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

Monday, 23 February 2009

BBC News

• Disused rail track to be removedWork is due to begin to remove the remains of a redundant railway line in West Cumbria.
• Van firm LDV seeks government aidStruggling van-maker LDV has asked the government for millions of pounds in loans to help secure its future.
• Pirate patrol diarySomali pirates capture ship and frustrate UK navy
• Eurostar returns to full serviceEurostar runs a full service through the Channel Tunnel for the first time since a fire in September last year.

Financial Times

• Møller-Maersk arm eyes stake in UK portAPM Terminals is considering working with Bristol Port Company to develop a new container terminal in south-west England to handle world's largest container ships
• Carmakers seek Canada aid General Motors and Chrysler have told authorities in Canada that they need as much as C$10bn (US$8bn) in aid to stay afloat, more than double their estimate three months ago
• BAA to relax its stance on StanstedThe UK airports group is hopeful of winning some flexibility over the timing of the sale of Stansted from the competition watchdog

The Guardian

• Transport ministry criticised over tube contractor's failureThe Department for Transport (DfT) has been criticised for not doing more to prevent the financial crisis at Metronet, the failed London Underground (LU) contractor, according to a draft report into the £30bn public-private partnership to upgrade the capital's tube network. The final report from the National Audit Office is expected to be published this spring.
• Crosby to board National ExpressSir James Crosby, the former HBOS chief executive, has emerged as a candidate to become chairman of National Express, the indebted public transport group.National Express is expected to pick the new chairman from a shortlist of four, which is believed to include Crosby. The former head of HBOS was forced to step down as deputy chairman of the Financial Services Authority this month amid allegations that he ignored warnings of excessive risk-taking at the bank, which recently announced that it had incurred almost £11bn of losses. National Express, which has declined to comment, is see...
• Squabbling 'derails carbon efforts'Britain's efforts to cut carbon emissions have been hampered by government infighting and a reluctance to stand up to industry, according to the UK's former climate change minister.Elliot Morley, head of the new energy and climate change select committee, said tensions between different government departments had undermined moves to cut greenhouse gas pollution. Policies to cut carbon and help the environment were dismissed inside Whitehall as

The Herald

• Glasgow needs transport gains like capital’sYou affirm correctly the scale and significance of the Edinburgh tram project, with huge transport gains for the city's citizens and visitors, which drives an imperative for private contractors and public financiers to enter a coherent dialogue, rather than a sterile stand-off - waiting to see who blinks first ("Damaging derailment", Editorial, February 21).
• UK’s big five in danger of going off railsAnalysis: The boom times for Britain's big five rail companies have shuddered to a halt as the industry struggles with falling passenger numbers and lower ticket revenues amid the worst economic slump since the 1930s.

The Scotsman

• Van factory 'facing closure threat'A van factory which employs or supports thousands of jobs is believed to be the plant identified by union leaders as in imminent danger of closing without Government support.
• Car workers meet over jobs threatWorkers at two car component factories facing closure are meeting to draw up counter plans aimed at saving jobs.

Times Online

• Full steam ahead to prop up train firmsMINISTERS are preparing plans for a backdoor bailout of train firms by subsidising fares for job seekers and freezing ticket prices that might otherwise have fallen this year.
• Isles of Scilly's phantom bus service gets Whitehall handout A £51,000 government grant to fund free bus travel for the over-60s has been greeted with delight in the Isles of Scilly. After all, almost a third of the people who live on the five islands west of Land's End qualify for a bus pass.

Transport Briefing

• Edinburgh tram work halted by contractor disputeTransport Initiatives Edinburgh has postponed work on the Edinburgh tram project following a dispute with the consortium contracted to deliver the new light rail system.

Birmingham Post

• Birmingham transport ranks second bottom in UK surveyBirmingham’s transport system has come under fire again after ranking second bottom in a survey of 12 of the UK’s largest cities.

Liverpool Echo

• Vauxhall's Ellesmere Port plant closure fear in wake of Tony Woodley commentsVAUXHALL'S Ellesmere Port plant has been named by industry insiders as the factory Unite leader Tony Woodley believes could be facing imminent closure.

Manchester Evening News

• Buses losing out to trains and tramsBUS mileage in Greater Manchester has fallen to its lowest in almost a quarter of a century, with fewer services as commuters flock to the trams and trains.
• It's a strain on the trainTHE biggest shake-up of Greater Manchester's railway timetable in two decades became a catalogue of failure, transport bosses have been told.

Wall Street Journal

• Bankruptcy Funding Solicited for Car MakersThe Treasury's advisers have started lining up the largest bankruptcy loan ever, at least $40 billion in financing for GM and Chrysler, in case the two auto makers need it.

Washington Post

• Truck traffic revives interest in marine shipping NORFOLK, Va. -- An idea that dates to Lewis and Clark's trek west is experiencing a rebirth thanks to the truck traffic that increasingly chokes highways: shift more of the nation's freight burden to boats that can traverse rivers, lakes, canals and coastal waters.

Other News Sources

• A new train line for Cheltenham?A radical plan to create a commuter rail link between Cheltenham and Bishop's Cleeve has been proposed by a surveyor.
• Car workers meet over jobs threat

Other Subscription Services

• Navy patrols fail to deter Gulf of Aden hijackingA DryShips-operated panamax has become the latest victim of Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden.