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

Tuesday, 10 February 2009

BBC News

• French carmakers get 6.5bn eurosFrance is to loan 6.5bn euros to three carmakers, President Nicolas Sarkozy has said.

Financial Times

• Trade minister to meet King on car finance aidMinisters will meet Mervyn King, the Bank of England governor, next week in an attempt to break a deadlock over Lord Mandelson’s proposals to offer state support to car manufacturers’ finance arms.
• Salt wars break out as demand escalatesNever mind gold or oil “ this week's most sought-after commodity has been salt.
• Fire-hit tunnel fully reopensThe Channel tunnel reopened fully to rail traffic yesterday for the first time in five months, following the completion of €60m (£52m) repairs to fire damage...
• Tanfield to collaborate with FordTanfield, which last week announced a joint venture in order to take its electric vehicles into the US market, is to collaborate with Ford to make a Transit-based battery-powered van

The Guardian

• Government cash to scrap old carsThe government is poised to offer consumers a large
• Storm shuts Paris airportsAll flights have been cancelled at Paris's Charles De Gaulle airport, one of Europe's busiest airports, and Orly, between 8pm (7pm GMT) tonight and 10am (9am GMT) tomorrow morning, according to French aviation authorities. The north of France is on the highest storm alert rating and Paris is expected to be hit by winds of up to 120km an hour.Authorities say the airports have been closed for security reasons due to the storm. They advise passengers to contact their airline and not to go to the airports. Charles de Gaulle airport was trying to handle bewildered and complaining passengers this ev...
• Adonis backs National Express East Coast rail franchiseThe government has dismissed fears that its most lucrative rail franchise is in trouble by giving a clean bill of health to the £1.4bn National Express East Coast service.

The Independent

• Commuting: the end of the road?It wastes money, wastes energy, wastes great swathes of people's lives – yet still millions of us see no alternative to the daily commute... Are we missing out on the liberating power of modern communications technology? Or is it a little bit more complicated than that? Matthew Sweet reports from the 8.50 from Penge East

The Scotsman

• Peers slam 'third-rate' service on east coast main lineSERVICE standards on trains on the east coast main line have been "degraded" and are now "third-rate", ministers have been told.

The Telegraph

• Air freight drops as global trade siezes upThe scale of the downturn in world trade was underlined by figures on Tuesday from airport operator BAA showing a 16pc plunge in cargo moved by air.

Times Online

• Paris self-service bicycles are vandalised, stolen and soldIt was introduced to roaring success — hailed by environmentalists and cycling enthusiasts as the ideal solution to congestion on the streets. But life is now proving brutish and short for the Vélib, the self-service bicycle that the city of Paris introduced 18 months ago.
• Boeing 747 turns back on test boeing 747 airliner World's biggest commercial airliner cut short its maiden flight after the pilot experienced 'a bump'

Reuters News

• Rail unions' anger at snow pay penaltyRail unions slammed London's transport bosses and Mayor Boris Johnson on Monday because they said staff who failed to get to work during last week's bad weather face having their pay docked.

Network Rail

• £1M MAKEOVER FOR GATHURST RAIL LINE

Transport Briefing

• Carillion scoops East London Line maintenance dealOne of the two companies building the East London Line extension has bagged an £80m contract to maintain the new rail link when it opens in 2010.

Belfast Telegraph

• Paris flights cancelled as France prepares for stormFrance was this evening bracing itself for a powerful storm on the way in from the Atlantic.

Derby Telegraph

• We've got enough grit for tonight - county councilCouncil chiefs say they have enough road grit to "get us through tonight" with a delivery tomorrow expected to last another day and a half.

Edinburgh Evening News

• Sculptures suit town's roundabouts to a teeSCULPTURES of golf and horse racing are set to appear in the middle of roundabouts in a Lothian town.
• Ports project lands fundingRESEARCHERS have been awarded a three-year grant to look into expanding Scotland's port network.
• New rail staff appointedSEVEN new staff have been employed by a train company at Waverley Station.
• Transport chief claims pledge on bus fares was 'aspirational'THE city's transport leader has claimed a 2007 Lib Dem manifesto pledge to keep Lothian Buses' fares pegged to inflation was "aspirational" rather than a promise.

London Evening Standard

• Boris: I won’t dock pay of snowed-in Tube staff after allMayor Boris Johnson has backtracked on a decision not to pay Tube staff who failed to turn up for work because of the snow

Newcastle Evening Chronicle

• Fresh ideas keep coach firm on roadA FAMILY-run business in Annitsford has received crucial support and financial help from Business Link to combat the economic downturn.

The News (Portsmouth)

• Park at railstation with no cashCommuters will no longer have to worry about finding loose change at a train station car park.

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• Drop in number of flights to LondonFLIGHTS to Heathrow from Inverness Airport were sacrificed for more profitable long-haul services, the north™s area partnership has claimed.
• Asda plans to spend £1.5m on roads if store wins go-aheadSupermarket giant Asda plans to invest almost £1.5million in road upgrades if its proposed store in Inverness wins approval.

The York Press

• Tornado steam locomotive naming ceremony to take place on February 19THE Prince of Wales is to visit York next week for the naming ceremony of the new £3m steam locomotive, Tornado.
• £2.5m to upgrade A19 south of the A64 junction Transport chiefs are to spend more than £2 million improving one of the busiest routes into York.

Yorkshire Evening Post

• Extra £5m for Leeds and Wakefield roadsPothole-riddled roads in Leeds and Wakefield could be a thing of the past thanks to new Government funding.
• VIDEO: Leeds canal basin goes down the drain...Ever looked at a canal and wondered what lurks beneath the surface? Well now you can find out after 20,000 cubic feet of water was drained from the canal basin in the heart o

Bucks Free Press

• Roads scheme "a waste of money" CONSERVATIVE and Liberal Democrat councillors are locked in a row over a road scheme which it is claimed is a waste of public money.
• Gerrards Cross Tesco rail plan approved THE controversial Tesco development in Gerrards Cross today got the go-ahead to bring building material for the construction in by rail.

Aviation Industry

• UK experts in town to restore locomotives [Mumbai]A UK-based team of railway experts has arrived in Mumbai to collaborate with Central Railway on the restoration of one of the four original steam locomotives that was run on century-old Matheran Railway.
• Ferry route operator facing criticism over fare hikeMany ferry passengers travelling on the sole service from Scotland to the European continent are facing higher fares as the new operator is rejecting the government’s calls for an ease on booking restrictions, according to a report in The Scotsman.
• Rotherhithe - Canary Wharf bridge scrappedOne of South East London's biggest, and most easily fixed, structural problems is the lack of river crossings, which results in a disconnect with the north of the city.
• Hamburg consortium gets EU nod for Hapag Lloyd acquisitionIt is report Hamburg based investor group won EU antitrust approval to buy Hapag-Lloyd from TUI AG, the German owner of Europe’s largest travel company in a deal that values the shipping company at EUR 4.45 billion.
• Competition increases in electric car marketChinese auto-company BYD has chosen Denmark as its first European test market for electric cars The electric car market is expanding in Denmark as Chinese manufacturer BYD (Build Your Dream) has chosen Denmark as its first European market for electric cars, due to be on the streets by 2011.
• Road traffic noise in residential areas can increase the risk of heart attackPeople living in environments with high levels of road traffic noise might be more likely to suffer myocardial infarction than people in quieter areas. This according to a new study from Karolinska Institutet carried out in the Stockholm area.
• Sweden's SAS to slash 3,000 jobs, reports fourth-quarter lossScandinavian airline group SAS AB says its losses widened in the fourth quarter and that it plans to slash 3,000 jobs as part of a new savings plan.
• AirTran may fill gaps left by other airlines' cutsAirTran Airways Chief Executive Bob Fornaro said he thinks his airline will benefit from other airlines' cutbacks in a weak economy as it focuses on expanding its network beyond Atlanta.
• Airlines' on-time arrival rate sags in DecemberU.S. airlines' on-time performance declined dramatically in December compared to the previous month, but improved slightly over a year earlier, the Transportation Department said Monday.

Green Miscellany

• Our Breaths Could Be Recycled Into Biofuels with a Novel TechnologyA whiff from our mouths and it turns into biofuel...sounds incredulous. But the Liverpool John Lennon Airport, in Liverpool, U.K. could soon see the first puffs of this technology in action. The esoteric technology will be on full demonstration as the passengers start contributing with their breaths.

Other News Sources

• Airlines group spent nearly $1.2M lobbying in 4Q [USA]WASHINGTON - The Air Transport Association of America Inc., a trade group that represents large U.S. airlines, spent nearly $1.2 million lobbying the federal government in the fourth quarter, according to a recent disclosure form.
• Service on east coast trains 'third rate'Liberal Democrat Lord Bradshaw said: "Fares are rising very sharply, on-train service is declining and staff are shattered as the result of a thoroughy flawed franchise process that is in desperate need of overhaul."
• Salt shipments due as snow forecast
• Spy Scandal Widens at German Rail Deutsche BahnGermany's national railway Deutsche Bahn has admitted to a second case of large-scale staff surveillance. Union leaders are up in arms as calls grow louder for CEO Hartmut Mehdorn to step down.
• High-Speed Rail Vital to US Economic RestructuringAside from the overriding need to stabilize atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels to stabilize climate, there are several other compelling reasons for countries everywhere to restructure their transport systems, including the need to prepare for falling oil production, to alleviate traffic congestion, and to reduce air pollution. T
• Flying high, Virgin's wayThere's no escaping the hip, high-tech pulse of start-up carrier Virgin America, which launches service at Logan International Airport in Boston Thursday with nonstop flights to San Francisco and Los Angeles.
• First-class passengers leave bigger carbon footprint.Turns out there's an environmental cost to the extra leg room, free wine, warm towels and hefty price tag that comes with first-class air travel, according to new research.

Other Subscription Services

• Seattle puts staff on unpaid leaveABOUT 850 non-union employees at the Port of Seattle have been asked to take two weeks of unpaid leave this year.
• Japanese operators line up for tonnage tax perksTEN operators have filed preliminary plans to join scheme that enters into force this April.
• ELAA data confirms shrinking cargo volumesBOX lines’ own statistics show the full extent of the collapse in cargo volumes late last year.