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

Sunday, 12 July 2009

BBC News

• Violence over car park opening Police have clashed with hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Jews in Jerusalem over the opening of a car park on the Sabbath.
• Boy falls on to rail power cablesA teenager is seriously ill in hospital after falling 30ft on to railway power cables in Staffordshire.

The Observer

• Phoenix Four net another £3.5mFurther return for buyers of failed car manufacturerThe Phoenix Four business executives who bought MG Rover from BMW in 2000 have received a further £3.5m in dividends and share payments in the four years since its collapse.The cash has come from their investment in MGR Capital, a car finance joint venture with a subsidiary of banking group HBOS, now part of Lloyds TSB. MGR Capital, which bought the Rover cars finance and lease loan book from BMW for £313m in 2001, was wound up last year. The Phoenix Four could also be entitled to a further windfall of £12m from ...

The Telegraph

• Ryanair loses 'handling charges' case Ryanair's practice of charging passengers extra for using credit and debit cards could be challenged following a court ruling in Germany.
• Cars to be started by lasers instead of spark plugs The familiar sound of cars failing to start in the cold weather is set to become a thing of the past after scientists developed lasers which can be used to replace spark plugs in petrol engines.
• Clamping is a state-sanctioned extortion racket By refusing to clamp down on the clampers, the police are neglecting their duty to protect the public, says Alasdair Palmer.

Times Online

• GM Europe may slip away from Magna MAGNA’S grasp on General Motors Europe, the owner of Vauxhall and Opel, appeared to be slipping this weekend as it emerged that all three bidders for the group will be asked to present their plans to Barack Obama’s automotive task force at the end of the month.
• Heathrow-on-Sea set for takeoffLooking out from Southend pier, the Thames estuary is a hub of activity. On a busy day its grey waters are filled with nearly 100 vessels a day, from 1,000ft container ships bearing tons of clothes and other consumer goods to oil tankers, passenger ferries, yachts and speedboats.
• 400,000 new ˜green-collar™ jobsPLANS for the creation of up to 400,000 œgreen-collar jobs will be unveiled by the government this week as part of a blueprint for a low carbon economy.
• Fresh blueprint for the low carbon economyMINISTERS will this week make their third attempt in five years to map out a low-carbon future for the UK by publishing detailed proposals to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
• Revealed: £200,000 pay rise for chief of ailing BA pension fundTHE fund manager running British Airways™ troubled pension fund received a pay rise of nearly £200,000 last year, giving her a bigger wage than the airline™s finance director.
• Jaguar poised to shut for the summerEXECUTIVES at Jaguar Land Rover, the Midlands carmaker, are drawing up plans for an extended shutdown of its UK plants and a new round of staff layoffs as it struggles to cope with the slump in the world car market.

Daily Express

• Shareholders set to give BA rough ride at AGMBritish Airways is facing a grilling over its strategy at this week's annual meeting.

Liverpool Echo

• British Transport Police warn of alcohol ban on Merseyside trainsAN ALCOHOL ban is in force on the Merseyside rail network this weekend, British Transport Police have warned.

Yorkshire Evening Post

• Leeds school in bus protestPARENTS and pupils joined forces outside a Leeds school in a protest over safety.

Peterborough Telegraph

• County road repair bill tops £100mThe backlog of repairs to Norfolk's roads has soared beyond the £100m mark, a new county council report reveals.
• Virus ship passengers arrive homePassengers on a cruise ship struck by a vomiting bug outbreak have arrived in Essex after their trip was cut short.

The Shields Gazette

• Putting the brakes on cowboy clampersThe WHEEL-CLAMPERS who charge high prices for the release of a car parked on private land have today been branded "disgusting" by motorists.

C.N.N.

• Metro rail bridge collapse kills 5 in IndiaA portion of a partially built bridge for New Delhi's metro rail network collapsed Sunday, killing five people and injuring 15, authorities said.

Washington Post

• VW sweetens bid for half of Porsche AG: report FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Volkswagen has sweetened its bid to purchase almost half of sports car maker Porsche AG and is prepared to offer considerably more than 4 billion euros ($5.58 billion), Germany's Der Spiegel reported.
• Hawaii wants to add space travel to attractions HONOLULU -- Space pioneers envision launching high-end Hawaii tourists from the sand to the stars, taking island-hopping to new heights.
• Space companies eye HI as potential new frontier HONOLULU -- Tourists coming to Hawaii for high-end getaways could someday be launched from the sand to the stars, taking island-hopping to new heights. Hawaii could even be the first state where space travelers use rocket planes to get from one place to another. Rather than launching and landing in the same spot, planners envision the planes taking off in one place, traveling through space, then coming down in another, going from the Big Island to Oahu. Within a decade, space travelers could island hop from Hawaii to Japan in 45 minutes.