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Sunday, 07 October 2012

BBC News

• VIDEO: Festival celebrates cycle cultureThe London Bicycle Film Festival has begun, at a time of growing interest in cycling around the world.
• Airport worker 'missed fake bomb'An airline security worker is suspended after failing to spot a fake bomb as it passed through the X ray machine at Manchester airport.

The Guardian

• This railway fiasco reveals all that's wrong with the Tories If you hollow out the state, expensive disasters like the West Coast franchise will become routine
• London: the high fares city Had Ken Livingstone won the mayoral election in May, the cost of bus and tube travel in the capital would have been slashed today

The Independent

• 10 ways to fix our railways In a history littered with ignominious moments, this week was a low point in the annals of Britain’s train network. But don’t despair, Simon Calder has a plan to get them back on track
• Margareta Pagano: We need a railway to make the Stephensons proud The West Coast Line shambles is the end result of a franchising system that has made our once-great network a global laughing stock

The Telegraph

• West Coast Main Line: scrapped bid reveals chaos at the heart of government Scrapping the bid for the West Coast mainline has revealed chaos at the heart of government.
• Daniel Moyland flies to defence of 'Boris Island' airport You can’t knock Daniel Moylan’s can-do optimism. The man freshly appointed by the Mayor of London to make the case for a new hub airport east of London is warming to the task. But almost every remark begs a fresh question.
• David Cameron drawn into West Coast Main Line row David Cameron personally intervened in the bidding process for the West Coast Main Line and asked the Cabinet Secretary, Sir Jeremy Heywood, to investigate the matter after a private appeal from Sir Richard Branson.
• No way to run a grown-up railwayLast Tuesday, as daylight faded on the evening rush hour, Virgin Trains was providing some much-needed stress relief – for its customers, and perhaps also for itself. On the platform at Stafford, the company launched “the UK’s first pet therapy service at a railway station”, with a “collection of animals available for commuters to sit with and stroke”. Given Virgin’s imminent extinction as a rail operator, one unkind observer thought one of the creatures should have been a dodo.

Mail Online

• Manchester Airport security worker fails to detect fake explosivesShe was suspended after she did not detect the dummy explosive at Manchester Airport (pictured) meaning it could have been taken on board a flight.

This is Money

• West Coast Main Line fiasco will not halt franchising system despite £100m costGovernment has no intention of changing the franchising system, which has led to taxpayers having to pay more than £100million for the Department for Transport’s error.

Belfast Telegraph

• The wingman: Ryanair boss on his journey to the topMichael O'Leary doesn't do interviews. He does performances. Like a great stage actor, he listens attentively to each question, waits for his cue and off he goes with Shakespearian aplomb, only with more swear words.Related StoriesCanada offers new career option for skilled workersNew car sales are back in driving seat with first climb in five yearsHaulage firm duo's boardroom banQuinn family promised Russian 'danger money'Vision to achieve your growth potential

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Clwyd South MP Susan Elan Jones joins campaign to keep cyclists safeAN MP is backing a campaign to keep cyclists safer on the road.

Journal Live

• Council leader condemns company over Newcastle Airport bonuses scandalCOPENHAGEN Airports has been labelled an “untrustworthy” business partner by council chiefs dismayed at the group’s role in the Newcastle Airport bonus scandal.

Blackpool Gazette

• Bus complaints on the agendaLATE buses, crowded trams and loss of services.

Bucks Free Press

• 12-mile cycleway launched in South Bucks EIGHT keen cyclists pedalled their way into local history as the first to ride a new cycleway across the South Bucks district.

Other Regional Press

• New ramp makes train travel easier for the disabled IMAGINE having to take a train to the next railway station just to change platform. This was the bizarre situation for disabled people using Emsworth railway station because there was no proper access to the Chichester-bound platform.
• ˜Robots™ could move planes around at Aberdeen AirportHI-TECH œrobots could be introduced to taxi aircraft at Scottish airports including Aberdeen, in a bid to cut pollution.
• ˜Aberdeen bus drivers face paying £2,000 for training™IT WAS claimed today that First bus drivers “ who have already rejected a pay offer from bosses “ could be forced to pay for their own training.
• New high speed rail 'bombshell sparks Warwickshire council leaders' protest to governmentPLANS to lay maintenance track around a quiet Warwickshire village to serve the planned high speed rail line have infuriated council leaders.

Other News Sources

• News from Jenny Jones AM: œHeathrow review should report before 2015 General Election 3 October 2012 A motion has been submitted to the London Assembly calling on the Government to ensure the Independent Commission on the UK™s airport capacity œpublishes its final report before to the 2015 General Election. It is proposed by Jenny Jones and seconded by Andrew Boff, a Conservative member of the London Assembly. No read more