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

Wednesday, 31 March 2010

BBC News

• Bid for new Coventry and Nuneaton rail link submitted A bid for £15.8m funding for a proposed new rail link between Coventry and Nuneaton has been sent to the Department for Transport (DfT).
• Can underground trains be secured against terrorism? In the aftermath of the Moscow Metro suicide bombings, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has called for tighter security measures on public transport. Transport security analyst Chris Yates examines whether it is possible to secure large networks against the threat of terrorism.
• Scrappage scheme comes to an endThe UK scrappage scheme helped carmakers sell 300,000 more cars than they would have done otherwise, figures suggest.
• Rail bosses plan strike challengeNetwork Rail is due to go to court in a bid to stop next week's planned rail strike taking place.

Department for Transport

• Government to review transport response to severe weatherTransport Secretary Andrew Adonis today announced an independent review of the transport sector™s response to this winter™s severe weather.

Financial Times

• Aer Lingus staff deal averts strike actionThe troubled Irish airline reaches a €97m cost-cutting agreement with unions, in spite of earlier objections to the deal by cabin crew members
• Network Rail in court bid to block strikeThe company that owns Britain's rail network will go to the High Court to block a strike that was due to bring much of the system to a halt next week

The Guardian

• Network Rail begins legal action against RMT to try to halt train strike Rail operator serves papers on union – but insists 'constructive talks' are continuing between the two sides

The Herald

• Taxpayers set to pay train firms millions over strikeTaxpayers will have to pay tens of millions of pounds to compensate private train companies for the disruption caused by next week™s rail strike.

The Independent

• Network Rail chiefs launch legal challenge to strike Network Rail tonight made legal moves in a bid to avert a crippling strike by signal workers after Easter.
• Paris-style 'Boris bikes' arrive in JulyLondon's promised

The Telegraph

• Train operators hit out at government franchise plans Britain's train operators are expected today to slate the Government's new blueprint for rail franchises, arguing that the proposals would lead to a more prescriptive, less efficient railway.
• Network Rail to seek legal action to block signallers' strike A last-ditch attempt to head off a Britain's first national rail strike in 16 years will be made in the High Court tomorrow.
• Car scrappage scheme 'saved 4,000 UK jobs' The car scrappage scheme has protected about 4,000 jobs in the UK auto industry, Government estimates have claimed.

Times Online

• National Rail risks union talks to seek injunction against strikeThe travel plans of millions of passengers lie in the hands of a High Court judge who will hear a request today for an emergency injunction to block next week™s national rail strike.

Reuters News

• Car scrap scheme ends after sales boostLONDON (Reuters) - The vehicle scrappage scheme brought in last year to boost consumption and protect jobs ends on Wednesday after contributing to a fifth of new car registrations since its launch, the government said.

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Disabled North Wales man’s anger at being forced to stand up on a train A DISABLED dad-of-three who only has the use of one arm and has a bad leg following a motorbike crash was forced to stand up on a train for almost four hours.
• 'Transport improvements in Wales will be greener' A five-year plan for transport in Wales aims to meet growing demand while making travel greener.

Edinburgh Evening News

• Diversions to be axed amid trams disputeTRAMWORKS diversions in the city centre are to be lifted until the dispute with contractors is resolved.

Journal Live

• Beauty of an idea to get women cycling A DRIVE to get more women to saddle up and ride a bike to work has been launched on Tyneside.

Liverpool Echo

• £5million Mersey Tunnel upgrade means weekend and night closuresA MAJOR upgrade of the two Mersey Tunnels will get under way in April. The £5m scheme is the biggest maintenance operation to be carried out at the two tunnels for over a decade.

London Evening Standard

• We need a Mayor with power to dig us out of this hole They're digging up the road outside my house. Again. But then they are digging up Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly, Kingsway, Chancery Lane, Aldwych, Bond Street, Bayswater Road, Kensington High Street. Again.
• Commuters face Tube strikes as workers vote on action over job cutsTube commuters face a devastating round of strike action. The RMT, largest of the Tube unions, today ordered a strike ballot of more than 10,000 staff in a battle over 800 job cuts among station staff.
• Heathrow third runway 'kiboshed' by High Court rulingPlans for a third runway at Heathrow have been 'kiboshed' by a High Court ruling, the Lords was told
• 'Cash for bangers' scheme hailedThe Government's
• High Court bid to avoid rail strikeNetwork Rail is set to make a High Court bid to stop a crippling strike by signal workers after Easter.

Manchester Evening News

• City cycle hub plan to get commuters on their bikesCyclists could be set to get their own 'transport interchange' close to Manchester's busiest train station in a bid to promote biking to work.
• World's biggest plane to operate from Manchester Airport The world™s biggest passenger plane “ the A380 - is to fly into Manchester Airport every day from the autumn. Emirates Airline has announced that Manchester will become the first regional airport in the world to land the A380 “ a double-decker aircraft that seats 517 passengers.

Metro

• High Court bid to avoid rail strikeNetwork Rail is set to make a High Court bid to stop a crippling strike by signal workers after Easter.
• 'Cash for bangers' scheme hailedThe Government's

Sheffield Star

• Drivers back bus re-regulationBUS drivers' union Unite has announced it is backing plans to re-regulate buses in Sheffield through Quality Contracts.
• Are potholes 'risking lives'?A RESIDENT claims lives are being put at risk by a badly-potholed road in a Sheffield suburb.

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• North-east councils urged to introduce yellow school busesA NORTH-EAST MSP has urged the region™s local authorities to introduce US-style yellow school buses to improve safety and cut the number of pupils getting lifts from parents.

Bucks Free Press

• Frustration as people turned away from meeting THE organiser of a meeting on plans for a high speed rail link through the Chilterns says he would have booked Adams Park as a venue if he could afford it.
• MP to "defy party" over high speed trains AN MP said last night she would oppose plans for a high speed rail link “ even if it means going against her party's policy. Watch the video here.

Other Regional Press

• 450 evacuated from EurostarHundreds of passengers were evacuated from a Eurostar train after a fire alarm was set off.
• Power saw gang raids stationsA gang has stolen thousands of pounds after targeting ticket machines at unmanned railway stations.
• BA strike ends but no breakthroughThe latest wave of strikes by British Airways cabin crew will end today with little sign of an early breakthrough in a bitter row over jobs and cost-cutting.
• Ministers want Garl answersOpposition parties have demanded full disclosure of Government advice relating to the Glasgow Airport Rail Link.

Railnews

• News: Network Rail: ’there’s a settlement to be had’ As talks continue today at ACAS in a bid to avert next week's rail strikes, Network Rail has said it believes that a settlement is possible. At the moment two separate strikes are set to start on Tuesday, and if they do it's expected that only 20 per cent of trains will run.

Aviation Industry

• British Air Cabin Crew Strike in Second Day, No TalksBritish Airways Plc cabin crew were in the second day of a four-day strike with no sign of a deal being reached in the dispute over pay and staffing levels.
• IATA: February international traffic climbs 9.5%IATA reported that February international passenger traffic (RPKs) for member airlines surged 9.5% compared to February 2009 on just a 1.9% rise in ASKs, pushing load factor up 5.6 points year-over-year to 75.5%.
• Aer Lingus fortunes continue to declineAer Lingus released its full 2009 financial results yesterday, three weeks after a preliminary announcement, and reported a €130.1 million ($175.2 million) loss that represented an 18.4% deterioration from the €109.9 million deficit suffered in 2008.

Other News Sources

• Campaign to improve rail links between Chester and Liverpool John Lennon Airport IMPROVED rail links between the city and Liverpool's John Lennon Airport are being sought by regeneration group Chester Renaissance.
• Baildon, Frizinghall, Saltaire and future Apperley Bridge stations in new bookNew research has revealed that 22 railway stations have been re-opened across West Yorkshire since the infamous Beeching cuts of the 1960s.
• Five-year transport plans on track to double train serviceA STRETCH of single rail track west of Swansea will be doubled under new transport plans for Wales.
• Highlands & Islands Airports Ltd (HIAL)Chair appointed.
• Hand council roads to Highways Agency, say MPsStrategically-important roads should be handed back to the Highways Agency for repair, say MPs who argue local authorities spend less than the government provides for
• Adonis: Third runway proposals will go aheadLord Adonis has said the government will continue to push ahead with its proposals for a third runway at Heathrow Airport, despite the High Court judgement calling for the government policy to be reviewed.
• Prototype electrical taxi revealedA prototype taxi which runs on electricity has been revealed.
• Scrappage scheme 'a success', claims industry bodyThe UK government's car scrappage scheme has been a success, according to a motoring body.
• Councillors bid to underwrite Norwich bypass costsCouncil chiefs are to underwrite a borrowing shortfall of nearly £40m in the cost of building the Norwich northern distributor road - pinning their hopes on house-builders and businesses coming forward to bridge the gap.
• Commission updates the list of airlines banned from the European airspaceThe European Commission has adopted today the thirteenth update of the Community's list of airlines banned in the European Union to include all air carriers of two additional countries: Sudan...

Other Subscription Services

• UN climate change group to debate levy on shippingLondon meeting to be co-chaired by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his Ethiopian counterpart Meles Zenawi
• Cosco Pacific profit slumpsContainer handling drops 51% and box leasing fleet shrinks