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

Thursday, 03 December 2009

BBC News

• Station hump helps train access A platform extension at a rural railway station is officially opened, providing easier and safer access on and off trains.
• Two station plan for high-speed lineBirmingham could get two new multi-million pound railway stations if a high-speed rail network gets the go-ahead.

Financial Times

• Aer Lingus to cut jobs as union talks failThe Irish airline fails to get the backing of pilots and cabin crew for its €97m cost-saving plan despite the intervention of the Labour Relations Council

The Independent

• Cyclists three times more likely to die on UK roads than abroadCycling may help save the planet “ but more must be done to save the cyclists, researchers say.

Times Online

• Aer Lingus to axe more jobs as pay talks failAer Lingus, the Irish airline, warned today that it would have to begin another round of job cuts, deeper than the 15 per cent staff reduction already announced, after it had failed to reach agreement with its pilots and cabin crew over lowering their pay.
• Irish carrier may quit Dublin for UK after pilots refuse pay cutAer Lingus, the Irish flag carrier, is threatening to move its base to the UK and make hundreds more compulsory redundancies after the failure of its talks to cut pilots™ wages.

Network Rail

• PASSENGERS TO GET BETTER WEEKEND AND BANK HOLIDAY RAIL SERVICE IN WALESNetwork Rail and the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC), with support from Passenger Focus, today announced an initiative to further reduce the need for replacement buses at weekends and bank holidays.The initiative will benefit passengers in Wales travelling via the Great Western main line and West Coast main line (connecting services).  
• BRISTOL PASSENGERS TO GET SEVEN-DAY RAILWAYBristol is set to significantly benefit from Network Rail™s seven-day railway vision, as the company introduces today a new initiative and technology to minimise passenger disruption.
• PASSENGERS TO GET BETTER WEEKEND AND BANK HOLIDAY TRAIN SERVICENetwork Rail and the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC), with support from Passenger Focus, today announced an initiative to further reduce the need for replacement buses at weekends and bank holidays. The industry aims to keep passengers on trains rather than have their rail journey interrupted by a bus journey. Achieving this will be a significant step towards the industry’s vision of a seven-day railway. Twenty key routes that carry 60% of all weekend passengers have been identified for special attention. Network Rail and train operators aim to offer a rail journey in almost all circumstances between key stations on these routes. The only exception is when the demands of rail improvement work make achieving this aim impractical. This commitment will be progressively introduced over the next two years.
• PASSENGERS TO GET BETTER WEEKEND AND BANK HOLIDAY TRAIN SERVICEPledge to keep one route to Scotland open at all times
• SOUTH EAST PASSENGERS TO GET BETTER WEEKEND AND BANK HOLIDAY TRAIN SERVICE

Belfast Telegraph

• Aer Lingus chief attacks pilots' union as talks failThe chief executive of Aer Lingus has launched a scathing attack on his pilots after talks to agree an

London Evening Standard

• Victoria rail route commuters face New Year strikesCommuters on mainline routes into Victoria station face strike action as they return from the Christmas break

The York Press

• Festive drink and drug drive campaign launched WARNINGS of the potentially lethal consequences of driving while under the influence of drugs will form a major part of this year™s festive road safety campaign across the county.
• Traffic chaos follows flooding of roads in North Yorkshire MOTORISTS suffered massive delays and diversions after the A19 into York was blocked by flooding “ and council chiefs do not know when the long-term problem will be fixed.
• Government's rail revenue slashed following National Express East Coast collapse THE Government will lose a third of a billion pounds in revenue following the collapse of York-based National Express East Coast, The Press can reveal today.

Yorkshire Evening Post

• Leeds rail worker dies after being hit by train A rail worker has died after being hit by a train just outside Leeds City Station.

Sunderland Echo

• Review of East Coast rail faresRAIL fares on the East Coast Mainline could be reduced after figures showed thousands of seats are left unsold every day.

The Shields Gazette

• Prepare for year of traffic chaosTRANSPORT bosses have admitted drivers in South Tyneside could face a big traffic headache for a year during a major £3m roundabout scheme.

New Scientist

• Low-carbon future: We can afford to go greenAn exclusive study for New Scientist shows that westerners can radically cut carbon emissions and keep their lifestyles

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• UK drivers 'most safety-conscious in Europe'British motorists are some of the most law-abiding in Europe, a new study has indicated.According to research carried out by insurer AXA, UK drivers are the safest in the continent with the exception of those in Ireland, while they were also the most averse to tailgating and using mobile phones without hands-free kits.Covering a range of eleven different driving behaviours across ten nations, the study also discovered Britain and Ireland were the least likely places to find people drink driving and failing to wear seatbelts behind the wheel.UK motorists were not rated worst in any of the categ...

Aviation Industry

• BAA places £235m Sterling bond to refinance existing debt BAA today announces that it has successfully placed a £235 million Sterling index-linked bond, with a 2039 maturity and a fixed real annual interest coupon of 3.334%...

Other News Sources

• Freed Iran sailors arrive in DubaiFinally free after being detained for a week by Revolutionary Guards for accidentally drifting into Iranian waters, five British yachtsmen arrive in Dubai. Alex Thomson reports.
• Ro-pax and cargo ship in collisionA PASSENGER-CARGO ship ran aground after it sideswiped a cargo ship.
• Early buses for Heathrow™s early birdsFive of the most useful bus routes into Heathrow will start earlier from next week thanks to an initiative between BAA, Transport for London, the London Borough of Hillingdon and British Airways. The four organisations are funding timetable changes to bus routes 350, 423, 482, 490 and 555 so that they start up to an hour and a half earlier, getting both airport workers and passengers to Heathrow for around 4am.
• Distracted Driving: Are Beleaguered Workers Making Roadways Dangerous?With the pressure to compete in a tough economy, it is likely that the distracted driving problem will continue.
• Soft Tissue Injuries after an Automobile AccidentVehicle collisions that occur at speeds as low as 2.5 miles per hour can result in life-long pain for those involved in the accident.
• GM looking to cut 350 jobs at Luton plantGeneral Motor's (GM) management team has proposed to cut around 354 jobs at the Vauxhall plant in Luton, where the Vivaro van is made in order to
• Longer semi 'more likely' than B-trainDespite a very public effort by Lincolnshire-based haulier Denby Transport to test the law on longer, heavier vehicles (LHVs), the government is more likely to approve longer semi-trailers for UK roads, according to the trailer industry.
• Christmas strike threat hangs over BAFestive holidaymakers could find their Christmas holidays disrupted if the threat of industrial action by British Airways cabin crew staff becomes reality.

Other Subscription Services

• Shipping faces paying twice for climate change dealIndustry fears a lack of political consensus in the run up to Copenhagen could see governments turn to shipping as a source of cash.
• Egypt to expand Suez Canal entrance channelAttempts to ease congestion at Port Said box terminal.
• Amsterdam rules out state aid for box hubHutchison container terminal faces mothballing when last customer leaves.