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

Saturday, 28 February 2009

BBC News

• Iberia profits see 90% nosediveSpanish airline Iberia, in merger talks with British Airways, says 2008 profits fell by 90%.
• Rail ticket staff to go on strikeTicket office staff with a rail service operating between London and Essex are to go on strike in a dispute over holiday pay.
• Luxury car maker cuts productionRolls-Royce announces it is to further reduce production at its car-making factory in West Sussex.
• Jaguar seals 'significant' orderJaguar Land Rover announces a deal to supply a Chinese firm with 13,000 vehicles, a dose of good news for the car industry.

Financial Times

• Serco will prosper in recession, says chiefThe government services group, which runs the UK Atomic Weapons Establishment and London's Docklands Light Railway reported an 18% increase in profits

Times Online

• Lord Mandelson hands out £2.3bn to carmakers Video: is it the right thing to do?

Daily Record

• Jail for banned motorist found under influence of drugs behind wheelA banned driver caught at the wheel under the influence of drugs in a police station car park was jailed for five months yesterday.
• Scotland 'vital part of high-speed rail link', MSPs sayScotland must be included from the outset in any plan to develop high-speed rail links in the UK, MSPs said today.

Mail Online

• Mandelson in new 'favours' row: The minister, his PR pal and six meetings before Heathrow go-aheadPeter Mandelson is at the centre of a 'favours for friends' row over the controversial proposals to expand Heathrow. Details emerged of the extraordinary access the Business Secretary's close acquaintance Roland Rudd

The Sun

• Rail calls to be handled in IndiaNational Rail Enquiries is shunting British call centre jobs to India to save cash

Daily Post (North Wales)

• North Wales coach firms owed thousands by Lancashire transport companyCoach operators are owed tens of thousands of pounds by a Lancashire transport company.
• Wrexham Councillors defer free bus transport decisionCouncillors have deferred a controversial decision whether to axe a school transport subsidy which could mean hundreds of pupils are left stranded.

Journal Live

• Whitehall ponders North East transport wish-listGovernment spending chiefs are to consider a £540m list of regional transport priorities – alongside a warning that work must start now on back-up projects.

London Evening Standard

• Stations can be frightening late at night, admits ministerA transport minister admitted that waiting for a train late at night in London in a poorly lit and unmanned stations can be a 'frightening experience'.

Manchester Evening News

• Airport 'cashing in on terror checks'Passengers have accused Manchester Airport of profiteering from anti-terrorism measures after a £1 charge for plastic security bags was introduced. The clear bags were brought in at all British airports in response to fears that terrorists might try to smuggle liquid explosives on to planes.

The York Press

• York bus company First to axe servicesTransport leaders and politicians have reacted with dismay to plans by First York to slash services across the city.
• Railway museum project gets £200k cash boostThe multi-million pound transformation of the National Railway Museum™s (NRM) Great Hall has moved a step closer after receiving a cash boost to develop the scheme further.

Yorkshire Evening Post

• New London trains confirmed for Harrogate and Bradford Passengers on key Yorkshire to London rail routes will get improved services under plans green-lit today.

Blackpool Gazette

• Blackpool Airport passengers down by 63%Passenger numbers at Blackpool International Airport have dropped by a staggering 63 per cent in a year.

Northants Evening Telegraph

• Commuters park in the streets after fees rise at Wellingborough stationHigh car parking charges at a railway station are forcing commuters to leave their cars on crowded streets.

Peterborough Telegraph

• Rail workers to strike over holiday payTicket office staff and other workers at a train company which operates services between Essex and London are to strike for 24 hours in a row over holidays.

Sunderland Echo

• Green light for extra London linkSunderland's fourth daily rail link to London is full steam ahead.

C.N.N.

• GM Europe restructures Opel as a separate unitGeneral Motors' European division announced Friday that its German subsidiary, Opel cars, will become an independent unit of the company.

International Herald Tribune

• Italy cracks down on transport strikesThe Italian government on Friday proposed new rules to limit rampant strikes in the transport sector that each year cripple air, rail and road travel.
• $25 billion in U.S. funds to promote electric cars is untouchedWith a small staff and a large task in front of them, the U.S. Energy Department has yet to allocate any of the $25 billion that automakers seek.
• GM lays its future on Washington's doorstepRick Wagoner, the chief executive of General Motors, met with U.S. government officials to discuss the carmaker's finances after the company reported a $9.6 billion loss for the quarter.

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• Bill for Heathrow expansion vote passes first stageA bill proposed by a Liberal Democrat MP for a vote to be held on whether Heathrow airport should be expanded has passed its first stage through parliament with a majority of 44.Under the Airport Expansion Parliamentary Approval Bill, put forward by Liberal Democrat MP Susan Kramer, parliamentary votes would be required for all major airport expansion schemes.
• Driver retraining 'always important'Measures to help reduce speeding on Britain's roads have been welcomed by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA).Cumbria Constabulary recently announced that it is offering drivers caught going over the limit the chance to avoid receiving penalty points if they attend classes and pay a £70 fine.
• Amey wins Midlands Highways Agency dealSupport services group Amey has won a lucrative contract for the management and maintenance of motorways and trunk roads in the Midlands.Under the terms of the five-year deal, worth up to £275 million, Amey will act as the managing agent contractor (Mac) for the Highways Agency's Area 9 scheme, overseeing more than 750 people and creating new jobs.

Railnews

• News: Union calls for long-term train procurement strategy Shop stewards at Bombardier Transportation’s factory at Litchurch Lane, Derby, have told Geoff Hoon, the Transport Secretary, that the Government needs to put in place a long-term procurement strategy for railway rolling stock.

Aviation Industry

• Ryanair: You may soon have to 'pay to pee'Ryanair could begin charging passengers to use the toilet. That's direct from the mouth of Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary, who made the comments this morning to BBC television.p>
• Drop in demand deepening - IATAnternational air passenger traffic dropped by 5.6% in January compared with the same period in 2008. The International Air Transport Association (IATA), which released the figures, said it was also a full point below the traffic figures for last December.

Other News Sources

• Rail report highlights economic and social benefits of high-speed plansThe development of a high-speed rail network across the UK must include Scotland from the outset, according to a report published today by the Scottish Parliament’s Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change Committee.
• Gefco plans redundanciesFrench logistics group Gefco, which generates almost 80% of its turnover from the automotive sector, is planning to axe 364 jobs across its network in France this year, but said the cutbacks would be partially compensated by 230 new posts.
• Gunns Transport aims to be a UK top-ten haulierMark Minors, the owner of Erith-based Gunns Transport, acquired through a £3.5m management buy-out last year, says he wants the firm to be one of the UK™s top-10 UK hauliers within the next 15 years.
• RBS sees tight shipping loan futureRoyal Bank of Scotland™s chief of maritime lending predicted today that RBS will hardly be the only struggling bank to throw many shipping loans over the side.
• UK tanker collision investigatedThe UK's Marine Accident Investigation Branch has opened an enquiry into the collision involving three tankers at the Fawley oil terminal near Southampton.
• Airlines 'key' to modernising EU airspaceIt is not possible to modernise European air traffic management infrastructure unless competing companies work together and airlines are involved in the development of new technologies to ensure that they satisfy operational needs, the executive director of an EU programme aimed at overhauling Europe's airspace told EurActiv in an interview.
• Hit by recession, high-speed rail firm to cut service, executive payTaipei, Feb. 27 (CNA) Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC), hit hard by the local recession, announced plans Friday to streamline its operations, with 126 rides per week to be suspended and chairwoman...
• U.S. farmers cheer road, rail, river upgrade plansU.S. farm exports totaled a record $115.5 billion in 2008. Commodities move from farms located mostly in the interior of the country to domestic markets and export terminals via truck, rail and river ...
• New Shanghai-Hangzhou high-speed rail work beginsChina has begun construction on a high-speed rail link between Shanghai and Hangzhou, which will cut travel time between the economic hub and the scenic lakeside city by half, officials sa...
• 90 jobs to go at Manchester AirportUp to 90 jobs will be lost at Manchester Airport following a major restructuring brought on by the downturn.
• Turkish Airlines offers condolences following Shiphol crashTurkish Airlines has expressed sorrow for the loss of life of its crew and passengers as a result of the crash at Schipol airport on February 25
• Ryanair slammed over toilet charge proposalRyanair has been criticised over a suggestion that it may start charging customers to use its aircraft toilets

Other Subscription Services

• France and Spain to pump E60m into sea motorwaysFrance and Spain to put €30m each into the launch of two sea “motorways” along their shared Atlantic seaboard.