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

Wednesday, 04 March 2009

BBC News

• Leader optimistic over tram lineEdinburgh City Council's leader has said she is optimistic the capital's tram line will be completed on budget.
• Firm cuts off-peak rail servicesA train company running a direct link between Wrexham and London is cutting the number of week day services.
• New model 'to secure Nissan jobs'About 1,100 jobs will be secured at the Nissan plant in Sunderland with production of a new car, says the firm.
• US car sales plunge in FebruaryGM, Ford, Toyota and Nissan report sharp drops in US vehicle sales as consumers remain reluctant to make expensive purchases.

Department for Transport

• Extra £3.5m for innovative road safety projects - amended Communities will benefit from £3.5m of extra funding for innovative road safety projects, Road Safety Minister Jim Fitzpatrick announced today.

Financial Times

• GM urges EU states to come to its aidThe struggling US carmaker said that its European arm could run out of money by as early as next month, putting up to 300,000 jobs on the continent at risk

The Guardian

• Airlines that break emission rules could have planes seizedThe Environment Agency is to be given powers to seize planes from airlines which break the rules of a new scheme to limit flights' carbon emissions.
• All aboard Network RailFor the company behind our railways to be truly accountable, all citizens must be given the right to become individual members
• GM Europe asks for £3bn bail-outGeneral Motors Europe has piled more pressure on governments including Britain to provide €3.3bn (£3bn) of state aid by warning that it expects to run out of cash this month.Senior executives said that if the company, comprising Opel and Vauxhall, went under it would put up to 300,000 jobs across Europe at risk. Its US parent, which is slashing 47,000 jobs, including 26,000 overseas, is seeking $30bn (£21bn) of federal aid.Fritz Henderson, GM chief operating officer, said:

The Herald

• Security review after Scots airport protestSecurity at a Scottish airport was being reviewed last night after protesters broke through a perimeter fence and set up a barricade on a taxiway.
• Warning of chaos during work on M74 ’missing link’Completion of the five-mile

The Independent

• Nine arrested over airport protest Scottish police arrested nine environmental activists who broke through a fence at an airport today to protest expansion plans, officials said. A dozen flights were canceled.

The Scotsman

• Scottish plea for rail linksA LOCAL transport body has welcomed a report calling for Scotland to be included in a new high-speed rail network.

The Telegraph

• Bentley car firm builds furniture to stave off recession job losses Bentley the car firm has started making furniture for the first time in its 90year history in an attempt to fend off redundancies in its skilled woodworking team.
• Vauxhall unveil Ampera car that runs off household mains Vauxhall has unveiled a plugin car called the Ampera at the Geneva Motor Show

Times Online

• Climate-change protesters invade airport terminal Nine climate-change protesters will appear in court today after a demonstration that caused chaos at one of Europe’s busiest commercial airports. The five men and four women, from Plane Stupid, a group that opposes airport expansion, are alleged to have cut through the perimeter fence early yesterday, climbed on to the terminal building roof and occupied a taxiway.
• Skoda unveils new Yeti 4x4 at Geneva Motor Show The new Skoda Yeti will be introduced today at the Geneva Motor Show. The manufacturer hope the new car will combine the strengths of a 4x4 with hatchback practicality.
• Toyota debuts new Prius at Geneva Motor Show The next generation of the world’s most popular hybrid vehicle will be unveiled by Toyota in Geneva today. Featuring a power increase of 22 per cent, improved fuel economy and reduced CO2 emissions, the new Prius will be sold in 80 countries, almost doubling its current market.
• Jam of traffic signs an accident waiting to happen A half-mile section of road in Gloucestershire has 71 road signs, erected by the Highways Agency at a cost of more than £8,500. They include direction signs, place names, 36 “No U-Turn” signs and dozens of speed restrictions.

Press Association

• Rail firm boss hints at fare cutsA train firm boss says passengers can look forward to fare cuts in January.

Daily Record

• Exclusive: Rail bosses used public cash to cover up sackings, union claimA UNION leader has accused rail bosses of sacking staff then hushing it up using more than £1million of public cash.
• 'Plane Stupid' protesters arrested after breaking into Aberdeen AirportSEVEN climate protesters were arrested today after breaking through a perimeter fence and setting up a barricade on an aircraft taxi-way.

Mail Online

• The electric Vauxhall car with 300 miles range that could save the UK car industry The electric Vauxhall car with 300 miles range that could save the UK car industry

Edinburgh Evening News

• Vandals target model tram on Princes StreetA MODEL tram currently on display in Princes Street has been vandalised twice in the last few days, despite being provided with round-the-clock security.

Liverpool Echo

• Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port plant in closure rowCAR maker Vauxhall has blasted reports its Ellesmere Port plant would close if the UK government did not pay up to £3bn.

London Evening Standard

• Brace for two years of losses and don't expect bail-out, BA boss warnsTHE boss of British Airways has issued a grim warning to staff not to expect a government rescue amid growing fears about the scale of its losses.

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• Lib Dems™ roads claims misleading, says SNPThe Liberal Democrats were accused yesterday of misleading voters over claims that multimillion-pound road projects in the Highlands would not be built for eight years.

Yorkshire Evening Post

• Tony Cherry: Transport failures are driving small firms out of businessWhile the ability to transport goods and people quickly and efficiently has revolutionised all aspects of business during the last 60 years, there is now a general feeling that our transport infrastructure, and love affair with cars, need careful thought if we are to continue to benefit.

International Herald Tribune

• Despite slide in fortunes, automakers reluctant to combineThe industry has eliminated half a million jobs nd lost $50 billion. That is still not enough to prompt consolidation among such carmakers as BMW, General Motors and PSA Peugeot Citröen.

Washington Post

• Auto Sales Plunge as Buyers Snub Incentives Falling U.S. auto sales crashed in February, dimming hopes that the domestic industry might bounce back in the second half of this year.

Railnews

• Opinion: DfT signals confusion with its mixed messages THE Government and its Department for Transport have just met a welter of criticism over the decision to award a contract — worth £7.5 billion over the next 25 years — to a consortium exploiting the technology of Japan’s industrial and electronics giant, Hitachi.
• News: Summer delivery date for Bombardier super-trams THE first of Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority’s new state-of-the-art Metrolink trams are starting to take shape at their Bombardier production site in Vienna, Austria.
• News: Four contenders named for Tyne and Wear network FOUR train operators have been shortlisted for the new privatised contract to operate trains and stations on the Tyne and Wear Metro light rail network.
• News: Thumbs-up as train makes debut run into new terminal A Direct Rail Services test train has run from Wellington, on the Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury line, into the Telford International Railfreight Park – before the newly relaid line becomes fully operational in May.
• News: Pedal power scheme launched for ’green’ commuters GET on yer bike – that’s the offer to commuters from South West Trains, which has launched a three month scheme to hire out cycles.
• News: Braking trains boil 400 million kettles THE regenerative braking systems of Heathrow Express trains have captured and fed back to source enough energy to have boiled 400 million kettles since 1998 – and that’s a lot of cuppas.
• News: All systems go on West Coast as full services take off THE full timetable on the West Coast route has now been introduced following a ’bedding-in’ process after the £9 billion modernisation work was completed.
• News: Night of glory for Translink TRANSLINK-Northern Ireland Railways swept the board at the prestigious HSBC Rail Business Awards in London, taking back to Belfast a caseful of trophies that included the Rail Business of the Year Award.
• News: Thousands of rail workers balloted on strike action NATIONAL Rail and Tube networks face the possibility of massive disruption following balloting of thousands of rail workers over strike action in a new row about pensions and job cuts.
• News: Hitachi bid ’could be start of UK train-building renaissance’ WHAT SEEMED like a shock decision to award a £7.5 billion contract to Hitachi of Japan could mean a new factory in Britain making railway rolling stock for the UK and the rest of Europe—in much the same way that Nissan, Toyota and Honda set up car plants here to serve the whole of Europe.

Transport for London

• £1m package to enable more Londoners to access car clubsTransport for London (TfL) today announced a £1m investment package to support the growth of car clubs across London over the next two years, to bring around a third of London residents within just a five minute walk of a car club vehicle.
• New bus lane to speed up bus journeys into Mitcham Town CentreFrom Monday 16 March Transport for London (TfL) and Merton Council will begin works to install a northbound contra-flow bus lane and improved pedestrian crossing facilities on London Road, Mitcham.

Aviation Industry

• ITM reveals need for rail investment Government not listening - Tilstone read more

Other News Sources

• Fast ferry's future hangs in balanceA QUESTION mark hangs over the future of plans for a summertime fast ferry service across Tor Bay.
• Council scolded over bypass failuresTHE PLANNING Inspectorate has decided Kent County Council and a brick-making factory are guilty of behaving unreasonably through the process that could have seen a Borough Green bypass built.
• SeaFrance takeover bid confirmedAN official offer by LD Lines parent company, LDA (Louis Dreyfus Armateurs Group), has been made to the parent company of SeaFrance.
• Hundreds object to transport packageHundreds of people have lodged objections to a package of controversial plans to tackle congestion in Bath.
• Row over community transportA community transport scheme in Keynsham has been criticised by the owner of an independent firm who says it is taking his business.
• Cycling campaigner hits out at pothole hazardA councillor and keen cyclist has voiced his concerns over the number of potholes on the city's roads.
• Racking up the number of people using their bikesAn initiative to promote cycling has proved popular across the Bath area. In the past year nine companies have backed the Take a Stand scheme by installing cycle racks outside their premises for staff and visitors to use.
• Unusual sight at 30th Street Station: British police on patrol.Along with heavily-armed Amtrak police, the unarmed British Transport Police officers - don't call them Bobbies - screened the baggage of train passengers bound for New York City and Washington D.C.
• Bus services shake up after MP calls public meetingMP for North West Durham Hilary Armstrong requested the meeting after residents complained buses were late, infrequent and the vehicles were old and often unclean.
• Cycle link and station parking in new plansA NEW cycle link at Hunstanton, postponed works at Watlington station and A10 resurfacing scheme are among £131 million county road improvement plans.
• Region left out of the fast laneCampaigners pushing for better road and rail links fear Norfolk will be left further behind in the slow lane after a government consultation on proposed national links omitted the county from its plans.
• Don't expect bail-out, BA boss warns staffThe boss of British Airways has issued a grim warning to staff not to expect a government rescue amid growing fears about the scale of its losses
• Drewry pessimistic on box trafficWORLD box traffic is slumping so fast that previous forecasts could prove to be too optimistic, Mark Page of Drewry Shipping has warned.
• NOL's volume falls 35%VOLUME for Singapore™s government-owned box operator Neptune Orient Lines continues to fall steeply.