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

Tuesday, 02 December 2008

BBC News

• Business wants better transportA new survey of British businesses calls for drastically improved transport, including a third runway at Heathrow.
• Mayor Boris promises to trade in people-carrier for electric carLondon Mayor Boris Johnson promises to trade in his family car as soon as a suitable electric-powered replacement is available.

The Telegraph

• Calls for £2.5billion First Scotrail contract to be suspended over conflict of interest claimsA multibillion pound contract to run Scotland's rail network should be suspended and a full investigation launched into how it was awarded Labour has said.

Times Online

• UK rail timetable improvements in jeopardyThe Office of Rail Regulation said neither Virgin Trains nor East Midlands Trains had yet signed vital track access agreements that will deliver a range of faster, more frequent services
• The fool’s gold of carbon trading It was a deal to make Alistair Darling hug himself with glee. Just as the world’s existing financial markets were hitting a five-year low two weeks ago, the Treasury raked in a cool £54m from a brand new one. The occasion was Britain’s first auction of CO2 permits. Almost 4m were knocked down to greenhouse gas emitters in a sale that was four times oversubscribed. The government expects to sell 80m more over the next four years, raising a further £1 billion.
• Cruise ship Britons in brush with Gulf pirates Twenty-nine British holiday-makers were on board a cruise ship targeted by pirates off the coast of Somalia at the weekend, it emerged last night.
• Government set tough new target for cutting carbon emissions by 2020 Electric cars will be in widespread use by 2020 as part of measures to cut greenhouse gas emissions, the head of the Committee on Climate Change, the government advisory body, said yesterday.

Reuters News

• EU agrees to cut car emissions in climate fightBRUSSELS (Reuters) - European carmakers must cut global-warming gases from new vehicles by 18 percent within the next six years, the EU agreed on Monday, after a long battle between environmentalists and an industry facing tough times.

London Evening Standard

• Protesters target Heathrow with music, jams and actionMilitants trying to stop the expansion of Heathrow are planning a series of direct action protests in the New Year, the Standard can reveal.
• Networking rail – the social website that’s hit the buffersAn official website hailed as

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• Move to help improve road safety for young driversCOUNCILS across the north of Scotland, schools and national bodies are being urged to work together to improve road safety for young drivers.
• Drivers not being cheated, says report on fuel pricesMOTORISTS in the Highlands and islands are not being cheated at the petrol pumps, according to a new report.

Sunderland Echo

• Month-long road safety campaign stepped upA Christmas crackdown to tackle festive drinkers who put lives at risk by getting behind the wheel is now under way.

International Herald Tribune

• Attention, frazzled fliers: Air serenity is boardingAirport experiences can become learning experiences on how to travel with a degree of serenity and grace.

Washington Post

• Travel pinched by global financial crisis -- The tourists chatting in multiple languages in the piazzas, bars and shops of Rome belie a more somber mood at the ancient city's hotels.
• Automakers Assemble Make-or-Break Case In its second attempt to persuade Congress to grant the U.S. auto industry $25 billion in emergency loans, Chrysler plans to make the case that automakers can cut their costs and point to the future by forging an alliance to share fuel-efficient vehicle technologies.
• Toyota to cut bonuses and output as sales slump TOKYO (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp said on Tuesday it will cut management bonuses by 10 percent as the global economic slowdown bites hard and prompts it to reduce production further in Japan.

Transport for London

• Successful bus vandalism policing team to target pickpockets and violence against bus driversAn anti-vandalism operation using CCTV on London's buses has chalked up nearly 3,000 arrests in its four years of operation.

Other News Sources

• Counting the cost of Britain’s failing transport systems - (British Chambers of Commerce Press Release)Our failing transport system is costing an estimated £17,350 on average per UK business. 90 per cent of businesses have experienced increased operating costs while 80 per cent claimed a loss of man hours. Other key findings from “The Congestion Question: A Business Transport Survey 2008” include: * 80 per cent of businesses say road congestion locally, regionally and nationally is a problem * Nationally the sheer volume of traffic is the biggest issue with poor road design, planning delays and the lack of alternative transportation adding to the problem
• Wincanton to layoff Castleton staffWiltshire-based distribution firm Wincanton Plc has confirmed that it is to layoff up to 77 of its employees based in Castleton, near Rochdale, following the decision by Woolworths’ bosses to place the store chain into administration last week.
• EU clinches deal on CO2 emissions from carsA compromise agreement to reduce CO2 emissions from new vehicles was reached yesterday (1 December) amid pressure from the car industry, which is currently being weighed down by the economic recession. 
• Transport for London rolls out online travel toolsTransport for London (TFL) has rolled out a travel tools page and a range of new features to its website in a bid to aid the customer experience..
• Police launch drink drive campaignPolice forces across the UK will step up their fight against drink and drug drivers as part of a new campaign in the run up to Christmas. In an attempt to beat the scourge of the festive season, officers will up the use of roadside breath tests and raise awareness of the risks of motoring while under the influence.
• UK transport system 'dilapidated'Britain's
• Regulator seeks assurances from Network Rail over Christmas worksNew statistics published by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) show record performance on the railways, but the regulator wants some reassurance that Network Rail, will not repeat the dramatic overruns experienced last year.
• UK hauliers 'will embrace online freight exchanges'Teleroute claims UK hauliers could be about to embrace fully the concept of online freight exchanges.
• Oil slides after Opec fails to agree cutsOil prices fell by more than dollar today after exporter countries within Opec failed to agree on production cuts at their weekend meeting in Cairo
• Network Rail must finish latest work on time to ‘restore public confidence’Rail infrastructure company Network Rail can "re-establish public confidence" by ensuring there is no repeat of the engineering overruns which caused travel chaos last New Year, rail regulators said y...
• Transport staff call for protectionThe Unite and Aslef union members backed calls from MSP Hugh Henry for tougher laws to protect transport workers from abuse.The unions said that assaults increase over the festive period as passenger ...

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