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

Tuesday, 17 April 2012

BBC News

• New bus station changes orderedChanges at a bus station that opened last year as a part of a £25m scheme in Llanelli will be met by the developer, says Carmarthenshire council.
• Jet in Gatwick emergency landingA plane bound for the United States is forced to make an emergency landing at Gatwick Airport, leaving 14 people with suspected fractures.
• Airline staff meet over job fearsBritish Midland workers at George Best Belfast city airport go into consultation with the company's new owners about possible job losses.
• Rail line tramway plans discussedPlans to run trams on railway lines in parts of Greater Manchester are being discussed by transport bosses.

Financial Times

• Man who shaped modern Maersk diesDeath of Maersk McKinney-Møller, chief executive for 28 years, severs last connection between shipping group™s senior management and founding family
• Flydubai sets flight path to profitsBusiness travellers have been quick to embrace the fast-expanding low-cost carrier that is taking on the big operators in the region
• Georgian Railway to list in LondonPlan for IPO, the date for which will depend on market conditions, will make the company the first quoted state-controlled railway monopoly

The Guardian

• Minicab boss granted meeting with transport minister after Tory donationChairman of minicab firm granted interview with Philip Hammond over bus lanes after £250,000 donation to partyThe chairman of a minicab company that wants access to London's restricted bus lanes was granted a private meeting with the transport secretary at which they discussed the matter after his firm donated £250,000 to the Conservative party.John Griffin, the chairman of Addison Lee, met Philip Hammond last October and raised the question of access to the lanes. He also pushed the idea that the government should outsource chauffeur services for ministers to private companies.Addison Lee, wh...

The Herald

• Forth Road Bridge motorists facing further delaysURGENT repairs to the Forth Road Bridge have been planned for later this year after engineers concluded that nearly 1000 heavy duty bolt assemblages would need to be replaced, at a cost of £5 million.
• Megabus sleeper services extendedSTAGECOACH chief executive Sir Brian Souter is to start running double-decker Megabus sleeper coaches from a number of Scottish cities to London within the next year after a pilot service sold out most nights of the week.

The Independent

• Don't miss the bus: Paris from £2.30 (but it takes half a day) New Megabus service is cheaper than paying for a latte on a cross-Channel ferry if you book early
• Four hurt in emergency Gatwick landing Four passengers were injured when a Virgin Atlantic plane had to make a full emergency landing at Gatwick airport today with reports of a small fire on board.Related StoriesTfL slams minicab firm Addison Lee for instructing drivers to use bus lanesIPCC to handle all racial casesAsian officer wins £840,000 compensationMinimum wage now worth lessFracking for gas allowed in UK despite earthquakes
• TfL slams minicab firm Addison Lee for instructing drivers to use bus lanesLondon™s leading minicab firm has instructed its drivers to risk fines of up to £1,000 by using the capital™s bus lanes.Related StoriesFour hurt in emergency Gatwick landingIPCC to handle all racial casesAsian officer wins £840,000 compensationMinimum wage now worth lessFracking for gas allowed in UK despite earthquakes

The Scotsman

• SNP: Transport is key issue in Borders PLANS for a direct rail link between Edinburgh and Carlisle are at the heart of local transport pledges set out by the SNP yesterday ahead of next month’s council elections.

The Telegraph

• Stagecoach launches £1 coach service to Europe Transport company Stagecoach has launched a new UK-to-Europe coach service on Monday, with seats starting at £1.
• Sir Richard Branson has created his own turbulence at Virgin Emergency landings aside, it's not Gatwick but Heathrow that's giving Sir Richard Branson such a pain in his undercarriage.
• Addison Lee sparks row with TfL after telling drivers to use London bus lanes Transport for London has warned minicab drivers working for Addison Lee that they could face criminal prosecution if they carry out orders issued by the private hire company to drive in the capital’s bus lanes.

Press Association

• Bus firm launches European service Transport company Stagecoach has launched a new UK-to-Europe coach service, with seats starting at £1.

Mail Online

• Gatwick airport emergency landing: 15 injured as cabin fire forces Virgin plane to landThe 299 passengers and 13 crew on board were evacuated using escape slides in a drama that closed the airport for several hours.

The Mirror

• Stagecoach chief defends 5% hike in bus fares Stagecoach’s UK bus arm carries over two million passengers a day, on 8,100 vehicles and employs 23,000 staff

This is Money

• Megabus £1 tickets to Paris: have they all gone?The Stagecoach-owned company is also running routes to Boulogne, Brussels and Amsterdam. But a quick search for bargain £1 tickets to all four destinations on megabus.com proved tricky today - mainly because there weren't any.

ATOC

• Government must act now to reform rail franchises The Government’s commitment to reforming rail franchises has “barely begun to be turned into reality”,...
• 2012 Games ticket holders need to book rail travel quickly, operators warnLondon 2012 spectators could find themselves paying more than they need to for travel to and from Games events unless they arrange their train tickets within the next few weeks,...

Network Rail

• RECORD YOUR RAILWAY VIEW AND WIN £10,000 IN LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR COMPETITION
• STATION UPGRADE GIVES SITTINGBOURNE A LIFT

Journal Live

• Holy Island visitors give thumbs up to causeway warning system trialVISITORS to Holy Island have given their backing to a pilot scheme aimed at reducing the number of people getting stranded and having to be rescued from the causeway.

Metro

• Richard Branson apologises as four hurt in Gatwick emergency landingVirgin Atlantic president Sir Richard Branson has apologised after four passengers were hurt during an emergency landing at Gatwick Airport following reports of a fire in the cockpit. Virgin Atlantic flight VS27 on the runway at Gatwick Airport after its emergency landing (Picture: Getty) The passengers, among 229 on board alongside 13 crew members, sustained minor injuries when the Virgin Atlantic A330-300 aircraft was forced to make a full emergency landing due to a 'technical issue' shortly after taking off bound for Orlando, Florida.Flights in and out of Gatwick were suspended for one hour...

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• A9 £3m ˜waste™AN OVERTAKING lane on a major north road that was closed for a year after a near head-on collision has cost the taxpayer more than £3million.

Wolverhampton Express and Star

• Birmingham bus service to the Continent A new UK-to-Europe coach service has been launched today that will carry passengers from Birmingham to the continent with tickets starting from as little as a few pounds.

Yorkshire Post

• Billionaire shipping magnate dies aged 98Billionaire Arnold Maersk Mc-Kinney Moeller, the Dane who created the global shipping and oil conglomerate A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S, has died aged 98.

Other Regional Press

• Transport provokes debate for elections BUS services and a controversial highways trial are among the key election concerns for voters in Penhill and Upper Stratton ward.
• The £14m road to nowhereA controversial £14m railway crossing is set to be a bridge to nowhere for a few more days - after its opening was delayed.

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• DHL uses rail to reduce sea freight carbon emissionsThe carbon footprint of sea freight transportations DHL has been reduced through the use of rail services.According to the logistics giant, it is employing the train network to containers from road to rail, cutting CO2 volumes by 365 tonnes.The German group noted moving freight from Bremen to shipping firms' terminals in Hamburg and Bremerhaven is part of its ongoing efforts to "develop environmentally-friendly solutions for logistics processes"."As much as 50 percent of a product's carbon footprint is generated in the course of transportation,&qu...

Global Rail News

• Amtrak on track to set new ridership recordAmtrak is on track to set another new annual ridership record as passenger counts across its national network for the first six months of fiscal year 2012 (October 2011 “ March 2012) are up 3.7 percent over the same period last year when the current record was established. A closer look at the numbers show [...]
• ˜Reckless™ rail youths sought by police in NottinghamshireBritish Transport Police is attempting to trace three youths who ‘deliberately forced train doors open before climbing off a train and walking down the tracks’ near Trowell Junction in Nottingham. Officers have released images of the two girls and one boy they would like to trace in connection with the incident, which took place on [...]
• Looking good for InfrarailTransport Minister Theresa Villiers will formally open Infrarail 2012 at the NEC in Birmingham on 1 May. Later that morning, the minister will deliver a keynote address as part of a seminar programme devised by the rail engineer in partnership with show organisers Mack Brooks Exhibitions. Ms Villiers™ speech is expected to set the tone [...]
• Infrarail special: Desktop signal sightingGioconda will once again be displaying its latest developments in G-RAST desktop tools along with its full range of services to the Rail Industry, from Signal Sighting Committee Chair consultancy to Signal Sighting Form production, Desktop Signal Sighting, Driver Briefing and beyond. Staff will be on hand to explain the best process for efficient desktop [...]

Aviation Industry

• United Airlines finance chief leaves for AppleThe parent company of United Airlines said on Monday its chief financial officer is leaving to take a job at Apple Inc.
• Gatwick runway reopens after emergency landingVirgin aircraft bound for Orlando has to make emergency landing

Other News Sources

• Four to one vote for strike action on Tube Lines in fight for pension's justiceTUBE UNION RMT today confirmed a four to one vote for strike action in a ballot of Tube Lines staff in support of a dispute over pensions and benefits justice.
• Tube bosses taking 'cavalier risks' with station training, says RMTLONDON TUBE bosses faced with a self-inflicted Olympics station-staffing crisis are taking 'cavalier risks' with passenger and staff safety by attempting to sidestep legally enforceable standards of training, the network's biggest union says today.
• J Murphy and Siemens team up for Network Rail dealJ Murphy & Sons has secured the North West Electrification Phase 1 Traction Power Supply contract with Network Rail, worth more than £5 million in partnership with Siemens Smart Grid, Rail Electrification.
• Network Rail launches new infrastructure projects armNetwork Rail™s new infrastructure projects arm has come into operation today as it aims to deliver schemes worth £2bn annually.