Welcome to the ALBUM Report 2019, a publication from Passenger Transport devoted to Britain’s independent and municipal bus companies. Returning for a fifth consecutive year, this year’s report also incorporates the official Conference Workbook for the 2019 ALBUM Conference, hosted by Cardiff Bus at Cardiff City Hall on May 7-9. We hope you find it...
Rail Delivery Group chief Paul Plummer said the proposals to the Williams rail review are intended as ‘building blocks’ for fundamental reform RDG chief executive Paul Plummer The Rail Delivery Group has set out proposals for a new rail industry structure which would remove central government from day to day decision making, integrate...
Our politicial leaders are under pressure to take action on climate change – and the public transport sector could also do much more Greta Thunberg’s recent travels around Europe have been by train They say that fact is stranger than fiction. Who would have dared write a story in which leading politicians of...
Transport Focus research about young people and their experience of using buses reveals their frustration at ‘outdated and antiquated’ experience ‘Why can Domino’s or whoever it is do all of that?’ Young people want the bus user experience to be as easy as ordering pizza or booking cinema tickets on their phones. Focus group...
Perth-based group is reported to be interested in buying bus business from its DB-owned rival – but industry experts say there are too many hurdles Germany’s Deutsche Bahn is looking to offload Arriva Stagecoach is reported to be considering a bid for all or part of rival group Arriva. However, industry analysts say...
RDG urges DfT to act as a guarantor to pension scheme Paul Plummer The Rail Delivery Group has told the Department for Transport that a national rail strike and rail franchising chaos are likely unless the government agrees to act as a guarantor to the railway pension scheme. In a letter to transport...
Do we fully understand how people respond to the experience of bus travel at a gut level? And how can we influence their emotions? There are so many points in a bus journey where you can feel stressed and vulnerable Most of the discourse on buses treats people as if they know...
The smartphone experience is raising our expectations for comprehensive, yet targeted, regular information – and it’s influencing how we use transport These issues will only intensify with the pending arrival of autonomous shuttles Mobile phone penetration is currently at over 85% in the UK. Over 40% of UK adults look at their...
Following Deutsche Bahn’s decision to put Arriva up for sale, peers of the group’s former chief executive believe he could re-emerge on the scene David Martin, a former chief executive of Arriva Arriva’s former chief executive David Martin has been tipped to play a prominent part in a bid for the company he...
Grand Union would run non-stop service to Bristol Parkway Open access entrepreneur Ian Yeowart is planning a new London-Cardiff service that would provide the first competition to Great Western Railway since privatisation 25 years ago. A notification to the Office of Rail and Road shows that Yeowart’s new open access company, Grand Union,...
After years of sunshine a chill wind developed in the air and it has begun raining down on the mayor and Transport for London Caroline Pidgeon’s solution is radical but in my view makes a lot of sense Once upon a time, not very long ago, everything in the garden looked rosy....
They’re a vital cog in the UK’s public transport machine, and yet bus schedulers are rarely afforded the recognition they deserve By Tom Quay: Timetables are utilitarian. They serve a purpose. They provide structure and process to the bus networks they chart and confidence to the customers who use them. And yet, despite...
We need to wake up to climate change