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

Tuesday, 09 December 2008

Financial Times

• BA asked to choose between Qantas and IberiaThe chief executives of Qantas and Iberia believe British Airways must choose one of them as merger partner, but the UK carrier chief begs to differ as he tries to keep both talks on track

The Observer

• Heathrow next, warn activists who caused Stansted chaosEnvironmental campaigners last night vowed to step up direct action against British airports after protesters breached the security fence at Stansted airport and closed its runway, resulting in scores of cancelled flights and disruption for thousands of passengers. Members of a group called Plane Stupid, which campaigns against climate change and air travel, chained themselves to a makeshift barrier close to the airport's runway after cutting through the perimeter fence in the early hours of yesterday. Though 57 protesters were arrested - several as they tried to leave the airport - a spokeswo...

Times Online

• Designer demo brings Stansted airport to a halt They came, under cover of darkness, to save the planet by shutting down Stansted. There was the grandson of a peer who served in Wilson’s Cabinet, a film animator and a hat designer, not to mention the undergraduates and postgraduate research students.

Reuters News

• Stansted to face poor service penaltiesLONDON (Reuters) - The Civil Aviation Authority said on Tuesday that it was planning to put in place a regime to

Mail Online

• Passengers face three days of chaos after climate change protestors invade Stansted airport Climate change protesters stormed Stansted Airport today in an astonishing breach of security that brought flights to a standstill.

ATOC

• 265,000 extra trains to run in 2009More and faster trains provide better value for passengers Britain™s train operators will be running 265,000 more trains a year from 14th December, when the latest national rail timetable starts.  Many services will be speeded up and more longer trains will be run. 
• Adlink Media wins National Rail EnquiriesNational Rail Enquiries, the UK™s number one most visited transport and travel site, conducting over 1.3m journey plans per day, has signed with AdLINK Media to increase the revenue generated by the site to the benefit of its customers.

London Evening Standard

• Network Rail delivers West Coast Main Line repairs on timeNetwork Rail has completed £8.8 billion of engineering works on schedule - and is set to unveil boosted capacity.
• Rail fares from Euston set to trebleThousands of long-distance rail travellers from Euston will see their fares treble under the cover of timetable changes being introduced next week

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• Government pressed to end ˜rail fare inequality™The Scottish Government is being pressed to end what a rail lobby group claims is unfair discrimination in First ScotRail™s fare regime.
• Aberdeen braces for chaos as bus strike hits shoppersA day of chaos in Aberdeen city centre was predicted last night as thousands of Christmas shoppers face traffic gridlock as a result of today™s bus strike.
• Flashing road signs will warn drivers to slow downTRANSPORT Scotland is to trial flashing road signs on the A85 Oban-Perth road at Lochawe, in an attempt to tackle speeding in the village.

The York Press

• Would-be MP slams station ticket barrier plan AN ENVIRONMENTALIST and potential York MP has slammed plans to install ticket barriers at the city™s rail station.
• Fuel retailer sparks new price war as cost of diesel is cut YORKSHIRE-BASED supermarket Morrisons reignited the forecourt price war in York by slashing the cost of diesel to below the £1 a litre mark.

Wales Online

• 57 arrested as runway protest grounds flightsPolice arrested 57 people today after a protest by climate change activists forced flight cancellations and delays at one of Britain’s busiest airports.

Peterborough Telegraph

• Security fears follow airport breachSecurity at Stansted Airport is under urgent review after environmental campaigners broke in, forcing the runway to be closed.
• Green light for rail terminus linkA train could pass between two Norfolk train lines for the first time in 40 years early in 2009.
• Union concerns over protest airport securityA trade union which represents workers at Stansted revealed that it had been pressing the airport authorities to review security because of concerns over the state of the fenc

Reading Evening Post

• More and faster trains but higher faresRail travellers facing inflation-busting fare rises in the new year will at least be getting more, and faster, trains, it was revealed today.

The Shields Gazette

• Campaign to halt fatal accidentsUNDERCOVER cops are taking to the roads of South Tyneside in a blitz on dangerous drivers who put lives at risk.

International Herald Tribune

• Plunging shipping costs send grains globetrottingOcean shipping costs have plunged to 22-year lows, making it sometimes less expensive to ship grain thousands of miles across the ocean rather than move supplies hundreds of miles by barge or railroad cars.

Washington Post

• White House and Democrats push for auto bailout deal WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The fate of the U.S. auto industry and millions of jobs are on the line as major players work out details on Tuesday of a plan to extend emergency loans to the Big Three automakers in exchange for tougher oversight.

Transport for London

• Travel information for TfL services over the festive periodTfL publishes a Festive Travel Guide with full details of public transport arrangements over the holiday period, including free travel on New Year's Eve.
• Safer Travel at Night campaign gears up for ChristmasCampaign against illegal cabs intensifies as Christmas party season begins.

Other News Sources

• Ryanair calls for Stansted reviewThe airline operator voices concern over the airport's security after protestors caused major disruption. Emily Reuben reports.
• Economic crisis no excuse for climate inaction - CBI Gloomy economic forecasts do not give businesses or government an excuse to rein in efforts to tackle climate change, according to the Confederation of British Industry.
• Scottish Climate Change Bill publishedThe Scottish Government today published its Climate Change Bill which if passed will mean Scotland has the most ambitious climate change legislation anywhere in the world.
• Greenhouse gases should be cut 80% by 2050, Climate CommitteeEighteen months after it began work, Parliament's Temporary Committee on Climate Change called for an 80% cut in greenhouse gases by 2050, binding interim targets to improve energy efficiency 20% by 2020 and incentives to encourage everyone to do their bit.
• Rail firm EWS to cut 500 jobsRail freight company EWS is set to cut about 500 jobs - 10% of its workforce - blaming a drastic fall in the amount of goods being moved by rail.
• Stats shows the nuances of the UK haulage industryThe DfT's road freight statistics provide a valuable and useful insight into the ins and outs of the haulage industry, but remember to treat the findings with caution.
• Stansted incident statement - 8 December 2008Following the events of this morning Stansted Airport's services are returning to normal.
• Box ship outruns piratesA Dutch operated containership took fire but escaped a band of pirates off the coast of Tanzania by increasing its speed, CNN reported on its Web site. The pirates attacked the ship 450 nautical mile...
• Stansted Airport reopens after protest by Plane StupidFlights from Stansted Airport were disrupted this morning after environmental activists staged a protest over the airport's expansion
• BA announces more than 100 jobs to be cut at GatwickBritish Airways is planning to cut more than 100 jobs at Gatwick airport as it announces a 15% cut in the number of departures from the airport next summer.
• EU to begin Somali pirate patrolsEuropean Union warships and aircraft are due to...