Passenger Transport: December 10, 2021

ISSUE 255 10 DECEMBER 2021

NEWS, VIEWS AND ANALYSIS FOR A SECTOR ON THE MOVE

National Bus Strategy has £5bn funding gap

The government’s spending review offered £2.1bn to improve bus services in England but Bus Service Improvement Plans have requested £7.2bn The funds made available by the government to transform bus services fall drastically short of what is required to deliver the aspirations of the National Bus Strategy for England, the Confederation of Passenger Transport has warned.

The spending review announced by the government last month contained funding commitments of around £2.1bn for buses.

This included £1.2bn for Bus Service Improvement Plans (BSIPs), £355m for zero emission buses and potentially around £500-600m for improved bus services as part of city region sustainable transport settlements.

However, CPT’s analysis of all

BSIPs which had funding totals included (40 out of 79) in publicly available documents found that this funding was less than a third of what will be required to fulfil these plans. The 40 Bus Service Improvement Plans, which cover 71% of passenger journeys by bus outside of London, require total funding of £7.2bn - leaving a funding gap of more than £5bn.

“The vision of the National Bus Strategy was rightly much greater” Graham Vidler

“The National Bus Strategy challenged local authorities and bus operators to set out jointly how they would transform bus services. They have risen to this challenge and produced ambitious plans right across the country,” commented CPT chief executive Graham Vidler.

“The scale of this ambition will not be met though with the funds that were announced at the Spending Review. Current funding is likely to be able to transform bus services in only a small number of places, including our major cities, but the vision of the National Bus Strategy was rightly much greater.”

TURN TO PAGE 09

SUITS YOU, SANTA! Brighton & Hove Buses has made what is (probably) the world’s first Santa suit out of moquette, the hard-wearing fabric used to make bus seats. Santa Bobby Boyjonauth (pictured) is wearing the customised suit on the bus company’s Santa Bus, which visits more than 200 streets across 19 nights in the lead up to Christmas. It was made at the bus company’s Conway Street Trim Shop, where Bobby works. “Anyone can buy a Santa suit but not many people make their own,” said Bobby.

PT255p01.indd 1

NEWS

Hendy review makes case for investment

05

Union Connectivity Review concludes

NEWS

England is transport policy ‘outlier’

11

Welsh minister sees divergence of views

COMMENT

What are we doing to tackle racism?

18

Alex Warner asks us to look in the mirror

COMMENT

Devolution hits the buffers in the North

25

A row that could have been avoided?

CHRISTMAS BREAK Passenger Transport is taking an extended Christmas break. The next edition of the magazine will come out on January 14. Season’s greetings to all our readers!

08/12/2021 17:41

PT255p02.indd 2

08/12/2021 15:03

CONTENTS

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

IN THIS ISSUE Will BSIP funding match 20 bus strategy’s ambition?

CLEARING THE SMOKE ABOUT TRAVEL CHOICES

From the moment the government published the National Bus Strategy for England last March there have been doubts about whether the money would be available to match the aspirations.

Buses were promised £3bn over the life of this Robert Jack parliament, although last month’s spending review Managing Editor has committed around £2.1bn. The problem is that the Bus Service Improvement Plans drawn up by local authorities and their bus operators will require well over £7.2bn to deliver in full.

They were told to be ambitious and they have been.

It seems that many parts of England are likely to be left disappointed. The ambitious plans that they sweated over to meet the challenging October 31 deadline will be left on the shelf. Better luck next time, they will be told. There are similarities with the scaling back of previous commitments to build new railways in the North of England, in order to match the funds available. Last month’s £96bn Integrated Rail Plan might have received a warm welcome if it had been a starting point rather than a confirmation of broken promises. There may be a similar feeling of anti-climax when the BSIP winners (and losers) are announced in the new year.

The smart money appears to be on the government focussing the money that is available on transforming buses in England’s largest cities, and that will be a great legacy. But the opportunity to achieve so much more is available if the government can find the resources.

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):

020 3950 8000 EDITORIAL editorial@passengertransport.co.uk ADVERTISING ads@passengertransport.co.uk SUBSCRIPTIONS subs@passengertransport.co.uk ACCOUNTS accounts@passengertransport.co.uk Passenger Transport is only available by subscription. Subscription rates per year; UK £140 (despatch by Royal Mail post); Europe/Eire £220; Worldwide (airmail) £280 The editor welcomes written contributions and photographs, which should be sent to the above

www.passengertransport.co.uk

PT255p03.indd 2

address. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part without the publisher’s written permission.

Printed by Cambrian Printers Ltd, The Pensord Group, Tram Road, Pontllanfraith, Blackwood, NP12 2YA © Passenger Transport Publishing Ltd 2021 ISSN 2046-3278 SUBSCRIPTIONS HOTLINE 020 3950 8000

14 years ago smoking was banned in indoor workplaces and what was once unthinkable became reality.

Can we do it for transport? “There is certainly a groundswell in demand for environmental change that can’t be ignored,” says Louise Coward.

ORGANISATION

PAGE

Alexander Dennis Alpine Travel Arriva Arriva London Arriva Madrid CAF Cardiff Council Chiltern Railways CPT (UK) Edwards Coaches Go-Ahead London Great Northern London Underground MacPhails Coaches Mellor Midland Metro Ltd National Express Group Nexus Office of Rail and Road Oxford Bus Company Oxfordshire County Council RATP Dev London Ryze Stadler Stagecoach Group Stagecoach Oxford Stagecoach South Wales Thameslink Thames Travel Transport for London Transport for the North Transport for Wales Tyne and Wear Metro UrbanThings Urban Transport Group West Midlands CA Yutong Pelican Zemo Partnership

13 13 5, 8 7 13 4 10 5 1, 9, 13 10 7 15 7 13 8 4 4, 8 4 9 6 6 7 13 4, 11 8 6 10 15 6 7 13 10, 11 4 15 11 4 13 13

16

WATERS ISN’T WILLING TO GO WITH THE FLOW

22

A FRESH START FOR CORNISH TRANSPORT?

24

HOW BAD WAS TANKER DRIVER SHORTAGE?

Lee Waters, the deputy minister for climate change in Wales, is supporting bold changes rather than ‘responsible’ inertia. “Small countries can do big things on transport - look at the public transport paradise of Switzerland,” says Jonathan Bray.

With Transport for Cornwall there’s a new identity to front a fresh approach to public transport provision - how is it doing? “It seems that Transport for Cornwall is getting a grip on coordinated services but it could be better still,” writes Nick Richardson.

Never in recent memory has there been a tanker driver shortage in the UK, but that has changed.

What impact has it been having?

“Tanker drivers are the doyen of drivers, the crème de la crème,” writes James Spencer.

REGULARS NEWS ENVIRONMENT INNOVATION & TECH COMMENT GRUMBLES CAREERS DIVERSIONS

04 13 15 16 25 26 28

10 December 2021 | 03

08/12/2021 17:57

NEWS ROUND-UP

Street orders West Midlands Metro probe Move follows four-week suspension of light rail network SAFETY

Andy Street, the mayor of the West Midlands, has ordered an independent review to be launched that will scrutinise how the West Midlands Metro is run. It follows the complete suspension of services on the system last month after more cracks were found on the system’s CAF Urbos 3 tram fleet.

It is the second suspension after cracks were first discovered on the fleet in June when all 21 trams were removed from service for emergency inspections and temporary repair work.

However, further inspections have found the cracks to be more extensive and that emergency repair work is required. Services were abruptly suspended on November 13 as a result, to allow the work to be undertaken across

PROGRESS FOR NEW METRO FLEET First bodyshell for Tyne and Wear Metro revealed INVESTMENT

Swiss rolling stock manufacturer Stadler has unveiled the first bodyshell for the Tyne and Wear Metro’s new £362m train fleet.

Operator Nexus said completion of the bodyshell was a significant moment for the project which will see the first of 46 new trains delivered in late 2022. They will enter service from 2023.

“Completing the first bodyshell is a highly symbolic landmark in 04 | 10 December 2021 PT255p04-05.indd 4

21 CAF Urbos3 trams are affected

the fleet.

The first of the CAF Urbos 3 fleet entered service in 2014, replacing the unreliable AnsaldoBreda T-69 fleet which had operated services since the system first opened in 1999. A further 21 trams are on order from CAF to cater for expansion of the West Midlands Metro. Options are held on a further 21 trams.

Midland Metro Ltd (MML), a company wholly-owned by the West Midlands Combined Authority, has operated the

the manufacturing process, and an outward sign that the vehicles are really beginning to take shape,” said Adrian Wetter, Stadler project manager. “We look forward to lots more [being] produced over the months ahead.”

As well as building and delivering 46 new trains for the Tyne and Wear Metro, Stadler will also take responsibility for building replacement depot facilities and for maintaining the new fleet.

“We are at the business end of an exciting project that is going to transform the Tyne and Wear Metro,” said Michael Richardson, head of fleet and depot replacement.

system since October 2018 when the previous concession arrangement with National Express Group ended. MML said the decision to suspend services had been taken in order “to ensure the future safety of our customers and colleagues”.

The mayor visited the West Midlands Metro depot to see first-hand the work that is being undertaken to repair the tram fleet and restore services as quickly as possible. He described the situation as “incredibly

disappointing and frustrating”.

“I have asked for an independent review to establish what exactly has gone wrong and what changes need to be made in how those in authority are held to account to ensure we avoid this ever happening again,” said Street.

“It is such an unsatisfactory situation, but I am determined to stand up for passengers and get their questions answered and the Metro back in service ASAP.” MML said it was still aiming to resume services by the end of this week - following the timeline issued when the trams were first removed from service on November 13.

Ian Ward, the combined authority’s portfolio holder for transport and leader of Birmingham City Council said: “The tram is an essential and valued part of our regional transport network. However I have had serious concerns about the metro construction for some time so welcome the independent review.

“The passengers and businesses have been badly let down and we owe it to them to investigate this fully.”

New trains due in service from 2023

www.passengertransport.co.uk

08/12/2021 16:59

“My recommendations provide comprehensive, achievable and clear plans” Sir Peter Hendy

Hendy review makes the case for investment Union Connectivity Review calls for UK strategic network CONNECTIVITY

The creation of a strategic transport network spanning the entire United Kingdom is among the recommendations made by the final report of the Union Connectivity Review chaired by former London transport commissioner Sir Peter Hendy.

It has recommended the UK government should design and implement UKNET - a strategic transport network for the whole of the UK, and commit to providing additional funding to improve the network.

Hendy has also called on the government to upgrade the West Coast Main Line north of Crewe to improve journey times and capacity and to enable HS2 to better serve connectivity between Scotland and England.

He also also suggested the UK

CONSULTATION FOR RAIL REVIEW All-Island Strategic Rail Review moves forward CONNECTIVITY

Nichola Mallon, Northern Ireland’s minister for infrastructure and Ireland’s minister for transport, Eamon Ryan have launched a public consultation on the future of rail on the island of Ireland as part of the All Island Strategic Rail Review.

The intention to carry out an all-island Strategic Rail Review was announced by Mallon and Ryan in April 2021. Consultants Arup have been appointed to deliver the www.passengertransport.co.uk

PT255p04-05.indd 5

Government seek to work with the Scottish Government to conduct an assessment of the East Coast Main Line to determine appropriate investments for better connectivity between Scotland and England.

In Wales Hendy calls for improvements on the North Wales Coast Main Line, utilising HS2 to speed up long distance services and electrification to better serve North Wales. He also

UKNET corridors

Review, which will consider the rail network on the island of Ireland and how it can be used to improve connectivity, enhance regional accessibility, support balanced regional development and improve connectivity to international gateways such as ports and airports.

The latter will also probe the role of rail freight.

A key element of the review will be gaining insights from interested stakeholders and the wider public.

Mallon and Ryan believe their views are critical in shaping and developing the rail network across Ireland.

“There are real opportunities for communities across the island

moots a package of measures to improve rail journey times and capacity between Cardiff and Birmingham and beyond.

Hendy’s work has found that while a bridge or a tunnel between Northern Ireland and Great Britain is feasible with today’s technology and existing infrastructure, he has concluded that the benefits would not outweigh the costs.

He is, therefore, recommending that further work on the fixed transport link should not progress beyond this feasibility study.

“My recommendations provide comprehensive, achievable and clear plans forward to better connect the whole of the United Kingdom, leading to more growth, jobs, housing and social cohesion,” commented Hendy.

“I welcome the enthusiasm shown by the prime minister and the government to my final report and I look forward to their formal response.”

and significant benefits that better connections could bring not just to people but also for our environment and economy,” said Mallon.

“This is an ambitious piece of work that will help inform our decision making and investment in our rail network for years to come so I would encourage everyone to get involved with the process and put forward their views.

“This is a unique opportunity to shape the future of connectivity across Ireland and I’m looking forward to hearing from communities across our island on what we can do together to deliver lasting change across our country.”

CHILTERN SIGNS NATIONAL RAIL CONTRACT Arriva gains contract for the next six years CONTRACTS

Arriva has agreed a six-year National Rail Contract with the Department for Transport for its Chiltern Railways.

The new deal will commence on December 31 and continue until the end of 2027. Half of this term is guaranteed with the remainder subject to the discretion of the transport secretary.

As part of the new contract Chiltern has committed to continue trials of HybridFlex technology which converts existing trains to dieselbattery hybrid with zero-emission operation in stations. This work will also see the train operator develop a business case to convert its entire fleet to hybrid technology.

On the Chiltern fleet the customer environment will also be improved with new LED lighting and CCTV on the vast majority of trains, and a plan for a light refresh of train interiors with the owners of the trains.

Meanwhile, Delay Repay 15 will be introduced, allowing passengers to make compensation claims when a train arrives 15 minutes or more late at its destination. The customer contact centre will also see expanded hours of operation.

“The agreement reflects the partnership which has been established with government and I’m optimistic about the on going and strategic contribution Arriva Group can make to rail reform,” said David Brown, managing director of Arriva Trains UK. “We have a strong track record of growth and efficient operation, and we will continue to provide cost-effective solutions to some of the big challenges the country faces as it builds out of the pandemic.”

10 December 2021 | 05

08/12/2021 16:59

NEWS ROUND-UP

The dedicated Park and Ride 500 service will end as part of the changes

End of an era with Oxfordshire changes

Head-to-head competition has been a defining characterstic of Oxford’s bus market but that is to change as a result of new deal with county council NETWORKS

Oxfordshire County Council has brokered a major review of the county’s bus network that aims to ensure its continued viability amidst what the council calls an “unprecedented set of challenges”.

Working with local bus operators, the review was prompted by reduced patronage as a result of the pandemic and the growing issue of bus driver shortages that are wreaking havoc at bus companies across the country. The council and operators are working collaboratively in order to determine how best to balance the available resources with the areas of greatest need.

The move will end the headto-head competition between bus operators that has been a defining part of life in Oxford since deregulation in the 1980s.

06 | 10 December 2021 PT255p06-07.indd 6

Although that competition has reduced in recent years as a result of increased partnership working between principal protagonists Go-Ahead-owned Oxford Bus Company (OBC) and Stagecoach Oxford, at the behest of the city and county councils, the review will see the last vestiges of competition end.

The council says all parties worked closely to identify opportunities for greater efficiencies through the reduction of “unnecessary duplication” of services, with the aim of placing the network on a more secure financial footing while minimising impact on passengers. The changes will come into effect on January 2, 2022.

Among the most significant changes will be the end of duplicated operations. In its

place there will be what the council calls a “more integrated approach to services” on the main radial corridors from the north and south of Oxford. There will be a single operator providing the principal bus services to Kidlington (Stagecoach’s Route 2) and Rose Hill (OBC’s Route 3). Routes to the city centre from Littlemore and Greater Leys will also be consolidated to provide what the council calls “a more sustainable level of service better matched to passenger numbers”.

The dedicated Park and Ride 500 service operated by OBC from Woodstock and Oxford Parkway will no longer run.

However, Stagecoach will divert an existing route into the park and ride site to provide the same frequency. Other services will continue to operate from stops on

Oxford Road, a short walk from the car park.

Services between Oxford, Abingdon, Harwell Campus and Wantage will also change, with new Thames Travel routes X1 and 34 replacing Stagecoach’s routes S8 and 34. There will also be an improved Stagecoach S9 service between Wantage and Oxford with an increased frequency during the daytime, in the evenings and on Sundays.

This follows significant housing development in the area and a tendering process overseen by the county council.

Tim Bearder, Oxfordshire’s cabinet member for highway management, said reduced government funding, the impact of Covid on patronage and the challenging situation for recruitment of bus drivers had played a part in the plans.

“Public transport is key to our plans to get more people out of their cars,” he said.

“That is why we need to first get the network on to a more secure financial footing while we try to secure £56m from the government’s National Bus Strategy fund to improve services in the long term.”

Commenting on the changes, Phil Southall, OBC’s managing director, said: “We very much appreciate the proactive approach taken by Oxfordshire County Council in seeking to support operators to stabilise the bus network.” He added three in four bus users have now returned and he was hopeful more would do so in the New Year.

Stagecoach MD Rachel Geliamassi said that while this patronage growth was welcome, the operators had to be realistic and address the reality of Covid.

She added Stagecoach would still support the Oxford SmartZone joint ticketing scheme. www.passengertransport.co.uk

08/12/2021 16:05

Yorkshire’s shame - are we the same? Page 18

Business groups press for TfL settlement Letter to Rishi Sunak calls for fair financial support for TfL FUNDING

London business groups have called on the government to offer further financial support for London’s public transport network in order to avoid the “cycle of decline that plagued the capital” in the last century.

In a letter to chancellor Rishi Sunak, 80 companies, groups and organisations called for a fair financial settlement to be made with Transport for London.

So far TfL has secured three bailouts from the government since the onset of the Covid

ARRIVA TOPS BUS LEAGUE TABLE

Go-Ahead bus operations dominate the top 10 PERFORMANCE

While Arriva London South has been named London’s best performing bus operator in the latest performance figures from Transport for London, Go-Ahead London operations dominated the top 10.

For the 12 weeks to September 17, 2021, Arriva London South scored an Excess Waiting Time (EWT) figure of 0.57 minutes against a target of 1.09 minutes. Its EWT variance of 0.52 minutes was significantly ahead of the second and third place operators, Go-Ahead-owned Docklands Buses and Metrobus.

At the other end of the table, RATP Dev’s London Sovereign operation in North London slid slightly down the table - it scored an EWT variance of 0.07 minutes. www.passengertransport.co.uk

PT255p06-07.indd 7

pandemic, which decimated patronage and TfL’s previous good progress towards financial sustainability. Its current funding deal ends on December 11.

“The decisions taken regarding TfL’s funding in the coming days will have profound and long-term impacts for the UK’s economy,” said business leaders. “London’s economic success - and the substantial and tangible benefits it delivers for the wider UK - cannot be taken for granted.”

The letter echoes previous warnings from mayor of London Sadiq Khan and Andy Byford, London’s transport commissioner, that a funding shortfall could force a “managed decline” of

services (PT254).

Meanwhile, Byford told TfL board members this week that he was keen to cut a deal with the government on funding.

“I continue to set out the compelling case for long term sustainable funding in London’s transport network to the government so that we can continue to play our vital role in London’s recovery from the pandemic,” he said.

“We have clearly shown how, with the right funding, we can work with the government to achieve its national objectives around decarbonising transport, supporting economic growth and promoting sustainable travel.”

LONDON BUSES OPERATOR LEAGUE TABLE - EXCESS WAITING TIME Source: TfL (12 weeks to September 17, 2021)

EWT MINIMUM STANDARD POSITION/OPERATOR (MINS) 1.

Arriva London South 1.09 2.

Docklands Buses (Go-Ahead) 1.08 3.

Metrobus (Go-Ahead) 1.02 4.

London General (Go-Ahead) 1.12 5.

Arriva London North 1.12 6.

Metroline West 1.09 7.

Blue Triangle (Go-Ahead) 1.03 8.

London Central (Go-Ahead) 1.20 9.

Metroline 1.14 Network Result 1.12 10. Abellio London (West) 1.06 11. Abellio London 1.15 12. East London (Stagecoach) 1.10 13. Selkent (Stagecoach) 1.14 14. Tower Transit 1.17 15. London United (RATP Dev) 1.12 16. HCT Group 1.06 17. Sullivan Buses 1.00 18. London Sovereign (RATP Dev) 0.99

ACTUAL EWT (MINS) 0.57 0.67 0.61 0.74 0.76 0.74 0.71 0.87 0.82 0.80 0.75 0.86 0.81 0.88 0.95 0.97 0.94 0.92 0.92

Q1 EWT VARIANCE (MINS) 0.52 0.41 0.41 0.38 0.36 0.35 0.32 0.32 0.32 0.32 0.31 0.29 0.29 0.27 0.22 0.16 0.12 0.08 0.07

IN BRIEF BUS PATRONAGE UP Bus patronage in London is now regularly reaching 75% of pre-pandemic levels according to Transport for London. Recovery is especially strong at weekends and in the off peak, but the network is also carrying increasing numbers of commuters at peak times. Tube demand continues to grow and is now regularly at more than 60% of pre-pandemic levels on weekdays, reaching as high as 80% at weekends.

ESCALATOR SANITISERS London Underground has now installed more than 200 ultraviolet light sanitising devices on escalators at its busiest stations. A follow-on order for a further 320 units has been placed and these will be fitted on the remaining Tube escalators and also at Elizabeth line stations.

‘RED ARROW’ CASCADES Go-Ahead London is refurbishing 12 former ‘Red Arrow’ Enviro200EV vehicles, replacing the large standing areas on these vehicles with extra seating. They will be cascaded to Route 360 (Albert Hall-Elephant & Castle) as a result of frequency changes in response to reduced demand on the Red Arrow network. In turn, the previous electric buses deployed on Route 360 will move to Route 413 (Sutton-Morden).

POWER SUPPLY DELAYS It is understood that around 100 new electric buses due to be introduced by RATP Dev London at its Harrow and Fulwell Garages have been placed in store as a result of delays in upgrading the electricity supply at these garages. Reports suggest work is due to start imminently.

10 December 2021 | 07

08/12/2021 16:05

NEWS ROUND-UP

Mellor provides more hints on new bus range Firm claims Sigma will ‘redefine zeroemission transport’ MANUFACTURERS

Mellor has announced more details about its new electric buses range that will begin flowing down the production lines of its Scarborough factory next year.

The new Sigma range will comprise six models with overall lengths of between seven and 12-metres. Mellor claims the range will be one of the largest batteryelectric bus ranges from any European manufacturer.

Key to the operational appeal of the model will be a significant weight saving across all models compared to competitor vehicles, leading to reduced energy consumption while enhancing performance and range.

Production will commence with the seven and 10-metre models which are now available to order with delivery by early summer 2022. A further four models, including eight, nine, 11 and 12-metre variants, will be phasedin during 2022, with deliveries also expected within the same period.

Mellor says the Sigma range will be available with a variety of width and passenger door

configurations to further broaden the range. It adds the Sigma offers the widest range of model variants and specifications on the market and it will provide customers with a no-compromise, zero-emissions bus solution from a single manufacturer.

The introduction of the Sigma marks a bold expansion for the Mellor business. It will be Mellor’s first full-size bus and a move

Seven and 10-metre Sigma options now available

The Sigma range has six options

STAGECOACH PROFITS UP

Patronage bounceback boosts group’s profits FINANCIALS

ARRIVA’S BUSWAY INVESTMENT Arriva has introduced 14 new buses on its Luton Busway routes. The MCV Evoras on Volvo B8RLE chassis present a total investment of over £2.5m. However, there has been some criticism of the vehicles as a result of their low seating capacity, particularly in the peaks.

08 | 10 December 2021 PT255p08-09.indd 8

that aims to further enhance the manufacturer’s presence with UK bus fleet operators.

Key to the Sigma range will be the new Scarborough factory which was announced in October (PT253). It will have three production lines and the 130-strong workforce will have the capacity to assemble 500 vehicles each year.

“We’re really excited with the prospect of shaking up the market with this fantastic new product,” said Mark Clissett, Mellor’s bus division managing director. “Sigma not only marks a turning point for Mellor, it is also the most important product introduction of its kind from any bus builder in the last decade.”

Stagecoach posted a jump in first-half profits this week, boosted by the easing of restrictions over the summer and the reopening of educational institutes and workplaces, but says patronage is still below pre-pandemic levels.

The Perth-based group said patronage recovered to more than 70% of 2019 levels in November before softening recently due to Storm Arwen across the UK and the more recent reintroduction of Covid-19 measures.

Stagecoach, which is in talks with rival National Express Group over a

possible takeover, said its adjusted pre-tax profit was £18.4m for the six months ended October, up from £0.4m last year.

The group added it had secured several new contract wins, including key transport contracts for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. Stagecoach is also progressing several investments to enhance its customer offer, as well as new ticketing initiatives to respond to post-pandemic lifestyles.

“While the pace of recovery may vary, we are well-placed to deliver on the extensive opportunities beyond the pandemic,” said group chief executive Martin Griffiths. “We continue to see a positive outlook for our bus, coach and tram services, whether as a standalone business or as part of a combined future group.” www.passengertransport.co.uk

08/12/2021 17:39

BUS STRATEGY FUNDING GAP

Continued from Page 1 CPT is calling on the government to ensure that it uses some of the available funding to deliver nationwide price capped multi-operator ticketing, which will make it easier for passengers to ensure they are getting the best value fares, and to ensure funding is made available to maintain services as passenger numbers continue to recover.

Vidler continued: “There are tough choices ahead, but we believe that, wherever they live, all passengers should benefit from at least some improvements next year. This means ensuring that all areas have funding from April 2022 to maintain services so that nowhere goes backwards in its bus provision.

“It should also mean a national approach to delivering multi-operator price capped ticketing, a feature in almost every BSIP and one which can be delivered more cost-effectively if delivered centrally.”

FUNDING REQUIRED BY 40 BUS SERVICE IMPROVEMENT PLANS Source: CPT analysis Funding area Total Bus Priority £2,110m Other infrastructure £430m Zero emission buses £1,220m Bus service support £1,100m Fares £660m Marketing £90m Ticket reform £40m Administrative funds to deliver plans £130m Other £270m Local authorities with total funding bids not broken down by funding areas £1,100m Total £7,200m www.passengertransport.co.uk

PT255p08-09.indd 9

Stratford becomes UK’s busiest railway station Pandemic sees East London station become most used REGULATION

London’s Stratford rail station recorded the most passenger entries and exits during a year that saw Britain’s passenger usage drop 78% compared with the previous year, according to figures from the Office of Rail and Road.

This was the lowest level of journeys seen since at least before 1872 and is a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The East London station recorded nearly 14 million entries and exits in 2020-21 (13,985,162).

It is the first time in 17 years that London Waterloo is not the most used station in Britain. The London station saw the biggest decrease in footfall, with 12.2 million entries and exits compared to 86.9 million in 2019-20.

London’s railway stations dominate the top 10 most used, with London Victoria also heavily relied on during the pandemic.

It had 13.8 million entries and exits, followed by London Bridge also with 13.8 million. London Liverpool Street (11.2 million) also made the top five most-used stations in Britain.

The ORR’s figures also show Birmingham New Street as the only station outside of London to record more than 6 million entries and exits, with 7.4 million people travelling from or to the station in 2020-21.

Liverpool Lime Street (3.5m) and Cambridge (2.3m) were the only stations included in the top 10 most used stations outside of London that did not appear last year. These two stations replaced Gatwick Airport and Glasgow Queen Street.

In Scotland, Glasgow Central remained the most used station

ORR report reveals fall in passenger income Fare revenue drops as industry costs continue to rise The Office of Rail and Road’s latest Rail Industry Finance report reveals that ticket income on Britain’s railways dropped by £8.6bn to £1.8bn in the year to March 31, 2021, due to the impact of the Covid pandemic.

Reflecting the impact that lockdowns had on general travel trends, the average passenger fare per journey in 2020-21 was £4.74 for all operators, an annual

reduction of 20.2%, which was largely caused by shorter average journey lengths. The average journey length decreased by 15.8% to 32.1 kilometres.

Meanwhile, government funding of the rail industry in 2020-21 was £16.9bn, an annual increase of £10.4bn largely due to the introducing of Emergency Measures Agreements (EMAs) for train operators in order to

with 5.3 million entries and exits, down from 32.5 million in 2019-20. Edinburgh (2.9m), Glasgow Queen Street (2.3m), Paisley Gilmour Street (982,530) and new entrant Partick (634,162) were also in the top five.

In Wales, Cardiff Central remained the busiest station during 2020-21 but saw less than 2 million entries and exits compared to more than 12 million in the previous year.

Nearly 200 railway stations across Britain had fewer than 1,000 entries and exits, with six recording no entries or exits at all as a result of services being temporarily suspended at the majority of these due to Covid.

Berney Arms, located in Norfolk, was the previous year’s least used with 42 entries and exits.

This increased in 2020-21 to 348, which was the biggest percentage increase of any station compared with the previous year.

keep services running during lockdown.

Industry costs were £21.0bn in 2020-21, which represents a £0.8bn (3.8%) annual increase.

Network Rail expenditure was £9.6bn, an increase of £1.2bn (14.0%), franchise train operator expenditure was £10.3bn, a decrease of £0.4bn (3.3%).

Franchised operators ran 20.9% fewer services during the year, meaning direct operating costs fell, but other costs increased, such as purchasing PPE, additional cleaning and staff absences.

10 December 2021 | 09

08/12/2021 17:39

NEWS ROUND-UP

Newport free bus travel as cities eye modal shift Free parking to entice shoppers? Welsh cities are offering free or cheap bus travel this month to encourage people to shop by bus - instead of the car MODAL SHIFT

Bus travel within Newport is free for everyone until Christmas as Welsh cities focus travel incentives on public transport instead of car parking. The offer coincides with the launch on Sunday of Newport’s first local train service since the 1960s, an hourly Crosskeys to Newport shuttle.

Cardiff Council has organised a £1 flat fare on buses within the city, including services by Stagecoach, Edwards Coaches and other operators which run into the Welsh capital from outlying counties.

Swansea led the way with free travel on all buses on weekends during the summer holidays. The offer was repeated in the October half-term holiday and resumed on 20 November for the weekends during the Christmas shopping and party season. Bus travel will be free every day from December 18 to 24 and December 27 to 31.

Newport City Council’s free bus travel offer was planned to exclude Sundays, but on 30 November council leader Jane Mudd announced that Sundays would be included. She said TfW had confirmed that travel would be free on the city’s many ‘fflecsi’ demand-responsive services.

“Buses are a great way of getting around the city to do your shopping or to meet up with friends and family,” said Mudd.

“We have excellent businesses, including many fantastic independent traders, that deserve everyone’s support.

10 | 10 December 2021 PT255p10-11.indd 10

“The focus on the climate and the future has never been greater.

We all can do our bit by staying local as much as possible and using alternatives to our cars.

“This will also help those within our communities who struggle financially, especially at Christmas, as they try to put food on the table and buy presents for their loved ones.”

Newport’s new rail service will call at four stations on the Ebbw Vale line, which reopened in 2008 but with trains going to Cardiff instead of Newport. Two of the stations, Pye Corner and

Rogerstone, are in the western suburbs of Newport.

At 23 minutes, Crosskeys to Newport by train will be competitive with the car. The AA Route Planner estimates 16 minutes by car, but in practice there is often congestion on the approach to the city centre and time is also needed for parking.

Buses take 28 to 33 minutes and fares are significantly higher than the train fares, but buses have more pick up and drop off points in the city centre and in residential areas.

Cardiff’s £1 bus fare began

“This will also help those within our communities who struggle financially, especially at Christmas” Jane Mudd, leader, Newport City Council

A Newport Transport electric bus

last Friday and continues until 16 December, after 09.30 on Mondays to Fridays. Caro Wild, Cardiff Council’s cabinet member for transport, said: “We want to double the number of people travelling by bus in the city by 2030, so we want to see what effect a £1 bus fare might have on people’s behaviour.

“The latest data shows that traffic levels in the city, and bus travel during peak times, have returned to just below pre-Covid levels. However, travelling by bus to go to the shops or other leisure activities is still only at around 80% of the levels that we saw before the pandemic began.

“We hope this subsidised trial will encourage people back onto public transport and even tempt car users to give bus travel a go.”

Swansea Council said free bus travel during the last two school holidays had seen people switch from cars to buses, helping to reduce traffic congestion and pollution.

Russell Greenslade, chief executive of Swansea Business Improvement District, said: “The free bus service has proven to be an excellent initiative that has enjoyed great take-up, and it gives generous support to our BID area businesses in the important runup to Christmas.”

Other councils in South Wales are less enthusiastic about tackling climate change and air pollution, however. Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council is funding free parking across its town-centre car parks throughout December after 10.00. Its publicity urging people to explore the town centres makes no reference to buses, trains, active travel, climate change or deprivation.

Neath Port Talbot, Monmouthshire and Bridgend councils are also offering free parking this month. www.passengertransport.co.uk

08/12/2021 17:32

Devolution hits the buffers in the North. Page 25

England is UK ‘outlier’ on transport policy Welsh deputy minister for climate change seeks ‘alternative axis’ POLICY

Transport policy in England is increasingly at odds with the other nations of the UK, and even with its own regions, according to Lee Waters, deputy minister for climate change in Wales.

Waters explained his view during an online interview with Urban Transport Group director Jonathan Bray last week.

“What I find really interesting ... is the way that different parts of the UK are moving,” he said.

“Increasingly England is an outlier on transport policy. Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales ... are increasingly aligned in our thinking around modal shift and

NO MORE ‘RUNT’ TRAINS FOR WALES First of 35 FLIRTs Stadler is to deliver in Cardiff ROLLING STOCK

The time is coming when Welsh trains will no longer be suffered but enjoyed by passengers, a Welsh Government minister predicted last week after viewing the first of 35 FLIRT trains which Stadler is delivering to Cardiff.

The units, similar to those already in service with Greater Anglia, feature low floors and retractable steps, to enable all passengers to board easily and safely. Each unit has four cars of passenger accommodation.

The first 11 are powered by four diesel engines each, housed in a short central vehicle. One or more of the engines could be replaced by www.passengertransport.co.uk

PT255p10-11.indd 11

decarbonisation. And England is back in the eighties, it seems to me. It’s still going hell for leather on road building. It’s got a new climate strategy which is all about technical fixes. We’re going to have magical airplanes which means we can carry on doing what we’ve always done.

And hypermobility is still deeply embedded in the mindset.”

Waters continued: “I think that is clearly not reflected by the practices and thinking in Manchester and in other parts of the English regions. And I do think ... we need to form an alternative axis which says, you know, we’re not on the same page here. We are doing things differently and we are going to help each other to do it if you’re not going to play ball.”

The Welsh Government has a moratorium and review of road building in Wales, a policy that conflicts with the UK Government and its £27bn road

batteries in the future, and there is space for a pantograph to be fitted on the roof.

These units will operate the Maesteg to Cheltenham service and on the Ebbw Vale line. Only the section from Cardiff to Severn Tunnel Junction is currently electrified.

However, Lee Waters, Wales’ deputy climate change minister, said at the launch event for the new trains that he hoped further electrification would follow.

He said the FLIRT was a train “you will look forward to going on, rather than one to suffer”. He added: “For some time now, Welsh passengers have had to put up with the runt of the litter - second-hand trains.”

Transport for Wales and Stadler have started testing and commissioning the units in South Wales. Crew training is due to

commence next summer, a few months ahead of the first passenger carrying services.

The other 24 FLIRTs will arrive from the Swiss factory with pantographs and batteries already installed, alongside a single diesel engine for recharging the batteries away from the overhead wires. They will use batteries west of Cardiff because the lines to Penarth and Barry and on to Bridgend were removed from the original Valley Lines electrification programme.

North of Cardiff, they will draw power from 25kV overhead wires as they travel towards Rhymney and Coryton, recharging their batteries as they go. The rail infrastructure north of Cardiff Queen Street has been transferred from the UK Government to the Welsh Government.

Currently TfW is concentrating

“England is back in the eighties, it seems to me” Lee Waters

building programme. Waters said the Levelling Up Fund offered an example of where this divergence of policy was having negative consequences for Wales.

“The UK government postBrexit is interfering with the devolution settlement,” he said.

“Transport is meant to be devolved but the way the European funds were previously administered were on a Wales basis, now they are being administered on a UK basis and we have different policy objectives. So they are using their Levelling Up Fund to do things at variance with what we think they should be doing ... They funded a Welsh local authority to build a road, even though they know it’s captured by our roads review ...

And it’s a Labour authority, so they are deliberately playing politics to try and sow division here, to try and enforce their world view onto the devolution settlement and just bugger about frankly. It is profoundly unhelpful.

JONATHAN BRAY: PAGE 16

on electrifying from Cardiff to Treherbert, Aberdare and Merthyr Tydfil for operation by tram-trains, also to come from Stadler. All of the Valleys electrification will be discontinuous, to avoid the cost and disruption of major engineering at bridges and in Caerphilly Tunnel.

The trains will automatically switch between overhead and batteries at those locations.

TfW’s inaugural FLIRT DMU

10 December 2021 | 11

08/12/2021 17:32

PT255p12-13.indd 12

08/12/2021 15:13

“It’s vital our industry understands the part it needs to play”Ian Luckett

ENVIRONMENT

Coach decarbonisation taskforce launched Work will lead to a CPT report on solutions next year STRATEGY

The Confederation of Passenger Transport has created an industry wide coach decarbonisation taskforce to start to create the roadmap which will help operators decarbonise their fleets.

The taskforce, to be chaired by Ian Luckett of the Lucketts Travel Group and National Express, and reporting to CPT’s Coach Commission, will bring together operators, manufacturers and other experts. It will start by reviewing and evidencing the challenges the industry faces to decarbonising the fleet, building on the conclusions from the CPT coach decarbonisation conference

ARRIVA OPENS NEW LOW CARBON MADRID BASE Solar panels will provide 88% of building’s energy BUILDINGS

Arriva Madrid has officially opened its new combined headquarters and bus depot facility in Madrid, Spain, which is set to reduce its carbon footprint in the region and facilitate a transition to zero emissions bus operations.

The building has been designed with accreditation from the Passivhaus Institute, an independent research institute which has led research and development of construction concepts for buildings which are especially energy efficient.

The accreditation of a public www.passengertransport.co.uk

PT255p12-13.indd 13

that took place on December 1.

This work will lead to a CPT report on potential solutions for the sector in the summer of 2022.

This report will form a crucial part of CPT’s engagement with governments across Britain on one of the most important issues for the coach sector.

CPT chief executive Graham Vidler commented: “CPT is launching this taskforce to help our members get ahead of what will be a transformational issue TASKFORCE MEMBERS Chris Owens, Alpine Travel; Martin MacPhail, MacPhails Coaches; Buta Atwal, Ryze; Dan Hayes, Zemo Partnership; Ian Downie, Yutong Pelican; Mark Ballam, ADL;

transportation facility is a first for the institute in the Madrid region.

The building will enable significant reductions in energy consumption with 86% less energy used for heating and a 90% saving for air conditioning. Furthermore, renewable energy sources have been installed, with 242 solar panels providing 88% of the energy

DECARBONISATION STRATEGY LAUNCH Transport for the North outlines ambitious target STRATEGY

for the industry over the coming decades. The taskforce will start with a forensic examination of the issues ahead. This is a crucial first step in helping us develop sustainable and deliverable solutions which will help the industry on its journey to net zero.”

Chair of the taskforce Ian Luckett said: “Decarbonising our world is essential and it’s vital our industry understands the part it needs to play on the journey to ‘Net Zero’. It must be clear not only about the challenges it faces, and what needs to happen to help it overcome them, but that it has evidence to back this up. I will be asking members of the taskforce to have this in mind from day one as we begin this exciting and important work.”

A Transport Decarbonisation Strategy for the North of England was launched this week by Transport for the North. It outlines the ambitious target of near-zero carbon emissions from surface transport by 2045.

It is the first time a regional strategy of this type has been produced, bringing together the region’s leaders to speak out with one voice on the climate emergency and how the transport sector must act to address the challenge.

It highlights the ambitions of the North of England in tackling carbon emissions, with the region aiming to go beyond national policy and targets, with a plan for making progress as quickly as possible.

The strategy encourages modal shift towards more sustainable ways of travelling, such as public transport and active travel.

required to fuel the building.

Rainwater collection is another key feature with a 50,000-litre tank installed to provide the water needed for washing buses. This further builds on Arriva Spain’s commitment to responsible water consumption.

The new base is also the operating centre for Arriva’s bus services in Madrid and the design of the depot

accommodates a transition to zero emission vehicles, with new infrastructure installed to support the charging of hybrid, electric and gas-powered vehicles. This means that new mobility technologies and systems will be supported and able to operate from there.

The long term ambition for full electrification of Arriva’s fleet in Madrid will save 803,960kg of CO2 annually. Arriva currently operates a hybrid fleet and has committed to zero emission vehicles for its urban routes, with around 15% due to be electrified by 2024 and a further acceleration of the plan from 2025, in partnership with the Madrid transport authorities.

Arriva is now operating from its new base, with full electric charging capability coming on-line from mid-2022.

The new facility opened last month

10 December 2021 | 13

08/12/2021 15:13

PT255p14-15.indd 14

08/12/2021 15:14

INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY

New loyalty app helps to bring back rail users Department for Transport-funded ‘Rail+ Club App’ project is being trialled at Thameslink and Great Northern, helping with customer acquisition CUSTOMER ACQUISITION

A new loyalty app to encourage passengers back to rail is being trialled on the Thameslink and Great Northern railway lines.

The project, known as Rail+ Club and led by transport technology company UrbanThings, is designed to encourage passengers to travel by train through reward incentives.

By doing so, the platform provides train operators with a lower cost of customer acquisition via the collection of highly accurate data relating to passenger journeys.

The project won funding from the Department for Transport through the First of a Kind 2021 competition, delivered by InnovateUK. Thameslink and Great Northern passengers will have the opportunity to download the Rail+ Club App and use it to track their journeys in order to receive rewards. Using new, privacy-conscious QR scanning technology from UrbanThings, passengers simply scan codes located on station platforms

SURREY LAUNCHES NEW DRT SERVICE Mole Valley service uses Padam Mobility’s tech DRT

Surrey Connect, a new Demand Responsive Transport service in Mole Vally was officially launched at the beginning of November. The service is managed by Mole Valley District www.passengertransport.co.uk

PT255p14-15.indd 15

to record their trip. Rewards will include items such as hot beverages, gourmet pizzas and luxury shopping vouchers.

Incentives platform BetterPoints is supplying the rewards engine for the project. Their technology promotes behavioural change through curated incentives and integrates directly into the Rail+ Club App. By providing these

rewards, it’s hoped that passengers will leave their cars behind and choose the more sustainable travel option of rail.

The project is also working with several town and city partners including Hertsmere, Letchworth, Bedford, St Albans and Stevenage to promote the app. The project aims to boost these regional economies by

promoting leisure travel and tourism to the areas.

The project’s technology has been designed so that it’s adaptable for any ticketing or tech supplier. It is hoped that the project will expand to include additional train operating companies following a successful three-month trial.

Carl Partridge, CEO of UrbanThings, explained: “It’s essential we get passengers out of their cars and back onto rail, one of the most sustainable ways to travel. This technology has the potential not only to do this, but also to collect highly accurate passenger movements data that enables train operators to acquire customers far more affordably.”

“It’s essential we get passengers out of their cars and back onto rail”

Carl Partridge

A QR code at a station

Screenshots from the Rail+ Club App

Council on behalf of Surrey County Council and comes into full operation after an extended test period started in May 2021.

The service is available in West Leatherhead and aims to improve access to the areas which are poorly served by bus services. More areas in Mole Valley are expected to be added over the coming year.

The new DRT service is based

on Padam Mobility’s innovative solutions for on-demand transport.

This gives users the option to book and track their trips via three different ways: website, app or phone. Single journeys cost £1 and concessionary passes are valid on the service so that pass holders travel for free. Tickets are paid for in cash directly to the driver.

The service is currently available

weekdays from 7am to 6pm. Users can book a guaranteed ride up to seven days in advance, providing certainty, or reserve their ride up to 30 minutes before departure.

The intention of Surrey Connect is to enable Mole Valley residents to easily commute the first and last mile to and from rail stations and bus services in the area - reducing traffic and car dependency.

10 December 2021 | 15

08/12/2021 15:14

COMMENT

JONATHAN BRAY

Waters isn’t willing to go with the flow Lee Waters, the deputy minister for climate change in Wales, is supporting bold changes rather than ‘responsible’ inertia Small countries can do big things on transport - look at the public transport paradise of Switzerland. And when Rhodri Morgan was in his pomp in the early years of the Welsh Assembly it felt like Wales was about to forge its own path. But without that drive from the top, there was a sense that there had been a retreat into the governmental comfort zone of caution and ‘responsible’ inertia. Not any longer. A freeze on road building, modal shift targets, talk of road user charging; whilst other parts of the UK are studiously deferring and avoiding the tough decisions dictated by the climate crisis - Wales is starting to take them on.

The man leading the charge on transport is Lee Waters - the deputy minister for climate change in Wales - who I recently interviewed as part of our series of lunchtime Urban Transport Next events and on who this article is based.

The first indication that something significant was changing in Wales was the Welsh Government defying the UK Government to cancel the M4 Relief Road.

Lee said: “Just as important is what happened next. The South East Wales Transport Commission, led by Lord Terry Burns, former permanent secretary of the Treasury, produced a report that looked at alternatives to tackling congestion without building a motorway and that has just been endorsed by Sir Peter Hendy and his Union Connectivity Review.”

The M4 Relief Road decision has been followed by a wider moratorium and review of road building in Wales. Lee says this doesn’t 16 | 10 December 2021 PT255p16-17.indd 16

mean there will never be another road built in Wales again but it’s sending a signal to the system that Wales is not doing what has always been done - and that road building shouldn’t be the default or the easy option. It’s also part of a wider ‘new path for Wales’ transport strategy which aims to walk the walk as well as talk the talk on decarbonisation: “The strategy

“The strategy says the right things but what are we going to do about it?”

says the right things but what are we going to do about it? And that’s why we have instituted the roads review, freezing all road building programmes, because unless the handbrake is applied the system will keep doing what the system did.”

The transport strategy has some other eye catching elements - including targets for a reduction in car use and for increased modal share for public transport and active travel.

Achieving this will require a public transport system that can respond to this opportunity.

On rail, Lee is unhappy that although the Welsh Government now controls rail services in Wales, they don’t control spending on the majority of rail infrastructure. Lee says the UK Government is not giving Wales its fair share of spending on rail: “We have something like 12% of the track in the UK, 5% of the population and about 2% of the rail spend.”

However, the South Wales Metro is an exception where a remarkable transformation is now underway on both trains and tracks: “I think what is really innovative for us is the tram-combination. It will be on road in bits of Cardiff. It will start to really shift perceptions as to what public service is, what it looks like, how attractive it is.”

It has always struck me that the Valleys are a prime example of the case for fully integrated public transport where bus services could feed into railheads which can provide rapid linear services into the heart of the cities in South Wales. Lee agrees. “To get truly joined up,

Lee Waters became deputy minister for climate change in Wales last May

www.passengertransport.co.uk

08/12/2021 16:03

“Transport accounts for 17% of emissions. Transport has been given a free ride for too long” integrated transport we need franchising. We don’t yet have that. We will be introducing a white paper next year. And a Bill to pass Welsh legislation to create a franchising system in Wales so we can move towards one timetable, one ticket, one fare. That is a crucial part of making sure the Metro achieves its potential.”

He goes on: “I do think the commercial bus industry has been very effective at kicking sand in our eyes in developing these various different partnership models which essentially are designed to buy time and to keep the status quo. But the status quo is broken. So, having seen the difficulties Manchester have been having in implementing this, and how long they have taken, and that they have more resource than most of our authorities, it has made us realise we need to take a different path. So, before the election we were going down the partnership model route and now we are changing direction... we are now co-producing with Welsh local authorities a different model where we use Transport for Wales as a centre for strategic expertise... but we co-produce, genuinely, with local authorities how that works in practice.”

He continued: “Through that different approach hopefully we can get action faster than some of us have been able to do through the current legislation.”

There’s more to come on roads too including a default 20mph speed limit for residential roads, a big shift to active travel and, intriguingly, the strategy also talks of establishing a framework for equitable road user charging. On active travel he says that progress so far has been a ‘curate’s egg’.

He namechecks Cardiff as somewhere that “has showed bold leadership, reallocating space from cars into active travel, putting resources of their own in”.

He continues: “We are going to reward boldness so if Cardiff has got ambition... then we will overfund Cardiff and defund somebody else... and I hope that will show an example to others.”

On road user charging, he says: “I am bold, not stupid, so what I am not going to do is something that is counterproductive, so it is all about the timing. So, my feeling is we need to put in place first some of the changes which show there is a practical alternative to the car.”

Lee is a student of politics and of how things get done. He’s seen it from all angles. “I viewed www.passengertransport.co.uk

PT255p16-17.indd 17

An agenda of change: Lee Waters is backing the South Wales Metro, a default 20mph speed limit for residential roads and a big shift to active travel

the ring from different seats in the auditorium as a political speech writer, political journalist, campaigner, as a policy wonk, as a back bench member of the parliament and now as a minister. It is fascinating comparing those different points of view and understanding how to make the system move.”

He quotes Nye Bevan on how the coattails of power are always disappearing round the corner. He says: “Having chased the coattails of power constantly I am privileged to have the chance to be the transport minister in Wales but clearly I don’t hold all the levers.”

He’s well aware of the potential for backlash.

“We have seen through the anti-vax movement there are going to be at least 20% of people who are going to be obdurately opposed to this, as there always is. I was struck by some clip I saw on YouTube the other day - vox pops about when seatbelts were introduced in America. The stuff people were coming up with, was exactly what people are saying on vaccinations today. We are getting it about 20 mile an hour speed limits as well. This feeling of authority taking away their liberties and freedoms and telling them what to do. That cannot be dismissed or minimised as a political

force or be capitulated to, but we cannot ignore it.”

Alongside that, there’s the capability, capacity and enthusiasm of officialdom throughout Wales to pursue such a radical agenda, and the attitude and influence of a UK Government which Lee says is stuck in the road building past.

He says he finds the job “exhausting” but “having just come back from COP, the science is terrifying. Transport accounts for 17% of emissions. Transport has been given a free ride for too long in playing its part in bringing those emissions down. That has got to change”.

At the end of the interview, I ask Lee whether he really can change the way Wales travels? “I don’t know but I am going to give it a bloody good try.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Jonathan Bray is the director of the Urban Transport Group. Throughout his career in policy and lobbying roles he has been at the frontline in bringing about more effective, sustainable and equitable transport policies.

10 December 2021 | 17

08/12/2021 16:03

COMMENT DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

ALEX WARNER

Yorkshire’s shame - are we the same?

It’s vital that those of us who work in public transport don’t think that what occurred in cricket isn’t happening in our own backyard Yorkshire County Cricket Club is facing the biggest crisis in its history now that the allegations made by former player Azeem Rafiq have reached the public domain.

Officialdom and players, past and present have been implicated, and the scandal has unlocked other appalling accusations of racism in the game, most notably at Essex. It’s been particularly sad for those of us, such as I, who are ardent supporters of the county game.

I wasn’t entirely surprised. Way back in 1993 I found myself sitting on the Committee Balcony at Scarborough and I overheard racist language to describe my hero, Middlesex batsman Mark Ramprakash.

The appalling situation at Yorkshire is relevant to the transport industry and I am sure I wasn’t the only person who became unnerved, wondering whether I’d witnessed the same prejudice within our own sector during my career. Similarly, I have started wondering to what extent some of the casual racism and exclusion that Rafiq and others in cricket encountered may have been experienced by transport professionals in their workplace. Did we only learn of what occurred at Yorkshire because cricketers are ‘stars’ - not huge ones, in the overall scheme of stardom, but more so than your average person on the gateline, ticket office or working in accounts at your local bus company? The dynamics of a working environment tend to be ‘much of a muchness’ and whilst you might expect a highly charged dressing room with young, 18 | 10 December 2021 PT255p18-19.indd 18

impressionable and immature sportsmen to be more susceptible to stupidity than an office or depot with a range of experience and less competitiveness, it’s not really different.

The perverse ‘benefit’ of what Rafiq has articulated (if it can be described in any favourable way) is the way in which he opens up to how he felt when in situations whereby the perpetrators clearly had no idea of the

“Did we only learn of what occurred at Yorkshire because cricketers are ‘stars’?”

Azeem Rafiq giving evidence to MPs

hurt they were inflicting. The same for others who were then spurred into action to also reveal similar treatment meted out to them.

It seems inconceivable given the sheer scale of workplace environments that exist across the UK public transport landscape, the number of employees in our profession and the breadth of co-habiting cultures, that what has been reported in two out of only 18 county cricket establishments, has not manifested itself in our depots, canteens, offices, stations and trains.

Anyone with exposure to transport workplaces will also be aware that routinely on a daily basis, interactions can be negative, poorly transmitted and lacking emotional engagement, made by people who, it could be said, are not as privileged in terms of education, mentoring and background as your average county cricketer (who almost entirely benefit from a public school education). I’ve lost count, for instance, when carrying out training courses, of the number of gripes about insensitive ‘greetings’ by bus depot allocators to drivers when they book on for duty (that set the tone for the whole day), through to outright hostility among on-board employees around who is or isn’t pulling their weight when serving customers. I’m not suggesting that a significant amount of these interactions are racist, more so that the transport sector, particularly during pressured situations such as when delays ensue, is a hotbed of fractious and rancorous touchpoints, when words and body language are misconstrued and where some on the receiving end may feel excluded and prejudiced due to their ethnicity, gender or sexuality.

Forgive me please for taking this a step further and being so contentious as to suggest that, at this moment in time, at every bus or rail depot and medium sized station (where there are, say, more than three or four employees under the same roof) there is either a ‘live’ grievance relating to prejudice (more often ‘race-related’), or at the very least an unreported situation whereby an employee is feeling that she or he is suffering some kind of bias. Any duty manager will tell you that their ‘to do’ list consists almost entirely of managing employee attendance, performance and investigating claims of prejudice. It was the same when I joined the industry nearly 30 years ago and it’s more so now, partly because (pleasingly) folk are more encouraged to call out unacceptable behaviour. www.passengertransport.co.uk

08/12/2021 15:20

“From such an unedifying affair positive change can emerge.

Such change can be far-reaching” I do, though, believe that progress has been made. During my career, workplaces have reverberated to ‘banter’ around sex and booze, casual bullying and alienation, which, perhaps I like others, in my early years, observed but didn’t confront. The ‘only’ instances of racism I’ve witnessed have been junior managers mimicking frontline employees in a way that was clearly mocking a demeanour linked to their background. And I’ve been on the receiving end of an allegation of racism which was unfounded and deeply upsetting to me - several years ago.

I demoted a manager who was proven to be incompetent at his role and he claimed I did it on the grounds of his race. The investigation proved that the claims were totally unfounded, though it is a hugely complex issue.

Another manager felt that I was excluding him because he thought that he was the last person I always spoke to when entering a crowded room. He was a quiet sort and I may have inadvertently done this because I gravitated to those who wanted a chat, but in truth I never had the slightest clue that I was doing this or he might be feeling this way.

It was a valuable life-lesson at the fledgling stage of my career.

So, what should the industry do with the Yorkshire County Cricket Club scandal?

Firstly, I think it must do the deepest of soul-searching to ask itself if, in any shape or form, there are any workplace environments that might have or be demonstrating such behaviours. The cricketing authorities have responded by pleading with current and former players to come forward with anything they’ve experienced or witnessed through various confidential channels. We should do likewise and we should support this with more visual messaging in and around our workplaces.

Whilst increasing the visuals, we must be more selective in terms of messaging ‘for message’s sake’. I see and hear a great deal on LinkedIn, at conferences, in recruitment panels and at awards about ‘diversity and inclusion’.

Individuals are lauded for being active diversity champions, which is, to an extent, good, but it has created a ‘me, me, me’ outlook - of people making the odd statement here and there to shove it on their CV or in a press release, without ever having the conviction, patience and complexity of thought to then carry it forward to enact genuine change. Until we start talking about diversity and inclusion in a www.passengertransport.co.uk

PT255p18-19.indd 19

genuine, passionate, instinctive way and with conviction to then do the legwork on an action plan to address the challenge, then all rhetoric is futile.

We ought to start getting impatient about focus groups. Too often, I see PowerPoint presentations ticking the diversity and inclusion box by saying they have a focus group.

These sessions tend to consist of a cross section of folk (hand-picked to satisfy a quota by gender and race) saying how bad it is and then agreeing to do something but no one actually stepping forward. Plans are made, but the actions are so woolly and intangible it’s impossible to hold anyone to account, and one meeting can lurch to another without anything crystalising. Again, too much talk and not enough action.

I’d like us to also animatedly celebrate the positives. I’m not just saying in terms of press releases, posters or other communications materials, but just in terms of chatting among ourselves. I often affectionately think of how great it was as a 22-year old manager (who had lived a cossetted lifestyle - schooled in affluent, white, middle-class Chislehurst, then studying English in a similar environment at University College London, still living at home with Mum and Dad in Orpington), when I genuinely had my first real exposure to multi-cultural England as a duty station manager at London Underground. In one single shift I went from ticket office to ticket office and each member of staff had cooked a different recipe dinner from all manner of countries from which they had their roots and each offered me a taste. I had never really understood remotely anything about Islam until I witnessed staff on a prayer mat in one messroom and I remember being completely shocked. I don’t know why!

Another happy memory is as recent as 2019 when in one single customer service training course I led for First Bus drivers in Berkshire, there was a total of 38 languages commanded in the room. In my exalted position of ‘facilitator’, I could only speak English! Every transport professional will have their own wonderful tales of cultural enlightenment - I ask you all to reflect on these and share them with a colleague! Spreading positivity can help do its bit to crush any simmering or prevailing prejudice out there.

The sector also needs proper metrics around diversity and inclusion. It’s heartening to listen to the Department for Transport’s

market engagement days for the launch of the new Passenger Service Contracts in rail and a suggestion that success criteria for operators will include their focus on diversity.

I fear, though, that this all sounds good in the theoretical phase but when a train company is grappling with getting trains on time and making the numbers stack up, there’s unlikely to be a challenging conversation between DfT or GBR and them around the extent to which they are representing the make-up of the communities that they serve. There should be quantifiable targets around the gender and ethnicity mix of their teams. Not dissimilarly, other KPIs should exist, such as the employee satisfaction survey results to questions that relate to awareness around diversity and inclusion and the extent to which folk feel that the company policy around this key subject is being lived and breathed. So too, companies should be targeted around the number of grievances relating to prejudice.

It’s been interesting to see how, in the aftermath of the cricket scandal, clubs have been sending those who have been accused of racism on diversity and inclusion training courses. This is an excellent step and also ensures that individuals aren’t traduced or punished for life and are given the opportunity to mend their ways. However, I confess I’ve never had visibility of such courses in transport.

Sadly, it feels as if it will take the transport sector to suffer its own cricketing equivalent scandal before these kinds of courses become an integral part of the landscape.

The Yorkshire scandal was outrageous, but from such an unedifying affair positive change can emerge. Such change can be far-reaching, transcending cricket and it’s vital that us lot in transport don’t think that what occurred in cricket isn’t happening within our own backyard. We all know that somewhere across our huge network it is, but it’s not come to the fore, mainly because our industry is not seen as such a newsworthy subject as professional sport and also because we’ve not had our own Azeem Rafiq to blow the whistle just yet.

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

10 December 2021 | 19

08/12/2021 15:20

COMMENT TRAVEL BEHAVIOUR

Journey towards sustainable travel

When it comes to choosing a mode of transport, sustainability doesn’t factor highly

Clearing the smoke about travel choices

14 years ago smoking was banned in indoor workplaces and what was once unthinkable became reality. Can we do it for transport?

Back in 2007 the government introduced the smoking ban, which finally made it illegal to smoke in all indoor workplaces.

Louise Coward But it wasn’t a snap decision.

Transport Focus Behind the scenes, there was a decades long and sustained campaign to demonstrate the link between smoking and lung cancer.

Up until then, people had simply put up with tobacco-fog in bars and passive smoking.

When the change came, it was generally a welcome one. I’m sure even most smokers agreed eventually that it was the right decision. Today, children growing up in the UK consider it remarkable that it was ever possible to smoke indoors in the first place.

Will our attitudes to sustainability and 20 | 10 December 2021 PT255p20-21.indd 20

transport follow a similar trajectory? There is certainly a groundswell in demand for environmental change that can’t be ignored.

In the weeks since the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 26) in Glasgow we’ve seen a slew of announcements and campaigns.

The government seems ready to act. But what about us ordinary people, still trying to get back on an even keel after the effect of the pandemic on our work and personal lives?

Will we wait for laws to change, or take the initiative and take action now? It’s easy to say that we care about sustainability, but are we willing to fundamentally change our lives?

Our role representing the interests of transport users means we need to understand what they already know. We also need to know what they need to know in order to make informed decisions.

We know that cost and convenience are the main factors in most people’s transport decision-making process. To explore how far sustainability is a consideration, we ran a three-week project with 80 people across Great Britain. We published the result, The journey towards sustainable travel, earlier this year and are pleased to hear it’s been useful across various levels of government and transport industries. We found that many people have some understanding of sustainability. But on the whole, it produces specific associations of plastic in the oceans or intangible notions of carbon footprints. How people feel they can act on making actual sustainable choices in their transport is another matter.

When it comes to choosing a mode of transport for getting to the shops or visiting friends - sustainability doesn’t factor highly.

It’s rarely even considered. When we’ve asked before, people told us their top priorities were convenience, ease, speed, and cost. During the pandemic, hygiene rocketed up this list.

Environmental impact was second-lowest.

People understand that change will mean compromise. With any change to behaviour, there’s a natural tendency to assess the negative impact on ‘me’ and whether any sacrifice is worth it. One survey respondent told us: “Sustainability is being pushed on us but it is not an important consideration for me - I’m not ashamed of it!”

The cost of purchasing an electric vehicle can put people off shifting from fossil fuel to electric, even if they wanted to. Meanwhile, perceived lack of speed, directness and comfort can make public transport a poor alternative to the warmth and comfort of your own car.

As much as people would like to make a difference, it appears they don’t feel there are any real alternatives to their current modes of transport, so they simply switch off.

And of course there is the perception that individual action isn’t enough. Why worry about getting the bus rather than driving when other countries in the world do not seem to be playing their part? Why switch from plane to train when planes are constantly soaring overhead anyway? It doesn’t always feel like we are all in this together. One survey respondent articulated this view to us: “I’m better driving my car than those people that go to farmers markets but then fly four times a year.” www.passengertransport.co.uk

08/12/2021 16:03

What about value?

Motivating people to use public transport or active travel will require significant behavioural change

Green means go But electric vehicles are a short-term solution to a long-term problem. Once you have a car, you are incentivised to use it. We all know the benefits of walking or getting on a bus - but when the weather is grim or we have heavy bags, it is too easy to hop in the car.

Motivating people to use public transport or active travel will require significant behavioural change and a more joined-up regional (and national) delivery transport network that offers a safe and affordable service.

For that to happen, public transport must appeal to everyone. That includes the family of five living out in the wilds of the Scottish Highlands who think the car is the only viable choice. But it also needs to work for the female in London, travelling home alone at night, who has no other option even when she wishes she had one.

Working 9-5 We cannot ignore the main reason so many people make those shorter, domestic journeys: work. The impact of the pandemic continues, and we know people have changed the way they want to work in the long-term. In our Future commuting survey many told us they expect a more hybrid working pattern in future. This August 2021 survey explored whether people with the ability to choose expected to travel to or from work for five or more days a week in the future. Just 6% planned a ‘full-time’ office week, compared to 42% before March 2020. www.passengertransport.co.uk

PT255p20-21.indd 21

“Offering passengers better value for money deals to get them back on board is key to reaching that net zero by 2050 target” What do transport users think?

Transport Focus currently conducts weekly rail and bus user surveys. We ask 4,000 people who have used bus or train to tell us about their most recent journey on this mode.

In our latest survey covering the period November 24-28, 2021, 10% of people across Great Britain were using rail, and 13% (in Great Britain outside of London) using bus.

For their most recent journey, just under half had a choice of modes but decided to use the bus or train, while the majority had no alternative. We have seen that those who could have used another mode are generally more satisfied than those who couldn’t.

Satisfaction levels are reasonably high, with of course some variation week to week.

Currently satisfaction with rail overall is 85% and it is 86% for bus. Unsurprisingly, satisfaction with mask-wearing of fellow passengers had dipped, though the next survey to appear will be the first one since mask-wearing was made mandatory again.

Around two-thirds of passengers were satisfied with the value for money of their rail ticket, and almost seven in 10 for bus.

But we know that bus and rail fares may all have to go up in the near future.

Already for some it is the deciding factor in making a journey.

I recently went to Dorset with my husband and dog. Do we pay north of £50 each and have to specify when we’ll travel, or about £10 in fuel (ignoring the sunk costs of owning a car)?

And we know value isn’t just about the pure cost. Currently satisfaction with punctuality on rail and bus is reasonably high (84% and 72%); but this is closely tied to people’s perception of value so any change there will have an impact.

We also had to ask ourselves, will we be able to easily find out about bus routes in rural areas, and will there be enough buses per day for us to get around easily?

The government has yet to reveal its plans for January price rises on rail, and long term arrangements for local buses are under discussion. It has long been acknowledged that rail fares especially are in need of long term reform. The commitment to introducing pay-as-you-go type ticketing across the North and Midlands will help. And we know that the new flexible rail season tickets are being used by some passengers.

If passenger transport is to truly compete with the car as a realistic choice for passengers who want to act to help the environment, this issue will have to be addressed. Offering passengers better value for money deals to get them back on board is key to reaching that net zero by 2050 target.

Relaxing in a bar or restaurant no longer polluted by the smoke proved to be an experience that many thought unthinkable only years before the ban. By making the right choices today in how we choose to travel, one day we’ll be glad we acted to clean our planet up too.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Louise Coward is head of insight at Transport Focus. She has worked in research and insight for more than 15 years and for Transport Focus since 2012

10 December 2021 | 21

08/12/2021 16:03

COMMENT CORNWALL

NICK RICHARDSON

A fresh start for Cornish transport?

With Transport for Cornwall there’s a new identity to fronts a fresh approach to public transport provision - how is it doing?

Having recently sampled the Transport for Cornwall offer, I have some observations that may help other areas where bus partnerships in similar contexts are being developed. Cornwall has much to offer for travellers, whether local residents or the vast number of summer visitors. Here, taking a car around is not a good idea for a number of reasons, including a need to concentrate on the road ahead, as there are innumerable obstacles to negotiate and limited places to park. This is particularly the case around the coast with beaches, cliffs and attractions drawing in visitors, largely by car.

However, the train and bus offer is ideal in that coverage is good and the network is reasonably integrated.

Buses working with trains The first observation is that buses and trains can co-exist. The pioneering integrated bus services were introduced by the Great Western Railway (in its original manifestation) from Helston station to The Lizard in 1903. Further routes followed and by the end of 1904, the company operated 36 buses, all painted to match the trains. The network was built up, eventually becoming an entity in itself as railway ownership diminished. A happy legacy is that the bus station in Penzance remains next to the railway station. Other connections include the improved St Erth station on the main line for which buses divert off the main road to access a bus stop right outside the station. The branch line from St 22 | 10 December 2021 PT255p22-23.indd 22

Erth to St Ives is an interesting reflection of changing demands. Originally, the branch line terminated close to the beach, but when rationalisation came along, the line was shortened to make way for a larger car park and the station was ignominiously demolished and relocated in a basic form. Subsequently, longer trains necessitated platform extensions because it is simply a much better way to get to St Ives than driving and finding somewhere to park. The opening of park and ride facilities on the branch was a natural solution to a severe problem - St Ives is full of people and the cars should not be there. While it is unlikely that the old station will ever be recreated in its original position, restrictions on car access are

inevitable to avoid undermining the reasons that people visit in the first place.

St Ives was not the only place where stations were relocated in favour of cars; the same occurred at Looe (on the unusual branch line from Liskeard) and at Falmouth. However, Falmouth’s original station was reopened despite a new one having been provided a short distance away. The branch now has more trains than ever before and large numbers of main line passengers change at Truro. The moral is that truncating railways to make more parking is less than helpful.

Coordinating identity The Transport for Cornwall identity is spreading. Every bus stop flag appears to have been replaced and gives the impression of a coordinated network. Local branding is more evident than the operators’ branding and it is starting to make sense. First’s attractive bus timetable booklet is all about ‘Cornwall

by Kernow’ and it isn’t obvious that it is First behind it until burrowing deeper into how to buy tickets. Alongside, Go Ahead services are marketed as Go Cornwall Bus. Any visitor inclined to use the local bus network might be surprised at how comprehensive it is Mousehole, a few miles from Penzance enjoys a 20 minute frequency (30 minutes on Sundays) until 11pm. This compares very favourably with some urban services elsewhere. Meanwhile, the original GWR route to The Lizard is now L1 with several journeys per day. Planning ahead avoids the need for a car, especially for visitors arriving by train.

The Transport for Cornwall identity is spreading

www.passengertransport.co.uk

08/12/2021 17:48

IN ASSOCIATION WITH: www.ciltuk.org.uk Tel: 01536 740100 @ciltuk

In addition there are the Atlantic and Land’s End ‘Coaster’ services with an hourly service throughout the day through the summer season but a shrunk version in the winter months. These use semi-open top buses which enable spectacular views. They also use some extreme hills and small roads which adds to the interest especially when other vehicles need to be negotiated in very tight spaces, a particular problem in the summer season. A day ticket on the bus should be the objective for every visitor. However, there are one or two niggles including finding out when services operate out of season. This entails rummaging through First’s website and ignoring the unhelpful comment that timetables will be posted at some stage. The buses designated for the ‘Coaster’ services look smart, although others seemed to be a mixed bag of liveries, some looking decidedly secondhand.

All seemed to be suffering from the ravages of time on the inside with scratched seatbacks and windows. While this isn’t a massive problem, it doesn’t give the right impression to visitors who are not regular bus consumers and a deeper clean would also be welcome. Pricing of bus services isn’t excessive if longer journeys are taken and the cost compares favourably against fuel and parking prices. Observation shows that students, older people and rural communities use and value their bus services.

However, not many stops have raised kerbs so bus services aren’t as inclusive as they might be. Hopefully this will be remedied over time given the wide distribution of stops, some in obscure locations.

First’s Land’s End Coaster service - a day ticket on this bus should be the objective for every visitor

“The buses designated for the ‘Coaster’ services look smart although others seemed to be a mixed bag of liveries”

Improving the visitor experience With a good network in place, it seems unfortunate that there are not more restrictions on car access. Parking availability in places like St Ives is limited and cars block the roads used by buses. While park and ride works, it won’t reach maturity until it becomes the main means of access, not a voluntary option. Here lies the crux of the problem destinations could be improved if they weren’t hostages to car use. This would enable a better visitor experience with more people walking around and spending money rather than trying to find somewhere to park and choking the place in doing so. This implies that a better interaction is needed between the highway authority and the public transport providers www.passengertransport.co.uk

PT255p22-23.indd 23

which, given that Cornwall Council funds approximately half the bus network, should be the next logical step. Managing traffic and parking is easier said than done but it is now a necessity, not a nice to have. Without it some residents will continue to resent visitors and the economy will suffer. There is also an air quality issue although this might not be an environmental priority given the sewage content of the sea. In any event, reducing car traffic should be a core aim of any strategy to promote visits and access to the coast and countryside.

It seems that Transport for Cornwall is getting a grip on coordinated services but it could be better still with a greater emphasis

on quality and detail. There is scope to expand knowledge of the options available to visitors more widely to support train/ bus combinations and bus use if arriving by car. With both GWR and Cornwall by Kernow being provided by First, this could present numerous opportunities. For visitors sampling the bus, the offer needs to be really good for them to make more bus journeys.

This presents many opportunities and if marketed strongly would meet more visitors’ needs. Recreating holidays by train with bus connections shouldn’t just be a romantic ideal, it should be enticing and affordable. Using buses for day trips and holiday visits could and should become the norm.

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.

10 December 2021 | 23

08/12/2021 17:48

COMMENT

WANT TO KNOW MORE? Visit Portland’s fuel forum page: portland-analytics.co.uk/fuel-forum

OIL MARKET REPORT

£

PORTLAND FUEL ANALYTICS - DECEMBER 2021

How bad was tanker driver shortage?

Never in recent memory has there been a tanker driver shortage in the UK, but that has changed. What impact has it been having?

October and November of this year will be remembered for soaring energy prices and massive supply-chain disruption.

James Spencer For the most part, the Portland UK was a mere bystander to these global events, with little control over proceedings (whilst increasingly suffering from the outcomes!). But Great Britain also suffered a “man-made” energy crisis this Autumn, involving (or to be precise, not involving) petrol tanker drivers.

Tankers and tanker drivers are a subject close to Portland’s heart, having scheduled fuel deliveries for 18 months in the early 1990’s as an enthusiastic but useless graduate. The experience was quite a baptism of fire, with lessons quickly learned on the best way to pick up piles of delivery tickets (knocked to the floor by unhappy drivers), how to construct sentences with a word/profanity ratio of 1:1 and most importantly, that Colin (the Shop Steward) “never does Brighton twice in a day”.

Whilst tanker driver strikes and fuel blockades are not unheard of, never in recent memory has there been a tanker driver shortage in the UK. Why? Well, because tanker drivers are the doyen of drivers, the crème de la crème and whilst other driving sectors might have vacancies, the petrol sector always had new blood clamouring to get “onto the tankers”. At the top of the commercial driving pyramid sits the tanker driver, with a 24 | 10 December 2021 PT255p24-25.indd 24

Class 1 HGV ADR licence, thus allowing him (mostly hims!) to drive a 44 tonne/38,000 litre articulated tanker. It also confers significant status, kudos and higher pay.

It’s not entirely clear how many tanker drivers the industry is currently short of and even more pertinently, it’s never been made public just how many petrol stations were running short of fuel before panic buying set in and created the “crisis”. What we do know is that in the final week of September, BP announced they were struggling to replenish a handful of sites in the South of England and a tanker driver shortage was the reason given. In fairness to the media outlets that reported on this story, petrol stations in the UK rarely run out of fuel (if ever) and this probably justified running the articles.

However, the whole thing soon became a national event as queues of panic buyers started clogging up highways around forecourts, filling multiple jerry cans, fighting with each other and even following mortar trucks in the mistaken belief that they were carrying fuel…

Over a period of around five days, fuel liftings across the UK increased by 500% and the reality is that no supply-chain (however efficient) can cope with such an uplift in demand, in such a short period. This

“Tanker drivers are the doyen of drivers, the crème de la crème”

is particularly true in the petroleum sector, where high prices and even higher government duty rates, mean that a single 38,000 litre tanker load has a value of well over £40,000.

With such huge inventory costs, storing excess fuel is ruinous for cash-flow and this in turn means the petrol station world runs the mother of all “just in time” delivery models.

With 8,500 petrol stations in the UK, selling around 700 million litres per week, circa 2,600 tanker deliveries are required every day.

Multiply that by five to reflect the 500% uplift in volume and it is fair to say that the 150 or so army personnel that were deployed, were always unlikely to have a significant impact!

Predictably enough, the situation soon calmed down. Once everyone had filled up, there could be no more demand - jerry cans aside, you can’t fill a car twice! Which leaves a big question mark over whether the whole thing was the result of a genuine tanker driver shortage or simply an example of excessive panic buying. There is little debate that general haulage (ie, non-petrol) is experiencing acute labour shortages. Pre-pandemic, 10% of non-fuel drivers were EU citizens and when Covid hit, many of them went home, never to come back. They got different jobs and then found it more administratively difficult to return to the UK in a post-Brexit world.

This state of affairs with overseas drivers was further compounded by new IR35 tax rules on domestic drivers, which removed the beneficial tax status of “self-employment” and led many older UK drivers to hang up their haulage boots once and for all.

But neither of these factors affect tanker drivers. Self-employed status is virtually unheard of in the petroleum sector and the UK industry has never had high numbers of EU nationals. Portland’s view is that there was a minor shortage of tanker drivers post-Summer, when desperate general haulage firms started to offer whopping salaries, juicy bonuses and eye-watering “golden hand-shakes” (“if you join us, we’ll pay you £5,000 immediately”). That was enough to turn some heads in the tanker world and perhaps for the first time in modern history, a number of Class 1 ADR drivers, crossed over to the previously unglamorous world of ordinary lorry driving. That in itself was still not enough to create the scenes we witnessed in October though - I’m afraid they were down to panic buying, pure and simple! www.passengertransport.co.uk

08/12/2021 15:26

“Have ministers created a political row which could have been avoided?”

COMMENT

GREAT MINSTER GRUMBLES

Devolution hits the buffers in the North

Our Whitehall insider imagines what’s going on inside the minds of the mandarins at Great Minster House, home of the DfT

One of the consequences of the Integrated Rail Plan, which we finally published on November 18, is that we have told Transport for the North that we will no longer be providing it with funding for Northern Powerhouse Rail, but will take control of this directly, through Network Rail. This has created quite a political storm which, I sense, isn’t going to go away.

Whether or not we were right to take this action is debatable, and I can see arguments both ways. Technically speaking, of course, ministers were well within their rights to do so, given, as they have said, NPR is not a delivery body. TfN itself is a body with a duty to prepare a transport strategy, not necessarily to actually deliver it on the ground.

So, at this purist level, ministers may well have acted appropriately, and quite possibly even in the best interests of taxpayers. Since NPR was going to be spending large sums of taxpayers’ money it is also worth pointing out that NPR is not answerable to parliament in the way that ministers are. Nor for that matter is TfN, even though one would still hope that it would have due regard to spending taxpayers’ money wisely and efficiently.

But from a political perspective have ministers created a political row which could have been avoided? It was always going to be the case, wasn’t it, that the likes of Andy Burnham and other political figures in the north would kick off about this. It once again suggests that the government’s commitment to devolution is weak at best, www.passengertransport.co.uk

PT255p24-25.indd 25

and it certainly gives politicians in the north plenty of scope to complain that, when it comes to the crunch, ministers don’t really believe in it. It gives the impression that Whitehall knows best, and all the rest.

But there has always been a tension between the devolution agenda and the need for government ministers to protect the interests of the taxpayer. It’s a tension that can never really be resolved unless there is a very fundamental change in the government/taxpayer relationship, and I don’t see that ever happening.

But here’s a thing. Could we actually have protected the national taxpayer interest simply by controlling the amount of funding that we provide to TfN and without actually

formally stripping NPR’s role in the project?

If additional funding was required to deliver NPR then the authorities in the region could raise additional funding themselves, via the council tax, for example. Now, I concede that this might require a very significant rise in many authorities’ council tax which they would have to put to local referenda, possibly on a regular basis, and the local electorates may well reject the increases required, thus potentially killing the project stone dead. I can also see the argument which says that as there will be national benefits from NPR, the national taxpayer should pay for the project, just as the national taxpayer is paying for Crossrail.

But shouldn’t the cost burden be shared by both national and local taxpayers? It’s worth pointing out that the cost increases on Crossrail are in part being paid by TfL which is now funded largely by taxpayers in its region. Of course, if you split funding between national and local taxpayers then arguably the local taxpayer is paying twice. So yes, there are all sorts of complexities and issues around how major projects like NPR should be funded, and I doubt there is a perfect solution. What I am suggesting is far from perfect, I’m sure, and may even be impossible to implement.

But this is a long-winded way of getting to my core point. Local authorities and their political leaders want devolution. But they don’t want the accountability that should go with this, and they don’t want to have to confront the central issue of asking local taxpayers to pay for local projects through, for example, the council tax (or whatever other local funding streams might be available).

They want the government to provide all the funding with ministers held accountable to parliament for this, while the local politicians seek to get all the electoral credit for the deliver of shiny new railways.

It’s a complicated issue, with no absolute black and white solution. But once you go down the devolution route to the extent this government has, it is always going to hit a point where the conflicts between devolution and protecting the interests of national taxpayers hit the buffers, if you’ll excuse the pun. In doing what it has done in relation to NPR the government has once again stoked a debate that, arguably, could have been avoided even if the decision was, for a number of reasons, a perfectly legitimate one.

10 December 2021 | 25

08/12/2021 15:26

CAREERS

First and Cardiff Bus bosses take CPT roles CPT Cymru announces Bus Commission leaders POLICY

The Confederation of Passenger Transport Cymru has announced that First Cymru managing director Jane Reakes-Davies and Paul Dyer, managing director at council-owned operator Cardiff Bus, have been appointed as chair and vice-chair of CPT Cymru’s Bus Commission.

Reakes-Davies and Dyer take up their positions on the Bus Commission this month and they will play a vital role in bringing together bus operators to help shape bus policy in Wales.

Reakes-Davies will be the first female to occupy the role of chair.

She has spent the past eight years in leadership roles at First Cymru, and her background in human resources management means she has a wealth of experience in leading teams and driving projects

EVERYWOMEN NOMINATIONS

Awards scheme opens for 2022 edition AWARDS

The Amazon Everywoman in Transport & Logistics Awards 2022, which aim to inspire more women to progress careers in the industry, have opened for nominations until February 7, 2022.

Now in their 15th year, the awards celebrate the contribution women make to transport and logistics, showcasing progression, accomplishments and increasing avenues of opportunity within what 26 | 10 December 2021 PT255p26-27.indd 26

forwards.

Dyer brings to the role of vicechair his knowledge of transport and logistics, having previously been the chief executive for DHL Supply Chain before moving to his role at Cardiff Bus at the beginning of 2020.

“I’m really pleased that CPT Cymru will have Jane and Paul on the Bus Commission beginning in December, and I would like

to thank Nigel Winter from Stagecoach South Wales for his time as chair,” said Josh Miles, CPT Cymru director. “With a new bus strategy for Wales on the horizon, Jane and Paul’s knowledge of the bus sector puts them in an excellent position to advise on policy and what we need to improve services for passengers.

“Both bring to the role considerable experience in

Duo will help shape bus policy

has been a traditionally very maledominated industry.

This latest awards competition comes at a time when there have been headlines about driver shortages in both the logistics and bus industries. Everywoman says part of the solution to the lack of female recruits to these roles is to showcase role models to women and girls who may not see the transport and logistics industry as an option for them, whether it is physical distribution or women in leadership and management positions.

“It’s been another extraordinary year for transport and logistics, with a continued need for adaptation and

innovation at every level and across growing areas of the industry,” said Maxine Benson, co-founder of Everywoman.

“Now more than ever, it is important that we identify and celebrate the women whose resilience, skills, and leadership are making transport and logistics the dynamic industry that it is and have kept the country moving in persistently difficult times.”

There will be a total of 10 categories in the 2022 award scheme. They are: The Customer/Passenger Award; The Freight Award; The Infrastructure Award;

leadership and transport that I know they will apply to their new positions. Jane is our first female chair and her background in human resources puts her in excellent stead to lead the Bus Commission, and Paul’s experience working in transport and logistics will help us understand even better the issues we need to address to drive the bus industry forwards.”

Commenting on her appointment, Reakes-Davies said: “The Welsh Government has set targets for the bus industry of reaching zero tailpipe emissions in the coming years and the CPT will play a role in helping to define that road map. The transition currently underway in our sector is the biggest for generations and to be part of that agenda as [Bus Commission] chair is very exciting.”

Dyer added that many in Wales relied on buses for connectivity. He continued: “I am delighted to be working with industry colleagues on the challenges of ensuring this industry recovers successfully from the pandemic and is well placed for a bright future.”

The Supply Chain Award; The Warehousing Award; The Industry Champion Award; The International Inspiration Award; The Apprentice Award; The Male Agent of Change Award; and The Tech Innovator Award.

There will be two winners in most categories (a ‘Leader’ winner and an ‘Above and Beyond’ winner) and one recipient of the Industry Champion, Male Agent of Change, Apprentice of the Year, plus the Woman of the Year Award.

Further details and entry information can be found at www.everywoman.com. www.passengertransport.co.uk

08/12/2021 17:45

CALL NOW TO ADVERTISE 020 3950 8000 or email sales@passengertransport.co.uk

www.passengertransport.co.uk

PT255p26-27.indd 27

10 December 2021 | 27

08/12/2021 17:45

DIVERSIONS SANTA EXPRESS IS A SELLOUT

Yule enjoy Estelle’s Christmas display Southeastern staffer has a great ideer for Christmas Sleigh hello to Southeastern’s very own Santa’s helper, Estelle Waters, who recycled 3,000 train tickets to deck the ticket halls of Ashford International.

Estelle wanted to bring Christmas cheer to the station while also inspiring everyone to get creative with recycling day-to-day items into their own decorations.

Thanks to months of preparation, Estelle created paper chains and tree decorations with a station

Calvert with some Calvert

METRO’S CALVERT COMES HOME Legendary graphic designer Margaret Calvert paid her first ever visit to the Tyne and Wear Metro recently, more than 40 years since she designed the

Deck the (ticket) halls

centrepiece of, er, a 4ft-high Wallace and Gromit, out of thousands of used tickets which she had been saving since the start of the year. As she noted: “It’s a bit of fun for passengers.”

system’s iconic ‘Calvert’ typeface.

Calvert was in the North East of England to collect an honorary degree from the University of Sunderland and she took the opportunity to see her work on the Metro for the first time.

“It was a great privilege to invite Margaret to see our modern system and she was still full of ideas and suggestions on where we go next,” said Huw Lewis from Metro operator Nexus. “Margaret’s work for Metro will be with us for many years to come.”

PLEASE START MY SUBSCRIPTION TO PASSENGER TRANSPORT

SUBSCRIPTION ORDER FORM

CARD NUMBER

Passenger Transport provides business news, information and comment on the UK passenger transport scene every fortnight. All annual subscription rates include delivery by second-class post, or airmail for overseas.

ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION RATES 6 mth UK: £80 1 yr UK: £140 Europe: £220 ROW: £280 2 yr UK: £250 (10% discount)

NAME

WWW.PASSENGERTRANSPORT.CO.UK Email: subs@passengertransport.co.uk Return to: Subscriptions, Passenger Transport Publishing Ltd, PO Box 5496, Westbury BA13 9BX

28 | 10 December 2021 PT255p28.indd 28

EXPIRY DATE

Back behind the wheel

Hundreds of excited youngsters took to the rails last week with the first of five special trips on ScotRail’s Santa Express.

The train operator has really gone to town and provided specially decorated trains, Father Christmas made an appearance, and a host of other activities kept pint-sized passengers entertrained. Such was the demand for the trips that tickets sold out in hours, raising £33,000 for charity.

“We never dreamt tickets would sell out so quickly,” noted David Simpson, ScotRail operations director.

It’s a wrap

NCT’S XMAS GIFTS Need some wrapping paper for those gifts for friends and family?

Well Nottingham City Transport are selling their own bespoke festive wrapping paper for just £2 per sheet! And you can also pick up your very own charity calendar just in time for 2022!

A RETURN TO MEMORY LANE A care home in Preston recently took one of its residents on a trip down memory lane. The gentleman in question worked as a driver and inspector for legendary Leyland-based independent bus operator Fishwick’s and staff arranged for two preserved Fishwick’s buses to visit.

Putting his uniform back on, he was able to get behind the wheel, chat with his old boss and look at a Fishwick’s photo display - he clearly enjoyed a magical morning reminiscing about the buses!

“The smiles and laughter in this beautiful reminiscence activity was absolutely breath taking,” said the care home staff.

SEEN SOMETHING QUIRKY? Why not drop us a line at editorial@passengertransport.co.uk

I enclose a cheque for £ made payable to Passenger Transport Publishing Limited Please invoice my company (official order enclosed) I authorise you to debit my Mastercard/VISA/Maestro/VISA Electron card. Amount £

PT255

SECURITY CODE SIGNATURE

JOB TITLE COMPANY ADDRESS

POSTCODE TEL EMAIL

DATE

www.passengertransport.co.uk

08/12/2021 17:46