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

Saturday, 07 November 2009

BBC News

• 'Capture cruise market', say MPsWales must tap into the huge growth in the leisure cruise ship market to boost economies around ports, says a report.
• Brown joins by-election campaignGordon Brown describes the Scottish government's decision to ditch the Glasgow Airport Rail Link project as
• Rapid descentHow did British Airways manage to fall so far?
• BA to cut 1,200 jobs amid lossesBritish Airways says it will cut its global workforce by an extra 1,200 as it reports a first-half loss for the first time.

Financial Times

• GM™s Europe chief steps downCarl-Peter Forster, head of General Motors in Europe, is to leave the company just days after the US carmaker decided to hold on to its Opel/Vauxhall operations
• Hopes of stability boost confidence at BADespite poor results, investors are impressed by figures showing the fall in business class passengers, on which the airline depends heavily, is finally easing

The Guardian

• British Airways loses record £292mBA intends to cut a further 3,000 jobs over the next six months; around 1,900 employees have left the airline since AprilBritish Airways has plunged to a record pre-tax loss of £292m over the past six months, traditionally its most profitable trading period, as the airline fights to stave off Christmas strike action that will deepen its financial woes.British Airways chief executive, Willie Walsh, warned BA's 38,690 staff that the airline's worst first half results since privatisation made further cost reductions
• Train service renationalised¢ Train service taken over from next Saturday¢ Public ownership will last for at least 18 monthsBack in the day, British Rail was synonymous with soggy sandwiches, late trains “ or no services at all. Deserved or not, it was a reputation that became immortalised in the comedy, the Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin “ every morning, his train to Waterloo was reliably late, but always for a different reason.From next Saturday, though, the government will get a chance to make some amends, when it returns as a long distance train operator for the first time since privatisation in the mid-90s.Passeng...

The Telegraph

• Britain admits paying thousands for advice from Libya on airline securityVictims of the Lockerbie bombing have criticised the Government for paying for tens of thousands of poundsworth of advice from Libya on airline safety.
• Used cars get fuel economy labels Buyers of used cars to benefit from system similar to that used on domestic appliances.

Times Online

• Brown attacks SNP over Glasgow airport linkGordon Brown joined the Glasgow North East by-election campaign yesterday and launched a fierce attack on Alex Salmond™s SNP government, claiming that the Nationalists had failed the city.
• British Airways reveals record interim lossBritish Airways (BA) today announced its worst-ever interim loss since its privatisation in 1987 amid falling numbers of lucrative business travellers and freight cargo, as well as volatile fuel prices.
• China probes US carmakers over dumping claimsBeijing today launched an inquiry into allegations that American carmakers such as General Motors and Ford dumped government-subsidised cars on to the Chinese market in the latest flare-up of trade tensions between the two huge economies.
• GM Europe president quits following Opel U-TurnThe chief executive of General Motors™ European operations has resigned following the American car company™s decision to retain ownership of Vauxhall and Opel.
• Carl-Peter Forster quits over GM decision to remain in EuropeThe chief executive of General Motors™ European operations resigned yesterday following the American car company™s decision to retain ownership of Vauxhall and Opel.
• BA to shed more than one in ten jobs as it slumpsBritish Airways plans to cut more than one in ten of its workforce this year as the airline struggles with mounting losses. BA said on Friday that it would cut 4,900 jobs, about 12 per cent of its staff, by next March.
• BA to cut tenth of jobs after losing £292m in disastrous summerBritish Airways plans to cut its workforce by more than a tenth as it struggles with mounting losses. The airline said yesterday that 4,900 jobs would be lost ” about 12 per cent of staff ” by March.

Daily Express

• BA confidence soars over foreign mergers BRITISH Airways chief Willie Walsh is confident the proposed tie-ups with Spanish carrier Iberia and American Airlines will go ahead.

Daily Record

• Former motorbike champ in dock after his third fatal smash trialA MOTORIST was found guilty of dangerous driving yesterday - after his third death crash trial.

Network Rail

• TIMELINE FOR KIRKGATE IMPROVEMENT PLANS
• NORTH EAST RAIL REPAIRS AHEAD OF SCHEDULE

Belfast Telegraph

• Scrappage scheme helps new car sales jump 31% There was good news for the motor industry yesterday as new car sales figures for October showed a sharp rise. Related StoriesBuilding industry declines by £45m on 2008ITV predicts ad revenue will growManufacturers’ warning over rising energy costsBT commits to Northern IrelandBank votes for £25bn boost and rate freeze

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Gordon Brown makes Airbus pledge on visit to BroughtonPRIME minister Gordon Brown yesterday pledged to ensure Airbus remained the biggest manufacturing plant in the UK.

Journal Live

• Buses destroyed in suspected arson attackA COACH company boss is today counting the cost of an arson attack which reduced his family firm to ashes.

London Evening Standard

• British Airways announces first ever summer lossBritish Airways remained deep in the red after announcing a record pre-tax loss of £292 million for the six months to the end of September
• BA’s battle with costs goes on as deficit spirals higherCosts are falling and its aircraft are flying fuller, but British Airways said it has yet to turn a corner in the worst airline slump on record
• 'Big brother' plan to spot-check and tow cars owing more than three finesLegally parked vehicles could be towed away as traffic wardens in London are to do spot checks, hunting for vehicles with a backlog of unpaid tickets

Metro

• More BA jobs to go after £292m lossBritish Airways is to cut an extra 1,200 jobs, taking the total reduction to 4,900 by next year, it was revealed.
• BA cuts 'will risk lives' says unionCuts in the number of cabin crew on British Airways flights will put staff and passengers at risk, unions told the High Court.
• Sex tape broadcast in West Ham London Tube stationCommuters were stunned as a major London station's loudspeaker broadcast the sounds of a couple having sex.

The News (Portsmouth)

• Warning after bike thefts in GosportBike owners are urged to step up security following a spate of thefts from garden sheds in Gosport.
• Natalie's got designs on bike racks of the futureArty bike racks shaped as waves, smiley faces and family figures will soon be seen in Portsmouth.

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• Airport parking charges attackedA decision by ministers to allow car parking charges for the first time at Kirkwall Airport was criticised last night.
• Warning that routes will crumble if budget cutMoray™s major haulage firms last night warned roads will crumble if the council goes ahead with plans to slash £400,000 from the maintenance budget.
• Commuters face weeks of chaos after coast road shut People living on the Moray coast are facing weeks of travel chaos after serious damage to a bridge closed one of the region™s main commuter routes.

The York Press

• East Coast Main Line quality ˜vital™ say bosses BUSINESS chiefs have spoken of the vital need for rail services from York to London to stay up to scratch after the East Coast Main Line is nationalised next week.

Yorkshire Evening Post

• Wakefield: £24m link road finally to openA landmark £24m link road designed to breathe new life into parts of Wakefield district is set to open.
• Leeds: Vehicles worth £350k seized in car-clocking probePolice have seized £350,000 worth of cars in Leeds as part of a probe into an alleged car clocking fraud and money laundering.

Blackpool Gazette

• Highways chiefs slammed for ignoring safety pleasA WOMAN whose mother was killed on a Fylde death road has attacked highways chiefs for ignoring pleas for safety measures.

Carlisle News & Star

• Bus timetable change leaves Cumbrian women with three hour trip to workThree women say they are giving up their jobs after changes in bus services means it takes them three hours to get to work.
• Legal bid to stop road going across Cumbrian parkAn initiative to have Workington™s Curwen Park legally designated as a ˜village green™ has been launched“ which would automatically prevent a road being built through it.
• West Cumbrian manhole cover thieves putting lives at riskThieves are risking lives through a spate of metal manhole thefts from roads in west Cumbria.
• National award for Cumbrian railway station 'hump'Passengers at Harrington railway station can™t possibly get the hump at news their revolutionary ramp has won national acclaim.

Northants Evening Telegraph

• Cyclist's challenge to transport officialsA cyclist is challenging council officers to join her and try the cycle routes in Kettering.

Peterborough Telegraph

• Train drivers shortage threat to rail servicesPassengers have been warned not to travel on a busy rail route which passes through East Anglia on Sunday because of a lack of available train drivers.
• Rail travel warning due to lack of driversPassengers were warned not to travel on the Great Northern route for First Capital Connect on Sunday because of a lack of available train drivers.

The Shields Gazette

• Scrappage scheme a big hit at NissanSUNDERLAND'S Nissan plant turned out more than twice as many cars last month compared to a year ago.

International Herald Tribune

• British Airways to Cut Another 1,200 JobsThe total number of planned staff reductions rises to nearly 5,000 as the British carrier wrestles with what its chief executive called the toughest year in the history of aviation.
• Off the Charts: Car Buyers Come Back, but Not in DrovesA factor causing sluggishness may be that auto companies produced and, with discounts, sold too many cars in the years before the recession.

Washington Post

• VRE plan to oust Amtrak up for vote Two Virginia transportation commissions voted Thursday night to approve Virginia Railway Express's plan to end its 17-year relationship with Amtrak and give an international company a start in the U.S. transportation industry.
• BA hints worst over for business travel, shares up LONDON (Reuters) - British Airways signaled business is stabilizing, eclipsing news of a worse than expected first half loss and a prediction that revenue would slump by 1 billion pounds ($1.7 billion) this year.
• Opel chief leaves following failed deal FRANKFURT (Reuters) - General Motors Co said on Friday the head of its European operations, Carl-Peter Forster, is leaving, three days after the automaker's decision to scrap a planned sale of its Opel unit.
• China's nascent jet industry has Boeing, Airbus in its sights BEIJING -- Along with plans to put a man on the moon and develop its own aircraft carrier, China's sky-high ambition now includes building its own Made-in-China jumbo jet, to one day compete with Boeing and Airbus for a share of the lucrative commercial aviation marketplace.

Railnews

• News: Rail travel reaches new peacetime record DESPITE the recession, passenger travel on National Rail is continuing to grow. Latest figures from the Office of Rail Regulation show total passenger kilometres travelled in 2008-09 increased by 3.4 per cent on the previous year to 50.7 billion – an all-time record in peacetime.
• News: Remembrance Sunday trains cancelled as problems escalate at First Capital Connect First Capital Connect has cancelled nearly all Great Northern services on Sunday 8 November, as drivers continue their unofficial ban on rest day working. The company said it was 'disappointed' that there would be hardly any GN trains on Remembrance Sunday, and it has been contacting local officials of the Royal British Legion to warn them of the problem.

Aviation Industry

• More BA jobs to go after £292m lossBritish Airways is to cut an extra 1,200 jobs, taking the total reduction to 4,900 by next year, it was revealed.
• British Airways sees record $482 million loss in first halfLONDON: British Airways Plc. fell to a worse-than-expected first-half loss and forecast annual revenues 1 billion pounds lower than last year, but said traffic volumes and yields had stabilized.
• Sector Snap: Airline shares riseAirline stocks rose Friday as oil prices tumbled, easing the carriers' fears over jet fuel costs.
• BA announces pre-tax loss of £292m Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow...

Other News Sources

• Suspected Somali Pirates Capture Greek Cargo Ship Off Tanzania Thursday, suspected Somali pirates seized a Greek cargo...
• Maersk Supply switches from Isle of Man flag to Danish flagOver the next month, Maersk Supply Service will...
• BA dives into the red and cuts more jobsBritish Airways plunged to its first ever first half loss, despite the lucrative summer season, and slashed 1,200 more jobs in a desperate attempt to cut costs
• Buses converted to fuel cellsEngineers from Britain and China are collaborating on a project in Sunderland to convert two buses to a fuel-cell, battery and capacitor combination.
• Safer Ports for Thousands of Workers
• Proposed overhaul of union election rules in US aviation and rail sectorsOrganising in the US aviation and rail sectors is set to become easier thanks to new proposals to change the way in which union elections are carried out.
• Wincanton stays bullishUK logistics firm Wincanton has reported a 9.9% decline in revenues to £1.07bn (US$1.77bn) for the six months ending 30 September, compared with £1.19bn last year. Operating profits fell 15% to £26m.
• Team at ThamesportTeam Lines has added London Thamesport to one of its northern Europe-Iberia services. The 1,118teu El Temerario, which arrived at the port last week is on a service that also calls at Rotterdam, Lisbon, Vigo, Leixoes and Antwerp.
• Fury at Dover rate increasesCross-Channel ferry firms have slammed Dover Harbour Board's (DHB) rate increases for next year as
• NASA to fund Boeing for open rotor noise studyNASA's Langley Research Center plans to issue a contract to Boeing to perform noise studies of open rotor engine configurations on several types of airframes...
• SAS claims lead in lean fuel operationsDriven by a potent combination of industry recession, fuel prices and ecological pressures, airlines are looking for ways of saving fuel. SAS, which has...
• Airport Noise Action Plans Not Fit For PurposeOur responses to draft airport noise action plans.
• Manchester Airport lands top accolade for second year runningManchester Airport has been named UK Airport of the Year for the second year running at the national British Travel Awards ceremony.
• British Airways announces record lossThe troubled airline company announces a pre-tax loss of £292m as cabin crew hours are "unwillingly" slashed in a bid to save money. John Sparks reports.

Other Subscription Services

• Brussels in new push to join IMOLisbon Treaty gives further impetus for European Union to have greater say.