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

Monday, 06 October 2008

BBC News

• Third runway will 'damage health'A third runway at Heathrow Airport would be "very detrimental" to Londoners' health, according to the new head of the Environment Agency (EA).
• Tata abandons cheapest car plantTata Motors abandons plans to build the world's cheapest car in the Indian state of West Bengal following a row over land.
• Paris scepticismUS help for Big 3 rattles the car industry

Department for Transport

• Rt Hon Geoff Hoon MP, Secretary of State for TransportMP for Ashfield since 1992, he was previously Chief Whip and Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury.

Financial Times

• Business jets feel the pinch from credit crunchAfter five years of growth, corporate aviation faces a downturn

The Guardian

• Tory rail plan betrays transport users [letters]Stephen Hammond, a Conservative transport spokesman, says his party has spent a year "working" on its plan for a London-Manchester-Leeds rail link as a substitute for a third runway at Heathrow
• Canal towpath walkers and cyclists on collision courseWaterways agency appoints warden to slow down fast riders who have been scattering pedestrians
• Boris's Bus (A Political Journey). Pt 3: A Bendy Way Out?Let's recall what drives the bendy-haters. There is the heritage argument (bendys replaced the old Routemasters), the safety argument (they imperil cyclists) and the unsuitability argument (they are too long for London's narrow streets).

The Herald

• High-speed train link derailedCONSERVATIVE PLANS to build a high-speed rail line no further north than Leeds will wipe out their vote in Scotland and encourage nationalism, according to the Scottish transport minister.

The Scotsman

• SNP backs Edinburgh-London linkSNP ministers are backing plans for a high-speed rail link between Edinburgh and London, cutting travel times by three hours.

The Telegraph

• Cabbie picks up £1940 fare for revellers ride from Portsmouth to MunichA taxi driver earned a bumper £1940 when he picked up a fare in Portsmouth Hants and delivered him 740miles away to the Munich beer festival.

Times Online

• No appeals for bus passengers Bus passengers will have weaker legal rights than rail passengers, despite a government pledge that they would be treated equally by a new public transport watchdog.

Transport Briefing

• Bus rapid transit plan for Rotherham and SheffieldSouth Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive, Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council and Sheffield City Council have begun a public consultation into plans for a bus rapid transit system.
• Tram-train community rail contract put out to tenderTrain operator Northern Rail has issued an invitation to tender for the supply of the UK's first fleet of tram-trains.
• Geoff Hoon succeeds Ruth Kelly as transport secretaryGeoff Hoon has been appointed Secretary of State for Transport by Prime Minister Gordon Brown in a Cabinet reshuffle.

Airwise News

• East Midlands Parkway rail station opening date slipsConstruction of Network Rail's new East Midlands Parkway station is running behind schedule requiring the planned opening this autumn to be deferred until next year.

Edinburgh Evening News

• Railway chief talking transportTHE head of rail delivery at Transport Scotland will address a meeting of train campaigners in the Capital next week.
• Tram firm's safety record on right trackTHE safety record of the tram firm TIE has been hailed by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
• It will give commuters a lift to know Straiton park-and-ride is finally hereA PARK-AND-RIDE scheme aimed at cutting congestion around Edinburgh is finally set to open tomorrow – more than five years late.

London Evening Standard

• The new Routemaster? Foster designs a glass-topped busA possible successor to the Routemaster bus, complete with a glass ceiling, is being unveiled

Sheffield Telegraph

• Trains meeting tight timetablesTHE rail firm running trains from Sheffield to London says it has recorded its best punctuality figure since it started services.

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• ’True cost of bypass likely to be more than £500m’A senior oil industry manager said yesterday it was “pie in the sky” to suggest the Aberdeen bypass project would cost any less than £500million.

Aviation Industry

• United Airlines' parent improves cash positionUnited Airlines parent UAL Corp. unveiled transactions Wednesday that the carrier said will have the effect of adding about $275 million to the company's cash position.
• Amadeus loses court case on GDS surchargesCourt rules in favour of Lufthansa

Other News Sources

• East Midlands Trains' performance goes from strength to strengthEast Midlands Trains' punctuality improvement programme is going from strength to strength, with the latest figures showing punctuality at 90.9%, the best recorded since the start of the new franchise.
• Stagecoach Invests £3 Million in state-of-the-art vehicles for world’s longest guided buswayStagecoach has placed a £3 million order for new state-of-the-art vehicles to operate on the longest and greenest guided busway in the world.
• Stansted noise complaints fallTHERE has been a drop in the number of complaints about noise made to Stansted Airport, bosses have said.
• North Essex: better access for railway station is made a top priorityCAMPAIGNERS for disabled access at a railway station have received a massive boost for their cause.
• Road builder snubs rail chiefs over upgrade workHIGHWAYS chiefs have snubbed suggestions that a heritage railway could help take some of the strain out of a multi-million project to upgrade a stretch of the A1.
• A wheely good ’bike bus’ ideaA “bike bus” for people who fancy a healthy, environmentally friendly way of commuting into central Bradford is now up and running.
• Commission warns Slovenia over 'unfair' road taxThe EU executive has threatened Ljubljana with legal proceedings if it fails to make changes to its current road toll system, which it says discriminates against foreign drivers.
• Renewables industry welcomes new Department of Energy and ClimateThe renewable energy industry immediately welcomed the appointment of Ed Miliband as the first Secretary of State for the new Department of Energy and Climate Change.

Other Subscription Services

• Fitzpatrick calls for vigilance in UK shipping lanesUK SHIPPING minister Jim Fitzpatrick has urged the industry to remain vigilant to ensure that accidents like the Torrey Canyon, the Braer and the Sea Empress remain rare.