Martin Dean, managing director, business development at Go-Ahead Group, wants private sector expertise to retain a place in railway operation There are differing views over how much credit the commercial train operating companies can take for patronage growth The Go-Ahead Group is urging the government to ensure that the skills of the private...
Our Whitehall insider imagines what’s going on inside the minds of the mandarins at Great Minster House, home of the DfT I know we are entering the festive season, which is meant to be a time of good cheer, but I fear I have to end the year on a cautionary, if not...
Two groups agree all-share merger, creating worldwide transport group worth £1.9bn Deal creates worldwide group with 40,000 vehicles and 70,000 employees The Boards of National Express Group and Stagecoach have announced they have reached agreement on the terms of a recommended all-share combination of the two groups. The two groups have been in...
The government’s spending review offered £2.1bn to improve bus services in England but Bus Service Improvement Plans have requested £7.2bn Graham Vidlier: “Current funding is likely to be able to transform bus services in only a small number of places” The funds made available by the government to transform bus services fall drastically...
Welsh deputy minister for climate change seeks ‘alternative axis’ Lee Waters, deputy minister for climate change in Wales Transport policy in England is increasingly at odds with the other nations of the UK, and even with its own regions, according to Lee Waters, deputy minister for climate change in Wales. Waters explained his...
Lee Waters, the deputy minister for climate change in Wales, is supporting bold changes rather than ‘responsible’ inertia Lee Waters became deputy minister for climate change in Wales last May Small countries can do big things on transport – look at the public transport paradise of Switzerland. And when Rhodri Morgan was...
It’s vital that those of us who work in public transport don’t think that what occurred in cricket isn’t happening in our own backyard Yorkshire County Cricket Club is facing the biggest crisis in its history now that the allegations made by former player Azeem Rafiq have reached the public domain. Officialdom...
Partners embark on an AI-driven bus strategy to optimise public transport services in Wales using data and machine learning. Left to right: Marina Donohoe, Director UK and Northern Europe at Enterprise Ireland, Transport for Wales CEO James Price, First Minister of Wales Mark Drakeford, Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin and CitySwift COO Alan Farrelly ...
In a move branded ‘inconsistent with the government’s devolution agenda’, Transport for the North will no longer be paid to develop East-West links Ministers have removed funding and powers from Transport for the North after it dismissed the government’s Integrated Rail Plan for the North and the Midlands as “woefully inadequate”. TfN was...
Following a series of strikes, the Welsh Government says bus franchising will safeguard workers’ pay and conditions. Rhodri Clark reports Ebbw Vale’s deserted bus station during this month’s strike by some Stagecoach employees The Welsh Government says that future bus franchises will safeguard workers’ conditions and ensure staff are well paid. Legislation to...
With our industry transitioning back to a more centralised set-up, George Muir’s book on Sir Robert Reid is essential reading Sir Robert Reid ‘There’s just not the characters left in the game anymore’ is a phrase oft-used to describe a less interesting sporting landscape and it’s a comment that could be levied...
Unveiled last week, ‘the biggest ever public investment in Britain’s rail network’ was almost universally slated. So what went wrong? Boris Johnson toured the North of England to coincide with the announcement of the Integrated Rail Plan The most striking element of last week’s Integrated Rail Plan was the reception it received....
Waters isn’t willing to go with the flow