Kassel is a German city of 200,000 people, lying 150 kilometres north of Frankfurt and just over an hour away on the high-speed Deutsche Bahn ICE train from Frankfurt Airport station. In a league table of German cities ranked by economic development, conducted by the Cologne Institute for Economic Research and published in the magazine Wirtschaftswoche (Economic Weekly), Kassel has emerged as the most dynamic place in the entire country. That means not the top-performing city – more predi

Across the transport sector there are certain individuals whose activities stand out either as beyond the significance of their own specific role within an organisation, or for introducing new ideas from an inventive technological or entrepreneurial standpoint. In an era of rapid change to the way transport services are managed, marketed and paid for it is not surprising that a group of such people feature amongst our power list. Elaine Rosscraig, Stagecoach’s head of bus customer insigh

A group of fifty leading senior executives and managers form this year’s New Transit UK passenger transport providers Power List. There are several changes from last year as new appointments have lifted individuals into positions of greater responsibility and others have moved out. Four of the most senior UK passenger transport group heads are featured in our overall top 12 people listing on the previous pages- David Martin at Arriva, Sir Brian Souter at Stagecoach, Tim O’Toole at F

Vehicle interiors are a regular part of my work - and perhaps the most challenging. Trying to make them attractive, exciting, stylish, cool, classy, sassy, striking, calming, sumptuous, possibly all at the same time. So it strikes me as odd that the very environment that can make people enjoy a journey and relish making it again, can so often be average to bad. Let down by poor design, inferior detailing and a singular lack of understanding as to how our eyes need to be pleased, let alone our ba

In transport terms, the rail network was the pioneer of fast, efficient long-distance and commuter travel. It replaced the horse drawn stagecoach links between towns and cities, and allowed the growth of suburbs served by commuter trains.  Motor buses - and coaches - came late, and though the bus has long been seen as a logical companion to rail transport in urban areas, and a feeder to it regionally, its sister, the coach, is usually regarded as a poor relation to the train. But modern co

National Express Group has made key appointments in its new local subsidiary in Germany bidding for contracts to operate regional rail lines. The new German subsidiary National Express Rail GmbH based in Düsseldorf is headed by Tobias Richter, who has joined from DB Regio. At one time he was Director of Regentalbahn AG and CEO of Vogtlandbahn GmbH, which both became part of Arriva Deutschland and are now owned by Netinera. More recently he co-founded open access freight operator Integro T

A trio of 11m-long Optare Versa EVs now entering service with Travel De Courcey in Coventry are the largest battery-powered electric buses currently running in the UK, with a passenger capacity of over 50. They are being supported in service by two ABB Terra 51 fast-charging stations, designed to charge their batteries to full capacity in under two hours. The system offers the company the ability to recharge the batteries during the day during a layover, as well as overnight. This provides the

Arriva’s purchase of British patient transport provider Ambuline not only moves it further towards a model of mobility provider and away from the scheduled transport-only model which has generally applied to major British transport groups so far, but also places it in prime position to benefit from changes in local authority socially necessary transport provision. DB subsidiary Arriva purchased Birmingham-based Ambuline in June for an undisclosed sum. Ambuline employs 240 people and curr

The Chair of Tyne and Wear Integrated Transport Authority, Cllr David Wood, has been elected as Chair of the group of six UK transport authorities which cover the largest city regions outside London. The appointment comes as the group have flexed their muscles about taking greater control of local transport services in their areas. At the group’s AGM the authorities expressed their strong support for those Integrated Transport Authorities that are progressing plans for the option of the c

We’re a pretty insular lot – us Brits that is. And I reckon we’re particularly insular in transport thinking, and how we make the best of our railways and improve their sustainability. For years we swallowed the Government’s mantra that rail electrification was not an important idea, whilst everyone else around the world was busy electrifying like it was going out of fashion. Were we right and the rest wrong? I don’t think so, and the wheel has turned full circle. D

The announcement by the UK Department for Transport (DfT) that it is to press ahead with a long-mooted pilot scheme to test the Tram-Train concept in South Yorkshire finds it hard to explain why the government really thinks a trial of an already proven technology is necessary. After all, systems where the line between a tramway and a suburban railway has been blurred to achieve a new form of connectivity are now well established in Europe, and even in the UK. Perhaps the British project has less

An innovative French scheme appears to have solved many of the financial and operational issues around the provision of Demand Responsive Transport (DRT). The scheme, based around St Brieuc (Brittany), uses bespoke computer technology to deliver a comprehensive half-hourly ‘virtual’ bus network in rural areas, which cannot sustain conventional bus services. It books and plans journeys on local taxis, and automatically pays taxi providers. While the advantages of DRT are well recogni

The steady opening up of European rail markets to competition is involving some tough decisions about how to package the offer of contracts. Germany and the Netherlands have been early implementors of the EU requirements, but have been facing some controversial issues. In June, the Berlin Senate voted to push ahead with controversial proposals to split the city’s S-Bahn network into three separate businesses in order to introduce competition when tendering for operating concessions. Bids

The elections in May were significant in so many ways. For me, they were particularly notable  as I was elected onto Kirklees Council to represent Golcar ward in the Colne Valley in West Yorkshire. This small blip on the political radar as many English authorities turned ‘red’ with Labour’s sweeping gains across the country may have been missed by most New Transit readers. They were probably more interested in the bigger picture in Britain and Europe – and the big ci

­T­­he UK Government has issued its consultation paper on options for decentralising local and regional rail services within England. It’s a hot topic and the suggested options include some potentially radical stuff, but my suspicion is that we face a fairly tortuous journey to any new responsibility framework, with an uneven response, reflecting the lack of effective regional or sub-regional government in Britain. The UK does not have a clear federal structure like the USA

Rail passengers in Northern Ireland can now buy, receive and display an electronic ticket on their mobile phones. Translink decided to roll out the service to all passengers at the start of this year after a successful trial involving 200 people. The system, developed by Translink Ticketing Systems and Trapeze Group, is compatible on any standard mobile phone that can access the internet as well as iPhone, Blackberry and Android handsets. By downloading the free mLink app, customers can buy tic

First TransPennine Express (FTPE) has become the first train operator in the country to give customers direct access to station, train control and revenue protection staff via twitter, rather than directing enquiries to corporate call centres. The new @tpeassist twitter account will enable customers’ tweets to be answered directly by staff who have specialist knowledge and who are dealing with situations on the ground as they develop. The service links customers to a team of FTPE’

­T­­he ‘rail product’ is only as strong as its weakest link, and that link is often the station. So it’s good to see some real positives emerging on the station front. Both big and small. I had a heart-warming start to 2012 when I travelled on a local train, in the ‘investment-starved’ North of England, and stopped at a brand new and impressive station. It’s called ‘Buckshaw Parkway’, located between Leyland and Chorley in Lancashire,

The Competition Commission (CC) has acted to prevent bus operators from making short term increases in frequencies and restricting access to bus stations in order to protect their territory from incursions by rival companies. The measures are among the CC’s remedies for increasing competition and improve service quality in local bus markets. Others include more effective multi-operator ticketing schemes, close scrutiny of bus mergers, and encouraging ‘competition-friendly’ part

The Travel 2020 event at the beginning of November featured two days of cutting edge information exchange and debate about the future of passenger transport service provision, information and payment systems and the management of customer relationships. The tone for discussions amongst the audience of transport and travel professionals was set by the first morning’s  plenary presentations by transport minister Norman Baker and Stagecoach chief executive Sir Brian Souter. Baker outlin

­T­­he concept of ‘localism’ is one that’s set to have an increasing impact on the way transport is planned and managed. In Britain, the agenda is gathering momentum in several Government departments, and the Localism Bill received Royal Assent recently. There’s nothing in there specifically about transport, but that’s not the point. There’s a growing commitment to a culture of ‘localism’ which stretches well beyond the UK Coalition Gov

ScotRail has introduced train simulation software as an interactive training tool offering a “driver’s eye view” of the Edinburgh Waverley to Glasgow Queen Street line. Train Simulator 2012 allows trainee drivers to operate the trains seated in replicas of Class 170 diesel and Class 334 electric train cabs at Glasgow Central station. “The train cabs are so realistic that drivers usually forget they are training in the virtual reality world,” said a ScotRail spokeswo

­I­­t seems slightly self-indulgent to use this ‘opinion’ column to go into the ins and outs of my local train service in the South Pennines, but hey – it is my opinion, and current plans perfectly highlight some of the dillemas surrounding the age-old question of what railways are for. I live in the large Yorkshire textile village of Slaithwaite, about four miles west of Huddersfield in the Colne Valley, on the busy Huddersfield to Manchester Trans-Pennine route.

The start of a prospective new era for the 125 year old Blackpool Tramway was unveiled on the 8th of September at the new Starr Gate depot. The first of sixteen Bombardier Flexity 2 trams emerged from the brand new depot through a cloud of dry ice in the Purple and White Blackpool Council livery. Flexity 001 will be used on test from now until Easter 2012 and will be joined by the remaining trams later in the year. The £100million total investment - £33m in the fleet and the remainde

­I­­t’s easy to under-estimate how unfamiliar many people are with using public transport.  A lot of the population simply don’t ever take the train or bus- so have little conception of how the system works. Last year, a community group did some research in my neighbourhood about people’s awareness of local transport and it revealed a huge lack of understanding. We seem to very often assume that people somehow ‘know’ that there’s a train and b

Jonathan Crick has been appointed London Stansted Airport’s new commercial director. He joins from easyBus, where he is currently chief executive. His previous roles include 15 years’ experience at Monarch Airlines, including spells as commercial director and sales & marketing director. Crick says his priorities in the new role include increasing the number of airlines and passengers using the airport, the “very best retail facilities” and “maximising the commer

Merseyrail’s managing director Bart Schmeink is to join GVB Amsterdam as its new chief executive on 1 December. GVB is the public transport company of the greater Amsterdam area operating buses, trams, metros and ferries, and is responsible for its tram and metro infrastructure. Schmeink has been Merseyrail’s MD since 2008 and helped to ensure the operator’s “continued position as the most punctual train company in the UK”, said councillor Mark Dowd, chair of Merse

A few years ago I was awarded a Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowship to visit Australia and the Far East to study aspects of public transport.  During this I was given guided tours of both the Adelaide Guided Busway (O-Bahn) and Brisbane's South-East Busway.  Since then I have also visited a range of Bus Rapid Transport schemes in the UK, Netherlands, Spain and Sweden.  Several things impressed me about all these: firstly that there was tremendous local pride in each city's B

Warrington Central is the 150th UK station to benefit from the National Stations Improvement Programme. Delivered by First TransPennine Express, which manages the station, the improvements at Warrington mean passengers now enjoy a new station entrance and refurbished station interior, including DDA-compliant windows. As well as NSIP funding of more than £400,000, Warrington Borough Council provided £300,000 funding to deliver the improvements.

­T­­he writings of Chopra admittedly don’t figure strongly in any university transport planning syllabus. He is a leading writer on spirituality, interpreting the Vedic tradition for modern-day life. He has a lot to say about the meaning of ‘co-incidence’, and my argument is that you can always find meaning and resonances if you look for them. It’s good to think out of our usual boxes, or carriages, and let destiny take control and ‘co-incidence’ m

Why aren’t taxis treated as a serious part of the public transport mix? It’s surprising that this question hasn’t been answered because taxis, and derivatives from them, bridging the gap between conventional public transport and the private car, offer a unique contribution to efficient and sustainable mobility. In 1999 a conference was held in Birmingham entitled “Taxis: the Cinderella method of transport” at which speakers including Steven Norris, then the Minister

Why are the terms ‘innovative procurement’ and ‘strategic alignment’ ringing in the ears of transport scheme promoters and project managers?  Perhaps it’s because funding bodies have identified procurement processes and delivery arrangements as a significant opportunity for efficiency gains, cost savings and effective risk management based on emerging new understanding and experience of how effective relationships and working arrangements deliver the best outco

Throughout rural areas of the UK, many local councils have been responding to budget cuts by announcing their intention to drastically reduce tendered bus networks. However, in Dorset a different mood is prevailing, based on a pioneering approach to contracting, the significance of which could spread beyond this country. As in other rural UK counties, contracted transport services in Dorset make up the majority of the network and account for spending worth many millions of pounds/a year. It mea

For a network with very few gradients, Ireland’s railways have been on a switchback these last few years, going from famine to feast and back again. For many years railways both north and south of the country were starved of investment. Then things took off in the last ten years. Northern Ireland got new trains and line upgrades, in part through the ‘peace dividend’. In the Republic, the renaissance was led by a highly respected English railwayman, Dick Fearn. Iarnrod Eireann (

Automatic ticket gates are being installed at five Glasgow stations in a bid to combat fare evasion and anti-social behaviour. ScotRail estimate that the gates will save around £2m a year in lost revenue. The gates are being supplied by Cubic Transportation Systems. “Cubic was the successful supplier — they met all criteria in terms of functionality, design, price and programme,” said ScotRail’s project manager Kirsty Watson. The gates have been installed at Charin

When Reading Buses chief executive James Freeman began his career  on the bottom rung of the industry in the late 1970s, in the then National Bus Company the most interaction he recalls having with his depot superintendent was being barked at for a minor breach of rules. In many ways, working in the UK bus industry at that time was akin to joining the military, with the culture dominated by discipline, regimented procedure and remote command and control management.  Three decades on

Like the bus industry, the rail industry has traditionally been associated with ‘command and control’ management. Arguably the most radical step any train operator has taken in an attempt to create a new culture has been implemented at Merseyrail, the 75 mile  conurbation train operation run by Serco with Abellio, where the Fast Lane project has moved beyond empowering staff to a philosophy of customer service standards and initiatives being staff-led. Effectively, staff now def

Network Rail and train operator Northern are working to deliver accessibility improvements at Cheadle Hulme station by the end of July. Funded by the Department for Transport’s Access for All programme, the station will get three passenger lifts and a footbridge linking all platforms from the car park and drop-off area. Lee Wasnidge, area director for Northern Rail, comments: “We are delighted to work with our partners to make these fantastic improvements allowing passengers, who

Network Rail has revealed how Manchester Victoria station could look in less than five years time. A brand new, state of the art roof will flood the station with natural light and encapsulate the historic building. It is likely to be made of ETFE – the material used at Piccadilly station and the Eden Project. The £20m cost is to be split between Network Rail (£16m) and Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) (£4m). The improvements will also future-proof the station, a

Merseytravel Passenger Transport Executive has taken the first steps to replacing the 30-year-old Merseyrail train fleet by launching a market testing exercise for potential suppliers. The PTE is currently preparing a business case to replace its 177-carriage fleet of Class 507/508 rolling stock when the lease for the vehicles expires either in 2015, or in 2018 should Merseytravel exercise an option to extend the lease. An OJEU notice has been issued asking for expressions of interest from pot

Haven’t we all been there? At a dinner party, mentioning what job we do, and waiting for the reactions to come: “I gave up using public transport years ago” ... “trains are all filthy and never on time” ... “my bus doesn’t take me where I want to go”.  As an industry professional, you become the lightning rod for everyone’s perceptions and frustrations with the entire public transport network. Oscar Wilde said “it is very vulgar

Katarynza is a ‘Store Colleague’ for Boots. You can see her on the careers website (www.boots.jobs/stores/ roles/store-colleagues/). Beneath her image, it says, ‘If there’s one thing that’s part of everyone’s job description in store it’s this: delighting customers.’ Boots was one of the Sunday Times 25 Best Companies to Work For 2010. Marks & Spencer’s careers website has a similar homepage (www.corporate. marksandspencer.com/mscareers/

Solar powered customer information screens are to be installed at seven ScotRail stations in the Highlands. The screens, developed by Nexus Alpha Low Power Systems (NALPS), are designed to operate during prolonged periods of cloudy and overcast conditions. He added that the screens combine solar power and stored batteries to store excess summer energy to offer back-up during the winter. The screens will also feature automated speech for the visually impaired. By pressing a button, customers wil

Why is he on the list? His responsibilities don’t stretch beyond Brighton, but his influence certainly does. When the industry wants to show a new minister how good buses can be they take them down to the coast to see Roger. What kind of year has he had? Another year, another award for Go Ahead Group-owned Brighton & Hove. This time the company was named ‘The BAE Systems City Operator of the Year’ at the 2010 UK Bus Awards. The company is performing well and French is co

Why is he on the list? Morgan and his business partner, Brian King, have turned East Midlands bus operator Trent Barton into one of the world’s most admired local bus companies. And as the new chairman of the Confederation of Passenger Transport, Morgan also represents the bus industry in the corridors of power. What kind of year has he had? Morgan is now Trent Barton’s “semi-retired” non executive deputy chairman, but he’s still very much in the thick of the ac

Pioneering methods to remove ice and compacted snow from trains helped ScotRail to keep its services running. The use of innovative polytunnels and train ‘skirts’, plus hot water lances and a new biodegradable de-icing spray, resulted in 30% more ScotRail trains being available for use in the second half of December compared to the first half of the month. The polytunnels - traditionally used to protect young fruit and vegetable crops - are wrapped round trains, allowing hot air bl

In spite of very difficult conditions, including black ice and snow of up to about a foot on the ground, bus company Trent Barton estimated that estimate that we were able to cover around 85% of our services in early December, with near 100% in Derby and Nottingham. “Whilst our drivers should obviously be congratulated for going beyond the call of duty, driving 12-metre buses along roads that people were worried to drive a car, the whole team have pulled together to keep our service runn

In anticipation of growing demand for hybrid-powered buses in the UK and Europe, BAE Systems has invested around £7m in a state-of-the-art service facility for HybriDriveTM system, in Rochester, Kent. The facility has the space to accommodate a single deck bus, but this area is currently housing an armoured personnel carrier. Such is the nature of BAE Systems’ diverse £22bn business. The company is best known for its work in the defence, security and aerospace sectors, and

It’s great to see people’s creativity in action at dozens of stations around Britain. Gardens, works of art, new community facilities, poetry and herb beds are just some of the things which are going on, transforming many unstaffed stations into vibrant community facilities. Along the Caldervale Line, in the heart of the Pennines, community-based station partnerships have created a ‘necklace effect’ of activities at virtually every station, like a string of pearls. The

Thursday 9th December, 2010, saw the official opening of the new Accrington Eco Station. This innovative project developed out of a report jointly commissioned by Northern Rail and Lancashire County Council that was aptly named ‘Eco Stations’. Published in November 2006 it was the brainchild of Paul Salveson, then with Northern Rail, and John French of Transport Regeneration, and championed by Richard Watts, the Lancashire County Council rail projects manager. The project is innovati

The ranks of independent bus operators in the UK have been further diminished with the news that Arriva Midlands has acquired Potteries-based Wardle Transport. The firm operates 64 vehicles and employs 105 members of staff. Core services include private hire, school buses and football bus services, as well as a range of local bus services. Following the acquisition, which was completed on December 6, Wardle Transport will retain its identity to preserve the company’s successful brand and

A new high-speed line between London, Birmingham and Manchester will be essential in preventing overcrowding on the West Coast Main Line, a Network Rail report has found. West Coast Main Line draft RUS predicts the line will be out of capacity by 2024 as passenger demand is set to grow by as much as 61% between London and Manchester. A new high speed line would free up much needed capacity allowing more and faster services giving more seats to commuters to operate on the route’s southern

The delivery of the Crossrail project has moved forward with the news that the procurement process to purchase new trains for the route has got under way. To deliver Crossrail services to the 37 stations along the route, around 60 new trains will be required, boosting London's rail capacity by 10%. Each train will be will be around 200 metres in length and able to carry up to 1,500 passengers. A notice has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union covering the combined procu

New figures released by Centro, the West Midlands PTE, have revealed that public transport is continuing to gain ground against the private car. Public transport's modal share now accounts for more than half of morning peak trips - 57.8% - into Birmingham city centre, the highest public transport share recorded in the West Midlands and a 1% rise on the previous year. In 1995 the figure was 42%. Rail use is now 51% than it was a decade ago, while bus travel remains the favourite public transp

The UK bus industry celebrated another year of delivery and enterprise yesterday, despite the continuing challenges of the economic situation, the squeeze on public spending and uncertainty over future regulation - as the UK Bus Awards were presented to the best performing people, projects and organisations from around the country. Over 630 of the industry's movers and shakers gathered at London's prestigious Hilton Hotel to witness the 15th annual presentation of the awards, which are designed

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. And it would seem that one Belgian coach operator obviously holds Aberdeen-based FirstGroup in high regard. Recently spotted in a coach park in the French port of Boulogne-sur-Mer was a vehicle belonging to the Flanders Coach Group with a logo that  looks suspiciously like that of FirstGroup. Unless this is an acquisition that has been kept quiet of course!

For supporters of smartcard ticketing, progress towards introducing it on local bus services has been painfully slow. However, the last month saw new smartcard ticketing initiatives launched in England, Scotland and Wales. And Stagecoach has become the first major UK bus operator to complete the installation of government-standard smartcard ticket machines on its entire UK bus fleet outside London. All 7,000 vehicles in Stagecoach’s regional bus operations are now ready to move forward w

In June 2009 at New Transit’s Passenger Transport Management Awards, Austin Birks and Kevin Short won the Innovation and New Thinking Award for a ground breaking initiative that provided text and web-based passenger real time information on a local contracted bus service that operated from Worcestershire into Birmingham. It was not the first time that the pair had been recognised for innovation. Just a year before Birks and Short met at the 2008 PTMA Awards, where they were both nominated

We’ve had another Underground strike so here is a story from nearly 20 years ago with a moral... In 1984 when I started London Pride Sightseeing we used to employ a crew of two - a driver and a guide. London Transport’s Sightseeing Tour had been completely unguided but you did get a helpful map. Cityrama ran in opposition with multilingual commentaries fed into headphones. When the competition heated up LT also offered a guide on some, and then eventually all departures. Our guides

The Big Society has become one of the cornerstones of the coalition government’s policies. It was at the heart of the Conservative Party’s 2010 election campaign and has been endorsed by their Liberal Democrat partners. The Government has said that “we want to give citizens, communities and local government the power and information they need to come together, solve the problems they face and build the Britain they want” (‘Building the Big Society’, Cabinet Of

Operators, consultants and local authorities have painted an apocalyptic vision of the impact on bus networks from forthcoming changes to the English concessionary fares regime. The new system, which will come into effect in April, has been billed by the Department for Transport as a means of simplifying negotiations between operators and local authorities over reimbursement rates. However, at a conference sponsored by New Transit in early November, the DfT was warned that its primary impact w

It was a smaller Euro Bus Expo held in early November at Birmingham’s NEC, but there were still plenty of developments announced by the major bus manufacturers. And once again it seemed that greener technologies dominated the stands. Perhaps buoyed by the recent round of Green Bus Fund announcements, it was clear to see that all of the big firms see this emerging market as the future of their industry. Alexander Dennis Kicking off proceedings with a press briefing before the opening of

Perth-based Stagecoach is to make a remarkable return to bus operation in London with the surprise £52m cash purchase of East London Bus Group. The price that the group is paying for the business is in direct contrast to the £263.6m that it received for ELBG from Australian investment bank Macquarie in the summer of 2006. ELBG has suffered financially in recent years. For the year ended 2 April 2010, the acquired business generated unaudited consolidated revenue of £253.5m an

The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee has warned that rail users contending with overcrowding on trains face continuing capacity issues in the coming decade. MPs added that they are concerned that the "already unacceptable levels of overcrowding will simply get worse and ever more intolerable". Committee members have warned that Department for Transport plans show that all the relevant targets for increasing the number of passenger places on trains by March 2014 will be mis

Crossrail has revealed striking new designs for Tottenham Court Road's Crossrail station, one of the biggest stations on the Crossrail route. The updated designs not only provide a first glimpse of the new station but also an indication of the scale of the station's eventual size. The new Crossrail station will be integrated with the Tube station to form a combined station that will stretch from Soho to Centre Point. Designed by architects Hawkins Brown, the new station will transform the dail

Nexus, the Tyne & Wear PTE, has awarded framework agreements with five major construction companies to deliver its £385m all change programme for the Tyne and Wear Metro light rail system. The light rail system, used by 41 million passengers a year, will be modernised over the next 11 years, with tracks, power lines, signalling, stations and trains renewed. The five companies awarded framework agreements to date are Balfour Beatty Rail Limited, BAM Nuttall, May Gurney, Serco and Morg

Independent Scottish bus operator McGill’s has completed the goodwill acquisition of two of Renfrewshire’s local bus operators; Fairway Coaches and Travel Direct, for an undisclosed sum. The latest acquisitions will see McGill’s extended its Renfrewshire network into Paisley’s Glenburn and Foxbar areas. No vehicles will form part of the deal; however all staff at TravelDirect and Fairway Coaches, a combined number of around fifteen, will be offered continued employment

Rail punctuality between mid September and mid October matched last year's 'best ever' record during the seventh period of the year. From 19 September to 16 October (period 7), 92.8% of services arrived on time with c2c being the most punctual. This is identical to the same period last year, the best ever October since records began well over a decade ago. Robin Gisby, director of operations and customer services, said: "October has been a good month for delivering a high-quality, punctua

Transport secretary Philip Hammond has announced funding for 16 transport schemes in the wake of last week's Spending Review. However, the DfT has warned that the level of funding required for schemes already under construction is such that it is unlikely that any new schemes in a new 'development group' will be able to begin construction before 2012/13. The move will impact a number of projects including Bus Rapid Transit schemes in Leeds, Bath, Bristol, South Essex and South Yorkshire.

Growth in demand for rail travel during the summer months has risen to levels witnessed on only a handful of occasions in the last decade, according to new analysis published this week. The figures from the Association of Train Operating Companies show that passenger journeys grew by 8% in Quarter 3 of the calendar year of 2010 when compared to the same period last year. From late June to late September there were 298.6 million journeys on the railways compared to 276.4 million in the same per

Although the Department for Transport is expected to make a more detailed announcement next week, it has already provided a more detailed analysis of some if its spending priorities. Rail ticketing For rail the biggest announcement from the DfT is that the cap on regulated rail fares will increase from the current RPI+1% to an average annual increase of RPI+3% for three years from January 2012. In a statement it added that due to the impact of relatively high inflation at present the governm

There has already been criticism of plans to increase rail fares by RPI+3% for three years from January 2012, announced as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review. Stephen Joseph, the chief executive of the Campaign for Better Transport, said: "The chancellor’s statement focuses on large-scale transport projects but the reality is cuts in funding for everyday transport. These projects should not be used as a smokescreen to cover up service cuts and rocketing fares on our buses and

The Department for Transport has announced the winners for the second round of the Green Bus Fund. The scheme aims to encourage and help bus operators and local authorities to buy new hybrid and electric buses and the new round of funding will allow the purchase around 170 vehicles which will enter service by March 2012. The funding will help towards the additional up front cost of buying low carbon buses and provides the capital investment required to bring down costs for operators. Local

Stagecoach Group chief executive Brian Souter has received a major UK entrepreneur award. The co-founder of Stagecoach, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary, was named UK Master Entrepreneur of the Year at an awards ceremony in London last night. The honour was one of 12 presented at the 2010 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year awards, which celebrate those who are building and leading successful, growing and dynamic businesses. The awards, part of a global programme in 50 coun

The number of passengers using the North's rail system is set to soar over the next ten and twenty years, according to a new report published by Network Rail. 30 - 45% rises by 2019 could see hundreds of thousands more people a year arriving in cities like Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield at peak times, according to the operator and maintainer of Britain’s rail network. The report makes a series of recommendations for targeted investment in the railways of the nor

When the Northern Rail franchise was formed in December 2004 with the amalgamation of the First North Western and Arriva Trains Northern companies, it was against the backdrop of a review which was expected to lead to some significant service cuts, fare rises or both. In virtually the same breath as the contract was awarded to the Serco/Abellio joint venture, the Strategic Rail Authority initiated a study which was designed to find ways to reduce the £2.4bn subsidy Northern had been grante

The whole country is bracing itself for the impact of savage cuts in public spending, but there can be few more anxious than transport professionals in the North of England. The North is expected to suffer more than most regions of the UK, and transport is one of the sectors that is likely to face the most dramatic cuts. Once the implications of this month’s Comprehensive Spending Review become clear, transport providers, local authorities and PTEs in the North of England will have to ma

Train operator Northern Rail has launched what it says is the UK’s first Dutch-style CyclePoint at Leeds station. Opened by transport minister, Norman Baker, and the Dutch Ambassador, his excellency Pim Waldeck, CyclePoint will give passengers using Leeds station an important new choice for continuing their journey -the bike. Based on a successful Dutch model brought to the UK by Abellio, joint owners of Northern Rail, CyclePoint offers fully secure and staffed parking, alongside bike ren

Advertising Good news as Nottingham City Transport’s Nicola Tidy revealed at the UK? Bus Awards conference that the municipal will no longer accept ‘inappropriate’ advertising on its buses in future. Whether this is following our fearless exposé in the August edition of New Transit of some of the choice advertising appearing on NCT buses we can’t say. However, word reaches us of another East Midlands bus operator where its advertising may be sending out a, um, mess

The boundaries which govern the provision of transport in the North of England do not always reflect the region’s economic geography. The Merseyrail Electrics network has been successfully expanded outside of the Merseyside county boundary, to Chester, Ellesmere Port and Ormskirk, but there is clearly scope for further expansion. Peter Huntley, a resident of Preston, Lancashire, experienced this for himself in August. “I did a cycle tour around North Wales and went round the coast,&

Few would consider a trip to a fancy dress shop before a major industry conference, but Hull-based EYMS Group chairman Peter Shipp did just that. As the boss and sole owner of one of the two former National Bus Company subsidiaries that remain in independent ownership, the other being TrentBarton, Shipp was the target of Brian Souter, Stagecoach’s expansion-minded chief executive back in 2006. The Scot expressed frustration - and perhaps a hint of admiration - at the stubborn refusal of s

A pioneering Green Transport Charter was signed in the West Midlands last month in a move that aims to help cut carbon emissions and flight climate change. The charter, which is being spearheaded by transport authority Centro, has seen the region’s transport industry sign a pledge to work together in support of the environment. Companies have agreed a course of actions aimed specifically at tackling climate change. Those signing up have pledged to: • reduce carbon emissions and oth

Despite the doom and gloom surrounding the economy, the recent UK Bus Awards conference at Warwick University gave a chance for industry thinkers to recognise some of the achievements that have been made despite the recent recession. Leading the charge was Brighton & Hove managing director Roger French, who said: “We aren’t surviving the recession, we’ve survived the recession. Optimists amongst us would say, ‘Recession? What recession!’” French revealed

On the subject the government’s transport spending plans, we’ve heard from politicians, industry leaders and users. But now we have an opportunity to hear what the men and women who made their careers in the transport sector have to say on the key priorities for the government’s forthcoming Comprehensive Spending Review. A total of 1,244 members of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport participated in an online survey carried out between July 7 and 21, 2010. 

My first encounter with real time passenger information (RTPI) was during family holidays spent in Europe. Most of the major cities I visited already had electronic signs at bus and tram stops which gave an indication of when the next service would arrive. When the opportunity to project manage procurement and delivery of a RTPI system for Edinburgh arose in 2001, I jumped at the chance. The project offered similar improvements to public transport, for bus passengers and operators, to those in E

We are in a very different situation following the general election in May. The coalition government is organising a ‘bonfire of commitments’ from the previous government, and many rail schemes are likely to go up in smoke. The emphasis is on cost reduction above all else, though the government appears to be avoiding any softening-up for possible line or station closures. How the railways maintain the existing network with less financial support is going to be a key challenge, and

The Treasury’s May announcement of Department for Transport cuts of £683m gives some clues. Popular concessionary bus fares will stay but eligibility may be tightened and charges for card issue introduced. 61% of UK local bus service support goes to Transport for London who may raise fares rather than cut the network as bus use growth continues. Outside London, local authorities will cut bus service support, perhaps impacting rural services while some Park and Ride services could b

Trains used on Arriva Trains Wales mainline service are to be upgraded thanks to a funding deal reached by the Welsh Assembly Government and the train operator. Welsh ministers are providing £7.5m to the improvement programme which will take place over the next 18 months, with trains in ATW’s fleet undergoing a complete upgrade. This will include new seating, a state of the art Passenger Information System and improved luggage storage facilities, additional space for wheelchairs, as

A significant increase in demand for rail travel during the first six months of 2010 has seen a return to growth in passenger numbers on the railways not witnessed since before the recession. Analysis published by the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) shows that October 2009 marked a turning point when demand on the railways began to recover and that since the start of 2010 overall demand for rail travel has begun to grow significantly. The research reveals: During the fi

We’ve all known for a long time that cuts to transport spending will come but the shape of those cuts is still not clear. What has become apparent more recently is that it will be revenue spending that will face the biggest immediate threat compared to capital projects. That means that support for bus and rail services will be most under pressure and both the rail and bus sectors need to justify the value of their services to the economy, society and the environment. Campaign for Better T

Warwickshire independent bus and coach operator Johnsons has launched a comparative trial between the battery electric Optare Solo EV and its conventional diesel-engined equivalent in a trial that is expected to yield valuable findings that could accelerate the introduction of cleaner buses to Britain’s roads. The six-day trial, which began in late July in Stratford-upon-Avon and is being undertaken by Johnsons in partnership with Optare, Greenwatt Technology, local authorities and organi

As we enter a period of austerity, it is clear that investment in public transport is going to dry up. There will be less money for new infrastructure and new vehicles, and this is causing anxiety throughout the sector. However, little or no mention has been made of the threat to one of the most important investments made in public transport - it’s management. Public transport requires a wide range of skills. It requires people skills: even junior managers in this labour-intensive industr

Serco and Abellio have announced the appointment of Ian Bevan as managing director of their Northern Rail train operating company. He joined Northern as finance director in 2005 and has also held the role of deputy managing director since 2008. However, since the departure of Heidi Mottram earlier this year to join Northumberland Water Group as chief executive, Bevan has held the managing director role on an interim basis. Meanwhile, Bevan’s appointment has been complemented with the ne

They are the young guns who will change how we travel in the future. They are the strategists, the commercial brains, the operational experts and the motivational leaders who will lead public transport into a bright future. We present our list of ‘40 under 40’ people from the public transport sector in its broadest sense. Many are up and coming; others have already made it. What unites them is that they are responding to the changing way in which the public chooses to travel, and th

Arriva Yorkshire’s Leach was named ‘Marketing Manager of the Year’ at the 2008 Passenger Transport Management Awards. She is responsible for long list of innovative and creative marketing campaigns, including Jonathan Ross visiting Arriva Yorkshire for a radio show , David Jason sponsoring buses, the widely acknowledged Mr Men campaign, and the recent Arriva Yorkshire viral spoof of Virgin’s ‘Still Red Hot’ ad to promote one of its local bus routes. After le

Hornby was appointed as commercial director of the award-winning, not to mention highly respected, bus operator Trent Barton earlier this year. His introduction to the industry came through periods of work experience whilst still at school in Liverpool. Filled with enthusiasm, this led to a degree in transport management at Aston University in Birmingham before joining Stagecoach’s graduate management training scheme. On completion of the scheme he spent a year as an assistant operations

Ratcliffe has thrived since joining Stagecoach’s graduate scheme in 2005. “I love the buzz and energy around the business, I couldn't begin to tell you what an average day is like, no day is “average” and you're never bored,” she says. Ratcliffe is now operations manager Stagecoach in Torbay, where she manages almost 300 drivers over two sites. At last year’s UK Bus Awards, Ratcliffe won the ‘Young Manager of the Year’ prize, sponsored by the Ch

Longair has moved up quickly through the ranks since joining Stagecoach in 2002. After completing the two-year graduate trainee programme, she was appointed operations manager of one of the group’s bus depots in Manchester and quickly made a big impression. She was then promoted to operations director of Stagecoach West Scotland. Longair has a BSc in maths and finance and she has put these skills to good use at Stagecoach. By analysing the paid/operating hours ratio, she has saved West Sc

Dunn has buses in the blood. His first taste of the business was with his father’s Nottingham-based Dunn Line business. He helped to turn that business around and now he is managing director of West Midlands-based Diamond Bus, which is owned by AIM-listed Rotala (headed by his brother, Simon). Once again, Dunn has transformed the business. Last year Dunn was named Young Passenger Transport Professional of the Year at the 2009 Passenger Transport Management Awards. The judges were impresse

There is simply is no equivalent event in the UK. A total of 10,000 people attended the Transports Publics 2010 show in Paris last month. French public transport professionals, suppliers and elected members were joined by visitors from around the world, including a familiar face to those in the UK - Brian Souter. The Stagecoach boss did not fly home empty handed. He was handed the Special Career Service Award at the inaugural ‘Talent in Mobility’ awards. The awards were judged by a

Stagecoach chief executive Brian Souter has received a major European award for a career of service to public transport. The co-founder of Stagecoach, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, was honoured in Paris for transforming the perception of public transport and attracting people from all social backgrounds to get on board buses and trains. Judges at the inaugural Talent in Mobility awards praised Brian Souter's commitment to innovation and his leading role in encouraging car us

Months of industry speculation has been confirmed with the news that Australian investment bank Macquarie has put its London bus business up for sale. A spokesman for the East London Bus Group confirmed to TransportXtra this morning (Wednesday) that the company's board had met and made the decision to investigate options for selling the business. He added that it was the start of the process and that it would be two to three months before any further developments. ELBG comprises the former S

Municipal bus operator Reading Transport has announced the appointment of Greg Chambers as finance director. He took up his post in early April, although he has been working with the company on an interim basis over the past six months. Chambers, who qualified as an accountant in 1993, was previously a consultant to Reading Borough Council on a number of projects, including heading the finance teams for both the Social Services and the Education & Children’s Services Directorates. Pr

“We’ve waited 40 years for this! What took you so long?” the owner of Brighouse’s  station café joked with the driver of the first train to London for decades, on the morning of Sunday, May 23. Lots of people from the town came along to wave off Grand Central’s 08.18 to London King’s Cross. A few days earlier MPs, councillors, business people and community groups had travelled on a special from Bradford down to London. One Halifax politician co

I have to confess to mixed emotions when passing the site of what was the longest guided bus way in the UK until Bob Menzies built the Cambridge Guided Busway. On the one hand, the project, that was promoted under the banner of Edinburgh Fastlink, proved to be highly successful in that it allowed buses to bypass congestion on the western approaches to Edinburgh providing significant benefits to both bus passengers and to general traffic. By taking buses out of the general traffic stream we n

Stagecoach says that it is considering its options after the Competition Appeal Tribunal agreed with some elements of its appeal against the Competition Commission's investigation into the acquisition of Preston Bus. The move could see the forced divestment of the business, which was ordered last year in the wake of the purchase of Preston Bus by Stagecoach in early 2009, suspended. The Perth-based group says that it is now considering its next move. A Stagecoach spokesman said: "We welc

Punctuality and improved trains must be core to plans for the East Anglia franchise if passenger satisfaction is to improve, says watchdog Passenger Focus. Passengers using current East Anglia services are among the least satisfied in Great Britain, according to Passenger Focus’s National Passenger Survey. Passenger Focus has asked more than 3000 passengers currently using National Express East Anglia rail services their priorities for improvement. The watchdog has used that feedback to m

Next week's railway timetable change will see improved connections and more rail travel opportunities across Scotland. Services between Glasgow and Carlisle via Kilmarnock;  Edinburgh to Glasgow via Shotts; Edinburgh to Dunbar and the Kyle of Lochalsh line, will be enhanced with the introduction of additional early morning and evening services. These changes will allow passengers better connections for onward journeys, as well as more rail travel opportunities. Transport minister Stewar

The sale of Preston Bus by Stagecoach could take place within weeks according to local media reports. The Lancashire Evening Post revealed yesterday that an employee-led group, bidding as Preston Transport Ltd and which has already attracted financial backing from Preston Council, has been included in a shortlist of potential buyers for the firm following "an indicative bidding process" in March. Preston Bus was acquired from its employees in early 2009 following a competitive incurs

It would be an unusual election if transport featured prominently, but the 2010 contest has produced some interesting commitments from each of the three main parties, not least on rail policy and scope for not-for-profit solutions, including co-operatives. There is a consensus that rail is a ‘good thing’ and needs strong government backing; this in itself is a major breakthrough. Both Tories and Lib Dems talk about re-opening disused lines. High speed rail is naturally the big issue

Bluestar operations manager  Alex Hornby has been named as the new commercial director of award-winning Derbyshire-based bus operator TrentBarton. Hornby joined Go South Coast subsidiary Bluestar in the summer of 2006 from Stagecoach after spending a year as an assistant operations manager at the Perth-based group’s Manchester bus operations. This position followed his successful completion of Stagecoach’s graduate management training scheme. “I am very excited at the p

Ian Morgan stepped back from the day-to-day running of TrentBarton last year, but his “semi-retirement” as non-executive deputy chairman of Wellglade, TrentBarton’s parent group, does not appear to allow him much time in the garden. He remains a key figure in both the UK bus industry and the East Midlands business community. Last year he represented bus operators as president of the Confederation of Passenger Transport. Having completed his term he is now set to fulfill the sam

The average Briton makes 20 long distance journeys every year, but only one is by coach. The coach sector is relatively small but there does appear to be scope for considerable expansion, both as a partner to other modes and as a competitor. At present, holiday and leisure trips are the main market for coach companies, but coach travel makes up only 6% of all long distance mileage. Most coach journeys are either to airports or inter-city. Thus the growth of foreign air travel has seen Heathrow

Centro has used powers in the Local Transport Act to set up a quality partnership in north Walsall which will see bus operators co-operate rather than compete. It has been billed as the first multi-operator agreement in a metropolitan area. The partnership has seen Centro, Walsall council and bus operators Arriva Midlands, Midland, Midland Rider and National Express West Midlands redesign the bus network so that services now run at even intervals on jointly operated routes. A phased introducti

Two Guildford bus operators have announced that they are to end the joint operation of two bus services in the town in a move that aims to improve reliability and service frequencies. The agreement has been made under the terms of the 2000 Transport Act and satisfies the Alternative Competition Test provisions. From the end of May Arriva will take over the full operation of Service 3 between Bellfields, the town centre, the university and Royal Surrey County Hospital, while independent Safegua

Britain has a network of over 60 community rail partnerships, each bringing together train operators and Network Rail with local authorities and community groups. They have proved remarkably successful in safeguarding the future of local railways and have helped drive up ridership as well as bringing in external investment. They have worked wonders on small budgets, mostly based on contributions from local authorities and train operators. Most community rail partnerships have paid staff &ndash

For over 15 years the subject of achieving partnership working in one form or another between local authorities and bus operators has been a high profile and problematic issue. One would be hard pressed to find someone who would stand up and say they don’t believe that more can be achieved by operators and councils working together, rather than each ploughing their own separate furrows. So why has achieving successful partnership proved so elusive? For any partnership, be it personal or b

Frustration over contractual issues that have left the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway delayed by more than a year boiled over into a public dispute during March between Cambridgeshire County Council and contractor Bam Nuttall. It raised the real possibility that without resolution of the fraught relationship between the two sides, the busway could eventually finally open almost two years later than originally proposed when the scheme was approved by government back in 2006. The original programm

Go Ahead has been named as the surprise buyer of Norfolk independent bus operator KonectBus. The London-based group acquired the 40-vehicle business last week for an undisclosed sum. Konect Bus director Steve Challis said the new ownership would not lead to any changes. “It will be business as usual with the same people running the operation,” he said. “Go Ahead fits in with how we do things. Over the years we have built up a good reputation and we will keep the local

The arrival of French transport groups, Keolis, Veolia and Transdev, in the UK over the past decade has brought with it its fair share of legendary Gallic shrugs. The two countries may only be separated by 20 miles of English Channel, but the environment French transport professionals are used to in their homeland and the systems they have encountered in this country can often seem as though they are from a different planet. In the UK, promoting competition, minimising subsidy and proving the v

A First Capital Connect manager was named as IRO Young Professional of the Year at the recent Eversholt Rail Awards. Daniel Williams (pictured) has already had a 17 year career in the industry after starting as a cleaner as an eager 17-year old. Today he is head of customer service delivery and responsible for a team of over 800 staff. Judges branded him “the ultimate young manager” and commended him on his “inspirational leadership”. Williams beat-off stiff competition

1980 Coach Driver Epsom Coaches After a decade as a carpenter and joiner, Whiteway fulfills an ambition to become a coach driver. 1986 Supervisor Epsom Coaches Health issues see Whiteway step away from the wheel and start work in the operations office. 1995 Director Epsom Coaches 10 years later and Whiteway becomes a director of Epsom Coaches, the first outsider to join the board of the family-owned business. 2010 President Confederation of Passenger Transport In January Whitew

It’s a busy time at Surrey bus and coach operator Epsom Coaches, with work on a £2m project to rebuild its head office and depot facilities now almost reaching its conclusion. Commercial director Steve Whiteway admits to taking a hands-on approach to the work. While other senior managers would be happy to let architects and builders get on with such a major project, Whiteway has a more unique approach. “I’ve been planning this work in my mind for years and so I did all t

The current merger discussions between Arriva and French operator Keolis appear certain to kick off a new wave of consolidation in the European passenger transport industry. Whether or not the Arriva/Keolis deal eventually goes ahead, French groups are being actively encouraged to increase their presence on the world stage by their government as restrictions on competition are lifted. The ripples are being felt throughout the European transport industry as a whole. The move towards the long-pr

While the French urban transport market has been gradually opening to competition, the French regional rail market is entirely closed. Under French law SNCF is guaranteed a monopoly in the regional market and the French Regions are only allowed to let contracts to SNCF. This has caused considerable consternation among other European operators whose governments have decided to open their markets to competition, particularly Deutsche Bahn, the German state railway company. They have suggested tha

French towns and cities are responsible for funding public transport from local taxes and fares revenue, with minimal state contribution. Funding for the 22 French Regions and the 96 Departments is provided by state grants. The Regions are responsible for commuter, interurban and rural rail services while Departments are responsible for school transport and public transport, mainly coaches, outside of urban areas. Towns and cities are responsible for subsidising and investing in bus and light ra

If any of the British passenger transport groups is to break into the French market the smart money is on Arriva. The Sunderland-based group has proved to be adept at gaining footholds in markets across Europe and building up operations from there. It has subsidiaries in 11 countries in mainland Europe - although France is not one of them. Arriva chief executive David Martin was once ridiculed by his peers for focussing his attention on Europe. Other UK groups, like FirstGroup, Stagecoach and N

Two bus operators in Hampshire have launched a partnership in co-operation with Eastleigh Borough Council. Bus users in Hedge End and Botley will in future benefit from co-ordinated timetables and integrated tickets after discussions between Go Ahead subsidiary Bluestar and Eastleigh Borough Council over planned changes to the Bluestar 3 bus service linking Botley and Hedge End, which will take effect on 21st February. Eastleigh Borough Council were able to bring local independent operator V

When a private company engages in unfair practices to maintain a dominant market position, that’s disappointing - but understandable. Public companies have shareholders to pacify. They are more often than not, owned by pension funds that need profits to keep the elderly heated warmed and fed. It’s not difficult to see why they have sometimes tried to keep their best routes free of competition. After all, these are the geese that lay golden eggs.   But what if the governme

Because the deregulated bus market does not fit the OFT’s ideal business model, it has launched an investigation. But has the OFT protected the consumer? The public wants a properly integrated transport network but threats of dawn raids by the OFT have stifled initiatives by operators to integrate headways and fares. If an operator launches into competition, OFT appears to like that, but if the competitor then knocks out the weaker or smaller operator, OFT often launches an investigation.

The recent cold weather has caught much of the country, like the MetOffice it would seem, by surprise. However, it also showed how managers, and even more junior employees, in the bus industry are dedicated to customer service and are ready to work hard to keep the wheels turning in very difficult circumstances. Social networking has helped a lot in opening up new channels of communication. Many operators, including Go Ahead subsidiaries Bluestar and Metrobus who have had a significant presence

britain’s passenger transport sector has been given the opportunity to put its most talented managers forward for a prestigious Europe-wide awards scheme - the Talent in Mobility Awards. The five awards will be presented at the Transports Publics 2010, the European sustainable transport exhibition, which will take place in Paris on June 8-10. “By creating the Talent in Mobility awards, we are seeking to focus on women and men who have contributed to the growth of public transport t

The dwindling ranks of the council-owned bus operators look set to be further eroded with news emerging over the Christmas holiday that Ipswich Borough Council is in talks with Go Ahead about the potential sale, albeit a minority stake, of its Ipswich Buses operation. The news came as Stagecoach concluded its purchase of the tiny 30-vehicle Islwyn Borough Transport business from Caerphilly County Borough Council, despite an attempted legal challenge from bus industry entrepreneur Clayton Jones.

Ipswich Buses could be the latest council-owned bus operator to pass into private sector hands with the media speculation before Christmas linking the municipal to London-based group Go Ahead. The move follows Go Ahead's purchase late last year of Plymouth Citybus and a flurry of similar deals throughout 2009. More recently the Office of Fair Trading has approved a deal between Caerphilly County Borough Council and Stagecoach for the purchase its Islwyn Borough Transport operation. Ipswich Bus

BRTuk’s recent annual conference in Cardiff was another opportunity to review progress for the mode For some years now the annual conference of BRTuk, the bus rapid transit interest group, has seen plenty of examples of BRT around the world, but this year’s conference in Cardiff heard of tangible progress being made with the mode in the UK. With the recent official opening of the Ftr Metro scheme in Swansea and progress being made on the delayed Cambridgeshire Guided Busway, there

The last 10 years has seen some progress. The image of public transport has improved due to better rolling stock for buses and trains, and the introduction of LRT and BRT systems in the UK. More people see it as a viable and more responsible alternative and not just the option for low income groups. Many problems still remain, however, notably how to serve rural areas and off-peak periods. There is also the issue of how to deliver integrated ticketing. In the future this will be increasingly im

North West in-fill scheme will mean more than two thirds of the network is electric Transport secretary Lord Adonis has announced a further round of rail electrification schemes on routes around the North West of England, first disclosed as part of chancellor Alistair Darling’s Pre-Budget Report last month. The move follows the £1.1bn electrification announcement by Adonis over the summer that will see the 200-mile London to Swansea line and the 32 mile line from Liverpool to Manch

Workington North opens to connect flood hit town Network Rail last month opened Workington North station, a new temporary station planned and constructed in record time to reconnect Workington after floods led to the collapse of the town’s two road bridges. After four days planning and construction work, the station opened allowing the introduction of a free shuttle service between Workington and Maryport on the Cumbria Coast Line. The line is the only way of crossing the River Derwent w

The New Transit ‘Power 50’ list shows the most powerful and influential people in public transport. As with any assessment of the most powerful people, companies and institutions, it will inevitably provoke an array of questions. Do the ‘Big Five’ transport groups wield more power than the government? Do ministers or civil servants hold the whip hand in the Department for Transport? Do local government’s representatives or the negotiators from the transport indust

The founder of Ballymena-based bus manufacturer Wright Group has been recognised for his “major and distinguished” contribution to the transport sector by the UK Institution of Engineering and Technology. Dr William Wright OBE, who built up what was originally a small family business into a leading innovative brand that produces thousands of buses sold around the world, was in London this week to take receipt of the Coales Medal for Achievement in Transport. The IET is one of the w

Nottingham bus operator YourBus has blasted plans for a Statutory Quality Partnership in the city. Last month Nottingham City Council announced it was consulting on plans for an SQP covering much of Nottingham city centre. The council said it was making the move in order to protect significant investment on its part if bus infrastructure in recent years. It is expected that the scheme will become operational next May. However, Scott Dunn, who formed YourBus with his father Bob Dunn earlier thi

There is no doubt that transport is a major ‘problem child’ in the government’s strategy to counter climate change. It is the only significant sector of the UK economy where CO2 emissions are still growing and now accounts for 21% of all emissions. Reversing this trend will be crucial to meeting the government’s climate change targets for the UK as a whole. By 2020 the target is for UK emissions to have fallen 34% compared to 1990 levels. In 2050, the target is for an 80%

Public transport may be less harmful to the environment than other forms of transport, but it cannot afford to rest on its green laurels. There is much to be done to make bus and rail as green as possible, and encourage more people to use them. The Green Transport Awards have been established by New Transit to shine a light on the good work that is being done in the sector. The awards recognise the efforts of those the are getting it leading the way, and offers ideas and inspiration for others.

WINNER FirstGroup FirstGroup is the largest UK-listed surface transport group, employing 135,000 people globally with a turnover of £5bn. It is the largest operator of both buses and trains in the UK. However, the judges were impressed at the focus that such a large company has applied to sustainability, and this gave First the edge in a hard fought category. Below are some of the green achievements that have seen the group crowned as ‘Green Operator’: In the 2007 Bus

WINNER Go Ahead Group, for investing in intelligent lighting at depots The Go Ahead Group operates out of over 600 separate premises throughout England, mainly train stations and bus and rail depots. Within these premises the group uses 100,000,000 kwhs of electricity a year, generating over 60,000 tonnes of CO2. The annual electricity bill is over £10m. Working in conjunction with The Carbon Trust, the group identified that lighting accounts for a very high proportion of its electric

WINNER Go North East, for the Red Kite bus brand Go North East’s Red Kite bus brand was born out of one of the most successful environmental projects in the country and illustrates how business improvements and bio-diversity can benefit each other. A partnership between Go North East and a project called Northern Kites, dates back to 2007. The Northern Kites Project, managed by the RSPB and Natural England, was set up to bring red kite birds back to the region after an absence of more t

WINNER Southern Vectis, for the Really Green Car Scrappage Scheme While the government extends and trumpets its car scrappage scheme, the fact remains that it only replaces old cars with new. While commentators mull over the environmental benefits of building more new cars to replace older ones, and the financial barrier of having to buy a new car to qualify, there’s a new option being launched on the Isle of Wight. The island’s bus operator, Southern Vectis, has introduced the &

WINNER Stagecoach West Scotland, for Bio-buses ‘Bio-buses’ is a ground-breaking environmental initiative by Stagecoach West Scotland that allows customers to exchange used cooking oil for discounted bus travel. Eight vehicles in Kilmarnock now run on 100% biodiesel manufactured from used cooking oil and other food industry by-products. It is estimated that this will result in an 82% cut in CO2 emissions. Crucially, the bio-diesel is produced from tallow and used cooking oil, both

About 10 years ago, Blackpool realised that its tramway was falling apart, quite literally. The track was knackered, the electrical infrastructure north of Cleveleys had never been touched and the depot infrastructure was tired. The solution? Submit ambitious plans to upgrade into a modern super-tramway with fully accessible contemporary trams, new track and infrastructure. Many high tides later, Blackpool secured the £85m it needs for a full upgrade of the existing tramway, including a fl

Brighton &?Hove beat off tough competition from Cornish independent Western Greyhound and Transdev’s former municipal Yellow Buses operation to scoop the title of Bus Operator of the Year at last month’s UK Bus Awards. And this operator should be congratulated. Under the tenure of Roger French, Brighton & Hove has been elevated to the position of an operator that many admire. It has become of beacon of what happens when an operator with strong leadership, savvy customer serv

The ranks of the council-owned bus operators in the UK have been further reduced with the news that Go Ahead has agreed to buy Plymouth Citybus from Plymouth City Council. The move means that soon just 11 British towns and cities will retain ownership of their local bus operations and follows the recent decision by Caerphilly County Borough Council to sell its Islwyn Borough Transport business to Stagecoach Wales. Go Ahead will pay £20m to buy the 180-vehicle business that operates a subs

it was perhaps expected that Stagecoach would react somewhat angrily to the news last month that the Competition Commission was forcing the Perth-based group to sell its recently acquired Preston Bus business, and react it did. In a furious statement, the group said that it “fundamentally “ disagreed with the order that it dispose of the 200-vehicle business that it fought so hard to buy. Of course buying Preston Bus was not just any old transaction. The decision by the operator&rsq

Cambridgeshire County Council has been forced to delay the opening of the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway yet again. Finishing works to the St Ives to Cambridge route have not yet been completed which means the route cannot open at the end of November. The council says that as with all building projects construction inspections take place once work is mainly complete to identify final tasks that need to be completed. Much of the work identified from inspections has already been done, but there ar

The saga over the future of municipal bus operator Plymouth Citybus has seemingly been resolved with the news that the council has published a report that recommends the business be sold the Go Ahead. The report will now be presented at the full council meeting on November 20 when councillors will vote on whether to proceed with the sale 10 days later. The move will see yet another council-owned bus operation pass to private sector hands and follows Stagecoach's recent deal to acquire Islwyn B

New rail timetables introduced in December last year show that the services which cover the East of Scotland, from Edinburgh, through Fife and Dundee to Aberdeen and the North East of Scotland have resulted in many services seeing a significant increase in passengers, in some cases by almost 30%.   The timetables were redesigned to improve journey times and connections on key routes serving the major cities, as well as to enhance links for local stations. This has included addition

Award-winning bus operator TrentBarton has been rated one of the best bus companies in the United Kingdom by watchdog group Bus Users UK. The ‘voice’ of the country’s bus passengers carried out a mystery audit of the business, and the customer service of TrentBarton was given high marks. But after highlighting an issue with litter on buses late in the day, the company’s management has pledged to increase the number of in-service cleans. The watchdog said: "TrentBar

The opening of the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway has moved forward with the announcement that the two bus operators who will operate services along the route have both registered services to commence by the end of November. Busway contractor BAM Nuttall say they are confident that they will be able to hand over the completed northern section of the busway by the end of October, and all the necessary construction certificates will be in place by opening. An agreement is now being finalised betwe

Britain's top six bus drivers have been named in a new competition involving passengers, employers and professionals. The UK Bus Awards has teamed up with passenger bodies Bus Users UK and Passenger Focus to identify Britain's best bus driver, and the winner will be named at a glittering ceremony to present all this year's prizes at the London Hilton Hotel on 12th November. The six people who have entered the finals are: Barry Allitt, who works for the East Midlands bus operator

It was 2003 when entrepreneur and easyJet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou first announced plans to enter the budget coach market in the UK. While some parts of his easyGroup empire have come and gone (cinema operator easyCinema being one), easyBus has settled down into a niche role connecting central London with three of the capital’s major airports. The business is also poised to expand with its own operating base and additional services. Initially the embryonic business aimed to enter the

PTEG and the All-Party Parliamentary Light Rail Group announced a select committee-style inquiry into the prospects for modern trams in the UK and how barriers to tram scheme development and implementation can be tackled. They will begin taking evidence this month and it must be hoped that they speak to somebody from Edinburgh. Although the funding package for the £500m-plus Edinburgh Line One light rail scheme is not yet secured, construction has been taking place on the famous Princes S

The Competition Commission has said it is considering what action to take after provisionally concluding that Stagecoach's purchase of Preston Bus will reduce competition and potentially harm the interests of passengers while Stagecoach has said it disagrees.      The CC has been investigating the completed acquisition of Preston Bus (PB) - who provided local bus services in Preston and South Ribble - by Stagecoach, following a referral by the Office of Fair Trading in May.

From today, all Lothian Buses services will be operated by low-floor, easy access vehicles, as the company has now withdrawn the last of the traditional step-entrance buses, eight years before the government's deadline. This follows continued investment and fleet replacement amounting to £130m over the past nine years. “As well as the City having a first class bus service it now has the accessibility to match," said Pilmar Smith, Lothian Buses chairman. "People wit

News that the Office of Fair Trading has found evidence that there might, just might, be circumstances in the UK bus industry that creates a tendency to higher fares and contract prices is completely unsurprising; show me an industry in which that is not the case. At a wedding the weekend after the news came out, a distant relation who works in the City commented “for heavens sake, they must have bigger fish to fry”. Of course they have, but they have had a thing about buses for a co

Scott Dunn, the managing director of Rotala’s West Midlands bus operation Diamond Bus, has been shortlisted for the Chartered Institute of Transport and Logistics’ Young Manager of the Year award. The award winners will be announced in October at the organisation’s Annual Awards for Excellence. Dunn was recently crowned the Young Passenger Transport Professional of the Year at the New Transit-sponsored Passenger Transport Management Awards for his work in leading the turn arou

TrentBarton has won a deserved reputation for innovation over the years and its newly rebranded Calverton Connection route shows why that is the case. To paraphrase a well known High Street retailer, this is not just a refresh of one of TrentBarton’s many brands, this is a refresh that sets a new benchmark for bus travel. It includes a new fleet of Mercedes-Benz Citaro buses, the first ever ordered by the Derby-based operator. While the German manufacturer will have been thrilled to have

Two Stagecoach Yorkshire drivers have steered their way to the finals of a prestigious national contest.   In a regional eliminating competition staged by the leading bus operator at its Chesterfield depot, Daniel Long from the company’s coaching division took first place.   He will be joined in the final of the Bus Driver of the Year competition to be held in Blackpool in September by runner-up Matthew Corbett, based at Chesterfield.   A total of 13 Stagecoach drivers

The chairman of Edinburgh Tram promoter, Transport Initiatives Edinburgh, has been named as the new chairman of council-owned bus operator Lothian Buses. David Mackay will succeed Pilar Smith, who has been chairman of the operator for the last decade, in January. Mackay took over as TIE chairman last December after Willie Gallagher departure from the company unexpectedly. He has headed TIE through a turbulent six months during which a dispute broke out between TIE and construction firm Bilfi

Transport for London today announced new contracts for eight bus routes in the capital. All of the awards are on the basis of conventional diesel-engined vehicles rather than hybrids. Route 48 (Walthamstow to London Bridge). Re-awarded to East London on the basis of a peak vehicle requirement of 20 new double deck vehicles. The new contract will commence in February 2010. Route 55/N55 (Leyton Green to Oxford Circus). Re-awarded to East London on the basis of a peak

Award-winning Western Greyhound, Cornwall’s largest independent operator, has won a significant number of additional Cornish trunk routes in a major retendering exercise by the new unitary Cornwall Council. Most have historically been operated by First Devon & Cornwall, although some routes were previously operated by Truronian prior to their takeover by First. Routes which will be taken over at the end of September include the 22 St Austell to Truro (Mondays to Saturdays), 24 St Aust

Members of the Unite union at Plymouth Citybus will stage a demonstration at Plymouth City Council's offices on Monday in protest at council plans to sell off its Plymouth Citybus operation. The council announced that it was investigating the possible sale of the business earlier this summer. Both First and Stagecoach are seen as likely bidders for the business if a sale proceeds. The demonstration will take place immediately before a full council meeting takes place in the chambers. Councillo

Transport for London today announced new contracts for two bus routes in the capital. Both of the awards are on the basis of conventional diesel-engined vehicles rather than hybrids. Route 46 (Lancaster Gate Station to Farringdon Street). Re-awarded to Metroline on the basis of a peak vehicle requirement of 17 new single deck vehicles. The new contract will commence in May 2010, although existing vehicles will be used until 2012. Route S3 (Belmont to Worcester Park

First ScotRail and Atos Origin have signed a new deal that will see the technology firm’s AVANTIX Mobile portable ticketing product rolled out across the Scottish train operators business. AVANTIX Mobile’s capabilities are well established in the industry with the system processing over 50 million transactions in 2008. The ScotRail contract calls for an enhanced version of the product with additional functionality including faster ticket printing to enable more sales on busy trains;

Award-winning bus operator TrentBarton aims to find out how good its business really is with the news that passenger lobby group Bus Users UK is to undertake a thorough audit of the operator’s customer service. Officers from Bus Users UK will travel throughout Trent Barton’s network and produce mystery travel reports about all aspects of the service they receive, from quality of bus stop infrastructure and information, to the customer service skills of drivers and comfort found onbo

Are we on the verge of a new era of collaborative partnership between transport operators and local authorities prompted by the 2008 Local Transport Act? Or a greater focus on ensuring that local transport provision is characterised by much more head-to-head competitive activity between different providers? It’s as clear as mud! Weary observers of the scene point to a long running stand off between two government agencies. The Department for Transport advocates integrated transport and co

West Midlands PTE Centro partnership with National Express West Midland, and also Diamond Bus Company means that bus routes in Bilston, Coseley, Sedgley and Tipton which were under threat, will now be saved. The 546 service and Monday to Saturday daytime services on the 545, linking Wolverhampton and Dudley via the four centres, were set to be withdrawn at the end of this month because low passenger numbers meant they were losing money.   In a new Transforming Bus Travel vision unveile

John Gorman First Scotland East Stuart Roughley (Pictured) Stagecoach Manchester John Gorman’s 20 years in the industry has taken him from bus driver to assistant operations director for First Scotland East. Meanwhile, with 31 years of service to the industry, Stuart Roughley’s drive has far from diminished. The judges said: “We were impressed by how John meets tough targets and his skills as a people manager. A great example of local management at its best. Stuart impres

Steve Clayton Arriva Steve Clayton has worked for the passenger transport industry for over 30 years, giving devoted service initially in the public sector at London Transport, and recently as a director of Arriva. In 2005, he moved to become group managing director - corporate affairs for the group, a post he held until his retirement earlier this year. He became President of the Confederation of Passenger Transport in 2005. Since then, he has continued to play an active and vital role in wor

Gareth Woodhouse CrossCountry Arriva’s CrossCountry intercity rail operation wanted to develop its website to be fit for the 21st century. The answer was XCEL - a project that would give rail customers more options when buying than tickets, planning their journey and booking their seat The new site cost £1m to develop and was key to the delivery of Arriva’s business plan for the new Cross Country franchise, breaking new ground in the key areas of ticketing and reservations. G

Kevin Short Youtextus.com Austin Birks Diamond Bus Kevin Short and Austin Birks have together introduced a real time information system that benefits both operators and travellers. Accessible to passengers via mobile phone or dedicated web page, both supported by Google mapping, the free to use service boosted customer confidence and provided Diamond Bus with both valuable daily vehicle movement charts and comprehensive schedule variation reports. The judges said: “We were greatly imp

Scott Dunn Diamond Bus Scott Dunn has been around buses since he was 10 years old. His first taste of the business was with his father’s Dunn-Line business, based in Nottingham. He helped to turn that business around. He is now managing director of West Midlands-based Diamond Bus, which is owned by AIM-listed Rotala. Once again, Dunn has transformed the business. The judges said: “We were impressed with Scott’s track record and personal commitment – both to the busines

Giles Fearnley CPT President (2008) Giles Fearnley’s shrewd business mind has enabled him to make his fortune in the passenger transport business - but he’s given plenty back to the sector as well. Fearnley has provided strong leadership through example throughout his career in both the bus and rail industries - which he continues to do through his involvement as the CPT’s new chairman, as a director of Transdev in the UK and through his role in Grand Central, the UK open ac

Michael Brinicombe Stagecoach Manchester With 37 years in the industry, with consistent year-on-year improvements, with a deep respect by the people who work with him and for him, and with a pride and passion for his people, his passengers and his profession, Mike Brinicombe is a very extraordinary engineering manager. He impressed with both the length and the quality of his service to the industry rising from the post of apprentice fitter with GM Buses to his present role as fleet engineer

Roger French Brighton & Hove Roger French has been managing director of Go Ahead’s highly respected Brighton & Hove bus company for 13 years. His philosophy is one of building long standing relationships with the local community. “I am as proud to be a managing director of Brighton and Hove as I am to be a managing director within the city,” he has said. This result is that the profile of public transport in Brighton is seamlessly woven through every aspect of his c

Mal McGreevy Translink Translink’s Mal McGreevy is a chartered mechanical engineer and a fellow of the Institute of Railway Operators. Following an early career in aerospace, tobacco and paper industries, he joined Ulsterbus as an engineering manager in 1988, and was appointed chief executive, Ulsterbus, Citybus and Northern Ireland Railways in 1995. He was appointed general manager - rail services at Translink in 2004. The judges commented: “We were impressed by Mal’s centr

Mark Savelli First Glasgow After moving back and forth between the UK and Hong Kong, Mark Savelli took charge of FirstGroup’s 1,000-vehicle bus operation in Glasgow in 2006. Under his leadership, First Glasgow has achieved both revenue and patronage growth. Meanwhile, his innovative thinking, particularly in the field of recruiting from Glasgow’s socially excluded communities, is particularly impressive. The judges said: “It was Mark's dedication and commitment in Glasgow th

Matthew Wooll First Berkshire Matthew Wooll of bus company First Berkshire has used his experience and operational knowledge to increase passenger growth, improve customer service and assenger information, reduce passenger complaints and utilise modern technology to help promote services. Heading a team of six people he is certainly worthy of recognition for his demonstrable actions in marketing FirstGroup’s bus services in Berkshire. He lives in the area and travels on this own service

It is perhaps ironic that no sooner has the Office of Fair Trading announced its market study into competition within the bus industry that events in the municipal sector look set to grow the size of the very plcs they are so interested in. The recent referral of Stagecoach’s takeover of Preston Bus to the Competition Commission is the most recent example of this increased level of interest. Since my last article on the future of municipal operators, Plymouth City Council has announced i

There are not many people who would suggest there are many similarities between Hong Kong and Glasgow but First Glasgow managing director Mark Savelli, who scooped the Passenger Transport Professional of the Year award at this year’s Passenger Transport Management Awards, is one of them. “Both have an extremely dense population and low car ownership,” he says, adding with a smile that on a warm summer day, Glasgow can feel just as tropical as the Orient. Of course Savelli sho

There are hundreds of thousands of people working in the UK passenger transport sector. Many of them are unsung heroes, giving a lifetime of service through their careers, but with little recognition we often give to senior managers and industry personalities. The Passenger Transport Management Awards offered an opportunity to put a handful of them in the spotlight. The four winners of the ‘Unsung Heroes’ award each display the hard work and devoted service which keeps public transpo

D uring an economic downturn it might have been viewed as a bit extravagant for 250 public transport professionals to gather for an awards ceremony in a London hotel. Mark Savelli, managing director of FirstGroup’s 1,000-vehicle bus operation in Glasgow, was conscious of this as he accepted the Passenger Transport Professional of the Year award at the 2009 Passenger Transport Management Awards. However, he expressed better than anyone why the show had to on. When it came to choosing the P

The sale of National?Express Group’s London bus operations to NedRailways, the overseas arm of the Dutch state railway, is the latest move in a musical chairs process by the industry’s major players as they take their positions in the London bus market. While it has been a clearly attractive growth area for some, the attitude of others has been ambiguous to say the least. Currently there are eleven contract holders in the London bus market ranging from Arriva with over 100 routes in

Bus operators have pretty much a clear hand on what they do with fares, but critics say they are still taking a very formulaic view on the subject. FirstGroup has been accused of an ill-judged strategy in West Yorkshire which could damage the long term prospects of the business in the quest for maintaining short-term profitability. Two consecutive 8% fare rises were implemented last year followed by service cuts of 20-25% as the recession has taken hold. Based on research from consultancy TRL a

After a three year gap, the Dunn-Line family are back with a 10 minute bus service from Bulwell to Nottingham city  centre. From June 1, 7 buses in a striking new magenta livery will be turning heads as well as offering plenty of seats on two services that will compete directly with the tram that operates to Phoenix Park via Bulwell, Basford and Hyson Green. The new company is headed by managing director Scott Dunn following a three year absence after the Dunn family sold their busine

Council leader Vivien Pengelly has declared Plymouth CityBus will not be sold unless a 'sensible' offer is put forward. Yesterday – within hours of the authority announcing that it was looking into releasing some or all of its shares in Plymouth CityBus – First Devon and Cornwall and taxi company boss John Preece both expressed interest in acquiring the company. Plymouth CityBus' 485 staff members were told of the proposal at about 6am yesterday, just before starting work, and

Competition worry takes buses saga to next stage The sale of Eastbourne Buses and Cavendish to Stagecoach earlier this year has run into more controversy as the Office of Fair Trading announced it is to refer the matter to the Competition Commission. The national operator acquired council-owned bus operator Eastbourne Buses in December and within weeks had also purchased local independent Cavendish Motor Services....

Some of Britain’s top transport managers will go head-to-head over the next six weeks in an award scheme designed to recognise and reward their skills, talent and commitment. The competition covers all levels of management throughout the UK’s bus, rail and rapid transit industries. The Passenger Transport Management Awards are being presented this year for the second time, and the shortlist was announced last week in a ceremony at the Institute of Directors in London’s Pall

2008 was something of an Annus Horribilis for Lothian Buses. After a golden 10-year period, which saw significant fleet investment, innovation in new products and a 40% growth in patronage that culminated in Lothian scooping the prestigious UK Bus Operator of the Year award in 2007, a culmination of factors made life increasingly fraught for the council-owned firm. Such were the problems that the respected municipal took the drastic step of making fleet reductions and service cuts as a result

Scottish transport minister Stewart Stevenson last week unveiled a mock-up of the new Class 380 units that will enter service with ScotRail on services in Ayrshire, Inverclyde and Renfrewshire from September 2010. The new trains, which will be built by German manufacturer Siemens, will mean more seats, better accessibility and improved passenger comfort, as well as a number of environmentally friendly features. The £200m 38-train order is Scotland’s largest electric train order f

The Office of Fair Trading has announced  that it is to refer the acquisition of council-owned bus operator Eastbourne Buses and local independent Cavendish Motor Services by Stagecoach earlier this year to the Competition Commission. The move comes just days after the OFT’s call for written comments on its decision to launch a market study into the supply of local bus services closed (Transit March 6). In a statement, the OFT said that the acquisitions had resulted in Stagecoach be

The Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway will be conjuring up magic days later this month when the biggest and heaviest 'star' of the Harry Potter films pays a visit. The 'star' is the dark red steam locomotive that, in the films, hauls the ‘Hogwarts Express’, carrying Potter and his wizard companions to Hogwarts School.  The Great Western Railway 'Hall' Class 4-6-0 built in 1937, and withdrawn from service by British Railways, in 1963; bought from Barry scrapyard, South

The recession has taken its toll on the fortunes of transport’s millionaires according to the annual Sunday Times Rich List. It reveals that Stagecoach founders Brian Souter and Ann Gloag have seen nearly a third wiped off their fortune. They now have an estimated wealth of £473m, making them joint 110th richest in the UK. Much of their wealth is derived from their significant shareholding in the group that they started with a handful of vehicles in 1980. They also have other weal

TRAIN operator TransPennine Express recorded a sharp increase in operating and pre-tax profits during the year to March 31  2008, according to its annual accounts. The company provides urban and inter-urban rail services across northern England, serving Tyneside and Teesside, West & South Yorkshire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside. Routes are also operated between Manchester Airport, Blackpool the North West and - since November 2007 - to Edinburgh and Glasgow.  The franchise is

After the good tidings of the last edition of Stockwatch with all of the major groups making significant progress on the market, this fortnight brought mixed news. While Arriva, First and Go Ahead moved ahead, National Express returned to its downward trend along with Stagecoach. Arriva’s trading statement revealed that the group is experiencing difficulties at its CrossCountry rail franchise, but its UK bus business returned a robust performance. Initially this unsettled investors who fl

Since it became fully ITSO approved over 12 months’ ago, the almex.mobile ticketing machine is still the only unit of its kind in the UK market to boast such a prestigious credential. And why?  Because Almex believe it is still some years ahead in its development due to the R&D expertise and experience of its parent company Hoeft & Wessel. The almex.mobile gained its draft certification in December 2007 to allow Almex UK, one of Europe’s leading ticketing system specia

With the recent sale of Eastbourne Buses to Stagecoach, the number of municipal bus companies in the UK now stands at just 13. What does the future hold for the remaining 13 and how can they adapt to their new surrounding where nearly two-thirds of services are controlled by the UK’s big five groups? 140 of the 153 major bus companies in the UK, accounting for 93% of total turnover, operate with clear and dominant objectives of delivering profit for their shareholders. The remaining munic

The Northern Way has set Network Rail the challenge of devising a strategy to radically improve rail services in the Manchester area by focusing on providing better cross city connections, what would amount to an all-day service to the airport, ensuring rail has a competitive advantage over car travel and providing for an increase in patronage of at least 39% by 2020. The 10-point manifesto has been produced in response to a request from former transport minister Rosie Winterton for the Norther

Sir Moir Lockhead will present some of the industry’s best managers with prizes at next month’s 2009 Passenger Transport Management Awards. Lockhead has spent almost 50 years in the passenger transport industry since beginning his career as an apprentice engineer in Darlington. As chief executive of Aberdeen-based First Group he has built the world’s largest passenger transport groups. A total of 12 prizes will be awarded at the lunchtime ceremony at The Tower Hotel in London

Shares of transport operators slammed into reverse on Wednesday after Arriva, the bus and train operator, said it was possible that its CrossCountry rail franchise would need support from the government. The Sunderland-based company, which took on the CrossCountry franchise less than two years ago, said that the economic downturn had applied a brake to increases in passenger revenue... Click here to read the original Times story in a new window Click here to read the Financial Times

Train operator First Great Western’s “star employee”, Wayne Spence, has received an MBE for going the extra mile for passengers. Platform supervisor, Spence, aged 48, was honoured in the New Year Honours at Buckingham Palace following 28 years of service to the transport industry. Currently based at Bristol Temple Meads, Wayne is always to happy to provide up-to-date information to First Great Western customers and has even been known to find passengers in the café to

PROFITS fell at train operator Northern Rail back by 9% in the 52 weeks ended January 5 2008, according to the company’s annual accounts. The company operates local and inter-urban rail services throughout Northern England, including the busy urban networks in West and South Yorkshire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside. Turnover rose slightly less than the prevailing rate of inflation, rising by 2.2% to £531.7m, whilst operating costs rose by 2.6%. The resulting operating profit of

Well at last there is some good news. After a dismal performance in the last few months, all of our portfolio of transport stocks made significant progress with all making positive gains. Leading the pack though was National Express. After a distressing few months for investors, the group climbed ahead no less than 70% to close at 256.5p on the back of City rumours that a deal between major shareholders the Cosmen family and Stagecoach was imminent. The rumours where also good news for Stagecoa

Mystery surrounds a bus company which last week announced that it would start running a free bus service in Perth after it was stripped of its operators’ licence at a public inquiry. Bankfoot Buses, a subsidiary of consultancy firm Ptarmigan Transport Solutions, was ordered off the road by Scottish traffic commissioner Joan Aitken amid claims that it had sought to interfere with and taken predatory action against services run by  rival Stagecoach, the FTSE 250 transport group, which

At an award ceremony held at the St Mary’s Stadium, Linda Wellman from Totton was named as Bluestar Bus Driver of the Year.  The annual award is presented to the driver who is judged as exemplary in their standard of customer care, safety, punctuality on the network and has a 100% attendance record. Alex Hornby, operations manager at Bluestar, said that former print worker Wellman, who joined the company as a trainee driver in 2006 and now drives on many of the key routes, is often m

BUS operator East?London Bus and Coach Company suffered a 97% reduction in operating profits in the 48 weeks ended March 30 2008, according to their annual accounts. The business forms part of the East London?Bus Group, owned by a consortium of investors led by the Australian company Macquarie Bank, and acquired from? Stagecoach Group in 2006. The accounts cover a 48 week period following a change in financial reporting date. This company runs a fleet of 622 vehicles on contracts for Transport

Once again it was another rocky fortnight on the markets for our portfolio of transport stocks with National Express struggling once again, but a solid set of results led to good news for Aberdeen-based First. What is particularly noticeable now is the wide variations between the 52-week high and the current trading price for all of the groups. Indeed, National Express is now worth almost a tenth of what it was in the happier times of last year, while Go Ahead has shedded more than half of is m

There have been a number of weird and wacky schemes to reform BSOG (Bus Service Operators’ Grant) in recent years. There are certain incentives which have been proposed that we at Bus Users UK would welcome: incentives, for instance, to expand smartcard use and to extend the provision of real-time information systems. We would argue for incentivising either of those aspirations, with the provisos that we would like to see smartcards working as rapidly as Oystercard, which not all systems d

Council-owned bus operator Cardiff Bus has officially apologised for predatory behaviour against a competitor at a public inquiry convened by Welsh traffic commissioner Nick Jones. The case was called after Cardiff Bus was found to have breached competition law by the Office of Fair Trading after it engaged in anti-competitive practices in 2004 against AIM-listed bus operator 2 Travel. The action was deemed to be a contributing factor in the subsequent demise of 2 Travel. Last November the OFT

Bus users UK has rejected calls by the Commission for Integrated Transport for the government to reconsider reforming the Bus Service Operators’ Grant on a payment per passenger model. The lobby group claims that doing so would threaten lightly-used but socially necessary services. BUUK also claims that local authorities cannot be depended on to step in to save bus routes that are withdrawn because they have become uneconomical. In this edition of Transit, BUUK external relations office

The Derbyshire-based bus operator Wellglade, owner of the TrentBarton and Kinchbus operations, recorded increased operating and pre-tax profits during the year to December 31 2007, on the back of continued real-term revenue growth, according to its annual accounts. The company operates a fleet of around 370 vehicles on local bus services in?Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. It is one of the few remaining management buyouts from the days of the National?Bus Company left in the same ownership - th

It was another rocky fortnight on the markets with gains and losses in equal measure, however bus manufacturer Optare had a particularly tough time with a significant collapse in its share price. Arriva’s results also failed to impress the City. Despite a strong performance from the group’s UK bus division and a significant increase in profitability at its UK rail business, the shares slumped over 5% on the day they were announced and continued on a downward trajectory before rallyi

Weeks of speculation about the future of rail replacement specialist and coach operator Fraser Eagle ended last week with the news that the Padiham-based firm had entered administration. Manchester-based Baker Tilly was appointed as administrator of Fraser Eagle on March 10. It immediately announced that the firm’s remaining 120 staff would be made redundant. A spokesman for Baker Tilly told Transit that it was hopeful that some parts of the business could be sold, including “certai

Transport investment group Rotala has added its support to the 2009 Passenger Transport Management Awards. The company is sponsoring the Passenger Transport Professional of the Year (large enterprise) award. Scott Dunn, managing director of Rotala’s Diamond Bus Company, said: “We are delighted to support this event as it focuses on celebrating the achievements of individuals in an industry which too often focuses on companies and not enough on the very people who make things happen,

Trevor Roberts has been appointed as the new managing director of Blackpool Transport, a role he will start from start from June. Roberts succeeds Steve Burd who is leaving the company to become managing director of Stagecoach in Warwickshire. Roberts (pictured) is currently managing director at Newport Transport and has been at the company for eight years. He has transformed Newport Transport during this period, turning round its financial performance and thoroughly modernising its operations

A rising bus industry star has been announced as the winner of the 2009 Chris Moyes Scholarship Trust Award. Stagecoach’s Carole Morgan, who is currently an assistant operations manager at the group’s depot in Worthing, has been announced as the recipient of the £1,500 prize. Morgan, 25, who is currently undertaking the role in Worthing as part of her graduate management training scheme with the Perth-based group, proposes to look at the way in which the industry caters for

The news that the Office of Fair Trading is to launch an investigation into the state of the UK bus market has seen the proprietors of two independent  bus operators take two widely differing views. In a letter to Transit, Clayton Jones, the owner of Cardiff-based Heart of Wales Bus & Coach, has rejected the Confederation of Passenger Transport’s criticism of the inquiry. “Having had the opportunity of studying the tactics of the large groups and municipals with their desi

First Group chief executive, Sir Moir Lockhead, was honoured at the Institute of Directors Scotland ‘Director of the Year Awards’ last week and named Global Director of the Year. This was the second year in a row that the First Group chief has been recognised at the awards. Last year he was presented with the Director of the Year Award. Commenting on the news, Lockhead said: “Having won the Director award in 2008, I was very surprised to be shortlisted for the global award

Lothian Buses has announced it is to either sell or close its innovative demand responsive airport transfer business Edinburgh Shuttle. In operation since December 2006, Edinburgh Shuttle has built up an impressive passenger base offering a cost effective and alternative transport option between Edinburgh Airport and the City Centre. Since its launch, the operation has carried on average around 75,000 passengers every year and built up a reliable base of over 100 sales agents as well as a numbe

This week’s announcement of the Passenger Transport Management Awards for 2009 marks the start of the second year of this scheme, which was so well-received by the industry when we launched it a year ago. We are once again aiming to recognise and reward the skills, talent and commitment of managers at all levels working in all forms of ground public passenger transport. As last year, we are seeking nominations in a range of categories, covering everything from leadership of major enterpri

Last week’s Confederation of Passenger Transport annual dinner in London saw an interesting double act between the confederation’s new president, Ian Morgan, and Geoff Hoon, the secretary of state for transport. Morgan, who part-time deputy chairman of bus company Trent Barton, will work closely with Hoon, whose Ashfield constituency is served by Trent Barton’s award winning services. Their speeches to last week’s dinner revealed a rapport between the two that may help e

Preston Bus managing director Peter Bell has branded the sale of his company to rival Stagecoach as a “positive move” and said that the operator faced an uncertain future as an independent. Bell made his comments as Stagecoach confirmed late last month that it had completed its acquisition of the employee-owned former municipal firm. It followed a meeting of the firm’s shareholders who ratified plans for the sale on January 22. “I am proud of the contribution Preston Bu

Trent Barton parent company  Wellglade has announced that managing director Brian King is to step down from his role in April. He will be succeeded by Jeff Counsell, the current director of service delivery. King will move to the newly created role of part-time chairman. The changes will also see commercial director Ian Morgan move to a new part-time role as King’s deputy. No other changes are planned to the seven-strong senior management team of the Heanor-based operator. King is a

South East Wales Transport Alliance has made good progress with its development of rail services, but its grand plans for buses have suffered a bumpy ride. Sewta brings together 10 small unitary authorities in an attempt to bring a regional perspective to transport development. However, a planned strategic bus lane in north Cardiff was dropped by the local authority after opposition from adjacent householders. Now Newport council has gone further, removing four sections of bus lane which were

We’ve just got Christmas over with, so what’s the next celebration? Yes, Valentines Day. West Midlands-based bus operator, Diamond Bus, is getting into the spirit of things with the announcement that its ‘Lurve Bus’ will hit the roads in the coming weeks. The vehicle will carry large red hearts with bespoke messages during the week leading up to Valentines Day and, for just £10, bus users can display their own unique message to a loved one. Who was it that said lov

Stagecoach has confirmed that it has completed the acquisition of Preston Bus for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition was approved by employee shareholders of Preston Bus on January 22 and completed today. Preston Bus, which has around 300 employees and a fleet of around 120 vehicles, operates out of a depot at Deepdale Road, Preston. It operates on 14 key routes in Preston itself and South Ribble and the annual turnover of the business is around £11m. Stagecoach is already a significan

Stagecoach has followed up its recent purchase of council-owned bus operator Eastbourne Buses with a deal to acquire local competitor Cavendish Motor Services for an undisclosed sum. The Perth-based group acquired the business last week from its parent, coach operator Renown of Bexhill. However, the deal will see the 28-vehicle Polegate-based operation closed in March with all 40 staff made redundant. Cavendish has been a significant thorn in the side of Eastbourne Buses over several years. It

Trent Barton parent company Wellglade has announced that managing director Brian King is to step down from his role in April. He will be succeeded by Jeff Counsell, the current director of service delivery. King will move to the newly created role of part-time chairman. The changes will also see commercial director Ian Morgan move to a new part-time role as King’s deputy. No other changes are planned to theseven-strong senior management team of the Heanor-based operator. King is an exper

The much awaited Edinburgh tram is expected to be to be running by 2011 - bringing trams to the streets of Edinburgh for the first time in more than 50 years. The integrated tram network will be delivered using a phased approach to construction. Phase 1a will run from Edinburgh Airport to Leith, and phase 1b will serve the Granton area of the city, connecting it through Craigleith and Roseburn to the city centre. Phase 2 will link Granton to Leith, completing the loop, and phase 3 will connect

A councillor in Eastbourne has lifted the lid on the extreme financial pressures that Eastbourne Buses was under in recent years. The sale of Eastbourne Buses to Perth-based Stagecoach was concluded earlier this month. The group paid £3.7m for the business, trumping the only other offer from Go Ahead. Speaking to the local press, Eastbourne Borough Council deputy leader Troy Tester revealed that the business came close to collapse in April 2007 when the company didn't have enough cash le

Merseyrail Electrics has become the first fully secure rail network in the UK. All 66 stations have now been awarded the “secure station” status after visits by the British Transport Police on behalf of the Department for Transport in association with Crime Concern. The last three stations which have now achieved secure status are Sandhills, Little Sutton and Overpool. Councillor Mark Dowd, chair of Merseytravel and a Member of the TravelSafe Board, said: “This is a unique ac

It is four months since Reading Transport launched its brand new Academy which has replaced the old style training school. And in the 16 weeks since the Academy was launched no fewer than 19 drivers have gone through the learning and development processes - and passed their PCV driving tests. The immediate success of the Academy has delighted council-owned Reading Transport, which introduced the change last August. Chief executive officer James Freeman said the decision to establish a new Aca

January It was a difficult start to 2008 for Network Rail. The infrastructure controller came under fire after engineering works over Christmas and New Year overran by several days. It coincided with the company’s chairman, Sir Ian McAllister, being awarded a knighthood in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List. The auction of Laing Rail concludes with Deutsche Bahn agreeing to pay fund manager Henderson a very full price of around £130m, so securing th

In the last couple of years the dwindling band of municipally-owned bus operators have raised their game. Indeed this burst of creativity is perhaps best demonstrated by the sector’s trophy haul at this year’s UK Bus Awards, led by the bus operator of the year, Warrington Borough Transport. No longer are council-owned operators seen as the deeply traditional businesses that they once were, perhaps in part due to the growing number of experienced industry managers that have switched

It has been revealed that employee-owned operator Preston Bus is in advanced talks with Stagecoach to sell the business in a rumoured £6m deal. The move comes just 18 months after the Perth-based group launched a competitive assault against Preston Bus. That led to questions in Parliament and a behind-closed-doors deal between the two sides to halt a potentially explosive public inquiry into the bus war that was convened by north west traffic commissioner Beverley Bell. Transit understan

Nobody could personify the adage “once bitten, twice shy” better than Bev Fowles. After the collapse of AIM-listed 2Travel, where he was chief executive, he now spends his last years before retirement in an office on a small industrial estate in Neath, South Wales. He has no great ambitions for his bus company and speaks bitterly of the effect stock-market listing had on 2Travel. Fowles entered the bus industry in London in 1972, to supplement his income from teaching. After various

Arriva Trains Wales is now running a faster train service between north and south Wales - launched today by the transport minister Ieuan Wyn Jones. The Welsh Assembly Government has provided £1.7m in subsidy for the service between Holyhead and Cardiff, which has a one outward journey leaving Holyhead at 05:32 and return journey, leaving Cardiff at 16.17. “I am delighted to be able to launch this new service between Holyhead and Cardiff, which will give travellers an attractive a

More than 100 members of staff have been honoured for their outstanding contribution to Go North East at their annual ‘Go the Extra Mile’ awards dinner. Among those receiving recognition was driver, Brian Cross who was presented with the highest level Safe Driving Award after clocking up more than 40 years of driving for the company without a single accident. Five drivers were presented with awards for 30 years of safe driving with a further 12 honoured in the 20 Years Safe Driving c

A Stagecoach UK Bus apprentice has won a prestigious national award. Manchester apprentice James Belfield (21) was named the 2008 winner of the Transport Engineering and Maintenance category at the GoSkills Passenger Transport Apprenticeship Awards ceremony in London. The win means that Stagecoach apprentices have won the same award for three consecutive years. The awards - covering the rail, aviation and coach and bus industries - are organised by GoSkills, the Sector Skills Council for Passen

In five years of operating the Wales & Borders network, Arriva Trains Wales has arguably achieved more than it gets credit for. The Standard Pattern Timetable of December 2005 brought more efficient use of resources and additional services which stimulated significant growth, especially on the two-hourly services between Holyhead, Wrexham and Cardiff. ATW improved reliability of the struggling Valley Lines Pacers, and other fleets. Revenue protection has improved, with ticket gates install

Stagecoach has been announced as preferred bidder to acquire troubled municipal operator Eastbourne Buses. Recent industry speculation suggested that both Go Ahead, whose Brighton & Hove subsidiary already operates interurban services into the south coast town from Brighton, and Stagecoach  were poised to sign a deal for the 50-vehicle operator (Transit  November 21). However, the Perth-based group, finally concluded on  a provisional arrangement late last month following a

Two single-track bottle necks will be doubled under a Rail Forward Programme announced by the Welsh Assembly Government this week. The limitations of the single track between Chester and Wrexham became a political issue this autumn when it emerged that a new express service linking North and South Wales from 15 December would omit Wrexham, North Wales’ largest town, because no suitable paths were identified. WAG has earmarked £27m to restore double track there, and £20m for a

Bus operators have reacted with anger to chancellor Alistair Darling’s Pre-Budget Report which revealed increases to fuel duty and plans to reform the way the Bus Service Operator’s Grant is distributed to them. Although the chancellor cut VAT from 17.5% to 15%, this has been offset by an increase in fuel duty from this week by 2p a litre.  Darling also announced further increases with a 1.84p per litre rise next April and a further 0.5p increase in April 2010. Operators have

A Newcastle-based train manager has won a Europe-wide photography competition hosted by Arriva and judged by Transit. David Brereton of Arriva’s CrossCountry Trains operation was awarded Arriva Photo of the Year 2008 for his image of trains being refuelled at Tyne Yard. The competition, open to all 40,000 Arriva employees across 12 countries, attracted hundreds of entries. For his winning shot, Brereton spent more than six hours sizing up his subject after finishing his shift. “I h

Northern has 471 stations across its network and most of them are unstaffed. Many are in urban areas and face the sort of problems of anti-social behaviour common across much of the rail network. Even rural stations are not immune to vandalism and graffiti. This presents us with major difficulties but also opportunities. We are looking to ‘re-invent’ the small station to bring it much closer to the community it serves. Getting the community positively involved is critical to that, to

This week’s UK Bus Awards saw 750 people gather in Battersea Park. Before the proceedings began there was a tribute to Matthew Bradley, one the industry’s greatest thinkers, who lost his battle with cancer earlier this month. He was just 41 years of age. The tribute was given by Ray Stenning of design company Best Impressions, who worked closely on many projects over the years with Bradley, whose last role was as marketing manager for Go Ahead Group, the bus and train operator. The

Council-owned bus operator Eastbourne Buses could be on the verge of new ownership after councillors held a closed cabinet meeting this week to debate the future of the firm. The news follows industry rumours that have linked both Go Ahead and Stagecoach  with the acquisition of the operator in which French group Keolis owns a minority stake. Eastbourne Buses has been plagued in recent years by poor financial performance, and political interference in the day-to-day affairs of the firm.

Cardiff Bus could be sued after the Office of Fair Trading ruled this week that it was guilty of predatory conduct to eliminate rival operator 2Travel between April 2004 and February 2005. Bev Fowles, former 2Travel chief executive, told Transit he might take action to recover some of the £500,000 he lost when 2Travel went bankrupt. He also said 2Travel had been kept in liquidation pending the OFT’s ruling. But Cardiff Bus has accused the OFT of wanting to set a precedent for the b

One of the most keenly anticipated awards at the annual UK Bus Awards is the Award for Service to the Industry, which is sponsored by Blazefield founders Giles Fearnley and Stuart Wilde. This year it was the turn of Stagecoach co-founder and chief executive Brian Souter to receive the surprise honour, which he said was a “great honour”. He continued: “It’s great to be part of this industry, it really is. It is an illness, not an occupation and as you all know I have it

The bus industry has thrown off its image of being a cottage industry to become a dynamic, market-driven force. That was the message from Dr David Quarmby, chairman of the Independent Transport Commission who presented the awards at this week’s 2008 UK?Bus Awards ceremony in London, which saw council-owned bus operator Warrington Borough Transport crowned as the Belmont International UK?Bus Operator of the Year. Quarmby noted that the success of the UK?Bus Awards demonstrated how far the

Warrington Borough Transport clinched the prestigious Belmont International UK Bus Operator of the Year Award at a ceremony held in London yesterday. The event, held at Battersea Evolution, was attended by over 750 industry professionals and saw the council-owned operator clinch the top honours after narrowly beating Transdev Keighley & District, which won the Titan Outdoor City Operator of the Year Award, in the grand prix race for overall winner. Congratulating all the finalists, UK

The Office of Fair Trading has ruled that council-owned bus operator Cardiff Bus engaged in predatory action against failed AIM-listed bus operator 2 Travel. The decision relates to Cardiff Bus’ behaviour between April 2004 and February 2005. Cardiff Bus responded to the introduction of a new no-frills bus service by 2 Travel, by introducing its own no-frills bus services which ran on the same routes, at similar times as 2 Travel's services and made a loss for Cardiff Bus. Shortly after 2

Greater Manchester PTA has welcomed the launch of the first free Metroshuttle scheme outside of Manchester city centre. Bolton’s free town centre shuttle service, launched on November 17 is being operated by Bluebird and has been jointly funded by Bolton Council and GMPTA. Comprising two 25-seat single decker Enviro 200 buses, the service will run every a 10 minutes between 7.30am and 6pm Monday to Friday and 8.30am to 5.30pm on Saturdays. Passengers can pick up the service at 11 stops

industry speculation is linking Neil Renilson with a return to Stagecoach after he announced his early retirement from his post at chief executive of Lothian Buses last week. Renilson left Stagecoach to join Lothian Buses, Britain’s largest remaining local authority-owned bus company, 10 years ago. Over the past decade he has modernised the company and led it through a period of growth second only to that achieved in London over the past decade. His achievements were recognised last year

A planned strike by bus driving staff in London was cancelled this week after bus operator Metrobus sought a legal injunction to prevent the action. The stoppage was set to involve up to 14,000 members of the Unite union at First London Arriva, Metroline, East London, and East Thames Buses who were campaigning to secure a unitary pay rate for drivers across the capital. However, legal action by Go Ahead-owned Metrobus, plus rumoured similar action from other companies, had led Unite to suspend

Lothian Buses chief executive Neil Renilson  this week visited Wrightbus’ factory in Northern Ireland for a special preview of the new-look Wrightbus Eclipse 2 single deck bus. The Eclipse 2 is the successor to what has become one of the leading single deck buses in the British Isles. The new model features new styling with a look that has been clearly influenced by the Wrightbus StreetCar trambus model. Ten of these new-styled vehicles are currently in the final stages of productio

Two Welsh bus managers say they have misgivings about selling their businesses to French-owned transport group Veolia, and one is even offering Veolia a refund. After reading a feature on Veolia Transport Cymru’s performance in Transit recently, Clayton Jones and Nigel Bebb voiced their concerns about the group’s direction. Jones said he now wishes he sold his Shamrock Travel business to Arriva instead of Veolia, and last week his lawyer had written to Veolia offering to return som

Transport Scotland has indicated that it is facing problems financing its five-year rail programme published last summer. Chief executive Malcolm Reed has told the Office of Rail Regulation that the funding situation north of the border has changed since the Scottish government set out its £3.6bn HLOS rail plan for 2009-2014. And he has told the regulator to alter its draft determination of Network Rail’s financial settlement for the period to take account of Transport Scotland&rs

Scottish transport secretary Stewart Stevenson has unveiled the new permanent livery for the ScotRail franchise and announced a package of service improvements between Edinburgh, Fife and Aberdeen. Stevenson said the decision to rebrand the franchise had been taken to create a stronger Scottish identity for ScotRail and to save money by preventing the need to repaint trains and stations when the franchise changes hands. The new look incorporates Scotland’s flag, and it will be extended

Lothian Buses is in the running to scoop the UK Bus Operator of the Year Award for the second year in a row, this week’s shortlist for the 2008 UK Bus Awards revealed. “Every year we are impressed by the nominations we receive,” commented UKBA chairman John Owen. “Over the past two years especially, both the volume and the quality of entries has risen noticeably. This year the industry’s commitment to quality and innovation shines through every entry shortlisted

A promised new station in South Wales has been abandoned, seven years after a government minister held a turf-cutting ceremony at the site. Network Rail says the station is no longer being considered after feedback from the Welsh Assembly Government, which previously allocated £2.9m to it. In March 2001, the Transport Framework for Wales was launched by the then Welsh minister for the environment, Sue Essex, at the future Brackla Park and Ride facility near Bridgend, alongside the ce

The news earlier this year that Go Ahead was pulling out of the West Midlands bus market by selling Go West Midlands was not unexpected. After a turbulent couple of years trying to find a niche in one of Britain’s biggest bus markets, there was little surprise in the industry when chief executive Keith Ludeman called time on the venture and passed it on to Rotala, the Alternative Investment Market-listed bus and coach group, for just £2m in cash. The business was cobbled together

Award-winning Cornish independent operator Western Greyhound has announced that it has seen passenger growth of  18% on its network of rural bus services. Commenting on the news, Western Greyhound’s managing director Mark Howarth said: “Our passenger volumes have increased year on year by a staggering 18.4% across our entire network. This figure is for our ongoing business only and excludes the newly added routes which have yielded even further growth for our business.”

Walking away from the recent Public Transport Management Awards as the joint winner of the Unsung Heroes Award was Arriva North West & Wales’ Mike Topping. He joined Ribble Motor Services at its Burnley depot in November 1958 aged just 15, which in his words means he will soon complete 50 years with what is essentially the same company. His first job was as a messenger boy, a role which entailed the despatch and receipt of parcels which were carried by bus. During this time he spent

For the past couple of years, trying to guess what Veolia is doing has been a topic of frequent conversation for managers at other South Wales bus companies. The French company, formerly Connex, bought several operators in the region in quick succession, including the biggest Welsh independent Shamrock Travel. Then it surprised everyone by pushing into rural Mid-Wales last year, despite the sparse population and a local authority which has historically achieved less in public transport than neig

Stagecoach is believed to be in negotiations to acquire the bus operations of long established firm Bullock’s of Cheadle. Although the operator’s 50 employees have been told of the proposed sale in a letter from management, the firm itself has been unwilling to comment on the proposed deal. Stagecoach confirmed that it is in talks with Bullock’s on a brief statement. “We can confirm we are currently in negotiations with R Bullock and Sons Ltd regarding the potential pu

Bus operators will be billed hundreds of pounds for updated information each time they change a commercial route mid-term under new rules devised by a handful of Welsh local authorities. Gwynedd, Conwy and Anglesey councils consulted earlier this year on a Bus Information Strategy and say the Transport Act 2000 entitles them to charge operators for costs arising from changes to commercial services during the summer or winter timetables. From September, operators in the areas can expect a b

St Pancras International station has won has  the regional London award from the Royal Institute of British Architects for high architectural standards and a substantial contribution to the local environment. “The scale and complexity of the project demanded an exceptional response from all of those involved and... that is exactly what this scheme delivered,” said the judges. “The construction of the new Eurostar terminal and the renovation of St Pancras particula

Last week saw around 250 passenger transport professionals gather in the luxurious surroundings of The Dorchester Hotel in London to celebrate the achievements of individual managers at the inaugural Passenger Transport Management Awards. It provided an opportunity to step back and look at the challenges that face the industry, and those who contribute to it, and who better to do that than Peter Hendy? Hendy has devoted his career to passenger transport since joining London Transport as a gra

Oh no, you might be thinking, not another awards scheme for transport! Don’t you win a prize these days for simply turning up? Well think again, the 250 people who attended last week’s Passenger Transport Management Awards certainly wouldn’t agree. The awards provided a showcase for the skills, commitment and sheer hard work delivered by thousands of bus and rail managers around the country every day. All of those who came up on stage to collect prizes had done vital work for a

The Office of Fair Trading this week issued an invitation to comment on the deal between Arriva and Welsh independent KMP which saw the latter withdraw from its rival route on the North Wales coast. August 2 was the last day of KMP’s operation between Llandudno, Bangor and Caernarfon/Llangefni, on which some fares were less than half those charged by Arriva. The deal, for an undisclosed sum, included purchase of seven KMP vehicles. Daytime service frequency between Llandudno and Bangor

You can always tell when summer is coming. Two of the main transport plcs publish upbeat annual accounts and financial statements, and the only thing to bet on is by how much they will have both increased their bus customer base by organic growth. Then, later each year, come the aggregated figures from Department for Transport showing a very different overall position. It leaves you pondering just how badly the rest of the industry must have performed to square the two sets of figures, but then

THE?ISSUE?of increasing European legislation on the rural bus networks of Britain was back under the microscope last week when Radio 4’s You and Yours programme investigated operator concerns into the introduction of the controversial 50km rule and more prescriptive drivers’ hours regulations. The broadcast of the programme co-incides with the introduction next month of the controversial rule on the length of bus services that are permitted to be operated without the need for digi

STAGECOACH HAS been accused of trying to “kill off” Preston Bus in a debate secured in parliament by a local MP. It follows increasingly competitive moves by both operator’s over the last six months. Mark Hendrick said that Preston Bus was the last employee-owned operator in the country and was “the only operator in Lancashire that has been involved in Lancashire that has been involved in partnership schemes with the local authority”. He added that the long servi

A NUMBER OF people with public transport connections have been awarded New Year honours. Topping the list is Network Rail chairman Ian McAllister who has been awarded a knighthood in recognition of his services to the transport industry. Already holding a CBE, he is a former chair and managing director of motor giant Ford’s UK operations, and is also chairman of the Carbon Trust. McAllister also holds a senior non-executive directorship of drinks group Scottish & Newcastle. The

When it finally happened last month, the launch of Grand Central’s open access venture was a quiet affair, in stark contrast to the years of wrangling and the suggestions of skulduggery which preceded it. Certainly open access has raised the temperatures of rail industry executives like little else. The Office of Rail Regulation’s decision in February 2006 to allow Grand Central to operate between London and Sunderland was memorably branded “arrogant”, “stupid&rd

NORTH WEST traffic commissioner Beverley Bell has angrily rejected claims made by Stagecoach that her decision to call the group’s north west bus business to a public inquiry is politically motivated. Bell said that her decision to call a public inquiry stems from Stagecoach North West’s ongoing competitive action against employee-owned Preston Bus and was not political. She said she aimed to discover if there had been any “intentional interference” into Preston Bus&rs

An Arriva bus driver has scooped the top honours in the Sunderland-based group’s first ever group-wide photography competition which was judged by the Transit editorial team. Stuart Lowerson, who works from Arriva’s Hexham bus depot, spotted a photo opportunity on Dilston Bridge near Hexham whilst driving. After sitting in the middle of a river, he captured a route 685 bus travelling from Carlisle to Newcastle. The competition saw entries from Arriva’s operations through

Peace has seemingly broken out between Preston Bus and Stagecoach North West with a deal signed that should lead to the end of the city’s heated bus war. Traffic commissioner Beverley Bell has welcomed the deal, which was brokered by Lancashire County Council. She said: “I hope now that this sorry period that has done so much harm to the good name of the bus industry can be put behind us and the people of Preston will get the safe and reliable services they are entitled to. &ld

In this issue of Transit, a new awards scheme for the UK passenger transport industry has been announced. The Passenger Transport Management Awards scheme is seeking nominations, and the prizes will be presented for the first time this summer. PTMA will be a genuinely cross-modal scheme designed for all forms of ground public passenger transport. The eight categories reflect the importance of the different management skills that are required to ensure that public transport delivers high-qual

Stagecoach has thrown his support behind the new Passenger Transport Management Awards, launched by Transit this week. The Perth-based group is sponsoring Passenger Transport Professional  of the Year, the ‘grand prix’ of the event. “We are delighted to give our support to these awards,” said Stagecoach chief executive Brian Souter this week. “Developing the next generation of transport managers and generating new ideas is crucial to the future of our ind

NORTHERN RAIL was this week named train operator of the year at the tenth annual HSBC Rail Business Awards. More than 800 senior figures from the UK rail industry saw the company’s managing director, Heidi Mottram, collect the SSP Train Operator of the Year award at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel. The Serco-NedRail-owned operator also won the Interfleet Technology Rail Business of the Year award. Northern Rail impressed the judges with the innovative way they have dealt with un

Details of the presentation ceremony for the new Passenger Transport Management Awards have been announced. The ceremony will take place at The Dorchester Hotel in London on July 11 and will be hosted by the BBC’s transport correspondent for Southern England, Paul Clifton. “I’m really looking forward to seeing who wins these awards,” Clifton said. “Other ceremonies offer prizes for organisations - best train operator, best bus company and so on. But these new awa

Kent Thameside’s Fastrack bus network has won the Faber Maunsell award for Outstanding Success in Bus Priority which was announced at the Bus Priority Conference in Glasgow last week. Judges were impressed with the exceptional results that Fastrack has achieved so far as well as the programme and budgetary control that has seen this complex and high-value project delivered right to plan and on schedule. Receiving the award, Fastrack project manager David George commented: “This

“‘Bus travel demand among older people is best described by an exponential function.’ Discuss.” No, not an A-level Economics exam question, but a key issue underlying the current mess which is concessionary fares reimbursement in England. Unfortunately, the esoteric nature of most debate about the issue contributes to confusion and conflict. So where are we now and what lies ahead? People aged over 60 now enjoy free local bus travel throughout Great Britain (the situat

First UK Bus is the latest operator to pledge its support of the new Passenger Transport Management Awards scheme and has committed to sponsor the prestigious Lifetime Achievement award. Nicola Shaw, managing director of First UK Bus said: “We believe that recognising individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the transport industry is in everyone’s interest. We should wherever possible celebrate success and acknowledge the valuable contributions that people have ma

We’ve got trains, and we’ve got trams, a few at any rate. But in 2010, the tram-train, that is a tram able to run on conventional train tracks, will be making its debut in the UK, as part of a two-year trial in Yorkshire which takes a leaf from existing systems in Europe. The trial, to be run in partnership by Northern Rail, Network Rail and the Department for Transport, “could herald the start of a new era in public transport,” according to transport secretary Ruth Kelly

National Express Group has added its support to the Passenger Transport Management Awards by sponsoring the Young Passenger Transport Professional of the Year Award. “Recognising and rewarding young people working in transport is vitally important for the future of our industry,” commented National Express UK chief executive Ray O’Toole. “The Young Passenger Transport Professional of the Year award will enable aspiring business leaders to showcase their contribution

Leicester-based Centrebus has been revealed to be the surprise buyer of Stagecoach’s Huddersfield bus operations and has also followed up the deal with the purchase of a local competitor. Arriva had been negotiating to acquire the Perth-based group’s operations in Huddersfield and had even gone as far to apply for a 35-vehicle operators’ licence, in the name of The Huddersfield Bus Company, through its Arriva Southern subsidiary (Transit March 14). Observers had suggested th

The Tram-train  trial on the Penistone Line, announced by government last month, has prompted a bid for a permanent tram-train track-share at Manchester Metrolink. Transit understands that Network Rail will be receptive to such proposals if they are broached as permanent schemes and not trials. The first phase of the trial on the Penistone Line between Huddersfield, Barnsley and Sheffield operated by Northern, involves five vehicles operating from 2009 for two years. The second, and possi

TRAIN operator First/Keolis TransPennine recorded increased operating and pre-tax profits in the year to March 31 2007, but traded at slightly reduced margins, according to its annual accounts. The company operates a network of services linking Newcastle, Middlesbrough and the Yorkshire coast with Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool, as well as providing services between Manchester Airport and Cumbria. Services from the airport to Blackpool were added in 2006 and northwards to Scotland in Decemb

Outdoor advertising specialist CBS Outdoor is sponsoring the ‘Marketeer of the Year’ award at this year’s inaugural Passenger Transport Management Awards. This award is designed to recognise the skills of individuals involved in the management and implementation of marketing projects in the UK passenger transport sector. “CBS Outdoor are delighted to be working with Transit and the PTMA to promote excellence in the industry and especially in marketing, a subject close

Stagecoach last week completed its purchase of Inverness-based bus and coach group Rapsons, in a deal that adds over 200 vehicles to the group’s Scottish operations. The Perth-based group had issued a statement earlier this month that confirmed that it was negotiating with Rapsons to acquire its bus and coach business (Transit May 9). Stagecoach has purchased Rapson’s Highland Country Buses and Orkney Coaches businesses which includes depots in Inverness, Aviemore, Fort William, P

After a number of years calling London’s Park Lane Hilton its home, the annual UK?Bus Awards moved this year to the spectacular environs of the Old Billingsgate Fish Market in the heart if the City of London. The move reflects the increasing interest from the industry in this prestigious event that is now in its twelfth year. At the awards ceremony, attended by over 800 people, Stagecoach?West Scotland missed out on taking the top award for best operator for the third consecutive year r

The long awaited Crossrail scheme took a major step forward this week after private sector beneficiaries agreed to contribute more than £1bn towards the £16bn east-west London rail link. The City of London Corporation, Canary Wharf and BAA are each understood to be willing to donate hundreds of millions of pounds to finally get the scheme off the drawing board. However, the exact nature of their contributions still remains unclear. Recent progress follows pressure from prime mini

A LEEDS MP has called on the government to simplify the way in which local authorities can introduce greater regulation of the bus industry and branded the deregulation of bus services 21 years ago as a “disaster for many communities the length and breadth of this country”. Paul Truswell, MP for Pudsey, made his comments during a debate he had secured into transport problems in his constituency. He said that since deregulation in 1986, the quality of bus services had significantly

Bus driver Bill Madge has seen many changes in the 17 years since he started the job. One of the most significant is the decline in the numbers of youngsters using the buses. “Ten years ago we were inundated with children and teenagers travelling by bus, especially during the summer holidays, but now you see them less and less,” says Madge, who drives for Stagecoach in South Wales. “Even during term-time there are fewer children travelling to and from school by bus than ther

Hitachi Europe this week unveiled its new Ashford Train Depot maintenance facility, where Southeastern’s new fleet of high speed Class 395 Javelin units, built by the Japanese manufacturer, will be maintained. The ceremony, attended by transport secretary Ruth Kelly, also saw the first of the units unveiled, which will be joined by a further three trains in the coming months for an extensive test programme. “I’m truly impressed to see this first train in the fleet that will

Passenger Focus has been deeply engaged for two years in the fares debate called for by Transit (September 21). These discussions are even more important as, under current government plans, passengers are going to be shouldering more of the burden of the industry’s investment. Fares and ticketing, alongside getting a seat, remain Passenger Focus’ main work priorities. Our work kicked off with a major conference, Un-fare? The future of fares and ticketing in Great Britain, held las

The long awaited Crossrail scheme took a major step forward this week after private sector beneficiaries agreed to contribute more than £1bn towards the £16bn east-west London rail link. The City of London Corporation, Canary Wharf and BAA are each understood to be willing to donate hundreds of millions of pounds to finally get the scheme off the drawing board. However, the exact nature of their contributions still remains unclear. Recent progress follows pressure from prime mi

Scottish Transport minister Stewart Stevenson has set out a vision to double train services between Edinburgh and Glasgow. In 10 years he said there would be up to 13 trains per hour running between the cities compared to six now, and the fastest journey would take 35 minutes compared to 50 today. The improvements would be achieved through providing an electrified network between Edinburgh and Glasgow and to several areas beyond the cities including Alloa, Dunblane and Cumbernauld, plus th

Council-owned bus operator Cardiff Bus  has launched its new fleet of 15 Scania Omnicity buses, six of which will be used on its newly branded Capital City Green route linking the city centre with Thornhill via Llanishen. The remainder of the vehicles from the £2.5 million order will be used on three city routes, and all feature an enhanced internal specification based on that devised for its bendy bus fleet launched 18 months ago. Features include full air conditioning, a passenge

Stagecoach west Scotland could be named the UK’s bus operator of the year for a stunning third year in a row at the 2007 UK Bus Awards in November. The nominees for the 2007 awards were announced this week at the Transit-sponsored UK Bus Awards seminar in Birmingham. Stagecoach West Scotland is nominated for the Shire Operator of the Year. The winner of this prize will battle it out with the winners of the Titan Outdoor City Bus Operator of the Year and Scania Independent Operator of

VOSA HAS quashed industry rumours that indicated it was softening its line on the application of the controversial EU ‘50km rule’ on bus drivers’ hours. The news comes as the Association of Transport Co-ordinating Officers has announced that it would favour changes to the rules. The imposition of the new rules earlier this year was met by a strong response from a number of smaller independent rural bus operators, as well as their colleagues in the ‘Big Five’ list

One thing that really gets my goat is the exorbitant charges that some conference organisers charge for attendance, not least when local authorities are given a discount but operators large and small are treated alike and charged more. Something else that annoys me is the constant stream of mindless junkmail that comes in via the fax - why should I pay for the paper on which to print their unwanted messages? So imagine my outburst when my paper was used to print an invitation to attend a one

THE CONTENTIOUS issue of the European Union’s recently introduced “50km rule” was back in the spotlight last week with the being debated in the House of Lords and also making an appearance on the BBC’s Politics Show. At Westminster, Liberal Democrat transport spokesman Lord Bradshaw raised the issue during a debate on the Community Drivers’ Hours and Recording Equipment Regulations 2007, where he tabled an amendment to scrap approval for the regulations in view o

Living in the country we are rather inclined to take comfort from things that don’t change rather than things that do. So to learn that the government has confirmed that 2,500 more post offices are to close, many of them in the countryside, upsets us deeply. And the other big news of the week is that Gordon Brown will definitely be the next prime minister. Neither came as a surprise. Our post office opens for two hours, Thursdays, so is a prime candidate for closure. The last train lef

The decision by Veolia Transport to bid for bus contracts in rural Powys may have resulted in local operators cutting their tender prices, one of the county’s leaders has suggested. Last month local independent operators staged a protest outside county hall against the awarding of many contracts to the French group, formerly known as Connex. Almost half of the public service contracts available did not go to local operators, while local companies took more than 90% of the schools tender

A surprising push by Veolia Transport into the bus market of rural Mid Wales has triggered a protest by some of thefamily-owned operators likely to lose contracts. Powys County Council chief executive Mark Kerr, previously a Royal Navy rear admiral, stood in the road to stop one of more than 20 buses which were driven to county hall by managers and staff angry about job losses. Just over 9% of Powys’ contracts are expected to go to Veolia, which appears to have significantly under

The government has highlighted a switch to lighter rail vehicles such as European tram-trains as an initiative with potential to cut the costs of running branch lines. In his foreword to the government’s first review of the Community Rail Strategy, rail minister Tom Harris singled out “use of lighter rail technology introduced successfully elsewhere in Europe” as “a promising option”. As well as reducing wear on the infrastructure, the review says lighter veh

It’s not often that a train company managing director is allowed to make plea to a government minister for extra investment while basking in glory in front of an audience of 800 fellow rail professionals. It happened more than once in one night for Vernon Barker, managing director of First TransPennine Express at the HSBC Rail-sponsored 2006 Rail Business Awards in London last week. It was TransPennine’s night, however, as the north of England intercity operator walked away with t

first Transpennine Express gave away 10,000 free train tickets this week in a bid to get travellers to try out its improved service. Passengers have snapped up 10,000 free return rail tickets over the internet in just 24 hours in the biggest free ticket offer of its kind. Launched on February 5 to mark the completion of the introduction into service of a new fleet of 100 mph Siemens Class 185 trains, the ticket offer came just one week after the latest National Passenger Survey showed a bi

David Rabey (pictured centre) has retired as joint managing director of Cornish bus, coach and taxi operator, Truronian, after 38 years in the UK bus and coach industry.  Rabey has shared the helm with Geoff Rumbles since the company started in 1987. Rumbles has now become sole managing director. They both previously worked together at Western?National.

CONTROVERSIAL?GREATER Manchester bus operator UK?North and associated firm GM?Buses have had their combined 74-vehicle fleet forced off the road by north west traffic commissioner Beverly Bell. It follows a series of safety related incidents and questions over the training of their foreign driving staff and Bell  said she was suspending their licences to “ensure road safety during the festive period”. It is UK?North’s latest incursion with both the traffic commissioner&

The Welsh Assembly Government has announced a possible trial extension of free bus travel to rural railways, but the idea immediately ran into opposition from an independent bus operator. After the introduction of the Cerdyn Cymru free bus pass for pensioners and disabled people in Wales in 2002, the Welsh Labour Party’s manifesto in 2003 proposed to investigate extending validity to some rural railways. But the proposal has taken so long to reach a possible trial on the Conwy Valley li

I visited Euro Bus Expo 2006 on Tuesday, and was one of the 3,500 visitors to the Birmingham NEC to arrive that morning. Was I impressed? Well, sort of. Full marks go to the organisers for their attempt to build it into a truly international show. But whilst it attracted a good number of visitors, I could not help  but notice the extent to which exhibitors seemed not to be doing business. And, as the chairman of one of the UK’s major bus manufacturers said to me, we need some quick cl

A moving tribute to the late Chris Moyes, the former Go Ahead chief executive who passed away in September, opened proceedings at this year’s UK Bus Awards ceremony at London’s Park Lane Hilton. More than 600 guests heard how Moyes had been a passionate supporter of the awards, indeed three years ago during his presidency of the Confederation of Passenger Transport, he had urged those present at that year’s ceremony to “go and see what works elsewhere and then do it you

Chester City Council and its ChesterBus subsidiary have begun proceedings in the High Court against Arriva over its plans to launch a new bus network in the city. Arriva announced last month that it would launch new services mirroring ChesterBus’s entire commercial network on January 7, 2007. The plan has cast a shadow over the council’s plan to sell its 78-vehicle ChesterBus business. The proceedings are seeking an order requiring Arriva to deregister these new services. A sta

A feature that NedRailways chief executive Anton Valk says distinguishes his company from other train operators is the programme to exchange best practice between NS and the his UK rail franchises “Rail is a nationally-orientated industry and the opportunity for transferring best practice between countries has not really existed,” he says.  “A lot of people talk about it but not many have a structure around it. We have written down what we want to do and how we want

When Transport for London announced the shortlisted bidders for its new London Rail concession it was a surprise to find that NedRailways was bidding without its long-term partner, Serco. NedRailways will compete alone against FirstGroup, Govia and a joint venture between Laing and Hong Kong’s MTR for the contract, which will eventually combine Silverlink Metro services with the extended East London Line. The joint venture between the international arm of Dutch national train operator,

When UK North upped the ante on Stagecoach’s prime 192 route between Manchester and Stockport earlier this year, the city’s newspapers were full of images of empty or half-empty buses snaking through the city centre. But now that the aggression has spilled out onto the 85/86 routes to Chorlton as well, there are even more people up in arms - because this time, the queues of buses are getting in the way of the Metrolink trams too. From September 4, the 85/86 corridor, which already

The centre of Manchester came to a standstill over the past fortnight after UK?North began competing with Stagecoach on another core route, the 85/86 to Chorlton. The extra 12 buses an hour trying to access the already congested Piccadilly Gardens bus station caused tailbacks and delays of up to an hour for users of the Manchester Metrolink system. After an approach by the city council and GMPTE, north western area traffic commissioner Beverley Bell introduced a Traffic Regulation Condition f

ARRIVA IS to launch new services mirroring the entire commercial network currently run by ailing municipal operator ChesterBus from the new year. The controversial plan comes as Chester City Council has invited expressions of interest in buying the loss-making 78-vehicle business from the main players in the UK bus industry. Arriva North West and Wales managing director Bob Hind told Transit this week that registrations are to be submitted for an 18-bus network of routes that will exactly

Planning, design and management consultancy Halcrow has been appointed by Swindon Borough Council to lead the specification and implementation of a real-time information system for buses in Swindon. The work is being undertaken as part of a partnering contract between Halcrow and the council. The scheme will use satellite tracking technology to provide information on the arrival of buses at key bus stops and on a website. It will also provide bus priority at major traffic signal junctions in

Nottingham City Transport has become the latest operator to trial two-plus-one seating on its latest new bus deliveries to offer passengers increased personal space. The nine new Scania Omnidekka buses being placed in service on one of the local authority-owned company’s ‘Go2’ high frequency services, have two-plus-one seating with extra-wide double seats and a wider gangway for buggies and standing passengers. The 12 metre-long vehicle still seat 90, four less than identica

Brighton &?Hove’s successful ‘I’m on the bus’ campaign, featuring endorsements of the benefits of bus travel by real life bus passengers has been copied in another seaside town, by Blackpool Transport. Using outsize images and slogans as to why they travel by bus, five double deck buses operating on Blackpool Transport’s Metro Coastlines line 11 are now seeking to tempt more motorists out of their cars. The company claims that, as well as a leaflet drop to 7

THE?BUS?industry came in for a grilling from the House of Commons transport committee last week, with representatives from the five listed transport groups defending their profitability as their operating practices outside London came under the microscope. The hearing began with committee chair Gwyneth Dunwoody asking witnesses from the ‘Big Five’, plus University of Southampton transport manager John Waugh, what they thought was a sufficient level of profitability. All agreed th

KEITH ANDREWS, managing director of First’s Eastern Counties bus business, has claimed that an error led to the company doubling the frequency on one of its routes in King’s Lynn with unregistered journeys. The route faces competition from local independent Norfolk Green. This week, First doubled the 42 town route between 8.30am and 10am to run every 7/8 minutes. However, local sources claim that unregistered extra buses have regularly run to coincide with the 8.30am start time