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

Saturday, 16 January 2010

BBC News

• Two people killed in plane crashTwo people are killed when a plane crashes and bursts into flames in a field close to Oxford Airport.
• UK flights to carry aid to HaitiBritish airlines prepare to fly aid to Haiti, as UK firefighters rescue a two-year-old girl from a collapsed building.
• Seven hurt in motorway pile-upSeven people are injured in a multi-vehicle pile-up on a motorway in Greater Manchester.
• Rail firm 'has shoddy service'First Capital Connect services from London to Brighton and Bedford have been
• P&O axes Spanish ferry service A P&O ferry to Spain operating from Portsmouth is to be withdrawn because of financial losses, putting 252 jobs at risk.
• European car sales up in DecemberEuropean car sales rose by 16% in December, marking signs of recovery in the sector after another tough year, figures show.

Financial Times

• Volvo chief quits early in board shake-upFormer Renault chief Louis Schweitzer is to replace Finn Johnsson as chairman of the Swedish truckmaker in a boardroom shake-up as the group struggles to overcome a slump in sales

The Guardian

• Electric cars struggle to spark salesAll the big carmakers at the Detroit motor show had electrically powered and hybrid cars on display, but Americans still aren't buying green vehiclesWith a curiously squashed, elongated body, the Tango electrically-powered car is as narrow as a single passenger and as nippy as a motorbike. Billed as the world's fastest urban car, it can reach a speed of 130mph. Satisfied customers include the actor George Clooney, and its inventor describes the bizarre vehicle as a

The Herald

• Council loses crucial trams disputeEdinburgh™s tram developers have lost a significant dispute with contractors in a ruling that is likely to add millions of pounds to the cost of the troubled project, The Herald has learned.

The Independent

• Two killed as light aircraft crashes near airport Two people were killed when a light aircraft crashed near an airport today, police said.

The Telegraph

• Trains that are five minutes late should not be classed as on time, says Lord Adonis Train regulations which allow commuter services which arrive up to five minutes late to be classed as on time should be scrapped for tougher targets, Lord Adonis, the Transport Secretary, has said.

Times Online

• The Expert Driver: Maintaining car lighting It’s easy to forget to check your car’s lights when it’s too cold to poke about outdoors. Nevertheless, it is illegal and dangerous not to have a fully operational set of lights. Each external light on the vehicle must be clearly visible. If one is obscured by snow, you can receive a fixed-penalty notice. A quick once-over with a rubber-bladed scraper or a cloth makes you safe and legal again.
• Airport relationships turn frosty as snow melts and blame game beginsThe snow has only just started to melt but already the blame game has begun after two weeks of travel chaos at Britain™s airports.

Mail Online

• Businessman sues BA 'for treating men like perverts'

The Sun

• Sales rep killed by 33yrs of car fumes MAN who spent life on the road died from lung disease after breathing car fumes for 33 years

Network Rail

• SOUTHAMPTON TUNNEL WORKS FINISHED A YEAR EARLY

Bolton News

• VOTE: Pothole hell for motorists MONEY used for urgent repairs to Bolton™s roads could be slashed ” as the cold snap continues to damage the borough™s highways.

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• Passengers face higher bus fares Passengers are having to dig deeper into their pockets from this weekend as bus bosses hike up their fares by almost ten per cent.

Northern Echo

• Wartime rail workers recognised RAILWAY workers who kept the nation™s Second World War efforts on track are being celebrated with an exhibition.

The News (Portsmouth)

• Free bike marking in PortsmouthPolice are urging bike owners to get their cycles marked in a bid to reduce thefts.
• Recycle old bicyclesCyclists are being asked to recycle their bikes instead of putting them in the bin.
• Last remaining P&O ship to be axed from PortsmouthA continental ferry firm is to pull out of Portsmouth.

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• Plea over school buses appealsA Highland councillor yesterday called for an overhaul of the way the authority deals with challenges from parents who have been refused school bus places for their children.
• MSP enters bus service rowAn Aberdeen MSP has called on the Scottish Government and Aberdeen City Council to intervene in a row with FirstGroup over planned changes to bus services.
• Transport agency ˜trying to scare off™ MSPs™Scotland™s transport agency has been accused of trying to œscare off MSPs examining the case to build a flyover at a notorious north-east road junction.
• Delivery replenishes salt stocksROAD grit supplies in Aberdeenshire were replenished yesterday after the delivery of thousands of tonnes of salt to Fraserburgh harbour.

The York Press

• Auction stations A REMARKABLE collection of vintage railway posters and memorabilia has gone under the hammer after being found in a small terraced house in a North Yorkshire town.
• Petrol misery FUEL prices in York have soared by 25p a litre in the last year “ and experts warned today they are set to climb even higher in coming months.

Blackpool Gazette

• Go-ahead for £20m tram depotBLACKPOOL'S controverisal new £20m tram depot can go ahead after Government planning chiefs ruled the scheme does not have to go to a public inquiry.

Sunderland Echo

• Partners in Euro 'green' car drive Nissan and regional development agency One NorthEast are teaming up with their opposite numbers across Europe to make the green transport revolution a reality.

Other Regional Press

• Grit for the weekend but the thaw is on the way for HuddersfieldRAIN on thick ice made Huddersfield roads almost impassable – but Kirklees Council’s grit stocks have just lasted out to the thaw.
• Weather updatesInformation on bus and rail disruptions following recent poor weather.
• Stagecoach to ferry golf fans to Ryder Cup STAGECOACH will carry thousands of golf fans to the Ryder Cup after winning a contract for the tournament's park and ride bus service.

Forbes

• The Coolest Cars Detroit Never BuiltConcept vehicles signal where cars are going in the future--or not.

International Herald Tribune

• JAL Draws Down $1.6 Billion in Emergency MoneyJapan's transport minister said the government would decide on a state-led restructuring plan for the troubled carrier Tuesday.

Railway Gazette

• Contracts January 2010 Europe: Eurotunnel has selected Alcatel-Lucent to install GSM-R equipment throughout the Channel Tunnel operator™s rail network. France: SNCF is to use JDA™s price-sensitive revenue management software to set fares for iDTGV services. Italy: Trenitalia has awarded Compagnie des Wagons-Lits and Wasteels a two-year contract to provide customer services and logistics for night trains from February. Morocco: Spanish consultancy Ardanuy Ingeniería is to study the resilience of power supplies for safety and telecoms equipment on ONCF™s 27 km Casablanca “ Nouaceur route. UAE: Aecom has been selec...

Aviation Industry

• Plans for London and an upcoming report on flight pathsHaving closed our office for a few days over the Christmas break this roundup of AEF™s activities covers the past 4 weeks. Keeping up our climate work following the publication of the CCC™s aviation report in December, AEF has written, together with several other NGOs, to the Transport Secretary highlighting the need for a review of [...]

Green Miscellany

• Latest Volkswagen hybrid car seats five, returns 67mpg and avoids road tax With much of the talk at this week™s Detroit Motor Show focused on electric-only vehicles, the new Volkswagen Compact Coupe Concept gave a tantalising glimpse of the performance and fuel efficiency possible from a hybrid car driven by a petrol engine working in tandem with a battery-powered electric motor.read more

Other News Sources

• Bam Nuttall scoops £190m rail dealBam Nuttall has won a £190 million contract to create a new main line from London Marylebone station to Oxfordshire and the Midlands.
• Cost of big freezeMORE than £1m was spent gritting Suffolk's roads during the recent cold snap - with the county's economy expected to have lost out on millions of pounds.
• Recession will not 'deflect' low carbon economy - Miliband The minister for energy and climate change has promised not to allow the recession to 'deflect' from Britain's moves towards a low carbon economy.
• EU transport nominee wants 'bigger money', fewer projectsSiim Kallas, the EU's commissioner-designate for transport, vowed to defend a strategic vision at a European Parliament hearing on Thursday (14 January), saying he wanted EU money to be spent on large transport infrastructure projects rather than small ones.
• Lufthansa pilots ballot for strike action Pilots at German flag-carrier Lufthansa are being balloted for industrial action after long-running talks on pay and conditions failed to reach a settlement. The...
• Blackburn bus bosses to provide wheelchair-friendly hospital services BUS bosses have reversed their controversial move to scrap wheelchair-friendly buses to Blackburn hospital.
• German Protesters Strip Naked to Demonstrate Against Airport Body ScannersGerman Protesters Strip Naked to Demonstrate Against Airport Body Scanners
• U.S. DOT Addresses Bus SafetyThe United States Department of Transportation recently released a new proposal to improve automotive safety in all areas involving buses and road-based public transport.
• British Airways offers lifeline to earthquake stricken HaitiBritish Airways has offered aid agencies a relief aircraft to fly emergency supplies and equipment to earthquake stricken Haiti. A Boeing 747 with capacity for up to 50 tonnes of cargo is standing by to fly to the region tomorrow (Saturday January 16) crewed by volunteer British Airways pilots and cabin crew. The airline has also pledged [...]
• EU climate action work needs to focus on transport A transport and climate legislation package similar to the one agreed by the European Union at the end of 2008 on energy and climate is now needed, a senior European Commission official said at a special debriefing on the Copenhagen summit organised by the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) in the European Parliament on 12 January.Jos Delbeke, Deputy Director-General of the Commission™s DG Environment, who led negotiations on behalf of the EU at the COP15 climate change conference in Copenhagen in December 2009, said that tackling emissions from transport was a t...
• EU airports ˜should wait for common standards™ There should be a single European Union regulation on the use of body scanners at airports, according to European Commissioner-designate for Transport Siim Kallas, who on January 14 2010 sternly criticised EU states that already had started using the scanners at their airports.Advocates of the use of body scanners say that they enhance security and pose no risk of nude images of passengers being seen by unauthorised people “ or turning up on the internet. According to the Sofia Echo, among EU states, France, the UK and Italy have announced plans to use body scanners. Kallas, speakin...
• Quality Contracts: a licensed form of larceny for the 21st centuryJust over 21 years ago, in October 1988, the then West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Authority took a ground-breaking decision, and became the first of the seven UK urban transport authorities to sell its bus company to the private sector. The company, Yorkshire Rider, was purchased by a management and employee buyout team led by managing director [...]
• Maxi Haulage signs up to Volvo's Fuel Managament ServiceIn a bid to reduce fuel consumption and running costs, Maxi Haulage has signed a three-year deal with Volvo to use the manufacturer's Fuel Management Service (FMS) on its 21-vehicle fleet.
• London First calls for new transport funding methodsBusiness group London First has called for mayor of London Boris Johnson to explore new funding mechanisms to allow progress on stalled transport schemes.
• Low carbon electric transport revolution led from northLow carbon electric vehicles could become commonplace if a Europe-wide collaboration is funded.