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

Tuesday, 04 April 2017

BBC News

• Deferred pay rises for Bombardier bossesThe company, a major employer in Belfast, had faced an outcry over planned pay increases.
• Teslas of the fjords?Diesel-powered ferries are big polluters, so could electric engines be a cleaner option?
• Tesla reports record car deliveriesThe electric car maker delivers a record 25,000 cars in the first quarter, up 70% on 2016.
• Southern rail: Aslef members reject latest proposed dealMembers of the drivers' union voted by 372 votes (51.8%) to 346 (48.2%) against the proposed deal.
• Bombardier defers executive salary rises amid outcryProtesters rallied against the Montreal firm, which has received hundreds of millions in public funds.
• Tesla's market value overtakes FordThe market value of the electric car maker sails beyond Ford, despite a much smaller vehicle output.

Financial Times

• Creative destructor who plans to rebuild AirbusPaul Eremenko was hired from Google to lead aerospace group’s technological revolution
• Foreign pilots fail at English — but so do BritsBad command of aviation lingua franca causes in-flight misunderstandings everywhere
• Officials push to make cars the ‘last option’Bicycles and orderly bus network may curb reign of ‘kings of the asphalt’
• Comment: drive to revitalise begins on the busesThe danger is that gains may appear as mere window-dressing, writes John Carlin
• China investment drives through $4bn Kenya railwayFinance and expertise from Beijing are crucial to Kenyatta’s infrastructure spree

The Guardian

• Ex-Google self-driving engineer secretly collaborated with competitors, suit saysNew details emerge in Google lawsuit that alleges former employee Anthony Levandowski plotted to steal trade secrets and take them to UberA former Google employee secretly collaborated with competing self-driving car companies for years before allegedly stealing trade secrets and bringing the proprietary technology to Uber, according to a new court filing. Anthony Levandowski – now head of Uber’s self-driving program and a key player in Google’s high-profile intellectual property lawsuit against Uber – collected $120m in “incentive payments” from Google, according to the claim, “all while he w...
• The customer is always wrong: Tesla lets out self-driving car data – when it suitsThe luxury car maker is quick to divulge data to suggest its technology was not responsible for crashes but refuses to let drivers themselves see the data logsLuxury car maker Tesla is throwing some drivers’ privacy under the wheels following accidents in order to defend its hi-tech self-driving car technology. And while the company has handed data to media following crashes, it won’t provide its customers’ data logs to the drivers themselves, according to interviews conducted by the Guardian. Continue reading...
• Train drivers reject deal to end Southern rail disputeAslef members turn down deal aimed at ending long-running dispute about driver-only trainsMembers of the Aslef union have rejected a deal aimed at ending a long-running dispute about driver-only trains on Southern rail. It is the second time the drivers have gone against a recommendation from their leaders and deals a huge blow to hopes of a breakthrough in the bitter row. Continue reading...

The Telegraph

• St Petersburg Metro explosion: police suspect suicide bombing after at least 11 killed by underground blast

Times Online

• Southern rail boss finds an extra seat [subscription]MPs and unions reacted with astonishment yesterday after the boss of the company behind Southern rail accepted a non-executive directorship, paying an estimated £34,000 a year.
• Lower crude price fails to blow oil trader off course [subscription]Profits for the world’s largest independent energy trader rose by 25 per cent last year, despite turbulent crude oil prices.
• More rail misery ahead as drivers reject deal [subscription]Commuters on Southern rail services could face more misery after members of the Aslef union narrowly rejected a deal aimed at ending the long-running dispute about driver-only trains.
• Metal, glass and steel balls tore through crowded train [subscription]The Metro train had left Sennaya Ploshchad station in St Petersburg and was heading for the next stop when a blast tore through the carriage. The force of the explosion sent shards of metal and glass slicing into passengers, blew out the windows and peeled back the doors. At least 11 people died in the carnage and almost 50 were injured.
• Tesla’s electrifying sprint past Ford [subscription]Tesla’s valuation was on course to eclipse Ford’s for the first time last night as investors bet that Elon Musk would deliver on his promise to bring electric cars to the masses.
• VW ‘knew its cars failed emissions rules for Britain’ [subscription]Volkswagen has apparently admitted that almost 1.2 million cars caught up in the emissions scandal should not have been approved for British roads.
• Canadians in huge bid for HS2 engineer [subscription]One of the two main engineers behind Britain’s High Speed Two rail route has received a possible £2.1 billion takeover offer from a Canadian rival.

The Mirror

• Cheap space travel, electric cars and a whirlwind love life love life... the billionaire genius inventing our future Silicon Valley geek turned multi-billionaire Elon Musk may not have invented a super-powered armoured suit with which to save us all, but he’s just about thought of everything else

London Evening Standard

• Crossrail 2: Property developers and housing associations call for 'firm commitment'Property developers and housing associations today called on Phillip Hammond to give a firm commitment to Crossrail 2.
• Southern Rail strike: Aslef union members reject deal to finally end disputeTrain drivers have defied union leaders' recommendation to accept a deal aimed at ending the long-running Southern Rail dispute.
• Gatwick Airport installs jockey scales for luggage to mark 100 years since Grand National was hosted on siteGatwick Airport has installed authentic jockey scales for passengers' baggage to mark 100 years since the Grand National was held on the site.
• St Petersburg Metro explosion: 11 killed and 45 injured after blast rips through train on underground network in RussiaEleven people were killed and 45 more injured after an explosion ripped through a train on the Metro system in the Russian city of St Petersburg.

Manchester Evening News

• Council bosses accused of 'penalising' disabled youngsters by hiking up school bus fees Youngsters from a Trafford special needs school have been told their free bus service will be cut

Nottingham Evening Post

• Railway worker admits £25k tax fraudA railwayman must do 150 hours of unpaid work over a £25,895 tax fiddle claimed to be common in the industry.

The York Press

• MP flags up state of pavements YORK MP Rachael Maskell has taken telecom company bosses on a walkabout on city streets, to show the problems created by poor street repairs after their contractors installed broadband cables.

Yorkshire Post

• Train drivers defy leaders and reject deal to end dispute over guards MEMBERS of the Aslef union have rejected a deal aimed at ending a long-running dispute about driver-only trains on Southern Railway.
• Tom Richmond: Now is time to get behind investment in region’s rail IT was a simple salute which showed how much the full reopening of the acclaimed Settle to Carlisle railway meant to the most isolated rural communities in the upper reaches of the Yorkshire Dales.

Other Regional Press

• Elland Bridge officially reopened by Transport Minister Andrew Jones Storm damage in 2015 cost £5.5 million to repair

Aviation Industry

• AACO chief calls for clarification on electronics carry-on banThe head of the Arab Air Carriers Organization (AACO) is urging ICAO to seek clarification on the nature of the threat that prompted the US and UK ban on electronics in the cabin. read more

Other News Sources

• Private testing makes sense but safety must come first, says FTAAllowing exemplary commercial vehicle operators to test their own vehicles makes sense, but the Freight Transport Association (FTA) says safety ...