DfT lined up to lose rail franchising and projects
In-depth review of Department for Transport’s Rail Group finds severe weaknesses and supports creation of arms-length Rail Delivery Authority Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin has announced a restructuring of the Department for Transport’s Rail Group designed to pave the way for the creation of a new arms-length Rail Delivery Authority (RDA) staffed by rail professionals rather...
First concedes defeat at Stagecoach incursion
First Scotland East has announced that it is to scrap services between Queensferry and Edinburgh after Stagecoach launches competing route First Scotland East has surrendered a key West Lothian bus route just days before Stagecoach East Scotland launched its own competing services on the Queensferry to Edinburgh city centre corridor. The Stagecoach subsidiary...
Storm damage to rail network hits £100m
As severe weather disrupts railways, transport secretary calls meeting with bus and coach operators to assess response to ‘unprecedented’ situation The passenger transport sector is grappling with the effects of severe weather across the country. Network Rail estimates that storm damage has caused £100m of damage to the national rail network in the past...
‘New Bus for Leeds’ is alternative to NGT
FirstGroup has proposed a vehicle concept based on the New Routemaster as an alternative to “outdated 100-year-old” trolleybus technology FirstGroup has revealed a radical alternative to controversial plans for the introduction of trolleybuses in Leeds. Its own scheme would see 200 vehicles, modelled on London’s New Routemaster, deployed on routes across the city. In...
Heathrow Express plans Reading service
New rail service is in response to Crossrail competition threat Heathrow Express is to lobby the Department for Transport to operate on the proposed Western Rail Access link from the Great Western Main Line to Heathrow in competition with the next Great Western franchise or as the DfT’s preferred operator. The move will form...
Tube showdown over TfL’s technology push
London mayor Boris Johnson says world has changed since he pledged to keep London Underground ticket offices open – but unions stage walkout Tube services in London were severely disrupted this week by the first of two 48-hour stoppages by the RMT and TSSA unions. The industrial action is over plans to close all London...
First’s new chairman to review operations
Investors are expecting FirstGroup’s new chairman, John McFarlane, to have a material impact on strategic direction over the coming months FirstGroup’s new chairman John McFarlane is expected to undertake a wide ranging review of the company’s operations to establish whether aspects of its businesses should be pared back and how improved financial performance can be...
FirstGroup’s green shoots of recovery?
UK Bus passenger patronage up over 2% in final quarter of 2013 £70m order for 425 new buses announced But chief executive Tim O’Toole remains under pressure New trading figures released by FirstGroup last week suggest that its UK bus division has turned a corner after years of decline. Giles Fearnley, managing director of the...
UK’s first air-rail through tickets launched
FGW and Singapore Airlines in UK-first scheme First Great Western has launched the UK’s first rail-air through ticketing scheme with Heathrow Express and Singapore Airlines. It enables passengers from 11 destinations on the FGW network, including Bath, Bristol, Oxford and Cardiff, to arrange international flights and rail travel to and from Heathrow under a single...
‘Permanent fares freeze is affordable aspiration’
New report published by Campaign for Better Transport says extension of the real terms fares freeze would have ‘minimal’ impact on railway finances With train operators and the Department for Transport again under fire following the annual January fares increases, new research has shown the government could make a permanent cut in fare rises without...
Arriva plans East Coast competition shake-up
Group wants to return GNER brand to the East Coast Main Line and use fleet of Pendolinos to run faster London-Newcastle-Edinburgh services Arriva has announced plans to shake-up competition on the East Coast Main Line with a new high speed service linking London, Newcastle and Edinburgh. The Deutsche Bahn-owned group is making the bid through...
First Glasgow’s very own Santa launches campaign
First Glasgow last week launched its biggest ever marketing campaign. The bus company is to distribute ‘Christmas vouchers’ to 420,000 households in the city – with each leaflet containing travel discount vouchers worth £2.5m. The £2.5m giveaway is part of First’s Christmas marketing campaign: ‘Great reasons to use First this festive season!’. And customers making...
