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

Saturday, 24 January 2009

BBC News

• Oil services firm cuts 5,000 jobsOilfield services giant Schlumberger reports a fall in quarterly profits and announces job cuts.
• Harley-Davidson cuts productionThe motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson is to close plants and cut 1,100 jobs after reporting worse-than-expected results.
• GE reports sharp drop in profitUS conglomerate General Electric reports a 44% drop in quarterly profit and warns that 2009 will be 'extremely difficult'.

Financial Times

• BA hits share price hurdle in Iberia deal UK carrier's chief executive Willie Walsh warns current valuation 'unacceptable'

The Herald

• Stagecoach expansion rolls on with Preston acquisitionPerth-based transport company Stagecoach yesterday continued rounding up smaller rivals by acquiring Britain's last employee-owned bus company, Preston Buses.

The Independent

• Tories at odds over plans for third runway at Heathrow David Cameron faces a backbench rebellion over the Conservative Party's opposition to a third runway at Heathrow airport, as a number of senior opposition figures voice support for the £9bn expansion plan.

The Scotsman

• Mayor tests water for airport planBoris Johnson has stoked the debate over plans to expand Heathrow by sailing into the Thames Estuary in search of a possible site for a new airport.

The Telegraph

• British Airways to introduce mobile phones on planesBA has announced that it will introduce mobile phone technology on its businessclass only flights between London City Airport and New York JFK.

Times Online

• Embattled Preston Bus gives way to StagecoachStaff at Preston Bus, Britain's last employee-owned bus company, will receive windfalls of about £16,000 after selling their business to Stagecoach for about £5 million.
• It's official - Britain is in recession PM: it's not our fault | Sector-by-sector breakdown | Back in Recession Road | Daniel Finkelstein on the political impact | Poll: is your family in recession? | The top 20 British money blogs

Daily Express

• BA India hopes hot upBritish Airways boss Willie Walsh yesterday said expansion in India would help to steer the airline through the worst crisis the aviation industry has seen.

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Toyota allays Deeside job loss fearsJapanese car giant Toyota - which employs 700 workers at an engine plant in Deeside - has calmed fears that its UK plants were about to suffer huge job cuts, saying there were no plans to announce redundancies in this country.

London Evening Standard

• Gurkhas set to take on railwaysThe gurkhas are preparing to use their military skills to take on Britain’s railways as up to 400 of them could be hired by Network Rail

Newcastle Journal

• Could biodiesel power future rockets?In an early test, biodiesel produced nearly the same thrust as conventional rocket fuel

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• Meeting to be held over bus changesA public meeting will be held next week to discuss proposals to change bus routes in Aberdeen.

Doncaster Free Press

• Restoration appeal for Doncaster's Flying ScotsmanMuseum bosses have launched a restoration appeal to help get Doncaster's most famous railway relic back on track.

Peterborough Telegraph

• Hoon lays plaque to mark motorway wideningTransport Secretary Geoff Hoon has laid a commemorative plaque to mark the official opening of a £300 million widening project on a stretch of motorway between Watford and Lut
• Man dies after collision with trainA 21-year-old man has died after he was in collision with a train in Suffolk, British Transport Police said.

Reading Evening Post

• Rail-air link from town among third runway plansGreener trains and a direct rail-air link from Reading are among a raft of transport improvements being outlined alongside confirmed plans for Heathrow’s third runway.

Other News Sources

• Crossrail top brass 'encouraged' by Boris Island planCrossrail executive chairman Doug Oakervee said today that he was 'encouraged' by the idea of an island in the Thames Estuary to replace Heathrow, and said its construction would be a simpler than either Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok airport or Osaka's Kansai airport.
• Port of London Authority's 100th BirthdayCelebrating a 'Century of Service'
• Industry backs a third runway for HeathrowRoad transport bosses have come out in support of the government's decision to build a third runway at Heathrow.
• Off the tracksBritain's largest transport union, the RMT, has learned that Network Rail has ordered the deferral of 28 per cent of its track-renewals programme.
• Umeco wins £4.5m contractUmeco Plc, the aeroplane and car parts manufacturer which bought Middleton-based manufacturer Primco earlier this year, has won a £4.5m five-year contract to supply aerospace hardware to BAE Systems Military Air Solutions.
• Initiatives will help Manchester through recession, Sir Howard saysManchester Airport and the surrounding area will be at the centre of several initiatives designed to protect the city from the recession, according to Sir Howard Bernstein, chief executive of Manchester City Council.
• Britain enters a recessionBritain has officially entered a recession today, official government figures have revealed.
• Mayor tests water for airport planBoris Johnson has stoked the debate over plans to expand Heathrow by sailing into the Thames Estuary in search of a possible site for a new airport.