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

Monday, 28 November 2011

BBC News

• VIDEO: RAF releases footage of sea rescueAn air-and-sea search for five men missing from a sunken cargo carrier off the coast of north Wales has been called off for the night.
• Bus plan to bring back shoppersA trial bus service is being planned to ferry shoppers around Wrexham town centre, including pedestrianised areas.
• Crew search resumes after sinkingAn air-sea search for five men missing from a cargo carrier in heavy seas off north west Wales is set to start again
• Ship rescuers recover one crewmanRescuers searching for six Russian seamen missing after a cargo vessel sank off north Wales in gale force weather say one crew member has been recovered.
• VIDEO: MISC to quit container shippingThe Asian shipping company MISC is to quit the container shipping business, after losing almost $790m over three years
• VIDEO: Mexico's investment in biofuelsIn Mexico, airlines are increasingly using a mixture of fossil fuels and biofuels in an attempt to become pioneers in what they say are 'greener' flights.
• Qantas profit to be hit by strikeQantas says the industrial dispute and rising fuel costs will dent its earnings for first half of the current financial year.

Financial Times

• Signal green for 'Varsity' line reopeningUnder a £250m scheme passenger services between Oxford and Bedford “ withdrawn by British Rail in 1967 “ will resume by 2017
• China boost for Osborne growth plansChinese funds would help to update the west's infrastructure “ starting with Britain “ in exchange for stable and sound financial returns
• Etihad and Qatar Airways hunt for dealsFast-growing Gulf airlines scout for stakes in European and Asian airlines as they strive to match the scale of larger neighbour Emirates Airline
• Growing pains start to tell at EmiratesGulf carrier's global ambitions hinge on plans for world's largest passenger airport

The Telegraph

• Police officers to cover for striking border staffPolice officers will be expected to man airports and ports during the public sector strike after just 90 minutes' training, it can be disclosed.

Daily Express

• Lifeline gives Thomas Cook a boostTHOMAS Cook has stepped up the review of its businesses after the holiday company brokered a £200million lifeline from its banks at the weekend.

Mail Online

• Iranian passenger planes dodging international sanctions by refuelling in KENTOwners of the UK's smallest airport, in Manston, Kent - a former RAF base in the Second World war- have struck up a deal to supply the Iranian planes that carry up to 266 passengers with the fuel they need.
• Motorists face traffic jam after PLANE blocks the road at busy junctionThe light aircraft was being towed on a trailer from the old Birmingham airport to the National Exhibition Centre for 'The Flying Show' this weekend.
• George Osborne warns Britain faces 6 more years of misery but will cap new year rail fare risesThe Chancellor is expected to announce in his Autumn Statement on Tuesday that fares will be capped at one per cent above inflation next year.
• Nothing will stop us from striking: Two thirds of schools to shut, airports set for chaos, Army on standby - but unions won't discuss a last-minute peace dealMillions of public sector workers are being warned a 'hugely generous' pensions offer from ministers will be withdrawn if a deal is not agreed by the end of the year.
• I'll find extra £5bn to invest in schools and roads, vows OsborneGeorge Osborne is to unveil £5billion in extra spending cuts to help pay for a massive programme of public works designed to avert a disastrous second recession.

The Mirror

• Mass strike to bring disruptionA strike by up to two million public sector workers over pensions will cause widespread disruption on Wednesday, hitting schools, hospitals, airports, courts and libraries.

Bristol Live

• Bristol Evening Post published Closure support is a 'bitter blow' for campaignersArticle

Derby Telegraph

• Derby Telegraph commented MPs call on Cameron to order a U-turn on Thameslink contractArticle

London Evening Standard

• Mass strike to bring disruptionA strike by up to two million public sector workers over pensions will cause widespread disruption on Wednesday, hitting schools, hospitals, airports, courts and libraries.

Nottingham Evening Post

• Nottingham Post published Fingers crossed for A453 road-widening go-aheadArticle

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• Safety outcry as 26,000 ignore A90 speed limits MOTORISTS have been caught speeding over 26,000 times on a major north-east road in the last four years.

Wales Online

• Call for more openness about studies into new rail schemesExcessive secrecy shrouds Welsh transport schemes and the losers are taxpayers and communities, critics claim.

Yorkshire Post

• War of words over pensions strike as airport chaos loomsministers and unions last night ramped up a war of words over next week’s strikes by public sector workers amid warnings of huge disruption to flights across the UK.

East Anglian Daily Times

• East Anglia: Bid to keep our train services on trackTODAY the EADT is launching a major new campaign aimed at improving the region’s vital rail link with the capital.

Other Regional Press

• Crawley News published Business is on the up at GatwickArticle
• UK & World News: Mass strike to bring disruptionA strike by up to two million public sector workers over pensions will cause widespread disruption on Wednesday, hitting schools, hospitals, airports, courts and libraries.
• Work begins on busway route™s concrete baseTHE first concrete beams were laid on the route of the controversial Luton Dunstable Busway on Monday morning.
• Kier land role in £200m Crossrail schemeA contract worth more than 200 million has been awarded to a Sandy-based company.
• East-west Rail Link lobby group set upA cross-party group has been formed to lobby the Government for funding for the East-West Rail Link.

New Scientist

• Charge your electric car on the moveMagnetic resonance could power electric cars so they wouldn't have to pull into a charging station

Campaign for Better Transport

• Chancellor set to climb down over rail fare rises27 November: The Chancellor seems certain to announce on Tuesday that the massive rail fare rises he announced as part of last year's Spending Review are to be scrapped. read more

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• Government 'should make new motorways toll roads'All new motorways in the UK should be made toll roads to reduce delays and benefit drivers, a new report has suggested.A paper written by Alan Cook, non-executive chairman of the Highways Agency stated that the government has often put its own short-term interests ahead of the long-term needs of road users and this should stop.The Whitehall-commissioned report recommended a long-term strategy for the UK's trunk roads be put in place within six months, with a re-evaluation of safety, performance, capacity and environmental goals needed as well.According to Mr Cook: "The Departm...

Railnews

• U-turn expected on January rail fare increases The Chancellor is expected to announce a u-turn on January's fare rises tomorrow, as part of his autumn statement. The government had said that the previous formula of RPI plus 1 per cent would become RPI plus 3 per cent in England and Wales for the next three years, but now appears to have yielded to protests.

Aviation Industry

• Air France recovery plan has two stages- paperA recovery plan by Air France to end its losses will have two stages with the first part, to be implemented in January or February, focused on savings to improve cash flows, newspaper La Tribune wrote in article released on Sunday.
• Virgin pitches late bid to upset IAG deal for BMIVirgin Atlantic Airways is adamant that it is still in the race to take over UK carrier BMI after making another offer, which Lufthansa wants to discuss next week.

Other News Sources

• Osborne's £30bn investment planChancellor George Osborne is to set out plans for an ambitious £30 billion investment programme in Britain's infrastructure as he tries to breathe new life into the stalled economy.
• Government and unions spat ahead of strikesA
• FTA warns on fuel duty increasesThe Freight Transport Association (FTA) is warning the Chancellor against pressing ahead with a 3 pence per litre fuel duty increase from 1 January next year. The FTA™s latest Quarterly Transport Activity Survey shows that operators are more downbeat about business activity and freight volumes than at any time for the past two years. As well as facing weak levels of demand, operators must deal with near record diesel prices, which are close to the all time highs seen in April this year. At that time the Chancellor took the decision to cut road fuel duty by 1 pence per litre, recognising that t...
• Road lighting trials reviewed by DefraA report published by Defra today reviews local authority lighting initiatives aimed at reducing costs, minimising light pollution & cutting carbon emissions.
• QANTAS GROWS CAPACITY IN WESTERN AUSTRALIAQantas announced it would increase capacity from Perth to a number of Western Australian destinations from today. Qantas Group Executive Commercial Rob Gurney said the increased capacity would ...

EIN News Subscription

• Strike in Britain May Halt Air Travel, Other Services … set for Wednesday threatens to paralyze operations at Europe's busiest … typical day, Heathrow airport receives more than 180,000 passengers.   Hospital services will … change their flight bookings cost-free. Some information for this report was provided …