Labour – ‘No more tinkering on the edges’
With a general election drawing closer, shadow transport minister Simon Lightwood addressed bus and coach operators in London last week Simon Lightwood at last week’s CPT Conference An incoming Labour government would use simplified and extended franchising powers to grow public transport, and provide the sector with greater certainty. That was the message...
Bus Partnership Fund pause disappoints CPT
Scottish Government pledged £500m – but has spent only £26.9m As recently as last October, Scotland’s minister for transport, Fiona Hyslop, told Passenger Transport that the Bus Partnership Fund was “a key area of investment” Formally launched in November 2020, Scotland’s Bus Partnership Fund was hailed as a “landmark long-term capital investment of...
Stagecoach pledges new ways of working
Claire Miles has indicated a new approach to bus franchising and wants to turn the page on ‘cultural and political baggage’ of Souter years Claire Miles is keen to cast aside Stagecoach’s “cultural and political baggage” The recently appointed chief executive of Stagecoach has expressed regret over the group’s confrontational approach to bus...
First plans Sheffield open access service
New service aims to woo motorists to rail with faster journeys FirstGroup said the venture would form part of its Hull Trains open access business FirstGroup has revealed it has submitted an application to launch a new, faster open access rail service between London and Sheffield via the East Coast Main Line. It...
Christmas cheer for public transport!
London’s buoyant retail and hospitality sectors has spurred public transport recovery in the capital. Outside of London, bus groups reveal ‘very encouraging’ year-on-year passenger growth of 5-10% Bus use is up by 8% in London The festive period has brought encouraging signs of continued recovery in public transport passenger volumes. Transport for London...
Grand Union applies to run non-London trains
Open access operator plans Edinburgh-Cardiff service GUT’s Cardiff to Edinburgh services could use Class 222s Grand Union Trains is seeking access rights to run the first open access passenger services which would exclude London. It says its proposed services between Cardiff and Edinburgh via Birmingham would provide a much-needed uplift in capacity and...
UK cities need million more bus and rail users
Britain’s big cities should significantly increase public transport commuters to catch up with European counterparts, says Centre for Cities think tank The UK’s big cities outside of London are outliers and would need nearly one million (963,000) additional workers taking public transport to work to bridge the gap with other cities overseas The...
Go South Coast wins best operator award
Rail Reform Bill, aimed at legislating rail reforms, was included in last week’s King’s Speech but concerns linger about the pace of the process Winners celebate on stage at last week’s UK Bus Awards in London Go South Coast was named UK Bus Operator of the Year at this week’s UK Bus Awards...
Rail industry baffled by sluggish reform plans
Rail Reform Bill, aimed at legislating rail reforms, was included in last week’s King’s Speech but concerns linger about the pace of the process The recent King’s Speech has drawn attention to industry frustration with the sluggish implementation of rail reform and the implementation of the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail. While the Rail...
‘Frustrated’ Shoveller sought new challenge
Tim Shoveller tells Calling All Stations podcast about the reasons behind his departure from Network Rail last summer to take charge at Freightliner Tim Shoveller left Network Rail to become CEO of freight operator Freightliner in July The railway must unify behind aligned goals and empower its local management. That is the message...
Australian-built electric bus heading to UK
‘It’s a dream for me,’ says company boss Scott Dunn A demonstrator vehicle is already en route to the UK, and is due to arrive in mid-January Australian bus builder Custom Denning is targeting the UK market, and a demonstration electric bus is currently being shipped to the UK. Custom Denning, one of...
ADL goes it alone with new electric bus range
After several years working with Chinese manufacturer BYD, Alexander Dennis has launched two new electric buses engineered fully in-house ADL said the two new products feature a ‘stunning new design language that emphasises their zero-emission credentials’ BY Andrew Garnett Alexander Dennis (ADL) has worked closely with Chinese battery and electric vehicle giant BYD...
