A car has been hit by a train on a level crossing in Berkshire, police have said.

Thames Valley Police officers are at the scene of the incident in Waterloo Road, Wokingham.

No-one on the train is believed to have been injured although there is at least one casualty in the car but their condition is not yet known.

Both level crossings in the town are closed and buses are currently replacing train services.

No Heathrow direct link in high speed rail plans.
Instead, airport passengers on the 200mph trains would get a connecting service from Old Oak Common in west London.

The government is preparing to publish its vision for a high-speed rail network, and is considering a London-to-Birmingham route with no direct link to Heathrow airport.

The launch of a high-speed rail white paper has been pencilled in for next Thursday (11/03/2010) and will include a detailed London-to-Birmingham proposal as well as the broad outline of a UK^▸ (United Kingdom) network. But rail industry sources said High Speed Two, the government-backed company charged with drawing up the routes, does not see a business case for basing a major rail hub at Heathrow Airport.

Instead, passengers on the 200mph trains would get a connecting service to Britain's largest airport from an intermediate stop on the high-speed line at Old Oak Common in west London. From there passengers will join a Heathrow-bound service on the Crossrail route, a ^16bn railway line linking the airport to Canary Wharf via central London that has not yet been built.

London's Euston station has been earmarked as the main terminal, according to rail industry sources. But the transport secretary, Lord Adonis, believes Old Oak Common will be just as popular with passengers because of the Crossrail connection that will ferry passengers to Heathrow in about five minutes, or Liverpool Street in the centre of the capital's financial district in around 30 minutes.

Heathrow's owner, BAA, has indicated that it would prefer a direct link to the airport ^ an argument that also has the backing of the Conservative party. A BAA spokesman said a high-speed network would boost the case for a third runway because passengers outside London would find the airport more accessible. "We expect high-speed rail to strengthen the case for additional capacity at the UK's only hub airport, and would favour a station at the airport," said a BAA spokesman.

A site near Birmingham international airport is also being considered for a parkway station on a route that will link both cities by a 50-minute train ride, with a further terminal at a new site in the heart of Birmingham. The main body of the line would then carry on from Birmingham international through the Trent valley, and join the west coast mainline north of the city to travel to Manchester and Scotland at conventional speeds until the next phase of the network is built.

The route from London to Birmingham has been planned minutely, with HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) placing the tracks within five metres in urban areas and 25 metres in the countryside, with the view to opening in 2025 after an eight-year multimillion-pound building programme. However, the route north of Birmingham will be outlined in less specific terms by Lord Adonis.

The main planning concern for the first phase is how to push trains through the Chiltern hills in Buckinghamshire without causing excessive damage to an area of outstanding natural beauty. The government will put the routes out to a public consultation in the autumn.

The Tories, who have pledged to build a high speed network instead of a third runway at Heathrow, have reserved the right to alter the HS2 route if they win the general election. Theresa Villiers, the shadow transport secretary, is believed to be interested in a proposal by Arup, the engineering firm, to place a high-speed rail hub at the airport. Critics argue that the potential site for the hub is not much closer to the airport than Old Oak Common is.

US officials are investigating how a child was apparently allowed to direct planes at New York's JFK airport - one of the country's busiest.

The probe comes after an audiotape caught the boy directing several pilots preparing for take-off last month.

In one exchange, the boy is heard saying: "JetBlue 171 contact departure." The pilot responds: "Over to departure JetBlue 171, awesome job."

The boy was apparently with his father - a certified air traffic controller.

The adult is later heard saying with a laugh: "That's what you get, guys, when the kids are out of school."

In another exchange, the child says: "MS 4-0-3, contact departure," and then adds: "Adios, amigo."

The pilot responds: "Adios, amigo."

The pilots on the tape appear to be not concerned that a child is giving them instructions.

The incident happened on 17 February, when many New York pupils were on a week-long break.

The age and name of the child and the adult on the audiotape were not immediately known.

The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement: "Pending the outcome of our investigation, the employees involved in this incident are not controlling air traffic.

"This behaviour is not acceptable and does not demonstrate the kind of professionalism expected from all FAA employees."

The agency did not give any further details.

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association said the incident was "not indicative of the highest professional standards that controllers set for themselves and exceed each and every day in the advancement of aviation safely".