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

Saturday, 08 November 2008

BBC News

• Upgrade for accident black spotA road in South Lanarkshire with a high accident rate is to close to allow safety improvements to be made.
• Higher powerHow computers drive car design
• Profits plunge at British AirwaysHalf-year profits at British Airways fall 91.6% to £52m, with the airline blaming
• US car giants report large lossesUS carmakers GM and Ford report hefty losses and both look to reduce their payrolls in order to cut expenses.

Financial Times

• GM warns on liquidity as it reports $2.5bn lossCarmaker warns liquidity is approaching the minimum necessary to operate its business and will fall 'significantly short' of that level next year unless conditions improve or it can raise funds
• VW options power Porsche profitsPorsche revealed a full-year pre-tax profit of €8.6bn as the German sports carmaker once again booked extraordinary gains from its contentious Volkswagen holding
• Ford burns through $7.7bn in third quarterThe carmaker is to cut a further 10% of its US white-collar staff by the end of January, and make further cuts in costs and employee benefits globally, after reporting a $3bn quarterly loss from continuing operations
• Porsche makes €6.8bn from VW trades Analysts dub carmaker a 'hedge fund' after it revealed that it had earned eight times as much from its VW option trades than from actually selling vehicles
• GM warns of cash shortageCarmaker says that it will run out of the cash necessary for its business to function in the first half of next year unless conditions improve or it can raise extra funds
• SpeedFerries vessel seizedEnglish Channel high-speed ferry operator faces ruin as its only vessel is held by the Port of Boulogne for non-payment of taxes and dues
• Greece hopeful over interest in airlineGreece reported strong interest in the privatisation of its loss-making state-run airline in spite of union protests over plans to lay off the carrier's workforce
• French state takes stake in shipyardThe French government is to take a 33.3 per cent stake in STX France Cruise, owner of the last remaining shipyard in France capable of building large cruiseliners
• JAL earnings in key travel season slumpJapan Airlines slashed its operating-profit forecast for the year after earnings in the key summer travel season fell by 60 per cent, hit by slowing demand and high fuel prices
• BA warms to idea of Alitalia allianceUK flag carrier shows interest in a commercial alliance with a restructured Alitalia, as it seeks to catch up with the consolidation moves made by its European rivals
• BA profits dive 92% but shares take offFirst-half profits plunged under pressure from the surge in fuel costs and falling traffic volumes, but the airline raised its forecast slightly for the full year

The Guardian

• We'll go bust without bail-out or merger, says General MotorsGeneral Motors, the biggest US car group, warned last night that it could run out of cash early next year without a government bail-out, a merger or asset sales.GM said its liquidity during the first half of 2009 would

The Telegraph

• Passengers to be charged for extra legroomTall airline passengers who ask for extra legroom when flying in economy class will be charged £40 for the privilege.
• Aer Lingus staff vote to strike over costcutting plansAer Lingus passengers face travel chaos over the Christmas period as hundreds of airlines staff vote to strike over costcutting plans.
• Top Gear's Morse code attack on Strictly Come DancingMotoring programme Top Gear broadcast secret Morse code messages mocking BBC rival Strickly Come Dancing it has been claimed.

Times Online

• Exceptional case of customer care Yarm A railway booking clerk travelled 150 miles in her own time to reunite a passenger with his lost luggage. When Donna Jasiewicz, 43, heard that the American had arrived for a wedding in Yarm, near Stockton-on-Tees, with the wrong suitcase, she set out on a four-hour trip from Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, to give him back his bag. “I put myself in his position,” she said. “There was no way he would have been able to come down and pick it up and still make the wedding.” Her actions helped Dewsbury to win the First TransPennine Express Station of the Year Aw...
• 'Porsche's wily hedging' fuels profit surge Porsche confirmed its newly won reputation as a successful hedge fund that turns out a few luxury sports cars yesterday by announcing a remarkable 51 per cent surge in net profits for the year to July.
• BA has a bumpy landing with 92% profit drop British Airways highlighted the wider impact of the economic crisis yesterday when it reported a 92 per cent fall in first-half profits as it suffered the twin blows of record high fuel prices and a sharp fall in the number of business-class passengers.
• Setback for Government's green agenda as BP quits key projects Government plans for Britain to become a world leader in clean energy technology suffered a double setback yesterday after BP said that it was abandoning the country's wind energy industry and pulling out of a competition to build a demonstration carbon-capture and storage plant.

Reuters News

• Air France wants back in Austrian Air race-reportVIENNA (Reuters) - Air France-KLM wants to get
• Air Canada stock hit as liquidity concerns surface* Says capacity cuts will pay off in weak environment

Mail Online

• Tall order: Long-legged airline passengers will have to pay £40 for extra legroom Tall airline passengers who ask for extra legroom when flying economy are to start paying £40 a time for the privilege.

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Train axe will strand night ferry users at HolyheadHUNDREDS of passengers could be stranded for hours at a North Wales station when a historic rail service is withdrawn next month.

Liverpool Echo

• Merseyside bus attacks: driver furyUNION bosses today called for action to protect the increasing numbers of drivers being attacked on buses in Merseyside.

The News (Portsmouth)

• Pavement cyclists face wrath of lawPOLICE fined more than 20 people in a bid to get cyclists off the pavements and on to the roads.
• Purge on speeding traps 34 motoristsMore than 30 motorists were caught breaking Portsmouth's 20mph speed limit during a police clampdown.

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• Bus giant quizzed over double deckers on Inverness routeBus giant Stagecoach was challenged by local residents last night over their decision to use double deckers on an Inverness bus route.
• Boost for motorcycle test site campaignThe campaign to build a new motorcycle test centre in Moray has gained a new lease of life after securing the backing of the council.
• Alarm at shake-up of train servicesPlans which would extend train journey times from Aberdeen and Inverness to London have been branded œextremely alarming by regional transport chiefs.
• Series of one-day bus strikes to hit school runsA series of one-day strikes will hit bus services and school runs in the Highlands and Aberdeenshire after a pay rise of almost 10% over two years was rejected yesterday.

Yorkshire Evening Post

• Hilary Benn: 'I won't quit over plans for third runway'HILARY Benn will not quit Gordon Brown's cabinet if the Government approves a third runway at Heathrow.

Blackpool Gazette

• Town hall bosses seek advice over speed trapsTOWN hall bosses want to hear from a top road safety chief before making a decision about Blackpool's 48 speed cameras.

Northants Evening Telegraph

• Corby boat firm workers on two-day weekHundreds of workers at boat building firm Fairline are to go on a two-day week.

Peterborough Telegraph

• British jobs 'at risk' after car giant's alarm callThousands of jobs at two UK car plants, including one at Luton, could be at risk following a warning from General Motors that it is running on empty.

International Herald Tribune

• British Airways raises forecast in grim timesThe positive news nevertheless sent the BA's shares soaring, even though it reported a small loss for the first half.
• Daimler's October sales fall 18%The only bright spot was China where sales rose nearly 43 percent with 3,700 cars sold and January-October sales leapt 52 percent to 36,100.
• In Washington, automakers plead for aidOne day before GM and Ford are expected to report bleak quarterly results, auto executives pleaded in Washington for more U.S. government aid.
• Ford and GM are leaking cashGeneral Motors is running out of money, reporting a loss of $4.2 billion for the quarter. Ford lost $2.9 billion and made more cutbacks.
• Mexico tries to curb plane crash rumorsOfficials took unusual actions to head off speculation that the cause of a plane crash that killed the interior minister and a former prosecutor who once led the fight against the drug cartels, had been sabotaged.

Washington Post

• Airbus chief salesman tempers gloom PARIS -- Airbus announced a large order from Spanish tourism company Grupo Marsans on Friday as the European planemaker's chief salesman insisted the outlook for the airline industry isn't as gloomy as some are predicting.
• GM opens first Russian factory ST. PETERSBURG, Russia -- U.S. car giant General Motors Corp. launched its first Russian assembly plant Friday, hoping that sales in this emerging market will bolster its staggering global performance.

Railnews

• News: Hoon will be a ’breath of fresh air’ to rail industry, MP tells innovation conference DERBY North MP Bob Laxton has described the appointment of Geoff Hoon as transport secretary in the reshuffled Cabinet as being “a breath of fresh air” for the railway industry.

Other News Sources

• LTE suspends flights until MarchLow-cost Spanish airline LTE has cancelled all scheduled flights from Norwich until March 2009.
• New pricing models emerge as travel fights economic crisisTravel and tourism brands should look at new ways of pricing their products to help attract visitors and promote loyalty as the recession bites
• London to rephase traffic lightsTraffic lights could be rephased to improve traffic flow as part of London mayor Boris Johnson's transport plans for London.
• Asda cuts petrol price to 92.9pSupermarket chain Asda is to reduce the cost of petrol at all 172 of its UK outlets from Friday. Asda said the price of petrol would be reduced by 2p a litre to 92.9p a litre but diesel would remain unchanged at 106.9p a litre.
• New car sales show drop of 23%New car sales - a key indicator of consumer confidence - slumped again last month. The number of new UK registrations in October 2008 totalled 128,352 - a 23.05% drop on the October 2007 figure, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) announced.
• Carnival axes Ocean Village cruise brandCarnival UK is to phase out the Ocean Village casual cruising brand putting a question mark over the future of head of marketing Gill Haynes and managing director Nick Lighton.
• A380 wake 'no worse' than any other heavy jet: Airbus Airbus claims unprecedented tests of conditions experienced by aircraft following the Airbus A380 in flight demonstrate that the wake turbulence it creates...
• Svitzer detours to evade piratesSHIPPING support service company Svitzer is sending its boats around the Cape of Good Hope to avoid passing through the Gulf of Aden, the company confirmed to Fairplay today.
• US shipping shares dive sharplySHIPPING shares have taken another hit, suffering one of their sharpest single-day percentage declines in the midst of a broad downturn in the US stock market.
• Jet2.com adds another Boeing 757 at Manchester AirportLeeds-based airline Jet2.com is to create 25 new jobs by basing another 225-seat Boeing 757 at Manchester Airport to increase capacity on new routes to Dalaman in Turkey and Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt.