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Thursday, 04 November 2010

BBC News

• Increase in FirstGroup profits Turnover and profits at bus and rail operator FirstGroup were boosted by increased ticket sales at both its UK rail and US Greyhound bus division.
• Smartcard travel project startsA £14m swipe-card system, similar to London's Oyster Cards, is being introduced for all public transport in the West Midlands.
• Councillor on tram chief's resignationTransport convener for Edinburgh City Council, Gordon Mackenzie, reacts to the resignation of trams project chairman David Mackay.
• Suspect package found at airportPart of Glasgow Airport is evacuated after a suspicious package was found by security staff.
• Disruptive Tube strike finishesUnions end a third 24-hour Tube strike which caused severe disruption for passengers in London.
• Union loses appeal over BA cutsThe Unite union loses its appeal against British Airways' decision to cut the number of cabin crew staff on its flights.

Financial Times

• The lives of aircraft Demand for new passenger aircraft is healthy enough, but prices in the opaque second-hand market have sunk
• Walsh picks out five rivals 'in play'BA has long considered itself as a potential consolidator in Europe but Mr Walsh was careful to say that he was only interested in BMI for certain
• No sign of settlement in LU strikeThird in a series of scheduled 24-hour strikes brought gridlock to many London streets
• BMI threatens to sue HeathrowAirport's second biggest airline user says 50 per cent hike in domestic passenger charges is unjustified and unfair
• Ticket revenues boost FirstGroup profitsThe rail and bus operator says ticket revenues at its UK rail and US Greyhound bus divisions increased in spite of the reduction in regulated fares
• TfL yet to say where budget cuts will fallLondoners will not learn the true extent of cuts to the capital's transport budget until the spring, despite claims that the city escaped the worst of the pain in the comprehensive spending review
• Thameslink case pressed by businessBusiness leaders in London have written to the government urging ministers to give the all-clear to order 1,000 carriages for the Thameslink north-south rail scheme

The Guardian

• FirstGroup to throw bus service cuts into reverse FirstGroup is heeding the government's call for workers to get on the bus by reversing some of the recession-driven service cuts it made over the past year.

The Herald

• Edinburgh trams chief to step down from projectThe crisis-hit Edinburgh trams project faces being plunged into further chaos today after it was reported that David Mackay, chairman of both Edinburgh Trams and Lothian Buses, is to quit with immediate effect.
• Airport evacuated after suspect package findHundreds of passengers at one of the Scotland™s busiest airports were caught up in a secur-ity alert last night after a suspect package was found.

The Independent

• First Group profits on track First Group has lifted half-year profits by 14 per cent after benefiting from improved trends in its UK bus and train businesses.
• Unions offer to lift threat of Christmas Tube strikes Leaders of striking London Underground workers today offered to lift the threat of disruption over Christmas and the New Year as a war of words erupted over the effect of the latest walkout on jobs.

The Telegraph

• Questor share tip: FirstGroup is a yield play Interim numbers from transport giant FirstGroup were in line with expectations and revealed a welcome turnaround at its US Greyhound operation.
• Boris Johnson defiant over tube strikes Boris Johnson has apologised to commuters and urged the Tube unions to call off any further industrial action.
• Glasgow Airport evacuated after suspicious package found Parts of Glasgow Airport have been evacuated after a suspicious package was found.

Daily Express

• FirstGroup profits on trackTrain and bus firm FirstGroup posted higher profits and said a soft landing for transport in Government cuts should pave the way for better annual results.

Daily Record

• Glasgow Airport evacuated in terror alert after suspicious package found PASSENGERS were evacuated from Glasgow Airport during a terror scare last night after staff spotted a suspicious package.

Mail Online

• Stop cars speeding the DIY way using plant pots and drawings on the roadHanging baskets and fluorescent tiles on houses also helped to create the look, which the residents in Summerton, Oxfordshire, hope will slow drivers.

Network Rail

• PUBLIC TO PICK FENCING DESIGN FOR HERITAGE GARDEN IN BATH

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Wrexham to London train service to be cut NORTH Wales’ biggest town is to have its direct rail service to London cut.

Derby Telegraph

• MP warns introduction of more stringent airport security checks could see jobs lostNORTH West Leicestershire MP Andrew Bridgen has warned that introducing more stringent security checks at UK airports could cost jobs – unless they are applied across Europe. The MP, whose constituency covers East Midlands Airport, where a terrorist bomb was found on Friday, said he was concerned tighter controls could add to the costs of freight shippers. They would opt to send their cargo via European airports instead of the UK. The bomb, thought to have originated from Yemen, had been flown to Germany before stopping at the Castle Donington airport on the way to America. In the...

Edinburgh Evening News

• New trams turmoil as chairman quits 'hell'EDINBURGH'S trams project was plunged into yet more chaos today with the sudden resignation of chairman David Mackay, who branded the controversial scheme "hell on whe

Liverpool Post

• Liverpool Bulk Liquids handles first ship at new West Langton Dock terminal LIVERPOOL Bulk Liquids (LBL) has handled the first ship at its new West Langton Dock terminal.

London Evening Standard

• Thameslink to benefit from Tube strikeNew FirstGroup boss Tim O'Toole must have been glad he was presiding over trains and London buses rather than the strike-ridden Tube today.
• Car CO2 cuts beating expectationsCar makers are cutting their fleets' carbon dioxide emissions faster than expected, environmental activists have said.

Manchester Evening News

• Rail safety experts in new distribution deal A Bury-based business specialising in engineering products and services for the rail sector has agreed a distribution deal to help it expand sales in North America as it looks to double turnover to £10m.
• Chinese lanterns ’could bring down a jet’ Manchester Airport is warning of the dangers of Chinese lanterns “ amid fears they could bring down a plane. Bosses are asking people who live under the flight path not to use them after becoming concerned they could pose a threat to aircraft.

Metro

• Tube Strike: Underground is ˜crippled™ by walkoutCommuters struggled once again to get to and from work as the third Tube strike in as many months brought parts of London to a standstill.

Sheffield Star

• Bus boss gives service pledgeTRANSPORT supremo Brian Souter came to Sheffield to launch a raft of new bus services which have grown his company's network in the city by 30 per cent and revealed more i

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• Plea over east coast mainline serviceSCOTTISH Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson was urged last night to step up pressure on the UK Government to maintain the direct east coast mainline service between the north-east and London.

The York Press

• York MP steps in over rail row A YORK MP is aiming to raise with Government Ministers the case of a disabled York man™s treatment by a train company.
• Fulford Road bus lane axed only months after being installed A CONTROVERSIAL bus lane is to be scrapped in the wake of an accident and opposition from local residents.
• Traffic congestion in York could almost treble by 2026 YORK™S congestion levels could almost treble and cost the city £104 million a year by 2026 if money for major transport schemes is not found.

Yorkshire Evening Post

• Rail: 250mph trains 'would damage tranquility of countryside'The Government should scrap plans to make its proposed high-speed rail (HSR) line the fastest in the world so the countryside can be protected, a green group said toda
• West Yorkshire festive buses: Good and bad newsTransport bosses today told West Yorkshire's bus users: "We've got good news and bad news."

Doncaster Free Press

• New flights for airportROBIN Hood is to become Yorkshire's first airport to offer flights to the former Baltic States of the Soviet Union.

Peterborough Telegraph

• 20mph speed limits planned for rural schoolsPLANS to reduce speed limits on the roads to 20mph outside rural schools near Peterborough have moved a step forward.

Other Regional Press

• Taxi drivers in Cheltenham set to protest over new green rulesDozens of drivers plan to form a slow-moving convoy through the town centre following Cheltenham Borough Council's decision to bring in tougher restrictions on carbon emissions.
• High speed rail could be 'train to nowhere' A HIGH speed rail link to the north west could become ˜ the train to nowhere™ according to a Labour councillor as they spoke out over the Government™s Comprehensive Spending Review.
• Rail firm cuts unprofitable services TRAIN operator Wrexham & Shropshire, which links Banbury with London, Shrewsbury and Wales, is reducing the number of services it runs from next month.
• Bus firm works round clock to solve smartcard faults OXFORD Bus Company managers say staff are working round the clock to solve problems with new smartcard tickets which were introduced this week.
• UK & World News: Car CO2 cuts beating expectations Car makers are cutting their fleets' carbon dioxide emissions faster than expected, environmental activists have said.
• M8 hat-trick in UK Top 10 roads to traffic jam hellGlasgow has three of the worst motorway traffic bottlenecks in the UK, a study has found,
• Call for inflatable police cars to slow down driversAN ABERDEENSHIRE politician has come up with a novel way to lower accident rates on the region™s roads “ by using inflatable police cars.

Green Miscellany

• Electric cars: Honda comes in from the cold The head of Honda Motor Co., Takanobu Ito, will later this month unveil a new electric concept car at the Los Angeles car show on November 17 – the first time a Honda chief executive will have unveiled a new model at the show and a sign that Japan™s second-largest car maker is warming to the idea of electric vehicles (EVs).read more
• Diabolical bicycle leaves trail of fire Laying a trail of burning rubber on the road as a way of getting yourself noticed now the clocks have gone back will attract the wrong sort of attention and cost a small fortune in replacement tyres, but as a way of promoting a new bicycle called the Diablo it works rather well.read more

Other News Sources

• Channel Link Winning Bid May Be Announced Tomorrow, Times Says The successful bidder for the high- speed Channel Tunnel Rail Link, which is being sold by the U.K. government, may be announced by Transport Secretary Philip Hammond as early as tomorrow, the London-based Times reported.
• Unite urges support for Bombardier and HitachiTrade union Unite has urged transport secretary Philip Hammond to support both Bombardier and Hitachi. Unite this would protect and create skilled jobs for the future. And it says that without a long-term strategy for train procurement the UK will lose the ability to build trains.
• Hereford "bypass" consultation extended THE public consultation period for Hereford's proposed western relief road has tonight been extended.