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Wednesday, 27 January 2010

BBC News

• Switzerland-based firm looks at buying Coventry Airport A Switzerland-based firm is considering taking over Coventry Airport.
• Public inquiry over £150m Coventry road plan A public inquiry has started into government plans to spend up to £150m improving a trunk road in Coventry.
• Scrap north-south Wales air route call The company operating the north to south Wales air route says it hopes to restart online bookings.
• Should the UK ban the Muslim face veil? Just across the English Channel, allowing a woman to veil her face in public places such as hospitals, government offices and on public transport could soon be called into question.
• Rail 'maintenance cuts' opposedRail workers are due to lobby Parliament in protest at plans by Network Rail to cut maintenance jobs.
• Fuel tax bonus 'can fix potholes'The money to fix all Britain's potholes could be raised within 100 days if increased profits from VAT on fuel were diverted to the problem, the AA says.
• Main roads 'fall short on safety'Only half of the motorways in England reach the top safety rating, with other major roads much worse, a report says.
• Lib Dems urge rail fare refundsRail passengers moved on to replacement bus services should have a third of their fare refunded, the Lib Dems say.
• City Airport de-icing cost £70kCity of Derry Airport spent £70,000 to keep the runway open during the recent icy weather.
• Rail firm makes commuter payoutsA rail firm offers to compensate commuters whose journeys into London were disrupted for 11 weeks.
• New flights to Ireland unveiledTwo Irish airlines join forces to offer new flights to Dublin and Cork from Glasgow Airport from the end of March.
• Saab being sold to Dutch carmakerGeneral Motors agrees to sell its Saab subsidiary to Dutch luxury carmaker Spyker and vows to suspend wind-down activities.
• Siemens' profits up by a quarterSiemens reports a big jump in profits for the final three months of last year, largely as a result of cutting costs.

Financial Times

• Aer Lingus brands itself 'civilised' airlineIreland's lossmaking flag carrier makes the declaration as it unveils a plan to position itself midway between Ryanair, its no-frills rival, and high-end carriers such as British Airways
• Dover port seeks private capitalEurope's busiest ferry port looks set to turn its back on more than four centuries of public ownership by bringing in outside investors to fund a £400m expansion

The Guardian

• Airline passengers have 'no right' to refuse naked body scanners Ministers ignore human rights advice and rule out option of pat-down search when scanner goes on trial at Heathrow next week

The Herald

• Fuel tax profits could fill potholes The UK’s two million pot-holes could be repaired within four months if the rise in VAT revenue generated by soaring petrol prices is ringfenced to smooth over the country’s crumbling roads, according to the AA.
• Swinney stands firm on Garl MSPs have failed to force fresh information out of the Scottish Government in an eleventh-hour bid to reinstate the Glasgow Airport Rail Link (Garl).

The Independent

• Texting while driving banned in the US Truck and bus drivers will be fined up to $2,750 if they are caught sending text messages while on the road under a new ban introduced by the US government.

The Scotsman

• Siemens posts profits rise but doesn't rule out further job cuts GERMAN industrial giant Siemens saw its net profit rise 24 per cent in the last three months of 2009, but the conglomerate has not ruled out job cuts.

The Telegraph

• First class carriages 'should be opened up on overcrowded trains' London TravelWatch, a consumer watchdog, has called for the changes in its response to plans drawn up by the Department for Transport to double the fines passengers face for travelling on the wrong type of ticket.

Times Online

• Spyker saves Saab from the scrapheapSaab, the historic Swedish carmaker, has been saved from closure after the Dutch carmaker Spyker announced an eleventh-hour deal to buy its operations from its US parent company General Motors.
• First Capital Connect pays passengers bigger refunds as threat to franchise loomsThe railway operator that has been called the worst company in Britain said last night that it would pay passengers additional compensation after three months of disruption and cancelled trains.
• Sale of Port of Dover is unlikely to be plain sailing as local opposition swellsThe Port of Dover is sailing towards privatisation, nearly two decades after the rest of the country™s big maritime terminals were sold off.

Daily Express

• Aer Lingus plan for top-ups on ticketsAER Lingus is to start charging for more services as it promotes itself to passengers as a hybrid between no-frills arch-rival Ryanair and a full-service airline.

The Sun

• Mandy's £500k bill for cabs BUSINESS Secretary's department spent nearly £½m on taxis during the recession

Derby Telegraph

• Timetable is full during countdown to opening of station THE Morledge and Full Street are lined with buses, backing onto the roundabouts and spewing out fumes alongside pedestrians crossing to and from the Market Place and the Council House.

London Evening Standard

• London road where you get fined for parking on wrong side of the streetAS IF there aren't enough ways to be slapped with a traffic fine, here's the latest: parking on the wrong side of the street.
• London road where you get fined for parking on wrong side of the streetAS IF there aren't enough ways to be slapped with a traffic fine, here's the latest: parking on the wrong side of the street.
• Rail workers launch campaign to save maintenance jobsRail workers will lobby Parliament today as part of a campaign against plans to cut maintenance jobs. The Rail Maritime and Transport union will hand a dossier to MPs it said details safety failures and maintenance cuts.
• France to ban Muslim full-face veils on busesMuslim women in France are to be banned from wearing full-face veils on public transport and in schools, universities, post offices and hospitals

Sheffield Star

• £50m on new buses if services brought back under public control BUS services in Sheffield and Rotherham could be brought back under public control - with regulated routes and fares - as early as 2013, The Star can reveal.

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• New man in charge at railway THE Aviemore-based Strathspey Railway Company now has a new man on the footplate to drive forward ambitious £5million plans to extend the line all the way to Grantown.

The York Press

• Selby bus passengers to benefit from Arriva Yorkshire's fare reduction scheme RECESSION-hit bus users in Selby were given a boost, when a local operator announced a fare reduction for people who pay by mobile phone.
• Disabled man Alan Sage rails against extra first class charge on Eurostar train A DISABLED man from York was charged £113 extra to travel on a Eurostar train to Paris because he was told the only disabled area was in a first class carriage.

Yorkshire Evening Post

• Pirate broadcasters risking lives at Leeds Bradford AirportPirate broadcasters are risking lives at Leeds-Bradford International Airport by posing as air crew and sending bogus messages to air traffic controllers.

Bucks Free Press

• Anger at 'too busy' gritting bossROAD bosses have been blasted for failing to report to a probe into gritting “ because they were ˜too busy™.

Other Regional Press

• Automatic rail ticket gates at Bradford InterchangeOperating from Wednesday 27 January.
• Didcot railway centre rolls out its long-term vision DIDCOT Railway Centre has unveiled major expansion plans after securing its long-term future.
• Manston airport boss quits After three years in the pilot's seat at Kent International Airport (KIA), chief executive Matt Clarke is to return home to New Zealand.
• Rail link could be built on tickGlasgow MSPs have urged John Swinney to borrow cash from Network Rail to pay for the Glasgow Airport Rail Link.

Campaign for Better Transport

• Politicians must set out their plans for improving everyday transport26 January: We're launching today our manifesto for improving everyday transport. We'll be challlenging politicians in the run-up to the election to tell us what they would do to make it easier to travel by public transport, walking and cycling. read more

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• Stobart gets green light to expand Southend AirportApproval has been granted by a local authority to enable Stobart Group to extend Southend Airport in Essex.The decision by Southend-on-Sea Borough Council's development control committee to green light the project by 14 votes to three has been welcomed by the facility's managing director Alastair Welch.He called on the minister charged with reviewing the scheme to recognise "the urgent need to progress with it to allow Southend to showcase what it does best in time for the 2012 Olympics".A recommendation has been sent by the council to communities secretary John Denham and St...

Aviation Industry

• Airline unveils lie-flat economy seatSkycouch to go on sale in April read more

Other News Sources

• Walkability test 'could bring public services to population'The Government has been urged to introduce a ’walkability test’ to ensure public services are easily reachable for the population by foot.
• Dover Harbour Board makes formal bid to go private DOVER management has taken the next step in transferring the UK publicly owned trust port into the private sector, as Europe’s largest ro-ro hub looks to finance a delayed £400m ($645m) second ferry terminal and marina.
• Debate Still Rages Over Possible Penzance RoRo Ferry Terminal Decision Cornish Council Refer Planning Bid Back to Committee
• Passenger numbers up for ferry travel within the UK Figures released by the Passenger Shipping Association (PSA) show a rise in the number of ferry passengers travelling within the UK, with 11.4 million journeys taken in 2009, an increase of 1.4% compared with 2008, indicating the staying power of the ’stay-cation'.
• Tunnel cyclepath lights to be switched off at night The lights in two old railway tunnels which will be at the heart of a new cycle path will have to be switched off for four hours each night - to protect bats.
• Virgin Trains to offer games and massages LONDON - Virgin Trains is partnering Nintendo and Lastminute.com as part of a long-term strategy aimed at bringing in third-party brands to improve customers' rail journeys.
• Half-hourly train service tops Essex rail users’ wish list A COMMUTER group has issued a wish list of services wanted from the next operator of Essex’s railways.
• Half-hourly train service tops Essex rail users’ wish list A COMMUTER group has issued a wish list of services wanted from the next operator of Essex’s railways.
• Hendon and Finchley MPs sign Early Day Motion over Thameslink THE MPs for Hendon and Finchley have put their names to a motion in the House of Commons calling for First Capital Connect to be stripped of its franchise for a “gross lack of competence”.
• RMT demands that Scotrail stop bullying managers to train as Guards in dispute over Driver Only OperationRAIL UNION RMT today demanded that Scotrail managers end the practice of pressurising and bullying managerial and supervisory staff into taking 'training courses' to act as ad-hoc Guards in the event of industrial action being taken by RMT members over the imposition of Driver Only Operation on the Airdrie/Bathgate line.
• Government 'must refocus transport policy'The government must refocus transport policy to concentrate on small local schemes rather than major infrastructure, according to a new transport manifesto.
• Council tries to get lorries off country roads LORRIES will be expected to use only main roads as part of a new county council initiative, but it has drawn criticism from one truck company.
• JAL appoints Onishi as new president and COOJapan Airlines (JAL) has appointed long-time executive Masaru Onishi as its new president and COO, and made him responsible for the day-to-day running of...
• Call for transport integration strategyEnvironmental groups call on the next Government to ensure that local, regional and national transport plans are integrated effectively
• Green transport enters the fast lane with leading awards scheme Edie's Awards for Environmental Excellence is to expand this year with the addition of new category looking to find the best projects in sustainable transport.

News from Europe

• Spanish bidders get cold feet over public transport tender Two of the Spanish consortia shortlisted by the Malta Transport Authority (ADT) for the provision of scheduled bus services in Malta are understood to be considering pulling out after raising concerns that the contract would not be viable because the tender conditions were too onerous.

Other Subscription Services

• Fuel additive cuts Stagecoach UK bus CO2 emissions by 100,000 tonnes in five years Stagecoach Group has reduced its CO2 emissions from its bus fleet in the UK by more than 100,000 tonnes over the past five years through use of a hi-tech fuel additive.