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

Thursday, 12 April 2012

BBC News

• Devolved Transport Authority for YorkshireBBC Look North - Video Clip (from 8 mins 23 sec). Sound bites from Greg Mulholland MP (Lib Dem), Cllr Keith Wakefield and Alec Shelbrooke MP (con)
• Tory mayoral candidate to 'make prudent transport investment' [video]Conservative candidate for London Mayor Boris Johnson says promises to cut transport fares have been repeatedly rolled back in the past to fund investment projects.
• Ryanair set for more airport cutsRyanair's deputy chief executive is set to announce further cuts in the airline's operations at Edinburgh Airport.
• Olympics 'may overwhelm Heathrow'Heathrow Airport may struggle to cope with thousands of extra passengers passing though immigration during the London Olympics, MPs warn.
• BAA March traffic in Easter boostThe number of passengers travelling through BAA's UK airports in March rose by 4% on the previous year, thanks largely to Easter falling earlier in 2012.
• Lotus denies administration plansThe sports car maker Lotus moves to quash rumours that its owners are considering putting it in administration.
• BA plans to cut jobs at GatwickAlmost 600 British Airways employees at Gatwick could lose their jobs under cost-cutting plans announced by the airline.

Department for Transport

• Pothole - Prevention and a better cureLocal authorities across England have been given advice on how to tackle the problem of potholes on their roads following the publication of a review commissioned by Local Transport Minister Norman Baker.
• Multi-million pound boost for children™s cycle trainingMore than 300,000 school children will learn to cycle safely, competently and confidently on the road over the next year, thanks to nearly £11m worth of government funding allocated today, Norman Baker has announced.

Financial Times

• Error inflated economic case for HS2Mistake in estimating benefit-cost ratio for high-speed train line means project is close to government™s ˜poor™ value-for-money category

The Herald

• Passenger numbers soar at Aberdeen and Glasgow airportsPassenger numbers at two of BAA's three Scottish airports rose last month, according to new figures.
• £1m boost for station facilitiesTRAIN operator ScotRail has announced a £1 million programme of improvements in passenger facilities at 19 stations in Glasgow and Lanarkshire in the run up to the Commonwealth Games in 2014.

The Telegraph

• London 2012: Heathrow facing Olympics gridlock, say MPsSelect Committee chairman writes to Culture Secretary to express concern that planes could be left on runways and tourists deterred from returning due to problems with immigration stations at Heathrow.

Reuters News

• BAA March traffic boosted by emerging market growthLONDON (Reuters) - Traffic at airports operated by BAA rose by 4 percent in March, compared with the same month in 2011, helped by Easter being earlier this year and strong growth on routes to emerging markets.

Daily Express

• Flybe eyes take-off as family flights pick upREGIONAL airline Flybe hailed
• Airbus's jet boost with £1.5bn aircraft orderBRITAIN'S aerospace industry was given a boost yesterday when Indonesia's national airline placed a £1.5billion order for 11 Airbus passenger jets powered by Rolls-Royce engines.
• Mini leads from the front in BMW's China driveBOOMING Chinese demand for iconic British-built cars such as the Mini and Rolls-Royce has helped drive German owner BMW to its greatest sales figures.
• Record for HeathrowAIRPORTS operator BAA said surging demand for trips to Brazil and the North Sea oil hub of Aberdeen helped ramp up passenger numbers last month.

Mail Online

• Airports 'could be paralysed by Olympic influx' and Heathrow may become gridlockedPlanes full of passengers could be ‘left on runways’ as airports struggle to cope during the London 2012 Olympic Games, senior MPs have warned.

Belfast Telegraph

• No sign of take-off for regional airline stockAirline Flybe has seen no let-up in the
• Fast ferry returns to Scottish routesRelated StoriesBank talks boost for Thomas CookNo sign of take-off for regional airline stockFacebook forks out £629m for photo firmFacebook forks out £629m for photo firmTraffic wardens 'driving businesses out of Portadown'

Birmingham Mail

• Erdington MP Jack Dromey hails 'bright future' for Jaguar at Castle BromwichERDINGTON MP Jack Dromey has hailed Jaguar’s “bright future” with the F-Type sports car on its way to Castle Bromwich – less than two years after the factory faced closure.
• Laser pen attacks at Birmingham Airport have trebled in a yearLASER pen attacks on pilots coming in to land at Birmingham airport have almost trebled in just 12 months.

Liverpool Echo

• Revealed: The shocking truth about laser pen attacks on flights landing at Liverpool John Lennon airportYOBS using blinding lasers have attacked pilots on almost 100 planes coming in to land at Liverpool John Lennon in the past 12 months.

Metro

• Heathrow 'is ill-equipped to cope with London 2012 Olympics'Heathrow airport could be thrown into chaos as it struggles to cope with the mass influx of Olympic visitors, MPs have warned. FAcing trouble: Heathrow Airport (Picture: PA) Britain™s busiest airport might see lengthy queues because UK Border Agency officials claim there is ˜insufficient funding™ to open all of passport control, a leaked letter has revealed. Tourists, many from outside the EU, could be deterred from returning to Britain if they have to wait more than an hour to clear immigration, culture media and sport committee chairman John Whittingdale wrote. ˜The second impact may be th...

Sheffield Star

• Toilet charge at South Yorkshire bus stations PASSENGERS needing to use toilets at Sheffield and Barnsley Interchanges will have to pay 20p per visit.
• End in sight for pot-holed Sheffield roadsA two billion pound road repair project to finally consign Sheffield’s ’pot hole city’ tag to history will start in just four months’ time.

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• We™ll oppose third Don crossing, vow residentsAberdeen residents who face losing part of their gardens if a new road slices through their properties are preparing to continue their fight against the plans.
• Bid to remove A96 bridge bottleneck in forward gearPlans to remove a notorious bottleneck on one of the north-east™s busiest roads have taken a significant step forward.

Wales Online

• Welsh Government ministers criticised for shunning public transportWelsh Government ministers have been criticised after opting to travel by car to more than 800 events – while only using public transport on 42 occasions.

Yorkshire Post

• Monitoring zone plan for pollution blackspot DOZENS of households in an air pollution blackspot in a Yorkshire city are being exposed to concentrations of nitrogen dioxide caused by vehicle fumes which are above the Government’s recommended levels.
• Heathrow on track to fail Olympic challenge, say MPsMPs have questioned Heathrow Airport’s ability to cope with this summer’s Olympic Games.

Global Rail News

• Fhoss Technology launch new PPETrackside railway workers could be kept safer while they work thanks to the recent global launch of a new product that brings protective clothing into the 21st century. Fhoss Technology® Ltd, based in Somerset, unveiled a new illuminated clothing system that helps equipment operators see other workers in poorly lit conditions and the dark. To [...]
• Railway stations to receive £1m investment for Commonwealth GamesScotRail today announced a £1 million programme of improvements in passenger facilities at 19 stations in Glasgow and Lanarkshire in the run up to the Commonwealth Games in 2014. This will meet a commitment to Scottish Ministers to deliver enhancements to support spectators travelling by rail to the Games events. Work will begin later this [...]
• Smartcards are comingThomas Edmondson, a station master on the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway, invented the paste card ticket in 1837 which saw 150 years of use on Britain™s railways. With today™s rapidly changing technology, its successors will be lucky to last a fraction of this time. The latest development is the ITSO smartcard, currently being piloted by [...]
• Train operator invests over £100k in Community Rail PartnershipsGreater Anglia has announced plans to provide financial support for the region™s Community Rail Partnerships (CRPs) through a new investment of £125k to support the work of the CRPs as part of the train operator™s current franchise term. £50,000 will be invested ‘immediately’ to provide extra support this year for the work of the partnerships [...]
• Tributes paid to Centro chairmanTributes have been paid to the chairman of Centro, Councillor Angus Adams, who has died suddenly aged 67. Centro said Cllr Adams was taken ill at the home of his partner, Jennie, on Tuesday April 10. He leaves two daughters and three grandchildren. A Conservative member of Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council, he had been chairman [...]
• Union calls for action after ˜another rail runaway™The RMT has ‘renewed its call for secondary protection to prevent death and injury by rail runaways after yet another potentially fatal incident late last month’. The union said the incident, in which a road-rail dumper truck ‘ran free for a quarter of a mile before hitting buffers at Bradford Interchange station on March 25, [...]

Railnews

• More spent on car parks than key main line The House of Commons is to debate the delayed upgrade to the Midland Main Line next Monday, against a background of rising concern that electrification of the route could again be placed on the back burner. One business leader has claimed that more money has been spent on improving car parks on the West Coast Main Line in the past five years than on the whole of the Midland route.

Aviation Industry

• Stansted: Passenger numbers down again in March, but rate of decline easesPASSENGER numbers at Stansted Airport fell again last month despite an earlier start to the Easter holiday period, figures from owner BAA revealed today.
• Heathrow breaks through 70-million passenger barrierAirport reaches new milestone as owner warns again on capacity constraints

Other News Sources

• RMT renews call for action after another rail runawayBRITAIN'S BIGGEST rail union has renewed its call for secondary protection to prevent death and injury by rail runaways after yet another potentially fatal incident late last month - the day after RMT held another round of talks with Network Rail.