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

Saturday, 29 September 2012

BBC News

• Bus strike on as offer rejectedBus drivers and engineers reject an improved pay offer from First Cymru meaning a 24-hour strike will go ahead on Monday.
• Bus ticket machines to be removedBus ticket vending machines in central London could start to disappear from the beginning of 2013, Transport for London says.
• Car insurance to be investigatedThe market for car insurance is referred to the Competition Commission for investigation on the basis that it is not working well for motorists.

Financial Times

• Manganese had only minutes to spareMaker of London™s black cabs delivers its results about an hour before a deadline that could have seen the group™s shares suspended

The Guardian

• Nepal plane crash: tributes paid to dead BritonsFamily, friends and colleagues talk of seven men who were on 'trip of a lifetime' when they and 12 others died in KathmanduTributes have been paid to seven Britons on a trekking holiday who were among 19 people killed when a small plane crashed after takeoff from Kathmandu airport, Nepal, possibly after hitting a large bird.The plane crashed on the bank of the Manohara river at 6.18am on Friday , in clear weather. No cause was immediately obvious, the deputy police chief at the Tribhuvan international airport, Superintendent Rabiraj Shrestha, said, but hitting a large bird may have been one po...

The Herald

• Drivers warned on M9 roadworksMOTORISTS have been warned to avoid the M9 and M9 spur leading to the Forth Road Bridge for six weekends from next month due to roadworks which are part of a £1.6 billion project to build a new crossing.

The Telegraph

• Sat navs can 'blind' drivers to the roadFocusing on the detail of something we have just seen diverts our attention away from things happening around us and results in an effect known as "inattentional blindness".
• Nepal's poor aviation safety recordNepal's aviation safety record is particularly poor, with 96 people having been killed in six crashes in the past two years.
• Tory backbenchers call for party to examine pay as you drive chargesPeople who only use their car for short hops in their neighbourhood should pay less in motoring tax than long distance drivers such as travelling salesmen, a Tory MP has said.

Daily Express

• OFT probe set to hit Direct Line flotationAN Office of Fair Trading probe into the car insurance industry could squeeze the price of Direct Line's flotation even after the insurer announced a discounted price range yesterday.

The Mirror

• Rail lucky: Man comes within inches of being hit by 140mph train at level crossing - dramatic photos Drivers watched in horror as the 61-year-old found himself between the two traffic barriers and fell over in the middle of the tracks

Birmingham Mail

• Sir Chris Hoy in saddle at The Cycle Show 2012HE is the greatest British Olympian with six gold medals.

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Police had to do 92 in a 30mph zone to catch speeding motoristA POLICE car sped at 94mph down a 30mph street in pursuit of a motorist who failed to stop, a court heard.
• RAF Valley Winchman gets bravery award for Llyn rescueAN RAF Valley winchman trapped under a dinghy while attempting to rescue sailors from a sinking ship in high seas off Llyn has received a bravery award.

Edinburgh Evening News

• Drivers warned to expect tailbacks as M9 work intensifiesMOTORISTS are being warned to expect massive disruption as a key motorway junction on the outskirts of the Capital undergoes a major revamp as part of the Forth Replacement Crossing project.

Liverpool Echo

• Port of Liverpool takes on biggest apprentice intake in 20 yearsTHE Port of Liverpool has taken on 12 new apprentices – its highest intake in 20 years.

Manchester Evening News

• New transport supremo for Greater ManchesterGreater Manchester is getting a new transport boss.
• Bus group Arriva to take non-urgent patients to Greater Manchester hospitals instead of ambulancesThousands of patients will be taken to hospital by one of Manchester's biggest bus companies and not the ambulance service, the M.E.N can reveal. Patients in Greater Manchester who require non-urgent transport to hospital will no longer be taken to hospital by North West Ambulance Service (NWAS). Instead they will be taken to hospital in transport provided by bus and train company The Arriva Group.

Metro

• Car insurance industry referred to Competition CommissionThe motor insurance industry is being investigated by the Competition Commission.Competition watchdogs have complained that the market is not working well for customers, with premiums being increased by £225 million a year. The motor insurance industry is being investigated by the Competition Commission The car insurance industry, which is worth an estimated £9.4 billion in the UK, has now been referred to the Competition Commission by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT).This comes after the discovery that at-fault drivers possessed little control over the way vehicles were provided to not-at-fau...

Sheffield Telegraph

• Pressure for cycles to be allowed on tram-trainsPRESSURE is being exerted by councillors in Sheffield to allow bicycles to be carried on the tram-trains to be trialled between the city and Rotherham.

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• Driver™s lucky escape after car hits lamppost on A90A driver had a lucky escape in an accident on a north-east road yesterday.

East Anglian Daily Times

• Stowmarket: ˜Improvements™ needed to town shuttleA BUS service which was only launched two months ago is being re-examined after a town councillor said it needed to improve.

Other Regional Press

• Banned driver cut up cars on motorbikeA banned driver rode along pavements and cut up cars on a motorbike, a court heard.
• First West Yorkshire nominated in UK Bus AwardsBUS workers in Yorkshire have been shortlisted for the UK Bus Awards.
• Christmas bus strike threat for AberdeenA THREAT of major disruption to Aberdeen buses in the run-up to Christmas was today slammed.

International Herald Tribune

• Europe to Seek Sanctions Against U.S. Over Boeing SubsidiesIn the latest move in a seven-year dispute, the European Union said it would ask the World Trade Organization for permission to levy up to $12 billion in sanctions.
• Carmakers Try to Figure Out the New GenerationHow do you make a car appeal to young people raised on digital gear? That's the central question facing the automakers at the Paris Motor Show.

Global Rail News

• FREE Rail Technology Show in London and DerbyRail technology specialists from around the world will be in London and Derby next week demonstrating their products at a FREE to attend micro rail show. At Railway Vehicle Enhancements (RVE) 2012 you will be able to see driver advisory systems, low energy on-board air conditioning, passenger counting information systems, hydrogen fuel generators for diesel [...]
• Communicating in the ChunnelTwenty five years ago, the operational telecommunications systems for the Channel Tunnel were being planned and designed. Radio systems were very important in this provision for, as well as providing continuous communication with the trains, there was need to reliably communicate with all the personnel who worked in the tunnel and to the emergency services [...]

Other News Sources

• Vinci Ringway secures finance on Isle of Wight highways PFIVince Ringway has reached financial close on the £800 million highways PFI project on the Isle of Wight.
• RMT suspends strike action this weekend at Amey RailRAIL UNION RMT today suspended strike action planned for this weekend at rail infra-structure contractor Amey after the company tabled an improved offer that will allow further talks to now take place.
• Crossrail hopper collapse at PaddingtonA hopper receiving muck from Crossrail™s tunnel boring machine near Paddington station collapsed yesterday forcing the closure of the adjacent railway line.