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

Thursday, 05 March 2009

BBC News

• Call to stop rail ticket barrierThe government could be asked to step in to prevent plans for controversial ticket barriers at Sheffield station.
• Eurotunnel to pay first dividendChannel Tunnel operator Eurotunnel will pay a dividend for the first time in its 23-year history.
• Car firms told to halve emissionsFour leading international agencies urge the car industry to halve CO2 emissions by 2050.
• Fewer people fly on snow-hit BABritish Airways carried 10% fewer passengers in February because of the extreme weather early in the month.
• Oil price up over petrol demandOil prices rise nearly 9% as the US reports an unexpected drop in crude stocks and an increase in petrol demand.

Department for Transport

• Yorkshire and Humber receive £2.7m to help manage highways assets An extra £2.7m will be awarded to councils in Yorkshire and the Humber to help them manage their roads, bridges and other assets, Transport Minister Paul Clark announced today.
• Delivery of new trains to be speeded up by new company Passengers on some of the country's busiest rail lines could see improvements arrive more quickly after Transport Minister Andrew Adonis announced that his Department had set up a new company to oversee the procurement of 202 new diesel train carriages.
• South West receive £3.5m to help manage highways assets An extra £3.5m will be awarded to councils in the South West to help them manage their roads, bridges and other assets, Transport Minister Paul Clark announced today.
• Department for Transport (National)£24.5m funding to help councils manage highways assets
• Hoon and Miliband appoint Environment Agency to police aviation emissions trading scheme A new scheme to cap aviation emissions will be supervised in England and Wales by the Environment Agency, Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband have announced.

Financial Times

• Airline alliances at risk from antitrust moveLegislation forcing US airlines to abandon joint ventures with their transatlantic peers may be gaining momentum in Washington, just as carriers seek federal approval to build closer ties with foreign counterparts
• Avis Europe to raise rental prices 10%Avis Europe said it would raise prices for the first time in six years as it announced further restructuring, including job cuts and a salaries and recruitment freeze
• Eurotunnel to pay maiden dividendThe company that runs the Channel Tunnel is to pay a dividend for the first time in its two-decade history, in spite falls in revenue from a weakening pound and September's serious fire

The Independent

• Light at the end of the Channel TunnelAfter 23 years Eurotunnel will this year pay its first dividend. Once a financial basket case, the tunnel is now turning a decent profit at last
• British Airways says February traffic down 8.3% British Airways said today its passenger volumes fell 8.3 per cent in February, led by a 20.2 per cent slump in its key premium, or business and first class travellers.

The Scotsman

• Tram firm under fire over Cologne building collapseTHE German company at the centre of Edinburgh's tram dispute has been urged to suspend work on a new underground railway in Cologne following a major building collapse.
• Swinney dismisses £1bn to help build new Forth bridgeSCOTTISH ministers have dismissed a new £1 billion offer from the Treasury to help fund the replacement Forth road bridge as containing no new money.

The Telegraph

• Kissing ban lifted at railway stationA railway station has decided to lift a ban on couples kissing less than three weeks after it was imposed.

Times Online

• Boris Johnson: 'Buddy, can you spare me a couple of million?'Boris Johnson is on the scrounge again. The Mayor of London, desperate to find the £16 billion needed to build Crossrail, the east-west rail link, has been approaching property firms for a contribution in return for planning clearance, even if their developments are nowhere near the planned route.
• British Airways first-class and business-class passengers down by 20 per cent British Airways’ first-class and business-class passenger numbers fell by 20 per cent last month as the airline admitted that it was spending £2.7 million of cash every day.
• General Motors presses Britain to take £500m stake in Vauxhall General Motors is pressing the Government to take a £500 million stake in Vauxhall as part of a pan-European rescue of the ailing carmaker’s European operations. The request comes as concerns grow that the German Government could take a majority stake in a new standalone GM Europe business, a move that industry insiders fear could put Vauxhall at risk.

Press Association

• Balfour upbeat after profit riseThe UK's biggest construction firm, Balfour Beatty, announced a fresh haul of major contract wins alongside forecast-beating annual profits.

Reuters News

• UK consumer watchdog to probe local bus servicesBritain's consumer affairs watchdog has launched a study of local bus services, saying it will investigate whether a concentration of providers benefited travellers and whether there was enough competition.

Transport Briefing

• DeltaRail and Steer Davies Gleave win software jobRail technology specialist DeltaRail Group has won a contract from the Association of Train Operating Companies to replace the MOIRA timetable modelling software used throughout the rail industry.
• Transport committee scrutinises TfL snow protocolsBetter coordination between Transport for London, emergency services and the London boroughs could have resulted in more effective preparation for - and a faster recovery from - the extreme disruption caused by heavy snow in early February.
• Angel Trains leases Adelante 180s to Grand CentralTrain operator Grand Central Railway has signed a lease with Angel Trains for two Class 180 Adelante diesel trains.
• Super Express train bid opens door to 140mph runningBritain's next generation of inter-city trains will be capable of 140mph running, according to technical data released by the Agility Trains consortium.

Birmingham Post

• Rider Levett Bucknall lands £3m Euston contractThe £3 million contract has been awarded in anticipation of considerable growth in passenger numbers using Euston Station in the coming years.

Derby Telegraph

• Hundreds more sign Change Track petitionMORE than 800 people have so far joined a petition calling on the Government to award a multi-billion-pound rail contract to Derby train-maker Bombardier.
• MP demands answers from Hoon over Intercity orderDERBY-BORN Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon will be asked questions in Parliament about the multi-billion-pound rail contract missed out on by city train-maker Bombardier.
• Call to hit Labour where it hurts [Letter]AS a retired rail works employee, I have been following the Change Track campaign. The unions need to withdraw the funding of political levy to the Labour Party – hit Hoon and his cronies where it hurts.
• Hundreds sign trains petitionMORE than 450 people have signed an online Downing Street petition in support of the Evening Telegraph's Change Track campaign in its first full day.

Edinburgh Evening News

• Bus auction nets £270,000LOTHIAN Buses has made over £270,000 by selling off some of its old fleet online.
• £10m busway left empty for weeks waiting for tram works to beginBUILT at the cost of £10 million just over four years ago, it was hoped it would keep Edinburgh's buses moving.

Journal Live

• Morpeth car park plan revisedRevised plans by Network Rail to create an extra 92 car parking spaces at Morpeth railway station are set to be approved by Castle Morpeth councillors next week.

London Evening Standard

• Geoff Hoon defends choice to fly but warns of green costTransport Secretary Geoff Hoon defended people's right to fly after the Government backed a third runway at Heathrow

Manchester Evening News

• City's stations in 'urgent need'MANCHESTER'S main railway stations need urgent attention to make them fit for growing number of passengers, according to a watchdog.

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• BAA wants a ˜truly international gateway™ABERDEEN Airport bosses say the expansion plans which have angered environmental campaigners are designed to create œa truly international gateway for north-east Scotland.
• Travellers tired and angry over delays caused by protesters™ actionPatients from the northern isles arriving in Aberdeen for care at the city™s hospitals were among those caught up in the chaos caused by yesterday™s protest at the airport.
• Yesterday™s attack latest in series of high-profile stuntsYesterday™s demonstration at Aberdeen Airport was the latest in a series of high-profile stunts by Plane Stupid activists.
• A82 campaigners™ fury over spectre of eight-year waitCampaigners fighting for early upgrading of the A82 are œconsiderably dismayed over reports that the project, with other major road schemes in the Highlands, could be delayed for up to eight years.

The York Press

• ˜Dire situation™ of York's late bus cutbacks THE plan to slash late-night bus services across York has been described as a œdire situation, as criticism of the controversial scheme increases.
• A63 pledge over Selby village safety BYPASS plans for villages along the A63 may have been scrapped, but councillors have vowed to continue campaigning for road safety improvements.

Wales Online

• Heart of Wales railway line in dangerA WELSH campaign group has attacked what it calls the “appalling neglect of the railway track” on the scenic Heart of Wales line.

Chester Standard

• A5117 link road fully open on Flintshire-Cheshire borderThe ribbon has been cut on a major road scheme, bringing to an end more than two years of traffic misery for Cheshire motorists.

Peterborough Telegraph

• Plane '15 seconds from crashing' after nosediveA plane was just 15 seconds from crashing after nose-diving over Norfolk, a preliminary report for air accident investigators has revealed.

Sunderland Echo

• Bev puts the rev in Tanfield's link with FordAn electric car developed by a Wearside-based company took centre stage at an international motor show.

The Shields Gazette

• Helping to keep cabbies on the roadLOCAL cabbies will have a clear view of the roads ahead thanks to a partnership between the council and a South Tyneside opticians.

International Herald Tribune

• U.S. states to use stimulus for transportation projectsBeyond all the money for Medicaid and unemployment benefits in the huge bill passed in February, this will be the face of America's stimulus program: a bridge will be painted on a rural road, a new lane added on a suburban highway, a guardrail built on a median strip.

Wall Street Journal

• U.S. Weighs Car-Emissions PolicyThe Obama administration is working to develop a single national standard to curb greenhouse-gas emissions from automobiles.

Washington Post

• Ford to cut $10B in debt with cash, equity offer DEARBORN, Mich. -- Ford Motor Co. took another step Wednesday to stay cost-competitive with government-financed automakers General Motors and Chrysler when it offered to exchange up to 40 percent of its debt for cash and stock.

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• Plans to rescue LDV announcedPlans to rescue LDV have been unveiled by the company, including a ten per cent cut in wages and reduced hours.Workers at the firm's Birmingham plant have accepted a pay cut to support plans for a management buyout of the struggling vanmaker.The team behind the buyout now hopes to restart production in early April this year following a shutdown by parent company Gaz in December 2008, with plans to focus on developing greener and zero-emission electric vans.Erik Eberhardson, head of the management buyout team, stated: "I am now more confident than ever that the management buyout is the...

Other News Sources

• Lighten upUnite is campaigning to get airlines to introduce a reduced global standard of 23 kg maximum weight limit for individual bags taken on planes. The campaign’s main aim is to reduce back and other injuries suffered by thousands of baggage handlers.
• Bus drivers threaten legal actionUnion chiefs at the former company will take legal action against trustees of Preston Bus if lawyers give the go-ahead because more than half of employees at the company look set to miss out on any cash from the multi-million pound sale.
• OFT launches market study into local bus services This sector has become increasingly concentrated by takeovers, with nearly two-thirds of services now controlled by five large operators. The study will consider whether concentration in the market has a positive or negative impact on the prices consumers pay and the services they receive, and whether or not there is competition between operators bidding for tendered services. John Fingleton, OFT Chief Executive, said:
• Call for contest to redesign Didcot station facadeAN OXFORDSHIRE historian wants designers to compete to transform Didcot’s railway station into an architectural masterpiece.
• Station plan is a step closerWORK on Bromsgrove’s new railway station could begin in the summer after a crucial piece of funding filling a shortfall was secured.
• Mayor quells London cycle hire theft fearsConcerns that London’s forthcoming bike hire scheme will suffer from high levels of theft have been quashed by London mayor Boris Johnson
• CAMBERWELL TO GET TUBE?Fresh hope has been breathed into plans to extend the Bakerloo Line from Elephant & Castle up to Camberwell and beyond, after London Mayor Boris Johnson said he wanted to put an expansion of the line firmly back on the agenda.
• I'LL RIDE NAKED AROUND THE ELEPHANT TO GET MAYOR BORIS TO PAY SOME ATTENTIONLabour's Val Shawcross has vowed today to ride a horse round the Elephant and Castle roundabout - naked.
• Cheshire bus services under threat - claims CouncillorLabour leader on the incoming Cheshire West and Chester Council, Cllr Derek Bateman (Lab, Central & Westminster), claims everyone from pensioners, churchgoers and schoolchildren to those who use hospital services or travel in the evening and at the weekend could be hit by a £100,000 reduction in unspecified bus services forced through by the council's ruling Tory administration.
• Historic station awaits news of fateRail bosses want to demolish Trimley station because they say it is current condition means it is too dangerous to leave standing and too expensive to maintain - and would cost £100,000 to repair.
• Minister will decide whether KIG depot goes aheadCommunities Secretary Hazel Blears will decide whether a giant road-rail freight depot is built on open countryside near Bearsted, Yourmaidstone reports.
• Journey into the future?This striking glimpse into the future shows a seamless train journey running parallel to the M4. It is among the latest proposals to provide better transport links between Reading and Heathrow Airport revealed at a conference yesterday, organised by Thames Valley Economic Partnership (TVEP) in association with Berkshire Strategic Transport Forum.
• Joint campaign plan for rail passenger groupsA RAIL passenger group wants similar groups from around the Grantham area to join together to fight for better transport.
• UK Trains lift Arriva profitsBus and train firm Arriva saw pre-tax profits for the year rise 30%, reflecting the strong growth seen across all its three divisions but mainly UK Trains.
• LDV workers take 10% pay cutIn a desperate bid to save the company, workers at LDV's Washwood Heath plant near Birmingham have agreed to reduce working hours and take a 10% pay cut.
• ATOC seeks media agency for Railcard campaign briefThe Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) is on the hunt for a media agency to plan and buy campaigns for the Railcard brands.
• US biofuels hit by EU tariffsUS BIOFUEL companies will be taking a blow, as European governments have decided to impose duties on such exports to the EU.
• Hapag halts on forwarder commissionGERMAN container line Hapag-Lloyd has delayed the proposed abolition of forwarder freight commissions following talks with the German Committee of Freight Forwarders.
• bmi rolls out Chauffeur Drive on key business routes (press release)Complimentary Chauffeur Drive for selected Business Class fares is available from today on three additional bmi routes from London Heathrow. Six routes now offer the service, with a seventh, Kiev to follow later this month when the new route commences.

Other Subscription Services

• megabus.com shortlisted in Travelzoo awards for best dealsmegabus.com, Stagecoach Group’s market-leading budget inter-city coach service, has been shortlisted for two top honours in the 2009 Travelzoo awards.
• Preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2008Commenting on the results, Arriva’s chief executive, David Martin, said: Arriva’s strong position in 2008 is the outcome of a decade in which we have consistently implemented our distinctive strategy ...