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

Monday, 05 October 2009

BBC News

• Paddington remembered 10 years on Survivors of the Paddington rail crash and relatives of those who died stood in silence at the scene of the disaster exactly 10 years after it happened.
• End of line tribute for rail link A 140-year-old railway line in Manchester is closing to make way for a tram link. The Oldham Loop Line closure is being marked with the naming of one of train operator's Northern Rail's Class 156 trains on Saturday afternoon.
• Congestion cut thanks to new road Congestion has gone down by nearly a third thanks to a new town ring road in the West Midlands, a report revealed.
• Pilots protest over flying hoursAirline pilots who say rules governing flying hours are

Financial Times

• The state put railways on the map High-speed rail, largely the preserve of Japan and France until the 1990s, is sweeping across Europe and Asia. China’s network will be nearly as large as the rest of the world’s put together when the 1,300km Beijing to Shanghai line is completed in 2012. Even the US, where passenger rail has almost died, is planning a high-speed line between Los Angeles and San Francisco.
• Why jet chartering is set to soarThere have been ups and downs in the bizjet industry before, but this cycle is different, writes John Dizard
• London mayor set to ban old black cabsBoris Johnson plans to refuse licenses for taxis that are more than 10 years old in an attempt to curb air pollution in the capital

The Guardian

• European pilots take action over new EU rules on maximum working hours Flight crews hand out dummy tickets to passengers outlining concern about length of time in the cockpit
• Boris Johnson to reintroduce pollution zone a year after UK deadline Boris Johnson will reintroduce the third phase of the low emission zone – which bars the most polluting vehicles from entering London – in 2012, one year after Britain is expected to meet a crucial deadline on reducing dangerous airborne particles. The decision, included in the long awaited draft Air Quality Strategy for London, is likely to infuriate critics who have repeatedly warned that the health of Londoners is at stake.
• British public refuse to fly less to reduce their carbon footprint The extent of the public's refusal to fly less often has been revealed by research that suggests attempts to slash greenhouse gas emissions from aviation will struggle to get off the ground.

The Telegraph

• 20 mph zones 'have little impact' on serious injuries Britain's first urban 20mph zone in Portsmouth has had no impact in reducing the number of people seriously injured, a Department for Transport study has found.

Times Online

• Hunger for biofuels will gobble up wheat surplusBritain™s self-sufficiency in wheat will end next year, because a giant new biofuel refinery needs so much of the staple crop that home-grown supplies will be exhausted feeding both the factory and the nation.

Press Association

• Pilots to protest over flying hours British pilots will join flight crews from other countries in a warning that flying hours are putting passenger safety at risk.

Daily Express

• Scrappage scheme lifts salesTHE Government's scrappage scheme is set to have helped drive a 10 per cent increase in September new-car registrations compared with the same month in 2008.

Liverpool Echo

• Queen's Square Bus Station closure to cause massive bus stop diversionsTRAVEL chaos is feared in Liverpool city centre thanks to the partial closure of a major city bus station.

Nottingham Evening Post

• Why the railways are safer now – the views of the health and safety body MAJOR improvements since the Paddington disaster mean the risk of a passenger being involved in a train accident now stands at an all-time low. Statistics issued by the Rail Standards and Safety Board (RSSB ), the not-for-profit company which works with the rail industry to reduce passenger risk, suggest rail is the safest form of transport in Britain.
• Rail campaign stops in Nottingham A CAMPAIGN for cheaper rail fares made a stop at Nottingham Train Station, before continuing on its journey around the UK. Cat Hobbs, 26, from the Campaign for Better Transport, said: "The Government must bring down fares to encourage people to use the trains."

Peterborough Telegraph

• Bus yobs face crackdownPolice have been travelling on buses in an Essex town in a bid to crack down on youths causing a nuisance.
• Live animals export halted at terminalBosses at Britain's largest container terminal have agreed to halt the exports of live animals.
• Aircraft firm lands major new dealA Norwich engineering company has landed a prestigious contract to service part of airline company Easyjet's fleet of planes.

Other News Sources

• Manchester rail hub on Shadow Transport Minister's agenda Investment in the rail network around central Manchester is crucial to unlocking the economic potential of the north of England for generations to come. That's the message Shadow Transport Minister Stephen Hammond will hear when he arrives in Manchester on Sunday for the Conservative Party's annual conference.
• Scarborough's new transport scheme nearly £5 million over budgetSCARBOROUGH'S new transport system – including the park and ride – cost nearly £5 million more than expected, according to an internal document handed to the Evening News.
• Minister hears plea for fast link RAIL campaigners argued for improved services to London during a meeting with the Transport Secretary Lord Adonis.
• A14 Improvements - MP Complains Of Further Delay FURTHER delay to the £1.2billion upgrade of the A14 between Ellington in west Huntingdonshire and Fen Ditton, north-east of Cambridge, has angered one of the area's MPs.
• Call to save Cheltenham bus route Campaigners in Up Hatherley have put together a petition urging the council to save their bus route.
• Bus users urged to have say on Transform Oxford changes BUS passengers in the city can have their say on County Hall’s Transform Oxford proposals, two months after the first phase went live.
• HK introduces shorter flight routes to help airlines save fuelHong Kong's Civil Aviation Department (CAD) has shortened the flight routes to Hong Kong's airport which means aircraft arriving from Europe, China, the...