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

Saturday, 25 September 2010

BBC News

• Twitter airport hoax man appealsA man who posted a message on Twitter threatening to blow up Robin Hood Airport starts an appeal against his conviction.
• Airporter to expand into BelfastThe Londonderry-based transport firm Airporter announces that it is to expand its operations.

The Herald

• Tram line defects prompt fears of new chaos on Princes StreetDefects in the laying of tram tracks on Edinburgh™s Princes Street could lead to Scotland™s best-known thoroughfare being dug up again for repair work, The Herald has learned.

Daily Express

• Stelios: I'll sue over Easy nameSIR Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the founder of budget airline easyJet is threatening to take a tiff with internet dating agency EasyDate to court unless it changes its name.

Birmingham Post

• Transport secretary faces high speed rail link protesters on visit to Warwickshire Transport Secretary Philip Hammond faced the ire of campaign groups as he visited the communities set to be blighted by the proposed high speed rail route.

Journal Live

• Navy ships are brought back to life on Tyneside THE chief of the Bangladesh Navy came to a Tyneside shipyard yesterday to accept the handover of two offshore patrol vessels.

London Evening Standard

• From Newcastle to London … by Boris bikeAdvertising executive embarks on a 450-mile cycle ride from Newcastle to London to raise money for charity

Manchester Evening News

• Fears for beauty spot over airport tram plan A beauty spot could be ˜destroyed™ by plans to run trams to Manchester Airport, campaigners have warned. The Friends Of Chorlton Meadows say Lower Hardy Farm “ a site of biological importance on the Mersey Valley corridor in Chorlton “ would be ripped apart by the track.

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• Call for study into Fort bypassDemands are being made by business leaders in Lochaber for a major traffic study to be carried out as the first step towards seeking a bypass of Fort William™s often gridlocked roads network.
• BMI pulls out of north-east routeTHE airline BMI has announced it will cancel all its flights between Aberdeen and Birmingham because the route has not œperformed as expected.

The York Press

• Number of York bike thefts predicted to increase by 450 POLICE are predicting the number of bike thefts will in York will rise by 450 this year as a cycle crime wave sweeps the city.

Yorkshire Evening Post

• Crackdown on Leeds 'blue badge' parking cheatsLeeds City Council is to crack down on abuse of the 'blue badge' disabled parking scheme “ which costs the city's taxpayers half a million pounds a year “ and offe

Other Regional Press

• Asbestos killed shipbuilder's wifeœIT™S just not fair. Those were the words of a distraught widower who broke down at the inquest of his wife who was killed by asbestos.

C.N.N.

• Spacecraft with 2 Russians, 1 American lands in KazakhstanA Soyuz spacecraft carrying two cosmonauts and an U.S. astronaut from the International Space Station landed successfully in Kazakhstan early Saturday morning, NASA said.
• Plane makes unscheduled landing in Sweden after bomb threatA flight headed to Pakistan with 243 passengers onboard was diverted to Sweden on Saturday because of a bomb threat, an airport official said.

Campaign for Better Transport

• Norfolk ignores DfT advice to stop spending on road scheme24 September: The Department for Transport told all local authorities to stop developing transport schemes until the spending review was over. Not everyone decided to listen. read more

Railway Gazette

• Airport maglev demonstration line SOUTH KOREA: A ground-breaking ceremony was held at Incheon International Airport on August 3 to mark the start of work on a 6·1 km maglev demonstration line (RG 5.08 p296). The line will have six stations and a maintenance depot. Maximum operating speed will be 110 km/h. Construction is scheduled for completion in 2012. This will allow a year for testing the maglev trains developed by the Korea Institute of Machinery & Materials before the line opens for commercial service in 2013.

Other News Sources

• SMMT reveals signs of growth for UK automobile sectorAlmost 78,000 cars were built in the UK this month, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturing and Traders (SMMT), indicating strong signs of growth for the nation™s automobile sector.
• Tube engineering work cancelled as overtime ban bitesLUL busting safety rules by running uninspected trains, says RMT
• SNCF in line to collect French 'green' tax on trucksRail group part of consortium bidding to play a role in collecting controversial road tax
• Future looking rosier for air cargo carriersFaster-than-predicted recovery means industry can start to claw back billions lost in recession, says IATA
• Saints pleased with results, despite 'challenging times'Airfreight specialist Saints Transport has reported an 8.3% dip in pre-tax profit from £1.2m to £1.1m for the year to 31 December 2009, with turnover down 11.8% from £23.7m to £20.9m.
• Aberdeen Airport to reach more destinationsAberdeen Airport could be offering flights to destinations all over the world within two years, it has been claimed.According to a report in the Aberdeen Evening Express, the airport's new managing director is making the extension of the runway his main priority.Derek Provan, who took up his post this month, has said he wants the runway extension to be completed by 2012.The newspaper reports that this will open up further afield destinations around the world, including places like Egypt, Moscow and the US.It adds, however, that Mr Provan said there has not yet been any decision made by air...
• Manchester Airport tram 'could destroy local beauty spot'Linking Manchester Airport to the rest of the city with trams could destroy a haven for birds and plants, campaigners have warned.The Manchester Evening News reports that the Friends of Chorlton Meadows are concerned about plans to expand the city's Metrolink tram network with a spur to the airport that could damage local wildlife at Lower Hardy Farm.Friends of Chorlton Meadows chairman Dave Thomas told the newspaper that there other routes available and his group is questioning why Metrolink and Manchester's public transport body - GMPTE - have to run the route across the Mersey Valle...
• Ford Ecoboost engine improves fuel economy 20%