Passenger Transport: November 26, 2021

YEARS 2011 | 2021

ISSUE 254 26 NOVEMBER 2021

NEWS, VIEWS AND ANALYSIS FOR A SECTOR ON THE MOVE

Ministers strip TfN of responsibility for NPR

In a move branded ‘inconsistent with the government’s devolution agenda’, Transport for the North will no longer be paid to develop East-West links Ministers have removed funding and powers from Transport for the North after it dismissed the government’s Integrated Rail Plan for the North and the Midlands as “woefully inadequate”.

TfN was established in 2015 to advise the government on the North of England’s transport needs. However, on the day of the IRP announcement, a senior official from the Department for Transport is reported to have written to TfN’s chief executive, Martin Tugwell, saying that it would stop paying the statutory body to develop the Northern Powerhouse Rail project.

This change came after TfN had

issued a statement that criticised the IRP. Louise Gittins, interim chair of TfN, said: “Leaders from across the North and from across the party political divide came together to ask for a network that would upgrade the North for this century and in line with the rest of the country. Our statutory advice asked for an over £40bn network but the government has decided to provide even less than half of that.”

“It’s surprising and looks a tad vindictive” Norman Baker

Gittens continued: “If we truly want to level up the country we don’t need words and promises.

We need commitment.”

Responding to TfN’s loss of powers, former transport minister Norman Baker told Passenger Transport: “It’s surprising and looks a tad vindictive.

Government whether local or national needs to be able to express its views honestly. This decision is inconsistent with the government’s devolution agenda and ultimately unhelpful. We need all sides to work together constructively for what in most cases are common goals.”

IRP COMMENT: PAGES 16-19

NEWS

Awards place Covid response in spotlight

10

UK Bus Awards and UK Coach Awards

ENVIRONMENT

Employees are seeking green travel options

12

Research reveals changing attitudes

INNOVATION & TECH

Livery revealed as CAVForth gets closer

14

Autonomous bus due to go live next year

COMMENT

‘Transport policy can’t go both ways’

22

Nick Richardson on inconsistent policy

CAREERS

Roberts is new CPT president SMILES FOR MILES Derby-Nottingham bus driver Karen Miles was crowned the Top National Bus Driver in the UK Bus and Coach Awards 2021 last week, becoming the second woman to win the coveted prize. Full coverage on page 10

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McGill’s boss will fulfil role in 2022

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CONTENTS

PASSENGER TRANSPORT PO Box 5496, Westbury BA13 9BX 020 3950 8000 editorial@passengertransport.co.uk

The art of nudging needs to be on the agenda Public transport doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Those who work in it know that their ability to attract and retain customers depends largely on factors outside their control. It’s hard to compete in a world where your services (public transport) have Robert Jack become more and more expensive, while those Managing Editor of your main rival (the private car) have not. The balance must shift if the public transport sector is going to fulfil its potential and help the country to achieve its net zero goals.

The Sustainable Transport Alliance, supported by their sponsors, Transport Scotland and The Go-Ahead Group, should be applauded for getting this topic discussed within the confines of this month’s COP26 climate change summit in Glasgow. Go-Ahead’s managing director, business development, Martin Dean, told their People make transport session: “We need central and local government to give people a nudge ... One of the challenges of the [UK government’s] Transport Decarbonisation Plan is that there’s a soft implication that everything can be achieved through technology - but I think we all know that there has to be some behavioural change as well.”

But how to get politicians to give people a nudge without being nudged out of office? The challenge, as Professor Greg Marsden of the Institute for Transport Studies at the University of Leeds, put it, is to “sell them a positive vision of a different way of living rather than feeling like they’re just having stuff taken away from them”.

HAVE YOUR SAY Contact us with your news, views and opinion at: editorial@passengertransport.co.uk PASSENGER TRANSPORT editorial@passengertransport.co.uk forename.surname@ passengertransport.co.uk Telephone: 020 3950 8000 Managing Editor & Publisher Robert Jack Deputy Editor Andrew Garnett Contributing Writer Rhodri Clark Directors Chris Cheek, Andrew Garnett, Robert Jack, George Muir, John Nelson OFFICE CONTACT DETAILS Passenger Transport Publishing Ltd PO Box 5496, Westbury BA13 9BX, UNITED KINGDOM Telephone (all enquiries):

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IN THIS ISSUE 16

HOW BORIS SCORED A £96BN OWN GOAL

14

TfW AND CITYSWIFT PILOT TO OPTIMISE BUSES

18

NORTHERNERS WON’T FORGET IRP U-TURN

‘The biggest ever public investment in Britain’s rail network’ was almost universally slated. What went wrong? “I can’t think of another example of such an inherently good news story turning into such a disaster,” says Norman Baker.

ORGANISATION

PAGE

Abellio London 10 Alpha Travel 10 Arriva Buses Wales 8 Arriva London 10 Belle Vue 10 Brighton & Hove 10 Brighton & Hove CT 10 Campaign for Better Transport 5 Coach and Bus Association Cymru 8 First Bus 9, 10 First York 10 Go-Ahead London 6 Go North East 10 Herefordshire County Council 9 Kinchbus 9 Masons Minibus and Coach Hire 10 Maynes Coaches 10 Metroline 6 Midlands Connect 4 Milton Keynes Council 10 National Express Group 9 National Express West Midlands 10 Network Rail 5 North East Coach Travel 10 Office of Rail and Road 5 Rail Delivery Group 4 Stagecoach East Midlands 10 Stagecoach Group 9 Stagecoach London 10 Stagecoach South Wales 8 Transdev Blazefield 10 Translink 10 Transport for London 6 Transport for the North 1 Trentbarton 1, 9, 10 UK Bus and Coach Awards 1, 10 West Yorkshire CA 4 Yeomans Travel 9

Transport for Wales and CitySwift last week announced that they are working together on a pilot programme using data and machine learning to optimise public transport. The programme aims to deliver efficiencies and improve service levels across Wales.

The reaction in the North to the government’s Integrated Rail Plan could never have been positive given the earlier promises, writes John Nelson. “It now looks as though promises made are promises broken,” he says.

20

REID’S CAREER OFFERS US LESSONS FOR TODAY

With the rail industry transitioning back to a more centralised set-up, Alex Warner says George Muir’s book on Sir Robert Reid is essential reading.

“Reflecting on Reid is prescient as we now move towards a not entirely dissimilar set-up,” he adds.

REGULARS NEWS ENVIRONMENT INNOVATION & TECH COMMENT GRUMBLES CAREERS DIVERSIONS

04 12 14 16 25 26 28

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NEWS ROUND-UP

Anger as government axes HS2’s eastern leg

Government scraps plans to take HS2 to Leeds for now but promises investment in local transport and upgrades to existing main lines instead INTEGRATED RAIL PLAN

Steep criticism from across the North of England has been levelled at the government after it announced the Integrated Rail Plan for the North.

The long-awaited plan confirms rumours that the eastern leg of HS2 will terminate at East Midlands Parkway station instead of continuing to West Yorkshire.

The government says it will launch a study to look at the best way to take HS2 trains to Leeds, including extra capacity at Leeds station. A new high speed line will be built between Warrington, Manchester and Marsden in Yorkshire, while three existing lines will be upgraded.

The Midland and Transpennine Main Lines will be fully electrified, while the East Coast Main Line is to be upgraded with

line speed improvements and digital signalling. The government claims these works will mean 75% of the country’s main line railway will be electrified.

The government says it has drawn up these plans after it became clear that the full HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail schemes as originally proposed would have cost up to £185bn and

Burnham: Integrated Rail Plan a ‘second class plan’

West Yorkshire ‘mass transit’ a priority £200m to begin work on regional mass transit system The government claims that shelving plans for HS2 to Leeds for now, will free up money for improvements to local transport.

This includes a commitment for a new “mass transit” system for Leeds and West Yorkshire “righting the wrong that Leeds is the largest city in Western Europe without one”. The West

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Yorkshire Combined Authority will receive £200m of immediate funding to plan the project and start work.

The government also claimed the Integrated Rail Plan would offer greater connectivity benefits between the West and East Midlands and allow options for progressing the Midlands Rail Hub to be examined. It said this

not entered service until the early to mid-2040s.

“Building on the expert findings of wide-ranging internal and independent analysis, including from the National Infrastructure Commission, the plan will deliver better outcomes for passengers in a faster and more efficient way than under original plans for the schemes,” the government added.

Transport secretary Grant Shapps said the plan was “ambitious, deliverable and backed by the largest single government investment ever made in our rail network”.

“Just as the Victorians gave this country our railways nearly 200 years ago, this Integrated Rail Plan will create a modern, expanded railway fit for today and future generations,” he added.

“Significant improvements will

would dramatically increase local services through central Birmingham and across the Midlands and connect them better to HS2.

The government has also committed to investment to deliver a programme of fares, ticketing and retail reform including the roll out of contactless pay-as-you-go ticketing at commuter stations in the Midlands and North. It will also drive towards rolling out digital ticketing across the whole network.

be delivered rapidly, bringing communities closer together, creating jobs and making places more attractive to business, and in doing so, rebalancing opportunity across the country.”

But the move has drawn criticism from both the industry and leaders across the north.

Andy Bagnall, the Rail Delivery Group’s director general, said that while millions would benefit from the plans, “leaving out key pieces of the jigsaw will inevitably hold back the ability for the railways to power the levelling up agenda and the drive to net zero”.

Andy Burnham, the Labour mayor of Greater Manchester, condemned the rail plan as a “second class plan”.

“That’s been the story of our lives,” he said in a nod to historic under-investment in the North of England. “We’ve always had to put up with second best as northern people ... This is about the future of the north of England for the next 100 or 200 years. That is the significance of the decisions that are being announced.

However, despite criticism in the north, the news was welcomed by leaders at transport body Midlands Connect. Chairman Sir John Peace said there were “a lot of positives” in the plan.

“Now that we have certainty, we must focus our efforts on delivery,” he said. “Our challenge to government is simple - it should move as quickly as possible to get spades in the ground and bring benefits to local people sooner.”

“We’ve always had to put up with second best as northern people” Andy Burnham

www.passengertransport.co.uk

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How Boris scored a £96bn own goal. Page 16

ORR calls for Covid performance boost Regulator presses Network Rail on further action PERFORMANCE

The Office of Rail and Road has called on Network Rail to play its part in ensuring a reliable and punctual train service is maintained in the future.

The rail regulator’s comments came following the publication of its mid-year report that probed the infrastructure controller’s contribution to performance.

During the national lockdown last year, the ORR described train service performance as “exceptional”, in part reflecting the reduction in services and passenger usage brought about by the pandemic.

While use of the rail network continues to be affected, demand

CBT CALLS FOR RAIL FARE CUTS Move would support emission cuts, says group FARES

The Campaign for Better Transport has called on the government to tackle transport emissions by reducing rail fares, rather than relying on 2040 road-based targets.

The campaign group warns that plans to reduce transport emissions using cleaner fuels ignores the fact that emissions could be cut now by promoting cheaper rail travel.

With cars producing more than four times the greenhouse gas emissions than the equivalent rail journey, CBT argues that plans to encourage more people to travel by rail should be a key component in the www.passengertransport.co.uk

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so far only £7.6m has been used; Work with industry to develop a clear plan for resolving timetabling and access rights on the East Coast Main Line; Demonstrate that it is engaging on, and influencing, service specifications and the timetable elsewhere on the network to ensure that decisions around performance and capacity are well-informed; and Update its performance plans and targets to reflect revised service levels and usage across the network.

Meanwhile, the ORR closed its 18-month investigation into Network Rail’s impact on poor performance in the North West and Central region. In its final assessment, the regulator confirmed that despite some disappointment at the pace of progress, it is now content the infrastructure controller has shown “a genuine commitment to improve performance” and has addressed all 25 of the regulator’s recommendations.

has increased in the first half of 2021-22. Performance remains better than it was pre-pandemic, but the ORR warns there is evidence of a decline over the last six months, but with some clear regional variations.

Network Rail’s Wales and Western region showed the largest deterioration in train service performance from the end of 2020/21. Delays attributed to track failures and temporary speed restrictions due to track condition have compounded this.

The ORR reported the Eastern, North West and Central, and Network Rail Scotland regions have retained more of their performance gains, but added that Network Rail Scotland’s performance remains close to the regulatory floor - the level at which it is likely to consider taking

formal enforcement action under Network Rail’s network licence.

While the ORR found that Network Rail had taken steps to learn from the high levels of performance seen during the pandemic, it still had more to do. In order to ensure the performance improvements are retained going forward, over the next six months, the regulator has called on Network Rail to: Deliver improvements to address the issues in its Wales and Western region; Continue to embed improved performance management capabilities, and work with the industry to develop a credible plan for the £40m Performance Innovation Fund. This fund was established by the ORR to support innovative ways to drive performance improvements and

government’s plans to decarbonise transport and tackle climate change.

It says this could be achieved by abolishing peak commuter fares on Fridays; discounting season tickets by a third for a limited time; and freezing fares for 2022.

“Why wait until 2040 to reduce emissions from transport, when there are actions we can implement now?” said Paul Tuohy, CBT chief executive. “Driving less and taking the train more will have an immediate beneficial impact on carbon emissions, as well as reducing congestion and air pollution. The government must do more to provide the right financial incentives. By reducing rail fares the government can immediately remove one of the key barriers to rail travel, the cost.”

RETURN TO OKEHAMPTON Regular train services have resumed on the Dartmoor Line between Exeter and Okehampton, for the first time in almost half a century. The line - which received £40.5m of funding in March - is the first former line to reopen under the Restoring Your Railway programme.

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NEWS ROUND-UP

TfL warns of impact of 1970s-style cuts TfL is now planning to budget on the basis of ‘managed decline’ FUNDING

Transport for London plans to budget for the next financial year on the basis of “managed decline” in the face of a diminishing chance of further emergency funding from central government.

Andy Byford, London’s transport commissioner, has warned the move would see the network “dragged back to the 1970s”.

In a paper to the organisation’s finance committee, Simon Kilonback, TfL’s chief finance officer, laid bare the stark choices TfL faces as it battles to get to grips with its finances in the wake of the pandemic.

He outlined how Whitehall had stipulated in the last TfL emergency financial agreement that the mayor of London and TfL must raise an additional £500m-£1bn per year from

2023/24, but no agreement has been reached between mayor Sadiq Khan and the government about how that will be achieved.

Further emergency funding for the remainder of 2021/22 is expected closer to the expiry of the current funding agreement on December 11, but Kilonback revealed negotiations have not yet commenced.

As a result he said no budget assumptions can be made for 2022/23 based on TfL having additional support. “The potential required savings ... necessitated by our legal requirement to balance our budget, represent the ‘Managed Decline’ scenario,” Kilonback added. This scenario would ensure safety, but he admitted operability and reliability would be compromised.

However, current commitments for new rolling stock for the Piccadilly line and Docklands Light Railway will be honoured, but a number of other schemes

and projects that are still on the drawing board would be either paused or scrapped.

These include abandoning further step-free station access schemes; continued use of existing rolling stock on the Bakerloo, Central and Jubilee lines; scrapping plans to resignal the Piccadilly line; and halting all station capacity upgrades. The new station box at Elephant & Castle would be completed by a third party developer, but would not be fitted out. Crossrail 2 and the Bakerloo line extension plans would remain paused.

On streets no further active travel investment would be undertaken beyond safety-critical schemes, and road improvements at Vauxhall and Wandsworth would be shelved.

Plans for electrification of the bus fleet would be delayed and, with existing buses redeployed as the network shrinks, the pace of new bus orders from the capital

TfL RESTRUCTURES LONDON ROUTES

Three routes axed as a result of ‘surplus capacity’ CONSULTATION

ELIZABETH LINE STARTS TRIAL OPERATIONS Transport for London has launched trial operations on the much delayed Elizabeth line. It marks the final phase of the programme before the line opens in the first half of 2022.

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Transport for London has launched consultations on some significant changes to bus routes in the capital.

The first affects routes on the Holloway Road, New North Road and Southgate Road corridors where TfL says it has identified “surplus bus capacity”. It proposes the complete withdrawal of Route 271 (Highgate to Moorgate) operated by Metroline.

Routes 263, 143 and 21 would be restructured and rerouted to

would reduce. With the end of diesel bus operations pushed back to 2037 or later, this could potentially lead to disruption in the manufacturing supply chain.

TfL is already working on the basis of a 4% reduction in the size of the capital’s bus network, but the ‘managed decline’ scenario would require a reduction of around 18%.

Kilonback reported to finance committee members that patronage for the most recent financial period had increased to 68% of pre-pandemic levels across the network, but he warned income was £141m lower that revised budget projections.

He also revealed the organisation was braced to earn £600m less than expected from the Ultra Low Emission Zone between 2022 and 2025 despite its expansion last month to the area bounded by the North and South Circular roads. TfL had expected that around 135,000 noncompliant vehicles each day would pay the £12.50 charge to drive in the zone, but early indications are that there has been greater compliance than expected with the new rules.

compensate for the 271’s withdrawal.

The route’s bus stand at Highgate Village would also be removed as part of these plans.

Meanwhile, in south London TfL is proposing to withdraw Route 1 (Canada Water to Tottenham Court Road), operated by Go-Ahead London, and Route 168 (Hampstead Heath to Old Kent Road Tesco), operated by Metroline. TfL says both routes have seen a steep decline in patronage.

It proposes cutting back Route 188 from Russell Square to terminate at Tottenham Court Road and introducing a new route, provisionally numbered Route 1, linking Canada Water with Hampstead Heath. www.passengertransport.co.uk

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NEWS ROUND-UP

Ebbw Vale’s deserted bus station during this month’s strike by some Stagecoach employees

Franchises ‘will ensure bus staff are well paid’ Following a series of strikes, the Welsh Government says bus franchising will safeguard workers’ pay and conditions. Rhodri Clark reports FRANCHISING

The Welsh Government says that future bus franchises will safeguard workers’ conditions and ensure staff are well paid.

Legislation to enable franchising in Wales was shelved last year because of Covid-19 and lack of time before the May 2021 election, but the Labour government is due to issue a new White Paper on bus reform early next year.

The subject arose in the Senedd this month when MSs referred to the disruption when members of the Unite union at Stagecoach South Wales and Arriva Buses Wales took strike action in disputes over pay.

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that workers’ conditions are safeguarded and the desire for a quick commercial profit is not put ahead of the rights and needs of a well-paid and qualified workforce to serve the needs of passengers.”

A week later, a Plaid Cymru MS said bus drivers were key workers who deserved a better deal, and it was time to bring bus services back into public hands.

A Conservative MS applauded his comments. Arriva drivers were still on strike at the time.

Waters responded: “There is a patchwork of arrangements in Wales because it is a commercial

market, a commercial market deliberately set up by the Conservatives under bus privatisation.

“The drivers from Arriva are generally among the better paid in Wales at the moment, better paid than those in Stagecoach, where there has been a dispute recently, but they’re not as well paid as those across the border in Merseyside.

“So these are complex commercial matters, but I can absolutely give the commitment that we want to see consistency across Wales, both of service provision, of timetable provision

“It sounds as if franchising is happening, although nobody has told the industry or local authorities”Bev Fowles

and of terms and conditions for staff. And that is something we very much will be designing into the bus White Paper that we’re working on currently and will be introducing in the New Year.”

Bev Fowles, vice-chair of the Coach and Bus Association Cymru, said: “It’s very interesting that he has reintroduced the ‘f’ word again. Franchising has been under the table for a considerable time now, on the basis that it frightens everybody. It sounds as if franchising is happening, although nobody has told the industry or local authorities.”

Existing terms and conditions would be protected by TUPE for any employees who transferred to a franchised operator, said Fowles, who worked for First within London’s franchised bus network in the 1990s.

He thought Waters’ comments could be an indicator that the Welsh Government has accepted that bus services need more funding. In the past decade the government has cut its grant funding to operators and subsequently frozen the total at £25m per annum, despite the inflationary increases in operators’ costs.

“I think he understands that quality costs money,” said Fowles. “I don’t like his use of the franchising word because it sets hares running, but I can see where he’s coming from as far as quality is concerned, not only for staff but for everybody, and that gives the customer a better deal.”

He hoped that in future, society would value bus drivers more highly. “These guys go out every day and do a sterling job despite the intolerance of motorists, let alone passengers’ intolerance. People think ‘He’s just a driver’ but I’m sorry, he’s more than that. Drivers do a hugely responsible job.” www.passengertransport.co.uk

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Transport policy can’t go both ways. Page 22

Independent pulls the plug on Hereford Rising fuel costs and lack of support see Yeomans wield axe NETWORKS

The operator of Hereford’s commercial bus network has announced it will axe the majority of services on December 31 citing rapidly increasing fuel costs and dwindling Covid financial support from the government.

Herefordshire-based Yeomans Travel took on the bulk of the city’s bus network on a commercial basis in 2015 when incumbent operator First announced it was closing its local operation.

The operator says that since then it has faced declining patronage and rising traffic congestion that have had an impact on the viability of the network. It adds that planning policies that have favoured out-oftown shopping and employment centres have also reduced demand for travel into the city centre.

Yeomans also claims that Herefordshire County Council held no discussions with local operators about bus priority or traffic issues until the launch of England’s National Bus Strategy earlier this year.

But it is Covid and steadily rising fuel prices that have led Yeomans to wield the axe on the six-route network. The company claimed that patronage was currently just 50% of the level the company experienced in 2019.

“The government had given financial support to all bus companies during the Covid crisis to keep some services operating, but this finished at the end of www.passengertransport.co.uk

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Yeomans took on the bulk of Hereford’s bus services in 2015

September,” the company told Passenger Transport. “Since then we have continued to operate these services without support but this is not sustainable.”

The council said it had held talks with Yeomans where it had requested the company delay their withdrawal of services until April 2022. It claimed such a move would provide time for the council and local operators to plan and put in place alternatives to ensure continuity of service.

“Yeomans have declined this request,” said Herefordshire.

“The council is holding discussions with other operators regarding replacing the withdrawn services, or putting in place alternatives on a commercial basis so that some continuity of service might be maintained.

“Due to the very limited timescales involved it is unclear

“If it is not financially viable, why would we continue?”

if any operators will have sufficient time to put alternative services in place.”

John Harrington, the council’s cabinet member for infrastructure and transport, added: “The timing of the withdrawal of these commerciallyoperated services is of great concern and does not appear to take into account the issues which will be faced by the people who use and rely on these services.”

However, Yeomans claimed it had been forced to act in order to preserve the financial viability of its wider business.

The operator continued: “We are upset that the council has not even mentioned the reason we are stopping these services in its press release. When we informed them, with the reasons behind it, they offered no assistance or asked what they could do to help other than to ask us to carry on until April. If it is not financially viable, why would we continue?

“There was not even a thank you for stepping in with six weeks’ notice and solving the problems six years ago when First did the same thing on a bigger scale.”

IN BRIEF FIRST’S £4K DRIVER BONUS First Bus’s operations in Glasgow and the central belt of Scotland have announced a £4,000 sign-on bonus for drivers holding PCV licences in a bid to tackle a growing shortage of staff which has led to service cuts in Glasgow, Falkirk, Livingstone and Stirling.

First Glasgow is understood to be 17% below establishment and the operator is now offering a two-part bonus to existing licence holders - £2,000 after six months and a further payment of £2,000 after completion of a year of service.

WELLGLADE SHORTAGES Wellglade subsidiaries Kinchbus and Trentbarton have announced some cancellations to services in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and on some services between Derby and Loughborough as a result of a growing shortage of drivers at the two operations. A Kinchbus spokesman said the company is “recruiting and training new drivers” and will resume full services “as soon as we can”.

MERGER TALKS CONTINUE National Express Group has been granted more time to make a firm offer for Stagecoach for the second time. The group now has until December 14 to either put down a bid for the Perth transport giant or walk away. Both sides said due diligence is at an advanced stage and constructive discussions are ongoing. NEG said the boards of the two transport groups “continue to believe that the potential combination would be a strategically compelling proposition delivering strong value creation for both sets of shareholders”. Talks have been taking place since September.

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NEWS ROUND-UP

Awards place Covid response in spotlight Joint awards praise sector for going above and beyond AWARDS

Recognising the difficulties both the bus and coach industries have experienced since the onset of the Covid pandemic, the UK Bus Awards and UK Coach Awards announced their winners for 2021 with special joint online awards ceremony last week.

Winner of the Build Back Better Award for bus was Transdev Blazefield. Judges praised the operator for its extensive positive messaging about travelling by bus - notably its ‘Clean, safe and ready to go’ campaign - while also expanding the business with the purchase of Yorkshire Tiger from Arriva.

Coach operator Belle Vue was also recognised for an entry that the judges described as “almost a blueprint for how to survive a pandemic”, with a real team effort from management and staff.

In the Build Back Better Champion category, Go North East MD Martijn Gilbert drove away with the award for the bus sector with judges praising him for his outstanding leadership, fast decision making and high visibility. In the coach category there were two winners; Candice Mason from Masons Minibus and Coach Hire and Kevin Mayne from Maynes Coaches.

In the communications category, state-owned Northern Ireland operator Translink won in the bus category with Alfa Travel winning in the coach category of this award.

Respected Brighton & Hove 10 | 26 November 2021 PT254p10-11.indd 10

accessibility and communities manager Victoria Garcia won the Impact on the Bus Industry by an Individual Award while the coach industry winner was Jenna Rush from North East Coach Travel.

Stagecoach East Midlands was the winner in the Outstanding Partnerships category for its demand-responsive Stagecoach Connect NHS workers transport service launched in response to the pandemic.

The Outstanding Teamwork Award went to the National Express Bus Recruitment Team for tackling head on the

Build back better champion: Martijn Gilbert

issue of recruiting drivers during the pandemic. Learning and adapting the recruitment process within the various restrictions, the team managed to reduce the historical establishment gap from over 100 to less than 40 - an outstanding result, said the judges.

The Award for Services to the Bus Industry went to James Freeman, who retired as MD at First West of England after a career of more than 40 years.

In the Services to the Community category there were two winners - Brighton & Hove and First York. Brighton & Hove took away the gong for its ‘Above

Winner of the Impact on the Bus Industry Award: Victoria Garcia

The Build Back Better Award went to Transdev Blazefield

and Beyond’ campaign which aims to celebrate individuals in the city that have done so much for the community for telling their story on the side of a bus. Meanwhile, First York won in this category for its Restart Fund - a competition giving cash awards to support small businesses.

The pandemic has seen many innovations introduced at pace and Milton Keynes Council won in the Technology and Innovation category for its MK Connect demand responsive network that has replaced traditional supported bus services, but aims to integrate with the commercial bus network where possible.

Of course, both the bus and coach sectors rely on people to deliver services day in and day out and there was a flurry of awards in the driver categories.

The Top London Bus Driver was named as Septimus Williams from Abellio London. The Top National Bus Driver was named as Karen Miles from Trentbarton with the Top UK Coach Driver named as Pat Douglas from Belle Vue. In the Unsung Heroes category there were three winners Martyn Darbon from Brighton & Hove Community Transport; Mike Harvey from Abellio London; and Jayne Hunt from Arriva London.

There was also a special None of the Above Category this year.

It aimed to recognise that the pandemic has created responses that may not fit easily into the usual award categories.

The winner was named as Stagecoach London for a project where it worked with the AA and London Ambulance Service to kit out second-hand minibuses as ambulances. An impressive 62 vehicles were converted in just five days. www.passengertransport.co.uk

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ENVIRONMENT

Employees are seeking green travel options But only 64% of firms have a clear policy for reducing travel impact BEHAVIOUR CHANGE

Covid-19 will usher in a new era of sustainable business travel, according to new research from Trainline Partner Solutions (TPS).

The vast majority of business travellers (75%) want to reduce their reliance on air travel for business because of the impact it has on the environment.

Whilst two-thirds (66%) of employees expect their employer to make sustainable travel options available to them, a separate survey of business leaders reveals three quarters (74%) will still ask staff to fly for business when restrictions ease.

The study of 1,000 regular business travellers and 1,000

employers in the UK showed that over half (53%) of employees felt businesses were irresponsible before the pandemic with the level of unnecessary business travel. In fact, nearly one in three (31%) employees felt they had to fly for business, or would risk losing their job.

Now the tables have turned and “failure to offer sustainable business travel will become a major business issue”. As many as seven in ten employees (71%) said they think businesses that

“The notion of travel for work is becoming increasingly fluid” Champa Magesh

do not offer sustainable business travel set a bad example for future generations. One in five people aged 16-24 would consider leaving their existing employer as a result of their business travel policy.

The most important factors when assessing how sustainable an employer is are use of green energy (41%), recycling policies (41%), and sustainable travel policies (34%). 73% of employees would like employers to provide clear information about the impact of required business travel.

Trainline Partner Solutions president Champa Magesh said: “The notion of travel for work is becoming increasingly fluid.

Employers are looking for more control over an increasing variety of travel options and help making more sustainable journeys.

Employees are asking for

personalised travel solutions that are more tailored to their needs.

Trainline is focused on bringing the best technology to the challenge of helping employers and employees to make the best and most sustainable travel decisions.”

The survey of employers suggests improvement has been made as 64% offer more sustainable options for staff, but there is a long way to go to match employee expectations. Even though 69% of businesses admit that employees were asked to fly unnecessarily pre-pandemic, 74% will still ask staff to fly for business when restrictions ease.

While three in five businesses confess that staff are increasingly asking tough questions about sustainable business travel policies, only 64% have a clear policy for reducing the impact business travel has on the environment. The vast majority (89%) of business leaders agree that sustainable business travel is vital for their employer brand.

PM VISITS GREEN TRAINS Johnson sees HydroFLEX train in Glasgow TECHNOLOGY

Prime minister Boris Johnson was welcomed to Glasgow Central station earlier this month by Network Rail chief executive Andrew Haines as he boarded one of the green trains of the future being showcased at the COP26 climate change summit.

The PM was given a tour of the Porterbrook HydroFLEX, a hydrogen-ready hybrid capable of being powered by hydrogen, battery or the overhead electric wires. He also met with the team from Vivarail, whose battery-powered train was also being showcased.

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The PM met with schoolchildren from Glasgow who were aboard the HydroFLEX train

www.passengertransport.co.uk

24/11/2021 15:42

UITP makes COP26 plea ‘It’s time to be clear: Rail and public transport are the quickest way to reach decarbonisation’ ADVOCACY

Climate change cannot be stopped without decarbonising transport and action needs to be taken now to ensure that the necessary changes to mobility are made this decade. This was the plea made to global leaders during the COP26 climate change summit in Glasgow by UITP, the international union of public transport.

The UK COP26 presidency has selected transport as today’s priority theme with “speed up the switch to electric vehicles” as their goal, putting electric cars centre stage as the way to align the future of the land transport sector with the Paris Agreement.

“We need to rebalance the debate on mobility solutions, especially in our cities. By focusing only on switching to electric cars, there is a real risk that our roads will remain unsafe and congested, with persistent particulate air pollution issues,” said Brussels-based UITP. “Cities are better when people can move around them, not when they are stuck behind a steering wheel.

“Urgent solutions are required in order to halt and reverse rising transport emissions by the end of

“The notion of travel for work is becoming increasingly fluid” Champa Magesh

www.passengertransport.co.uk

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the decade, including finding ways of shifting to the lowest emitting modes. Only by embedding the full range of solutions in transport climate policy will we significantly reduce carbon now and fast-track solutions everywhere for the benefit of all.

“If we really want to make transport faster, cheaper, and easier for all, let’s first provide people with more and better rail and public transport.”

Meanwhile, the Busworld Foundation, which is also based in Belgium, called on the global bus and coach industry to create a better dialogue with COP policy makers. A delegation of Busworld Foundation attended the Transport Day at COP26 and came to the conclusion that there was a significant lack of collective passenger transport by road sessions in the programme.

“Clearly it could and should be higher on the COP agenda,” the foundation said. “This is an important opportunity for the bus and coach sector. The focus of the conference was set on clean energy production and the decrease of energy consumption.

In general the results of COP26 can be summarised as positive but insufficient. Maybe the bus and coach industry can help to open up the ivory tower?”

It added: “Policymakers need the industry and the industry needs the policymakers. Only together the mutual goal can be achieved: to have a liveable planet for our children and grandchildren.”

ROUND-UP

‘TEAM ZERO’

GREEN MILESTONE

Pelican launches collaborative network

Network Rail suppliers commit to reducing CO2

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

TARGETS

Yorkshire-based Pelican Engineering, which has become one of the leading players in the provision of electric buses in the UK, has launched a network for zero emission bus and coach operators to support best practice as the sector transitions to greener transport. Pelican, which has exclusive supply of Yutong’s zero emission bus and coach models in the UK, launched the group, known as ‘Team Zero’ at an event in Glasgow ahead of COP26.

Network Rail’s commercial and procurement team has reached an important milestone in partnering with suppliers to tackle climate change by securing commitments from 50% of suppliers to join the Science Based Targets initiative to reduce their carbon footprint.

Science Based Targets are a key part of Network Rail’s Environmental Sustainability Strategy. These are independently verified plans to reduce carbon emissions.

Cardiff Bus has ordered 36 Yutong E12 buses

ELECTRIC DOUBLE DECK COACH The TDX25E is destined for the US market ELECTRIC VEHICLES

E-BUS JOINS CARDIFF FLEET Vehicle is first of 36 zero-emission buses ELECTRIC VEHICLES

The first of Cardiff Bus’s 36 full-electric buses arrived in the Welsh capital this month.

Works have been underway in recent weeks with new charging infrastructure installed at the bus operator’s Sloper Road depot in preparation for the arrival of the Yutong E12 zero-emission buses.

The arrival of the first electric bus now allows for driver training and the commissioning of the depot infrastructure ahead of their launch in the next few weeks.

Belgium-based Van Hool has built the world’s first 100% battery electric double-deck coach: the TDX25E. The vehicle provides space for 69 passengers (18 on the lower deck and 51 on the upper deck) and has a range of up to 500km. The TDX25E is destined for the US market, where it will be used for employee commutes and regular passenger transport.

The coach has a range of up to 500km

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INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY

Left to right: James Price, Mark Drakeford, Micheál Martin and Alan Farrelly

Tf W and CitySwift pilot to optimise buses

Partners embark on an AI-driven bus strategy to optimise public transport services in Wales using data and machine learning.

BIG DATA

Transport for Wales and CitySwift last week announced that they are working together on a pilot programme to optimise public transport services in Wales, using data and machine learning. The programme aims to deliver efficiencies and improve service levels across the country’s bus network.

“Our partnership with CitySwift will allow Welsh bus operators to use modern AI technology to gather data, understand new travel patterns and make more informed data-driven decisions,” explained 14 | 26 November 2021 PT254p14-15.indd 14

Transport for Wales CEO James Price. “This pilot scheme will help us improve bus services for the people of Wales and will assist us in encouraging people to make that modal shift from using private cars to sustainable public transport which is key to tackling climate change.”

The pilot programme with

Galway-based data specialists CitySwift was announced during last week’s 36th British-Irish Council Summit in Cardiff. Price and CitySwift COO Alan Farrelly were among those at the event, which was also attended by Irish taoiseach Micheál Martin, Welsh first minister Mark Drakeford, government ministers and

“It is great to see that technology and data is being used to develop efficiencies and growth in this sector” Mark Drakeford, first minister of Wales

business leaders.

The event included an Enterprise Ireland-led session celebrating Ireland’s contribution to Wales’ sustainable recovery and economic wellbeing, with a focus on Irish companies that are making a positive impact on the lives of Welsh citizens. The partnership between Transport for Wales and CitySwift was cited as an example of this.

Drakeford said: “Enhancing our public transport system is a vital part of our work to cut emissions and reduce our impact on climate change. The Welsh Government’s target is for 45% of journeys to be made by sustainable modes by 2040. It is great to see that technology and data is being used to develop efficiencies and growth in this sector.”

The partnership with TfW will demonstrate CitySwift’s ability to deliver effective strategies for transport authorities - as it has already done with major transport operators in the UK, including National Express and Go-Ahead Group.

CitySwift CEO Brian O’Rourke commented: “Transport for Wales is taking a positive step by embracing data and AI in a smart, innovative way to improve journey times, reliability and enhance the on-board experience for passengers.

“As new mobility patterns emerge, due to the pandemic and the need to reduce carbon emissions, there is a lot to learn from big data about changing trends and how best to plan and shape bus services for the future. Our data-driven planning technology will help ensure that Transport for Wales can provide sustainable travel and deliver the highest-quality, safe and reliable journeys for the Welsh public.

We hope other public transport authorities follow suit.” www.passengertransport.co.uk

24/11/2021 15:43

“We believe it will be the most comprehensive autonomous bus demonstration to date”

New livery revealed as CAVForth gets closer Autonomous bus trial due to go live in Scotland next year AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

The first glimpse of the new special livery for the CAVForth autonomous bus was revealed last week by project partners Stagecoach, Alexander Dennis, Fusion Processing and Transport Scotland.

It is the next key milestone in the trial which will see the first-full sized autonomous buses running on UK roads for the first time in early summer 2022. The new service will be made up of four single-deck buses running a 14-mile route which will cross the Forth Road Bridge. It will provide capacity for up to 10,000 passengers a week, connecting Fife’s Ferrytoll Park & Ride with Edinburgh Park’s transport hub.

The four buses, which will feature the special livery, are currently being fitted out with

the ground-breaking sensor and control technology, developed and supplied by project lead, Fusion Processing Ltd, that allows them to become computer-driven.

The vehicles are also being put through their paces with an array of virtual and track testing to ensure all systems are functioning as expected before on-road testing begins later this year.

The colours and design were

chosen through consultation with local communities and a decision made to ensure the vehicles stand out on the road. The ‘AB’ logo, stands for autonomous bus and is an icon that Stagecoach hopes to see become a standard identifier of autonomous vehicles in the future.

The design of the livery is intended to ensure that it still feels like a regular bus, and is easily identifiable with the Stagecoach

The colours and design were chosen through consultation with local communities

brand, whilst also acknowledging the array of project partners who are making this world-leading pilot service a reality: Fusion Processing, Alexander Dennis Limited, Transport Scotland, Napier University, Bristol Robotics Lab, University of the West of England, as well the funding partner; the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles.

Fusion Processing CEO Jim Hutchinson said: “We are delighted to be leading on the world’s most complex and ambitious autonomous vehicle programme. CAVForth is an exciting pilot service and a great demonstration of our automated vehicle technology. The vehicles are fitted with CAVstar, our automated driving system which combines our own hardware and software to create, safe, AV Level 4 full sized buses. The buses will be operating on a 28-mile round trip route that includes motorways, single carriageway A-roads, minor roads, bus lanes, roundabouts and junctions with and without traffic lights.

“We believe it will be the most comprehensive autonomous bus demonstration to date.”

DB PARTNERS WITH TECH FIRM

TECH SOLUTION EAST MIDLANDS MONITORS TRACKS INFO UPGRADE

FUTURE ON SHOW AT IT-TRANS 2022

Quantum algorithms to optimise train scheduling

System monitors track condition as train moves

Contract covers four local authorities

Show will take place in Karlsruhe in March

OPTIMISATION

MONITORING

INFORMATION

EVENTS

Deutsche Bahn and tech firm Cambridge Quantum have announced a partnership to explore how quantum computers can improve the rescheduling of rail traffic. It is part of DB’s long term transformative plan, Digitale Schiene Deutschland, to digitise DB’s infrastructure and railway system using next-generation technologies to achieve a higher capacity and optimal utilisation of the rail network.

Edinburgh-based Machines With Vision has teamed up with product development specialists Wideblue to develop new sophisticated technology which helps railways monitor the condition of tracks in a more efficient way. The solution is 100 times more accurate than GPS and can work in difficult environments such as tunnels. It uses train-mounted cameras and sensors to build a map of the ground.

21st Century Passenger Systems, part of Journeo plc, has completed the supply and installation of real time information hardware and software for four local authorities in a multi-million pound contract funded by the Transforming Cities Fund. The four councils, all based in the East Midlands, now have full control of passenger information data and access to enhanced dynamic messaging functionality.

Smart ticketing, smart cities, cybersecurity and Mobility-as-aService: IT-TRANS will address these issues and more from March 8 to 10, 2022. Held for the first time across two halls at the Karlsruhe Trade Fair Centre, IT-TRANS will offer exhibitors and visitors a platform where they can discuss the latest innovations, experience new IT solutions, join conversations and develop new ideas to shape the future of mobility.

www.passengertransport.co.uk

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24/11/2021 15:43

COMMENT INTEGRATED RAIL PLAN

NORMAN BAKER

How Boris scored a £96bn own goal

Unveiled last week, ‘the biggest ever public investment in Britain’s rail network’ was almost universally slated. So what went wrong?

The most striking element of last week’s Integrated Rail Plan was the reception it received. Here was the government committing itself to a huge £96bn investment in rail, in a programme which they accurately termed “the biggest ever public investment in Britain’s rail network”. And it was almost universally slated, particularly by those in the Midlands and the North whom it was most seeking to please and whom it will benefit most.

I can’t think of another example of such an inherently good news story turning into such a public relations disaster.

So what went wrong? The answer lies not in the contents of the plan which, although it has its faults and limitations as discussed below, overall is positive and reasonably coherent.

It is the sort of plan which, had it appeared from nowhere for the first time last week, would have been received with enthusiastic accolades.

No, the explanation lies elsewhere, and specifically at the door of No 10 Downing Street. The chair of the Transport Select Committee, the increasingly impressive Huw Merriman, elegantly captured the mood on the Tory backbenches and in the world beyond.

He observed that the prime minister has been “selling perpetual sunlight and then leaving it to others to explain the arrival of moonlight”.

It is sensible in politics to under-promise and over-deliver. The PM, who has acquired the sardonic nickname of Bertie Booster, has developed a habit of doing the exact opposite.

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He can’t seem to help himself. He wants to deliver good news and be loved. Don’t we all?

But most of us manage to exercise appropriate self-restraint.

Perhaps because he has a notoriously short attention span, he expects others to forget his upbeat promises. And people would have to be very forgetful. As recently as last month’s Tory party conference, he reiterated his commitment to a full Northern Powerhouse Rail, the centrepiece of which, a new high speed line between Leeds and Manchester, has now been chopped.

For Tory MPs, this is just the latest occasion when they have been led up the hill and down again. The publication of the Rail Plan comes hot on the heels of Johnson’s gargantuan unforced error when he clumsily tried to get his chum Owen Paterson off the corruption hook but only succeeded almost overnight in re-attaching the word sleaze to the Tories, causing a damaging by-election, and setting off a feeding frenzy in the media which, three weeks later, shows little sign of abating.

The new Red Wall Tories are incensed

“I can’t think of another example of such an inherently good news story turning into such a public relations disaster”

that they were corralled into a grubby vote to try to save Paterson, only for the PM to do a screeching u-turn less than 24 hours later, and the old guard are furious that they have now had a spotlight shone on their second jobs and may well have to give them up. The arrival of the rail plan, backtracking somewhat on previous promises, was the catalyst to explode in anger.

The Labour opposition called the Plan “the great train robbery” and the tabloids labelled it a “bet-rail”. Under normal circumstances, there is no way those lines would have stuck or indeed even been tried.

Just to remind you, we are talking about £96bn of expenditure. But criticism has latched onto the original price tag of £185bn.

So let’s look at the plan. It is certainly regrettable, and I think a mistake, that the promised high speed line between Manchester and Leeds has been pulled, and this accounts for much of the local anger. It is particularly unfortunate that Bradford, Britain’s seventh largest city, which has poor connectivity to the railway network, will not now get its new station.

Even so, the plan does promise a new journey time of 33 minutes between Leeds and Manchester, down from the present 55, and just 12 minutes between Bradford and Leeds.

As well as Bradford, Leeds is seen as the big loser, not only with the loss of the new Manchester high speed line but also with the decision to turn the eastern leg of HS2 into a stump that ends at East Midlands Parkway.

I note incidentally that Edward Leigh, the Tory MP for Gainsborough, no fan of HS2, described the new arrangement as “a white elephant with a leg missing”. I am not clear if he is in favour or against the amputation.

More seriously, Andrew Adonis, the Labour transport secretary who kicked the whole thing off, suggested the decision to extend HS2 to Manchester but not Leeds means that the “economic geography of England may be seriously deformed” as a result.

There is also a legitimate concern that the continual paring back of HS2 takes it further and further away from the original concept and makes it less and less viable as a result. We have successively lost the link between HS1 and HS2 through or under Camden that would have enabled, for instance, through journeys from Edinburgh to Paris (though I understand www.passengertransport.co.uk

24/11/2021 15:44

“The improvements now unveiled are real ones that are definitely worth having” there is some creaky bit of network north of London that could still allow that), the spur to Heathrow, and now the eastern leg to Leeds.

HS2 has been woefully mismanaged and gone way over budget. There have been far too many unnecessary consultants employed and far too many middle-ranking people paid over £100,000 a year. It is not surprising the Treasury has lost patience.

There is also some validity in the view put forward by the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, that having high speed trains running on conventional lines east of East Midlands Parkway will actually enable a better service for places like Huddersfield and Wakefield than would have been the case under the previous plans.

Leeds itself will benefit in other ways.

There are promised upgrades to the east coast mainline that will knock up to 25 minutes off journey times. If that can be achieved, that is an astonishing gain.

Electrification of the whole Midland Mainline is back on the table, as indeed it should be. This was inserted into Network Rail’s forward plans in about 2011 by Theresa Villiers and myself when we were ministers at the Department for Transport before it was removed by Chris “Failing” Grayling. Overall we are promised 180 miles of new electrified line, including the whole of the TransPennine main line from Manchester to York.

And underplayed but hugely welcome is the commitment to a light rail scheme for Leeds and West Yorkshire, Leeds being the largest city in western Europe without a mass transit system. Here is another stop-go improvement.

It was first promised under Blair’s Labour government, before the plug was pulled on that and all other planned light rail schemes.

Next came a trolleybus scheme which I inherited in 2010 and decided pragmatically to press on with, although it was far from ideal.

After the end of the coalition, that too was pulled. Let’s hope this new scheme sticks.

There is also good news in the plan for freight. Improved gauge clearance on the TransPennine route will for the first time allow shipping containers to move along this route and beyond on rail wagons. Extra tracks will double or even treble capacity along some stretches, allowing space for freight and allowing fast trains to overtake slower ones.

And the electrification plans mean the ability www.passengertransport.co.uk

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Boris Johnson arrives at Huddersfield train station as he tours the North of England to coincide with the announcement of the Integrated Rail Plan

to move freight over much longer distances with electric rather than diesel power.

Of course there are downsides to the Plan.

Besides the loss of new lines across to Bradford and Leeds and the impact on the viability of HS2, there must be a real concern that opting instead for upgrading existing lines will lead to years of disruption and a bonanza for the rail replacement bus industry. The upgrading of the West Coast Main Line under the last Labour government affected services for years and turned out to be very expensive.

The CBI, in an unusually forthright response, said that “areas most sorely in need of development will lose out as a result of the scaled back plans”. In other words, levelling up is being undermined. They also accused the government of moving the goalposts at the eleventh hour. Perhaps this was the explanation for the PM’s own goal? Still, at least the goalposts weren’t moved this time by Owen Paterson’s unhelpful badgers.

Meanwhile the Treasury, which has become increasingly concerned at what it sees as out of control expenditure on rail and which is largely

responsible for the original £185bn scheme being cut back, was genuinely surprised that the £96bn plan landed so badly. I note that the wily chancellor was nowhere to be seen when it came to the unveiling of the plan.

So yes, the plan is a rowing back from Johnson’s original feel-good promises, but the improvements now unveiled are real ones that are definitely worth having. What Network Rail and the rail industry generally now needs to do is deliver these improvements on time and within budget. They have I fear some way to go if we look, for instance, at the runaway costs of HS2 and the £40m to reopen the Okehampton line where the track was already in place and carrying not just freight but until recently also passengers like me on summer Sunday services.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Norman Baker served as transport minister from May 2010 until October 2013. He was Lib Dem MP for Lewes between 1997 and 2015.

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24/11/2021 15:44

COMMENT INTEGRATED RAIL PLAN

JOHN NELSON

Northerners won’t forget IRP u-turn

The reaction in the North to the government’s Integrated Rail Plan could never have been positive given the earlier promises Is Boris Johnson his own worst enemy?

Judging by the adverse reaction to the government’s rail plans for the North of England he almost certainly IS. We have seen enough of Johnson now as prime minister to know that today’s grandiose assertion is tomorrow’s u-turn (sometimes literally the next day and often accompanied by another grandiose statement but of the opposite intent). This trait is now so familiar that it goes way beyond the current controversies surrounding the Integrated Rail Plan (IRP). The man seems temperamentally incapable of not going completely over the top when describing the sunny uplands associated with whatever policy announcement he is making.

Some have described this as “infectious optimism”. To me it looks more like a tendency to flannel; an hyperbolic style of oratory in which he himself gets carried away by the moment or the occasion and in so doing allows himself no future wriggle room when the reality dawns. When it does, he either makes a screeching u-turn or argues that black is white.

Egg on face is increasingly his house style.

In the case of the IRP all the current negativity could have been avoided if Johnson had chosen his words more carefully when heralding the future of rail in the Midlands and North on all those previous occasions he has talked about the subject. It now looks as though promises made are promises broken even though in fact there is much to 18 | 26 November 2021 PT254p18-19.indd 18

welcome in the government’s “plans”, albeit that many of them have been dredged up from those that were previously abandoned - such as the electrification of the Midland Main Line (a Peter Parker policy from the 1970s and abandoned by Chris Grayling); and the previously canvassed but deferred Trans Pennine upgrade.

“It now looks as though promises made are promises broken”

The Integrated Rail Plan has angered the North

The thing with Johnson is that it’s all about politics and he has made the politics of the North a crusade. Having won a majority which is largely dependent on having gained a significant number of post-industrial seats in previously coal mining constituencies, his party’s re-election depends on maintaining support in them whilst not alienating traditional Tory voting constituencies in the shires, especially in the Home Counties.

If he can’t retain the so called “red wall” seats his majority looks a lot more vulnerable, especially if at the same time he alienates Tory voters elsewhere, such as in the Amersham & Chesham by-election held earlier this year in which a rock solid Tory majority was massively overturned and the Liberal Democrats took the seat.

So you would think that the politics of IRP would demand a positive reaction in the North.

Yet the big announcement has done worse than fall flat. Let’s take Yorkshire as an example.

As a long term resident of the White Rose County I have watched regional news programmes night after night home in on what they perceive to be an unfairness in the distribution of the spoils as between north and south, none more so than in the case of per capita spending on transport. And the reaction of most commentators in the North to the IRP has been hostile, bordering on the vituperative.

I can see why. Leeds - the “capital” of Yorkshire - emerges from the IRP with a very uncertain prognosis. Forget the small print about upgrading the East Coast Main Line.

Leeds looks like coming out of this with substantially worse journey times when compared with Manchester and with its neighbouring rival, Sheffield. It even looks possible that someone travelling from London to Leeds will be able to complete the journey quicker by travelling via Manchester or Sheffield.

What about the forgotten communities of Bradford and North Humberside? All that Bradford is being offered is a slightly faster journey time to Leeds when it had been led to expect a High Speed link of its own across the Pennines. If this was never likely to happen why was it even canvassed as a possibility?

And as for Hull it seems that electrification options are to be considered - a full decade after a private scheme in which I was involved as a director of Hull Trains was essentially www.passengertransport.co.uk

24/11/2021 15:44

“All that most people pick up is that ‘Manchester is going ahead but Leeds is not’ - and it makes them not merely disillusioned but angry” vetoed by Network Rail. I have to say that the marginalisation of places like Bradford and greater Hull (both with populations over 500,000) is typical of a view of the North as formulated in the South.

The politics of the North is about the politics of relative self perception and the vast majority of northerners perceive themselves to be badly used and by most measures they are; hence the levelling up mantra from the government. Unfortunately the perception of Yorkshire folk is that they have been short changed for too long and the reality of the IRP is that this feeling is now likely to be magnified rather than mollified. The “road to Hell” and all that…

Politically this matters because views of political parties in the run up to elections count for much more at the ballot box than the future scenarios the politicians themselves

www.passengertransport.co.uk

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may choose to paint. So no-one is really listening when government spokespeople (notably Johnson and his transport secretary, Grant Shapps) talk about how their modified plans will actually bring benefits earlier than the schemes that they were perceived to have made previously (and recently). Such statements have been received with a huge dose of scepticism. All that most people pick up is that “Manchester is going ahead but Leeds is not” - and it makes them not merely disillusioned but angry.

My personal view on HS2 was always sceptical. My money would have gone first and foremost on the Trans Pennine High Speed link - Johnson’s so-called “CrossRail of the North”. But the government , having made HS2 its priority should have delivered it not just all the way into Manchester but into the centre of Leeds too.

The reaction to the government’s plans for the North could never have been positive given the earlier statements and promises that had been made. Johnson and his crew will probably feel that the response is unfair; that in truth the plans do herald substantial improvements to the transport infrastructure of the North. Just as the PM’s attention span seems to be short when it comes to individual and often complicated issues of policy - then sadly for him so does the attention span of his audience, the electorate. There comes a point when the grandiose and the optimistic portrayal of policy is greeted with a raspberry so loud that it drowns out everything else.

That point may now have been reached.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR John Nelson held a number of senior positions with British Rail, including chief executive of Network South East. After leaving British Rail in 1997 to set up his own businesses, he founded open access operator Hull Trains and consultancy First Class Partnerships.

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COMMENT LEADERSHIP

ALEX WARNER

Reid’s career offers us lessons for today

With our industry transitioning back to a more centralised set-up, George Muir’s book on Sir Robert Reid is essential reading ‘There’s just not the characters left in the game anymore’ is a phrase oft-used to describe a less interesting sporting landscape and it’s a comment that could be levied about the rail sector. You see far fewer influential big personalities today. The sector is still fragmented and each role has less accountability and scale than in previous eras; and a stranglehold the Department for Transport has on decision making and spend in these post-Covid times.

The demise of ‘characters’ really feels palpable on reading George Muir’s excellent book, Bob Reid’s Railway Revolution, which charts the life, times and impact of British Rail’s CEO from 1980 and then chairman between 1983 and 1990.

Born in Sevenoaks, scholared at Oxford University, Reid was a member of the 8th Royal Tank Regiment and was captured in Libya in 1941, becoming a prisoner of war, in Italy and Germany before joining the railway (LNER) aged 26 in 1947. Rising up the ladder at a modest pace, from traffic apprentice, through to head of the rates and freight development in the divisional goods manager’s office in Leeds, and after jobs in Glasgow, he became deputy general manager at York. Then, the big jump, general manager Southern Region, and at 59 he was the chief executive of British Rail.

George Muir’s incredibly detailed study of Reid is captivating by the couching of his analysis within the wider social and economic landscape which was, looking back, 20 | 26 November 2021 PT254p20-21.indd 20

tumultuous and certainly worthy of reflection by comparison to today. He charts the early years of nationalisation in which swathes of the network - the branch lines and commuter services - were grossly unprofitable and only really InterCity and train-load freight threatened to stack up financially, and where ineffective management reigned. As Reid’s career progressed, it was against a backdrop of the closures conspired by Beeching, followed

George Muir’s book is an incredibly detailed study

by the emergence of modern management concepts, but progress stalled. And then, as Muir describes it, during the tenures of Peter Parker and then Reid in the 80s, there was “a revolution in thinking”.

Reflecting on Reid is prescient as we now move towards a not entirely dissimilar centralised and increasingly nationalised set-up.

He was a heavyweight individual, strongwilled, prone to picking arguments to deliberately make a point to wider audiences (then apologising afterwards), not huge on detail but big on preparation. He also cared deeply about the railway and public service.

Reid also had incredible presence and gravitas.

Talking to many within the industry currently, decision making has never been slower and spans of authority so tight that many senior leaders are paralysed and their creative juices extinguished. Sapped of clout, shorn of the ability to be entrepreneurial and genuinely innovative, today’s leaders are credible but don’t have the encouragement or stage to have the presence and commanding influence that made Reid the man he was.

Reid’s achievements should not be underestimated. Sectorisation was created, bringing with it clarity of responsibility and accountability, never seen since, with each region a fully integrated profit centre. It was created and implemented in just over two years and general managers had the autonomy to design and implement the structure within their sector that they thought best served the market. Reid presided over a 50% reduction in public subsidy in the seven years to his departure in 1990, a turnround on InterCity from a £200m loss to £57m profit, reduced losses on Network South East before grant by 50% and achieved unprecedented financial performance on freight, alongside doubling of parcels revenue at Red Star. Productivity rose with ‘train miles per member of staff’ up 26% and ‘per crew member’ by 33%, with operating expenses per mile down 14%.

Under his watch, Reid initiated the Networker project which led to the wholesale replacement of slam-door stock across the majority of the railway within three years, albeit these were not totally extinct until the mid-noughties. He also created and delivered the Network South East brand - a proposition that had the biggest and most visible impact on customers, certainly in my lifetime. These www.passengertransport.co.uk

24/11/2021 15:45

“Real characters may just be encouraged to emerge and flourish” successes should not be underestimated in terms of scale, size and their pace of implementation, nor should his achievement of introducing a focus on product and customer service, notwithstanding that this might not sound revolutionary in our era, where rhetoric around ‘customer’ dominates. This was big stuff back in the ‘70s and ‘80s when the ‘service sector’ was an anathema concept in life more generally, let alone the railways.

Reid’s achievements are worth even more, if we consider the context within which he had to manage. Trade union activism was at its peak in rail. Disputes between 1981 and 1982, followed a loss of £77m in 1980 and £174m two years later. The railway could have been the battleground for wider militancy which would manifest itself in the violent miners’ strike of 1984. That it escaped being caught in the crossfire of this dispute was an achievement of Reid’s in itself. The guards’ strike of 1985 was relatively well contained within the context of a nation which, as Muir reports, was widely seen to be on the verge of civil war. From industrial disputes to football hooliganism, inner city riots on a scale never seen before, through to sectarian violence, which, in the case of the IRA’s mainland campaigns habitually disrupted the railway, this was a country in the throes of deep malaise and conflict. Although the economic recession gave way by the late 1980s to greater prosperity, the Poll Tax riots in the year of Reid’s retirement, were a bloody climax to an era of dispute and hostility.

Talking to those who worked under Reid’s tenure, there is a sense that it was a good time to be working on the railway, notwithstanding some of the challenges. Certainly, household names, in terms of the history of the railway, were spawned - John Nelson, Chris Green, Chris Stokes, Peter Field, Cyril Bleasdale, Richard Golson, to name but a few. These individuals benefited from working for a single organisation, integrated and accountable for all aspects of the railway, with strong, clear leadership, clarity around structure, with the freedom to make market-led decisions affecting their area of responsibility. In this way, the creation of Great British Railways should offer some comfort that some of these benefits enjoyed by those under Reid may return.

These individuals who benefited from Reid’s tutelage and leadership might not be household names, but they are well known to www.passengertransport.co.uk

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Sir Robert Reid

many in the industry and they did leave their mark across generations.

Who might we be looking back on in the future? Part of the problem is that those who we might consider as big in the sector - the TOC and Network Rail regional managing directors are important, but the span of their control is a fraction of what those working under Reid had in an integrated set-up. At least those in charge of regions at Network Rail feel that the new structure will make them ‘front and centre’. But the poor TOC managing directors have been reduced almost to departmental or depot managers and they are talked down to by others in the industry as though they are peripheral. They are the innovators, the customer-focused entrepreneurs and yet they can only dream of being given the recognition and respect that Reid and his team enjoyed.

Muir’s book is far from borne of nostalgic reverie and is very objective, despite his clear fascination with the finer detail of Reid’s roots and career. After all, Muir was a bit of a ‘Johnny come-lately’ in the rail industry. An apprentice engineer in whaling ships he also spent 30 years at Morgan Grenfell. He didn’t join the sector until well into his 50s as managing director of the newly privatised Connex South Eastern, before becoming Director General of Association of Train Operating Companies a couple of years later. George admits he had no real qualifications for the role at Connex.

Unlike others from that era, Muir doesn’t,

as I feared he might, airbrush or canter over the poor safety record during Reid’s tenure - a reason why I struggle to look back on that period as one which should be lionised. “Bob’s management saw no improvement in safety ... the accident rate was five times higher than it is today,” remarks Muir. I recall one mishap after another, minor collisions or derailments, through to tragic deaths of track workers (16 in 1987/88) and then, of course, the major fatalities at Clapham and Purley in the space of four months in 1988/9. One such crash not many months after Reid had left was at Cannon Street. I was a passenger and this was, in my view, the denouement of 15 years of substandard and shoddy approaches to health and safety, including a drink culture that was well known to those in the industry and even revered by many.

That this was a period of transition between old and new technology, not just in rail but elsewhere, was no excuse for the negligence in terms of safety culture and practices, which the disaster at Clapham laid bare to all.

It was indeed another world back then and I wonder what Reid would make of the fragmented railway that has prevailed since his death, which sadly came just two years after his retirement. How he would have recoiled at the dilution of individual responsibility or of the disagreements around delay attribution, or of the railway’s post-Hatfield approach to speed restrictions that brought the industry to its knees, or of a Railtrack top team with little, if any railway experience. I bet Bob Reid would wince at the frequency of today’s self-congratulatory awards nights and how curious he would be to hear all this talk around ‘collaboration’ - I imagine he’d be saying ‘just get on and do it’ and take for granted that everyone would be working together for the greater good.

Muir’s book really is essential reading, not just from a rail perspective but as an account of a tempestuous period in wider UK society and in the context of our transitioning back to a more centralised industry set-up - an era when real characters may just be encouraged to emerge and flourish. We shall see.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Alex Warner has over 28 years’ experience in the transport sector, having held senior roles on a multi-modal basis across the sector

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COMMENT CLIMATE CRISIS

NICK RICHARDSON

Transport policy can’t go both ways

Despite positive noises from both the recent COP26 climate summit and the government, we still can’t commit to change COP26 has been and gone with most commentators trying to make it look productive while others, corralled by Greta Thunberg, proclaim it as more greenwash. The UK government’s position is hardly smelling of roses - we have the prime minister pretending to be a convert to environmental salvation but actually doing the opposite with government policies that directly oppose climate change initiatives. As usual, doing the right thing is diluted to please those who might otherwise have to change their lifestyles. Transport is a major consumer of resources and a major polluter. Big responses are needed.

Flying and driving The problems are well-rehearsed so for transport, there is not much that should be arguable. Aviation remains a problem until someone finds a way of flying that doesn’t guzzle vast quantities of liquid fuel. Promoting airports as ‘sustainable’ is greenwash at its best. Chartering a private jet to get to a meeting about climate change defeats the object but worse than that, sets a terrible example, comforting those who think that global challenges are a problem for everyone other than themselves. Stupidly low fares like European destinations for £4.99 have to stop.

Conveniently, neither aviation or maritime activities count in national emission figures and are tied down in complex agreements so that they can’t be undone unilaterally. However, tax on domestic flights has been reduced for 22 | 26 November 2021 PT254p22-23.indd 22

reasons that elude common sense. Next on the list we have road traffic with the happy shadow of electrification, rather overlooking the fact that this is neither achievable or desirable.

Promoting personal transport over mass transit isn’t helpful when we are fully aware of the consequences of congestion. The problem with electrification is how the power is generated - electricity can be derived from renewable sources but much of it isn’t. Just because it has no emissions at point of use doesn’t mean that it’s green. Finding subsidies for (generally wealthier) people to buy electric cars and then not pay vehicle excise duty is twisted logic.

However, these are likely to be the same people who subscribe to the view that offsetting is a means of reducing carbon.

We need to talk about road charging Most people who understand transport planning know that road user charging is inevitable. We can argue about who it should apply to and how much it should cost, the effects on rural communities, exemptions for passenger transport and goods vehicles and so on but it is a relatively fair and transparent means of managing demand and generating revenue. We have the technology so the excuses should be going cold. However, they don’t because apparently the electorate is frightened of change, although we have all found out that a low tax administration means putting up taxes. We should be planning for road user charging to be introduced in as painless a way as possible then cranking it up as circumstances change. We know that increased fossil fuel prices don’t affect demand to any great extent and if people have cars of whatever means of propulsion, they will use them. The chancellor’s repeated decision to freeze fuel taxes contrasts uncomfortably with the pledges to reduce emissions. On top of this, having a massive road construction promise simply fuels the problem. The approach should not focus on what might be popular but what will actually deliver some progress towards Net Zero.

Policies at all levels talk about dealing with levels of traffic congestion and poor air quality. Ignoring the means of delivering against these policies is crass. We discover that it isn’t restricted to transport either with horrifying amounts of untreated sewage being pumped into waterways and the sea with coordinated attempts to somehow make out that it shouldn’t be curtailed. My MP wrote to constituents to explain that her voting against restrictions was somehow a good idea.

If we can’t even deal with raw sewage, then reforming transport is some way off.

Converting politicians

Stupidly low fares like European destinations for £4.99 have to stop

These policies pervade every level of government, the most recent example being Bus Service Improvement Plans.

Government guidance outlines bold and ambitious aspirations which the policies of all local transport authorities reflect. In practice, actually delivering change will be messy and adversarial. Anyone who has had to deal with road schemes will know that removing on-street parking is an affront to www.passengertransport.co.uk

24/11/2021 16:06

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civilised society and if this is to make buses run better, then it makes it even worse. Policies promoting public transport only apply to the minority it seems. In the background, we have bigger and uglier cars swallowing up the emission savings made by others, blighting the prospect of a brighter future.

The ultimate contradiction is free parking for shoppers at this time of year when demand is at its highest. What this means is that the car park owners lose revenue, car-based shopping is promoted and urban centres become unattractive because they are too congested. This flies in the face of economic reason and common sense but imagine if parking charges continue as usual and all the local buses were free to use, funded by the local authority. No council really wants to do it even if it helps their local economy and suppresses traffic. Policy goes one way and reality goes completely in the opposite direction. Unfortunately buses come off worse because they get stuck in this traffic caused by the highway authority.

Similar stupidity applies to hospital parking.

I approached one hospital who had parking problems to see how better bus services would help only to discover that the revenue they obtained from parking didn’t cover the maintenance cost of the car parks. In other words, the deficiency was covered by the patient care budget. When I mentioned park and ride, I was told that funding it would be unacceptable because it would reduce the patient care budget. I even borrowed a bus to prove that it could stop right next to the hospital entrance but that wasn’t enough.

Confused? This is how policies apply selectively and in isolation of everything else.

There will be people for whom a discounted arrangement would be appropriate and this can be built into any form of charging but the core principles remain.

Another authority wanted advice on parking for which there was the opportunity for a park and ride solution at no cost or risk to the council (being proposed by a bus operator) but they couldn’t bring themselves to support it.

Instead they wanted to hold on to the prospect of a new multi-storey car park which would have bankrupted them. Also, they decided that a 10p an hour increase in parking charges would somehow destroy the local economy.

For a historic city to adopt this position was www.passengertransport.co.uk

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I discovered at one hospital the parking revenue didn’t cover the maintenance cost of the car parks

“Highway authorities have a tendency to love their car parks” denial of reality. To ignore problems on the grounds they might be taken away by some supernatural power is negligent.

Local solutions For passenger transport to recover from the recent pandemic and associated government effects, then thinking really has to change.

This shouldn’t be difficult because all the policies are in place already; the problem persists because some of those elected to represent the population substitute their own ideas. This will be the biggest challenge to delivering Enhanced Partnerships to promote bus use because highway authorities have a tendency to love their car parks and can’t possibly understand why taking road space away from cars makes more efficient use of the

capacity available. It is becoming clear that improvements for buses cannot be provided on the scale required so intervention by central government may be needed. If an authority decides that bus priority measures should not be introduced, then there should be pressure for them to do so. This is not antidemocratic, it is effective devolution which seems to be in vogue in some places but not others. Many of the solutions to transport problems lie locally, so if central government really believes in devolution, then transport needs to be a big part of it with funding support as required.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Nick Richardson is Technical Principal at transport consultancy Mott MacDonald, chair of CILT’s Bus and Coach Policy Group and a former chair of the Transport Planning Society. In addition, he has held a PCV licence for over 30 years.

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“You can hardly say that general aviation is a central aspect of aviation policy, or transport policy”

GREAT MINSTER GRUMBLES

‘Biggles’ takes flak over general aviation Our Whitehall insider imagines what’s going on inside the minds of the mandarins at Great Minster House, home of the DfT

It was always going to be the case that when our Integrated Rail Plan was published we wouldn’t please everyone, and so it’s proved.

But I can’t help feeling that those MPs and councillors who have complained bitterly about the cutbacks that have been made to HS2 are being a touch ungrateful. The reality is that the best part of £100bn is still being spent on rail improvements in the North and the Midlands which, it should be pointed out, is the amount that HS2 was telling us a year or so ago would be the whole cost of HS2 in the first place.

In terms of actual cash, we are still investing pretty much the same amount that we would have spent on HS2 anyway. Of course, a goodly proportion of the money now being spent on these rail upgrades is not entirely new money, but I think the point holds good.

I also recognise that everybody knew that the final price tag for the full HS2 was going to be much higher than £100bn so in that context we are making cuts. But if you look at it in terms of pure cash, you could argue that we have barely cut anything at all based on current budgets for the project. The money is just being spent differently - and, arguably, more wisely. The benefits will also come on stream more quickly. What’s not to like about that? Still, when it comes to politics, I guess we shouldn’t expect MPs to think rationally!

But I want to turn my mind to something else, especially for those who might have missed the report in The Sunday Times on November 14 on the behaviour of our very www.passengertransport.co.uk

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own secretary of state, Grant Shapps. Regular readers may recall that in my column back in October 2019 (PT219) I mentioned that Shapps is a trained pilot with his own plane, is a big enthusiast of general aviation, and that there were concerns that he spent a disproportionate amount of his time on this subject. This passion earned him a nickname here in Great Minster House - “Biggles”.

So, it’s now alleged that such is his love of general aviation that he has arranged funding to support a dedicated Airfield Advisory Team with the specific remit of advising general aviation interests how to oppose the government’s own housing plans where

COMMENT

developments would take place on airfields.

This same advisory team is also reported to be opposing plans for a new battery gigafactory on Coventry airport, which has been praised by none other than the prime minister.

As part of its commitment to tackling climate change the government has long been seeking to phase out a highly dangerous and toxic substance, tetraethyllead, which forms part of the fuel used in general aviation aircraft.

When approached by the largest group which represents general aviation - aircraft owners and pilots - with a request to extend a transition period before this substance was banned, Shapps intervened, and regulators have now confirmed this substance will not be placed on a list of “very high concern”.

Now, technically speaking Shapps might not have broken any rules. But don’t you think it’s extraordinary that a secretary of state, whoever he or she may be, should spend taxpayers’ money to arrange for a team of experts to provide advice to an industry (general aviation in this case) in order to oppose government policy? Shapps is passionate about general aviation, which is fine. But it’s hard not to conclude that he has allowed his own interests to directly influence and shape his thinking, to impair his judgement and to directly impact on government policy, arguably in a negative way.

He should have passed all aspects of general aviation to one of his ministers and completely taken himself out of the loop. Actually I think there is a rule which says that ministers must remove themselves from policies and decisions where they have a direct personal interest in the issues - as our secretary of state does in the case of general aviation. How this has been allowed to happen I have absolutely no idea and it’s a touch odd that our permanent secretary or the cabinet secretary did not intervene to stop it.

What’s worse is that you can hardly say that general aviation is a central aspect of aviation policy, or transport policy generally for that matter. That will doubtless get under the skin of general aviation enthusiasts! It’s a perfectly respectable activity and I am sure in some way or another does make some kind of contribution to society and the economy - although it is primarily a hobby, isn’t it? But for a secretary of state to allow his passion for general aviation to oppose important aspects of other government policy agendas is plain wrong in my view. Over and out!

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CAREERS

Roberts named as 2022 CPT president McGill’s chief exec will take over as trade body’s president APPOINTMENTS

The Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT) has announced that Ralph Roberts, chief executive of growing Scottish independent bus operator McGill’s, will become the organisation’s new president at the end of January 2022. He will succeed Blackpool Transport managing director Jane Cole in the role.

Roberts will bring to the role over 40 years of knowledge of the transport sector. He has spent the past 12 years leading McGill’s where he is responsible for Scotland’s largest zero emission bus fleet and leading a workforce

STAGECOACH BOSS TO RETIRE Michelle Hargreaves to retire after 35 years PEOPLE

Stagecoach has announced Michelle Hargreaves, the group’s regional director for the north, will retire next summer after a 35-year career.

Hargreaves has become a highly respected figure in the bus industry since she started her career with Stagecoach in 1987 as a cash clerk in Blackburn. She subsequently held a number of managerial positions before taking her first managing director role at Stagecoach South West in 2008.

During her time with the group, Hargreaves has also held the positions of managing director in the East Midlands and in the East 26 | 26 November 2021 PT254p26-27.indd 26

of 1,500 employees.

“I’d like to thank Jane for her dedication and hard work, which I know will continue through to the end of her presidency,” said Graham Vidler, CPT chief executive. “Her leadership as president has been invaluable as CPT members have worked to

Ralph Roberts

of England before moving into her current role as regional director with responsibility for Stagecoach’s bus and tram operations in the north of England. She has also worked as part of the business change team, focusing on developing a strategy around people development and employee wellbeing.

Stagecoach says Hargreaves has been an inspiration for women across the group. In 2017 she won the FTA Everywoman Transport Passenger Leader Award. She was also recognised as one of the top female role models when she was named on the Northern Power Women Power List 2020.

Hargreaves says some of her fondest memories include setting up Stagecoach’s Route 192 service in Manchester in the early 1990s. Along with her commercial colleagues, she

GWR HR BOSS WINS AWARD

Ruth Busby named as HR Director of the Year AWARDS

agree the strategic priorities of the organisation for the years ahead.

“I’m delighted to once again welcome Ralph to the CPT team having twice previously been chair of CPT Scotland.

His extensive experience in the transport industry will be a huge asset to CPT.” Commenting on his appointment, Roberts praised Cole’s tenure as president. He continued: “I’m looking forward to getting to know CPT members across the country, especially those outside of Scotland, to help them to get the most out of their membership.”

Cole will remain president until CPT’s council meeting on January 27 and will deliver the closing remarks at CPT’s Bus and Coach Conference in January.

Great Western Railway’s Ruth Busby has been named HR Director of the Year at the Personnel Today Awards 2021.

Busby was praised by judges for the way in which the rail operator’s human resources department helped lead colleagues through the Covid-19 pandemic. She was chosen from a shortlist of seven and received her prize at a special ceremony at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel.

Commenting on her win, Busby said:“It was incredibly humbling that my fabulous team took the time to nominate me. It is even more incredible to have won the award.”

Mark Hopwood , GWR’s managing director said Busby’s award was a “fantastic achievement”. “Railway people winning national awards against competition from other sectors is great,” he added.

put the wheels in motion, recruiting all the staff and launching the service from the Ford Car Centre at Bredbury.

While that operation passed on to the then EYMS Group-owned Finglands bus business in 1995 as a prelude to Stagecoach’s eventual purchase of GM Buses South in early 1996, the route is now one of the

busiest in Britain.

Commenting on her forthcoming retirement, Hargreaves said: “I vividly remember at my first interview being told they weren’t looking for a woman and I was determined to prove them wrong! I’m very proud of the career I’ve had with Stagecoach, and have been given some fantastic opportunities - including the highlight of learning to drive bus and automatically getting a car licence, with licencing laws being very different in the late 80s.

“It’s now the right time for me to move on to the next phase and I’m looking forward to spending more time with my husband and enjoying my retirement.”

Stagecoach says the recruitment process is currently underway for a new regional director north to succeed Hargreaves.

Michelle Hargreaves

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DIVERSIONS STAGECOACH STARS SAVE LIVES

Bus drivers hit the streets for hospice Intrepid duo complete gruelling challenge Pats on the back to bus driving duo Mark Temple and Guy Powell who swapped their driving cabs for the open road to fundraise for an Oxford charity.

The Oxford Bus Company drivers cycled, ran and walked a huge 54 miles from Warwick Castle to Oxford Castle in support of the Sobell House Hospice. And as if that wasn’t enough, they then completed a half marathon around the usual Oxford half marathon

TheDIY SOS: Big Build team

NETWORK RAIL’S BIG BUILD HELP

Five railway workers based in York and Leeds have volunteered their time to build new facilities for St Michael’s Youth Project in Hull as part of the BBC’s DIY

They probably need a nice sit down after that!

course after arriving in Oxford.

The gruelling activity raised £945 for the charity, which will be matchfunded by Oxford Bus Company to take the total to a fantastic £1,890!

Well done to all concerned!

SOS: The Big Build programme for Children in Need.

The special programme saw the DIY: SOS team coordinate over 120 volunteers a day to create a new adventure playground for St Michael’s Youth Project which receives funding from Children in Need.

Taking part in the project were Ashley Frankland, Gary Fairbank, Alan Hartley, Steve Tudor, Connor Walker and Dan Barnett who all work for Network Rail’s buildings team. The five colleagues volunteered their time to get

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Stagecoach Manchester has paid tribute to two bus inspectors who heroically saved the lives of two passengers in two separate incidents.

Steven Delaney and Darren Gould went to the aid of two passengers at Ashton Interchange and Manchester Piccadilly who were suddenly taken ill. In both cases the inspectors gave immediate first aid with Darren even performing life-saving CPR. Their efforts have been rewarded with both Steven and Darren awarded the accolade of Star of the Month at the operator - well done!

involved in the project, which saw an empty field transformed into a purpose-built camping facility.

Network Rail also donated 100 spare railway sleepers to support the construction of an outdoor kitchen, nature classroom, toilet and shower block, bird watching tower, a landscaped firepit area with pizza oven and storage for bikes and camping equipment.

“I have family ties in this area, so it was great to be able to get hands on and contribute to a project which will make a real difference,” said Frankland.

The ‘dragon’s teeth’ have been restored

TO STOP THEM IN THEIR TRACKS Local people and railway workers in Liverpool have unveiled a World War II memorial made from forgotten anti-tank blocks known as ‘dragon’s teeth’ which were uncovered during routine bridge maintenance work.

Network Rail staff found the concrete fortifications, which were laid in June 1940 as part of the Mersey Garrison Defence scheme, during recent work.

The devices were installed across Europe and aimed to stop invading tanks in their tracks by creating a major road block.

Now they have been spruced up and a special plaque telling their story has been installed.

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