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Wednesday, 10 February 2010

BBC News

• Amphibious bus makes a splash Stagecoach has resumed testing of an amphibious bus service in Glasgow after technical problems halted the first trial.
• Funding for Norwich's northern bypass confirmed The government has confirmed £67.5m has been earmarked to build Norwich's Northern bypass (NDR).
• Surrey council pledges funds for transport information A total of £50,000 is to be spent by Surrey County Council in a bid to to help people cut their carbon footprint.
• Dumfries transport options kept open A council has declined to rule out the use of more bus lanes in its efforts to tackle a town's traffic congestion.
• Rail staff vote for strike actionCommuters face three days of disruption after rail staff vote to strike in protest at the absence of conductors on a new service.
• Waterbus back after trial glitchStagecoach resumes testing of an amphibious bus service in Glasgow after technical problems halted the first trial.
• Nissan reports return to profitJapanese carmaker Nissan has reported a return to profit for the last three months of 2009.
• Opel plans 11bn euro investmentGeneral Motors' Opel unit announces plans to invest 11bn euros ($15bn; £9.7bn) in new cars over the next five years.
• Toyota in new doubts over car fixA US Congressional committee raises doubts over Toyota's problem-solving as it starts to fix its latest safety issue.
• Honda issues global airbag recallHonda heaps more woe on Japanese carmakers by extending an existing airbag safety recall to 437,700 cars worldwide.

Department for Transport

• £4.6m Government funding to pay for vital road bridgeThe people of Cumbria are to benefit from £4.6 million of Government funding to pay for a road bridge over the River Derwent Transport Minister Sadiq Khan announced in Workington today.

Financial Times

• Toyota chief reassures US consumersThe Japanese carmaker is recalling nearly half a million of its hybrid cars, including its flag ship Prius model, to fix a problem with the software that controls its brakes
• Rebuff to Delta as JAL sticks with AmericanJapan Airlines has decided to maintain its business partnership with American Airlines, spurning an offer by American rival Delta to defect to the latter's SkyTeam alliance

The Guardian

• Fare-dodging in Ealing: an education The 207 bendy bus carries a lot of people a long distance across the London Borough of Ealing and beyond. More than enough of them do not pay their fares to keep a troupe of Revenue Protection Inspectors busy all day and a complement of Safer Transport Team officers routinely occupied in their support.
• Like duck boats to water Amphibious transport would be a welcome addition to the rivers of Britain, not to mention a good way to curb car use
• Toyota recalls hybrid cars worldwideAround 8,500 British Prius owners affected in recall of almost half a million vehicles by carmaker hit by recent safety scares¢ Datablog: Toyota recalls across the worldToyota is to recall almost half a million hybrid cars worldwide, including 8,500 of its Prius model in the UK, in the latest blow to the carmaker's reputation following a string of safety scares.The recall will begin immediately in Japan and similar measures are being prepared overseas, the firm said today. Toyota GB announced that the recall will apply to 8,500 owners of the third-generation Prius in the UK. It will send indiv...

The Herald

• Explanation on rail link is now needed When Finance Secretary John Swinney cancelled the Glasgow Airport Rail Link (Garl) last September, it was with the explanation that the £210m cost was unaffordable given the savings required from the Scottish Government.
• Swinney ’did not tell whole truth on Garl’ Finance Secretary John Swinney was accused yesterday of a “serious omission” in evidence he gave to a parliamentary committee in which he ruled out alternative funding options for the mothballed Glasgow Airport Rail Link (Garl).
• Toyota driven into massive recall of Prius hybrid modelToyota risks being edged out of pole position as the world™s largest motor manufacturer after yet another safety embarrassment forced it to recall more than 400,000 of its Prius cars.

Times Online

• Flexi-fuel drivers left high and dry after Government subsidy U-turn Drivers who took the Government’s advice and chose a low-emission car could be left with a white elephant after a U-turn by ministers.
• BA approaches former staff to cover strikeBritish Airways has approached the staff it released last year to entice them back on temporary contracts as strike cover if cabin crew vote for industrial action.
• Honda adds 437,000 cars to global airbag recallHonda is adding 437,000 vehicles to its global recall for faulty airbags in the latest quality problem to hit a Japanese automaker.

Network Rail

• GOOD, BETTER, BEST

Transport Briefing

• Get a grip on Thameslink Programme delivery The Thameslink 2000 project long ago entered transport folklore with the British Rail devised enhancement scheme languishing for years until the government confirmed a funding package in July 2007 and said the full £5.5bn scheme would be up and running by the end of 2015 (TB 4241).

Belfast Telegraph

• Branson: world is in danger of oil crunch Sir Richard Branson and other business leaders will warn this week that the world is hurtling towards an ‘oil crunch’ to match the financial crisis within five years. Related StoriesBosses tell Executive: Now put focus on jobsBorn or made: What is the secret of success?Lightstep strides into Indian marketplaceBrightest students leaving in thousandsDiscount retailer goes into administration for second time

Birmingham Post

• Date set for new National Express chief executive's arrival Birmingham transport group National Express has revealed its new chief executive Dean Finch will take up his new role on February 15.

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• CCTV set to catch bus lane abusers A blitz on bus lane abusers is set to see CCTV used to catch out motorists ignoring rules which are designed to keep buses running freely.

Edinburgh Evening News

• Tram committee: 'Councillors must show more concern'BEARING in mind that Edinburgh's trams project is not “ to say the least “ going as smoothly as we would have hoped it is incredible that the council committee set up spec
• Tram watchdog asleep on jobA COUNCIL committee set up to scrutinise Edinburgh's tram project met just twice in the last year “ and one of the meetings was abandoned when only one person turned up.

Journal Live

• Villagers burn at plan for Wolsingham railway lineVILLAGERS are fighting plans to transport more than one million tonnes of coal along the route of a tourist railway.

London Evening Standard

• Hundreds of car owners flood Toyota phones amid Prius recallToyota is overwhelmed with more calls from worried drivers after it recalled 8,500 Prius cars over brake problems

Sheffield Star

• Travellers happier with rail servicesCUSTOMER satisfaction in rail companies serving South Yorkshire is improving - but passengers remain unhappy about poor toilets and the way delays are handled.
• Ticket review after rail bridge furyA TRAIN operator has promised to review its ticket checking policy at Sheffield station after residents were barred from the footbridge.

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• Inverness officials pressed to act over traffic light timing problems An Inverness councillor has again urged transport officials to sort out the sequence of traffic lights and solve the regular gridlock in the city centre.
• Plan unveiled to build £13m park-and-ride near airportPlans have been unveiled for a £13million park-and-ride site near Aberdeen Airport to ease congestion for visitors and thousands of commuters who travel into the city every day.

This Is Local London Network

• NORTH KENT: Thames Estuary 'Boris Island' airport to be discussed by London Assembly AN EXPERT in constructing airports on artificial islands will brief the London Assembly on building an airport in the Thames Estuary next month.

Wales Online

• Drivers advised on cutting cost and CO2DRIVERS who change their driving habits could save up to £250 per year as well as cutting their carbon footprint, according to the Energy Saving Trust.

Other Regional Press

• No plan to fix collapsed Aberdeen roadA COLLAPSED section of an Aberdeen road has not been scheduled for repair, the Evening Express can reveal today.

Railnews

• Three strikes announced on ScotRail in DOO dispute MORE than 500 ScotRail train staff are set to stage three strikes over the next few weeks in a protest over plans to allow drivers to control train doors on the reopened Bathgate-Airdrie line. The announcement follows a ballot of RMT members in which four out of five voted in favour of walking out.
• News: Freight trams envisaged for Glasgow A new plan for sustainable transport in Glasgow includes a proposal to run trams in the city centre for freight as well as passengers. A similar scheme was attempted in Amsterdam but failed last year, and the plan's authors have suggested that this was because there were too few restrictions on road lorries.
• News: Three strikes announced on ScotRail in DOO dispute More than 500 ScotRail staff are set to stage three 24-hour strikes over the next few weeks in a protest over plans to allow drivers to control train doors on the reopened Bathgate-Airdrie line. The announcement follows a ballot of RMT members in which four out of five voted in favour of walking out.

Green Miscellany

• Solar-powered hydrogen kit good for 10,000 miles driving a year Honda has unveiled a solar-powered hydrogen station for use by drivers at home, which can produce enough fuel to power its FCX Clarity fuel cell car for 25 miles of driving each day.read more
• Pay-as-you-go electric bicycles, scooters, cars and vans A spokesperson for Peugeot this week described London as the ˜natural next step™ for Mu, the French car maker™s hire scheme that allows customers to load ˜mobility points™ onto a card before using them to borrow from a fleet of vehicles ranging from electric bicycles to a vans.read more

Other News Sources

• Positive outlook despite big lossesTHE property company behind ambitious plans to rejuvenate Eastleigh’s railway works reported losses more than doubling to £101.7m.
• GO-AHEAD COMPLETES SALE OF THE MAJORITY OF ITS AVIATION GROUND HANDLING AND CARGO OPERATIONS Further to the announcement on 3 December 2009, Go-Ahead confirms the sale of the majority of its aviation ground handling and cargo operations has been completed. The sale consisted of separate agreements under which most of the Group's ground handling and cargo operations at Heathrow were sold to Dnata and most of the Group's ground handling operations outside Heathrow were sold to Servisair UK Limited.
• First Capital Connect passenger questions answered by company bosses tomorrow DISGRUNTLED train passengers will get to air their views at a question and answer session at Elstree & Borehamwood train station tomorrow evening. James Clappison MP will be at the Meet the Manager event with FCC managing director, Neal Lawson, between 4.45pm to 7pm.
• National Express CEO to start Feb 15 Transport group National Express said its new chief executive, Dean Finch, would take up his new role on February 15, slightly earlier than expected.
• Next 2 Jubilee Line stations get a makeover—just one left to go WORK is about to start on modernising the next two London Underground stations as part of the £500 million Jubilee Line upgrading begun seven years ago.
• Guards and drivers to strike against Scotrail plan to ditch guardsDon't use public money to bankroll cynical attack on safety, urges union
• Ministers confirm support for Norwich northern bypass schemeMinisters yesterday confirmed their support for the Norwich northern bypass scheme - though work on the first phase around may not start until October if campaigners succeed in securing a public inquiry.
• Bosses fail to lead on green travelBusiness travellers' commitment to corporate social responsibility has remained resolute during the recession, but company bosses are setting a bad example to employees, according to a new report. read more

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