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

Sunday, 10 January 2010

BBC News

• Rail services are back to normalRail services across the West Midlands are restored after passengers were delayed by up to two hours.
• Tributes paid to popular driverA haulage company boss who died in a road crash
• Search for man over airport brawlPolice are searching for a man in connection with a brawl at Birmingham Airport.
• Salt convoy due as freeze goes onA fleet of lorries is to leave a depot in Cheshire loaded with emergency supplies of salt as the cold spell continues.
• Big freeze causes railway chaosAbout half of train journeys in Scotland have been disrupted or delayed over the past week, BBC Scotland learns.
• Parking fine appeal panel plannedA new independent appeals panel to prevent motorists being unfairly fined by unscrupulous private car parking companies is being set up.
• Big freeze continues to disruptSnow and freezing temperatures across the Northern Ireland has affected water supplies and transport.
• Eurostar still affected by snowEurostar services between London and Paris continue to be affected by fresh snowfall and freezing temperatures.
• Two charged after Heathrow alertPolice have charged two men in connection with a security alert on a plane at London's Heathrow Airport on Friday night.

The Herald

• Taxpayers could face bill for millions over ScotRail strikeTaxpayers are likely to pick up the tab for a Scotland-wide rail dispute because of a œstrike breaker clause written into the original franchise agreement with ScotRail.
• Plane at centre of bomb alert flies out as three men heldPassengers caught up in a suspected bomb alert at Heathrow Airport were on their way to Dubai last night after police found nothing suspicious on board the aircraft.

The Independent

• Britain's gritters: 'We've had to get used to the abuse' Gesturing at the 16 tons of truck and grit that he's navigating down a steep snow-covered Buckinghamshire hill, Paul Nairey says:

The Observer

• Unite announces plans for new BA cabin crew strike ballot Union's aviation officers tell airline staff second vote on industrial action will take place on 22 January
• Torching cars the new craze in BerlinArsonists torch luxury cars as way of fighting the growing gentrification of many areas of the cityThey come out mostly after dusk, typically carrying a simple set of tools “ a box of matches, and slow-burning barbecue firelighters which are lit and placed next to a car's tyre. By the time the flames have taken hold the culprit has vanished, and the car is ablaze and beyond recovery when the fire brigade arrives.In Berlin, a growing band of leftwing car arsonists have become the face of an increasingly vociferous campaign against the gentrification of the German capital. In 2009, 216 mostly lu...

The Scotsman

• Man on Heathrow bomb threat chargeA passenger has been charged with making a bomb threat that grounded a packed jet at Heathrow Airport on Friday evening, police said.

The Telegraph

• Passenger charged over 'bomb threat' which sparked terror alert An air passenger has been charged with making a bomb threat which sparked a terror alert and grounded a packed jet at Heathrow Airport.

Times Online

• Last hurrahs of the petrol age Car manufacturers, like the rest of the world, have grown lazy and are misguidedly pursuing a flawed green technology, says Clarkson. But over the next six pages he salutes the truly great machines of the past 10 years
• Shortage of grit may leave millions strandedParts of Britain could come to a standstill this week as a shortage of grit leaves swathes of the road network untreated after new snowfalls. With Arctic conditions expected to continue into next weekend, millions of people could be stranded.
• Two 'drunk' passengers charged after hoax Heathrow bomb threatA British man has been charged with making a bomb threat that left hundreds of passengers on a Dubai-bound flight stranded at Heathrow Airport.
• Hydrogen cars: Don’t worry - there’ll be no fireworks Meet InGear’s newest test drivers. The Stepneys are a typical British family, living in the suburbs of Sheffield. Robert Stepney is an executive at a recruitment company and usually drives a 2007 BMW 320i Tourer. His wife, Stephanie, a teacher, has a 2007 Fiat Grande Punto.
• Hydrogen revolution gets a second wind Odourless, colourless and tasteless, hydrogen has been all but invisible in the recent debate about green motoring. In fact, while everyone from car makers to government ministers has been pushing the idea of pure electric and plug-in hybrid cars, hydrogen — once regarded as the most obvious alternative to fossil fuels — appears to have disappeared into thin air.
• Japan Airlines ˜about to collapse™JAPAN AIRLINES, Asia™s biggest carrier, could fall into bankruptcy within days in the latest sign the bad times are far from over for the aviation industry.

Reuters News

• PM says gas won't run out despite freezeLONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Saturday that Britain's gas supplies would not run out during the current cold snap and that everything was being done to keep major roads open.
• Police charge two after Heathrow bomb threatLONDON (Reuters) - Police charged a man on Saturday over a bomb hoax that prevented a Dubai-bound Emirates airliner from taking off from Heathrow airport.

Daily Express

• Southend airport ready for take-offSOUTHEND airport is on course for a £25 million expansion designed to turn it into a new gateway to London.

Daily Record

• Exclusive: Road chiefs were told of Scots salt shortage six months ago - and ignored warningsSCOTLAND'S biggest supplier of road salt warned councils of a looming shortage six months ago - but were ignored

Mail Online

• £150 to get frozen car back: Recovery firm tows away vehicles abandoned the night before, then charges drivers

The Sun

• Three held in Heathrow raid ARMED police stormed a plane at Heathrow last night and led away a man in handcuffs

Birmingham Mail

• Erdington taxi rank doubles fares because of snow.A BIRMINGHAM taxi rank has admitted doubling its fares when it snows so its self-employed drivers do not risk crashing their cars.
• Winson Green business has its access blocked by an untaxed, uninsured car that the authorities refuse to removeA BIRMINGHAM businessman was shut out of his own premises because of a dumped, untaxed and uninsured car that nobody would remove – until the Mail intervened.
• Jaguar Land Rover gets £1m for electric car projectCARMAKER Jaguar Land Rover received a boost as the Government awarded more than £1 million to help it develop state-of-the-art electric cars.
• Police officer breaks leg after her patrol car smashes into wall on icy Willenhall roadA BLACK Country police officer was taken to hospital with a broken leg after the patrol car in which she was a passenger skidded on ice and crashed into a wall while answering a 999 call.

London Evening Standard

• Alert row plane allowed to take offAn airliner at the centre of a suspected bomb alert at London Heathrow Airport has been allowed to take off after police found nothing suspicious on board.
• Man on Heathrow bomb threat chargeA passenger has been charged with making a bomb threat that grounded a packed jet at Heathrow Airport on Friday evening, police said.

Sheffield Star

• Luxury car scam netted £10,000A PAIR of scammers from Sheffield raked in thousands of pounds by fiddling the mileage on luxury cars.
• About 300 staff getting roads and pavements usable againAN ARMY of Sheffield Council staff have been out gritting pavements and side roads “ with workers unable to do their normal duties lending hands to the effort.
• CLOSED: Sheffield Arena car park victim of icy weatherSHEFFIELD Arena's car park is the latest victim of the Arctic weather - and will not be open for bike show fans tonight, Saturday, January 9, 2010.

The News (Portsmouth)

• 'Icy roads put residents at risk'PORTSMOUTH City Council has been criticised for its efforts to clear roads and pavements of ice and snow.

The York Press

• Motor dealer discovers 1942 Mercedes in Russian lock-up A CAR dealer from North Yorkshire has discovered a Nazi car which could be worth a staggering £12 million in a garage in Russia.
• Skeldergate Bridge to shut for York drivers THOUSANDS of motorists face weeks of disruption after transport bosses announced they were to close two key York bridges.
• Emergency gritting telephone line for York AN EMERGENCY gritting telephone line has been put in place over this weekend for York residents who need roads and paths treating during the big freeze.

Wales Online

• Pensioner dies after queue jumping rowA PENSIONER collapsed and died after allegedly being verbally abused in a queue jumping row at a North Wales petrol station.

The Shields Gazette

• Bus drivers in top gear for boy's giftBIG-hearted bus drivers got into top gear to give a colleague's toddler a Christmas present to remember.

Other Regional Press

• Watford getting back to business DRIVING conditions are steadily improving on roads around Watford, although at least two drivers crashed after skidding on icy patches of Stephenson's Way this morning.
• Call to protect Aberdeen™s revellers by closing roadA NEW move to help keep revellers safe on a busy Aberdeen road could become a reality.
• Train services halted between Aberdeen and DundeeTHOUSANDS of rail passengers in the Aberdeen area were today due to be hit by disruption as services were scrapped.
• Icy weather sparks string of crashesTREACHEROUS winter weather has once again brought chaos to Aberdeen roads with a string of crashes.
• Coroner opens death crash inquestAn inquest has been opened into the death of a teenager whose car hit a tree before bursting into flames.
• Cops in the line of hire over carsFigures released by the Liberal Democrats have revealed that Bedfordshire Police spent almost £1million on hiring cars since 2004.

Forbes

• Bike Eats Bumps So You Won'tCannondale engineer Stanley Song has spent four years building a programmable electronic bicycle for

International Herald Tribune

• Ford’s Bet: It’s a Small World After AllThe new Focus is Ford’s first truly global car — a single vehicle designed and engineered for customers in every region of the world.
• In Cuba’s Time Capsule, an Automotive LegacyIn the heart of Havana’s historic district, a museum displays cars, trucks and motorcycles that represent the last century of Cuba’s automotive history.

Washington Post

• Ford looks smart, brings new Focus to Detroit show DEARBORN, Mich. -- In a year that humbled most automakers in America, Ford came out looking smart.
• The Navigator: The TSA finds unexpected turbulence Since the last time I wrote about the Transportation Security Administration, the agency charged with protecting air travel has encountered some unexpected turbulence.
• At Las Vegas electronics show, the Web and cars meet LAS VEGAS -- What happens in Vegas could soon hit the open road.

Other News Sources

• Gritting to be slashed by a quarterLancashire's roads could grind to a halt if further Arctic blizzards strike the county, its top highways official has warned.
• Lorna double 'decked' by bus blundersBuses are supposed to come in threes... but just a double dose of ice-related bus mayhem left one woman cursing the big freeze.
• UK braced for fresh icy blasts as gritting cut Britain is bracing itself for icy blasts as the freezing weather looks set to continue over the weekend.Related StoriesFears snow could cause exam disruptionFootball hit with big freezePupils plan 'sleepover' for examsCarl Gallagher from Shameless talks snow!West Ham v Wolves postponed