Toon Tour wins inaugural UK Open Top Bus Cup
‘The team work hard to make this service a success and I think it’s a fantastic way to see the area’ Toon Tour, the sightseeing bus service across Newcastle and Gateshead has become the winner of the inaugural UK Open Top Bus Cup, sponsored by Ticketer. This follows its victory in the Final...
TfL records highest ridership since Covid
August Bank Holiday Weekend saw a near 10% increase in bus travel on the equivalent weekend last year, with Tube journeys seeing a near 6% rise TfL is now hoping to maintain upward momentum as autumn approaches New ridership figures from Transport for London have revealed a record number of public transport journeys...
20mph limit sees Welsh operator ditch Euro 6
Vehicles sold because of concerns over particulate traps A Phil Anslow bus in Cwmbran A bus operator is selling two of its Euro 6 buses because of concerns over the vehicles’ particulate traps when 20mph becomes the default speed limit on restricted roads in Wales. However, an experienced bus engineer told Passenger Transport...
‘TfW 2.0’ will manage bus services in Wales
Initially set up to procure the Wales and Borders rail franchise, Transport for Wales will be tasked with nurturing a ‘multi-modal culture in Wales’ TfW headquarters in Pontypridd Transport for Wales has a new remit which will eventually include procuring and managing bus services. TfW’s future bus role is set out in a...
Rotheram’s bus plans ‘not fit for purpose’
Former Stagecoach UK bus boss criticises Liverpool City Region’s bus franchising plans, citing ‘fundamental errors’ and concerns over funding Montgomery criticised ‘19 fundamental errors’ in the bus franchising plans Former Stagecoach UK Bus managing director Robert Montgomery has voiced strong criticism of the bus franchising plans for the Liverpool City Region, describing them...
‘Train beats plane on key domestic routes’
‘Majority’ of popular domestic air trips could be completed by train more quickly and cheaply, new Campaign for Better Transport report reveals Campaign for Better Transport says that switching just a quarter of the domestic flights featured in its report to rail would save 171,377 tonnes of carbon The majority of the most...
DfT pauses bus retrofit funding amid doubts
Department investigates variable performance but Transport Scotland backs technology and continues to fund conversions. Rhodri Clark reports A bus in Glasgow. Transport Scotland is continuing to fund retrofitting through its Bus Emissions Abatement Retrofit (BEAR) programme The DfT has defended pausing England’s bus retrofitting programme while it investigates variable performance. Faced with the...
‘Put aside ideological battles and reform rail’
New research commissioned by Rail Partners reveals how competition among train companies is delivering results across Britain and Europe Lumo introduced competition on the East Coast Main Line A reinvigorated public-private partnership is urgently required to get Britain’s railways back on the track to growth. That was the plea this week from Rail...
RDG confirms plans for ticket office cull
Rail industry launches long-anticipated consultation into proposals that could see the vast majority of railway station ticket offices closed The public consultation over the proposals will close on July 26 BY Andrew Garnett The Rail Delivery Group (RDG)confirmed perhaps the worst-kept secret in recent industry history on July 5 when it announced that...
6,000 extra green buses needed to hit net zero
IPPR think-tank calls for £2.5bn investment in new zero emission buses and urges levelling-up to end ‘deep-rooted regional unfairness’ on buses More than 5,800 extra green buses are needed by 2030 in English regions outside London to reach net zero and support the levelling up agenda, according to a new report from think-tank...
Go-Ahead London to run Kent’s Fastrack
Group sees 15-year deal to operate Bus Rapid Transit system as springboard for further expansion into Kent, and plans to build a new all-electric depot Go-Ahead is in talks to deploy a fleet of 28 brand new Irizar ie Trams on the network Go-Ahead Group has plans to develop a network in Kent...
Intercity TOCs lead post-Covid recovery
East Coast intercity operator LNER was among four TOCs to exceed 2019 patronage levels in the first quarter of 2023, but others are lagging behind LNER, which has topped the table for franchised operators for two years running, carried 111% of the passenger numbers it did during the same period of 2019 East...
