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

Monday, 09 March 2015

BBC News

• Cambridge University builds plant-powered bus shelterPlants are being used by Cambridge researchers to power what is being dubbed "the greenest bus shelter".
• Air tax cut 'could boost Scots economy by £1bn'Slashing the tax paid by air travellers could boost Scotland's economy by £1bn by 2020 and create almost 4,000 new jobs, a report has suggested.
• Solar-powered plane Solar Impulse-2 launched successfullyA record-breaking attempt to fly around the world in a solar-powered plane has got under way from Abu Dhabi.
• F1 tech still shaping tomorrow's transportMotorsport has a long history of feeding its innovations into road cars. And that technological transfer is set to continue into the future.

ITV News

• Transport Committee debates future of North West rail servicesMPs will today discuss how rail services in the North West will be run in the future.

Department for Transport

• Claire Perry officially opens £280 million Lincolnshire rail improvementsRail Minister sees how Great Northern Great Eastern line upgrade is improving freight links and increasing capacity.

Financial Times

• Supersonic car showcases UK engineeringProject is opportunity to interest children in science and technology to tackle skills shortage
• MH370 investigation fails to yield cluesMissing plane’s pilot displayed ‘no unusual behaviour’ before flight, says interim report

The Guardian

• MH370 report offers no answers but Malaysia vows to continue searchOn first anniversary of plane’s disappearance, report reveals nothing unusual except that locator beacon battery had already expired before MH370 vanishedA report published on the first anniversary of the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has been condemned by relatives of the missing passengers after failing to shed any light on what happened. The report, published on Sunday, reveals the battery in an underwater locator beacon had expired more than a year before the flight carrying 239 people from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing vanished without trace. But the significance of the findin...

The Herald

• MEP hits out at A DAMNING report which warned that the growth in zero-hours contracts for pilots was putting passengers at risk highlights the need to crack down on the employment loopholes abused by the aviation industry, a Scottish MEP has said.
• Call for England to follow in Scotland's footsteps and reduce drink drive limitPRESSURE is growing on Ministers south of the Border to follow in the footsteps of Scotland and lower the drink-driving limit.
• Edinburgh City Council begin work on new cycle corridorWORK will begin today on a scheme designed to foster a family-friendly cycle route in Edinburgh.
• Scotrail awards for eco-friendly driversTWO train drivers have been recognised for their skills at
• Billion pound benefit of cutting air passenger taxSLASHING the tax passengers pay for air travel would generate an additional £1 billion for the Scottish economy by 2020, an industry report claims.

The Independent

• Labour to curb soaring costs of HS2 rail linkLabour plans to review the cost of the £21.2bn second phase of the widely criticised High Speed Two railway if the party wins the general election in May in a bid to bring down the project’s soaring bill.

The Scotsman

• Flight MH370: Underwater beacon battery had expiredTHE first comprehensive report into the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 revealed yesterday that the battery of the locator beacon for the plane’s data recorder had expired more than a year before the jet vanished on 8 March, 2014.

The Telegraph

• Coming down the tracks: chaos for railway passengersMisery of commuters facing London Bridge delays is likely to spread as Network Rail feels the strain, Andrew Gilligan writes

City AM

• Third rail firm up for sale as Angel scouts for buyersRAIL company Angel Trains could follow the path of rivals Eversholt and Porterbrook to become the third British train firm to be sold in a year.

Daily Express

• MH370: Battery in crucial locator beacon died one YEAR before plane vanishedTHE BATTERY in an underwater locator beacon expired more than a YEAR before the Malaysia Airlines plane vanished, a new report has revealed.

Mail Online

• Britain has one of lowest petrol prices in Europe BEFORE tax but among the highest after EXCLUSIVE: With just weeks until the Budget, the revelation will pile pressure on George Osborne who has called on fuel companies to reduce charges in the wake of falling global oil prices.

The Mirror

• Solar Impulse 2: Sun-powered plane takes off in bid to be first to fly round the world The craft is plane wider than 747 but lighter than a  family car and is planning to complete the trip in five months

Birmingham Mail

• Boomtown Brum: Midlands Metro extension to bolster transport links across the regionSnow Hill and New Street stations will see Metro and Cross City Line connected on the network for the first time

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Deeside business chief 'sceptical' over rail plans Askar Sheibani is not yet convinced Network Rail's plans will materialise

Derby Telegraph

• Rail leaders hail £15m Crossrail deal for Derby supplierRAIL industry leaders in Derby have welcomed the award of contracts totalling £15 million to a city-based supplier. As reported in the Derby Telegraph, Garrandale, based in Alfreton Road, has been awarded the work by city train-maker Bombardier.

Wales Online

• Plaid Cymru calls for £4bn Welsh dividend from HS2 rail link spending in EnglandThe party says a raft of improvements could be made to transport here if Wales received a fair transport deal
• Transport expert fears Wales will lose its rail 'cash cow,' forcing it to pay higher subsidiesHe also warned Wales could lose its newest trains which travel between Milford Haven, Cardiff, Holyhead and Manchester

Wolverhampton Express and Star

• Rise in rail workers’ wages could push up HS2 bill by £3 billionA 74 per cent hike in wages for rail workers could see the bill for HS2 rocket by £3 billion, campaigners claim.

Other Regional Press

• South Derbyshire train makers at Derby's Bombardier boost with £15 millionSOUTH Derbyshire train workers are celebrating after landing multi-million contracts. Engineering firm Garrandale has landed £15 million of contracts to help train-maker Bombardier deliver the Crossrail contract.
• Pensioned-off Tube trains could be used on northern rail lines, claims union​RAIL Union RMT has claimed ​detailed information in the Northern Rail franchise documents confirmed that 30-year-old tube trains withdrawn from service on London Underground, currently undergoing refitting to diesel operation, could 
be dumped on railways in the north​.
• Network Rail staff to vote on four-year pay deal Thousands of Network Rail workers will today start voting on whether to accept a four-year pay deal described as “good and fair” by the company but attacked by union leaders.