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Friday, 05 December 2008

BBC News

• Open roads50 years ago the motorway was an empty haven
• Decision on third runway delayedA decision on whether a third runway should be built at Heathrow Airport has been put back to 2009.

Financial Times

• Decision over third Heathrow runway delayedThe decision on the controversial new runway at Heathrow was delayed in a surprise move by the British government amid cabinet splits over the controversial project
• Virgin exposed by collapse of WooliesSir Richard Branson's Virgin Group is the latest company to be caught up in the collapse of Woolworths and is looking to avoid liabilities of up to £100m

The Herald

• Soutar and Mathewson buy into StagecoachStagecoach founder Brian Souter has spent almost £3m boosting his holding in the Perth-based transport company, and non-executive director Sir George Mathewson has finally taken a stake as its shares have continued to wilt.

The Independent

• Decision on Heathrow runway delayedCampaigners opposing the expansion of Heathrow airport were hopeful for the first time yesterday that the Government is rethinking its support for the project, after it postponed its final decision on the addition of a third runway.

The Observer

• John Harris: The village of Sipson in the third runway debate can define an eraOn the face of it, it's a struggle between the usual powerful suspects and an alliance that takes in everyone from Tories to anarchists. To many people, though, it is something even more important: a turning-point that will either prove that government doesn't always have to bow to a corporate version of the inevitable, or sorely test thousands of people's limited faith in politics. Bizarrely, the frontline is the nondescript Middlesex village of Sipson, a clump of postwar suburban housing that was famously visited last year by the Camp For Climate Action. A ruling in favour of a third runway ...
• Hoon delays Heathrow third runway decisionThe government postponed the hugely controversial decision on whether to build a third runway at Heathrow yesterday, sparking speculation that cabinet divisions on the environmental impact of the third runway had persuaded Gordon Brown of the need for delay.Backbench Labour MPs, the opposition and environmentalists were all caught off-guard by transport secretary Geoff Hoon's announcement yesterday that a decision would be delayed until January 2009, 12 months after the initial consultation wound up. It is thought that the energy and climate change minister, Ed Miliband - a key ally of the pri...

The Telegraph

• Shipping crisis as global economy slows downThe shipping industry is facing its biggest crisis in decades as more countries become engulfed in the global economic slowdown.
• Air rage assaults on cabin crew soarAir rage assaults on cabin crew have nearly doubled according to new figures released by the Civil Aviation Authority.

Times Online

• New car sales in November plunge 36.8% New car sales plunged in November for the seventh consecutive month, as the economic crisis continues to put a severe brake on transactions.
• The latest must-have for commercial shipowners: a piracy insurance policy A risk consultancy with close ties to the Lloyd’s insurance market is offering the world’s first insurance policy for shipowners covering potential ransom payouts on crew members who have been kidnapped.
• Electric cars put Hawaii on the road to independence Hawaii is to become the first US state to create a transport infrastructure that will allow cars to run almost entirely on electricity.
• Weather Eye: what is freezing fog? There has been much freezing fog in the UK this week — a wet, cold ground-hugging cloud, creating treacherous conditions on roads as it turned to ice.

Mail Online

• Air rage attacks soar due to in-flight binge drinking and rows over smoking In-flight binge drinking and rows over smoking have fuelled a four-fold rise in incidents of air rage.

Transport Briefing

• Crossrail control transferred to Transport for LondonCross London Rail Links, the company developing the £16bn Crossrail scheme, has become a directly controlled subsidiary of Transport for London following confirmation of funding and governance arrangements. TfL and the Department for Transport, which previously held a 50% share in CLRL, this week offered reassurance that the Crossrail finance package remains intact, despite the looming recession, by announcing that City businesses had committed to making a £350m contribution.

Birmingham Post

• MP John Hemming calls for warnings instead of fines for speeding driversMotorists who break the speed limit should be given an on-the-spot warning instead of a fine, according to a Birmingham MP.

London Evening Standard

• Top TfL manager probed over 'cash for jobs' allegationTransport for London has launched an investigation into one of its senior managers amid allegations that hundreds of thousands of pounds has been funnelled to a company in which he had a close personal interest

The Shields Gazette

• Roads closed and flights cancelled as winter bitesROADS were closed and some flights from the north-east's main airport were cancelled today as winter arrived with a vengeance.

International Herald Tribune

• Use of French terrorism law on railroad saboteurs draws criticismOpponents of a terrorism law contend it could become a cudgel to intimidate nonviolent protesters, especially as France teeters on the brink of recession.

Wall Street Journal

• Detroit Bailout Hits a Bumpy RoadBig Three auto CEOs faced much the same doubts from lawmakers in the first day of their last-ditch return to Congress for a bailout, now put at $34 billion.

Other News Sources

• Train services to be replaced by buses over Christmas holidaysTrain services from Glasgow Central Station will be suspended over Christmas as part of a national programme of repairs across the rail network.
• Credit crunch blow for Northampton railway stationA new railway station could be built in Northampton by 2014, but the credit crunch has seen plans for the development scaled back. The Chron first revealed in 2004 that the West Northamptonshire Development Corporation (WNDC) was drawing up plans to expand the town's railway station and build a hotel, shops, offices and houses on land close to the track.
• Bring back the electric track says MP BEN Chapman is backing the campaign for the electrification of the Bidston to Wrexham railway track. And in an answer to a parliamentary question in the House of Commons, the Wirral South MP was told by Welsh Office Minister Wayne David that he saw the potential benefits of electrification of the line. Mr Chapman said: “I am glad the importance of this issue has been acknowledged in Parliament.
• Train platform at Manchester Airport opensA new train platform at Manchester Airport has opened 11 days ahead of schedule. Network Rail said the new platform would be vital to relieve congestion on the West Coast mainline around Manchester Piccadilly station, which from December 14 will have 40 per cent more trains.
• Passengers in line for rail painWeekend passengers on Lancashire's rail network were warned today their maintenance misery is not over. For the past year those using the West Coast Main Line from Lancashire stations at weekends have been subjected to horror journeys with disruptions, delays, replacement bus services and cramped carriages.
• Commuters promised 'business as usual'NETWORK Rail has promised “business as usual” for East Anglian commuters returning to work after Christmas this year. Over-running engineering work caused chaos for travellers in January this year following the closure of Liverpool Street station over the holiday period. But Network Rail said yesterday that a “less intensive” engineering programme this year, combined with new procedures for managing major work, meant it was planning to have full services running on all routes in and out of Liverpool Street on Monday, December 29, this year.
• Call for Clarity on Airport Noise Action Plan GuidanceCall for clarification as decision on Heathrow third runway due in January.
• Industry wants clear priorities for alternative transport fuelsAs EU lawmakers ponder the contribution of alternative fuels to the EU's CO2 emission reduction targets, transport stakeholders are demanding that political decisions be taken and realistic targets be set, to give industry a stable legislative framework that allows it to prioritise R&D spending.
• Freight Transport Association and Yes Campaign agree to work togetherRepresentatives of The Greater Manchester Yes Campaign and the Freight Transport Association said they will work together to ensure the Transport Innovation Fund proposals can deliver “real benefits” for freight companies.
• Train platform at Manchester Airport to open earlyA new train platform at Manchester Airport will open 11 days ahead of schedule.
• Seamless air-rail travel now available New deal ticketing deal with Amadeus read more
• 50 years of motorwaysThe motorway is 50 years old today. To celebrate, the Highways Agency have opened the newest part of the network: The Carlisle to Guards Mill M6 extension - known as the 'Cumberland Gap'.
• Today to be busiest ever on the TubeFriday 5 December 2008 is predicted to be the busiest ever day on the London Underground network, with more than 4.2M passengers expected to travel.
• Heathrow decision delayedThe decision on a third runway at Heathrow has been delayed until January next year.
• Pirates collect no booty as they free Yemeni cargo shipGAROWE, Somalia — Somali pirates have freed a Yemeni cargo ship they seized last week after successful talks between regional authorities, local clan elders and the gunmen, a local official said on ...
• Travel staff must 'overperform to keep jobs' in downturnTravel industry staff will have to overperform in order to keep their jobs as the industry becomes 'leaner and...
• Industry to push the importance of financial protectionAgents, operators and the Civil Aviation Authority will be pushing the importance of financial protection to consumers next year. Advantage...
• Heathrow runway decision delayedThe government has postponed until January a decision on whether to build a third runway at Heathrow, Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon said on Thursday.

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