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

Saturday, 04 April 2009

BBC News

• Train row over Friday Six NationsThe first Friday night Six Nations rugby fixture in Cardiff next year could cause transport problems, train companies warn.
• BA to miss 2008 revenue targetsBritish Airways says it will miss its full-year financial targets and that market conditions continue to cause pressure.

Financial Times

• BA expects loss as premium traffic dries upThe UK airline forecasts an operating loss of £150m for the latest financial year to the end of March because of sharply falling revenues from business travellers
• Tyne shipbuilders sail into the sunsetSwan Hunter's history comes to a painful end as the last cranes sail for shipyards in India, leaving a gap in the region that once built some of the world's most famous vessels

The Independent

• Chaos set to engulf rail network over EasterRail passengers travelling between London and the North-west are set to enjoy new vistas over Easter. Instead of the humdrum landscapes punctuated by Hemel Hempstead, Bletchley and Rugby, they will drift through the Chiltern Hills, past picturesque villages.

Times Online

• British car sales still falling as Germany's roar ahead British car sales for the month of March are expected to have fallen by about 28 per cent in stark contrast to other leading European markets that have recently bounced after government “scrapping” incentives.
• British Airways misses its stay-at-home big spenders British Airways is counting the cost of belt-tightening by its premium-fare-paying public after announcing yesterday that the number of its business and first-class passengers had fallen by 13 per cent in March.

Reuters News

• UPDATE 2-BA says March passengers down, revenue hit* Passenger volumes down 7.3 pct, led by premium segment

ATOC

• EASTER TRAVEL ADVICE FOR RAIL PASSENGERSWith less then a week to go to the Easter holiday, Britain™s railway is gearing up for a major getaway.

London Evening Standard

• Graffiti gang face prison for three years of rail vandalismFour graffiti vandals were facing jail this afternoon for causing more than £134,000 damage to trains in a three-year campaign

Manchester Evening News

• Police use spy cars POLICE are using tiny Smart cars with telescopic spy cameras to catch drivers breaking the law. The surveillance operation is the first of its kind in the country. The two new cars are fitted with a camera on the end of an extendable mast. They can see into cars and catch motorists using their mobile phones or eating at the wheel.

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• Railway louts and drunks now face on-the-spot fines Drunken louts on Scotland™s trains will be given on-the-spot fines, police said yesterday.

The York Press

• York woman ˜barred from buses™ A WHEELCHAIR user says she is being stopped from travelling on buses in York because drivers are refusing to use the ramps on the grounds of health and safety.
• Appeal to help save iron rail bridge near Goathland NORTH Yorkshire Moors Railway bosses are appealing for donations from the public to renew a 140-year-old bridge.
• Crash sparks new rail plea RAIL campaigners claim a four-vehicle smash on the A1079 was a œperfect illustration for the need for alternative transport links.

Wales Online

• Suicidal man costs railway £70kA suicidal man who tried to jump off a railway bridge caused closure of the line for two-and-a-half hours at a cost of £71,000, a court heard today.
• Rail companies slam Six Nations’ late kick-off timeTRAIN companies are set to raise concerns with the WRU over the experimental Friday evening Millennium Stadium kick-off in next year’s Six Nations.

Yorkshire Evening Post

• Woman's body found on Wakefield rail tracksTHE body of a woman has been found on a railway line near to Outwood train station, Wakefield, police have said.

Peterborough Telegraph

• Union in plea over redundant workersA union leader has told motor giant Ford it has a "moral obligation" to help hundreds of workers laid off by a car parts company in Essex.

Washington Post

• Fiat, Chrysler Pushing Debt Holders, Union to Wrap Up Deal With just less than a month to finalize their alliance, Chrysler and Fiat are scrambling.
• Obama's Wallow in the Automobile Industry The Constitution enumerates three requirements for those who would be president (they must be natural-born citizens, at least 35 and a resident within the country for 14 years) and now the government's thrashing about in the economy imposes a fourth: Presidents must be able to speak pluperfect nonsense with a straight face, lest the country understand what the government is doing. Obfuscation serves political salvation when what the government is doing includes promising that if Chrysler will sell itself to Fiat, U.S. taxpayers will lend that Italian firm $6 billion.

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• New night bus service for SussexNew night bus services will serve the East Sussex towns of Lewes and Uckfield this summer, it has been announced.Brighton and Hove Buses has revealed that it will extend its N29 bus provision to provide a route from the city centre at 01:00 BST on Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings.Another new service will be the N69 to Hayward's Heath, leaving at 02:30 BST on Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings, which will now call at Patcham.Such services could provide extra public access in and out of the city of Brighton and Hove.While Sussex commuters can enjoy extra late night bus rides, a bus service...

Transport for London

• New London Overground platforms open at Stratford StationTransport for London (TfL) is pleased to announce the opening of two new platforms to serve the London Overground (LO) network at Stratford Station.
• New taxi fares come into effect on Saturday 4 April 2009New taxi fares come into effect on Saturday 4 April 2009.

Aviation Industry

• Improvements to South Terminal Upper ForecourtAs part of the £1 billion investment to revitalise London Gatwick Airport over the next four years...

Other News Sources

• Cleaner, Quieter, Safer, Motoring Ahead - Tyre Labels ApprovedTyre labelling will help reduce traffic noise and CO2 emissions, and save fuel.
• Will Eco-towns be Cleaner, Quieter and Healthier?Eco-towns planning policy should include local environmental quality standards.
• VisitBritain marketer jumps to Tourism South EastVisitBritain marketing director Michael Bedingfield is leaving to join Tourism South East as chief executive.
• How Lemon Law Can Help YouWhen your new car does not work as it should, you expect the automaker to step in and make it right. Unfortunately, this is not how the situation typically unfolds. That is why lemon laws have been passed to protect consumers who buy or lease vehicles that turn out to be problematic.
• Avoiding Auto AccidentsMore than 100,000 motor-vehicle crashes occur in Wisconsin every year, killing approximately 700 people. Some of these crashes could have been prevented with defensive driving techniques.
• 'Northamptonshire needs three more truck parks'Three more lorry parks are needed in Northamptonshire to combat freight crime in the region, a Faber Maunsell report has concluded.
• Express trainsBombardier Transportation has signed a £173m order for a new line of high-speed trains that will run on the Stansted Express route from 2011.
• Road to improvementBalfour Beatty, the UK-based engineering and construction group, has announced that it will begin major roadway and structural infrastructure projects worth £300m in October 2009.
• Land Rover to get £800m lifelineJaguar Land Rover is set to receive £800m in support from the Government as part of a massive bail- out of Britain's ailing car industry
• Transport Authority to rev up fight against illegal vehiclesThe Transport Authority has vowed to increase its clampdown on operators of public passenger vehicles despite howls of protest from some bus and taxi drivers.The drivers have charged that since the la...
• Lowcost Travel Group reveals full year resultsLowcosttravel Group has revealed net profit before tax increased by 48% for the year ending 31 October.
• Ryanair fires 'ticket tout pirates' salvo at third parties Ryanair has attacked online retailers describing them as
• Call for shipping law enforcement There are calls for Sark's Chief Pleas to...
• Deal 'agreed' for Swansea ferry A co-operative hoping to restart the Swansea to...