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

Friday, 23 April 2010

BBC News

• Shropshire candidates' views on Shrewsbury relief road The issue of a Shrewsbury relief road has divided candidates standing in the Shrewsbury and Atcham constituency.
• Coaches boost from ash disruptionCoach firms in Wales say the air travel chaos has boosted their trade, as flights at Cardiff Airport start returning to normal.
• Burned toast shuts Tube stationStaff at King's Cross are told to be more careful after the Tube station was shut down - twice - because workers burned toast.
• Tube station shut after explosionAn explosion in an electrical junction box leads to the closure of Bond Street Tube station in central London.
• Deutsche Bahn agrees Arriva dealUK train and bus operator Arriva agrees to be taken over by Germany's Deutsche Bahn in a deal worth £1.59bn.
• Airlines face price-fixing probeRival airlines Virgin Atlantic and Cathay Pacific are being investigated by the Office of Fair Trading over price-fixing allegations.
• Brazil state bans Toyota CorollaOne of Toyota's most popular cars, the Corolla, has been banned from sale in a Brazilian state, which says the model is a safety risk

Financial Times

• Virgin Atlantic accused of price fixingBritain's competition watchdog has accused Virgin Atlantic for the second time of conspiring with a rival to fix prices charged to passengers
• Takeover of Arriva will set the paceDeutsche Bahn's chief executive says that the purchase of Arriva will be only one of many deals as European transport companies consolidates i

The Guardian

• BA passengers sent to back of queue¢ No priority for customers waiting in India and China ¢ Advice is to book online and reclaim ticket costsBritish Airways faced an angry backlash from long-haul customers stranded in India and China today after the airline admitted it is giving them no priority over new paying customers for empty seats.As travel chaos continued in the wake of the volcanic ash cloud, the airline's customers in Mumbai, Delhi and Beijing told the Guardian they face paying up to £2,000 upfront for single tickets if they want to get home before next month, when their flights have been rescheduled.Any free seats are...

The Herald

• Need for ban on travelling just won™t fly with airlinesIf it was safe to fly planes through low concentrations of volcanic ash yesterday, it was presumably safe to do so last Thursday.
• Ryanair in U-turn over expensesRyanair has agreed to reimburse stranded passengers for their accommodation and food costs, after facing criticism that its refusal to do so left it in breach of EU regulations.

The Independent

• No roundabouts, just nine miles of road “ and now one speed gunThe sleepy island of St Mary's in the Isles of Scilly is something of a motoring anomaly. With just nine miles of road, bereft of roundabouts or traffic lights, the biggest irony was once fact that aspiring drivers could take their test there.

The Scotsman

• Ryanair u-turn as Britons returnThousands of Britons have headed back to the UK as airlines ran near-normal services again following the ash cloud crisis.

Times Online

• WhipCar: Eyes on a celebrity's runabout If you’ve ever glanced at the car in your neighbour’s driveway and wished you could take it for a spin, the new WhipCar scheme could offer you the chance. And it’s an especially attractive prospect if you live near a celebrity with an exotic motor. We tracked down people living close to some of Britain’s wealthiest car owners and asked them if they’d pay to get behind the wheel of the car they’ve always coveted.
• Virgin and Cathay accused of price fixingThe Office of Fair Trading has accused Virgin Atlantic and Cathay Pacific of breaching competition law by colluding to fix the price of passenger fares.
• We intend to be the driver in Europe, says Deutsche BahnThe takeover of Arriva by Deutsche Bahn is the first step in the German company™s ambitious strategy to become the dominant operator in the European passenger transport market.

Daily Express

• Virgin in price probeSIR Richard Branson's airline Virgin Atlantic and Far East carrier Cathay Pacific are facing a probe into suspected price-fixing on flights between London and Hong Kong.

Mail Online

• How Tube staff's burnt toast TWICE brought London's underground network to a halt at rush hour
• German rail group in £1.6bn takeover of British bus and rail firm Arriva

Airwise News

• Cathay and Virgin in alleged price fixing row Cathay Pacific and Virgin Atlantic have today (April 22) been accused by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) of breaking competition law on the London-Hong Kong route.

Liverpool Post

• Election 2010: Liverpool Labour candidate supports new High Speed Rail Link LOUISE ELLMAN MP, defending her Liverpool Riverside seat and former chairman of the Parliamentary chairman of the Select Committee on Transport, believes the High Speed Rail Link is important to Liverpool – even though it goes to Manchester.

London Evening Standard

• Tube workers taught how to use toasters after burnt toast shuts King’s CrossThousands of Tube passengers faced major disruption after one of London’s busiest stations was closed twice because staff let their toast burn
• OFT to probe Virgin over price-fixing claimSir Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic is under investigation over allegations it colluded with Cathay Pacific to fix prices. The probe could see Virgin fined up to £40 million if found guilty

The York Press

• Jet2 sends out relief flights for passengers stranded due to Icelandic volcanic ash crisis HUNDREDS of holidaymakers from our region have been given the chance to return home thanks to a budget airline.

Bucks Free Press

• Council drops new pothole technique ROAD chiefs who lauded a new way of fixing potholes have dropped the method because of costs and questions over its effectiveness.
• Lane End bus changes slammed A WOMAN has criticised the changed bus service in Lane End saying residents have to wait longer for a bus and leave earlier for work.

Sunderland Echo

• German transport firm buys ArrivaSunderland transport operator Arriva is to be taken over by a German company.

Other Regional Press

• First Bus increases fares by up to 11% in Huddersfield BUS passengers face price hikes of up to 11% from this weekend.
• Cops will meet public to solve rail problemsTransport police are holding their first surgeries today for rail travellers in Glasgow™s South Side.
• Ryanair U-turn in battle over ash cloud chaosBudget airline Ryanair has ended its defiance of EU regulations by agreeing to fully compensate passengers.

Campaign for Better Transport

• Traffic-busting success in Bedfordshire21 April: Yesterday Stephen went to Leighton Buzzard to celebrate the launch of a very special bus service. read more

Aviation Industry

• Ryanair U-turn, will pay stranded customers' billsPenny-pinching airline Ryanair did a surprise U-turn Thursday and agreed to pay the hotel and food bills of tens of thousands of customers left stranded during Europe's volcano-ash crisis.
• LaHood: No Exemptions From Tarmac Time LimitTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Thursday he has turned down requests from five airlines for temporary exemptions to a rule against keeping passengers waiting longer than three hours on airport tarmacs.

Green Miscellany

• Bicycles may get 1-metre buffer zone from cars Cyclists in America have come a turn of the pedals closer to a law that would require motorists to afford them a 1-metre ˜buffer zone™ at all times on the road.read more
• Police borrow spy technology to monitor bus passengers Passengers on Birmingham™s buses are being spied on by police using the latest spy technology to hack into the vehicles™ CCTV systems.read more
• The ultimate off-road electric bicycle It™s not legal on British roads, it costs £3,000 and you have to order it from Switzerland, but the Stealth Fighter electric bicycle is a strong contender for title of world™s ultimate off-road e-bike.read more

Other News Sources

• Scandal of Tube bosses on huge salaries who want to slash station staffEVER MORE London Tube bosses are being paid telephone-number salaries while hundreds of front-line staff face the axe, the network's biggest union charges today.
• RMT condemns takeover of Arriva by Deutsche BahnTHE £1.59 BILLION takeover of the Arriva transport group was condemned today by Britain's biggest specialist transport union as another worrying step towards the creation of a pan-European private transport monopoly.
• High speed rail needs wider transport planHigh speed rail is affordable and deliverable in the UK but only as part of a wider integrated transport policy for the nation, former High Speed 2 (HS2) chairman Sir David Rowlands said this week.
• Congressman: Rail so Not FastU.S. Rep. John Mica of Florida mocked the Chicago high-speed rail plan Tuesday, saying true high-speed rail in Europe and Asia is 220 mph.
• Top News: Feds Probe New York's Rail-Project $$ BungleFederal investigators are probing how government money has been used in four of the city's largest transit mega-projects - all of which are way over budget or years behind schedule.
• Public transport yob crackdownA crackdown on anti-social behaviour on public transport in Lancashire has been hailed a success.
• Debate over hospital bus route shake-up TRANSPORT chiefs are to discuss plans to alter the route of a bus service to an out-of-town hospital in a bid to encourage more passengers.
• 'Rat-run' truck drivers facing fines DRIVERS of heavy goods vehicles have been warned they face being fined if they continue to use a road dubbed a "rat-run".
• Heathrow Airport launches appHeathrow Airport has created a smartphone app which can be downloaded to compatible handsets for free. The app is currently only available for the iPhone, Vodafone 360 and Google Android, however there are plans to make the program compatible with Blackberries and Java-enabled phones in the near future.Features contained in the guide include the option to download terminal maps and shopping guides, view security regulations, compare parking and public transport fares and check what airlines operate from which terminals.Some platforms also provide the option to view live flight information. Ser...
• Oxford-wide action plan aims to cut pollutionWORRYING air quality assessments have prompted a proposal for an Oxford-wide plan to combat pollution.