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

Monday, 06 September 2010

BBC News

• Port Talbot motorway link will 'create 600 jobs' Up to 600 jobs are expected to be created during the construction of a new £107m link on the M4 near Port Talbot.
• London's 'Boris Bikes' earmarked for Jersey Some highly populated areas of Jersey have been earmarked for a bicycle scheme similar to one operating in the UK.
• Minister in talks over Northern Isles ferry row Orkney and Shetland council leaders are to meet the transport minister after they rejected proposals to cut ferry services to the Northern Isles.
• Tiny solar cells fix themselvesA mix of chemicals borrowed from plants with tiny tubes of carbon can spontaneously create tiny, self-repairing solar cells.
• Bendy bus fire 'could be arson'A bendy bus which caught fire in central London may have been set alight deliberately, Transport for London says.
• Tube strikes start for commutersThe first of a series of Underground strikes begins in London, with journeys expected to be severely disrupted this week.

Financial Times

• Walsh sets his sights high for BA-IberiaSpeculation grows over potential merger targets “ and whether deals would be beneficial

The Guardian

• Job losses 'inevitable' to fund upgrade of London transport network • TfL's £39bn funding settlement until 2018 to be reassessed • London Underground staff face 800 redundancies

The Herald

• Calls for overhaul of rail pricing Rail passengers are paying inconsistent price rates for travel on Scotland’s main intercity routes, despite attempts to simplify ticketing.
• Collision course For months it has been discussed behind closed doors. It is one of the most important policy documents produced by the Scottish government, and now it has come out of the shadows. The “proposals and policies” report leaked to the Sunday Herald outlines how ministers plan to meet their ambitious target of a 42% cut in climate pollution by 2020.

The Independent

• AA warns over speed cameras Lives will be put at risk if councils scrap speed cameras, the AA warns. A recent switch-off of cameras in the Thames Valley area alarmed residents and there now appeared to be a "road safety policy void", the motoring group said.
• Tube strikes hinder London commutersCommuters in London faced difficult journeys to and from work today as the first in a series of Tube strikes got under way. Maintenance staff on the Jubilee and Northern lines began a 24-hour walkout at 7pm last night in protest at a below-inflation pay offer.

The Telegraph

• Rural backlash at speed camera cuts Villages worried that they will be turned into a high speed rat-run are voicing fears that casualties will rise. Coalition spending cuts have already led to a number of local authorities pulling out of their safety camera partnership or considering doing so.
• Thousands of motorists escaping totting up driving banThe 27-year-old from Teeside is one of more than 11,000 motorists whose licences have not been revoked despite totting up 12 points last year.
• BA's Walsh draws up shopping list of 12 airlines Willie Walsh is thinking Big. BA's Irish born chief executive has drawn up a shortlist of 12 airlines he would like to buy once the merger with Iberia has been completed.

Press Association

• Lives at risk if speed cameras axed Lives will be put at risk if councils scrap speed cameras, the AA has said.

Daily Express

• BA looking to emerging markets for future buysBRITISH Airways is eyeing potential deals in emerging markets, such as India, should its tie-up with Iberia be completed by the end of the year.

Mail Online

• BA boss Walsh plans swoop on 12 airlines to create worlds biggest airline British Airways boss Willie Walsh has drawn up a secret hit-list of 12 airlines he wants to take over to create the worlds biggest airline, he revealed yesterday.
• Tube strikes to cause indefinite chaos for 'no good reason' says Boris JohnsonThe first of a wave of strikes by London Underground workers in rows over pay and jobs will start today, with Mayor of London Boris Johnson claiming the action is planned for 'no good reason.
• Back to the 1970s as London Underground militants plan walkouts and BA prepare for Christmas strikesLeaders of London Underground unions have called a series of walk-outs this week which are timed to cause maximum disruption to commuters.
• Minister orders smartcard travel revolution in hope to encourage the use of public transportTransport Minister Norman Baker said he had ordered officials to draw up plans to introduce the cards - based on London’s Oyster card scheme - 'within a few years'.

Metro

• Smartcard to enable Oyster-style travel across UK A single smartcard could soon be all you need to travel on buses, trains and trams across the UK.

Rail-News.com

• InnoTrans 2010: A must-see for the world of rail transport technologyThe world of rail transport technology is meeting from 21 to 24 September at an event in Berlin which is a must for this entire sector – InnoTrans 2010. More than 2,200 exhibitors and some 100,000 trade visitors from over 100 countries are expected at this trade fair, the leading event for the industry. The international nature of this trade fair has been one of its main characteristics for many years. Now over half of its exhibitors come from abroad, and in the Interiors sector of the fair the figure is as high as two thirds.
• King’s Cross and St Pancras International: Keeping up with the flowSt Pancras International Station is a hub for high speed national and international travel, and for a wide range of domestic rail services. Below ground, two resited Thameslink platforms supply the busy Bedford-Brighton corridor while the adjacent King’s Cross main line station serves the East Coast and its associated routes. Together these transport hubs now manage a vastly increased passenger flow.