeeting in La Rochelle on 1-2 September for an informal session, EU transport ministers showed some reserve towards Commission proposals to charge truck drivers for the costs they impose in terms of congestion, noise and air pollution.
• Alitalia salvage plan reveals Commission riftBerlusconi's controversial rescue plan for the troubled Italian airline, nicknamed Fenice, revealed deep divisions yesterday (3 September) between the political and technical sides of the European Commission over the plan's conformity with EU state aid rules.
• MEPs call for hydrogen filling stations across EuropeParliament yesterday (3 September) backed Commission proposals to boost the development of hydrogen vehicles, but warned that the strategy would fail without concrete measures to support the establishment of a Europe-wide filling station network for hydrogen powered vehicles.
• Mayor welcomes environment advisor to ˜clean and green™ LondonThe Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, is delighted that Isabel Dedring has agreed to take charge of the crucial environment brief at City Hall.
• Government road charging plans include 'postcode lottery'Proposals to charge motorists road tolls include a possible provision to set rates based on the areas in which drivers live, based on the electoral register.
• International road freight continue to riseFigures from the UK Department for Transport (DfT) show that the international activities of UK-registered and foreign-registered goods vehicles operating in the country rose significantly last year.
• Dentressangle unveils Salvesen recovery planNorbert Dentressangle has announced that, despite tough economic conditions, it remains on target to ensure that its former Christian Salvesen UK operation returns to profitability.
• Crude oil prices drop back to $105Crude oil prices have dipped back to just over $105 per barrel mark this week after Hurricane Gustav failed to have a significant effect on output and production in the Gulf of Mexico.
• National boasts of a greener fleetCar rental company adds hybrids in drive to improve fleet-wide green credentials.