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

Saturday, 17 October 2009

BBC News

• Up to 900 car plant jobs at riskCar parts maker Bosch is to start talks with unions which could see between 300 and 900 jobs lost at a factory.
• Tube worker suspended over rantFootage emerges of a Tube worker ranting at a passenger and apparently threatening to
• 'Support' over Lockerbie bomberThe SNP minister who released the Lockerbie bomber claims to have since won support for the decision from Labour politicians.
• Tycoon gets humanitarian honourStagecoach tycoon Ann Gloag is given a top humanitarian award at the United Nations in New York.
• Vauxhall workers back union dealWorkers at the Vauxhall car plant in Ellesmere Port vote to accept a deal agreed between unions and proposed new owner, Magna.
• Fold-up bike 'crazy guy' receives royal awardThe man who invented the foldaway Brompton bicycle is honoured by the Duke of Edinburgh for his life long obsession.

Financial Times

• Whitehall quandary over franchisesThe collapse of the takeover bid for National Express leaves the future of the rail group's East Coast and East Anglia franchises shrouded in uncertainty
• Investors drop JAL over debt planThe carrier's shares lose 11% for a second day running to close at their lowest level since the company's listing in its current form after a government task force proposes that banks forgive it $2.8bn of debt
• Independence uncertain for National ExpressWith bid interest in National Express at an end, the question now is whether the company can continue in its current form as it hands over responsibility for running the service to government
• Investors support NatEx rights issueShareholders at the transport group are to back a rights issue after the withdrawal of a £765m takeover bid by CVC, the private equity firm, and the Cosmen family, its largest shareholder
• National Express plunges as bid droppedA Spanish-led consortium has withdrawn its £765m takeover offer for the bus and rail operator, leaving the company to announce plans for an equity fundraising to strengthen its balance sheet

The Telegraph

• Councils threaten swimming pools and libraries over free bus travel costsThe growing number of elderly people means councils will have to close swimming pools and libraries to fund free bus travel for over 60s according to a report.

Times Online

• Behind the wheel: the all-electric Mini E The all-electric Mini E bursts away from traffic lights, zooms about like a sports car and can carry you 120 miles on a four-hour charge. A milk float? In your milkman’s dreams. Unfortunately, your milkman can’t have one — not unless he signed up to be one of the 20 triallists, dwelling between Oxford and London, who will shortly take delivery of a prototype Mini E and live with it for six months. A second trial group of 20 will repeat the experiment next year. After which, BMW and its consortium partners will know a lot more about whether electricity genuine...
• Shift in the balance of profits sent National Express buyout bid careering off the tracksCVC Capital Partners and the Cosmen family™s joint bid for National Express fell apart after the two partners failed to agree financial terms between themselves, The Times has learnt.
• Sale of Opel to Magna in danger after EC warningThe proposed sale of General Motors™ Opel business to Magna International, the Canadian auto parts maker, was thrown into doubt yesterday after the European Commission (EC) warned that Germany™s planned state aid for Opel may breach competition rules.

Daily Express

• NatEx shares slump as takeover derailedNATIONAL Express shares plummeted yesterday after a consortium led by Spain's Cosmen family and private equity group CVC walked away from a £765million takeover bid.
• Crude's new peak fuels oil rush OIL stocks gushed to the top reaches of the blue-chip board yesterday as crude prices -temporarily reached a new high for the year of $78.17 a barrel.

Daily Record

• Drivers set for 3 weeks of mayhem for M8 motoristsMOTORISTS face chaos over the next three weekends as major roadworks get under way on Europe's busiest road bridge.

Mail Online

• New funding threat to free bus passes for pensioners

Network Rail

• PLANNING PERMISSION SOUGHT FOR GOGAR INTERCHANGE

Belfast Telegraph

• Route move by Easyjet ratchets up airport warThe battle between Belfast's rival airports has reached new heights after budget airline Easyjet announced it is switching a core route from Belfast International to George Best City Airport.Related StoriesTripartite research projects valued at £6.4mBarclays awaits payment protection decisionRoyal Mail bosses deny 'plan to derecognise union'Republic tourist numbers plummetGoogle posts record profits

Daily Post (North Wales)

• North Wales emorial garden for tragically lost childrenTEARFUL relatives of loved ones lost in fatal road accidents yesterday paid tribute to a ’wonderful’ children’s memorial garden.

Journal Live

• Lord Adonis backs Metro and electric carsTRANSPORT secretary Lord Adonis has promised there will be no cuts to vital Metro funding as ministers begin to pay back the cost of fighting the recession.

London Evening Standard

• Tube man suspended for 'little git' rant at trapped passengerTube worker who was caught on camera abusing an elderly passenger, calling him a 'jumped-up little git', has been suspended

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• Gloag receives top awardSTAGECOACH founder Ann Gloag has received a humanitarian award at the United Nations for her three decades of charity work.
• Building rules slow railway plansEFFORTS by a railway restoration group to move a historic station on to their Deeside site have stalled because of problems conforming to building rules.
• Parents win school travel boostPARENTS who claimed their children were faced with a 40-minute walk to school or having to pay expensive bus fares have won a concession.

Blackpool Gazette

• Trains back to normal after no body foundNETWORK rail say services are back to normal after reported sightings of a body near the Blackpool to Preston railway line proved false.

Northants Evening Telegraph

• Is this the man most feared by drivers?Speeding motorists beware “ this police officer is on a mission to make the county's roads a safer place.
• Kettering bus drivers vote on new pay deal COMMENT ON THIS STORYBus drivers are expected to vote on a new pay deal next week after fresh negotiations with Stagecoach bosses.

Reading Evening Post

• The not-so sweet truth of sugar fuel buses “Grossly misled” and “deceived” are words being used to describe the green bus fuel scandal that has left council bosses with red faces.

Sunderland Echo

• Rail group takeover collapsesStruggling transport group National Express, operator of the North East Main Line, saw shares hammered today after it said talks over a £765million takeover have hit the buffe

Forbes

• Still Room On The Crazy Train Railroad stocks are on a hot streak and there don't appear to be many obstacles on the track to higher valuations.

Washington Post

• VRE Chooses France-Based Operator Over Amtrak Virginia Railway Express plans to abandon its 17-year relationship with Amtrak and give an international company its first chance to dabble in the U.S. transportation industry.
• Senate Approves Bill Restoring Funding for Hydrogen Car Research The hydrogen car may have legions of fervent fans, but Energy Secretary Steven Chu apparently is not among them. Earlier this year, the Nobel Prize-winning scientist essentially zeroed government funding for the clean vehicles and came close to mocking their potential, saying the technology needs four

Railnews

• News: Stagecoach withdraws from National Express franchise deal after takeover falls through National Express has been plunged into uncertainty after a takeover deal from a Spanish group was withdrawn. Shares fell by more than a quarter on the news that the consortium headed by the Cosmen family had decided not to go ahead with a £765m deal which had valued National Express at £5 a share.

Aviation Industry

• Airline's huge giveaway after BBC spat.European budget carrier Ryanair is giving away 1.1 million seats for free in response to a critical documentary aired by the BBC's Panorama program.
• Air France May Delay Plane Deliveries - ReportAir France-KLM is weighing whether to delay the delivery of some passenger and cargo planes from Boeing and Airbus, according to Wednesday's La Tribune newspaper.
• Pilots Lose Bid to Stop AllianceAmerican Airlines' proposed joint business agreement and antitrust immunity with British Airways PLC doesn't violate a labor agreement and can't be blocked by pilots, an independent arbitrator ruled Thursday.
• S&P downgrades Southwest Airlines 1 notch but keeps it above junk statusStandard & Poor's downgraded Southwest Airlines Co. one notch on Wednesday, citing lower demand for travel and weak pricing that have cut into the company's earnings and cash flow.
• Teamsters president Hoffa at Newark Liberty International airport to rally workersInternational Brotherhood of Teamsters President Jim Hoffa is in New Jersey today.

Other News Sources

• LDV bought by Chinese woman named in Rover affairThe Chinese businesswoman who was at the centre of the MG Rover scandal has bought vanmaker LDV from its administrators for £8m
• White Van Man stereotype 'a thing of the past'Far from following a poor lifestyle, 'White Van Man' has cereal for breakfast, takes regular exercise and holidays in the Far East, so says a poll conducted by Express Insurance.
• Boris pulls plug on HGV and cyclist safety schemeTransport for London (TfL) will no longer finance a £1m safety awareness scheme for HGVs and cyclists.
• Clear Message: Texting While Driving is DangerousSending text messages from your cell phone while driving can be more dangerous than driving drunk due to slow reaction times, distraction and inattentive driving.
• Fatal Mistakes -- The High Cost of Distracted DrivingAccidents caused by distracted drivers have increased due to texting and cell phone use. However, a driver can be distracted by anything. The results are often severe, even deadly.
• Maintenance remains cost issue for Highways AgencyA new report by the National Audit Office (NAO) has criticised the Highways Agency™s Maintenance Area Contracts (MAC), which it says is responsible for cost hikes some 11% above inflation for routine maintenance.
• Cross-Channel ferries suspended after strike Cross-Channel ferry services are in chaos as French workers blockade the Port of Calais.
• European and Arab World aviation unions brought together for the first timeAviation unions in Europe and the Arab World fostered links at a ground-breaking conference in Jordan last week in a bid to counter the effects of deregulation and the global economic crisis on workers.
• Boeing reiterates 787 first flight targetBoeing says the side-of-body modification for the 787 is
• Depressed rates drive up scrappingTHE boom in ship recycling is driven by high steel prices and low freight rates, with the average age of ships sold for demolition falling fast.
• Maersk pulls ships out of UK flagDENMARK™S AP Møller-Maersk has transferred fifteen ships from the UK register to the Danish register as part of its streamlining and cost-cutting drives, it told Fairplay today.
• US bans polluting captainPanagiotis Lekkas, captain of the bulk carrier Theotokos, was banned yesterday from entering the US for three years.
• SeaFrance strike keeps ships in portSEAFRANCE ferry operations were suspended today due to a 24-hour strike by employees in Calais.
• Europe tries to relaunch space policyThe European Union is stepping up its efforts to catch up with other global powers on space policy after the temporary collapse of its flagship project for satellite navigation, Galileo.
• Transport Noise: World Health Organisation Support Quieter NightsWHO publish the long awaited night time noise guidelines for Europe.
• Residents and Businesses Help Shape The Thames Gateway Eco-QuarterNew technologies and initiatives for homes and businesses in the Thames Gateway to tackle climate change will be tried out in the country's first eco-quarter, Thames Gateway Minister Shahid Malik announced today.
• London Councils Welcome Heahtrow DelayLondon Councils has welcomed the announcement that BAA has put plans for a third runway at Heathrow on hold until after the next general election “ but has warned that the fight is still not over.
• CFS sacks advisors following car insurance probeCo-Operative Financial Services has sacked eight of its own financial advisors and called in police after uncovering irregularities in the issuing of new car insurance policies.

Other Subscription Services

• Crew of hijacked ship unharmedHijacking of Pacific International Lines ship 550 miles off Somalia shows pirates are attacking further offshore