Stagecoach has been selected to operate the franchised bus network based in St Helens while Go-Ahead will operates services in Wirral Mayor Steve Rotheram: buses aren’t a ‘nice to have’ – they’re a lifeline Stagecoach and Go-Ahead Group have been selected as the first operators to run the...
Dubai will host the UITP Summit on April 21-23. We spoke to UITP’s secretary general, Mohamed Mezghani, about the event and what visitors can look forward to Mohamed Mezghani: “For me, the Summit is about people” Mohamed, the UITP Summit is heading to Dubai in April, less than...
What’s inside the latest edition of Passenger Transport: LEAD STORY NPR rail improvements ‘will actually happen’ More than a decade after the Northern Powerhouse Rail project was first proposed, the government has unveiled a three-phase plan for its delivery NEWS Cornwall probes bus regulation options Market engagement...
More than a decade after the Northern Powerhouse Rail project was first proposed, the government has unveiled a three-phase plan for its delivery The plans would see Manchester Piccadilly expanded A three-phase plan for the long-promised Northern Powerhouse Rail project was unveiled by the government this week. The...
Labour has pledged an enhanced bus offer for Wales if it wins this May’s Senedd election, but will this be matched funding? Rhodri Clark reports Welsh bus fares for adults aged 22 to 59 would be capped at £2 Labour has pledged 100 more bus routes in Wales...
A new report by CMAC has shed light on an often overlooked but frequent aspect of the railway’s customer service proposition 2026 has already brought two major shocks. FA Cup holders, my beloved, Crystal Palace, being knocked out of this year’s tournament by non-league Macclesfield, 117 places below...
Those taking decisions should always put themselves in the shoes of the passenger and ask whether what they will think reasonable Average bus speeds in central London are now down to 7.4mph (picture: Shutterstock) It was interesting to see the latest figures for bus passenger numbers (PT351)....
Long-serving rail boss Dominic Booth warns against overloading ‘woeful’ DOHL and calls for a phased approach to taking franchises in-house Dominic Booth: ‘quick fixes are rarely sustainable’ The government has been urged to take a phased approach to rail nationalisation rather than taking franchises back in-house at the earliest opportunity. That is the...
Bus franchising emerged as a key theme amongst speakers and suppliers as zero-emission electric buses dominated the biennal Birmingham show Delegates poured into the Birmingham NEC for Euro bus Expo this week Euro Bus Expo returned to Birmingham’s NEC for the first time in two years following the cancellation of Coach & Bus...
We spoke to Matt Carney, CEO of Go-Ahead Bus, about partnering with CitySwift to boost bus reliability and user experience in the UK and Ireland A bus driver at Go North West Last month, transport group Go-Ahead Group and technology firm CitySwift announced a ground-breaking UK and Ireland-wide partnership. In the wake of...
Dominic Booth is right to warn that taking too many franchises in-house too quickly won’t help passengers and could backfire Dominic Booth, CEO of Transport UK After generally a ‘free pass’ from significant criticism since presiding in the public sector, train company Northern recently received a stinging rebuke from Greater Manchester mayor...
We now know the direction of travel that the new government wishes to take but it’s not yet clear how we are going to get there Chancellor Rachel Reeves and transport secretary Louise Haigh during a visit to Greater Manchester this month It’s too early to predict in detail how the new...
Women in Bus and Coach and Transport for London initiative has visited eight garages while National Express West Midlands launches seating trial With a shortage of bus drivers in the industry, a review into the bus cab design is vital The Women in Bus and Coach and Transport for London Inclusive Bus Cab...
Chancellor faced criticism for raising England’s bus fare cap from £2 to £3 and increasing rail fares by 4.6% while retaining the 5p fuel duty cut Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered her first budget this week Rachel Reeves delivered her first budget this week with some positive news for public transport, including investments in...
Bus industry entrepreneur Bill Hiron has sold Eastern Transport Holdings, the parent of bus operators Stephensons and NIBS, to an employee trust Bill Hiron: ‘the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea’ Eastern Transport Holdings, the parent company of bus operators Stephensons of Essex and NIBS Buses, has been...
We must now start to look towards the spending review in Spring and make a compelling case for investment in public transport We rely on good bus, rail and tram services and walking and cycling infrastructure I have just returned from a two-week break spent travelling through rural Western America in a...
Our youth-focussed world overlooks the talent and experience of older workers, but right now we need them more than ever before Not long before Covid kicked off, I spent some time with a very amiable pension advisor who kindly pulled together several pensions I have during my unremarkable but transient career. I’ll be...
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has delivered her first budget. There was some good news for public transport but disappointment too Chancellor Rachel Reeves on budget day So there we have it, Rachel Reeves’s first budget, and altogether rather less gloomy than what had been heavily signalled almost since the day Labour took office...
Fiona Guthrie of RATP Dev Transit London was named ‘Best Project Manager’ at the pan-European Talent in Mobility Awards last month for her work on the Garage Life Programme. She explains how the project has helped new drivers feel quickly at home and boosted retention rates New drivers who completed the GLP programme had...
‘It’s a marathon, not a sprint’