Greater Manchester has heralded a new era in public transport after bringing all of its bus services into the Bee Network this month. Becoming the first area in England to complete the re-regulation of buses is an historic moment for Greater Manchester – and beyond. To mark the completion of...
Issue 328 of Passenger Transport is published on January 10. Contents include: LEAD STORY ‘Blazing a trail for the future of bus services’ As the snow fell on January 5, the third and final tranche of Greater Manchester’s buses joined the publicly-controlled Bee Network. A landmark moment for...
As the snow fell on January 5, the third and final tranche of Greater Manchester’s buses joined the publicly-controlled Bee Network. A landmark moment for buses in the region, and beyond Following a phased approach, all bus services in Greater Manchester – totalling 577 routes, 1,600 buses and...
Heidi Alexander suggests operators are not paying their way Alexander: ‘Open access can create pressure on the network’ Rail Partners has responded to a letter from transport secretary Heidi Alexander urging the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) to adopt stricter criteria for approving new open access rail...
Consultation is the first step that could see the first bus services in the West Midlands under public control by 2027. Andrew Garnett reports Richard Parker launched the consultation in Coventry West Midlands mayor Richard Parker has launched a consultation on plans to franchise the region’s bus network....
I have identified three negative influences that have held transport back, or led it in the wrong direction, through the decades HS2’s River Tame West Viaduct. The entire HS2 project has been subject to regular chopping and changing The turn of the year is a good time...
Will rail price itself out of existence? Will England’s bus users bulk at £3 fares? Will small businesses be squeezed out? We will see Commemorative rail coin 1825-2025 (credit: The Royal Mint) UK Rail, 1825-2025 2025 is the 200th anniversary of the railway in the UK, but...
Public transport is back on the political agenda – but the financial ammunition to make bus services better remains in short supply Transport secretary Heidi Alexander visited Greater Manchester’s Bee Network this week. Those who take back control of buses will face the same pressure to balance the...
Buses are the answer to so many challenges but they are often overlooked. How can we change that? LadBible is amenable to bus stories and recently covered Stagecoach’s autonomous bus trial BY Andrew Clark An ultra-modern convention centre in Brussels. Eurocrats in button-down shirts nibble croissants and drink espresso. The topic for discussion...
Transport secretary launches new strategy aimed at joining up England’s transport networks and invites others to contribute to her vision Haigh cited Greater Manchester’s Bee Network as a domestic integrated transport leader On the day before she resigned as transport secretary, Louise Haigh set out her vision for joined-up transport networks led by...
New statistics reveal strong passenger growth, but there is some way to go before the bus industry surpasses patronage recorded before the pandemic BY Andrew Garnett New statistics from the Department for Transport reveal that the number of local bus passenger journeys in Great Britain reached 4.04 billion in the year ending March 2024,...
Council-owned operator won coveted prize at ceremony in London this week, but Stagecoach topped the ‘medal table’ with 12 winners in total Winners on stage at the 2024 UK Bus Awards Nottingham City Transport was named UK Bus Operator at this week’s UK Bus Awards in London. The council-owned company was also named...
Renationalisation of the TOCs is at the heart of the government’s strategy for rail – but what about the far more lucrative ROSCOs? One mystery of the new Labour government’s rail policy is why it seems so uninterested in rolling stock issues. Public control has been the driving force of their approach. They...
Having made a success of franchising in Jersey, Samuel Ribeiro and his Tower Transit colleagues are seeking further opportunities LibertyBus – a franchising success story When I look back on my 2024 by some distance the highlight was my first ever trip to the Channel Islands, which I made in June to...
A fixation on whether public services should be privatised or nationalised misses the larger, more impactful considerations It has happened! The failed delivery model whereby a public sector authority specifies the services it wants and then contracts private firms to deliver them is over! Hooray for rail renationalisation. Unless, of course, you’re a...
John Prescott, who died last week, took transport policy in a revolutionary direction during New Labour’s first term in office John Prescott pictured at the wheel of a bus outside the first Bus Summit in November 1999 (PA Images / Alamy Stock) When the editor of this publication asked me to write...
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...
Buses have an image problem