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Saturday, 08 December 2012

BBC News

• City bus strike dates announcedStrike action in the First Aberdeen bus pay dispute is set to start on Saturday 15 December, it is announced.
• DVLA bans councils from databaseHundreds of local authorities have been banned from accessing the Driver Vehicle and Licensing Agency database over suspected abuses in the past three years, it emerges.
• Disabled man left on bus in depotA 60-year-old disabled passenger is mistakenly left on a bus parked overnight in a Manchester depot.
• E-fit of man who fell from planeAn e-fit is created of a man who died before his body fell from the undercarriage of a plane near Heathrow airport.
• Buses collide in icy conditionsThree people are hurt after two buses collide in icy conditions in the Drumchapel area of Glasgow.
• Trains fiasco 'to cost taxpayer'The collapse of the £5bn West Coast Main Line deal will come at
• Aston Martin gets cash injectionAston Martin says it will receive a £150m investment from Italian private equity firm Investindustrial in exchange for a 37.5% stake in the luxury carmaker.

Financial Times

• Maldives takes airport from consortiumGovernment acts after a Singaporean court ruled that it had the sovereign right to seize the facility, creating friction with neighbouring India
• Delta eyes Singapore™s Virgin stakeUS group is attracted by Heathrow slots but the Asian airline will probably have to take a loss on the £600m it paid in 1999 for 49% holding
• AMR recovery closer as pilots back dealTom Horton, chief executive, told staff the airline was now approaching the end of its restructuring and ˜the beginning of the new American™

The Herald

• Virgin Trains urges Network Rail to improve West Coast Main LineVIRGIN Trains has reignited a row about track and signal failures that have left it with the worst punctuality record of any UK train operator.

Reuters News

• Transport for London routes cash into hedge fundsLONDON (Reuters) - The pension fund of Transport for London, the government body in charge of the capital's transport network, is putting more money into higher-risk hedge funds to help to plug a funding gap.

Daily Express

• Italians buy £150m Aston Martin stakeASTON Martin is set to ramp up its global expansion after an Italian private equity group bought a £150million stake in the British luxury car maker.

Mail Online

• A picture that says it all: Father displays dead daughter's mangled car in warning not to drink and drive like she didA grieving father is displaying his dead daughter's wrecked car in a bid to stop people from drinking and driving this Christmas. The twisted wreck will be displayed in town centres and outside nightclubs in Hampshire.
• Cold weather breakdowns could be down to diesel contamination, says AAThe AA said it had received call-outs from a number of stricken motorists complaining that their cars suddenly felt 'sluggish' soon after a fill-up.

ATOC

• Train companies respond to National Audit Office reportResponding to the National Audit Office report on the Intercity West Coast franchise competition, Michael Roberts, Chief Executive of the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC),...

Journal Live

• Traders welcome Northumberland Christmas car parking decisionTRADERS’ leaders have welcomed a decision to provide a week’s free car parking in the run-up to Christmas – and rejected claims that it will cause traffic chaos in their market towns.
• Witness appeal in rail-line crash probePOLICE have renewed their appeal for witnesses to a rail-line car crash which left an 11-year-old boy critically injured.

Liverpool Echo

• Monarch Airlines apologises after delay strands Liverpool FC players in ItalyAIRLINE bosses today apologised to Liverpool FC after the first team was left stranded in Italy.

London Evening Standard

• War On Britain's Roads cyclist Gareth Williams gets death threatsA campaigning cyclist whose footage of motorists driving recklessly in London featured in a controversial TV documentary has received death threats.
• News in brief: Bond raises £275m for Heathrow, Recession threat looms in Germany, US firm in £175m deal for AurumHeathrow Airport has raised  £275 million through a bond at a much lower interest rate than two years ago ” in a vote of confidence from more than 100 institutional investors.

Sheffield Star

• Lack of airport ˜hits hotels™SHEFFIELD hotels and conference centres are losing trade due to the city’s lack of an airport, the Federation of Small Businesses has claimed.

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• Stranded boat towed to safety by rescue teamA seven-hour rescue mission was launched after a small fish farm boat ran aground a short distance from port.
• Road-row clan chief on warpathA clan chief yesterday vowed to fight on after a council was granted a court order against him in a bitter access row.

This Is Local London Network

• Speedway opens its doors to dare-devil kart drivers A former 'Buddhist temple' has been transformed into a race course for adrenaline-seeking drivers.

Wales Online

• Rail passengers facing new year price rises of up to 9%Rail passengers could find themselves facing fare increases of up to 9% when they buy their ticket in the new year.

Yorkshire Post

• Boost for Leeds commuters as bus firms pull out stops with ticket dealBUS operators in West Yorkshire have joined forces to give their passengers a hassle-free ticket to ride.
• Plea to steer clear of door-to-door grit sellers as scale of road salt theft from bins revealedNearly one in six councils had road salt stolen last year, with highways bosses urging people to be on the look-out for thieves stealing grit this winter.

East Anglian Daily Times

• Bury St Edmunds: Successful second year for motorcycle rental firm TriplemotoA MOTORCYCLE rental business launched in 2011 is about to complete a highly successful second season, with bookings up 75% on year one.

Other Regional Press

• Updated: Banbury Road open again following electricity substation fire BANBURY Road is open again after firefighters put out a blaze at an electricity substation.
• Jobs are set to go at Portsmouth defence contractorUP to nine jobs are to go at a firm which makes vital defence electronics.
• Exclusive: Aberdeen bus drivers set for festive period strike action BUS services are set to be axed on Hogmanay as part of two weeks of strike action in Aberdeen.
• Helicopter makes emergency landing at Aberdeen AirportANOTHER Super Puma was forced into an emergency landing at Aberdeen Airport.

Campaign for Better Transport

• Why do so many football fans travel by car?7 December 2012: As part of our football travel project, West Ham supporter Peter Caton writes about the problems faced by fans when going to matches by public transport. read more

Global Rail News

• Bombardier announces joint venture with Shanghai ShentongBombardier and Shanghai Shentong Metro Group have announced the formation of a joint venture offering maintenance and repair services for China’s metro trains. Jianwei Zhang, president of Bombardier China, said: “This joint venture for metro cars maintenance marks a new milestone for Bombardier Transportation business in China.” Laurent Troger, president services, Bombardier Transportation, said: “Today’s [...]

Other News Sources

• German owners face fresh tax nightmareHUGE insurance tax claims on vessel hire pools could prompt another spike in German shipping bankruptcies, VDR warned today.
• RMT announces strike dates on SERCO Northern Isles ferries over threat to jobs and servicesSHIPPING UNION RMT today confirmed strike dates on the SERCO Northern Isles ferry services in Scotland after a massive vote for action provoked by the company reneging on earlier commitments to the workforce, ripping up normal consultation procedures and announcing that it is to press on with attacks on hours, the casualization of safety critical posts and a programme of cuts to staffing levels and services.
• RMT estimates real cost of West Coast fiasco will be at least £100 millionRAIL UNION RMT today said that the true cost of the West Coast franchising fiasco will be at least £100 million, and possibly much more, and warned that the price of the systemic failure of the rail privatisation policy, which runs right to the very top of Government, will be paid for in cuts to essential rail investment and increased passenger fares.
• Autumn Statement: full details of transport projects winning £1.5bn of fundingThe Department for Transport has set out full details of the transport projects winning funding as part of the extra £5.5bn for infrastructure promised by chancellor George Osborne in his Autumn Statement this week.

Other Subscription Services

• Drop the pilot?A UK Bill broadens the eligibility of a ship™s officer for a Pilotage Exemption Certificate
• US poised to leap ahead in LNG-fuelledGeneral Dynamics Nassco lands pioneering order for gas-powered boxships