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

Tuesday, 16 December 2008

BBC News

• Early north-south rail link opensAn extra early bird train service between north and south Wales has been launched, aimed at business people.
• Efficiency drive 'to cost £81m'A Department for Transport cost-cutting scheme to save £57m has left taxpayers with an £81m bill, an MPs' report claims.
• Car dealer issues profit warningShares in car dealer Inchcape fall by more than a quarter after it warns that 2009's profits will be much less than expected.

Financial Times

• Shipowners seek global emissions tradingWorld shipping should be subject to an international emissions trading system similar to those for other polluting industries, the UK's main organisation for shipowners said on Monday, in a surprise break with the industry consensus.
• Drive for electric gathers speedDale Brooks’ garage houses a vehicle that is testament to stalled innovation. His 1980, white Jet Electrica, with 21 batteries under the hood, was made for the US Department of Energy. Black lettering on the car’s side notes that this was an “electric vehicle demonstration project’’
• Clash over UK rail industry managementCompetition investigators are set to clash with the government over its management of the rail industry, highlighting tensions between antitrust agencies and Westminster that are likely to grow during the post-credit crunch fallout.
• NZ launches legal action against airlinesNew Zealand's competition authority has begun legal action against 13 airlines and seven airline staff for what it says was
• Beijing reshuffles chiefs at top state airlinesBeijing has reshuffled senior officials among China's three largest state-owned airlines as a prelude to an overhaul of the troubled industry and an expected wave of state-directed mergers
• Singapore reports fall in shipping trafficContainer traffic at the Asian trans-shipment hub shrinks for the first time since 2001 as the contraction in global trade hits the region's shipping industry

The Guardian

• Be realistic about Heathrow expansion - Willie WalshRejecting growth at our main airport would not make the slightest practical difference to the future of the planet
• Going nowhere at HeathrowHilary Benn has exposed a potential rift between the government's transport and environment departments by warning that the UK must not snub EU targets on air quality by pushing ahead with expansion at Heathrow Airport. To many, it had already become clear that the government has no action plan on how to achieve its targets under the EU Air Quality Directive. Yet to persist with its misguided agenda of aviation expansion, there was a fear that it would have to ask for derogation on the targets to allow more time to get its act together. Benn's comments show that this fear was anything but unfounded.
• West coast pain lineThis regular west coast main line passenger is wearily unsurprised by a morning of delays after its 10-year rebuilding programme
• Whitehall efficiency drive cost £80m, say MPsA Department for Transport efficiency drive brought in to save over £50m ended up costing the taxpayer over £80m in "one of the worst" cases of project management seen by a cross-party group of MPs, a report says today.

The Herald

• Oil rises as Opec talks of ’sizeable production cut’Crude oil prices notched up solid gains yesterday, touching $50 a barrel in New York, after Abdalla El-Badri, the secretary-general of Opec, said the cartel needs to make a
• MPs anger at ’stupendous incompetence’ of £57m savings drive that cost £81mThe Department for Transport is today accused by MPs of

The Independent

• The £57m efficiency drive that cost £81m Transport ministers showed

Times Online

• Bmi tests the water with inflight texting trial Passengers travelling on Bmi can now use their mobile phones to send text messages, but not make calls, on aircraft travelling between Heathrow and Moscow.

Mail Online

• Unions threaten strikes over BA's secret plot to cut cabin crew pay Staff at British Airways could take industrial action after it emerged that the company is planning to cut cabin crew salaries.
• Did a £2 fuse halt £9bn railway line? Delays mar first day of network's new era It had £9billion of investment and a decade of upgrading work, promising passengers a new era of fast, frequent and reliable services.

Network Rail

• £5.5BN THAMESLINK PROGRAMME ONE STEP CLOSER AS FIRST PLATFORM EXTENSIONS COMPLETED

Birmingham Post

• West Midlands transport improvements must be green, says ministerFour major transport improvements, including a runway extension at Birmingham International Airport and rebuilding of New Street Station, will be worth £3 billion to the regional economy, it has been announced.

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Train bosses pledge to cut North Wales to Cardiff journey timesTHREE new rail services are launched in North Wales today – bringing new destinations and shorter journey times to passengers across the region.
• Toyota suspends work on new Deeside production lineTOYOTA is suspending work on its new £88m production line at its Deeside engine plant as the downturn in demand for cars continues to squeeze manufacturers.

Liverpool Echo

• Rail delays ’a thing of the past’THE nightmare of delays and rail replacement buses on Liverpool’s London link will be a thing of the past, it was claimed today.

London Evening Standard

• White-collar jobs go as TfL axes up to 2,000Up to 2,000 jobs are to be axed at Transport for London because of the credit crunch
• Mandelson throws his weight behind third Heathrow runwayLord Mandelson has waded into the Cabinet row over Heathrow by “strongly” backing the business case for a third runway

Newcastle Journal

• Platinum-free fuel cell promises cheap, green powerHydrogen fuel cells are touted as a replacement for the combustion engine – a way to make them without platinum could make them more affordable

Newcastle Evening Chronicle

• Quaylink bus service faces £200,000 repairsA SHOWPIECE cross-Tyne bus link has hit problems which could land taxpayers with a £200,000 bill.

This Is Local London Network

• SUTTON: Last hope for special needs transport parentsProtesters have one last hope for controversial plans cutting personal door-to-door transport services for disabled schoolchildren to be scrapped.
• Heathrow Airport's former chief executive lied to get Terminal FiveThe past and present bosses of Heathrow Airport have spun a web of lies in order to get a third runway, it has been revealed.

Yorkshire Evening Post

• Polish bus crews in drive against Leeds crimePolice have picked up some unlikely new allies in their fight against crime – bus drivers from Poland.

Sunderland Echo

• Rail passengers stranded for eight hoursTrain passengers on the East Coast main line were stranded for up to eight hours overnight after power cables came down.

International Herald Tribune

• Airline black boxes get a new role: reassuranceWith new technology, airlines can now use flight recorders to detect errors in operations and maintenance that might otherwise go undetected.
• Oil producers could face prolonged buyers' marketThe OPEC cartel is meeting Wednesday in the coastal city of Oran, Algeria, to try to stem the drop in prices.

Washington Post

• Auto bailout could be announced by Wednesday WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration could act as early as Wednesday to approve an automaker bailout from its bank rescue fund, with conditions likely to reflect at least those approved by the U.S. House of Representatives last week, key lawmakers and other sources said on Monday.
• Delta's Wi-Fi Service Takes Flight Plans by Delta Airlines to roll out Wi-Fi across its entire fleet by 2009 seem to be coming to fruition. On Tuesday, Delta is expected to have four of its eight shuttle planes wired for Wi-Fi service on runs between New York-Boston and New York-Washington, according to USA Today.

Railnews

• News: After early problems, WCML trains run on time — and early AFTER a faltering early start to services on Britain’s £9 billion modernised West Coast Main Line on 15 December, the new timetable showed its positive benefits with many trains reaching their destinations on time or early during much of the rest of the day.

Aviation Industry

• Call for national action on Grangemouth transport [Cathie Peattie MSP]Falkirk East MSP Cathy Peattie called for urgent action on the transport infrastructure of Grangemouth and the surrounding area, including the Avon Gorge.
• Eurostar denies stake sale rumours amidst competition row news The UK division of the French-British-Belgian rail group Eurostar has dismissed media reports that it could be sold to German firm Deutsche Bahn (DB) as mere ''speculation''.
• Aer Lingus faces bleak future, O'LearyRyanair's Michael O'Leary has said Aer Lingus faces a bleak future unless it becomes a subsidiary of his company.
• Delta's Wi-Fi Network DebutsDelta Air Lines Inc.'s onboard broadband Wi-Fi access will be go for launch on Tuesday on six planes.

Other News Sources

• No vote is bad news for reliable deliveries in ManchesterMore reliable cross-town commercial deliveries engendered by peak time traffic control in Manchester will not be possible following the scrapping of proposals to introduce the congestion charge, according to leading industry body the Freight Transport Association (FTA).
• Bus company boss set to leaveA BUS company boss has today announced his resignation from the post.
• £7m ferry link plans launchedTHOUSANDS of day trippers could be setting sail for Swansea by 2010 pumping million of pounds into the local economy.
• Passengers hit by rail delaysPassengers travelling in and out of London on a new-look railway with more seats and faster journeys have suffered an old problem - delays.
• Plans for city's railway stationPreston's railway station is to be given a raft of improvements over the next two years.
• MPs Join Driving Trainer To Lower At Work Road DeathsStartling figures have revealed that one in every three road deaths on UK roads last year was linked to someone at work.
• Conservatives to hold Network Rail executives to accountThe Conservatives propose making Network Rail directly accountable to passengers, and freezing executive bonuses in the event of failures or persistent delays, should they gain power in any future election.
• JAL latest to commit to biofuel test flightJapan Airlines (JAL) has become the latest carrier to commit to carrying out a demonstration flight with an aircraft powered in part by biofuel.The...
• Port plans top Scot prioritiesFOUR PORT-related projects are included in a list 12 national infrastructure priorities announced by the Scottish government targeted for the next 20 years.
• Ireland to debut hybrid-electric double deckerYet again, Ireland is ahead of the UK in choosing the eco-friendly option. Dubliners travelling on route 16 from next week may find themselves sitting on Ireland’s first ever hybrid-electric bus, the likes of which have never been spotted in a UK city. The double decker, built in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, contains a 2.4 litre diesel engine [...]
• Commission outlines EU-wide rail freight corridor planRailway stakeholders have welcomed European Commission plans to reduce rail freight transportation times, improve punctuality and help rail to compete with road transport. But they underlined that member states would need to show genuine political will for the proposals to be a success.
• Airport expects 9.7 per cent fall in Christmas trafficManchester Airport expects passenger numbers this Christmas to be 9.7 per cent down on last year.

Other Subscription Services

• UK owners lead drive for open emissions trading schemeCHAMBER of Shipping takes bold step towards cutting the amount of carbon vented from ships.