FirstGroup’s 2016/17 financial results show that the operating profit margin for the UK bus business has dropped to just 3%, after restructuring costs Uphill struggle: First’s flagging profits threaten investment in the fleet. Pictured are two recent additions to the fleet at the Millbrook test track FirstGroup’s UK bus division has reported a...
A trial of the revolutionary ‘Mobility as a Service’ concept will begin in the West Midlands in a few weeks, with the region seeking to become a leader By Robert Jack Mobility as a Service, MaaS, is heralded as a concept that will propel transport into a new era – and later this...
Assertive campaign highlights car’s disadvantages Ad portrays rail as stress-free alternative to driving Virgin Trains has launched a high profile marketing campaign designed around a new, more assertive approach to promoting the benefits of choosing rail over car travel. The stated aim is to “disrupt” the market in favour of public transport. It...
Theresa May’s gamble has backfired spectacularly, but what are the implications of the 2017 general election for public transport? Remember the name Victoria Borwick. The final result of the election may well be one of the most significant. The Tories’ least business-friendly campaign in living memory has backfired catastrophically. The UKIP vote, it...
Increased threat level saw specially trained firearms officers patrol on board trains nationwide for the first time in effort to reassure the public Manchester Victoria station has now reopened The UK’s passenger transport sector is on a heightened state of alert following last month’s terror attack in Manchester. The bomb that detonated in...
Last month’s UITP gathering in Montréal considered bewildering change, and convergence on transit’s role in making better places Montréal is a city not afraid to be imaginative in the way it does public transport A vast trade fair in both ideas and equipment, UITP’s bi-annual global public transport get-together in Montréal last month...
The first two of 19 Alexander Dennis Enviro500 buses will soon enter service with Swiss operator PostBus in the east of the country. They are the first British-built vehicles to enter service with PostBus and the first UK double deckers in Switzerland. With a total passenger capacity of 133 (80 of them seated) the...
Season ticket market share drops below 40% for first time Overall, patronage increased 0.8% during the year Patronage growth on Britain’s railways in 2016/17 fell to its lowest level since the recession seven years ago, figures released by the Office of Rail and Road show. Overall, patronage increased 0.8% during the year. On...
This month’s election of six new ‘metro mayor’s in England has been hailed as ‘a new era for politics’, with massive implications for urban transport England has elected its first six ‘metro mayors’, with all promising far-reaching change to transport. West Midlands mayor Andy Street, previously MD of John Lewis, and Greater Manchester’s...
The biggest event in public transport returned this week, in Montréal, and discussion centred on rapid evolution in the sphere of urban mobility The opening ceremony of UITP’s Global Public Transport Summit in Montréal The global public transport community gathered in Montréal this week for UITP’s Global Public Transport Summit. And the secretary...
The journey planning app unleashed three Mercedes-Benz minibuses onto the streets of London last week for a two-day “pop-up” bus service trial Three new Mercedes-Benz minibuses bristling with the latest software were used for the “pop-up” trial By Andrew Garnett It was at the ALBUM Conference in 2015 were Stagecoach chairman Sir Brian...
A visit to last week’s ALBUM Conference in Blackpool left me pondering the lack of diversity among the senior ranks of the bus industry, and what should be done about it More fool Blackpool Transport boss, Jane Cole for inviting me to present at the ALBUM Conference in Blackpool last week. I had a...
What’s the outcome for public transport?