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

Monday, 19 December 2016

BBC News

• RMT boss denies trying to 'bring government down'Southern rail strikes are not part of a
• Is air pollution really a public health crisis?Is air pollution really a public health crisis? Mark Lobel reports.
• CEO Secrets: Thomas Cook boss shares his tipsPeter Fankhauser, CEO of travel firm Thomas Cook, shares the business advice he wishes he had been given when he started out.
• Fog at London airports causes second day of disruptionHeathrow and Gatwick airports suffer problems due to thick fog, with more forecast for Monday.
• Telecoms giant to buy stake in cab-hailing firm CareemSaudi Arabia's STC plans to buy a 10% stake in cab-hailing firm Careem.
• Southern rail row: Conductors begin two-day strikeCommuters are facing more major delays as guards stage a 48-hour strike on the Southern rail network.

Financial Times

• South Korea has target in sight for bullet trainsOfficials pushing hard for Malaysia-Singapore route as start of global drive
• Employers plan talks with unions as transport chaos loomsRail staff, baggage handlers, airline pilots and crew all set to take action in Christmas run-up
• Railway revenue starting to exceed operating costs�10.5bn commercial income exceeds �10.3bn day-to-day running figure

The Guardian

• Diane Abbott defends series of strikes planned in run-up to ChristmasShadow home secretary says people have legal right to strike as staff at Post Office, railways and airports threaten action
• Chris Grayling: Tory in combative mood to deal with rail union bossesTransport secretary has shown no sign of toning down his tribal approach to politics in his handling of the Southern train strikes
• Apply the brakes and rethink driverless cars - [Letters]The problems with introducing driverless cars are greater than you identify in your editorial (Intelligent cars raise questions that only society can answer, 16 December) and yet almost certain to be ignored.

The Herald

• Council floats �13m plan to save vital ferry routeTROON'S multi-million pound bid to take the ferry crossing to Arran away from Ardrossan has been trumped by a �13 million retention offer from the home port.
• ScotRail slammed as commuters faced travel chaos on busiest day of the yearANGRY commuters were left stranded on platforms and passengers packed into trains as Scotland's rail network buckled under the strain of the busiest day of the year.

The Huffington Post

• Strikes To Hit Rail, Post And Airline Industries This WeekA wave of strikes will be launched by thousands of workers this week, hitting rail, post and airline industries in the run-up to Christmas. A series of disputes have flared over issues including jobs, pay, pensions and safety involving some of the country’s biggest trade unions Officials dismissed any suggestions that the strikes were co-ordinated or part of a conspiracy to bring the Government down. Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union at Southern Railway will strike on Monday and Tuesday in a long-running dispute over the role of conductors. Coupled with a continuing ban o...

The Independent

• Ian Hislop furiously takes down the government over Southern RailPrivate Eye editor and Have I Got News For You panellist Ian Hislop summed up the feelings of many British commuters and taxpayers on Friday night as he took the Government to task over its shoddy handling of the Southern Rail industrial action last week.

The Scotsman

• ‘Out of control’ Prestwick Airport bailout heading for £40mThe bailout of Prestwick Airport is “out of control” it has been claimed after ministers revealed it could reach £40 million next year.

Times Online

• Christmas strikes will turn public against you, Labour MP tells unions [subscription]A wave of damaging Christmas strikes by rail and airline workers risks turning the public against trade unions, a senior Labour MP has warned.
• Rail vandals tracked down on Instagram [subscription]Vandals who caused damage estimated at £72,000 to trains and stations by spraying them with graffiti were caught after boasting about their crimes on social media.
• HS2 earns £5m renting out houses [subscription]Britain’s high-speed railway line is making millions by letting houses and flats along the proposed route.
• An open and shut case for change [subscription]The transport secretary’s door is open, he says. Also open, for negotiating purposes, is the door of Southern Railway’s managing director. At Aslef and the RMT, the doors are always open for the enabling of getting back around a table. That’s the problem with so many doors: no one knows who is responsible for closing them. Nevertheless, despite what we are incessantly told, the opening and closing of doors is exactly not what the Southern strikes are all about.
• Tax breaks urged for employers who offer jobs to ex-prisoners [subscription]Companies employing former prisoners should be given tax breaks as part of a drive to get more offenders into jobs, MPs are urging. ... Employers need to be encouraged to change their recruitment practices, it adds. It highlights companies such as Lendlease, Virgin Trains and Timpson for their role in hiring ex-offenders.

Belfast Telegraph

• Train operators 'have no incentive to get their act together' over compensationTory Tim Loughton wants to make the process for claiming compensation for late and delayed trains easier and to set up a tough new Rail Ombudsman to rule on complaints.

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• Pollution concern as air quality in Bradford district getting worse THE number of local congestion hotspots where pollution has reached illegally high levels could be about to nearly double.

London Evening Standard

• London weather: Heathrow urges stranded passengers to stay at home as heavy fog cancels flightsHeathrow Airport urged stranded passengers to stay away from the travel hub as heavy fog sparked flight delays and cancellations.
• British Airways to hold last-ditch talks with union members over Christmas cabin crew strikeBritish Airways will hold last ditch talks with union members in a bid to stop a cabin crew walk-out which threatens to cause Christmas mayhem.

Newcastle Evening Chronicle

• John Dobson Street bus lane camera catching 1,000 drivers a week - but one in 20 fines cancelledThe controversial bus lane camera is still catching thousands of drivers out - but around 6% of all fines given in the last six months were cancelled

Northern Echo

• Talks aimed at averting strikes at 18 airports, including Newcastle TALKS aimed at averting strikes by baggage handlers and other staff at 18 airports - including Newcastle - will be held at Acas next week.

Wales Online

• How all the strikes planned for Christmas will affect Wales A wave of strikes is hitting post offices, airports and rail operators this week

North Wales Live

• Campaigners pressure Merseytravel over tunnel tolls during rail replacement worksGroup wants tolls to be 'one-way' while work is carried out on the Wirral loop line

Other Regional Press

• 'Take care where you fly your Christmas drone' says ex-RAF helicopter pilot A FLYING expert has warned people who buy a drone for Christmas that the devices could have the same effect as a bird strike if they collide with an aircraft.

Construction Enquirer

• Bidding to start for £150m Luton Airport rail linkPrequalification of firms will start in February for £150m worth of construction work for the planned light railway system for Luton Airport

Railway Gazette

• Joint company to manage Ethiopia – Djibouti railwayAFRICA: Ethiopia's Minister of Transport Ahmed Shide and his Djiboutian counterpart Mohammed...

Other News Sources

• Network Rail Christmas commuters urged to plan journeys ahead of time as upgrade works continue Services will begin to wind down on Christmas Eve and return on the morning of December 27, with an amended service
• More misery for travellers in the run-up to Christmas THOUSANDS of travellers will be facing chaos and disruption this week in a series of strikes in the run up to Christmas.