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Friday, 09 October 2009

BBC News

• Rail investment [video]Tom Cairns from Bournemouth asked: "What about investment into the existing railway system?"
• The hardcore union bosses 'fear' Shunned by the TUC and at odds with New Labour, the RMT union has won lucrative deals with its hardball tactics. The Report's Simon Cox lifts the lid on the union which has more strike ballots in a year than most.
• No public inquiry into bus plan The government will not order a public inquiry into Bath's controversial £54m transportation package.
• Many passengers 'see staff abuse'Nearly one in five passengers has witnessed a verbal attack on public transport staff in the last five years, a survey suggests.

Financial Times

• Spain demands rework of Magna™s Opel planUK and European politicians lash out against the carmaker™s restructuring plan, culminating in Madrid boycotting a planned ministerial meeting to discuss the plan and delay the deal
• Aer Lingus job loss plan sparks union furyTrade unions have reacted angrily to the airline's €97m cost-cutting plan, which would mean 676 job losses among pilots, cabin crew, ground staff and office workers
• Germany steps in with aid for Hapag-LloydThe German government has agreed to guarantee €1.2bn in loans for Hamburg-based Hapag-Lloyd, following a deal that will see shareholders inject a further €750m into the container shipping line

The Herald

• Inconvenience of Glasgow Airport Rail Link would mean few passengers The furore over the cancellation of the Glasgow Airport Rail Link (Garl) does not take into account some practicalities (“Pressure piles on Salmond over rail link cash”, The Herald, October 8). Who would use Garl? Convenience is a prerequisite and perhaps Steven Purcell, leader of Glasgow City Council, or someone else in the know could elucidate.

The Independent

• The Big Question: Is London ready to embrace a bike hire scheme, and what will it involve? Why are we asking this now?

The Scotsman

• Staff abused for transport failingsPublic transport staff are having to bear the brunt of passengers' anger when services fail, it has been revealed.

The Telegraph

• Britain could be sole EU country to retain airline fluid ban Britain could be the only EU country where the restrictions on taking liquids on aircraft remain in force, it has emerged.
• Britain to oppose European plan to ease aircraft liquid rules Britain is to oppose moves to ease restrictions on taking liquids on board aircraft when European transport ministers meet on Friday.
• Transport for London confuses V&A and Natural History museums on latest mapTransport for London has confused the Victoria & Albert and Natural History museums just weeks after being forced into an embarrassing climbdown over its decision to erase the River Thames from the Tube map.

Times Online

• Boris Johnson plans to halt London traffic on hot daysTraffic is to be banned from some of London™s busiest streets on hot days, under EU rules on air quality.
• Bumper business for the personalised car number plate industry The Cotswolds village of Willersey has never seen so many Bentleys. Yesterday the telephones rang maniacally, blue lights flashed and auctioneers shouted themselves hoarse as the first hammer went down, and a combination of numbers and letters on a piece of yellow plastic were sold for £7,700.

Press Association

• Staff abused for transport failings Public transport staff are having to bear the brunt of passengers' anger when services fail, it has been revealed. As many as 19% have witnessed verbal assaults on staff in the last five years, while 2% have seen physical assaults, a survey by security solutions company G4S showed.

Reuters News

• BAA traffic drops in Sept, sees recovery signsPassenger traffic at BAA airports fell 2.6 percent in September, matching modest declines of recent months and fuelling hopes of a recovery, the company said as cargo volumes shrank at their slowest pace for 10 months.
• -Ryanair says govt may ask it to bail out Aer LingusIrish budget airline Ryanair (RYA.I) said on Thursday that if rival Aer Lingus (AERL.I) keeps slashing costs and fails to grow the government would eventually ask it to bail out the former state carrier.

Mail Online

• Oil rich sheikhs to fund 'Boris Island' airport in middle of Thames estuary Oil rich Arab sheikhs are prepared to fund London Mayor Boris Johnson's ambitious £40billion plan to build an airport in the middle of Thames estuary, his supporters said yesterday.
• Liquid ban on planes until 2012 due to delay in testing scanners Restrictions on taking liquids on planes are to be extended by three years due to a delay in perfecting the scanners needed to detect bomb-making chemicals hidden inside bottles.

ATOC

• Latest punctuality figures - good news says ATOCATOC repsonds to Network Rail figures showing record levels of punctuality

Network Rail

• NETWORK RAIL ANNOUNCES APPOINTMENT OF 23 NEW PUBLIC MEMBERS
• NETWORK RAIL TAKES FIRST STEPS IN DONCASTER RAIL UPGRADE

Birmingham Post

• Smartcard public transport scheme on buses and trains starts next monthA multi-million pound public transport scheme that aims to make travel on the region’s buses and trains easier is due to start next month.

Bristol Live

• Bristol Airport 'must be capped at eight million passengers' Protestors fighting the expansion of Bristol International Airport have called for passenger numbers to be capped at eight million a year if plans go ahead.

London Evening Standard

• Cabin crew union vows 'serious' battle with BABritish Airways heads for confrontation with the largest aviation union, increasing the risk of strikes in the run-up to Christmas
• First look at Boris's 'bixi' bike designBike to be used in London's cycle hire scheme is set to be revealed ahead of the capital's cycle show

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• Laurencekirk station™s car park opensA CAR park costing £450,000 has been opened at the revamped Laurencekirk railway station.
• Kintore rail station may be on trackTransport Minister Stewart Stevenson said yesterday that re-opening an Aberdeenshire railway station œlooks like a pretty good option.
• Bus depot ˜one of best facilities in Scotland™STAFF at a newly-built bus depot in Aberdeen are working in one of the best facilities in Scotland, the boss of the city™s First company said yesterday.
• Train doors dispute hinges on ballot bidScotrail complained last night that it had received no feedback from union officials on a possible ballot on industrial action over whose role it is to close the doors on trains.

The York Press

• City of York Council named road safety champion CITY of York Council has been named a champion for a Government campaign aimed at raising awareness of the importance of work-related road safety.

Yorkshire Evening Post

• We'll keep free travel for pensionersTHE Labour government's flagship scheme to give pensioners free bus travel WILL survive if the Tories take power next year.
• LEEDS BRADFORD AIRPORT: Police face angry passengersPOLICE were called to Leeds Bradford Airport after passengers on a delayed plane became angry when they faced further delays.

Doncaster Free Press

• New airport flightsA NUMBER of new flights have been announced from Robin Hood Airport. Operators Thomson and First Choice will run an extra weekly flight to Monastir, in Tunisia, after launc

Northants Evening Telegraph

• Council considers switching off one in three street lamps to save moneyOne in three street lights could be switched off along Northamptonshire's main roads in a major drive to save money.

Railnews

• News: Four operators lead the way in punctuality improvements, but autumn poses challenge The past month has seen National Rail services maintain their record high levels of punctuality. The latest performance results show that 93.6% of trains arrived on time, which means within ten minutes of the booked time for intercity and provincial trains and five minutes for trains in London and the south east.
• News: Network Rail announces 23 new members Network Rail has announced the names of 23 new public members which it says will help keep the company accountable for its actions. They will begin their term of appointment in November.

Transport for London

• Be the first to try out London's Cycle Hire schemeTry the hire bikes and take a spin on a Cycle Superhighway at the Earl's Court Cycle Show this weekend.

Aviation Industry

• Edinburgh secures first ever scheduled link with FloridaEdinburgh will get its first ever direct scheduled flights to Florida next summer as flyglobespan launch a weekly service from the capital in 2010

Other News Sources

• Buckshaw railway station to be built next year A long-awaited railway station in Buckshaw Village is set to be built next year. Chorley MP Lindsay Hoyle has received confirmation from Network Rail that construction of the £3M railway station will take place in 2010.
• NoTrag welcomes Tories manifesto pledge to scrap Heathrow third runway plans WITH the Tory conference under way this week, Heathrow anti-expansion campaigners have welcomed confirmation scrapping a third runway is in the party’s manifesto.
• Llandrindod users face £75k in costsThe closure of the VOSA HGV testing station at Llandrindod Wells, Powys will cost local operators an extra £75,000 a year in additional travel time to the nearest alternative site.
• Crossrail ponders stop callCrossrail was locked in negotiations with councils from both sides of London this week as calls to add new stations to the route threatened to derail the scheme™s £15.9bn budget.

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News from Europe

• Trans-European Transport Network Coordinators present their annual report and a common Position PaperThe coordinators of the Trans-European Transport Network have presented Vice-President Antonio Tajani with their fourth and final report for their first mandate giving a detailed state of play of the priority projects for which they are responsible.
• Trans-European Transport Network Coordinators present their annual report and a common Position PaperThe coordinators of the Trans-European Transport Network have presented Vice-President Antonio Tajani with their fourth and final report for their first mandate giving a detailed state of play of the priority projects for which they are responsible.
• Cash-strapped Paris region lobbies EU for transport money Representatives from eight regions in the Paris basin have called on EU Transport Commissioner Antonio Tajani to support their efforts to build a freight corridor to relieve the congested French capital. They hope to win EU backing for a project that has so far attracted little interest from the French state.
• LANXESS welcomes EU deal in favor of environmentally friendly tiresSpecialty chemicals group LANXESS AG welcomes the compromise reached between the European Commission, Council of the European Union and the European Parliament on Thursday (October 1, 2009) to introduce rules, which will mean car tires must have in the future a label clearly stating their fuel efficiency.