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

Wednesday, 02 June 2010

BBC News

• Bridge maintenance cost concernA Plaid Cymru AM raises fears Severn Bridge maintenance costs may be passed from a business to taxpayers.
• Auditors criticise SPT expenses Scotland's largest public transport organisation is expected to announce tighter controls on its spending.
• First Group in rail freight saleThe transport company First Group sells its rail freight business for £31m to a subsidiary of Eurotunnel.
• BA talks end without an agreementBritish Airways and the Unite union end their latest talks without agreement to settle the continuing strike by cabin crew staff.

Financial Times

• MPs poised to elect key roles Next Wednesday there will be 23 secret votes for various select committees that scrutinise the work of government departments, as well as wider issues such as education, health and transport.
• BA meets Unite but pledges to increase flights British Airways says it will operate more Heath-row flights during the next planned strike than it has been able to in previous cabin-crew stoppages held since March.
• Report says high-speed rail could cost just £6bn A new high-speed railway network that would begin to transform travel in the UK within a decade could be delivered at a cost to the public purse of just £6bn, according to an authoritative study being considered by ministers.

The Guardian

• Round-up: Government cuts and changes - how do they effect Leeds? The new government is to review Labour's decision to approve the £250m Leeds Trolleybus project.
• Potters Bar train crash 'warnings ignored' Inquest opens into rail disaster that killed seven and hears passengers told of 'rough ride' just before 2002 crash

The Herald

• Drivers face chaos as repairs shut road Motorists are facing a month of night-time road closures as the main arterial route between mid-Argyll and Kintyre undergoes essential repairs.

The Independent

• Warnings about Potters Bar line 'were ignored' Concerns about

The Telegraph

• Ryanair plans €500m payout as it attacks ash cloud chaos Met Office forecasters had "volcanic ash" between their ears when they triggered an unprecedented six-day lockdown of British airspace in April, according to the chief executive of Ryanair.
• Dandelions bring train to a standstill Winter’s wrong kind of snow is a distant memory. Autumn’s leaves on the line is a summer away. So train travellers might have thought they could enjoy a stress-free spring.
• Ryanair chief Michael O'Leary eyes €20m payday Michael O'Leary, the colourful chief executive of Ryanair, will find himself €20m richer later this year after Europe's biggest low-cost carrier announced plans to pay a dividend.
• 'Bus stop mentality' killing villages Villages are dying because of a 'terrible bus stop mentality' that means new homes can only be built on public transport routes, according to a new report on the problems of planning in the countryside.
• Buy the car - and the firm that made it Coach-building firm to be auctioned with a Bentley it created as part of an auction of classic cars.

Times Online

• Eurotunnel makes new move into UK Eurotunnel has bought the GBRf freight train operations of FirstGroup in the latest foreign raid on the British railways.
• On the up: Ryanair flies back into profit Michael O’Leary is set for a €20 million (£17 million) payday after Ryanair said that it would pay its first cash dividend to shareholders.

Birmingham Mail

• Rail chaos after man hit by train at Solihull station TRAIN services from Birmingham were disrupted after a man was killed when he was hit by a train.

Birmingham Post

• Birmingham to London high speed rail link plans to be reviewed Plans for high speed rail services between London and Birmingham are going back to the drawing board after the Government said it wanted to examine the case for running trains directly to Paris.

Derby Telegraph

• Cyclists can take a seat thanks to donation of £50 CYCLISTS will have a seat on which to rest along the Breadsall Greenway thanks to a £50 environmental grant.

Liverpool Post

• Ryanair climbs back into profit BUDGET airline Ryanair swung back into profit today as traffic grew, despite the recession, and the firm benefited from lower fuel costs.

London Evening Standard

• East London line delivers property boomOpening of the East London Tube line has boosted property prices and demand for homes in previously isolated areas of south-east London

Nottingham Evening Post

• Stagecoach holds Green Week THE Stagecoach Group will host a week of environmental awareness activities across its bus and rail businesses, including East Midlands Trains.
• Bus fares cut for holiday travel NOTTINGHAM City Transport is offering cut-price tickets for family bus travel during this week's school holiday.
• Tram fate at stake as city seeks control of vital land for extension scheme CITY council officials could take legal action against the county council to secure a strip of land needed for the proposed extension to Nottingham's tram system.

Yorkshire Evening Post

• High-speed rail plans blight city Although the Prime Minister says the exact routes are still to be fully debated, readers should note that the Conservative transport policy pre-election was high speed rail for Leeds, yes, but via Manchester. That this is still broadly the policy is clear from the Queen's speech and Mr Cameron's words at Shiple

Bucks Free Press

• We won't have as much salt this winter, boss warns BUCKINGHAMSHIRE will have less salt for icy roads this year than at the start of the last winter, a roads boss said today.

Other Regional Press

• 'We will do better' - rail firm's pledgeStanding on a cold station platform with little idea when your train will come should be a thing of the past - at least that is what Southeastern Trains hopes...

Campaign for Better Transport

• Government mustn't introduce rail cuts under the radar1 June: We recently objected to a Department for Transport plan to give train companies a financial incentive to cut services, together with 50 other organisations. read more

Aviation Industry

• MIT green concept aircraft designs could reduce fuel use 70% A team from Massachusetts Institute of Technology has designed two green aircraft concepts that are estimated to use 70% less fuel than current aircraft while also reducing noise and emissions of nitrogen oxides.
• Virgin Blue ratchets down earnings expectations Virgin Blue Group advised the Australian Stock Exchange of sharply lowered earnings expectations for its fiscal year ending June 30, blaming in part fares that have fallen by 10% in the past month.

Other News Sources

• Bombardier bids for Russian railway Bombardier Inc. is taking another run at buying an equity stake in a Russian railway company with its offer to purchase a part of United Electrical Engineering Plants.
• London trainmaker second sale in five years [Canada]Electro-Motive Diesel, whose operations include a locomotive manufacturing plant that employs 400 people in London, has been sold to Progress Rail Services. Progress Rail is a subsidiary of Caterpillar Inc. The announcement was made Tuesday.
• BA/Unite talks go on but more strikes expectedAnalysts are expecting a further ballot of Unite members on strike action, despite continued talks between the union and British Airways (BA) management.
• A spokesperson for the Highways Agency, which manages, maintains, and operates motorways and major A-roads in England, said: