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

Sunday, 24 May 2009

BBC News

• Airline staff ballot over strikeCabin crew working for holiday operator Monarch are to be balloted over strike action.
• Cycling mayor's lorry 'near-miss'Boris Johnson has a near-miss with a lorry while riding his bicycle in east London.

Financial Times

• Buoyant outlook for airlinesEuropean equity markets gained ground this week - with airlines and automakers grabbing the headlines - though progress was fitful. Indices across the region opened...
• Ferrovial debt restructuring to spark shake-upLess than a year after nailing down a complex £13bn refinancing for its UK airports business, Spanish infrastructure group Ferrovial is back in a huddle with bankers trying to secure new terms on more than €3bn of parent group debt.
• Investors climb aboard indebted National ExpressNational Express , the heavily indebted bus and rail operator, was in demand yesterday. Its shares advanced 7.3 per cent to 299¼p on rumours of a deal to...
• BA plunges to record £401m lossThe UK airline plunged to a record pre-tax loss of £401m in its financial year ending March, forcing it to cancel management bonuses and scrap its dividend as part of a drive to cut costs

Times Online

• Volvo launches virtual test-driving of new car Buckle up, all you Volvo-driving parents: the staid Swedish car maker is promising you the drive of your life. From this week buyers will be able to go online and take a virtual test-drive of its newest car, which won’t be in showrooms until the end of summer.
• Sir Moir Lockhead: busman riding the recessionBroad and burly, Sir Moir Lockhead doesn™t so much roll with the punches as calmly absorb them. Yes, he says in his flat County Durham accent, we are taking taxpayers™ money to support our First Great Western rail franchise, but what™s the problem?

Daily Express

• General Motors nears end of bankruptcy roadGeneral Motors could enter bankruptcy within days if, as expected, bondholders reject the terms of a restructuring plan designed to keep the carmaker on the road.

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Welsh Highland Railway fire caused by faulty ash panA BLAZE which caused thousands of pounds worth of damage to over 100 acres of farmland was caused by a faulty ash pan on a passing steam train.

Liverpool Echo

• HMS Daring berths in Liverpool for the first timeLIVERPOOL enjoyed another maritime first yesterday as it became the inaugural port of call for the newest edition to the Royal Navy fleet.

Newcastle Journal

• Growing biofuel without razing the rainforestYou can't cultivate biofuel crops without cutting down trees, right? Not so, says Marcos Buckeridge, who tells Jan Rocha how Brazil can supply the world with green ethanol

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• Complaints over town™s bus sheltersCONTROVERSIAL bus shelters in a north-east town centre are in the spotlight amid complaints they are a magnet for noisy youngsters at night.
• School bus safety campaigner hits out at travel firmsA school bus safety campaigner has hit out at north-east transport companies for ignoring pleas about the use of signs.
• MSP ˜astonished™ at road plans An Aberdeen MSP has hit out at the lack of notice the public have been given about a consultation into two major road developments starting next week.

The York Press

• Safety blitz on North Yorkshire™s roads SAFETY chiefs will today launch a speed-busting day of action on North Yorkshire™s roads in a warning to motorists to drive responsibly during the school holidays.

Yorkshire Evening Post

• Road accident blackspot to be improvedWORK is set to be carried out at a Pudsey accident blackspot to help improve road safety.
• Rail travel goes hi techTrain travel in Yorkshire has gone truly hi-tech after more than 1,000 rail staff were given handheld computers.

Carlisle News & Star

• Crime on north west railways fallingCrime on the region™s railways dropped in the last year “ with marked decreases in robberies and violent crime.

The Economist

• The oil price: Bust and boomThe price of oil has leapt to nearly $62 a barrel. Another spike may be on the wayRISING oil prices, believes Ali al-Naimi, Saudi Arabia’s oil minister, may soon “take the wheels off an already derailed world economy”. On the face of things, this concern is absurd. The plunge of $115 in the price of oil from its peak last July to its nadir in December was the most precipitous the world has ever seen. Demand for oil is still falling, as the world economy atrophies. Rumours abound of traders hiring tankers to store their excess oil. Rich countries’ stocks ...

Transport for London

• Numbers killed and seriously injured on London's roads fall for second year runningDeath and serious injury reduced by 3,000 during past decade.

Aviation Industry

• Ryanair rapped over votes ahead of salvo on rival's payRYANAIR has been slammed by a UK corporate governance group for failing to publish on its website the results of votes taken at its last annual general meeting.
• Fly By A Seat: For coach passengers, leg room, seating options and...Fares, fees and destinations aren't the only things that vary by airline. The width of your seat, the amount of legroom and the entertainment options available can make the time, well, fly by -- or make a long flight feel a lot longer.

Other News Sources

• Committee Approves Transportation PackageSALEM, Ore. -- Lawmakers have moved out of committee a $300 million-per-year transportation package funded by increases in the gas tax and registration, title and license plate fees. Legislators estim...
• High Speed Rail Could Come to U.S.high-speed rail network proposed by President Obama boost the nation's economy, cool the climate, and bring US transportation into the 21st century? Or is it a boondoggle waiting to happen?
• Funding Shortfall May Bring an End to Tri-Rail Service in South FloridaMIAMI | Tri-Rail officials rolled out a budget Friday that calls for reducing service from 50 to 30 trains a day, ending weekend and holiday runs and shutting down the system altogether by early 2011.
• Europcar Launches Free Home Delivery and CollectionEuropcar has announced the launch of its new weDeliver service, offering free deliver and collection for car and van hire
• GE develops aid to reduce airport noise finesGeneral Electric has developed an automatic computation and throttle control method that could help airlines or business jets avoid fines levied when takeoff noise exceeds predefined dB levels measured by noise monitoring stations around certain airports.