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

Monday, 05 March 2012

BBC News

• Electric car centre set to openThe public will be able to test-drive and hire electric vehicles at a new facility which is set to open in centre of Glasgow.

Financial Times

• BAA signals legal action over Heathrow Ministers are heading for a legal showdown with BAA, Heathrow’s owner, should the government continue to rule out allowing a third runway at London’s main airport.
• Estuary offers chance to do away with Heathrow albatross Sir, You quote Willie Walsh as saying that, in 2050, BA will [still] be flying from a two-runway airport at Heathrow (“Walsh challenges ministers to rethink third runway at Heathrow”, March 1). Sadly, I fear he may be right
• Costa Concordia experts set July deadlineJudge and prosecution are said to be keen to press ahead with investigations after a pre-trial hearing into capsizing of the cruise liner

The Guardian

• London Southend airport: flying under the radar (and to the left of the pier) With a speed to make Heathrow green with envy, London Southend has undergone ambitious expansion

The Herald

• Revealed: traffic fumes safety limits set to be breachedthousands of people will be exposed to dangerous levels of air pollution in Scotland's towns and cities for years to come because of the Scottish Government's failure to cut traffic fumes, ministers have been told.
• Chance to try electric vehicles at exhibitionDRIVERS will be able to try out electric vehicles as part of an exhibition dedicated to showcasing renewables being launched in Glasgow today by power company SSE.
• Waverley escalators flawedNETWORK Rail has admitted the IT system that runs one of the key facets of the multi-million pound overhaul of Waverley Station is so ridden with faults it is being replaced entirely.

The Telegraph

• Cable drive to safeguard UK jobs at Geneva Motor Show Business Secretary Vince Cable will head to the Geneva Motor Show on Monday ahead of a series of key announcements on the future of the UK car industry.
• Car owners face fines if passengers litterMotorists who let a passenger throw rubbish out of the window of their car face a £100, even if they were not driving at the time.

Reuters News

• Businesses urge UK to re-think Heathrow runway plans Some 70 British business leaders and groups representing hundreds of others have written an open letter to Britain's government demanding the debate about building a third runway at London's Heathrow airport be re-opened.

Daily Express

• Jaguar Land Rover gears up for ChinaCAR giant Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is on the road to begin making cars in China to tap into soaring demand for luxury goods in the world's second biggest economy.

This is Money

• Bob Diamond has truly lost grip on reality The industrial lunacy that saw this growth-starved Government award a £1.6billion Thameslink contract to Siemens of Germany rather than to Bombardier, whose factory in Derby is Britain’s last remaining train maker, appears mercifully to be under review.

Derby Telegraph

• Creative thinking is needed if Labour are not to be outflankedTHE senior Labour figure to whom I was speaking appeared to fully comprehend the political difficulty in which the party was in danger of finding itself.
• Creative thinking is needed if Labour are not to be outflankedTHE senior Labour figure to whom I was speaking appeared to fully comprehend the political difficulty in which the party was in danger of finding itself.

Manchester Evening News

• Traffic banned from entrance to Deansgate as part of new pedestrian zone outside Manchester Cathedral The controversial traffic ban on a stretch of Deansgate was today facing its first rush-hour test. A 300-yard section of the busy city centre road outside Manchester Cathedral has been turned into a pedestrian-only zone.

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.

Bucks Free Press

• Cross Rail impact to be considered at meetingTHE impact on Marlow's train network of a major new railway under central London will be addressed at a meeting this month.

Other Regional Press

• MP Praises People PowerBurnham on Sea and Highbridges MP says the county counties decision to halt plans to scrap vital bus service in the area demonstrates how people power can work
• Girl pleads with Mayor to save bus linkTwelve-year-old Emily Tobin has taken her fight over an axed school bus to borough hall in a damning letter to the Mayor.

Other News Sources

• Biz leaders urge UK to rethink Heathrow expansion Some 70 British business leaders and groups representing hundreds of others have written an open letter to Britain's government demanding the debate about building a third runway at London's Heathrow airport be re-opened.
• Rail link could stop water shortages, but critics say plans won’t wash THAMES Water says it will be ’looking at’ plans to build a water pipe which stretches the entire length of the proposed HS2 line to pump water around the country in times of drought.
• Transport charity gets £9k grant TWO-THOUSAND more elderly and disabled people will be helped a year in Crawley thanks to a county council grant.
• High Speed 2 promoter to work on Scottish extension Transport secretary Justine Greening has told high speed rail company HS2 Ltd to work with the Scottish Government on proposals to extend the route north of the border.
• Appeal to use canal to transport Crossrail tunnels Plans to use 30,000 heavy goods lorries to transport Crossrail tunnel segments down Harrow Road have been rubbished by those in charge of the Grand Union Canal.