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

Thursday, 07 May 2009

BBC News

• Station ticket checks spark rowCouncil leaders in Sheffield have hit out at a train company for causing chaos at the city's railway station by introducing "human ticket barriers".
• Web 'could save post bus service'Royal Mail's bid to increase business through mail orders and online shopping could be a way of restarting post bus services, an MSP has claimed.
• £6m park and ride scheme approvedMore than 350 new park and ride spaces along rail lines in south east Wales will be created in a £6m scheme.
• Downturn hits firm's rail revenueFalling revenues on East Coast Main Line trains are making life difficult for franchise holder National Express.
• Voters to ponder tram extensionA £400m tram extension in Nottingham could be scrapped if the Conservatives take control of the county after next month's county council elections.
• Branson in 'patronising' rail ad [video]Sir Richard Branson has been accused of patronising rail staff after dressing as a station cleaner for a TV advert.
• Site considered for train plantJapanese industrial giant Hitachi is considering creating hundreds of jobs on Tyneside at a factory to build carriages for "super express" trains.
• Routes axed for high-speed trainSome rail services are to be axed when new high-speed trains are introduced in parts of south-east England. The launch of "javelin" trains on commuter routes in December will force the withdrawal of a small number of services, train firm Southeastern said.
• Lower oil price hits Total profitTotal has reports a 35% drop in profits for the first three months of this year when compared with figures for 2008.
• Easyjet losses more than doubleBudget airline Easyjet's half-year losses more than double, but says it expects to be profitable for the full financial year.
• Carmakers Porsche and VW to mergeLuxury carmaker Porsche agrees to merge with larger German manufacturer Volkswagen in a new car group.
• Recession 'hitting lorry numbers'Figures due out later are expected to show a dramatic fall in the number of heavy goods vehicles on the UK's roads.
• Jaguar aid talks 'near collapse'Talks between Jaguar Land Rover and the government on a package of support are close to collapse, the BBC has learnt.

Financial Times

• Porsche and VW agree mergerPorsche family members agree to create an 'integrated car-manufacturing group' with 10 marques united under one roof
• National Express debt woes persistThe operator's annual meeting statement contains no significant news of progress, missing a key opportunity to announce a resolution over its debt and rail franchise obligations
• Sir Stelios renews EasyJet assaultSir Stelios Haji-Ioannou has intensified his fight with the rest of the board and management of EasyJet over the airline's rate of growth
• British Airways hit by business travel slumpThe carrier has been hit by a 17.7 per cent fall year on year in premium passenger traffic in April, a performance worsened by the timing of Easter
• Fredriksen fires broadside at TuiThe world's most powerful shipowner has renewed his attack on the board of Tui as he continues efforts to replace its chairman with his own representative

The Guardian

• National Express signals rail passenger slumpMore pain for train and bus group on London to Edinburgh route as analysts speculate the number of travellers has fallen by up to 5% this year
• More cyclists means fewer accidents, says reportYork is safest place to ride your bike in Britain, while Calderdale, West Yorkshire is the most dangerous, research finds
• Volkswagen and Porsche to mergeGerman carmakers Volkswagen and Porsche announced last night that they planned to merge, bringing to a sudden and dramatic end a lengthy takeover attempt by the sports car manufacturer of its larger rival.The decision came after a meeting between the family owners of Porsche and VW in Salzburg, and quashed Porsche's dreams of dominating Europe's largest carmaker, in what commentators said should have been the
• Ministers demand role in Jaguar£800m bailout deal depends on government's choice of chairman and being given right of vetoThe government is demanding unprecedented control over the day-to-day running of one of the UK's biggest car companies in return for help to secure an emergency cash injection.Ministers want the right to choose Jaguar Land Rover's chairman, take a seat on the board and hold a veto over investment and employment issues in a move described as

The Herald

• Minister questions carbon footprint of tramsEdinburgh's tram project descended into further acrimony yesterday after Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson questioned the environmental benefits of similar schemes over buses.

The Scotsman

• Chris Marshall: Are trains just the ticket or coming off the rails?A FLIGHT to the Caribbean or a rail journey to London? Most travellers would have no hesitation in picking the most valuable of the two. But the actual cost? Well, that's something quite different.
• Call to re-nationalise East Coast lineTHE government was last night being urged to re-nationalise the main East Coast rail line after operator National Express said stalling revenues on the key Scotland-to-London franchise had piled pressure on the group.
• Transport minister under fire over 'false' tram pollution claimSCOTLAND'S transport minister has been accused of making false comparisons after claiming trams cause more pollution than buses.

The Telegraph

• Cleaners vote to boycott fingerprint machines Cleaners on Eurostar trains have voted to boycott fingerprinting machines to clock on and off after complaining that it made them feel like criminals it has been announced.
• £5000 spent on teaching children how to catch a bus A council is spending £5000 a year on a scheme to teach schoolchildren to catch a bus.

Times Online

• Rail passengers share grievance over National Express ticket priceOn the concourse at King’s Cross in Central London yesterday passengers voiced the same grievance: price.
• Turbulence forces British Airways to fly lighter at front of the cabinBritish Airways said that its first and business-class traffic had fallen by 17.7 per cent last month as the airline’s more lucrative customers cut back on travelling amid the recession. It said that total traffic for April had risen by 0.9 per cent as market conditions continued to be “very challenging”.
• Rising first-half losses turn up pressure on easyJet over plans to buy 91 aircraftThe conflict between easyJet and its founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou over its growth plans erupted again yesterday after the budget airline reported that first-half losses had more than doubled.
• National Express wants taxpayers™ cash to keep running East Coast trainsBritain™s most lucrative train franchise is on the brink of failure, leaving the Government facing a £1 billion hole in its rail budget.

Daily Express

• Green oil fuels successAN entrepreneur starts full commercial production this month after successfully piloting a slick idea for converting waste cooking oil into green biofuel for vehicles.

Transport Briefing

• Cash agreed for rail car park projects in south WalesFunding has been secured for a £6m project to create hundreds of new car parking spaces at railway stations in south east Wales.
• Edinburgh Airport stand construction work beginsMorgan Est has begun work to construct a new stand at Edinburgh Airport.
• Rotherham gateway project poised to get underwayWork on a £7.5m project to upgrade Rotherham station will begin shortly as part of a programme of rail improvements planned for South Yorkshire.
• DLR closes for Delta work and Stratford spur linkDocklands Light Railway services will be suspended across the network on Sunday 10 May as work on two upgrades to enhance capacity ahead of the 2012 Olympics reaches a crucial stage.
• Kerb parking regulations to take effect from JuneEnglish local authorities will be able to tackle inconsiderate and dangerous parking more easily, transport minister Paul Clark announced this week.

Belfast Telegraph

• Belfast International Airport to get £10m facelift Belfast International Airport is to get a £10m facelift in a bid to make it more user-friendly.
• Airports operator hindered by £9.6bn debt BAA’s £9.6bn debt mountain weighed it down in the first three months of 2009 despite a boost from higher airport fees, the firm has said.

Journal Live

• National Express may lose East Coast Main Line franchiseEAST Coast rail operator National Express may lose the right to run trains amid an explosion of fresh speculation about its financial health, The Journal can reveal.

Liverpool Echo

• Jaguar Land Rover loan talks with Government 'close to collapse'CRISIS talks between car giant Jaguar Land Rover and the Government are tonight reported to be close to collapse.

London Evening Standard

• The hotel that will burrow six storeys below HeathrowWhen Lord Foster was asked to design a 13-storey hotel close to Heathrow airport - which has strict height restrictions due to low-flying planes - the solution was obvious. Plunge half of the building underground

Sheffield Telegraph

• STATION FURY: 95% were against the closure but it went aheadThe Stagecoach-owned company introduced the ruling without warning yesterday despite £14 million of public money being spent improving Sheffield station, and despite Sheffield MPs still lobbying Government over alternatives.
• STATION FURY: 'Government must act'FURIOUS councillors have demanded Government ministers intervene immediately over the fiasco. Council Leader Coun Paul Scriven fired off an email to Transport Minister Geoff Hoon MP asking him to tackle East Midlands Trains. Coun Scriven told a Town Hall meeting the "human barrier" had effectively cut the city in two.
• Rail company closes Sheffield station pedestrian through routeTHE operators of Sheffield rail station came under huge pressure yesterday to think again about blocking a pedestrian through route. Politicians from both major parties on the council were furious at East Midlands Trains' decision, without notice, to prevent people without valid train tickets passing through the station.
• Shutters down on bus gate camerasGREEN Party members in Sheffield have criticised a Liberal Democrat decision "behind closed doors" to shelve plans to operate cameras at the Glossop Road bus gate.

The News (Portsmouth)

• Uni experts' system could help plane safetyAirlines could be alerted to potential problems in aircraft before they fly thanks to University of Portsmouth experts.

Doncaster Free Press

• Airport owner's sale planRobin Hood Airport's owner wants to sell a significant stake in its business - but remains "fully committed" to the Finningley terminal.

Peterborough Telegraph

• Fuel costs widen easyJet lossesLuton-based airline easyJet has said half-year losses hit £129.8 million following a £90 million increase in fuel costs.

Sunderland Echo

• All aboard to help improve bus linksA three-year action plan to get bus services back on track was launched today. Transport bosses want to get more people on buses by improving punctuality, accessibility and customer satisfaction.
• Transport group hit by stalling revenuesTransport group National Express said today that stalling revenues from its East Coast Main Line service had put pressure on its struggling UK rail business.

Aviation Industry

• Of all the airports in the world, Stansted chosen for Casablanca connectionStansted Airport welcomed touchdown of Air Arabia Maroc™s first direct connection from Casablanca, the tourist and economic capital of Morocco this morning, the fourth new route to join the airport™s network since the start of May.
• Hoon calls for Open Skies phase two to be signed next year Foreign ownership not a threatread more

Other News Sources

• National Express under pressureTHE owner of regional train operator National Express East Anglia said yesterday that stalling revenues at another of its franchises had increased pressure on its rail business.
• Should this be the face of Sheffield in 2009?THIS intimidating, graffiti-daubed, high-sided bridge is now the city's main pedestrian route over the railway – after East Midlands Trains suddenly closed Sheffield Station to non-passengers.
• Bus decision a 'stitch-up'Anger at plans by South West Trains to axe the bus-rail link between Bordon and Liphook boiled over during an impassioned meeting last week between local residents and train bosses – with several people in the packed audience shouting that they had been "stitched up."
• Rosie Cooper MP: Making the most of bus travelLabour MP Rosie Cooper outlines the issues raised in her Westminster Hall debate on concessionary bus travel schemes and the fraudulent issuing of tickets by bus companies.
• Little Green Bus set to hit Ribble Valley roadsA COMMUNITY transport scheme that helps Ribble Valley residents get about is to be officially relaunched later this month.
• Rail firm could ditch franchise agreementDEBT-RIDDEN National Express could surrender its East Coast Main Line franchise after it revealed the extent of its battle against falling revenues and passenger numbers.
• Anger as Queen Street bus stop removal goes aheadTHE decision to allow the controversial removal of bus stops from Oxford’s Queen Street has angered bus users and disabled passengers.
• Richard Branson draws criticism for dressing up as a cleanerBritish billionaire businessman Richard Branson has incurred the wrath of trade union leaders by dressing up as a station cleaner in a TV commercial promoting his Virgin Trains network.
• American moves ahead with 757 modifications for transatlantic routesOneworld alliance member American Airlines is making headway in its reconfiguration of 18 domestic Boeing 757-200s destined for transatlantic services and...
• India envoy: 'Not enough progress towards a climate deal'Despite the need to come up with a global climate deal by the end of the year in Copenhagen, diplomats involved in the negotiations are not making enough progress, India's special envoy on climate change, Shyam Saran, told EurActiv in an exclusive interview.
• Petrol stations asked to recover harmful emissionsIn a drive to protect human health and the environment from cancerogenic oil fumes which escape while cars are being refuelled, all new and renovated service stations will be obliged to equip their pumps with petrol vapour recovery technologies by 2012, according to EU legislation adopted yesterday (5 May).
• EU votes to criminalise pollution at seaThe European Parliament yesterday (5 May) adopted a new directive that forces EU countries to introduce criminal penalties for maritime pollution, whether caused deliberately or by negligence.
• UK decision on high speed rail route next yearNew line "matter of dates" - Minister A decision on a new UK south to north high speed rail line will be made next year.

News from Europe

• Family carriages launched on TGVFAMILY-only carriages have been launched on two TGV lines between Paris and Marseille and Paris and Montpellier.
• DB Regio orders EMUs for Stuttgart S-BahnGERMANY: DB Regio has placed a €452m order for 83 four-car ET 430 electric multiple-units, to be delivered between February and December 2012 for use on Stuttgart suburban services.

Other Subscription Services

• Boxship charter rates need to fall further to justify lay-upsCONTAINERSHIP charter rates need to fall even further before owners are likely to consider putting ships into long-term lay-up.
• DnB Nor sticks to $153m writedown forecastWORLD'S second largest shipping bank predicts writedowns in the ship finance portfolio could reach $153.1m in 2009.