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)....
Transport secretary Grant Shapps says public transport ‘will be the natural first choice’ – but campaigners are urging action to encourage modal shift The survey suggests that the government has a long way to go to get its messaging right and reverse the damage done during the pandemic Government ambitions to achieve modal...
German-based operator aims to be largest in UK by 2025 Initial network of 18 routes between 12 cities Following an abortive assault on the UK scheduled coach market during lockdown last year, FlixBus has announced it is to relaunch domestic UK services next week. This latest attempt to take on National Express and...
A well-designed Service Quality Reporting regime could ensure that the needs of rail users are met – and perhaps bus users too A Service Quality Reporting (SQR) regime has been developed by the DfT and involves mass auditing of the customer experience To celebrate the 10-year anniversary of this great magazine, the...
Operator blames the impact of the pandemic for spiralling losses despite lockdown only coming into force in the last days of the accounting year Abellio has blamed the early phases of the coronavirus pandemic for growing losses at the ScotRail franchise. The operator had previously reported a pre-tax loss of £11.0m in the...
The long-awaited strategy has some good points for the future of buses in England, but also some naivety and a lack of understanding Boris Johnson launched the Bus Back Better strategy in Coventry The publication of Bus Back Better – the National Bus Strategy for England – has raised the profile of...
Listen to Episode 9 of ‘After Press’, the Passenger Transport podcast! Having just completed Issue 238 of Passenger Transport Robert Jack and Andrew Garnett get together for a post-press debrief. The pair discuss the historic decision by Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, to introduce bus franchising. They also ask whether the...
Mayor decides to implement bus franchising in major milestone for transport in Greater Manchester Transport for Greater Manchester will introduce a single brand for all buses The mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, has made a historic decision to take control of buses in the biggest shake-up to Greater Manchester’s transport network in...
Demand will remain around 40% less than pre-pandemic levels Transport for London is unlikely to see patronage on its networks recover to pre-pandemic levels according to analysts at ratings firm Moody’s. The warning comes after Andy Byford, London’s transport commissioner, warned last month that patronage recovery on the capital’s transport networks may take...
The Welsh Government has published its new transport strategy which pledges a commitment to public transport An electric bus in Newport. Diesel buses will be phased out in Wales by 2028 The Welsh Government has outlined a raft of measures to “drive modal shift to public transport” in its new transport strategy. One...
The world which the railway faces today is very different to the one that Keith Williams saw when he began his review Okehampton: an early win One of the more dispiriting experiences in life is waiting on a station platform, only to see on the information display the expected arrival time of...
Listen to the latest episode of ‘After Press’, the Passenger Transport podcast The podcast can be accessed on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and SoundCloud (it may not appear on some of these platforms immediately). CLICK HERE for Apple CLICK HERE for Google CLICK HERE for SoundCloud CLICK HERE for Spotify
Bus Strategy marks biggest bus reform since the 1980s to achieve ‘substantial and untapped potential’ Boris Johnson visited National Express’s depot in Coventry on March 15, the day that the National Bus Strategy was published Bus operators in England will no longer design and provide local bus services in isolation, in a major...
A game changer for customer service