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

Tuesday, 29 March 2016

BBC News

• Operation to cut motorbike casualtiesAn operation to cut the number of motorcycle-related deaths and injuries in Wales is to take place on Easter Monday.
• Three children 'standing' in moving carA 42-year-old woman is reported to the procurator fiscal after three children are found standing up in the back of a moving car.
• VIDEO: Storm Katie causes damage across LondonWind gusts of up to 105 mph (170 kph) from Storm Katie have caused Gatwick-bound flights to be diverted, and damage across London.
• Motorists warned to expect M74 delaysMotorists are being warned to expect delays on the M74 from next weekend as motorway upgrades are carried out.
• Rail satisfaction 'up 7% in decade'Rail fares have gone up 54% in 10 years - more than double inflation rates - while customer satisfaction has improved by 7% over the same period, research suggests.
• Maserati recalls 21,000 cars in ChinaItalian luxury car maker Maserati is recalling nearly 21,000 cars in China over a design defect that could increase the risk of a collision.

Financial Times

• Spanish trains chief gauges global marketPotential demand is huge with 16,000km of high-speed track under construction globally

The Guardian

• Car insurance and the little-known world of credit hire companiesA driver who did nothing wrong found herself drawn into a legal action over the £4,000 hire of a courtesy vehicleWhen another driver hit Jane Ashdown’s car she was given a temporary replacement vehicle with gratifying speed. The reason for this alacrity became clear when she discovered that the company which organised the three-and-a-half week rental was demanding £4,216 from the third-party insurer.Now Ashdown* has been drawn into a legal action involving the insurer of the car she was hit by and the company which arranged her hire car. The insurer refused to pay and to Ashdown’s horror, hire...
• A new Titanic? US and Canada prepare for worst as luxury Arctic cruise sets sailCoast guard officials are training for catastrophe as melting sea ice opens up Northwest Passage allowing liner to cruise with 1,700 from Alaska to New YorkOn 13 April, coast guard officials from the US and Canada will train for a cruise ship catastrophe: a mass rescue from a luxury liner on its maiden voyage through the remote and deathly cold waters between the Northwest Passage and the Bering Strait.The prospect of just such a disaster occurring amid the uncharted waters and capricious weather of the Arctic is becoming all too real. Continue reading...
• RAF Tornado fighter nearly hits microlight plane after map errorMilitary maps redrawn after it emerges that site of civilian airfield in Nottinghamshire was marked in the wrong spot An RAF fighter pilot left “little margin for error” after a near miss with a microlight that was coming in to land, according to an air safety report.The Tornado was flying at low level at about 483mph on the Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire border near Headon airfield when it passed 300ft beneath the “startled” microlight pilot. Continue reading...
• More child road deaths in summer months than winter, says RAC reportBetter weather and longer days in summer mean more children are playing outside, which could expose them to greater riskMore children die on the roads in the longer summer days than in winter, according to research from the RAC Foundation.The biggest number of child road casualties in Britain were recorded in July, according to research based on a five-year average from 2010-14. Continue reading...
• British tourist rescued after trying to swim back to cruise ship in AtlanticSusan Brown was plucked from the water suffering from hypothermia four hours after she ‘threw herself into the sea’ following a fight with her husband A 65-year-old British tourist has been rescued by fishermen off the island of Madeira after she tried to swim back to her cruise ship following a row with her husband. Related: Marine archaeologists discover rare artefacts at 1503 shipwreck site Continue reading...

The Herald

• Campaigners warn that train refurbishments will slash space for bikesPRESSURE is mounting on transport chiefs to rethink

The Telegraph

• Uber taxi seized by police investigating murder of Muslim shopkeeper Asad ShahPrivate hire cab registered 200 miles away in Bradford is taken away from inside police cordon as community mourns 40-year-old
• Olympic cycling champion: 'I don't cycle in London, it doesn't feel safe'Chris Boardman attacks the derisory amount of Government spending to encourage more cyclists
• Police called to deal with passengers on overcrowded train from London Paddington to PenzanceEaster getaway had a troubled start as hundreds packed
• More children killed on the road in summer than in winter, says researchRAC Foundation study based on five years of accident data shows the highest number of child road casualties in Britain were recorded in the month of July

Times Online

• Forget the passport, just bring a phone [Subscription]Most travellers know the panic at the check-in desk as they ask themselves: “Did I pack my passport?”

Daily Express

• BREAKING: EgyptAir plane with 60 passengers HIJACKED - bomb suspected on boardA PASSENGER plane was forced to make an emergency landing after it was reportedly hijacked by an armed man with a bomb.

Mail Online

• Swansea council workers paints tiny new spaces at a seaside parking bay Slots at Langland Bay, near Swansea, South Wales are so narrow drivers can’t get in or out of their cars (pictured). One angered motorist described it as parking for 'the world's smallest cars'.
• Brussels Metro should have been shut before bomb exploded killing Brit passenger More than an hour after the first attack took place at the airport at 7:58am last Tuesday, a suicide attacker was able to blow himself up on a busy commuter train.
• George Osborne's road tax shake-up will see eco-friendly cars tax rise by hundreds British owners of many high-performance cars and gas-guzzlers, including the Jeep Wrangler V6 (pictured), will benefit from what will effectively be a tax break for dirty cars.

The Mirror

• Miami Airport evacuated after 'suspicious package' spotted at terminalPassengers could be seen standing out on the tarmac, while airport officials sent in the bomb squad to investigate
• See the full carnage of Storm Katie as 100mph winds batter most of BritainThe bank holiday weekend saw 100,000 homes without power, motorways closed and one man feared dead after his kayak overturned on a river

This is Money

• Driverless car technology set to povide a �51bn boost to Britain's economy Britain is becoming a hub for manufacturers developing driverless car technology. The industry is likely to create more than 320,000 jobs, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders claims.
• MoD awards Rolls-Royce, BAE and Babcock contracts worth �372m to maintain Hawk training aircraft Hawk jets are used by the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force to train pilots before they migrate to flying fighter planes such as Tornados and Typhoons. They are also used by the Red Arrows.

Birmingham Mail

• 19-month commuter nightmare ends - after eight-week bridge repairs are finally carried out Work didn’t even start until 18 months after the Aston Bridge, which carries traffic out of the city over the Aston Expressway, was closed

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Hundreds of RAF Valley jobs secured with Hawk training contract The cash from the Ministry of Defence means support for Hawk training planes will continue at the base until at least 2020

London Evening Standard

• British Airways passenger 'handcuffed and strapped to seat' after bizarre row on board planeA fashion worker claims she was handcuffed and strapped to her seat after a bizarre row on a British Airways flight.
• London-bound flight delayed for hours after woman claimed she saw 'Isis messages' on Iraqi passenger's phoneAn Iraqi man was hauled off a flight to London after a fellow passenger thought she saw extremist messages on his mobile phone.
• Revealed: the London road where drivers hit the highest speeds most oftenThe London road where drivers are most likely to reach excessive speeds has been revealed.
• Triple test: BMW X3 vs Land Rover Discovery Sport vs Mercedes-Benz GLCMerc's belated entry into the small SUV market puts it head to head with BMW. But however good they are, can either of these 4x4s steal the limelight from Land Rover?
• Air passengers 'terrified' after Storm Katie hits flights to Heathrow and GatwickAir passengers were left "sick and in tears" as their flights into Heathrow and Gatwick were battered by Storm Katie.

Northern Echo

• Storm Katie batters Britain BRITONS�returning home after the Easter weekend have been hit by travel misery as Storm Katie battered large parts of the country.
• BAE wins �300m contract to service Hawk jets at sites including RAF Leeming in North Yorkshire BAE Systems has been awarded contracts worth almost �300m to service the UK's fleet of Hawk fast jet trainer aircraft, including at RAF Leeming in North Yorkshire.

Sheffield Star

• Drivers warned as six-month repair project on Western Bank bridge beginsA six-month project to strengthen a bridge on one of Sheffield’s busiest roads is starting today.
• Further delay on Smithy Wood M1 service station decisionA long-delayed decision on the potential creation of a new motorway service station on ancient woodland has been postponed yet again.

The York Press

• New railway station could bypass York city centre YORK could get a new railway station to the north or west - bypassing the city centre station - if high speed railways are built north towards Newcastle and Scotland, a Government report has revealed.
• More worries over York youth bus travel schemes THE number of young people getting discount bus cards has fallen in York, it has emerged, just weeks after a scheme to give young people free weekend travel had to be shelved.
• Ban on drinking and riding bikes aim to tackle troublemakers in York parks ANTI-SOCIAL youths who congregate and cause trouble in two York parks could be stopped by new rules.
• Bumper Easter weekend in York boosted by Flying Scotsman TOURISTS flocked to York over the bank holiday weekend - boosted by a new Easter festival and Flying Scotsmania at the National Railway Museum.

Wales Online

• A man has been arrested after driving the ‘wrong way’ down the M4 The carriageway near Swansea was closed for a time

Wolverhampton Express and Star

• Storm Katie: Flooding closes M6 and drivers rescued from carsTorrential rain and snow flurries forced the closure of a motorway and left motorists stranded in floods on main and side roads throughout the West Midlands and Staffordshire this morning.
• Car damage from potholes is 'disgusting'A campaign has been launched to crack down on fly-tipping and potholes in a South Staffordshire village.

Yorkshire Evening Post

• Full steam ahead for 2016 as world’s oldest working railway reopens in LeedsThe world’s oldest working railway is back on track having opened for 2016 this weekend.

Blackpool Gazette

• Blackpool ‘child road accident capital’ of LancsBlackpool has been named as the child road accident capital of Lancashire – and the county has the worst accident figures in the country.
• �300m Hawk contract to safeguard Fylde jobsAround 20 jobs have been safeguarded at BAE Systems’ Warton site after the aerospace company won contracts to take care of the UK’s fleet of fast jet trainers.

Doncaster Free Press

• BREAKING NATIONAL NEWS: Hijacked Egyptian plane lands in CyprusA hijacked Egyptian plane has landed at Larnaca airport in Cyprus, with a suspected bomb on board, officials said.

Reading Evening Post

• Watch: Reading trials mini-bin truck but it still struggles in narrowest roadsWatch a video of the mini-bin truck on trial in Reading's narrowest streets as it negotiates parked cars

West Sussex Gazette

• PICTURES: ‘Dire’ condition of Horsham roundaboutThe ‘dire’ state of Horsham’s North Street roundabout was raised by a Lib Dem county councillor last week, but is your road in a worse condition?

Other Regional Press

• Cash for road safety and cycle paths in Newport THOUSANDS of pounds is being invested into cycle paths and road safety in Newport.
• Child road casualty toll revealed as 'light nights' warning issued THREE parts of Gwent are among the safest 25 per cent of all council areas in Britain in terms of child road casualties.
• Bus stop changes at Oxford Parkway station OXFORD: The Park and Ride 500 service will drop off outside Oxford Parkway station from today, rather than just the Park and Ride shelter across the car park.
• Calls for better safety measures at notorious crossroads FOUR crashes in the space of three months have prompted villagers to renew calls for road improvements at a notorious accident blackspot.
• Bus stop changes at Oxford Parkway station OXFORD: The Park and Ride 500 service will drop off outside Oxford Parkway station from today, rather than just the Park and Ride shelter across the car park.

Aviation Industry

• Volcano eruption prompts Alaska Airlines to cancel flightsAlaska Airlines has canceled 41 flights to and from six cities in northern Alaska—including all flights operating to and from Fairbanks—because of a massive ash cloud that is moving north at up to 65 knots (75 mph). The canceled flights affect 3,300 passengers. read more

Other News Sources

• 'The Harrods of bus stations' - new Blackburn bus station hailed as major step forward in public transport BLACKBURN’S new bus station has been hailed as major step forward in public transport and passenger comfort.
• Passengers tell of horror flights as nearly 50 flights cancelled or diverted from Gatwick Britons heading home from the long Easter break were faced travel chaos as planes were diverted, trains delayed and heavy rainfall left roads treacherous.
• Downs Link: �25 million busway could be partly funded by developer feeIt is thought the guided busway between Cranleigh and Guildford would relieve traffic caused by new developments in the area
• Objectors hail plans for public meeting over effect of Deepcut development traffic proposal on Frimley Green Thousands have signed a petition railing against the current proposals for traffic planning at the Princess Royal Barracks site and their likely effect on Frimley Green

Other Subscription Services

• Nine Elms OSD cleared to bring in money for NLE Lambeth Council has granted Transport for London planning permission for a new development above and around the new Nine Elms station being built as part of the extension of the Northern line. The...
• Waterloo Cycle Superhub to offer 5,000 bike spaces Transport for London has outlined plans to create a cycle 'Superhub' at Waterloo station.Waterloo already has more cycle hire docking points than anywhere else in London but TfL intends to provide...
• Appeal court rejects Ordsall Chord challenges Construction of the Ordsall Chord looks set to go ahead after the Court of Appeal dismissed a challenge to the new Manchester rail connection.Forming a key part of the Northern Hub package of rail...
• Hull Trains gets another decade and new fleet First Hull Trains is to order a new fleet of diesel-electric trains after the Office of Rail and Road agreed a track access agreement that runs to December 2029.The 10 year deal will follow the...