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

Sunday, 16 May 2010

BBC News

• Illegal driver jailed over deathA man is jailed for not having a driving licence or insurance when a pedestrian died after stepping in front of his car.
• Ryanair fined over ash 'failings'Italy fines Irish budget airline Ryanair 3m euros (£2.5m) for failing to help stranded passengers during the volcanic ash crisis.
• Ash closes parts of UK airspaceA no-fly zone is imposed over parts of Northern Ireland causing renewed disruption for air travellers.
• Channel Tunnel services resumedEurostar services are 'back to normal' after a carbon dioxide alert Channel Tunnel services were temporarily suspended.

The Herald

• Ash cloud will force UK airspace closure over three daysPassengers are being warned about a possible three-day partial closure of British airspace from today due to a fresh cloud of volcanic ash from Iceland.

The Independent

• Campaigners believe war on climate change will be stymiedFears that the UK's fight against climate change will be lost in the confusion of the Liberal-Conservative coalition were underlined yesterday when divisions between the two parties were exposed over nuclear power, renewable energy, airport expansion and offshore oil drilling.
• Union reconsiders BA strike as ash threatens stoppages The union threatening British Airways with strike action over a pay dispute revealed last night that it was

The Observer

• Ash and BA strikes threaten air travelCloud from Iceland volcano may affect busiest UK airports as airline goes to court to stop crew actionAir passengers have been warned to expect delays this week amid fears of continuing volcanic activity in Iceland and a looming strike by British Airways employees.The Department of Transport said that there was a risk of UK airspace closures from today until Tuesday which might affect some of Britain's busiest airports in the south-east. In a bid to ease confusion, ministers have agreed that five-day ash prediction charts should now be made available on the Met Office website.Previously foreca...

Times Online

• Scientists forecast decades of ash cloudsTHE Icelandic eruption that has caused misery for air travellers could be part of a surge in volcanic activity that will affect the whole of Europe for decades, scientists have warned.
• BA strike staff are told: adapt or be wiped outPHILIP HAMMOND, the new transport secretary, has likened British Airways strikers to militant London dockers in the 1960s who refused to accept change and hastened the destruction of their own industry.
• Strike-hit BA to post £600m lossBRITISH AIRWAYS will this week announce a £600m loss, the largest deficit posted by the airline since it was privatised in 1987.
• Easy name may go in Stelios rowEasyjet has drawn up plans to drop the Easy name if it cannot resolve a bitter row with the airline™s founder, Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou.

Reuters News

• Gov't to intervene in BA cabin crew strikeLONDON (Reuters) - The government is to intervene in a long-running dispute between British Airways cabin crew and management in a bid to avert up to 20 days of planned strikes over the next four weeks.

Mail Online

• UK's major airports close again today as wind blows ash south from Iceland volcanoMillions of air passengers face fresh disruption over the next three days after an alert was issued about the return of a volcanic ash cloud from Iceland.
• 'Your whole family was killed': Nine-year-old survivor of Libya plane crash is toldRelatives broke the news to Ruben van Assouw that his father, mother and brother were killed when the Airbus A330-200 ploughed into a sandy field in Tripoli, Libya.
• Eurostar passengers face delays after carbon dioxide alert in tunnelServices were halted after a detector went off as a UK-bound freight train passed through the tunnel shortly after 7am.
• Mayday! How the growler got us: In their own dramatic words and pictures, the couple struck by an iceberg and saved by the Royal Navy tell of their terrifying ordealCarl Lomas told how he, his wife and their two schoolgirl daughters were saved just before their boat disappeared below the waves.
• After 12,000-mile flight to green meeting, there's MUTINY in the Climate CampThe leadership of Climate Camp have been accused of hypocrisy after they sent two members on a £1,200 round-trip to Bolivia.
• Creature comfort: the British 'safari jet' that transforms into a plush viewing platformThe four-engined Avro Business Jet Explorer Four - dubbed the 'safari jet' has been designed to deliver wealthy passengers directly into wildlife areas.

Birmingham Mail

• Woman dies in Small Heath crash A WOMAN has died after the high-powered car she was travelling in ploughed into a wall of metal barriers in Birmingham.
• Man arrested after car hits Smethwick shop trapping teenager A 28-year-old man was arrested today after a car crashed into a shop, leaving a teenager with life-threatening injuries.

London Evening Standard

• Delays after Tunnel traffic haltedThousands of Eurostar travellers have been delayed after traffic came to a standstill following a carbon dioxide alert in the Channel Tunnel.
• Risk of airspace closures over ashThere is a risk of UK airspace closures from Sunday because of continuing volcanic activity in Iceland, the Department for Transport said.
• Talks offer hope over BA strikesThere are hopes that last-ditch talks could avert a series of strikes by British Airways cabin crew amid a dispute over cost-cutting plans.

Metro

• Risk of airspace closures over ashThere is a risk of UK airspace closures from Sunday because of continuing volcanic activity in Iceland, the Department for Transport said.
• Delays after Tunnel traffic haltedThousands of Eurostar travellers have been delayed after traffic came to a standstill following a carbon dioxide alert in the Channel Tunnel.
• Government bid to resolve BA rowThe government has said it will intervene in the British Airways dispute in a bid to avert a series of strikes by cabin crew.
• British Airways and Unite arrange last-ditch strike talksNew talks have been arranged in an effort to avoid planned strike action by BA cabin crew next week.
• Talks offer hope over BA strikesThere are hopes that last-ditch talks could avert a series of strikes by British Airways cabin crew amid a dispute over cost-cutting plans.

Other Regional Press

• West Somerset Railway like you've never seen it before... STUNNING photos of the West Somerset Railway feature in a new book about the tourist attraction.
• Talk on Bridgwater's port history A FASCINATING talk about Bridgwater™s port history is promised at the Unitarian Chapel in Dampiet Street on Thursday.
• Backdated port taxes to be ditched PORT companies in Southampton are breathing a sigh of relief after the Government said it would keep pre-election promises to cancel millions of pounds worth of rates bills.
• Volunteer drivers needed at Warrington Community Transport VOLUNTEER drivers are wanted to help out at Warrington Community Transport.

C.N.N.

• Sources: Pilot in Libyan crash hampered by low visibilityLow visibility caused by mist and sand created poor flying conditions for the pilot of an Afriqiyah Airways flight that crashed just before landing in Tripoli, Libyan sources with knowledge of the investigation said Saturday.
• Volcanic ash prompts airspace closures over IrelandAirports in Ireland prepared to close overnight Saturday as a drifting ash cloud from an erupting volcano in Iceland prompted the United Kingdom's air traffic authority to close airspace over parts of Northern Ireland.
• Canadian fighters scrambled after bomb threat to planeTwo Canadian fighter jets on Saturday escorted a Cathay Pacific Airways flight into Vancouver International Airport in response to a bomb threat to the plane, authorities said, though they later determined there was no threat aboard the aircraft.

International Herald Tribune

• Volcanic Ash Threatens Travel DisruptionsVolcanic ash from Iceland could disrupt air travel in both Britain and Germany in the next few days, officials said.
• Fighter Jets Escort Plane to VancouverCanadian fighter jets escorted a Cathay Pacific airliner coming from Hong Kong to a safe landing at the Vancouver airport because of a potential security threat, an official said.

Washington Post

• GM doing booming business in India TALEGAON, INDIA -- Sparks fly and robotic machines buzz and hum. Assembly-line workers in coveralls, the sons of peanut and rice farmers, seal windshields and weld doors. They're making zippy little cars called Beat and Spark in the gleaming new General Motors plant here -- and they're making boatloads of money.
• Toyota had attack plan against congressional testimony, documents show Toyota officials sought to develop a public relations campaign to attack the credibility of key witnesses who have testified before Congress about acceleration problems with the company's cars, according to documents provided to the House committee investigating the automaker.
• The Navigator: Frequent-flier programs' cons outweigh the pros Call me a frequent-flier program skeptic.
• Dulles Metro work at Tysons Corner comes between merchants and customers Tysons Corner merchants on Route 7 along the path of the rail extension to Dulles International Airport are struggling to do business in a construction zone and won't get relief any time soon.

Other News Sources

• Record losses at BA spark survival fearsBritish Airways will this week announce its worst-ever financial performance after a toxic combination of recession, strikes and bad weather
• Volcanic ash set to cover ScotlandAir travellers face more chaos as transport measures are put in place to deal with possible disruptions to flights.
• Channel tunnel re-opens amidst delays The Eurostar rail service was hit by severe delays on Saturday after a fire alarm briefly forced the closure of the Channel Tunnel.
• Canada jets escort bomb scare planeCanada jets escort bomb scare plane
• New 'risk' of UK airspace closure due to ashThe department of transport warns the UK's airspace 'at risk' of new closures from tomorrow. Channel 4 News science correspondent Tom Clarke says any disruption would not be as long-lasting as in April.