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

Saturday, 21 January 2012

BBC News

• Thousands apply to build new carJaguar Land Rover receives 20,000 applications to fill 1,000 new posts at its assembly line in Solihull in the West Midlands.
• Transport company directors unfitTwo directors of a failed County Down freight transport business are unfit to run a company for the next eight years, the High Court rules.
• Jobless 'pay higher car premiums'UK insurers are criticised for charging jobless people an average of 30% more for car insurance, at a time when unemployment is rising.
• Mayor 'should run' rail servicesLabour's candidate for London mayor says he would attempt to bring all suburban train services under the mayor's control to improve services.
• Cruise ship firm faces US lawsuitPassengers from the cruise ship that ran aground off Italy last week are launching a class-action suit in the US against the owners, the BBC learns.
• Insurers 'undervalue car wrecks'Complaints to an ombudsman about motor insurance rose by 29% last year - with key gripes including valuations of written-off vehicles.

Financial Times

• Airbus A380 safety inspections orderedEuropean regulators set to issue airlines with instruction to inspect aircraft after cracks discovered on components inside wings
• West coast rail hopefuls quizzed on cost cutsThe government looks to cut taxpayer support for the industry after a review found it was 30% more costly to run than European counterparts
• Vaulting Victorian ambition conquers common senseDavid Cameron and George Osborne assert they are as virile as Boris Johnson. It is Nick Clegg who opposes the new airport, writes Andrew Gimson

The Guardian

• A380 superjumbos to undergo checks after regulator finds cracks in wingsEuropean safety regulator says cracks in British-made wings could 'affect structural integrity of planes' if not fixedA380 superjumbos are to undergo safety checks after new cracks were found inside the aeroplane's British-made wings.European safety regulators ordered the checks for a flaw that first emerged in the wake of an A380 engine blowout in 2010, when a Qantas-owned jet suffered a serious engine failure over Indonesia. Subsequent inspections of the Airbus aircraft revealed hairline cracks in a rib-foot “ part of the metal frame of a wing.Further cracks were then found on other A380s, b...

The Independent

• D-Day approaches fast for Huhne as speeding emails passed to police The Cabinet minister Chris Huhne has suffered a major setback in his fight to clear his name over allegations he dodged a speeding fine, as police won the right to obtain emails about the affair from his ex-wife.
• Fuel tanker driven into houseA man who drove a fuel tanker into the home of a woman he knew, setting it on fire, has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.Related StoriesThree found guilty over 'death penalty' pamphletBattle of the oligarchs draws to endApology over failures in murder caseMPs put Dowler police report on holdMail fails in fight against anonymity at Leveson Inquiry

The Telegraph

• Virgin tycoon Sir Richard Branson is criticised for charging musicians to carry instrumentsSir Richard Branson, the Virgin Group magnate, has been accused of turning his back on musicians by charging them to bring their instruments on his airlines.

The Mirror

• Costa Concordia crew members claim captain was playboy who treated liner as his own yachtCosta Concordia skipper Francesco Schettino was a self-confessed playboy who strutted round the ship with stunning women on his arm, his crew claimed last night.

Derby Telegraph

• Bombardier 'probably to stay' in city, predicts Marketing Derby...CITY leaders are hopeful that Bombardier "will probably stay" in Derby despite the fact that the train-maker has not yet concluded a review of its operations. Marketing Derby managing director John Forkin said he believed the company could be persuaded to stay after recently securing another contract that could help the firm's Litchurch Lane site in the short term.
• £5.2m cut to highways budget will be 'leaving our roads...CUTTING the budget for Derbyshire's highways repairs by more than a fifth will mean side roads and pavements are left to crumble, a senior councillor fears. Derbyshire County Council has announced that it will have £22 million to spend in 2012-13, down from £27.7 million in this financial year.

Liverpool Echo

• Man critically ill in hospital after being hit by a bus in KensingtonA MAN was in a critical condition in hospital last night after being hit by a bus.

London Evening Standard

• Ken to take back rail control if electedKen Livingstone will attempt to wrest control of outer London's rail services from the train companies if elected mayor

Manchester Evening News

• Metrolink fails again: Broken tram at Prestwich brings more delays to commutersMetrolink said a failed tram at Prestwich this afternoon meant commuters were experiencing delays on the Bury and Altrincham lines - the latest in a string of recent tram breakdowns.
• Car thieves led out of jail to show Greater Manchester Police officers how they break into vehiclesProlific car thieves from across Greater Manchester are being taken out of jail and back to the scene of their crimes to instruct police officers about their 'ingenious' techniques for targeting and stealing vehicles.

Metro

• 'Disgusted' Briton taking legal action over 'chaotic' Costa Concordia staffA British expat has announced she is to take legal action against the operators and staff of the Costa Concordia, as new footage emerged of a crewmember telling passengers to 'return to their cabins' as the ship filled with water.

Nottingham Evening Post

• Nottingham Post published Tram decision clears way for long-awaited town square revampArticle

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• Hauliers angry at freight ferry™s poor sailing record Hauliers are angry that the Stornoway freight ferry Muirneag has being able to sail only a third of the time over the past month.
• Hydrogen-powered buses may be on way to north-eastNorth-east councils have secured a multimillion-pound European funding pledge towards Scotland™s first hydrogen-powered buses.

Bucks Free Press

• Ex-Tory councillors: MP must face residents over HS2PRESSURE mounted on MP Cheryl Gillan over High Speed 2 this week, as former Conservative councillors demanded she face her constituents.

Other Regional Press

• Angry users and drivers criticise new Northampton bus station plans at public exhibitionPLANS for the new bus station which is due to be built in Northampton town centre were met with an angry response when they were unveiled to the public yesterday.
• Car crime halved in past four years across NorthamptonshireVEHICLE crime in Northamptonshire has halved in the past four years, latest figures from the British Crime Survey have shown.
• Petrol station is reduced to rubble as bus fails to stop Miracle escape for garage customers and staff as single-decker ploughs into shopMIRACULOUSLY no-one was seriously hurt when a bus careered into this petrol station.

C.N.N.

• Delay in space station rendezvous 'a little disappointing'The commander of the international space station Friday told CNN that the delay in the arrival of an unmanned commercial vehicle was

International Herald Tribune

• In Fire Investigation, Regulators Say They Found No Defect in VoltA federal review concludes that modifications planned by General Motors in the plug-in hybrid car are sufficient to reduce the risk of a fire after a severe crash.
• European Agency Orders Inspections of 20 Airbus JetsThe directive follows the discovery of cracks in two different places on some wing brackets, which Airbus said it had traced to a bracket installation process that has since been modified.

Global Rail News

• Stark warning over rocks thrown at trainsBritish Transport Police (BTP) investigators are sending a ‘stark warning to youths’ in Lincolnshire, after two trains were struck by rocks in the area. The incidents, which took place over the past week, caused the train windows to smash. Around 2.55pm on Thursday 12 January, a rock was thrown at a Nottingham to Skegness service [...]

Railnews

• Report confirms benefits of HS2 for West Coast line Passengers on the West Coast Main Line, one of the busiest rail routes in Europe, could benefit from faster, more frequent trains, less crowding and better connections if the first phase of the proposed High Speed line between London and Birmingham goes ahead as planned, according to a new report from Network Rail and watchdog Passenger Focus.
• New 'flexible' West Coast franchise unveiled by DfT The Department for Transport has issued the Invitation to Tender for the next West Coast franchise, which is due to start in December. Rail minister Theresa Villiers said the contract, which is to run until 2026 at least, would be 'more flexible', and include another 28,000 seats.
• Government comes clean about fare rises in store The government has confirmed that rail fare rises at the start of 2013 and 2014 are to stay at RPI+3 per cent. The rise at the start of this month was kept to RPI+1 per cent, after a policy u-turn announced by the Chancellor at the end of November, but nothing was said at the time about what would happen in future years.

Aviation Industry

• Bmi in talks with 'several parties' to sell BmibabyGerman firm named as one potential bidder for no-frills subsidiary
• US Airways Said to Consider American Airlines Merger to Fill Revenue GapUS Airways Group Inc. is studying a potential merger with bankrupt AMR Corp. that would fix a weak domestic route system at American Airlines and boost revenue, two people familiar with the matter said.

Other News Sources

• U.S. Congress to Hold Meeting on Cruise Ship SafetyTransportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John L. Mica (R-FL) announced the Committee will conduct a hearing to review cruise ship safety in light of
• Crossrail chief: HS2 green light is a 'fantastic' decisionCrossrail™s chief executive Andrew Wolstenholme has hailed the government™s green light for HS2 as a œfantastic� decision.
• west coast fares scandal - double digit increases outlined todayWest coast rail tender will cut services and capacity to boost operator profits and smuggles through confirmation that fares can rise at RPI plus 8% in both 2013 and 2014
• Bosphorus ship taking on waterTURKISH maritime authorities are today struggling to keep a cargo ship that took on water afloat following a collision with two other vessels near Istanbul.
• China makes its own magnetic trainA Chinese locomotive company has rolled out the country's first home-made magnetically levitated (maglev) train that creates less pollution than the conventional ones and ideal for transport in the ur
• Network Rail gets month extension to improve performanceNetwork Rail has been given a month long extension by the rail regulator to draw up œrobust� plans to improve passenger train punctuality.