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# Thursday, 24 January 2008
Britain’s worst performing train company, First Great Western has announced it will double the amount of compensation it gives to passengers affected by delays and disruption. The company carries around 60,000 people a day on its routes which link London, Berkshire, Oxfordshire and the West Country. The increased amount of compensation comes because FGW have recognised their customers are not receiving the service they deserve. Under the move season ticket holders will effectively receive their compensation when they renew their season ticket, as they will only pay last years prices. Up to 10 to 20% of the season ticket value will be refunded meaning a customer with a standard class season ticket from Bristol to Paddington will get £867 in compensation. Weekly season ticket holders and day ticket holders will also be able to claim compensation if there are significant delays to their journeys.

posted on Thursday, 24 January 2008 16:05:55 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Trackback
# Wednesday, 23 January 2008
British Airways pilots will vote on whether to strike over the airlines plans to launch a subsidiary business. The British Pilots Association (Balpa) believes that the launch of OpenSkies will mean a two tier system of quality. The union also believes that the launch which will offer luxury flights from continental Europe to America at lower operating costs than BA will lead to pay and conditions being challenged. Balpa say that the new company will have weaker safety standards and that pilots would be required to take further courses to transfer to BA. BA however, claims that safety standards would be the same across both airlines and that OpenSkies will not be detrimental to BA pilots.

posted on Wednesday, 23 January 2008 15:57:01 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Trackback
# Tuesday, 22 January 2008
Despite the crash landing at Heathrow a few days ago aviation experts still regard the Boeing 777 as one of the world’s safest jets. There are currently 667 of the jets in service carrying millions of passengers every year. To date there has only been one fatality involving a 777, in September 2001. This was caused by a hose leading to the aircraft becoming detached and an aircraft refueller being engulfed in flames. It is still not clear what caused the most recent incident.

posted on Tuesday, 22 January 2008 17:39:59 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Trackback
# Monday, 21 January 2008
British train passengers are now paying the most expensive rail fares in Europe according to new research from the Liberal Democrats. In fact British train passengers are charged up to 14 times more than passengers on the Continent. £10 would take a British passenger 27 miles compared with 58 miles in France and 383 miles in Latvia. The situation is likely to get worse with more fare increases planned for the future. As prices continue to rise I think a lot of people will return to the often cheaper option of using their own car, at least that way you know you will get a seat.

posted on Monday, 21 January 2008 17:45:28 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Trackback

blogoftheweek This weeks PC2Paper travel blog of the week is Conor's Mildly Thrilling Tales. Its author Conor Grennan travel stories, have been featured in well known travel publications such as Traveler's Tales and  Lonely Planet. He is also the founder of the non-profit organisation Next Generation Nepal, setup to to reunite trafficked and conflict-displaced children with their families. Conor lives in Nepal where he started a home for trafficked children.cg-and-anga

Conor's blog focuses a lot on the great work he does helping these children in Nepal. My favourite article was "Searching for families in Nuwakot" a fascinating story on how Conor managed to find the parents of 17 out of 18 children on a trip through the mountains. How he went on the trip on a beaten up bus and was encouraged to try a local fruit which ended up giving him food poisoning. If that wasn't enough he was unable to sleep on the bumpy bus journey, the buses suspension so bad he had to sit on a fleece to protect his hind quarters. At times he and the other passengers had to get out of the bus to help guide it along steep cliff ledges. But in the end it was all worth it when they got to their destination finding the parents of these children. read the full article >>

posted on Monday, 21 January 2008 00:04:42 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Trackback
# Friday, 18 January 2008
The manager of the City of Derry Airport has been removed from his post. He will return to work at the airport as an air traffic controller. He was demoted after an investigation into a four closure of the airport last May. The closure was due to a number of safety concerns including poor runway drainage and a lack of a bird control plan. A report later showed a number of shortfall in safety procedure which led to Seamus Devine being removed from his post.

posted on Friday, 18 January 2008 11:22:29 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Trackback
# Thursday, 17 January 2008
An international passenger plane crash landed at Heathrow Airport today. The plane took the runway too low on its approach before crashing just short of it. All 136 passengers were evacuated down the emergency chutes. There are reports that four people have suffered minor injuries as a result of the crash. The knock on effect is that the south runway has been closed and many flights from the airport have been delayed with some flights being diverted to Stansted and Luton.

posted on Thursday, 17 January 2008 15:25:28 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Trackback
A planned strike by rail guards at First Great Western has been suspended. Guards had planned to strike for 48 hours from the 20th of January. However, talks between the company and the union have now resumed and the RMT have said that progress has been made. Negotiations are to continue on a number of other issues but there are hopes that the dispute can now be resolved.

posted on Thursday, 17 January 2008 14:41:16 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Trackback
# Wednesday, 16 January 2008
It has been announced that another 25 post offices will close across in Newport and Gwent Valley. The proposals will also establish three new outreach post offices two in Chepstow and one in Caldicot. The latest list of closures includes the following:

Abertillery: Cwm Celyn; Princess Street
Tredegar: Dukestown, Georgetown
Ebbw Vale: Rassau, Winchestown
Hengoed: Caerphilly Rd, Penpedairheol, Penybryn
Bargoed: Gilfach
Blackwood: Argoed, Wyllie
Newport: West End, Wattsville, Christchurch Road, Malpas Road, West Park
Abergavenny: Govilon, Llanellen
Chepstow: Mathern
Caldicot: Sudbrook
Pontypool: Pentwyn, Penygarn, Pontnewynydd, Penygraig Terrace

posted on Wednesday, 16 January 2008 17:53:49 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Trackback
# Tuesday, 15 January 2008

Its a new year and PC2Paper have just launched a range of new services. We have listened to our customers and added the services you have asked for. Sending a real letter from the Internet is still just as easy but now has lots of new options available.

Different Paper
We now offer different paper to print your letter on, from conqueror hi white premium laid paper to photo paper. You can choose how you want your letter printed from inkjet, black and white laser or colour laser printing.

Choose your envelope
You can now choose what envelope you send your letter in. If you don't want to fold your letter 3 times in a DL envelope then we now offer C5 envelopes (half of A4) for a single folded letter.

Special Delivery Options in the UK
We now offer Recorded Delivery and Special Next Day Delivery before 1pm in the UK.

International special delivery options and Certified Mail
We can now offer Airsure Signed for and International Signed For delivery for overseas mail sent from the UK. On sending your letter you will receive a tracking number so you can track the progress of your letter.
Certified mail is also available within the USA. This option also includes a tracking service so you can track the progress of your letter online.

Choose Your Printing Station
You can now choose which printing station you would like your mail to be sent from.

posted on Tuesday, 15 January 2008 22:03:09 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Trackback
A new iris recognition system for staff is being introduced at Manchester Airport. The system will be used to tighten up staff access to restricted zones and will be rolled out across all three of the airports terminal service yards. The system will be separate from the iris checking technology used by passengers and makes Manchester Airport the first UK airport to use the system for staff access.

posted on Tuesday, 15 January 2008 16:12:48 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Trackback