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

Friday, 18 February 2011

BBC News

• Police target £770m worth of metal cable thefts A police task force has been launched to tackle the growing problem of cable theft from railway and electricity networks.
• 'Record low' road traffic deaths in Wales The number of deaths on roads in Wales is the lowest since records began 42 years ago, according to latest figures.
• Nottinghamshire council vehicles get tracking devices Tracking devices are to be installed across a council's fleet of vehicles to improve fuel efficiency and driving standards.
• Pilot ice patrol fleet launched for Scotland's roads A pilot fleet of new ice patrol vehicles has taken to the roads in an effort to improve Scotland's winter resilience.
• Coast rail anti-social clampdownBritish Transport Police clamp down on anti-social behaviour along the north Wales coast railway line during four days of operations at stations between Bangor and Rhyl.
• BAE growth flat amid defence cutsUK defence group BAE Systems reports a rise in profits in 2010, but sales growth was sluggish after government spending cuts.
• Easyjet suffers pay deal defeatInvestors at low-cost airline Easyjet narrowly vote against the amounts the firm paid to executives last year.
• BAA loses latest sell-off rulingAirport operator BAA has lost a new legal bid to stop a forced sale of Stansted and either Glasgow or Edinburgh airports.

Department for Transport

• Transport StatisticsThe Department for Transport has today published the following Transport Statistics: Sea Passenger Bulletin 2010
• Transport StatisticsThe Department for Transport has today published the following Transport Statistics: Road Conditions in England: 2010

Financial Times

• A380 problems cost Qantas A$80mThe Australian airline, whose revenues were affected by the grounding of its A380 fleet after an engine exploded last year, is not ruling out pursuing Rolls-Royce through the courts
• Sir Stelios leads EasyJet pay-outs revoltEasyJet has suffered one of the biggest shareholder rebellions so far this year as investors led by the company's founder, Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, voted against payments made in 2010
• Stagecoach accused of bumping up US pricesThe biggest operator of New York sightseeing buses has been told by US authorities that it has excessive market power and can either split up the business or sell off a division

The Herald

• Road maintenance firm cleared over December motorway closure POLITICIANS are demanding to know who was to blame for the closure of the M8 in heavy snow last December after the road maintenance company was cleared by an official report.

The Telegraph

• Compensation for flight delays may resume Airlines may be forced to pay around £130 million in unclaimed compensation to passengers whose flights were delayed, following a court ruling this week.
• BAA loses legal bid to avoid sale of two airports BAA is expected to be forced to sell two of its six airports after losing a Supreme Court appeal against a Competition Commission ruling.
• Stelios in victory over easyJet pay EasyJet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou has claimed a victory in his campaign against the airline's former chief executive Andy Harrison, after leading a shareholder revolt over a controversial £1m payment.

Press Association

• Condition of roads deteriorates The condition of England's roads has deteriorated slightly, but London has some of the best in the country, according to latest figures.

Reuters News

• BAA loses bid to appeal airports sale orderLONDON (Reuters) - BAA will have to break up its network of airports after a court rejected on Thursday its bid to challenge a sale order by the competition watchdog.

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• Airport™s boss has rail dream The boss of Leeds Bradford International Airport says he wants to see a new rail link to the Yeadon site œwithin the next decade.

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Police crack down on abusive behaviour at North Wales stations ABUSIVE and aggressive train passengers and a man with a lock knife were among those arrested in a clampdown by transport police.

Edinburgh Evening News

• Trams chief prepared to ask for extra funds THE new chairman of the city's tram firm has admitted project bosses may be forced to ask for more cash to help bail out the embattled scheme.

Journal Live

• New East Coast timetable welcome in Morpeth RAIL campaigners in Northumberland have welcomed a new inter-city train timetable which they claim will deliver a much better deal for local travellers.

Liverpool Post

• OPINION: Virgin Trains can help firms use the Liverpool Embassy I BUMPED into a Liverpool web designer on the Tube in London just before Christmas. Unremarkable, you might say – but I worked in and around London, off and on, for 20 years and never “bumped” into anyone I knew.

London Evening Standard

• Petrol hits record price levelThe price of petrol and diesel at the pumps has reached record levels, with a reduction in the European market cost of fuel not being passed on to UK consumers, the AA has said.

Nottingham Evening Post

• £550k payout for bus and access improvements in NottsBUS service upgrades, new pedestrian crossings and cycle improvements are to be funded with more than £550,000 from the developers of three city schemes. The money has been handed to the city council as part of the planning permission conditions for the Sainsbury's supermarket in Perry Road, New Basford, Larkhill Retirement Village in Clifton, and the Litmus Building in Huntingdon Street, city centre. This practice – known as a section 106 agreement – can be used by the local authority to support the provision of services such as roads, parks, education, health and affordab...

Wales Online

• Outcry as another rail union to strike after 12% pay offer TRAIN drivers were last night accused of taking wholly unacceptable strike action after a second rail union rejected an “exceptionally generous” pay offer.

Blackpool Gazette

• Shock slump at the airportPASSENGER numbers at Blackpool have slumped – to the point where the airport has been named the tenth worst for decline in Europe.

Other Regional Press

• Pod network shelved due to its £85m cost AMBITIOUS plans for an £85m transport network in Daventry, which would have seen the town served by a series of hi-tech ’pods’, have been shelved.
• HS2 campaigners have got figures wrong says minister THE Secretary of State for Transport, Philip Hammond, has written to selected MPs stating the case for HS2.
• Unanswered questionsHOUSE of Commons transport select committee chairwoman Louise Ellman has said the inquiry into plans to “modernise” the coastguard had been called to resolve “unanswered questions”.
• Glasgow Airport faces tax hike blowGlasgow Airport bosses fear passenger numbers could plunge by more than 300,000 over the next three years due to rises in aviation tax.

Aviation Industry

• Ryanair, Dublin Airport Authority talks break down The Dublin Airport Authority on Thursday said that negotiations with Ryanair ended after the carrier rejected DAA’s offer of more than €60 million ($81.1 million) worth of discounts on airport charges to stimulate increased traffic into its three Irish airports. Instead, DAA said, Ryanair insisted it be paid more than €100 million in discounts, with no guarantee of any additional traffic.
• AA axes agent surchargeAmerican Airlines has ditched its controversial surcharge levied on agents booking on the Travelport global distribution systems

Green Miscellany

• Sbyke: a bicycle and skateboard ˜cut and shut™ A new type of scooter made from the front end of a BMX and the back end of a skateboard may prove a hit with kids and urban commuters alike. read more
• Wind Explorer car drives 3,000 miles German adventurers, Dirk Gion and Stefan Simmerer, this week completed a gruelling 18-day, 3,000-mile drive across Australia using a wind-powered car.read more
• The Segway rival that fits in your briefcase It looks like it might have come from the parts bin at the Segway factory, but the Solowheel is a revolutionary self-balancing electric unicycle the size of a laptop bag.read more
• The inflatable roof for bicycles Italian designer Moshen Saleh has come up with a canopy for bicycles that inflates when it rains. read more

Other News Sources

• Offices in outer London 'to enjoy more convenient commuting' Offices in outer London will be better connected to the centre of the city when the new Crossrail gets up and running. Transport secretary Philip Hammond made the comments after it was announced that the London borough of Greenwich is set to receive a Crossrail station in Woolwich.
• PE duo compete for £2bn UK rail deal Two private equity heavyweights are competing against each other for a lucrative private finance initiative in Europe's railway sector, where competition is intense at the end of a decade-long investment boom. i Infrastructure and Rreef, part Deutsche Bank Asset Management, are competing to provide the equity financing for a £2bn rail deal in the UK. The multi-billion pound project involves the building of new, longer trains, carriages and associated station upgrades on a North-South line in London, on behalf of Thameslink.
• RMT demands urgent action as leaked LU memo warns of 'Russian Roulette with people's lives' as train with suspect package on board is allowed to pass through financial district due to staff cutsTUBE UNION RMT today demanded an end to the ' lies and complacency' of Transport for London as a leaked memo revealed that last week a Jubilee Line train with a suspect package on board was allowed to pass through four stations - including Canada Water and Canary Wharf - because staff cuts meant there was no one available to evacuate and search the carriages.
• Strike action over victimised tube drivers off to allow for talks and for fresh ballot of all tube driversTUBE UNION RMT confirmed today that strike action on the Bakerloo and Northern Line's, scheduled to run from Sunday to Monday evening over the victimisation and sacking of two drivers, has been called off to allow for ACAS talks and to pave the way for a ballot for action of all London Underground drivers.
• Ladies only taxi service launchesLADIES can travel in style as a new business offering a taxi service exclusively for women is up and running.
• Edinburgh Airport given awardEdinburgh Airport has recently been recognised in the Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Awards 2010.The Scottish travel hub was named one of the continent's leading airports in terms of customer facilities and service, alongside Copenhagen, Porto, Malta and Zurich."I’m delighted with this award, particularly as it is based on the feedback of our passengers. 2010, with its ash, snow and other challenges, was a difficult year for the team at Edinburgh, which makes this feat all the more impressive," Edinburgh Airport managing director Kevin Brown said.The Scottish facility is the...
• Prestwick Airport welcomes Ryanair hangarPrestwick Airport has recently seen a new Ryanair hangar officially opened.The airline's second maintenance hangar, which cost £8 million was officially opened by Michael O'Leary, Ryanair's chief executive, and Alex Salmond, Scotland's first minister."Ryanair’s successful growth in Scotland is possible thanks to our ongoing partnership with the Scottish government and Scottish Enterprise who have repeatedly supported our vision for many more low fare flights to/from Scotland," Mr O'Leary said.Prestwick Airport secured the hangar in the face of bids by ...
• BreedON bags £6m of Scottish roads contractsAggregates firm BreedON has won contracts worth more than £6 million for improvement works to the A9 trunk road in the highlands and Perthshire.