News.Scotland.Org

December, 21

One of the Britain’s biggest transport company has announced that, it will prohibit its workers to use mobile phones while driving on company business. It is known that the Aberdeen based FirstGroup has a workforce of over 135,000 and the announcement came out on account of a research which suggested that having a conversation while driving affects the performance of the driver. This global announcement was rolled out to make sure the workers are not at any risk while driving.

The decision taken covers all the staff from top to bottom, associated with the company to follow this new rule. It is evident that the train and bus drivers of the company in Britain and North America are prohibited from using any mobile phone or other communicative device while driving from the past two years. But from January 1 this new rule will came into force affecting all the workers.

A study undertaken in this area has found out that those people who use mobile phones or hands free telephone while driving are at greater risk than the person who drives after drinking over the prescribed limit. Talking in mobile or phone disturbs the concentration of the driver resulting to accidents and other fatal incidents.

Hope this announcement will come up as a safety measure and would help the workers to drive safely and properly. It will also help to reduce the chances of accidents, and may result as a bench mark for many other big companies, who will also soon follow these safety measures for their workers.

Scotland Dec 21: Edinburgh city is all set to upgrade itself as a major cruising destination as 20,000 more tourists are expected to visit the city next year. According to the new report published by dock operator Forth Ports, at least 58 liners including the major vessels like the QE2 will arrive here and it is expected to attract at least 53000 visitors to the Firth of Forth in 2008.

Several cruise liners are travelling around the UK but the increase in the number is due to the longer trips around northern Europe. Edinburgh remains the high priority cruising area even though it has no full-fledged cruise liner facilities. There are plans to develop this water front city and to open Scotland’s first cruise liner terminal that is equipped with all the infrastructure facilities.

A major terminal is being built in the Forth Ports on the fringes of the current docklands. It will be linked to the city’s tram network and it will start operating in February 2011.

While commenting on this, Ben Carter, the area director of Visit Scotland in Edinburgh said: “The estimated cost for the completion of the project is £50 million and it will attract at least 150 vessels a year that is expected to fetch £40 million. The cruise market is gaining importance in Edinburgh as the city is renowned globally as the hot cruising destination. It is good news that lot more vessels will arrive next year and the proper investment will boost the market to convert Scotland as a must-visit destination.”

“The surge in the cruise ships arriving in Edinburgh is excellent news and it will strengthen the economy of the city. Cruise passengers are considered as the top end of the tourism sector. They have a tendency to spend more money and prefer longer stays and act as important word of mouth ambassadors for Scotland,” opined Lucy Parsons the project manager at Forth Ports.

The report of surge in the cruise liner is a testimony for Edinburgh as a prime international destination.