Cost of preventing bus service cuts is ‘tiny’
Go-Ahead’s Martin Dean tells parliamentarians that £260m a year to keep networks at pre-pandemic levels is ‘barely enough to build a mile of HS2’ Martin Dean Bus services need continued post-Covid support and in terms of the Department for Transport’s £3bn annual budget the amount of money required to maintain a comprehensive network...
Labour would presume in favour of franchising
Take Back Control Act would streamline path to greater bus powers with a presumption in favour of franchising for all local transport authorities The Labour Party has announced plans to take significant steps to reform bus services in England if it wins the next general election, claiming that “decades of failed deregulation have...
FlixBus launches major network expansion
‘We are here to build the largest intercity coach network’ McGill’s has added 18 high specification Volvo 9700 coaches to its FlixBus services, in addition to the existing seven vehicles FlixBus launched its expanded Scottish network last week with celebrations and free cake at Edinburgh bus station. The move comes not long after...
TUC proposes £9.9bn net zero transport plan
New report aims to address ‘gaping hole’ in the government’s recently published net zero strategy – a plan for achieving modal shift away from cars TUC general secretary Paul Nowak: ‘Investing in public transport will help us meet net zero targets’ Photo: ©Jess Hurd A new report released by the Trades Union Congress...
‘Scotland may miss bus infrastructure target’
Transform Scotland warns on flagship Bus Partnership Fund Plans to reallocate road space on parts of the motorway network around Glasgow to high-occupancy vehicles such as buses have made little progress’ The Scottish Government’s commitment to investing over £500m in bus priority infrastructure has yet to be fully realised, according to a report...
Welsh operators hope Bray can be saviour
Former director of the Urban Transport Group will chair panel of experts, and bus operators hope he make case for funding Jonathan Bray will chair an expert panel on Welsh bus policy By Rhodri Clark. Welsh bus operators are pinning their hopes on Jonathan Bray, who will chair an expert panel on Welsh...
Bus strategy progress ‘too slow, too piecemeal’
Greater support and more consistent funding is needed to deliver vision of the Bus Back Better strategy, Transport Committee tells government Iain Stewart:’many of the strategy’s ideas were on the right track’ Two years on from the launch of the National Bus Strategy for England, MPs on the Commons Transport Committee have expressed...
Everitt: Bee Network will transform GM
Vernon Everitt, Greater Manchester’s Transport Commissioner, believes that the Bee Network will transform the city region’s transport system Everitt: ‘Bee Network about delivering growth’ Vernon Everitt, Greater Manchester’s transport commissioner, told Transport Focus board members last week that the region was on the cusp of “something genuinely transformational” as it moved to begin...
Centre of Excellence to boost bus sector skills
The UK Government has launched a Bus Centre of Excellence, aimed at improving local authorities’ ability to deliver better bus services Richard Holden announced the Bus Centre of Excellence and additional ZEBRA funding during a visit to Leicester A new initiative to upskill, recruit and retain a new generation of bus professionals, alongside...
Burnham – make fares a general election issue
Greater Manchester mayor wants more recognition of the huge societal benefits that public transport offers, and the case for providing subsidy Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham at this week’s Transport for the North annual conference in Newcastle Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has urged all political parties to make the cost of using...
Liverpool City Region pushes franchise plans
Combined authority members ratify plans by mayor Steve Rotheram to launch a consultation over the summer into plans to franchise region’s buses It is proposed the first franchised bus services could commence in September 2026 Members of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority last week approved a formal public consultation launch after May’s...
Hunt is urged to show public transport love
Coalition of 15 charities, business and transport group writes to chancellor to make case for bus, rail and active travel ahead of next month’s budget Alice Ridley and Michael Solomon Williams deliver the letter A coalition of 15 charities, business and transport groups has written to chancellor Jeremy Hunt to urge him to...
