‘Boris in Wonderland’ plan will ‘end in tears’
Bus entrepreneur Julian Peddle offered his own bleak and controversial assessment of the National Bus Strategy for England at a meeting last week Prime minister Boris Johnson at the launch of Bus Back Better in March The National Bus Strategy for England is flawed and “will all end in tears”, bus entrepreneur Julian...
NX and CitySwift start three-year partnership
Andy Foster explains how CitySwift’s products suite will help National Express West Midlands optimise its network through the Covid recovery NXWM first tested CitySwift’s platform back in November 2019 National Express West Midlands and data specialist CitySwift have announced a three-year technology partnership to optimise bus routes. Covid recovery presents a daunting and...
Beginning the Bus Revolution
Welcome to Beginning the Bus Revolution: Building on the National Bus Strategy for England. “I love buses, and I have never quite understood why so few governments before mine have felt the same way,” wrote prime minister Boris Johnson in the foreword to the government’s National Bus Strategy for England, Bus Back Better....
Leisure drives public transport bounce-back
With many Covid restrictions still in place, there are encouraging signs of bus and rail patronage recovering – especially among leisure travellers Scarborough’s Beachcomber buses Recent statistics confirm that leisure travel is driving a post-pandemic resurgence on public transport, with the last Sunday in May seeing buses outside London carry 80% of the...
‘Time is running out’ – Vere urges action
Transport minister Baroness Vere offered new insights into her thinking on buses at an online meeting of the Young Bus Managers Network last week Baroness Vere With a few notable exceptions we’ve seen some pretty unenthusiastic buses ministers over the years. Baroness Vere is not one of them. It has now been more...
I tried to stop a rail privatisation
Our high profile campaign failed to prevent rail privatisation. In the end it collapsed under the weight of its own contradictions I was the coordinator of the ‘Save our Railways’ campaign Since the Williams-Shapps rail plan was published it seems like everybody has been telling their story of rail privatisation. So I’m...
Will we really let GBR ‘get on with it’?
Our Whitehall insider imagines what’s going on inside the minds of the mandarins at Great Minster House, home of the DfT When I listened to the Transport Select Committee take evidence on our Rail White Paper the other week, I was hoping to hear some information on how, exactly, the reforms proposed...
The rail review to end all rail reviews?
Keith Williams (and transport secretary Grant Shapps published their long awaited rail White Paper last week – but will it stand the test of time? Keith Williams (left) and Grant Shapps It was more than two and a half years ago that former British Airways CEO Keith Williams was signed up to chair...
‘Too early to commit to long term bus funding’
The government has committed to spend an additional £3bn on buses over three years – Baroness Vere says it’s too early to say what happens after that Baroness Vere The government is not ready to commit to additional funding for local bus services in England beyond its existing commitment to invest £3bn over...
Great destination – but can we get there?
There is much to like about the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail – but this document also contains a number of contradictions Back to the future: Transport secretary Grant Schapps launched Plan for Rail at the National Rail Museum in York It was not quite an out-of-body experience when I found myself dreamily...
Will GBR allow room for innovation?
Plan for Rail has much to admire, but I worry about whether the structure will drive long term customer-centric innovation The ability to ‘think different’ is at the core of Apple’s ideology. Can the same be said of GBR? The White Paper skewers the existing structure with impeccable accuracy and defines customer...
Root and branch? This is twig and leaf