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

Saturday, 10 December 2011

BBC News

• New system causes Metrolink delayGreater Manchester's transport executive say tram network extensions have been delayed due to the fitting of a new operating system.
• Arrest following death of cyclistA man is arrested after a fatal collision which police are treating as a hit and run involving a car and a cyclist.
• Council 'killed off' hovercraftStagecoach has accused Edinburgh City Council of
• VIDEO: HMS Ocean sails back to PlymouthThe largest vessel in the Royal Navy, helicopter carrier HMS Ocean, has returned to its Plymouth base after a seven-and-a-half-month deployment which saw it sent to Libya to support the United Nations.
• Final trip for London's bendy busThe last of London's bendy buses is taken off the roads but campaigners say their replacements are not as suitable for some passengers.

Financial Times

• Ryanair drops EGM call over Aer Lingus pensionsMichael O™Leary accepts defeat over demand for shareholder meeting but threatens legal action if rival helps cover the €500m pension deficit

The Guardian

• Homelessness: end of the line for the bendy-bus rough sleepersA few nights on a bus in the early hours of the morning was a revelation for Robert Wilkins, documentary-maker and director of a short, eye-opening Guardian film on the scores of homeless people who would clamber aboard London's N29 night "bendy bus" to find shelter and sleep in the early hours.
• Homelessness: end of the line for the bendy-bus rough sleepersA few nights on a bus in the early hours of the morning was a revelation for Robert Wilkins, documentary-maker and director of a short, eye-opening Guardian film on the scores of homeless people who would clamber aboard London's N29 night "bendy bus" to find shelter and sleep in the early hours.

The Independent

• RMT demands surveillance informationThe biggest rail workers union demanded information today about a media

The Telegraph

• Rail company sends carriages back on overcrowded rail linePassengers on one of the country's busiest rail lines and a key Olympic route have condemned Dutch-owned rail operator for returning 36 carriages which were earmarked to ease overcrowding.

Mail Online

• 'Titanic sank this morning': Telegrams sent by shipping firm's head to HQ after he was plucked to safety are revealedThe eight messages were sent by Bruce Ismay, head of the ship’s owners White Star Line, after he was rescued in the 1912 disaster.

The Mirror

• Driver with trapped shoelace cleared of biker deathA VAN driver was cleared over a biker’s death yesterday after his shoelace got stuck around the accelerator.

Belfast Telegraph

• G4S drives off with a £1.2m deal to provide security for Translink A Security firm has won a £1.2m contract with transport company Translink. Related StoriesConsumers give green light to plastic bag taxPeacocks' debt plan may see stores closeAdministration woes puts shoe shops at riskNama told it needs to be more 'entrepreneurial'No boost for economy as Bank holds interest rate

London Evening Standard

• The council chief behind night parking charges is so meter mad he keeps one in his living roomNapoleon carried home the artistic treasures of Europe. Lord Elgin paraded his marbles and Paris took home his Helen. Colin Barrow, it is said, has a parking meter

Manchester Evening News

• Metrolink tram extensions to Oldham, Rochdale and Droylsden delayed by 'technical compexities'Transport bosses are set to tell the region's council leaders that completion work on the planned extensions to Oldham, Rochdale and Droylsden could have to be put back.

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• Councillors call for U-turn on grittingJUST weeks after voting for cutting back on salting icy roads, Western Isles councillors are advocating a review after cars, buses and lorries slid off snow-covered routes across the islands.

The York Press

• £55m city transport masterplan unveiled DEVELOPERS could be told to fund nearly £55 million of improvements to York™s outer ring road in an attempt to kickstart one of the city™s biggest-ever land projects.

Carlisle News & Star

• 12 hurt as minibus crashes on icy Cumbrian roads Twelve young men were treated at hospital after the minibus they were travelling in overturned today.

Other Regional Press

• Delays after car hits rail barrierRAIL passengers faced delays yesterday after a car crashed into a barrier at a level crossing.
• Fears historic bike race will leave Northamptonshire permanently after Boxing Day race movedTHE Wild and Woolly motorcycle race, traditionally held on Boxing Day, has been moved to a venue outside Northamptonshire for the first time in 85 years.
• Long wait is over for free parking in the Vale of White Horse THE WAIT was over for traders yesterday as free parking was introduced at Vale of White Horse District Council car parks in Abingdon, Wantage and Faringdon.
• Aberdeen rogue parker™s car to be sold by councilA ROGUE Aberdeen parker who owed more than £2,800 in parking penalties is set to lose their car for good, council bosses revealed today.
• Tandem trikes for disabled cyclistsDISABLED people are being given the chance to go for a ride on Scotland™s only wheelchair accessible tandem bikes.

Global Rail News

• German firm which beat British train maker to UK contract can't deliver on timeTHE German firm that beat Britain’s last train maker to the lucrative Thameslink contract cannot deliver on time, it emerged yesterday.
• Mayor hails successful bid to make more London Overground stations step freePassengers with restricted mobility, parents with buggies, the elderly and travellers with heavy luggage are all set to benefit from easier access to London Overground stations ...
• Pendolino on East Coast Main Line?Alstom and Angel Trains have confirmed that the idea of running a Pendolino on the East Coast Main Line (ECML) is possible. Tentative discussions have taken ...

Railway Gazette

• Channel Tunnel barriers must go EUROPE: The UK's House of Lords EU Committee released a report on December 8 making key recommendations on the steps to be taken if the Channel Tunnel is to deliver its potential to carry more passengers and freight by rail. The main thrust of the 'Tunnel vision? Completing the European rail market' report is that the Tunnel would be carrying more traffic if there were genuine competition. The Lords conclude that 'while we believe that the liberalisation of international passenger rail services will achieve greater competition, continuing disparities between Member States' implementation of th...

Aviation Industry

• Treasury confirms tax changes announced in Autumn StatementFollowing the announcement in the Autumn Statement, the Treasury has now confirmed, in its response to the Air Passenger Duty consultation, that APD rates will rise in line with inflation from April 2012. The new rates were set out in full in the Treasury document. The response also set out the details of a new duty [...]

Green Miscellany

• iPhone 4 bicycle helmet cam Small, lightweight video cameras are now so cheap they are becoming increasingly popular among urban cyclists.read more

Other News Sources

• Road shuts for 10 months to stop sewers floodingFURIOUS traders have flooded Thames Water with complaints over plans to close roads outside their shops for 10 months.
• Painting of Forth Rail Bridge comes to an endTraditionally a job that never ends, the restoration has come to an end ahead of schedule.
• Ports minister cancels Dover summit at last minute'Urgent business' prevents Penning chairing bid to find common ground on controversial port privatisation plan
• Pressure grows for global ban on container line conferencesNew shipper forum plans to lobby governments for removal of antitrust immunity
• Dunstable Northern Bypass public inquiry set for FebruaryA public inquiry into Dunstable Northern Bypass will be re-started in February as the government continues to set a 2014 start date for the scheme.
• RMT demands names of those involved in News International surveillance operation and submits dossier of evidence to Leveson InquiryTRANSPORT UNION RMT today wrote to lawyers for News International demanding to know which journalists were involved in instructing an undercover surveillance operation against General Secretary Bob Crow by former policeman and MI5-trained Derek Webb. RMT is calling for full disclosure of information relating to the News International surveillance, and to any blagging and hacking operation against the union and its General Secretary.
• Labour board drops Boeing complaintThe US National Labour Relations Board has dropped its complaint against Boeing, following an eight-month saga that culminated 7 December with the 74% approval by...
• Owner fined for UK dumpingA TANKER owner has been fined £95,000 ($148,000) for fouling UK beaches with palm oil.