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

Wednesday, 18 March 2009

BBC News

• Wagoner open to Opel proposalGM boss Rick Wagoner says the US carmaker is willing to take 'a less than 100%' stake in its Opel offshoot.

Department for Transport

• Passengers set for faster more convenient rail services A new train service enabling thousands of Kent commuters to leave their cars behind and travel to London on high speed trains will lead to faster, more convenient journeys for rail passengers and boost the local economy, Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon said today.
• Transport Statistics:The Department for Transport has today published the following Transport Statistics: * Road Goods Vehicles Travelling to Mainland Europe: 2008

Financial Times

• Shipowners in stand-off with banksShipowners in one of the shipping sectors worst hit by the global downturn...added.Harry Theochari, head of the shipping group at Norton Rose, the London-based...phoney war"."I'd say that most of the shipping loan facilities that we as a firm...

The Guardian

• Eco Soundings: Boris claims City Airport is backed by localsDo Boris Johnson, mayor of London, and Roger Evans, the gung-ho leader of the Tory-dominated London assembly, realise that people live right beside the runway at City airport?
• Crash test dummiesrom now on, if you have the misfortune to be mown down by a speeding vehicle and are not wearing a helmet when the paramedics scrape you from the road, you could be held partially liable – even if there is no doubt in the world that it wasn't your fault.

The Herald

• Cost of rail travel puts businesses off, despite satisfactionBusinesses are discouraged from booking train journeys because tickets are too expensive, despite high levels of satisfaction with rail, a passenger survey has found.
• Cunard’s new Elizabeth heralds golden age in ocean transportIt has been designed to evoke a bygone era, with a modern twist which will offer passengers the ultimate in luxury travel.
• Airport set to suffer 28% fall in business to North AmericaGlasgow Airport has struggled to replace the hole in its schedules caused by the collapse of Canadian carrier Zoom last year, with the seating capacity on flights to North America dropping by more than a quarter this year, booking forecasts seen by The Herald show.
• English firm set to bid for Scottish airportExclusive: The owner of Manchester Airport is preparing to make a bid to buy either Glasgow or Edinburgh airport following a move by the UK’s competition regulator to break up BAA’s dominance of the aviation market.

The Independent

• London commuter rail staff vote for strikes Rail workers on three commuter services in and around London have voted in favour of strikes over job cuts and safety issues, their union said today.

The Telegraph

• CAA 'encouraged' BAA to raise chargesA senior official at the Civil Aviation Authority encouraged BAA to provide extra data to support its case for higher landing charges at Gatwick after a deadline for fresh submissions had passed the High Court heard on Tuesday.
• Road traffic up almost half in some counties Rural roads are increasingly choked with cars according to new figures that show traffic levels have risen by almost half in some counties in the last 15 years.

Times Online

• Just what every Essex man wants: room indoors to keep the Mondeo Urban housing that allows space for people's cars? Now, that's clever. And how inevitable that this seismic breakthrough for common sense should have occurred in Essex - the spiritual home of the car port.
• Anger as Shell reduces renewables investment Royal Dutch Shell provoked a furious backlash from campaigners yesterday when it announced plans to scale back its renewable energy business and focus purely on oil, gas and biofuels.

Reuters News

• London commuter rail staff vote for strikesLONDON (Reuters) - Rail workers on three commuter services in and around London have voted in favour of strikes over job cuts and safety issues, their union said on Tuesday.

Daily Express

• Stagecoach axes more rail jobs as train revenues fallSTAGECOACH Group, the £840million bus and rail operator, yesterday signalled a further cost efficiency drive to offset the impact of falling train revenue growth due to redundancies.

Daily Post (North Wales)

• 'Use North Wales trains to flag up tourist hot spots'VIRGIN’S train route through North Wales should be turned into a tourist destination map to boost visitors to the region.

Liverpool Echo

• Knowsley’s JLR car plant unveils first eco-friendly stop/start FreelanderWORKERS at the Halewood car plant cheered the first model of their greenest vehicle so far came off the production line yesterday.

London Evening Standard

• Internet map that pinpoints danger spots for cyclists to avoidLONDON'S most dangerous roads for cyclists are revealed today. An online map details every cycling accident in the capital reported to police over a 12-month period. Software experts and safety campaigners say they hope it will help cyclists avoid the worst areas and reduce the number of people injured.
• Islington welcomes careful drivers with blanket 20mph zoneAll residential roads in Islington will be subject to the driving restriction by the end of the year in a move aimed at cutting the number of fatalities and accidents.
• Tube fares may rise to fill £600m hole in TfL efficiency savingsAn internal report seen by the Standard shows that Transport Commissioner Peter Hendy has expressed confidence that only £1.8billion of savings can be achieved - compared with a £2.4billion target. Today there were warnings that the £600million shortfall would have to be made up by increases in Tube and bus fares.
• Livingstone caught without a train ticketKEN LIVINGSTONE has been caught travelling on a train without a ticket despite declaring "freeloaders will not be tolerated" when he was Mayor.
• Hoon admits figures error on HeathrowThe Government has admitted making an error in one of its forecasts on the net benefit of new runways at Heathrow and Stansted airports

Metro

• Triple threat of strike action after rail workers voteCommuters face widespread misery after workers at three rail companies voted to take action in rows over job losses and industrial relations.

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• Travellers hit as airlines axe flightsTravellers in the north-east were dealt a double blow last night as two major airlines announced cuts in services from Aberdeen Airport.

The York Press

• York™s new cycling chief Graham Titchener starts his new role with ride past York Minster THIS is the man who will mastermind the future of cycling in York and encourage more of us to get on our bikes and out of our cars.

Yorkshire Evening Post

• Rail staff get reprieve over see-through blousesThe Transport Salaried Staffs Association said National Express has written to female staff to say they will not, after all, have to wear the blouses as part of their new uniform on the busy East Coast line.

Blackpool Gazette

• £2.5m boost for Blackpool AirportMASSIVE improvement works are under way at Blackpool Airport.

Peterborough Telegraph

• Minister admits airports expansion blunderThe Government has admitted making an error in one of its forecasts on the net benefit of new runways at Stansted Airport.

International Herald Tribune

• Despite downturn, airfares generally increasing in EuropeFuel prices have plunged but the total cost of a plane ticket for many fliers has not come down.

Washington Post

• Chrysler Values Deal With Fiat at $10 Billion Chrysler's proposed partnership with Fiat could be worth as much as $10 billion to the struggling automaker by giving it a jump on developing new vehicles, Chrysler chief executive Robert L. Nardelli said in an e-mail to employees yesterday.
• GM CEO says Ford/UAW agreement won't work for GM WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A healthcare agreement struck between Ford Motor Co and the United Auto Workers would not work for General Motors Corp , GM's chief executive said on Tuesday.

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• New trailer unveiled by Corus and TDGTDG has revealed that it has launched a new trailer designed in collaboration with Corus that is intended to reduce the impact of the steelmaker's operations on the environment.Measuring 45ft, the specially-liveried trailers are expected to decrease empty running by providing the firm with increased versatility and have been designed to carry loads of different shapes and sizes.The trailers will carry freight including coils of strip steel, wire rods, beams and sheets of plate steel and will be more likely to carry return loads back to starting locations than previous models, generating cost s...

Aviation Industry

• Time for the planners to work harderWe can build our way out of trouble – but it has to be development that future generations can be proud of, the TCPA's Gideon Amos tells Alison Thomas, for example choosing high-speed rail over short-haul flights
• £7.2 million runway rehabilitation programme is about to take offA multi-million pound programme of work is about to begin at Aberdeen Airport, which will involve a complete resurface of the main runway...

Other News Sources

• Rail giants accused of spolier tacticsTHE rail company which began a direct London rail service has had the 'squeeze' put on it by the giant Virgin company. The Wrexham and Shropshire service has been forced to axe several of the 'less popular' services from its schedule because of a fall in passenger numbers.
• Rail extension put on the back burnerThe rail support group Storm – Support the Oldham Rochdale Manchester line – and an ardent supporter of the ELR, says Rochdale Council’s planning blueprint, its Unitary Development Policy, only envisages the railway running into the existing platforms at Castleton station.
• Rail watchdog reconsiders airport linkOfficers from Witham and Braintree Rail Users Association will finance research into a possible route and its feasibility, with the hope of gaining European cash to pay for the railway line, on the basis it would be a key international transport link.
• Halesowen firms look at £3billion rail chanceRail Alliance will host an interactive seminar in Dudley this Thursday March 19 to engage with businesses keen to take part in schemes over the next five years.
• Geoff Hoon tours Kent Thameside to explore Crossrail optionsTransport secretary Geoff Hoon visited Kent Thameside yesterday to investigate the viability of Crossrail trains running through north Kent stations. He toured Ebbsfleet and Dartford with Kent Thameside Regeneration Partnership.
• EMPLOYERS' BUSINESS TRAVEL NEEDS FROM RAILPassenger Focus’s latest research has revealed there is potential for the industry to attract greater numbers of business travellers onto the train and improve use of off-peak services.
• Singapore Exchange raps NOLTHE Singapore Exchange has publicly reprimanded Neptune Orient Lines for not sufficiently addressing market rumours over a possible rights issue.
• Hong Kong sees mild recoveryHONG Kong has reported a slight recovery in imports, but overall container volumes through the hub port continued to decline in February.
• Air France launches smartboarding trialsFlying Blue customers travelling between Paris and Amsterdam will be asked to carry a special card which employs biometric encrypted fingerprints, radio frequency identification and thermal printing technology.

Other Subscription Services

• Sightseeing joint venture in New YorkStagecoach Group plc ("the Group") is pleased to announce that today it entered into an agreement to create a new joint venture to operate the sightseeing services of the Group's Gray Line New York business and the business of CitySights NY.