100 posts
Nationalist rhetoric? Or Europeanisation of trucking?
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Yesterday, via Twitter, my attention was drawn to this story on Tory MP Steve Barclay’s website entitled “New charges for foreign lorries will boost local business”. Immediately I’m thinking sounds like...
A little Nordic rail trip
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I will be making what should be a reasonably simple rail trip in early December – the 600km journey between Copenhagen (station: København H) and Oslo (station: Oslo S). So how do I do it? Well, it turns out that it is all nowhere as simple as...
Let's be safe
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Part of consumer protection laws introduced in Europe deal with product liability and consumer safety. As of 1 November 2012 new set of such consumer safety rules came into force in the EU, concerning motor vehicles safety. (Regulation 661/2009) This...
Die Vorteile von Hybridautos – ein Überblick
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Vor allem für Stadtbewohner hat ein Hybridauto eine ganze Reihe von Vorteilen gegenüber Fahrzeugen mit reinem Benzin- oder Dieselantrieb. Durch den zusätzlichen Elektromotor sind sie nicht nur besonders umweltfreundlich in Bezug auf die Abgaswerte...
EU transport: the primary sources
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Transport is at the core of European Union: there would be no free movement of goods, no free circulation of workers or students, the single market would remain incomplete. Transport employs millions of people directly and indirectly in the EU. Trans...
Getting Single European Sky off the ground (VIDEO)
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Europe’s air traffic control systems should be urgently modernised and merged into a single European airspace in order to reduce congestion and flight delays as well as cut CO2 emissions, say MEPs in a resolution adopted on Tuesday 23 October.
Manufacturing a Car in Open Source and Modular Design
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I don’t know whether we will need gasoline, electric or hydrogen cars tomorrow. I don’t have to know, because I designed my car so that I can change the motor in about the same time that it takes to change a tire. Joe Justice, founder and Team Le...
What EU Leaders Say with a Car
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Germany dominates the transport preferences of leaders at European summits.
Goodbye electric cars! - Welcome to natural gas powered vehicles!
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“The electric technology just isn’t advanced, it’s not there, and there’s so much innovation that’s required to make it viable”Peter Grady Vice President, Chrysler"The current capabilities of electric vehicles do not meet society's n...
Transport is not a problem any more!
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On 16 October 2012 the European Transport Forum hosted a conference on the funding of European transportation networks. Transport is the lifeblood of the European economy! Taking inspiration in the 2010 Monti report on the new Strategy for the Single...
Savage competition hits western European truckers
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Living on an island has its advantages even in the single market: the UK's geographical isolation has saved Britons the unhappy fate of a growing number of unemployed European truckers, writes Justin Stares...
Denial is not the right way to avoid troubles...
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... at least not for airlines. On October 4, the CJEU issued two decisions which help clarify the scope of Regulation 261/04 on Denied Boarding, also in relation to its predecessor Regulation 295/91 (repealed).While Regulation 295/91 was explicitl...
All the (train)roads lead to Athens
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The European Green Party has chosen Athens to host its second 2012 council. This meeting, which put together delegates from all european green parties, will happen between the 11 and the 13 of November. I am actually delighted with the choice of loca...
Off to the UK in November
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Well, your author has to visit the UK in November. As much as I would like to avoid it, there is no avoiding it. The upside is that after 10 days in England I will be reminded of just why I emigrated in the first place. The downside is now lookin...
Moving in the right direction
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This week is a European Mobility Week 2012 with this year's focus on 'Moving in the right direction'. There are many actions and activities organised throughout the EU that promote alternative modes of transport to citizens and encourage consumers to...
Cars running on natural gas - not electric hybrids - are the future
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A Honda Civic running on natural gasNatural gas vehicles are the future for the auto industry, not the much hyped electric hybrids. The U.S. has more than enough of shale gas for at least 100 years, and there is plenty of it elsewhere in the world, t...
VIDEO: Heathrow 3rd runway, airport debate hots up in UK
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Business leaders and politicians agree the UK needs extra airport capacity but disagree on how quickly, and where it should be. A new runway at Heathrow? An entirely new airpot? Either way, it's dividing the coalition government and setting the Prime...
Emirates is NOT a SOE
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Apparently Emirates boss Tim Clark can say this with a straight face.From a filing to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.Investment Corporation of Dubai’s...
Ryanair’s O’Leary has the measure of the Irish people.
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Ryanair’s foulmouthed CEO Michael O’Leary gets savaged at least once a year when Ryanair treats a customer “unfairly”. This is where someone usely misses one of Ryanair’s many conditions and it ends up with the customer...
Russia: Dreaming About Better Roads
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Prime Minister Medvedev ordered the government to auction a construction contract to build another section of a still-incomplete toll road between Moscow and Saint Petersburg. By signing the decree, Medvedev awakened a debate about the highway's nega...
In praise of @DB_bahn (not the railway, but the Twitter account)
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This is for you Torsten, Simon, Norman, Marc, Kai, Danny, Janice, Matthias, Maik, Filiz, Jana, Christian, Christian and Nicole: a huge thanks from a regular DB traveller for helping to make my journeys a little more manageable and pleasant. For those...
At The E-Pine Discussion, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Stresses The Importance Of Regional Energy And Transport Projects And Calls For Support To Eastern Partnership Countries
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On August 3 at the Nordic-Baltic-U.S. academic meeting in the framework of the Enhanced Partnership in Northern Europe (e-PINE) in Vilnius, Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Audronius Ažubalis stressed the imp...
NS does a Jimmy Carr (2)
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OK, so that was quite a way to come back after my summer vacation. From this blog post here about tax evasion by the Dutch state railway company NS came this GeenStijl story, which in turn led to a ginormous article in De Volkskrant last Saturda...
US has set ambitious auto fuel efficiency standards for 2025
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After one year of intensive consultations with auto makers, unions, consumer and environmental groups and energy experts the US government has finalised its 2025 fuel efficiency standards for passenger cars and light trucks. By 2025 the average fuel...
Arabic Music on a Spanish Airbus
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HERE WE GO AGAIN! Sounds of Arabic music from the crew of a Spanish airliner cause Dutch (Islamophobic) security to go insane. This latest incident of keeping Islamophobic fear in the Dutch people and gives Geert Wilders more political life. We can e...
Information About Leaving From Dublin Airport
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In spite of the proven fact that Eire is a small country it has one of the most important airports in Europe. Dublin Airfield is the largest in the country and provides internal flights and global flights to several destinations around the globe. A l...
UK, trains and the EU
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Some in the UK have a tendency to point to the EU has a source of lots of problems, not really investigating the issue in detail and often referring to only superficial links. The privatisation of the trains in the UK is an example of this.So why do...
According to the latest statistics Mars has more traffic than Beja Airport?
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Found this amusing post on Facebook, it may be amusing, but it is also factually accurate! Mars as more traffic than Beja airport! Filed under: Beja Airport, Home Tagged: air travel, airlines, Airports, Alentejo, Beja, Flights, Passengers, Portgual...
According to the latest statistics Mars has more traffic than Beja Airport?
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Found this amusing post on Facebook, it may be amusing, but it is also factually accurate! Mars as more traffic than Beja airport in Alentejo,Portugal! Filed under: Beja Airport, Home Tagged: air travel, airlines, Airports, Alentejo, Beja, Flights,...
The missing link to efficient European Citizen mobility
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The roadworks to establishing an efficient trans-European transport network has hit a new stumbling block - Open Data. The famously known as the TEN-T and relaunched as part of the renewed Lisbon Treaty … Continue reading →...
Cheap rail tickets through Germany
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So you want a one-off rail ticket through Germany, and you want it as cheap as possible. You’re doing a journey like Belgium (- Germany -) Austria, or Denmark (- Germany -) Czech Republic, but you’re not going to stop* in Germany. Here...
Can I sit next to you, girl?
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A new study reveals the tactics commuters use to avoid each other, a practice known as ‘nonsocial transient behavior.’How do you choose your place on a bus, plane or train? Do you like sitting alone? Or, do you place your bag on the empty...
Europe in Space too?
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Yesterday August the 6th, NASA was celebrating its first ever rover landing to Mars. The "Curiosity" rover made a perfect landing, after a nearly 9-month voyage from Earth. That is the first major development in space for NASA and humanity, aft...
Beja Airport – The Analysis Paralysis Infection?
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So the sad saga of Beja airport analysis paralysis continues, only one passenger flight fly’s to Beja airport from Heathrow per week? One security guard guards an empty airport, believe me I have been there and seen it. The good news is ANA...
Ayşe Özer: AŞTİ’NİN İÇİNE ETMEK
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AŞTİ’NİN İÇİNE ETMEK via Ankara’nın özellikle doğuya açılan kapısıdır otobüs terminali AŞTİ. Adının yaptığı sempatik çağrışım daha sonra diğer illerde yapılan terminallere de örnek olmuş, Malatya’da MAŞTİ açıl...
Giga-liners and other mega-trucks
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By avoiding obstacles at borders and ensuring that no hauliers are exposed to unfair competition, this directive aims to facilitate the internal market and to ensure free movement of goods in Europe. For national transport however, the Directive fore...
Orkun Öçal: “İtalyan Station”
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TweetOrkun arkadaşımız arabalara olan ilgisini buradan bizimle paylaşacak bundan sonra… İtalyan Station Biri Station’mı dedi? “Station” İtalyan otomobil üreticilerine göre fazla uzak bir terim. Çünkü İtalyan’lar her zaman o...
Leaving on a jet plane
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Tomorrow, 4th of July, European Consumer Centres (ECC-net) will be offering advice to passengers at 28 airports across Europe. The purpose of the event is to inform European citizens of their air passenger rights, a topic that is among the ones most...
Verkehrsrecht in Europa – die Landesunterschiede
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Wer mit dem eigenen Auto oder einem Mietwagen in den Urlaub fährt, der sollte sich vorab gut über die Verkehrsbestimmungen des jeweiligen Landes informieren. Das Verkehrsrecht innerhalb Europas ist durchaus sehr unterschiedlich geregelt, so dass ma...
Southwest Airlines File: Still Flying
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The Flemish newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws (which of course means “the latest news”) is a unique beast: tabloidy in the range of news items it chooses to cover, to be sure, but at the same time lacking that sleazy tinge common to most of th...
Where the Poles are going?
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Recent train crash in Poland – the largest since 1989 – has once again provoked questions about the state of Polish infrastructure. Despite domestic and foreign resources allocated to the strategic development projects such as renovation...
Whatever happens, air passengers need to be cared for - AG's opinion in McDonagh (C-12/11)
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22 March 2012: AG's Bot opinion in case McDonagh (C-12/11) Everyone in Europe still recalls the consequences of volcano's eruption in Iceland in March 2010: closing of airspace over most of northern Europe for over a week in April. Flights cancelled...
Hungary Launches Its First Satellite Into Orbit
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Hungary's first satellite, MaSat-1,was launched into space and started circulating in the orbit Monday.
Railways for the many, not high speed rail for the few
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Labour will be travelling on the wrong line if it gives its wholehearted support for the proposed HS2. This is one infrastructure scheme that deserves to hit the buffers. Labour absolutely must support a better rail network, but what we really need i...
Scrapping ‘Maastricht Hop’ Does Little for Belgian Train Punctuality
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Since last month, Maastricht is no longer directly connected by train to Brussels. Although it’s uncomfortable for the thousands of international students and expats working in Maastricht nowadays, it’s not the end of the world, according...
Water Will Be the Critical Limiting Factor of 21st Century Production
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"Morgan Stanley’s Global Investment Committee recently released a report in which it argues that the “perfect storm” of declining water supply and and rising demand are likely to make water the critical limiting resource of our time. The re...
Conflicting Business Models at Singapore’s Airport
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Singapore’s Changi may be “the world’s most fabulous airport,” according to Scott McCartney of the Wall Street Journal. To be sure, the airport’s amenities are amazing. How they are operated, however, detracts in certain respects with the g...
Germany – Stuttgart Station gets popular ‘Go!’
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The construction of Stuttgart 21, the billion-Euros station project in the capital of Baden-Württemberg, can finally go ahead. Yesterday a 58,8 percent majority of the 7,6 million voters gave their green light. For Winfried Kretschmar, the Green pre...
