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

Thursday, 05 November 2009

BBC News

• Date named for rail line takeover National Express will hand the running of the East Coast Main Line to the government at one minute to midnight on Friday 13 November.
• East Coast hand-back day 'agreed' The East Coast Main Line is to be renationalised on 12 December, the RMT has claimed.
• More than 300 at bus cuts meeting More than 300 people attended a public meeting to discuss plans which could see out-of-county transport for school children in Wrexham cut.
• More 20mph speed zones encouraged More 20mph speed limit zones should be set up around schools and built up areas, new guidance issued to councils in Wales suggests.
• GM plans to cut 10,000 Opel jobsGeneral Motors confirms that it plans to cut 10,000 jobs across European car unit Opel, prompting German unions to call a strike.

Financial Times

• Go-Ahead steps into US school bus marketThe bus and rail operator has formed a joint venture to win yellow school bus contracts in North America, marking its first significant foray outside the UK

The Guardian

• FirstGroup admits £140m taxpayer subsidy First Great Western, which runs from London Paddington to the West Country and Swansea, will be subsidised with about £120m this year
• Bus pass changes anger councils An overhaul of the £1bn free bus pass scheme for people over 60 will leave some councils out of pocket, local authorities have warned, after the government ruled out increasing the fares subsidy.

The Telegraph

• Virgin Atlantic releases app featuring a panic button for anxious flyersVirgin Atlantic has released an iPhone app featuring a panic button aimed at anxious flyers.

Times Online

• General Motors ˜toss of a coin™ decides fate of VauxhallVauxhall™s 4,500 workers are expected to escape compulsory redundancies after its American parent announced surprise plans this week to scrap the sale of the British carmaker.
• After two days in the job, new bmibaby boss makes a quarter of staff redundantA quarter of the staff at bmibaby have been told they are to lose their jobs, only two days after Lufthansa, its parent, put a new boss in charge of the loss-making airline.

Daily Express

• FirstGroup £100m hitFIRSTGROUP profits slumped after recession-hit US coach business Greyhound went to the dogs .

London Evening Standard

• Trains will replace planes in a decade says Virgin chiefVirgin Train's chief executive Tony Collins said flights between cities across Britain would virtually end because of vast improvements to the rail network.
• Fare-dodger barriers cost £230,000 but are left openRail bosses have spent nearly a quarter of a million pounds installing ticket barriers at a crime-ridden station — only to leave them open because of staff shortages

Metro

• Minister hints at new UK high-speed rail networkEast-west and north-south high-speed lines backed by Transport Secretary Lord Adonis.

Nottingham Evening Post

• Councillor apologises over tram cost confusionA POLITICIAN has apologised about confusion which may have been caused by a statement he issued about funding Nottingham's £680m tram extension.
• City gets extra money to fund pensioners' bus travel NEW Government cash will be ploughed into a free bus travel scheme that threatened to squeeze city council coffers and lead to cuts to other services.

The York Press

• Arriva Yorkshire to unveil a new £1.4 million fleet of vehicles on York to Selby bus service A TRAVEL firm is going for gold as it prepares to unveil a new £1.4 million fleet of vehicles on a North Yorkshire bus route.

Wales Online

• Coach firm hit by profit slump FIRSTGROUP suffered a slump in profits yesterday after its recession-hit Greyhound intercity coach business dented half-year results.
• Dining car gives rail passengers a taste of restaurant-quality cuisineIT WAS once such an integral part of rail travel that it formed the backdrop for film scenes from Get Carter to The 39 Steps.

Aviation Industry

• The mystery of franchising deepensThe Labour government’s policy on franchising has always been something of a mystery. Inherited from the Conservatives, the structure of the railways under privatisation has been adapted somewhat by Labour but largely left intact. So it was very instructive, given the events on the East Coast Main Line and rumours of Arriva’s struggles on CrossCountry, to have a clear statement of government policy in the form of its response to the select committee’s critical report on franchising and fares published before the summer recess.
• Airport backs calls for a global deal to be agreed on emissions at Copenhagen climate conferenceA global deal on aviation emissions must be achieved at next month™s UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen otherwise Britain could be £30bn a year worse off and supporting 700,000 fewer jobs.

Other News Sources

• Morrison says double-deck trailers will cut C02 Supermarket giant Morrisons believes it will be able to save around 17,000 tonnes of CO2 per year through the use of double-deck trailers.
• EU relieved as GM drops disputed Opel salePre-empting possible action from the EU's competition watchdog, American car giant General Motors has abandoned the sale of its beleaguered German arm Opel to a Canadian-Russian bidder, a deal which was marred in suspicion and resentment.
• European electricity firms line up behind plug-in carsEurope's electricity suppliers have come together to push for a standardised recharging infrastructure for plug-in electric cars. The move will pave the way for consumers to refuel vehicles at charging stations across Europe.
• Bmibaby cuts jobs at Manchester AirportLow cost carrier Bmibaby said today it planned to make 54 pilots and 82 cabin crew redundant at Birmingham, Manchester and Cardiff airports.