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

Tuesday, 27 January 2009

BBC News

• PM discusses transport changesThe government is to look at plans to improve Cumbria's transport system.
• New road plan for Trafford CentreA new road is being planned to ease congestion near to the Trafford Centre in Greater Manchester.
• Rail disruption follows landslipRail services between London Paddington and Exeter St David's are being disrupted after a landslip.
• Tracks cleared for East-West RailClearance work has begun on part of a major train route which links Oxford to Milton Keynes.
• Call for fast east-west rail linkRail campaigners are backing a 100mph fast train route across the centre of England linking Oxford and Cambridge.
• High Court bid to block eco-townsThe High Court is expected to rule later on a legal challenge to the government's flagship eco-towns scheme.
• France eyes airline stimulus planThe French finance ministry is set to provide 5bn euros in credit guarantees to encourage lending to the airline industry.
• General Motors to cut 2,000 jobsStruggling US carmaker General Motors says it will shed 2,0000 jobs at plants in Michigan and Ohio.
• Weak pound hurts British AirwaysBritish Airways warns it expects to make an operating loss of about £150m, blaming the fall in sterling and economic weakness.

Financial Times

• Watchdog casts doubt on third runwayThe head of Britain's environmental watchdog has branded the third runway at Heathrow airport a "mistake", saying it is unlikely to be built because of the huge political uncertainty surrounding the project.
• BA warns of £150m full-year operating lossThe UK airline blames the sharp fall in premium passenger and cargo volumes, as well as from the weakness of sterling, as it heads for £150m loss for the year to March

The Guardian

• Boris Johnson under fire over anti-Heathrow 'Tory propaganda' eventLabour member of London assembly accuses mayor of turning debate on runway into party-political rally

The Herald

• BA tumbles on profits warningBritish Airways yesterday issued a profits alert to City investors, warning that it is heading for a £150m operating loss this financial year as the economic downturn and weak pound squeeze earnings.
• Stagecoach to spend £70m on green busesStagecoach, the Perth-based transport giant, yesterday unveiled a £70m investment plan to build 420 new “greener” buses and coaches.

The Independent

• Ministers plan car loan guarantees to prop up motor industryMinisters will set out emergency plans this week to help the British motor industry, which is reeling from a near-50 per cent fall in orders.

The Telegraph

• Train chiefs face MPs' interrogationTrain operators have been summoned by MPs to explain soaring rail fares and fears that rail companies could seek a Government bail out.

Times Online

• Boris Johnson unveils £40bn Heathrow-on-SeaThe mayor wants a new hub on two Thames islands as an alternative to expansion
• British Airways blames sterling slump and predicts loss of £150m British Airways said on Monday that it will plunge into the red for the first time in seven years as passenger demand falls and costs rise because of a weaker currency.

Reuters News

• Balfour Beatty wins Heathrow East contractEngineering firm Balfour Beatty said it won a 750 million pound contract for construction work on the eastern development at London's Heathrow Airport.

Mail Online

• Why switching to cash guzzling diesel takes 28 years to pay off Why switching to cash guzzling diesel takes 28 years to pay off

Network Rail

• EAST MIDLANDS™ GREENEST STATION OPENS TODAY

Transport Briefing

• Arup and Jacobs picked for Forth crossing projectTransport engineering specialists Arup and Jacobs have been selected by Transport Scotland to design the Forth Replacement Crossing.
• Stagecoach promises £70m Euro 5 bus spend in 09-10Stagecoach is to spend £70m buying 420 buses and coaches as part of plans for a multi-million pound investment in new vehicles during the coming financial year.
• Transport board backs extra trams and bus transitYorkshire and Humber Assembly’s Regional Transport Board has backed a package of transport improvements worth more than �£1.35 billion aimed at meeting business and commuter travel needs in Yorkshire and Humber.
• Suffolk details county transport spending for 09-10Suffolk County Council has set out plans to spend £3.6m on transport over the coming year.
• Sandhills rail station reopened following £7m upgradeTransport Minister Andrew Adonis has officially reopened Sandhills railway station in Merseyside following a £6.7m upgrade
• Mayor visits Thames estuary airport site with engineersMayor of London Boris Johnson has urged politicians to seriously consider building a new airport in the Thames estuary after he visited the potential site with engineers and Labour MP Nick Raynsford, chair of a new cross-party parliamentary group on the proposal.
• East Midlands Parkway station opens to passengersThe £25m project is one of the most environmentally friendly railway stations ever built in the UK and will be served by more than 100 East Midlands Trains services per day, with trains to and from London every 15-20 minutes at peak times. The journey time to London will be around 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Edinburgh Evening News

• Politicians in fight to save bus serviceMichael Connarty MP and Mary Mulligan MSP said they would fight to save the X33 service, which operator First Bus intends to stop running from next month.
• City bids for extra funds to help troubled trams projectCOUNCIL chiefs are in talks with the Scottish Government over new ways of raising cash which could help provide extra funding for the Capital's troubled trams project.

London Evening Standard

• Runway opponents unveil Heathrow ’rail hub’The coalition of councils opposing the third runway will this week launch plans for a new rail network around Heathrow.
• Engineer backs Boris Johnson's plan for an Estuary airportThe senior engineer behind Hong Kong's island airport claims Boris Johnson's plan for a Thames Estuary airport would be easy to deliver.
• Rail fare rises: bosses quizzedMPs are to hold a major inquiry into the soaring cost of rail fares amid mounting anger from passengers
• BA plummets £150m into the redBritish Airways has admitted that it expects to lose £150million this year

The York Press

• Safety revamp on Fishergate route TRANSPORT chiefs are considering a massive revamp of one of York™s busiest routes, to improve access and safety for motorists, cyclists and pedestrians.
• £11m price tag on York's ex- carriageworks site AN MP today expressed concern about the future of York™s former carriageworks site after it emerged it is being marketed for sale at £11 million York™s MP Hugh Bayley is seeking assurances from the London owner of the massive 18.3-acre industrial site at Holgate Park that whoever buys the site will ensure continuity for rail firms which continue to operate there.

Wales Online

• Campaigners call for a top priority on trunk road expansionA KEY South Wales trunk road must be expanded as a priority to prevent more deaths, campaigners demanded last night.
• A road or rail linkIt concluded any new road or railway across a Severn Barrage could cost as much as a new bridge as it would have to be elevated above any locks.

Yorkshire Evening Post

• £300m to be spent on region's transport – but not until 2014MORE than £300m of funding will be approved today for major transport schemes in Yorkshire – though work will not start on most until as late as 2014.
• Congestion fears as £42m ring road improvement plans are turned downCONGESTION is to continue on York's Outer Ring Road after the Regional Transport Board rejected a bid for £42m to carry out improvements.
• 20 train services sidelined every day, says reportNORTHERN RAIL axed 20 train services every day last year, new figures have revealed.
• £2m Leeds road overhaul proposals outrage residentsPLANS for a £2 million road overhaul at a notorious Leeds bottleneck have outraged nearby homeowners.

Carlisle News & Star

• Virgin cuts ticket office hours at Carlisle rail stationVigin Trains is to cut the opening hours of the ticket office at Carlisle station.

Washington Post

• GM to lay off 2,000 workers, cut production DETROIT -- General Motors Corp. said Monday it will cut 2,000 jobs at plants in Michigan and Ohio, and it will halt production for several weeks at nine U.S. plants over the next six months due to slow sales.
• Chrysler targets concessions from UAW, suppliers DETROIT (Reuters) - Chrysler Chief Executive Bob Nardelli on Monday said the struggling automaker had begun talks with the United Auto Workers and was working to win concessions from the union, key suppliers and creditors.

Transport for London

• New Tube maps to make life easier for thousands of LondonersDesigns show toilet facilities and give new information on step-free use

Aviation Industry

• Great expectations for alternative fuels in 2009Aviation's search for alternative fuels finds itself well positioned moving into 2009 with active programmes, a singular focus on liquid fuels with roadmap commitments, solvent end customers and, most importantly, a resolute incoming US government.
• CONGESTION CHARGING "DEAD IN THE WATER"?But how different the picture looks now... a popular vote has blocked Manchester's proposed scheme and London Mayor Boris Johnson has scrapped the western extension in the capital. Could 2009 be the year that congestion charging sinks "dead in the water"?
• New TrackJet, Rubber Removal on Airport Runways, for Portugal and SpainThe German manufacturer of machinery for rubber removal on airport runways, Weigel Hochdrucktechnik GmbH & Co. KG, has delivered one unit of its most recent TrackJet model, the PowerPack™09 with VacuFlex, to TradeTarget Lda.
• Pedestrian Traffic ConfusionNothing is more frustrating or confusing than pedestrian traffic with regards to an airport environment.
• BA will post third quarter loss of 50mBRITISH Airways Plc, Europe's third-largest airline, will report a third-quarter loss of about 50 million after declining traffic was exacerbated by the plunge in the value of the pound.

Other News Sources

• Biking to work boosts health and profits: Dutch surveyTHE HAGUE (AFP) — Travelling to work by bike is both good for your health and can boost a company's profits, the Dutch transport ministry said Monday.
• All-Electric Vehicles Bought for AirportAS part of its continuing effort to reduce the Westchester County Airport’s toll on the environment, the county has replaced all of the airport’s motorized ground service equipment, like aircraft tractors, water trucks and baggage loaders, with electric versions.
• More cash urged for Games transportA group of MPs has called on the UK Government to provide extra cash to upgrade Glasgow's transport network in time for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
• Ghost bus' scrapped after pressure from travel watchdogsThe Department for Transport (DfT) has agreed that the weekly bus service from Ealing Broadway to Wandsworth will be replaced by a train service after pressure from travel watchdogs.
• Port gets £20m EU funding for rail linksEUROPEAN funding of £20 million is to be sought towards a £100m project to improve rail links to and from the Port of Felixstowe.The application is almost complete - and MEPs in the region hope a decision could be known by May.
• Unions call to halt rail job cutsRail union leaders urged the Government to halt job cuts by train companies warning that the industry was being "vandalised".
• Figures show high level of services scrappedNorthern Rail, which operates across West Yorkshire, cancelled more services last year than any other train company, new figures have revealed.
• Heathrow expansion is in constituents' best interestsProvided it meets the Government’s environmental tests, Heathrow must have another runway if Spelthorne’s prosperity is to continue.
• Global transport reps meet in SydneyTransport sector representatives are meeting in Sydney ahead of an international forum aimed at finding ways to improve their fortunes amid the global economic downturn.
• Drivers on EU roads could be tracked wherever they areThe European Parliament’s Transport Committee has heard plans for the European Union to set up so-called up Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) which would link travelers, vehicles and road infrastructure through new communication technology.
• Electric trains blow to regionDEVON and Cornwall are to miss out on Government plans being considered to run electric trains between London and the West of England – a move that could have made journeys quicker, cheaper and more reliable.
• Third runway opponents 2M Group to unveil Heathrow railway plansCouncils opposing a third runway at Heathrow are set to unveil plans showing how the airport could instead be used as a rail hub for up to 40 trains an hour
• Heathrow expansion will create ’wall of traffic’A THIRD runway at Heathrow will increase noise pollution and create a “wall of traffic between us and London”, according to Henley’s MP.