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

Saturday, 31 January 2009

BBC News

• Rail ticket machine upgrade callCampaigners are calling for ticket machines at stations to be improved because passengers are often unable to access the cheapest fares.
• Exxon hit by fall in price of oilExxon Mobil, the world's largest oil company, reports a sharp fall in quarterly profits but breaks its own record for full year results.
• Porsche scales back worker hoursGermany's Porsche becomes the latest car company to cut back its worker hours amid falling global demand.

Financial Times

• Honda cuts outlook for fourth timeSlumping sales and strong yen set to push carmaker into $3.7bn operating loss in current quarter as it slashes production in effort to cut inventory
• EasyJet hunts for new chairmanSearch is on for successor to Sir Colin Chandler, who will tell investors at next week's shareholders' meeting that he plans to retire in the autumn

The Independent

• Banned driver got straight back behind wheel Drink-driver Peter Latham was banned from driving, walked from the court, got in his car and drove off in one of history's quickest legal breaches.
• Man fined for riding horse drunkA man has been convicted under a 137-year-old law of riding a horse while drunk. Godfrey Blacklin, 31, admitted a charge under the 1872 Licensing Act of being drunk in charge of a carriage horse, cattle or steam engine.

The Telegraph

• Controversial police chief Richard Brunstrom suggests removing crashed cars with bodies still inside Controversial police chief Richard Brunstrom has suggested removing crashed cars with bodies still inside to ease congestion.
• Driving while suffering from flu raises risk of a road accidents Driving while suffering from flu increases the risk of a road accident as much as two glasses of whisky according to a British new study.

Times Online

• Channel Tunnel forced to fit sprinkler system after three fires The Channel Tunnel is finally to have a sprinkler system fitted after the third fire in 12 years forced Eurotunnel to admit that it had underestimated the risk of disaster deep under the sea bed.
• Need to know: Misys helped by US ... Serco venture ... Boeing's biofuel View video and Need to Know interactive heatmap
• Threat of job losses hangs over bmi as airline reneges on pay rise promise Bmi, the UK’s second-largest airline, has broken a promise to 5,000 staff that it would honour a pay increase this year and has also warned of possible redundancies.

Reuters News

• First China-built Airbus due in July -memoPARIS, Jan 30 (Reuters) - China's Sichuan Airlines will become the world's first carrier to receive an Airbus built outside Europe when it takes delivery of an A320 jetliner assembled in China in July, an Airbus staff memo said.

Mail Online

• The £1-a-mile rail fare: First-class passengers pay soaring ticket prices for a worse service The £1-a-mile rail fare: First-class passengers pay soaring ticket prices for a worse service

The Sun

• Man pays £210k for reg plateAN UNIDENTIFIED businessman paid £210,242 for the car registration plate '10'
• Motorway of the deadDRIVERS have horror commute as jokers hack into road sign — and warn of ZOMBIES

Journal Live

• Drivers urged to THINK! about speedANEW £3.2m THINK! campaign to highlight the life-wrecking consequences of speeding for drivers as well as victims was launched yesterday by Road Safety Minister Jim Fitzpatrick.

Liverpool Echo

• Liverpool John Lennon Airport pioneers technology that converts passenger breath into biofuelLIVERPOOL John Lennon Airport is the world’s first airport to trial a revolutionary machine that will convert the breath of passengers into biofuel.

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• Bus routes shake-up provokes angry scenes at city meetingTempers flared over a new bus route last night as Aberdeen residents told transport bosses that a community was being cut off.

Wales Online

• Cardiff to get new service on the busesA PUBLIC transport tycoon is getting back on the road to break the capital’s bus monopoly.

Yorkshire Evening Post

• 2,000 rail staff in strike ballotMORE than 2,000 workers at key Yorkshire train operator Northern Rail are to be balloted on strike action.

Burnley Express

• 'Cowardly' Burnley Bus Station attacks caught on CCTVDETECTIVES are appealing for witnesses after a series of "unjustifiable and cowardly" attacks at Burnley Bus Station.

Chester Standard

• Revealed: the nuclear waste on Cheshire's roadsREGULAR loads of nuclear waste are travelling along Cheshire roads, it has been revealed.

Sunderland Echo

• Residents given the slip by new A19 roadNeighbours on a quiet estate are angry about plans to extend an A19 sliproad next to their homes.
• Passengers call cops on hellish coach tripThey thought the trip back from Disneyland could not get any worse, after their late-night flight home had to be diverted to Glasgow Airport because of fog.

The Shields Gazette

• PM vows to protect Nissan jobsGORDON Brown today vowed not to let Nissan go the way of the mining and shipbuilding industry.
• Pound's fall could boost shipyardTHE collapse in the value of the pound could spell good news for a South Tyneside yard, bosses say.

Washington Post

• All Aboard: Public Transit Deserves a Big Chunk of Stimulus The share of President Obama's more than $800 billion economic stimulus package aimed at public transportation seems marginal, and that's a shortsighted approach to spending.
• Battery Sourcing Remains Crucial To Electric Automobiles' Viability Two big batteries stand side by side at the General Motors testing lab in Warren, Mich.
• Birds cause emergency landings, aborted takeoffs WASHINGTON -- Commercial airline crews reported more than two dozen emergency landings, aborted takeoffs or other hair-raising incidents due to collisions with birds in the past two years, according to a confidential database managed by NASA.

Aviation Industry

• Delta to scale back India flyingDelta Air Lines plans to reduce the flight schedule on its Atlanta-Mumbai route to five times a week starting in April, as it adjusts to weaker demand this year.
• Atlanta's new international terminal in limboNot so long ago, the Maynard Holbrook Jackson Jr. International Terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport seemed like a no-brainer. The city of Atlanta, which runs the airport, wanted a sparkling new ...
• Southwest Pilots Get A RaiseSouthwest Airlines Co. said Friday it agreed on raises for its pilots, and the carrier's mechanics ratified a new contract that includes higher pay and bonuses.
• Continental to join Star Alliance in OctoberContinental Airlines is switching allies in the battle to attract more international customers and keep them flying on its partner airlines.
• US airlines report substantial losses Carriers hit by fuel hedging read more

Other News Sources

• New rail line stopped in its tracks by delays, faults and repairsLEVEL-crossing and track faults have plagued Scotland's newest railway line since it opened last year, two-and-a-half years late and more than twice over budget, The Scotsman has learned.
• Oil prices need to rise, says BP bossThe boss of BP risked a furious backlash after calling for higher oil prices - just as rival Shell reported the biggest-ever annual profit by a European company
• Car giant Ford: 'We won't ask for bail-out'Stalling car giant Ford posted its biggest-ever full-year loss of £10.2bn, but remained adamant it would not have to ask the US government for an emergency loan
• Highlands and Islands Airports LtdInterim chair and Board members appointed.
• Battery testRicardo this week opened its Battery Systems Development Center in Detroit, a facility designed to provide design solutions for high-voltage battery pack systems in hybrid, plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles.
• VT announces refocusSouthampton-based defence and support services company, VT Group, has announced that it will pull out from its shipbuilding division in order to focus on its Services Business.
• Stena Line Announce Major Makeover for Stena CaledoniaStena Line has revealed plans to revamp its Stena Caledonia conventional ferry
• Piracy Pushing Up Marine PremiumsAccording to a Jan 28 Reuters report, Munich Re expects insurance premiums against high sea piracy to rise, as well as the risk of piracy in the world.(Source: Reuters)...
• Tube workers to hold six strikes Workers who fix power supply faults on the London Underground are to stage six strikes over the next month in a row over pay.
• Four-month shutdown for Honda Workers at the UK factory of Japanese motor giant Honda are making the last cars for four months because of a slump in sales.
• Air France-KLM Cargo stops Guangzhou runAir France-KLM Cargo has suspended its twice-weekly B747400 freighter service between Paris and Guangzhou, in southern China, with immediate effect.
• Major terminals see difficult year aheadSome of the world's top container terminal operators increased their throughput last year, but also reported a sharp drop in volumes in the fourth quarter and expect a tough 2009.
• Lines look for port fee cutsShipping lines have been trying to secure record reductions in port fees as their finances come under pressure from declining volumes and rates.
• Stobart signs £110m warehousing deal with NestléStobart Group has signed a 10-year contract to provide warehousing for Nestlé UK's seasonal confectionery products such as Easter eggs.
• Global cruise sales falterCRUISE companies had hoped that non-US sales would counterbalance American weakness, but the demand falloff has now spread across the globe.
• European Commission Begins Legal Action Against the UK Over Air Pollution FailuresLegal action as UK fails to meet standards on airborne particles.
• European Commission proposes to open negotiations on a Common aviation area with GeorgiaThe European Commission proposed today to the Council directives for negotiation for a comprehensive aviation agreement with Georgia. The aim is to establish a Common aviation area between the EU and Georgia which will remove market restrictions and associate Georgia to the EU internal aviation market.