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

Sunday, 08 November 2009

BBC News

• Experts assessing collapsed roadEngineers begin an investigation into why a road in Belfast city centre collapsed and how to repair the damage.
• Call to allow Scottish space basesA law change is needed before Scotland can be considered as a launch site for commercial space flights, Virgin Galactic says.
• Rail line hit by driver shortageThe rail service on an entire route into London's Kings Cross station is cancelled for the day because there are not enough drivers.

The Independent

• Passengers rail route warning due to lack of drivers Passengers were warned not to travel on a busy rail route today because of a lack of available train drivers.

The Scotsman

• Lack of drivers hits rail routePassengers have been warned not to travel on a busy rail route on Sunday because of a lack of available train drivers.

Times Online

• Two tickets for space, window seats please It is a scenario too implausible even for the vivid imaginations of the writers of the 1980s soap opera Dallas. Victoria Principal, the actress who played the vapid but lissom Pammy Ewing, is to be blasted into space in a venture which could ultimately help to secure the planet’s energy needs
• Brian Souter may join Virgin Galactic space flight Brian Souter, the Stagecoach founder, has been invited by Sir Richard Branson to join one of his inaugural Virgin Galactic space flights
• 'Lost' cargo ship Arctic Sea gives up its secrets The crew at the centre of the hijacked cargo vessel tell of their ordeal for the first time
• Plans to axe Glasgow-London rail link denied Lord Adonis, the UK transport minister, last night dismissed claims that direct train services between Glasgow and London on the East Coast Main Line were about to be axed.
• Veterans to boycott Shell after ban on forecourt poppy sales SHELL, the oil giant, is facing a boycott of its products by armed forces veterans after it banned poppy appeal collections at its petrol stations
• Cycle Guy: Steep burning curve There comes a moment in every cyclist’s hill-climbing life when they think: sod this for a game of soldiers; I’ll get off and push. As soon as that little gremlin of doubt pops into your head, you’re done for. It is a matter of pride not to dismount once you start a climb — a test of mental resilience rather than fitness — but everyone has days of weakness.
• Cycle Doc Q. A few years ago my wife and I decided to get back into the saddle and bought a couple of traditional-style bikes, which suit us well. We want to take them further afield but are having difficulty finding a roof rack that will carry them — each is about 50lb.
• F1 on a registration plate There is a maxim in business that a thing is worth whatever someone is prepared to pay for it. By that reckoning, Afzal Kahn is onto a winner.
• GM boss Carl-Peter Forster set for JaguarCarl-Peter Forster, the departing boss of General Motors Europe, has been lined up to take charge of Jaguar Land Rover, the Midlands-based luxury carmaker.
• Strike ballot for British Airways crewBRITISH AIRWAYS yesterday came a step closer to having its flights grounded over Christmas when cabin crew unions said they would hold a strike ballot.

Daily Record

• Anger at payouts for transport chiefs as workers face the axeTRANSPORT bosses have raked in more than £520,000 of taxpayers' cash on expenses in less than three years, we can reveal today.

Mail Online

• How British motorists pay more tax on diesel than any other drivers in the European Union

The Mirror

• Lack of drivers hits rail routePassengers have been warned not to travel on a busy rail route on Sunday because of a lack of available train drivers.

The Sun

• Sex sounds heard on tube COMMUTERS left red-faced when sounds of couple having SEX were heard on tube

The News (Portsmouth)

• Man guilty of fire attack on sleeping rail passengerA 20-YEAR-OLD man set fire to a passenger as he slept on a train, a court heard.

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• It™s a small world at Elgin model gatheringMODEL cars, planes, boats and trains will today take over Elgin Town Hall for Moray™s Premier Model Fair.
• Oil rigs service contracts boost for Highland portFirms at a Highland port are cashing in on the recession by landing lucrative contracts to service oil rigs.

The York Press

• Jack Ward, nine, left devastated after his BMX is stolen from the bike sheds at Lakeside Primary School, in Clifton Moor, York THE mother of a devastated schoolboy who had his œpride and joy stolen from his school™s bike shed has urged the thieves to return her son™s BMX.

Yorkshire Evening Post

• Wakefield: Man who stole bus is told he will go to jailA man who stole a bus and took it on a rampage through West Yorkshire streets has been told he will be going to jail.

Blackpool Gazette

• Blackpool crash brought traffic to standstillA CAR veered off the road, knocked over a lamppost and ploughed into a garden wall during a dramatic crash in Blackpool.

Peterborough Telegraph

• Congestion busting youngsters could earn £100Youngsters using a congestion-busting bus service in Norfolk could earn themselves an extra £100 to spend at Christmas under a new initiative.
• Passengers rail route warning due to lack of driversPassengers have been warned not to travel on a busy rail route in East Anglia because of a lack of available train drivers.

Forbes

• States With The Most Expensive CarsBig cities aren't the only places people drive high-end vehicles.

Washington Post

• Holiday airfares close to last year but climbing -- If holiday travelers on the same plane compare what they paid to fly, they're likely to find quite a spread, depending on when they bought their tickets.

Other News Sources

• BA cabin crews balloted over cutsUnion leaders have served formal notice of a ballot among thousands of British Airways cabin crew in a dispute over new contracts and job cuts.
• Lack of drivers hits rail routePassengers have been warned not to travel on a busy rail route on Sunday because of a lack of available train drivers.
• Lack of drivers hits rail routeLack of drivers hits rail route