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

Sunday, 04 March 2012

BBC News

• Boat towed to safety after blazeA pilot boat is towed to shore after a fire breaks out on board in the middle of the Firth of Forth.
• Light aircraft crashes on runwayTwo people escape uninjured after a light aircraft crashes on the runway at Swansea Airport.
• Coalition 'must expand airports'Seventy business leaders, MPs and trade unionists have written to the Sunday Telegraph, calling on the government to support airport expansion.
• Man killed 'after row' on railwayA man is killed by a train in south-east London after he and a woman went on the tracks, apparently during an argument.

The Independent

• The forgotten victims: How the Titanic tragedy handed a devastating legacy to the people of Southampton In the 100 years since the Titanic sank, one group of people on board have been reduced to the role of mere ballast. Nameless in almost all accounts of the sinking, they were nevertheless the most numerous, and suffered losses which made even third-class passengers seem privileged. They were the crew: the poor bloody, loyal crew. As the ship slowly went down by the head, the engineers and firemen stayed below, keeping its electrics working until the final moments. Stewards ushered passengers to the boat decks, helped with life jackets, or gave them their own to wear. No member of the crew rod...
• Liverpool could lose favour if it messes with the Three GracesFor a century, mariners sailing into the Mersey port have been greeted by the majestic Three Graces. The Royal Liver Building and its less famous sisters, the Cunard and Port of Liverpool buildings, have dominated the skyline and earned the waterfront international recognition in the form of Unesco World Heritage Site status, along with the Acropolis, the Pyramids, Cambodia's Angkor Wat temple, the Taj Mahal, Stonehenge and the Great Barrier Reef.
• Drivers and passengers to face fines for litteringCar owners are to face fines of £100 if anyone throws litter from their vehicle.
• Ed Davey: 'The night I pulled a woman from the tracks as a train hurtled towards us' Covered in blood and carrying a stranger in his arms, Ed Davey turned to see the lights of a high-speed train hurtling towards him. A split-second decision to help a woman in trouble late one December night was about to cost him his life.

The Observer

• Channel tunnel to break mobile-free silence in JulySignal technology breakthrough and reported telecoms deals mean passengers will have mobile phone coverage in tunnelPassengers travelling through the Channel tunnel will be able to use their mobile phones 250ft under the seabed from July after a breakthrough in signal technology.Eurotunnel, which manages the 23-mile link between Folkestone and Calais, has reportedly announced a deal with four mobile providers, including France Télécom Orange and Free Mobile.The deal comes after the French technology group Alcatel-Lucent worked out how to link an undersea tunnel with mobile signals for the fi...
• Costa Concordia captain 'ordered crew to lie to coastguards'Hearing told skipper Francesco Schettino was not wearing his glasses and could not see the radar properlyPassengers from the Costa Concordia shared tales of their trauma at a preliminary hearing into the causes of the cruise ship disaster as damning new details about its captain emerged.Francesco Schettino, who is under house arrest after steering the ship on to rocks on the island of Giglio on 13 January, was not wearing his glasses that night, the ship's first officer has told investigators.
• Poland train crash leaves dozens dead or injuredHead-on collision happened during maintenance work, with one train ending up on the wrong track, reports sayTwo trains have collided head-on in southern Poland, killing a reported 15 people and injuring at least 54, officials have said.Both trains had been travelling on the same track towards each other and collided head-on, Andrzej Pawlowski, a member of the board of the state railway company PKP, said in an interview on the news station TVN24.He said one of the trains, which was travelling south from Warsaw to Krakow, should not have been on the track. The other train, headed from the easter...

The Scotsman

• Little-used stations ˜should be closed™RAILWAY stations in Scotland used by few passengers should be closed, a leading business group has argued.
• Skye fights subsidy cut to lifeline car ferryRESIDENTS of a tourism hotspot are fighting to save the last major car ferry to Skye from a cut in subsidies that they say threatens their livelihoods.

The Telegraph

• Heathrow in crisis: letter in fullHere is the letter from nearly 70 business leaders, representatives of chambers and commerce and union heads talk of the need to support Heathrow, promote competition and find a solution to this country’s aviation crisis.
• Why Heathrow is a test of the Prime Minister's LeadershipLike Basil Fawlty not mentioning the war (“I think I said it once, but I got away with it”), the third runway at Heathrow has become a “non-subject” in polite society.
• Cameron urged to back Heathrow expansionNearly 70 British business leaders and groups representing hundreds of others have demanded that the debate about building a third runway at Heathrow is re-opened after the Government ruled out the option before the last general election.

Mail Online

• David Cameron and London Mayor Boris Johnson take the tube together to Tory conferenceThe pair visited Transport for London's Surface Transport and Traffic Operations Centre, which will play a key role in managing congestion during the London Olympics.

This is Money

• Vince Cable's new mission to avert threat to VauxhallThe latest high-level intervention planned by Mr Cable comes after he was accused of being 'anti business' and it underlines his concerns over the fragility of the future of the Merseyside plant.

Edinburgh Evening News

• City BMX fans flag up stolen bike sightings before cyclist found and confrontedWHEN thieves snatched yet another bike from a city stairwell, with no likely suspects in the frame, there was little hope of its owner ever clasping eyes on it again.

Manchester Evening News

• Bus driver on the 192 takes student sex pest Syed Abbas straight to Longsight police stationA sex pest who groped two women on a bus got express justice “ when the driver changed his route and drove straight to a police station. Student Syed Abbas, 22, molested his victims on an early-morning 192 service between Levenshulme and the city centre.

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• Fuel campaigners urge probe over price risesFuel campaigners in the Western Isles have sent Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander what they claim is a dossier of evidence of discriminatory behaviour by the area™s main fuel distributor.

Yorkshire Post

• Flying Scotsman: Another train delay, but museum boss stays putTHE director of the National Railway Museum in York has confirmed he will stay in his job despite previously saying he would “fall on his sword” if the troubled restoration of the Flying Scotsman was not completed in time for a high-profile event next month.

Western Daily Press

• Western Daily Press published Iconic Exmoor No.300 bus service saved from cost-cutting axeLarge buses are not renowned for their ability to do nifty U-turns but that's exactly what one iconic bus service has achieved.

Other Regional Press

• UK & World News: Woman Red Arrow affected by deathsBritain's first female Red Arrows pilot is to move to a ground role after two of her flying colleagues were killed in separate tragedies.
• On track for a train disaster?Cracks in a railway sleeper are giving a Kent man sleepless nights as he fears it's only a matter of time before a train disaster.

Aviation Industry

• American Airlines says unions' talk time running outAmerican Airlines said time is running out for its unions to reach negotiated deals on cost savings targets and hinted it could ask the bankruptcy court to impose contracts on the unionized workers in order to win the savings the airline says it needs to exit Chapter 11.

Other News Sources

• Cunard ships line up for JubileeCunard shipping line's three
• Chinese oil firm starts producing biofuel for aviationChina’s biggest oil refiner has begun producing aviation biofuel using technology developed in its own research laboratories, and has submitted the fuel for approval by the aviation regulator.
• Call for better parking at Knuzden school KNUZDEN pupils have written to a councillor in a bid to have the road outside their primary school made safer.
• Volvo promotes blue corridors for long haul truckingLiquefied natural gas (LNG) is a viable lower-carbon alternative to diesel for heavy-duty long-haul trucks, but the necessary infrastructure for it in Europe is lacking. As a consequence Volvo Trucks is involved in efforts to establish ˜blue corridors™ with strategically placed filling stations to make the fuel more widely available. The transport industry accounts for around 25 per cent of Europe™s total carbon dioxide emissions, so competitive alternatives to diesel are sorely needed. Natural gas is one such alternative; admittedly it is also a fossil fuel, but it offers many environmental a...
• VOSA improves OCRS accuracyChanges to the Operator Compliance Risk Score system will help the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) to better target non-compliant operators based on their compliance history and are to be welcomed, says the Freight Transport Association. The FTA discussed the constraints and limitations of OCRS in its Freight Councils last summer and many of its recommendations are incorporated in the changes announced by VOSA today. James Hookham, FTA™s MD of Policy and Communications, said: œOCRS is one of the best innovations VOSA has come up with as a way of letting operators know where they st...
• Raymond Benjamin Appointed Secretary General of ICAO for a Second TermThe Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is pleased to announce that Raymond Benjamin (France) has been appointed as Secretary General of the Organization for a second ...
• Eight missing after vessel sinks in ChinaTwo sailors were rescued but eight others were missing after a cargo vessel sank off the southern coast of China, authorities said Saturday.
• Six killed as trains collide in PolandAt least six people were killed and nearly 50 injured in southern Poland after two trains had a head-on collision Saturday, said local officials.