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

Tuesday, 13 April 2010

BBC News

• Wrexham council may borrow £1.6m to mend potholes Wrexham councillors are considering borrowing £1.6m to help repair road potholes caused by the winter freeze.
• New Derby ring road scheme nears completion One of the final parts of Derby's new road system is being opened.
• Free Jersey bus day 'will boost travel' There will be a free bus day to encourage more islanders to use public transport, Jersey's transport minister, Constable Mike Jackson, has said.
• Oyster brand bought for £1m by Transport for London Transport for London (TfL) has bought the rights to the Oyster Card brand for £1m.
• Liberal Democrats launch a manifesto for the Highlands The Liberal Democrats have unveiled their plans for the north of Scotland with a manifesto for the Highlands.
• Shuttle bus between Cardiff Airport and station may end A shuttle bus linking Cardiff Airport with its nearest railway station may be withdrawn at the end of next month.
• Tories pledge on fair fuel priceConservative leader Annabel Goldie campaigns on lowering fuel prices during a visit to target seat Perth and North Perthshire.
• Labour U-turn on second runway The Labour Party is no longer in favour of a second runway at Stansted Airport in Essex, it is announced.
• BA strike hits Heathrow numbersHeathrow airport saw 180,000 fewer passengers in March because of the strikes by British Airways cabin crew.
• Eurostar sees rising ticket salesEurostar announces a rise in revenues for the first three months of the year, following a disastrous end to 2009.

Financial Times

• BA trial seen as test for cartels watchdogThe first contested price-fixing conspiracy trial against former executives of British Airways is about to begin, in what is being seen as the first real test for the competition watchdog's crackdown on alleged cartels
• Globaltrans bucks Russian rail slumpThe London-listed Russian private rail operator says it is seeing sustained recovery in the rail freight market, recording growing traffic volumes and revenues in rouble terms during 2009
• BA strike crimps BAA passenger growthHeathrow airport recorded further growth in passenger traffic last month, in spite of the strikes at British Airways that affected numbers

The Guardian

• Airport under scrutiny over late-night flyingCouncillors will this week consider a report which details 32 breaches of planning rules over noisy night-time flying at Leeds Bradford International Airport.
• Boosting cycling is win-win Cycling improves health and the environment but it is not in the DNA of government. It needs to be

The Herald

• The future’s bright... the future’s £290m for city’s Clockwork Orange Plans to spend £290 million upgrading the Glasgow Subway would be the first modernisation project of the system since the late 1970s.
• ScotRail drivers, guards stage second set of strikesHundreds of rail workers walked out yesterday at the start of a three-day strike over the absence of conductors on a new service.
• Drivers face axe in SPT™s £290m plan to revamp the subwayFuturistic driverless trains are set to replace the ageing carriages on Glasgow™s Underground as part of a £290 million revamp.
• Strikes and Globespan™s demise take airports tollThe British Airways cabin crew strike wiped 20,000 off passenger numbers at the British Airports Authority™s Scottish airports last month but the collapse of airline Globespan is having a much bigger ongoing impact.

The Scotsman

• Public 'happy with body scanners'As many as 90% of the UK public are happy to use the new full-body scanners at airports, according to a poll.

The Telegraph

• Cyclists demand a long-term solution to potholes It’s not just motorists who are up in arms about the danger potholes pose this year: those travelling on two wheels, be it push bikes or motorcycles, are at a much greater risk.

Times Online

• BAA passenger numbers tumble on crew strikesThe number of passengers travelling through BAA airports dropped by 1.5 per cent in March compared with the same month last year after suffering the impact of BA cabin crew strikes, the operator said today.
• Talks resume over planned rail worker strikeNetwork Rail will meet with union leaders today to try and prevent thousands of rail maintenance workers from walking out in a row over job cuts and working practices.
• Eurostar travellers return after winter fallEurostar is clawing back passengers, but will fall short of its much-vaunted target of carrying ten million passengers in 2010.
• Strike-hit British Airways only airline to award pay risesThe pay of British Airways cabin crew rose by 5 per cent last year despite the airline reporting record losses and other carriers cutting or freezing crew salaries.

Daily Express

• Cabin crew strike hits BAA figuresBAA has blamed last month's British Airways cabin crew strikes for a dive in passenger numbers at its six UK airports. The airport group said seven days of strike action led to 200,000 fewer passengers in March, contributing to a 1.5 per cent fall during the month to 8.2million passengers overall.
• Eurostar recovers from snow-go chaosAMERICAN and Australian holidaymakers taking

Daily Record

• Scottish railway workers commence strike but ScotRail claim its 'business as usual' HUNDREDS of rail workers walked out on strike today in a dispute over the absence of conductors on a new service.

Network Rail

• RAIL SAFETY FILM WINS GOLD AWARD
• CLEAR IMPROVEMENT FOR WAVERLEY AS NETWORK RAIL BEGINS STATION UPGRADE

Belfast Telegraph

• Public control plan for West Yorkshire bus services Bus services in West Yorkshire could be brought back under public control in an effort to improve reliability and put an end to "inflation-busting fares".

Edinburgh Evening News

• Sighs of relief in Leith as traffic restrictions removedTRADERS in Leith are today set to welcome traffic back to Constitution Street for the first time in almost two years.

London Evening Standard

• Keep the Tube running at weekends, bidders for £600m refit are toldContractors bidding for a £600 million refit on the Tube are told they must work at nights and weekends
• Public 'happy with body scanners'As many as 90% of the UK public are happy to use the new full-body scanners at airports, according to a poll.

Metro

• Public 'happy with body scanners'As many as 90% of the UK public are happy to use the new full-body scanners at airports, according to a poll.

Sheffield Star

• Railway station evacuated after pipe raidTHIEVES broke into Mexborough railway station to steal copper piping, causing hundreds of pounds of damage.

The York Press

• Railway safety concerns after Jarvis collapse RAIL bosses have been accused of “playing fast and loose” with public safety following the collapse of York-based Jarvis. The criticism, from a rail union leader, came as Network Rail granted Scotland-based Babcock Rail a vital temporary project, replacing overhead lines and points at Hitchin, near London.

Yorkshire Evening Post

• General Election: We're committed to trolleybus - Adonis Leeds's hopes of securing a modern trolleybus network have been given a boost by Transport Secretary Lord Adonis.
• Leeds Bradford Airport: Have your say on noiseResidents around Leeds Bradford Airport are still being urged to have their say on its plans to minimise noise generated at its terminal.
• Most UK travellers happy to use airport body scannersAs many as 90% of the UK public are happy to use the new full-body scanners at airports, according to a poll today.

Burnley Express

• East Lancashire rail services hit by metal thieves again RAIL passengers suffered hours of delays this morning after scrap metal thieves ripped out 60 metres of copper signalling cable.

Other Regional Press

• 'No stop' zones for Newport schools AS PART of a bid to stop parents parking dangerously near schools, No Stopping Orders will be introduced in Newport.
• Rail staff in strike over conductorsHundreds of rail workers were today expected to strike in a dispute over the absence of conductors on a new service.
• City™s new road link is an M-way in motionStunning time-lapse film footage has been released showing the progress of the huge scheme to link the M74 to the M8 in Glasgow.
• Speed limit signs painted on pothole-hit Aberdeen roadCOUNCIL workers painted speed limit signs on a crumbling Aberdeen street “ but did not touch gaping potholes.

Campaign for Better Transport

• Labour manifesto launchedApril 12: Labour™s election manifesto, launched this afternoon, guarantees the cheapest fare for rail passengers. But when even the cheapest fares are pricing people off the train, does this commitment go far enough? read more
• Road user charging is a means, not an endApril 12: A new report by John Major's favourite think tank has suggested introducing road user charging but giving everyone a share in the profits. But what's the point? read more

Transport for London

• TfL secures ownership and control of Oyster brand and ticketing systemPFI debt paid off six months early as part of £5bn efficiency programme.

Aviation Industry

• March traffic figures: BAA AirportsHeathrow airport saw 5.2 million passengers travel through in March 2010, an increase of 0.4% compared to the previous March.

Other News Sources

• Government wastes millions on redundant cycle route planner The government has wasted millions of pounds setting up a sub-optimal journey planner for cyclists – when an online system set up by enthusiasts provides wider coverage and more functionality at a fraction of the cost incurred by the Department for Transport (DfT).
• 'Give everyone £1,500 share in UK roads'A radical plan to scrap car tax and give all citizens tradeable shares in England's major road network has been unveiled
• RMT rail workers head for Lille to demand safety before profitRAIL WORKERS from across Britain will be heading for Lille tomorrow (Tuesday, April 13) to join a Europe-wide union protest against dangerous EU rules opening up rail traffic to competition.
• Scotrail strike solid as government and company hide behind each otherRail workers to lobby Scottish Parliament over safety on Thursday
• Hole lot of cash for county's roads HAMPSHIRE council chiefs are to pump £100m in to a sevenyear programme to rebuild crumbling roads across the county.
• Birmingham Airport continues work on runway extensionBirmingham Airport had reiterated the benefits of its proposed runway extension, stating that work should start as soon as possible.In a statement the regional travel hub said that planning permission has already been granted and if the scheme goes ahead with the correct funding it could be ready by 2014.Paul Kehoe, Birmingham Airport's chief executive officer, said that work is still going on behind the scenes of the project.Once completed, it will allow larger aircraft to take off and deliver passengers to distant destinations."Our people are eager to deliver a World-Class gateway; that...
• Heathrow Airport lost 180,000 passengers from strikeThe British Airways (BA) cabin crew strikes had a significant effect on the number of passengers using Heathrow Airport in March, according to new figures.Airport operator BAA revealed that UK facilities were down 200,000 travellers during the two walk-outs, with 180,000 of these being lost from Heathrow Airport.It is thought that if the strikes had not taken place, Heathrow Airport's passenger numbers would have been up by 3.8 per cent on last year. However, the actual growth was 0.4 per cent.The BA strikes were also said to be behind the decrease in passenger numbers at Glasgow Airport (-9.6...
• Maersk adds Tincan Island to FEW1 service In an effort to continuously adapt its network to offer the best possible coverage between the Far East and West Africa, Maersk has adjusted the port rotation of its FEW1 service. read more
• Shearings denies report that 3i wants to sellWigan-based coach holidays firm Shearings has denied reports in a Sunday newspaper that it has been put up for sale by its private equity owners, 3i.

News from Europe

• Aer Lingus risks being left behind by mergers, warns transport chief Aer Lingus is in danger of being left behind amid a raft of industry consolidation.
• Extra climate meetings agreed as treaty remains elusiveThe first UN climate meeting since Copenhagen agreed to hold extra talks before the high-level conference in Cancún at the end of the year, but hopes for a new climate treaty ran low.
• Ireland To Roll Out Electric Cars With Added IncentivesThe Irish Government, the ESB and the Renault-Nissan Alliance today announced a comprehensive partnership to position Ireland as a European leader in electric transport.