Metroline wins £422m Bee Network growth
London subsidiary of Singapore-based ComfortDelGro has won four Tranche 3 bus franchises in Greater Manchester, boosting its size by 30% Metroline’s contracts are worth £422m and comprise a total of 232 services, 420 buses and over 1,350 employees Metroline has been revealed as the big winner in the third and final round of...
Rail re-nationalisation is ‘tragedy’ – Whitehorn
Former Virgin executive Will Whitehorn tells Lunch with Leon podcast why he believes that Britain’s railway is ‘back in a mode of managed decline’ Whitehorn says there is no doubt that Virgin’s tenure of the West Coast route was a success Will Whitehorn, a close colleague of Sir Richard Branson throughout the nineties and much...
Pigs don’t fly but taxis are taking off
There’s nothing new about the concept of avoiding traffic by travelling overhead, but flying taxis could take this to another level What impact will air taxis have? Congestion: here is an issue to unite everyone from the extreme petrol heads through to the greenest environmentalist. Nobody benefits from this, not the motorists...
Survey shines light on customer views
The Your Bus Journey survey of bus users by Transport Focus provides insights and a league table we should all care about Levels of bus users satisfaction were high in East Yorkshire Who was surprised by the Transport Focus ‘Your Bus Journey’ scores? I certainly wasn’t and felt faintly reassured by the results...
Revolutionising suburban transport
The Grand Paris Express is potentially the most important and transformational urban mobility project underway in Europe The Grand Paris Express transport project I was in Paris, France for the Autonomy Mobility World Expo conference late last month. As an addition to the conference I was able to book a guided visit...
Government u-turn on bus lane restrictions
The National Bus Strategy says bus lanes ‘should be full time’ but new guidance from DfT says they should ‘only operate when it makes sense’ The National Bus Strategy for England declared ‘bus lanes should be full-time’ In the week that marked the third anniversary of the publication of Bus Back Better, its...
SPT says franchising is the only game in town
A new report by the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport has concluded that bus franchising is the only option to stem long-term network decline BY Andrew Garnett Strathclyde could become the first region in Scotland to franchise its bus network after Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) members approved plans for a consultation about the...
Poetry in motion – the Paris Metro
Andrew Martin’s new book on the Paris Metro led me to reflect on the fascinating confluences and divergences with London I used to take the view that Paris was an ugly city (quasi motorways alongside the Seine, the dreary Haussmann boulevards, the Eiffel Tower) but with a lot of beautiful details. As...
Why Andy Mellors is my low key hero
I am not saying that problems don’t exist, but my experiences of Avanti West Coast have been good – and it’s going to get better Andy Mellors Recently, I’ve heard a lot of folk suggest that the railway is in the worst shape ever. Even those who haven’t been on a train for...
What is the strategy for transport?
A pragmatic consensus on transport policy has been shattered by the return of ‘war on the motorist’ rhetoric. We must do better Our current PM has boxed his government into being the motorist’s friend I have been on a sabbatical for a few years and have been catching up on transport policy...
Go-Ahead sets stage for equality
Go-Ahead Women campaign aims to recruit 1,500 new women bus drivers, with 50% goal by 2035 The Go-Ahead Women campaign was launched this week The Go-Ahead Group has launched a campaign this month aimed at revolutionising the traditionally male-dominated landscape of the transport sector. Under the banner of ‘Go-Ahead Women’, the company is...
The albatross and the elephant