Group to pay £11.17m to acquire First’s Queen’s Road depot After weeks of intense speculation about the future of FirstGroup’s Manchester bus operation, it was confirmed this week that Go-Ahead has agreed terms to acquire First Manchester’s Queen’s Road depot in Cheetham Hill. The sale will take Go-Ahead into Greater Manchester, Britain’s second-largest...
Who are the rising stars in UK public transport? Passenger Transport has teamed up with Flash Forward Consulting, the executive search, selection and interim management specialists, to identify 40 dynamic passenger transport professionals under the age of 40 Alex Warner writes – It’s been a great privilege to present this feature and showcase...
Loss-making operation expected to be broken up and sold to three buyers as poll finds three-quarters are in favour of re-regulating the region’s buses The Manchester business has been part of First for 22 years FirstGroup is understood to be close to completing the sale of its loss-making bus operations in Greater Manchester....
Light rail networks have returned to some of our cities, and the prospects for expansion are good. It’s something to celebrate The Manchester Metrolink system provides an exemplary case study in how to grow a network incrementally and sustainably Anyone walking through Sale on the morning of December 4 may well have caught...
New chief executive aims to return reliable operation to the heart of Network Rail strategy and raise the status of the railway as a profession Andrew Haines Network Rail’s new chief executive, Andrew Haines, has set out an agenda to position operating the railway reliably as his company’s core activity, replacing lost operating skills...
Together with Passenger Transport and a panel of judges, I have compiled a list of 40 dynamic passenger transport professionals under the age of 40 In the next issue of this quite remarkable magazine, Flash Forward Consulting (of which I am the founder and owner, I’ll have you know) is co-producing an exciting...
Greater Manchester’s Onebus consortium of bus operators has offered a blueprint for improving bus services – without the need for re-regulation The blueprint pledges 450 new buses for Greater Manchester Greater Manchester’s bus operators this week launched a £100m partnership blueprint to revolutionise the bus network and deliver on the region’s ambitions. Andy Burnham,...
No one really talks openly and honestly about women and their role within the bus industry, and it’s about time that we did We need more men and women in the bus industry speaking openly about the gender diversity challenges Women and buses is a subject that the industry believes it is tackling....
Will where future Britons live rely on, or ignore, public transport? We should study examples of transit oriented development IJburg is reverential to its big skies and calm waters Tens of thousands of homes lying empty whilst people sleep on the streets, not enough homes of the right type in the right places,...
The rail industry is not making sufficient effort to clearly explain to customers how an engineering closure has improved the service Engineering closures are often essential but they are inconvient for train users Part of the UK’s Christmas and New Year traditions is the annual closure of the national rail network on Christmas...
UK Bus Summit Review 2019, a publication devoted to the UK’s main mode of public transport. This publication has been produced by Passenger Transport, in association with Transport Times Events, to co-incide with the fourth annual UK Bus Summit. This event will be held in London at the QEII Conference Centre, Westminster, on February 6, 2019,...
Ahead of next month’s UK Bus Summit in London, senior bus industry figures have argued that a sustained decline in bus use across Great Britain is not inevitable. But the industry needs a long-term investment strategy and help with congestion The decline in bus use across the United Kingdom can be halted if the...
Trams are back, and a good thing too