Issue 312 of Passenger Transport is published on May 3. Contents include: LEAD STORY Private TOCs on borrowed time Labour’s plan for Britain’s railways confirms intention to bring all franchised operations in-house NEWS Partnership at heart of new era for industry Headwinds see bus industry entering a...
Labour’s plan for Britain’s railways confirms intention to bring all franchised operations in-house Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh, pictured on a visit to Hitachi When the new South West Trains and Great Western franchises commenced on February 4, 1996, they became the...
Headwinds see bus industry entering a defining new phase Martin Dean According to Martin Dean, Go-Ahead’s managing director of UK regional bus, Britain’s bus networks are moving into a new and potentially unsettling era. Speaking at last week’s ALBUM Conference in Cheshire, Dean hypothesised that bus deregulation had...
Labour has hailed its new plan for Britain’s railway as ‘the biggest overhaul to our railways in a generation’ – but can it deliver? Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh You wait ages for a transport policy from Labour then two come...
Labour has promised to phase out all of Britain’s much maligned – often unfairly in my view – franchised train operators Labour is planning to nationalise the railway The headline that Labour is planning to nationalise the railway if they get into power didn’t really arouse me...
Open access operator plans Edinburgh-Cardiff service GUT’s Cardiff to Edinburgh services could use Class 222s Grand Union Trains is seeking access rights to run the first open access passenger services which would exclude London. It says its proposed services between Cardiff and Edinburgh via Birmingham would provide a much-needed uplift in capacity and...
Capital investment in transport across English cities is welcome, but we must not forget London. Its success must be maintained 50 year old Bakerloo line trains being maintained I am writing this column after our work Christmas party, which was held in Manchester. Unfortunately, the Urban Transport Group team didn’t get invited...
For almost 25 years Anthony Smith has represented transport users. He’s about to move on and leaves behind a strong legacy Anthony Smith received the ‘Lifetime Contribution to Transport’ award at this year’s National Transport Awards The internet was just a novelty, text messaging was starting to replace pagers, compact disc players...
First Bus has set the groundwork to enter 2024 with strong momentum, and continued investment Janette Bell: ‘We’re on a mission to get more people to use the bus’ By Janette Bell At First Bus, we’re on a mission to get more people to use the bus – so unsurprisingly this has been...
Britain’s big cities should significantly increase public transport commuters to catch up with European counterparts, says Centre for Cities think tank The UK’s big cities outside of London are outliers and would need nearly one million (963,000) additional workers taking public transport to work to bridge the gap with other cities overseas The...
Rail Reform Bill, aimed at legislating rail reforms, was included in last week’s King’s Speech but concerns linger about the pace of the process Winners celebate on stage at last week’s UK Bus Awards in London Go South Coast was named UK Bus Operator of the Year at this week’s UK Bus Awards...
Event at House of Commons saw industry leaders and MPs from all parties hear from members, supporters and allies of the new national initiative Members, supporters, and allies of the ‘Women in Bus and Coach’ initiative in Parliament last week Women in Bus and Coach, the initiative to support women in the bus...
With the government focussed on defying the odds and clinging to power, and Labour being cautious, transport is in the long grass The prime minister Rishi Sunak hosting a Cabinet meeting last week And so the long run into the general election has begun. It is the period of a Parliament when...
Public transport isn’t just about essential journeys. It can also be about fun days out, but this opportunity is too often overlooked I don’t think the transport industry does enough to extol the virtues of a trip out from a well-being perspective Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I guess...
Rail Reform Bill, aimed at legislating rail reforms, was included in last week’s King’s Speech but concerns linger about the pace of the process The recent King’s Speech has drawn attention to industry frustration with the sluggish implementation of rail reform and the implementation of the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail. While the Rail...
Progressive and coherent in its approach to transport policy, the Welsh Government has plans to transform public transport Revamped:The Snowdon Sherpa network As you’ve probably noticed, it’s all happening in Wales. Of the four nations of the UK, Wales is taking by far the most progressive and coherent approach to transport. Making...
Closing ticket offices was a terrible idea that no-one wants to own. They should remain, but there are things we can do differently Thankfully, plans to close ticket office have been abandoned I said shame shame shame shame shame shame shame. Shame on you. It’s one of my favourite musical quotes and...
We need one last Christmas cracker