Passenger Transport: May 20, 2022

FO EV RT ER NI Y GH T

ISSUE 265 20 MAY 2022

NEWS, VIEWS AND ANALYSIS FOR A SECTOR ON THE MOVE

Transport Bill ‘biggest Rotala appeals judicial of kind in three decades’ GM review decision NEWS

Campaigners welcomed inclusion of wide-ranging bill in Queen’s Speech - but changes sought include more action to reform rail ticketing system Last week’s Queen’s Speech announced the government’s Transport Bill, hailed as “the biggest of its kind in three decades”.

This legislation will bring Britain’s railways under a single, accountable national leadership through Great British Railways, with the promise of “simpler, modern fares”.

It also aims to “modernise travel, making the UK a hub of innovation with a world-leading electric vehicle charging network, cleaning up our air and creating green British jobs”.

It will also bring in measures to protect the rights of ferry workers

QUEEN VISITS ELIZABETH LINE

Transformational new railway opens next week Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Earl of Wessex visited Paddington Elizabeth line station on May 17 to mark the completion of the new railway ahead of its opening to passengers on May 24. Her Majesty unveiled a plaque and met with staff who have been key to the Crossrail project, as well as Elizabeth line staff who will be running the railway.

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and secure powers to build and operate the next stage of HS2.

Transport campaigners welcomed the announcement but called for changes. Responding to the Queen’s Speech, Norman Baker, from Campaign for Better Transport, said: “We are pleased to see that much needed improvements to the country’s rail

“No mention of legislation to address the failing ticketing system” Norman Baker

network have been included in the Queen’s Speech today in the form of a Transport Bill, however we are disappointed there is no mention of legislation to address the failing ticketing system.

“Without whole-sale reform of the entire ticketing system we cannot hope to have the better and more reliable service passengers have been promised.”

Meanwhile, Jonathan Bray, Director of the Urban Transport Group, said the bill represented an opportunity to extend the benefits of local control of transport - for trains, buses and new mobility formats.

JONATHAN BRAY: PAGE 16

04

Bus group will continue legal fight

INNOVATION & TECH

Regular buses added to TfW’s Fflecsi app

15

Scheduled services integrated with DRT

COMMENT

Cost of living crisis - what will impact be?

16

Jonathan Bray on ‘the new Covid’

COMMENT Queen Elizabeth and Prince Edward met London’s transport commissioner, Andy Byford

What role for DRT in bus revolution?

18

Beate Kubitz sees potential in new plans

COMMENT

Does rail risk irrelevance?

20

Alex Warner says sector faces battle

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CONTENTS

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

Same challenges, different solutions I set foot on mainland Europe last week for the first time since Covid locked us all down. I travelled from Geneva to Basel (via Bern) and discovered that (a) Swiss trains don’t always run like clockwork and (b) Bern is an incredible model of Robert Jack mass transit! From Basel I travelled on to Karlsruhe Managing Editor to attend the IT-TRANS show, the first major global gathering of public transport professionals since the pandemic.

As ever, I was struck by the differences and the similarities.

Our European neighbours, as well as those further afield, are also grappling with Covid recovery, decarbonisation, staff shortages and rising fuel prices. Some of the responses are different, however.

While the UK government responded by cutting fuel duty, Germany’s new coalition government is making public transport available for just nine euros a month in June, July and August. It caught transport authorities by surprise and there are questions about how it will be implemented - but it’s a huge opportunity to encourage people to reconnect with sustainble forms of transport.

Further innovations are being trialled in Germany. In Hamburg, for example, Deutsche Bahn subsidiary Bonvoyo has teamed up with employers to help them offer a ‘mobility budget’ to their staff rather than the traditional company car and/or free parking space. The result has been a significant shift away from car use to public transport!

Could either of these ideas make their way across the Channel?

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 OFFICE CONTACT DETAILS Passenger Transport Publishing Ltd PO Box 5496, Westbury BA13 9BX, UNITED KINGDOM Telephone (all enquiries): 020 3950 8000

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IN THIS ISSUE 06

JUDGEMENT ERRORS LED TO FRANCHISE LOSS

The final penalty notice issued by the Department for Transport to the former operator of the Southeastern rail franchise, has lifted the lid on why the Goviaowned operator was stripped of the franchise in October 2021.

ORGANISATION

PAGE

Abellio London 5, 9 Arriva London 5, 9 CDPQ 7 CPT Scotland 8 Equipmake 13 Eurostar 7 Federated Hermes Infrastructure 7 FirstGroup 4 Go-Ahead Group 6 Go-Ahead London 5 Greater Anglia 12 Greater Manchester CA 4 Keolis 6 London & South Eastern Railway 6 Marcopolo 5 McGill’s 8 Metroline 5, 9 Network Rail 7 Nottingham City Transport 5 Office of Rail and Road 7, 9 RATP Dev London Transit 5 RMT Union 7 Rotala 4 SNCB 7 SNCF 7 Southeastern 6 Stagecoach Group 4, 5 Stagecoach London 5 Thalys 7 Transport for Greater Manchester 4 Transport for London 5, 9 UITP 10 UK Bus Awards 5 Unite the Union 5 Volgren 5 West Yorkshire CA 4 Wrightbus 5, 13 Yutong 8

12

GREATER ANGLIA REPORT REVEALS GREEN BENEFITS

22

CHALLENGING THE PERCEPTION OF BUS

25

‘GOODY TWO SHOES’ TO CUT DFT HEADCOUNT

Greater Anglia’s reported carbon emissions have reduced by over 25,000 tonnes of equivalent CO2 over the last two years, as revealed in the company’s annual environment report. This is equivalent to the annual average energy use of 9,000 homes.

Buses have had a bad press for years but how can this change post-pandemic? Nick Richardson. believes it’s time for change. “The bus services of the past are not the aspiration of the future and the offer must adapt to survive,” he says.

Great Minster Grumbles: Our Whitehall insider imagines what’s going on inside the minds of the mandarins at Great Minster House, home of the DfT. Boris has ordered that the size of the civil service be cut by 90,000 - how will it affect the Department?

REGULARS NEWS ENVIRONMENT INNOVATION & TECH COMMENT GRUMBLES CAREERS DIVERSIONS

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NEWS ROUND-UP

Rotala appeals GM judicial review decision Bus group says it will challenge the rejection of its judicial review as company chairman John Gunn says it has acted to protect its business FRANCHISING

Rotala has been granted leave to appeal the rejection of certain elements of its judicial review into plans by mayor Andy Burnham to franchise bus services in Greater Manchester.

In March 2021 Burnham announced he planned to franchise bus services in the region, a decision that led the AIM-listed bus group and Stagecoach each to lodge judicial reviews on a number of aspects of the consultation process.

The operators’ arguments were rejected by Mr Justice Knowles on March 9, but Rotala applied to seek permission to appeal the decision which has now been granted on certain aspects of the case. The appeal hearing is expected to take place before August 2022.

Rotala has ‘most modern bus fleet in Greater Manchester’

Writing in Rotala’s recently published annual report, chairman John Gunn said the bus group was confident in its view that those elements of the decision where it had sought a judicial review were both irrational and/or unlawful.

West Yorkshire to cap bus fares at £2 Bus operator partnership pledges fare deal in September West Yorkshire mayor Tracy Brabin has said that bus passengers boarding any West Yorkshire bus from September will pay no more than £2 for their journey.

“When I became mayor a year ago, I promised to make bus fares simpler and cheaper across West Yorkshire,” she said.

“Through our new Enhanced

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Partnership with bus operators, that’s exactly what we’re doing.”

As well as single fares, the multi-operator WY DaySaver tickets available through the MCard app and smartcard will be reduced from £5.50 to £4.50 from September. Funding for new bus routes to reconnect as many communities as possible left isolated by service changes over

He continued: “As an operator in Greater Manchester, the company has acted to attempt to protect its business from a decision that is not only detrimental to Rotala’s future prospects, but also potentially detrimental to the citizens of

recent years will also be made available. “I want people to see buses as the first choice for the journey they want to make,” Brabin added.

The proposals build on West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s revised Bus Service Improvement Plan, submitted to the Department for Transport earlier this month. Brabin’s office says the £2 maximum fare will be negotiated with the bus operators through the Enhanced Partnership, which commenced in April.

Greater Manchester in imposing upon them the financial burden of a franchising scheme that the board believes has not been properly assessed in line with the relevant legislation.”

He said Rotala, which acquired FirstGroup’s Bolton bus operations in 2019, remained committed to providing a high level of service to bus users in Greater Manchester and still remained willing to enter into a statutory partnership with Transport for Greater Manchester and the other local bus operators.

Gunn added a partnershipbased approach would not only be just as effective as a franchising scheme, and be done at less risk to the public purse, but he claimed it could also be implemented far more quickly than the full franchising scheme.

“However, should the company be unsuccessful in its legal case and the franchising scheme is implemented, it will potentially be required to sell its Bolton depot and the bus assets based there to Greater Manchester Combined Authority,” he added. “The board believes that the Bolton depot has first class facilities and is the most modern and up-to-date bus depot operating in Greater Manchester.

The bus fleet based there is also the most modern of any of the large operators in that region.”

Gunn said Rotala was confident that if that happened the values which might potentially be realised from the sale of these assets will, at a minimum, realise their book value and cover any outstanding liabilities.

“The company has acted to attempt to protect its business” John Gunn, Rotala

www.passengertransport.co.uk

18/05/2022 16:35

“We’re incredibly proud to be partnering with Australia’s number one bus body builder”

Wrightbus cements Australian bus deal Landmark deal with Volgren could open door to new markets OVERSEAS

Ballymena-based bus manufacturer Wrightbus has signed a deal with Australia’s largest bus builder that it claims could open up a significant export market for the company.

Wrightbus has partnered with Volgren, which is ultimately owned by Brazilian bus manufacturer Marcopolo, to make its hydrogen fuel cell powertrain technology available for the manufacture of two zero-emission hydrogen single deck buses.

They will be the first hydrogenpowered buses to be assembled in Australia as a result of a joint venture between UK and Australian companies.

OPERATORS MARK THE JUBILEE Transport for London and NCT mark the occasion PLATINUM JUBILEE

Transport operators are preparing to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee with special buses to commemorate the event.

In the capital Transport for London has wrapped eight buses with special commemorative wraps funded by London operators Arriva, RATP, Abellio, Go-Ahead, Metroline and Stagecoach.

Customers using the Jubilee line, Elizabeth line or stations that have a Royal link in their name will see and hear special celebratory messages during the four-day Platinum Jubilee weekend early next month. www.passengertransport.co.uk

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Wrightbus hopes these first two vehicles, which will act as demonstration vehicles in the Australian market, will lead to sizeable orders in a country which is seeking to replace its conventionally-powered diesel bus fleet over the next decade.

The Wrightbus-Volgren hydrogen buses, which will use the same technology developed by Wrightbus for its Hydroliner-branded vehicles, are expected to be ready for trial by Australian operators in the first few months of 2023.

“We’re incredibly proud to be partnering with Australia’s number one bus body builder in Volgren,” said Wrightbus chief executive Buta Atwal.

“Like us, Volgren is always on the cutting edge of new and emerging technology to drive the

industry forwards. “ There are some fantastic parallels between the two companies and we’re looking forward to a long and successful working relationship.”

Atwal added the partnership, coupled with the company’s expansion plans in Europe, would ensure the Wrightbus name would be known on the global stage, securing the UK’s reputation as a leader in zeroemission hydrogen technology.

The UK’s Department for International Trade provided Wrightbus with assistance in reaching a deal with Victoriabased Volgren. It is the first time that the Ballymena-based manufacturer has exported its hydrogen powertrain technology to a third party bus body manufacturer.

Meanwhile, council-owned bus operator Nottingham City Transport has unveiled a commemorative bus to mark the occasion. The double deck bus features the official Platinum Jubilee emblem and is painted in a purple, platinum and white version of NCT’s usual livery.

The bus was officially unveiled on May 4 by Lord Lieutenant Sir John

Peace, lord mayor David Trimble and Nottingham City Transport managing director David Astill.

“NCT has proudly served Nottingham for 144 years and it is remarkable that for almost half of

IN BRIEF UNION SEEKS CLARIFICATION Trades union Unite says it has requested assurances from DWS Infrastructure over staffing plans as part of its £595m bid for Stagecoach. “We note there is an expectation, but not a commitment, to retain the overall headcount in frontline operational roles,” said the union. “No working definition on frontline operational roles has been put forward, and we will urgently seek further engagement on headcount plans if the offer is accepted.”

BUS AWARDS ARE BACK UK Bus Awards has confirmed that a 2022 competition will take place with an in-person presentation ceremony to be held at the Troxy in London on November 15. The organisers have also announced that following the decision of chair Mark Yexley to step down, former BUSES editor Alan Millar has been appointed.

that time the same sovereign, HRH Elizabeth II, has served her country and commonwealth,” said Astill. “We think it appropriate to acknowledge her achievement on behalf of the city.”

Nottingham City Transport’s Jubilee bus

One of the eight specially wrapped buses in London

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NEWS ROUND-UP

‘Errors of judgement’ led to loss of franchise DfT reveals how it discovered Govia-owned operator of the Southeastern rail franchise had retained ‘significant amounts of public monies’ CONTRACTS

The final penalty notice issued by the Department for Transport to London & South Eastern Railway Ltd (LSER), the former operator of the Southeastern rail franchise, has lifted the lid on why the Goviaowned operator was stripped of the franchise in October 2021.

In the document, Tim Rees, the DfT’s deputy director passenger services, cross London market, reveals the department first became aware LSER had wrongfully retained “significant amounts of public monies” after identifying an index error in the calculation of an element of the franchise payments payable under LSER’s 2014 franchise agreement.

These related to track access charges to the High Speed 1 rail route and this had resulted in overpayments in LSER’s favour over a number of years. Rees claims that at the time, the DfT expected the amounts overpaid would have to a large extent been recovered through the profitsharing arrangements of the franchise agreement.

Simultaneously the DfT and LSER were in dispute as to the amount of profit share payments properly payable by LSER under that agreement. There followed a period during which they continued to correspond about these issues and the HS1 track access overpayments.

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LSER had retained ‘significant amounts of public monies’ relating to HS1 track access charges

of, amongst other amounts, what it believed to be the amount owed including in respect of the HS1 track access charge overpayments,” said Rees.

This was followed by an email from the DfT to LSER which requested a full breakdown of the creditor balances. On May 24, 2021, LSER responded in which it explained, amongst other things, that the amount of overpaid subsidy to be repaid in respect of HS1 track access charges was higher than the amount identified by the DfT. Meanwhile, there had also been overpayments to LSER under the 2014 franchise agreement in respect of the rental of the HS1 depot at Ashford.

LSER confirmed that accruals had been made in its accounts for both overpayments on the basis that the train operator recognised that both sums would fall to be repaid to the DfT. Four days later LSER paid the DfT a sum in respect of these discrepancies.

However, the DfT believed there had been a contravention of the ‘Good Faith Obligation’ as a result of LSER’s behaviour.

On that basis it invited LSER to consider whether it would be appropriate for transport secretary Grant Shapps to enter into a further contract.

By August the chairs of Go-Ahead Group and Keolis, the ultimate owners of Govia, responded they had appointed an independent committee “to establish the facts, to respond to the letter and to direct any necessary corporate renewal action to prevent reoccurrence of the matters raised”. This committee “accepted that preliminary enquiries suggested that LSER had made a grave error of judgement and committed to cooperate with the DfT in respect of the matters of concern”.

While the findings of the committee are subject to a confidentiality agreement, it

acknowledged that mistakes and serious errors of judgement had arisen in relation to LSER’s franchise arrangements and apologised unreservedly.

“It committed to further investigation work and to the sharing of the findings of that further work with the DfT,” added Rees.

Shapps subsequently confirmed the DfT would not enter into a new contract with LSER upon the expiry of the interim 2020 franchise agreement in October 2021. The LSER independent committee wrote to the DfT in late November with its overall findings. While the content of its report remains confidential, it apologised unreservedly and accepted the DfT’s assessment that LSER’s conduct constituted contraventions of the Good Faith Obligations. It also identified a number of instances where LSER had not complied with these obligations by failing to notify to the DfT that certain monies were owed and had been retained instead.

“LSER knew that the DfT was unaware of the overpayments and made deliberate decisions not to bring the overpayments to the attention of the DfT over an extended period of several years,” said Rees. “Instead, LSER reported non-specific accruals to the DfT in relation to the overpayments, such that the overpayments were concealed from the DfT... the effect of this was that LSER did not share the profit with the [DfT].”

In response Govia says it has now taken steps to strengthen the governance of Govia Thameslink Railway, its remaining UK rail contract. Changes to senior personnel have also been made at GTR, Go-Ahead and Keolis. Both parties are also seeking to improve whistleblowing policies. www.passengertransport.co.uk

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The railway risks becoming irrelevant? Page 20

Rail industry aims to minimise strike impact Mitigating measures aim to keep goods and passengers moving INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

The government and the rail industry are preparing to ensure emergency measures are in place to safeguard the continued supply of essential goods should a nationwide rail strike take place this summer.

Last month the RMT union launched a ballot of more than 40,000 rail members on whether their union should stage a national strike (PT264). The ballot is due to end on May 24 and the union has warned that if it is in favour of a strike, action could start in June.

The dispute involves members at Network Rail and 15 train operators and centres on job losses at the infrasyructure

EUROSTAR AND THALYS COMBINE Project Green Speed brings together train operators HIGH SPEED RAIL

The merger of international high speed train operators Eurostar and Thalys has taken place with the new holding company called Eurostar Group pledging to expand its network and promote sustainable high-speed rail travel in Europe.

In 2019 the boards of Eurostar and Thalys announced Project Green Speed which aimed to bring the two train operators together to create an alternative to air and road travel. While the planned merger was delayed by the heavy impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on both train operators, the merger plans resumed www.passengertransport.co.uk

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controller where around 2,500 jobs will go from maintenance roles in a move to cut costs.

The Rail Delivery Group said it was preparing contingency measures to “minimise the impact of potential strike action on the economy and to keep goods and passengers moving”.

“All train operators want to offer their staff a pay rise and are working hard to make that happen,” it added. “But as an industry we have to change our ways of working and improve productivity to help pay our own way. The alternatives of asking

“The floodgates have now been opened” Mick Lynch, RMT

in autumn 2021 with the project receiving blessing from the European Commission at the end of March.

The new Brussels-based Eurostar Group, led by former Eurostar CEO Jacques Damas, has taken a 100% stake in both Eurostar and Thalys, based in London and Brussels, respectively.

French state-owned train operator SNCF owns the bulk of this new company with a 55.75% stake while Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) and funds managed by Federated Hermes Infrastructure, which acquired the UK Government’s 40% shareholding in Eurostar in 2015, hold a 19.31% and 6.44% interest respectively.

SNCB, Belgium’s national railway company, owns the remaining 18.5% shareholding.

taxpayers to shoulder even more of the burden or passengers to pay even higher fares when they too are feeling the pinch, simply isn’t fair.”

Meanwhile, the RMT claims there are imminent plans by the rail industry for mass closures of ticket offices across the network, with over 1,000 ticket offices at impending risk of closure.

The union claims it understands that the government has amended its guidance relating to changes to ticket office opening hours clearing the way for train operating companies to seek to cut or close the majority, if not all, ticket offices.

“The floodgates have now been opened for an annihilation of ticket offices across the network,” said RMT general secretary Mick Lynch.

In a statement, CDPQ said the new shareholders of Eurostar Group “are more convinced than ever that the combination of Eurostar and Thalys will help to meet the growing demand for sustainable mobility”.

“This alliance will also accelerate the recovery of Eurostar and Thalys, who have both been hit by the pandemic,” it added.

Jacques Damas leads new holding company

IN BRIEF RAIL SALE SUCCESS The Department for Transport has revealed more than 1.3 million tickets were sold as part of the Great British Rail Sale. The average ticket price was around £7.50 with several routes proving to be popular. These included Newcastle to York; London to Nottingham; Oxford to London Paddington; London to Sheffield; and Cambridge to London.

NETWORK RAIL FINE Network Rail has been fined £1.4m for a health and safety breach after an investigation by the Office of Rail and Road.

The incident happened in September 2018 on a 19-mile stretch of track between Crewe and Chester. A worker suffered life-changing injuries after being crushed between the conveyor of a 25-tonne ballast distributor and a people carrier. A second worker suffered minor injuries.

The ORR found failings in worksite management, including poor planning, inadequate supervision and poor communication.

DARTMOOR LINE DOUBLED Services on the recently reopened Dartmoor Line doubled last weekend with the introduction of an hourly service on the line between Exeter and Okehampton.

The line reopened last November, restoring a regular, year-round service for the first time in almost 50 years and is part of the government’s £500m ‘Restore Your Railways’ programme. More than 50,000 journeys were undertaken in the first 20 weeks since the line reopened, more than double the number predicted.

Passenger numbers at Crediton have also increased by 39% against pre-pandemic levels.

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NEWS ROUND-UP

‘Cycle lanes should not come at cost of buses’ CPT Scotland urges active travel and bus priority in tandem BUS PRIORITY

CPT Scotland has told members of the Scottish Parliament’s Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee that active travel measures should not come at the expense of bus priority.

In a briefing note to MSPs, the bus and coach trade association claimed one of the main reasons people choose not to take the bus is due to slow bus speeds directly resulting from traffic congestion.

“Bus prioritisation measures that reduce congestion and demand management measures on our roads (particularly in urban areas) will incentivise modal shift,” said CPT Scotland. “This will not only have a positive impact on air quality and road safety, but it will also make our buses quicker, more reliable, and cheaper.”

MCGILL’S PLACES ELECTRIC ORDER Operator’s repeat order calls for 41 more buses VEHICLES

Scottish operator McGill’s has announced a repeat order for more zero-emission electric buses from Chinese manufacturer Yutong and UK-based importer Pelican. Funding for the buses has been secured from the Scottish Government’s Zero Emission Bus Scheme (ScotZEB).

The order is for a further 41 vehicles and comprises 10 Yutong E10 10.9-metre single deckers and 31 Yuton E12 12.17-metre vehicles.

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The trade association argued that the more road congestion there is, the more expensive it is for any bus operator, as slower speeds mean the service is less reliable, which in turn increases costs because more buses are required to run the service.

“This in turn means it is more expensive for passengers,” said CPT Scotland. “This leads to a circle of decline in bus use.”

The trade association added that bus journey times have increased by almost 50% in urban areas since the early 1970s. The net result had been a significant decline in bus use from over 13 billion journeys a year in the UK to less than five billion.

“They should not be competing for the same road space” CPT Scotland

delivered last year and their launch prior to the COP26 conference.

“Placing this repeat order with Pelican Yutong was a very easy decision,” said McGill’s chief executive Ralph Roberts. “The first two deliveries of 55 zero-emission Yutong buses were completed on time, on budget and completely without the normal teething issues we have come to expect with new buses nowadays.

“The buses have delivered exceptionally reliable availability whilst delivering class-leading levels of electricity consumption.

Our customers are impressed by their high quality finish and that is good for business.”

CPT Scotland continued: “There is a direct correlation between operating speeds and patronage levels: backed up by research which has shown that a reduction of 10% in bus speeds is estimated to result in a loss of between 9.6% and 14% in patronage. This correlation can also be found in increases to fares as congestion rose.”

It suggested that had bus passengers been “protected” from the effects of traffic congestion, there would arguably be between 48% and 70% more fare paying bus passenger journeys today. It also warned that if congestion was allowed to continue to grow unchecked then many urban buses would no longer represent a viable mode of transport.

CPT Scotland argued that demand management of private car use and greater bus priority were part of the solution to congestion. It also called for

FREE BUS TRAVEL STRUGGLES

Just 30% of young people apply for free bus travel CONCESSIONARY TRAVEL

The Scottish Labour Party has branded the Scottish Government’s free bus travel for young people scheme a “missed opportunity”.

Figures obtained by the party reveal that across Scotland 284,328 children and young people aged between five and 21 have been issued with a pass, out of the 949,000 who are eligible. Uptake for the scheme - which opened for applications in January this year - is just 30%.

The figures also showed that in 11

priority measures to be delivered at the same pace, at the same time and with the same priority as active travel measures and that active travel routes should not be at the expense of bus prority.

“Our towns and cities have very limited road space and there needs to be a strategic approach to road space reallocation to make sure bus and active travel routes are added in a way which complement each other,” it added.

“They should not be competing for the same road space, yet most frameworks and papers published note that active travel will get priority. CPT Scotland is concerned that due to this, road space on strategically important bus routes could be reallocated to active travel rather than bus, causing bus routes across cities to become disjointed.”

It warned this could add to bus journey times, make buses less reliable, increase fares and reduce options for travellers.

“That is why making sure both active travel and bus prioritisation options are delivered with same speed and strategic importance is paramount,” it added.

of Scotland’s 32 local authority areas fewer than a fifth of under-22s had a pass - with just 13.3% of those eligible in South Lanarkshire having one.

“Free bus passes for young people should have been a good news story,” said Scottish Labour transport spokesman Neil Bibby. “The botched scheme is a huge missed opportunity, which could have unlocked opportunities for children and young people, eased the cost-ofliving crisis for families, and helped us tackle the climate emergency.”

In response the Scottish Government said the roll-out of the scheme had been impacted by the Omicron variant of Covid-19. www.passengertransport.co.uk

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“Northern line customers will now be able to make their journeys much more quickly and easily”

Bank reopening comes at ‘pivotal moment’ Northern line service resumes as TfL heralds ridership breakthrough CAPACITY

Transport for London says the reopening of the Bank branch of London Underground’s Northern line after the completion of capacity enhancement works comes “at a pivotal moment for London’s recovery from the pandemic”.

The 17-week planned closure of the branch allowed a brand-new Northern line tunnel and passenger concourse to be completed at Bank.

A new, wider southbound Northern line platform, plus three new passageways and a larger circulation area, that reuses the old platform area, aims to make moving around the station quicker and easier. Further work, which will complete later this year, will enable step-free access to the Northern line, improved access

Former platform is now part of the station’s circulation area

to the DLR platforms and a new station entrance.

“The old layout was very constrained, leading to frequent congestion, but Northern line customers will now be able to make their journeys much more quickly and easily,” said Stuart Harvey, TfL chief capital officer.

Meanwhile, TfL has revealed that midweek Tube ridership is regularly reaching around 70% of

pre-pandemic levels, with May 12 seeing the highest ridership since the start of the pandemic with 2.97 million journeys made on the Tube.

Tube ridership at stations defined as ‘City’ stations - including Bank are now seeing ridership at 55-60% of pre-pandemic levels, up from around 33% in January. Weekend patronage continues to recover strongly - it is now at 85% of pre-pandemic levels.

ELIZABETH LINE’S ORR APPROVAL Approvals issued as further opens floated CROSSRAIL

ALL CHANGE TO ABELLIO Abellio London increased its fleet size by 5% at the end of April when it took on two new Transport for London contracts. They include Route 111 (Kingston to Heathrow Airport) which saw New Routemaster buses from other London garages transferred to Abellio’s Twickenham garage. www.passengertransport.co.uk

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The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has confirmed the Elizabeth line will open on May 24 with the issue of approvals for all the Elizabeth line stations - with the exception of Bond Street.

Abbey Wood, Canary Wharf, Custom House, Farringdon, Liverpool Street, Paddington, Tottenham Court Road, Whitechapel and Woolwich stations have all been given the green light and issued with

IN BRIEF ARRIVA TENDER GAIN Transport for London has announced Arriva London has won the contract to operate Route 307 (Brimsdown - Barnet Hospital) from Metroline. The peak vehicle requirement is 14 new electric double deck vehicles and the seven-year contract will commence in December 2022.

CAPACITY CONTRACT Transport for London has published a Prior Information Notice for the next stage of capacity upgrades at Elephant & Castle Tube station. The contract will involve the design and construction of passenger tunnels connecting a new station box to the existing platforms.

JUBILEE NIGHT TUBE RETURN Transport for London has confirmed Night Tube services on the Jubilee line, which were suspended in March 2020, will resume on May 21. It has also confirmed Night Tube services will return on the Northern and Piccadilly lines later this summer.

authorisations. Bond Street has been given the go-ahead for safe evacuation procedures only, as it will open later than the rest of the line.

The ORR has also approved the track access contract between Rail for London (Infrastructure) Ltd, the infrastructure manager for the central section, and Elizabeth line operator MTR. Meanwhile, Department for Transport permanent secretary Bernadette Kelly told MPs this week that it is expected that Bond Street station will open later this year. She also suggested Heathrow services will start in the Autumn with a full service “by May next year”.

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NEWS IT-TRANS

Covid recovery speed varies around world Building back after the pandemic was a consistent theme at last week’s IT-TRANS show, which was addressed by the boss of the Kyiv Metro RECOVERY

One of the first major gatherings of public transport professionals since the relaxing of Covid restrictions took place in Karlsruhe in Germany last week.

Since 2008, the biennial IT-TRANS event, co-organised

by Messe Karlsruhe and UITP (the International Association of Public Transport), has brought decision-makers and industry experts together to discuss and develop digital solutions.

Around 6,500 visitors from 71 countries attended the three-day show, which took place across two exhibition halls for the first time.

An accompanying conference programme attracted 800 delegates and heard presentations from around the world. The challenge of building back passenger numbers in the wake of Covid was a common theme.

Kaan Yıldızgöz, senior director of membership, marketing and services at UITP, told Passenger Transport that public transport in Europe is now typically 70-80% of pre-pandemic levels. There are, however, huge variations globally.

Istanbul, for example, has seen a complete recovery in patronage levels while some cities in China have seen huge drops as a result of drastic new Covid restrictions.

Addressing the conference, Alexandra Reinagl, COO of Vienna’s public transport provider, Wiener Linien, reported

“They come to the metro, not to be transported, but to save their lives” Viktor Braginsky

‘Essential, vulnerable and under-valued’ UITP’s Kaan Yıldızgöz says public transport needs help Public transport demonstrated that it is an essential service during the pandemic, remaining the main actor in cities around the world while other sectors shut down, Kaan Yıldızgöz, senior director of membership, marketing and services at UITP, the international association of public transport, told Passenger

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Transport in Karlsruhe last week.

But the crisis had also revealed that public transport is vulnerable and under-valued.

Governments need to help the sector by providing stable funding and pro-public transport polices.

He observed that cities around the world are becoming increasingly ambitious in terms of their goals

that patronage there was back to 80-85% of pre-pandemic levels.

Reinagl expects 2-3% of previous users to stay away permanently, believing that they are instead making shorter journeys on foot or bicycle. With an annual travel pass that famously costs just 365 euros a year, the operator did not see a huge decrease in the number of pass-holders during the pandemic, but Reinagl believes that public transport in the Austrian capital cannot rest on its laurels. It must keep moving forward.

Renée Amilcar, general manager, transit services for the City of Ottawa, reported that patronage in Canada was a long way behind.

In Toronto the figure is 6065% and in Ottawa it is lower partly because the large student population are still at home.

Both Reinagl and Amilcar identified staff recruitment and

for decarbonisation, but he added that this could not be achieved without modal shift from cars to public transport and active travel.

He said that the current energy crisis further underlined the importance of public transport.

He urged the sector to adapt to meet changing customer needs, but also made a plea for help. “We have to redefine what public transport means and we have to see where we can innovate. But the elephant in the room is cars.”

retention as a major challenge.

“Where are the people? I don’t know,” Amilcar lamented.

In Germany, the government has responded to the rise in living costs with an initiative to provide public transport for just nine euros per month in June, July and August. Alexander Pischon, CEO of VBK, is the municipal transport company for IT-TRANS host city city Karlsruhe, said this presented a big challenge but “it’s a great opportunity”.

The challenge of post-Covid recovery doesn’t compare to the one faced by Viktor Braginsky, CEO of Kyiv Metro, who gave a special address on the first day of the show. Commenting on the role that his network played after Russia began its assault on his country, he said: “They come to the metro, not to be transported, but to save their lives.”

Braginsky explained how Kiev’s metro first opened in 1960 with the Cold War in mind. But even today the infrastructure continues to support the people of Ukraine.

He added: “We have 46 metro stations. They can shelter 100,000 people, but also transport 1.5 million people every day.”

The IT-TRANS show is all about harnessing technology to improve public transport. The show’s 274 exhibitors touted their solutions to transport authorities and operators - but it was also an opportunity for them to examine opportunities to collaborate. For example, Ticketer exhibited at IT-TRANS for the first time having established a dominant position in the UK bus ticketing technology market over the past decade. Addressing the event, Antonio Carmona, Ticketer’s general manager international and head of UK Sales, urged suppliers to come together and develop solutions rather than trying to do everything on their own. www.passengertransport.co.uk

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ENVIRONMENT

Greater Anglia report reveals green benefits Operator reduced carbon emissions by 11% last year REPORTING

Greater Anglia’s reported carbon emissions have reduced by over 25,000 tonnes of equivalent CO2 over the last two years, as revealed in the company’s annual Environment and Energy Report.This is equivalent to the annual average energy use of over 9,000 homes.

The train operator has been working to minimise its carbon emissions - reducing them by 11% in 2021 - and become an even more sustainable organisation.

This has seen Greater Anglia introduce new, more energyefficient trains, cut waste, increase recycling and work with partners and communities on projects

to improve sustainability and biodiversity at stations. The company has also worked to install wireless energy management systems at its rail stations to ensure heating and lighting are used efficiently, and taken steps to reduce water consumption.

Aerodynamic fronts, lighter chassis and brakes which return energy back to the network are some of the features of Greater New trains are greener

Anglia’s new trains which are making train travel even more sustainable. They are also longer with more seats, which means that they can carry more passengers and take even more cars off the road - preventing tonnes of harmful CO2 emissions being released into the atmosphere.

Travellers can check how much they can reduce their carbon emissions by swapping the car for the train on Greater Anglia’s carbon calculator at greateranglia. co.uk/carbon-calculator.

Greater Anglia worked with environmental consultants WSP to quantify its environmental impact and understand its carbon emissions.

The full Environment & Energy Report can be found at greateranglia.co.uk/greeneranglia

FIRST DIESEL-FREE CONSTRUCTION SITE ANNOUNCED

Minister hails HS2 site as green construction leader CONSTRUCTION

HS2 minister Andrew Stephenson and SCS electric crane operator Leon Sobers

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HS2 Ltd last week announced its first completely diesel-free site is the Canterbury Road Vent Shaft site in South Kilburn, London. where HS2’s civils contractor Skanska Costain STRABAG joint venture (SCS JV) has introduced a range of diesel-free technologies and greener equipment.

Earlier this year, HS2 Ltd announced that the project aims to be net zero carbon from 2035, with the target of achieving its first diesel-free construction site in 2022, and all of its construction sites being

CLIMATE CHANGE TRAIN A special train is to run through Essex to raise awareness of the climate emergency - and for everyone who travels, a tree will be planted. The family event is being organised by the Essex and South Suffolk Community Rail Partnership with support from train operator Greater Anglia, Essex Path to Prosperity, Essex County Council and The Essex Forest Initiative.

The train will depart Wickford on Sunday May 22, arriving at North Fambridge for an hour-long guided walk through the Blue House Farm Nature Reserve and around the Sea Wall. On the train, families will receive special climate change activity packs.

Jayne Sumner, Rail Engagement Officer for the Essex & South Suffolk Community Rail Partnership, said: “We hope it will give families lots of ideas about small changes they can make to help the planet and inspire them to consider travelling more sustainably in the future.”

diesel-free by 2029.

HS2 Minister Andrew Stephenson said: “This, the first of many diesel-free sites, is another example of how the country’s biggest infrastructure project not only delivers on its commitment to be net zero from 2035, but is a pioneer in leading the whole industry to cleaner, greener construction.”

Innovations on this site include one of the UK’s first 160 tonne emissions-free fully electric crawler cranes; the use of biofuels to power plant and machinery on site; an electric compressor; and access to mains power on a 100% renewable energy tariff. Other sites are set to follow suit, with innovations including retrofit technologies, biofuels, hydrogen and solar power helping to cut carbon on the route. www.passengertransport.co.uk

18/05/2022 17:48

“We want to lead the world in zero-emissions full stop”Buta Atwal, Wrightbus

Electroliner is officially world’s most efficient ..and hydrogen double deckers have clocked up one million miles ZERO EMISSION BUSES

Wrightbus has revealed that its rapid-charge StreetDeck Electroliner is “officially the most efficient double deck batteryelectric bus in the world”.

Official assessments undertaken at Millbrook using the ZEMOaccredited Ultra Low Emission Bus (ULEB) test showed that the StreetDeck Electroliner achieved a result of 0.69 kWh/km.

This is around half the energy consumed by its closest battery electric double deck UK rival and significantly better than all other electric single deck bus results published on the ZEMO website.

Not only is it more energyefficient, but according to ULEB calculations, the StreetDeck

FROM HYBRID TO PURE ELECTRIC

Equipmake offers repower solution for hybrid fleets ZERO EMISSION BUSES

A growing number of bus operators are quietly expressing growing unease about what to do with the large number of hybrid buses purchased in the last decade that are reaching the point where their battery systems need replacing.

While some operators have opted to remove the hybrid drive systems of these vehicles in favour of the latest low emission pure diesel technology, Norfolk-based Equipmake believes it has come up with a solution that will allow hybrid buses to be repowered with the www.passengertransport.co.uk

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Electroliner also produces 86% less CO2 per km than the ZEMO Euro 6 Diesel baseline.

The ULEB tests are carried out on a four-wheel rolling dyno at Millbrook using the UK Bus Drive Cycle (UKBC) which is designed to combine inner city, outer city and higher speed intercity driving. The chamber is set at a 10oC ambient temperature and the upper and lower saloon must achieve 17oC (plus/minus 2oC) to reflect UK average temperatures.

Energy savings compared to the equivalent StreetDeck Ultroliner ultra-low diesel bus mean the StreetDeck Electroliner is £14,500 cheaper to run a year (based on today’s subsidised diesel price versus today’s electricity price over annual distances of 80,000kms per annum).

Wrightbus CEO Buta Atwal commented: “We have already

gained a strong reputation for our hydrogen double deck but we want to lead the world in zeroemissions full stop.”

Meanwhile, Wrightbus’s zeroemission hydrogen double deckers have now clocked up one million miles since they first entered passenger service last year.

The milestone - the equivalent of driving around the world 40 times - means the fleet of world-first hydrogen-powered buses has prevented 1,700 tonnes of harmful carbon dioxide emissions entering the atmosphere compared to journeys made by an equivalent diesel bus.

“Hitting one million miles is an incredible landmark for our buses,” said Wrightbus executive chairman Jo Bamford. “To be talking about such figures and the impact on emissions they have made is incredibly powerful.”

latest pure electric technology.

At last week’s ITT Hub event, the company demonstrated a nine-year old Volvo hybrid double decker that has been repowered with a state-ofthe art battery drivetrain. Crucially the work means the bus conforms to recently announced changes to the Bus Service Operators Grant which

now includes zero-emission buses for the first time, including vehicles repowered with electric drivetrains.

Equipmake claims the conversion progress is quick and can be undertaken within a week and that driving ranges of between 150 to 250 miles are achievable using its repower technology.

Volvo B5LH used as basis for first conversion

Equipmake’s electric drivetrain in the prototype vehicle

ELECTRIFYING COACH JOURNEYS Zenobe partners with aviation specialist Airsym ZERO EMISSION COACHES

EV fleet and battery storage specialist Zenobe has teamed up with Airsym, a transport provider for airlines, airports and ground handling companies, to launch into service a brand-new electric coach.

The Yutong TCe12 coach will be used as part of a shuttle service for McClaren Automotive, transporting staff from Woking train station to the company’s headquarters during the working week. On the weekends, it will be the first electric coach to operate airside at London Heathrow airport, shuttling airline crew to local hotels.

In its first step into the coach sector, Zenobe will be providing the financing and a managed service for the on-coach battery over the course of eight years. With the coach sector only at the beginning of its electrification journey, despite ambitious commitments from the industry and government to reach net zero by 2050, this project marks an important step towards greener, cleaner transport.

Steven Meersman, co-founder and director of Zenobe, said: “We’re thrilled to be expanding into the coach sector and embarking on this journey together with Airsym. The coach industry faces several unique challenges to decarbonisation but through the right partnerships, it can today make the first step on this journey.”

Airsym managing director Allen Jey said: “We’re delighted to add this new electric coach to our fleet and offer our customers a cleaner way to travel. Electrification is clearly the direction the industry is moving in, and we look forward to working with Zenobe, drawing on its expertise and extensive experience, to make a step on this journey.”

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What role for DRT in bus revolution? Pages 18-19

INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY

Scheduled buses added to TfW’s Fflecsi app Customers will be directed to scheduled buses when available INTEGRATION

Transport for Wales and ViaVan are upgrading their Fflecsi booking app so that it takes account of scheduled bus services which might cover some or all of the requested journey.

TfW has been piloting Fflecsi services since 2020, replacing scheduled services with ones where the vehicle’s routeing is determined by requests made through the app or call centre.

Until now, the booking system has had the standard functionality for demand-responsive transport, to match requests to the availability of demand-responsive vehicles.

Starting with routes in the city of Newport and in the Conwy Valley, the Fflecsi app is now being enhanced to match journey requests with suitable scheduled buses as well as Fflecsi vehicles.

If a bus is scheduled to operate between the requested points at around the requested time, the app will direct the user to that service rather than deploying a Fflecsi bus.

MINISTER TO ADDRESS TTG

Transport Ticketing Global takes place next month EVENTS

Transport minister Wendy Morton will present the keynote opening address live at Transport Ticketing Global on 28 June 2022.

This address follows last year’s release of the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail, detailing the UK www.passengertransport.co.uk

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The software is sophisticated enough to work out where a journey could be made more convenient by combining Fflecsi and scheduled services, for example for a cross-city journey which would otherwise involve a circuitous route or a long wait between buses.

“We will be rolling this out across fflesci,” said Andrew Sherrington, TfW’s head of bus networks and service development. He said the new functionality reduced duplication, which enabled Fflecsi resources to be concentrated more on where they were most needed.

“If you want to go at 2pm from

A to B, the Fflecsi app will do that search and say, ‘There’s a bus at 2.05pm to do that journey - we’re not going to give you a Fflecsi bus.’

“We’ve got it timetabled in the Conwy Valley. If you want to go from Cerrigydrudion to Llanrwst, for example, if there’s a TrawsCymru T10 bus within half an hour, the app will say, ‘We’re not going to send you a Fflecsi’.”

The T10 operates only every two hours in the summer, and less frequently on Sundays at other times of the year, but Fflecsi is available to plug the gaps between T10 services in the rural area between Betws-y-coed and Corwen.

A Fflecsi service alongside a TrawsCymru T10

government’s plans to reform the UK rail industry including an overhaul of ticketing and fare setting. It is set to be the catalyst for the biggest shakeup of the industry in decades.

Transport Ticketing Global 2022, the world’s largest public transport forum event for smart ticketing and mobility professionals, will bring together delegates from around the world at Olympia, London, on June 2829 to explore the latest developments in this rapidly evolving industry.

Over 100 industry leading speakers will deliver engaging sessions in the agenda-setting two-day conference on topics including the deployment of Account-Based Ticketing (ABT) and contactless; mobile-based and biometric ticketing; the use of central bank digital currency on public transport; transport data analysis; enabling MaaS; fare modelling and policies; revenue collection procurement and postCovid user experience, new customer

Sherrington said the enhanced booking system balanced the needs of people who had other bus options available with those of people who had no public transport alternative to Fflecsi. It also enabled Fflecsi to fill in at times such as evenings, when the frequency of scheduled services reduced.

He said the enhanced software had the potential to make bus travel more attractive by simplifying journeys which otherwise would be perceived as complex, such as for orbital suburban journeys where scheduled bus routes were focused on city centres.

While the software is currently restricted to the Fflecsi app, it paves the way for the Traveline Cymru website to include Fflecsi options in journey searches in the future. Last month TfW signed a deal to acquire PTI Cymru, which owns Traveline Cymru, and announced the creation of an Integrated Transport Advisory Panel, which will advise on integrated information, ticketing and infrastructure.

Currently, Traveline Cymru’s journey planner provides times for scheduled buses only, without directing users to Fflecsi services when buses such as the T10 are not due within half an hour of the requested departure time.

behaviour and customer Information.

There will also be a panel discussion on the challenges and opportunities presented by the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail, featuring senior representatives of FirstGroup, Great British Railways Transition Team and the Rail Delivery Group.

An extensive exhibition, running alongside the conference, will offer the opportunity for delegates to interact with the latest technologies first-hand.

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COMMENT

JONATHAN BRAY

Cost of living crisis what will impact be?

Rising living costs will hit demand for public transport, but by how much and how might the government respond?

Is the cost of living the new Covid in terms of the impact it’s going to have on patronage and travel trends? If it’s too early to say yet what the medium and long term implications of Covid will be, then that’s certainly true of rising energy prices and all the other inflationary pressures. But let’s speculate anyway.

Usually a squeeze on living costs leads to a squeeze on discretionary travel. In other words a squeeze on the very leisure market that has been seen as public transport’s best hope for growth. At the same time the cost of living crisis could lead to a modal shift to public transport - if the public transport price is right.

If it isn’t, then electric cars and push bikes

could be the main beneficiaries.

Whilst the Department for Transport has focused on encouraging people to make one-off cheap, discretionary long distance rail trips (via its recent sale of discounted advance purchase fares), other countries have gone for something more universal, more bread and butter. In Germany you will be able to buy a pass for all regional and local public transport for nine euros a month for each of June, July and August. Yes you read that right - nine euros on any public transport vehicle (except the very fast ones) for a month. Northern Ireland has frozen public transport fares and the Republic of Ireland has cut fares by 20%.

There could be fares cuts on a more

patchwork basis in England too - given that there is Bus Service Improvement Plan revenue funding available for that in some areas. Mayors too are pressing for simpler and cheaper fares. However, it could well be a mixed picture with different modes doing different things at different times - as well as fares rising elsewhere (and often from a high base).

On the other side of the coin the cost of living crisis could also deter measures to raise the cost of motoring as the politics of doing so gets harder still.

Also in the mix are the key postCovid trends that have still to play out.

Concessionary travel remains well below what it was pre-Covid with Covid concerns and changed habits likely factors. The return to the office remains sluggish as the private and public sectors continue to wrestle with where their new hybrid ways of working should land.

And as the return to the workplace continues will there be more combining of leisure and work trips as people add on nights out and shopping to the working day? If travel and patronage trends are uncertain then so is the funding. The last tranche of Covid-related funding expires at the end of September before BSIP and City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement funding kicks in (for those places that get it). It clearly makes no sense to cut bus networks one month and try and build them up again a few months later - so will there be a way of bridging the gap?

All in all a messy picture - but that’s the world these days.

In Germany you will be able to buy a pass for all regional and local public transport for nine euros a month for each of June, July and August

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www.passengertransport.co.uk

18/05/2022 16:34

“There’s still a big gulf between passenger transport and freight” Seven years ago I paid a visit to Planet Freight for one of these columns (PT104) off the back of a report we produced called Delivering the Future - new approaches to urban freight. Then I asked if freight is from Mars is public transport from Venus - given the different policy worlds they inhabit. So in seven years what’s changed and what hasn’t?

Seven years ago freight worked on its own terms (stuff got where it needed to be) even if at the same time it didn’t work (lorries kill cyclists and pump out carcinogens).

Overall though it worked well enough (and in a commercial and adaptive way) for the downsides to be brushed under the carpet and for government to largely leave it alone.

However, last year freight suddenly stopped working so well. The driver shortage meant that stuff didn’t always get where it needed to. This has benefited railfreight which needs rather fewer drivers to move the same tonnage.

Rail freight’s fortunes rise and fall largely with the fortunes of the bulk commodities that it relies on. With King Coal dethroned, aggregates and containers have been taking its place. And yet this still continues to leave many large urban centres and markets devoid of any rail freight whatsoever. For example, Bradford is the seventh biggest city in the country yet it has no active rail freight facilities. This is partly because in the UK railfreight is mainly about a few companies battling it out on cost over who gets to move bulk freight, whereas in countries like Switzerland and Germany they are still investing to ensure that there are more places where you can move smaller amounts of freight by rail. Which in turn helps explain why rail has a much bigger market share for freight in those countries than in the UK. Over the same period London broke ranks and stopped tolerating the collateral damage from having an ‘efficient’ road haulage sector. Despite the crude ‘lowest common denominator’ opposition of the trade bodies for the sector, London has pressed on with ratcheting up both vehicle standards and enforcement of safety and emissions. The rapid acceleration in the availability of green, safety and logistics technologies is also helping the sector clean up its act (especially for the larger players), however the degree of illegality in the industry remains shocking. In 2018/19 the percentage of Light Goods Vehicles issued www.passengertransport.co.uk

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Driver shortages have benefited rail freight

STEVE NEWMAN

Return to Planet Freight

with a prohibition on mechanical grounds was 49%, and 70% for overloading. Operating illegally is not only dangerous, it is also unfair competition given the high safety standards that rail adheres to.

Meanwhile, the white van economy continues to grow (further supercharged by the pandemic) - not just for deliveries but also for trade. This in turn has led to several air quality zone plans running into trouble as the costs of making the growing battalions of vans compliant has collided with the politics of not doing so. The rise and rise of the van also has implications for the battle for road capacity and kerb space - something which the bus sector also has an interest in of course.

Driver shortages (people don’t want to spend their nights sleeping in a lorry cab) mean relying on road haulage to the extent we do now looks less practical (and as environmentally unwise as it ever was). This big change in the dynamics of the freight debate makes the case for a more interventionist approach (to freight). Especially given that the kind of nudges we have seen in the last seven years haven’t been enough to move the dial sufficiently towards the less intrusive, greener, skilled and safer sector that is increasingly the norm elsewhere in the economy.

An interventionist approach that would

move that dial would have two main elements.

Firstly, investment in the capacity of rail freight and inland waterways (including in terminal and distribution sites). Secondly, making road haulage pay its way in terms of its wider safety, road maintenance and environmental costs would help make it safer and greener but also make rail freight more competitive on price. It could also help further accelerate the booming cycle logistics sector. And it could also make economic what currently isn’t - which is more urban freight consolidation centres to reduce the volume and impacts of deliveries by road in urban centres. Perhaps the biggest difference in seven years is that the debate about freight and logistics has opened up more. It is no longer an afterthought at the end of wider transport strategies. But there’s still a big gulf between passenger transport and freight - big interventionist policies on the former are the norm - but not yet on the latter.

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.

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18/05/2022 16:34

COMMENT

BEATE KUBITZ

What role for DRT in bus revolution?

Bus Service Improvement Plans and Enhanced Partnerships could include demand responsive transport in new area-wide networks Back in February I wrote about the importance of tackling the lack of access to transport for people living in peri-urban areas (PT259), not only as a matter of equity but also because their car dependency threatens urban transport provision.

This article will look at how provision of better bus networks can be rolled out.

There is intense pressure on services in the wake of Covid, and the temptation (and commercial pressure) to reduce frequency and increase focus of the network on narrow corridors, losing the capillary-like local bus networks that reach into communities. At the same time, the process of creating Bus Service Improvement Plans and Enhanced Partnerships consists of attempts, at least in theory, to improve that very network.

One of the suggested tools for network improvement (with the potential for costeffective service development) is on-demand buses. And, analysis suggests, the greater part of BSIPs and EPs do indeed place at least some reliance on demand responsive bus services.

However, to date, the UK experience of dynamic demand responsive transport (also known as DDRT and DRT) has been ‘patchy’ at best. Trial services have been launched amid fanfares and then quietly been withdrawn (with the occasional messy implosion). Whilst ‘fitting demand to vehicles’ sounds like an efficiency no-brainer, the reality of doing this within an already limited bus network has not provided fantastic returns. Does this mean 18 | 20 May 2022 PT265p18-19.indd 18

that DDRT is doomed?

This is, perhaps a ‘feature’ (or bug) of our historically fragmented approach to bus network planning. The kinds of areas for which DRT appears appropriate are those in the low margin zones which are right at the limits of operator risk tolerance, or which fall completely into subsidised bus territory. These marginal areas are caught between the Scylla of unprofitability for commercial operators and Charybdis of underfunded local authorities.

Where operators have stuck their necks out and given DRT a reasonable whirl - as unsubsidised commercial services - feedback has been good (ArrivaClick in Sittingbourne and PickMeUp in Oxford). However commercial considerations have not allowed for the kind of timescales over which transport behaviour change takes place to build a commercially viable customer base (years, not months). The headwinds of lockdown during 2020 and 2021 have not helped.

And where local authorities have trialled services (for instance with Total Transport funding) the limited duration of this funding has, by and large, led to them ending so that communities who found them useful were once again bus-less.

“The question is: How bold could or should DRT be?”

In short, early generations of DRT have fallen short of their promise. However, there’s also a legitimate question of whether (or at least where) a fully commercial end point could ever be the case. Oxford Bus Company MD Phil Southall has put it on record that a constant load of eight people per vehicle was required for the Oxford DRT trial to break even. Whilst this may be possible in some places, it’s much harder to achieve in rural, peri-urban low density populations and away from the main transport corridors.

The economics of DRT are very different from the traditional fixed route model, where full (often double-decker) buses at peak times collect enough revenue to provide an off-peak service. Those who have honed this business model will naturally question whether there is any sense in providing such a different approach at scale.

So maybe now is a good time to think about what DRT could look like - or more importantly for BSIPs and EPs what a good bus network using DRT could look like. The question is: How bold could or should DRT be?

In France, the city of Orléans has been piloting DRT since 2018. Rather than the stop-start approach we have seen in the UK, this has involved a gradual increase in size and scale over the last four years.

The initial pilot in 2018 converted a legacy ‘dial-a-ride’ style system to a modern DDRT platform run by Padam Mobility. The previous scheme had been complicated to book, with strict advance booking deadlines and little real time information about the bus arrival times.

The April 2018 pilot covered an area of north east Orléans, which piloted DRT bookable via app or call centre, with the back office systems and data analysis ensuring that the service was efficiently run and monitored. Real-time bus information enabled users to book transport at short notice, and uptake of the app increased, enabling call centres to give a better service to passengers booking by phone.

As the technology was proven, the areas served were expanded. Firstly in September 2019 it was expanded to nine areas which almost encircled the city, and then again in 2021 the areas were adjusted to cover a population of over 95,000 people and an area of 161km2. The service comprised 19 vehicles that offered connections within the areas and to rapid transit nodes, allowing people to travel www.passengertransport.co.uk

18/05/2022 16:40

“There is the opportunity to revisit the models of bus network provision” into central Orléans from 6am to 9pm.

A further expansion brought the area covered up to 300km2 and the population to 175,000.

The number of vehicles was doubled to 40.

Whilst the service area and population was not quite doubled, the number of people travelling per week almost tripled from 2,900 to 8,500. Padam Mobility claims that 33% of its passengers have switched from private cars, while 19% had previously had no access to transport. The city authorities, having committed to ensuring that people have access to public transport even in the outskirts of the city, were seeing the costs per person travelling falling satisfactorily. More people were travelling without the network requiring additional subsidy.

French authorities have the advantage in that they are able to oversee the network and make decisions about which areas are better served by DRT and which by fixed lines, tram and train.

In the UK, the downward trend in passenger numbers has made companies laser-focused on efficiency and ensuring the best services on those buses that run. The best services pay great attention to passenger experience, provide excellent facilities, have simple, and, as far as practical, affordable fares. However, the best bus in the world is no good to someone living further from the bus route than they can comfortably walk or needing to travel at a time it does not run.

We also need to remember that people start regarding buses as a last resort if the service is too infrequent. Buses that are less frequent than 20 minutes to half an hour are problematic, too infrequent and people (who have inflexible appointments or work patterns may have to leave excessively early to catch a bus that delivers them to their destination long before they need to be there. Those who have multimodal trips start spending a disproportionate time waiting compared to travelling and the time penalties for using public transport mount up.

What DRT can offer - when done well - is the kind of connectivity of a frequent bus without the resources required to operate one. Where people can book their bus ahead, software can combine their trips and ensure that multiple people all reach their destinations on time. A small new DRT service running in Hertfordshire connecting previously unconnected villages and the www.passengertransport.co.uk

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In France, the city of Orléans has been piloting DRT since 2018

town of Buntingford with key transport and service hubs in surrounding towns (Stevenage, Letchworth, Hitchin, Baldock, Royston and Bishop’s Stortford) has been adopted enthusiastically. Within six months, the number of people per bus journey has grown, with college students - who would previously have needed lifts from friends and family - among the most significant group of users. The operator has found that 75% of people are booking ahead, learning that they now have a service they can rely on so that they can plan their journeys. This is a small scale service, with just three buses covering an area of 150 square miles. It will be growing to five buses in September and Hertfordshire County Council is planning on having over 20 DRT vehicles by 2023.

There is precedent for area-wide approaches in the UK. The CallConnect network was established 20 years ago and has been serving rural Lincolnshire since 2001. It operates a network of bookable bus services plus 11 timetabled services serving hamlets, villages and market towns throughout Lincolnshire.

It offers the flexibility to connect passengers to their local communities, services and other transport options.

CallConnect buses operate within an area of at least 12 miles across, giving passengers access to hundreds of locations. Minibuses serve small hamlets, remote villages, rural communities and market towns. They usually travel between bus stops, with home pick ups and drop offs available for people who are

unable to use conventional bus services due to age, disability or mobility impairment. They can be booked up to seven days in advance or with at least an hour’s notice.

In Lincolnshire, the decision was made to fund a network rather than a piecemeal set of routes. Whilst the authority is now looking at upgrading its systems to platform-based DRT, the principle remains that over 20 years it has maintained access to buses for people living in dispersed populations by adopting this model.

With the brave new world of Enhanced Partnerships and franchising on us, there is an opportunity to revisit the models of bus network provision. Whilst the corridor model and peak time reliance have served profitability, we can now look at how to connect those who live off the corridors to the network using the full panoply of available services and technology.

Looking at networks and integrating feeder services will essentially increase the number of people who have access to buses near their homes, and when they need them. Looking at the increase in passenger numbers for Orleans is heartening - but we need the same purposeful planning and adoption of change at scale to have any chance of emulating it.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Beate Kubitz specialise in analysing new technology, agendas and behaviours and articulating their potential future impact. www.beatekubitz.com

20 May 2022 | 19

18/05/2022 16:40

COMMENT

ALEX WARNER

The railway risks becoming irrelevant?

It’s not fun when people are angry with you - but if you want a role in their lives it’s worse when they are indifferent or laugh at you!

I always find the time to start worrying what a member of your team is up to is when they suddenly go quiet. Chances are they are bunking off early to watch the cricket or out on the golf course, or they are moonlighting or they’ve just given up and are spending their hours doing job applications and interviews.

Silence equals ‘apathy’ and that’s when the deepest damage sets in.

It’s this kind of apathy that’s gradually taking hold on the rail industry. The lack of interest is among customers, stakeholders and the media - certainly not staff or management who, in the case of the latter, have taken to social media (often in a cringe worthy way) to hype up their daily activities, as if to remind us all of their relevance. Whilst the empty train seats are nothing new post-Covid, it’s the absence of headlines that the industry is making from customers and other stakeholders, as well as the decline of any chitter chatter you hear about the railway much more noticeable.

The near silence is deafening - that lack of furore about our industry that made us feel special, that we really made a ‘make or break’ difference. They say ‘all publicity is good publicity’ and whenever I arrived home from a backlash from commuters at stations during disruption, or had an MP or other key public figure heap opprobrium on me, I’d feel thrilled that I’d chosen to work in a sector that made so much of a difference that folks would get that stressed if my employer got it wrong.

I chuckle whenever I hear David Lammy 20 | 20 May 2022 PT265p20-21.indd 20

MP on his radio show and recall the time I ran Stansted Express and as an adversarial 30-something he completely bawled at me during a meeting in Tottenham, berating me for the West Anglia services I had zero responsibility for. Every time I told him so, it fell on deaf ears and he got angrier. I disliked Lammy for two decades until I tuned into LBC and listened to the sense he talks. I wonder, though, if the trains are as delayed now, as they were back then, whether he’d get even remotely as vexed as he did then? I suspect not.

The problem, of course, has been the societal changes that were gathering pace prior to Covid and were merely exacerbated by the pandemic. We are now not relying on the

Railways just don’t play the role they once did

railway as heavily, if at all, not just because of changing working arrangements but because a lowering of mobility aspirations as, bluntly speaking, we’ve realised it’s not all its cracked up to be. With our trips being less frequent, for work purposes, for instance, when disruption does ensue, we get less bothered about it because it doesn’t feel like an accumulation of several poor journeys on the trot or a build-up of other negative factors that make the whole activity of commuting every day and working in an office gradually unpalatable. This isn’t such a bad thing, but don’t let the reduced audibility of outrage about the service kid you into thinking the proposition is hunky dory.

It’s no better than it was pre-pandemic, as the statistics, on many levels, will tell you.

Two industry bigwigs regaled me with their journeys on the network to me this week and commented on how they and other customers just shook their head at the ‘own goals’ that might not have stood out pre-pandemic but, now we’ve got a choice, they are suddenly very visible. Whilst not invoking anger, these shortcomings arouse feelings of dismay and shoulder-shrugging comments of ‘typical railway’. New, over-engineered ticket machines or on-board catering that isn’t available. You know where I’m coming from here, I can tell.

I reflected on my own ‘typical railway’ experiences this week on a tour from Surrey to Accrington, returning via Leeds. I reminded myself that at Shepperton station we used to have two ticket machines of different designs - one was relatively new and for some reason it has been removed so we experienced a queue at the outset of our journey (better than last week when the only machine was out of order and the ticket office closed). At Accrington station, I asked the driver if the train went to Leeds, he said “no” and said “try changing at Todmorden”, so I queried “can I get to Leeds from there?” and he replied, “I have absolutely no idea whatsoever, not a clue at all”. Then on the journey back to London with LNER the ticket machine belligerently refused to sell me the advance ticket showing (but the ticket office did) and there was chaos as the seat reservation system had broken down completely.

Small irritations from two generally decent operators and not worthy of anger, but prompting head-shaking and ‘typical railway’ thoughts to cross my mind. It’s head-shaking with a hint of mirth, almost affection towards www.passengertransport.co.uk

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“These shortcomings arouse feelings of dismay and comments of ‘typical railway’” the loveable incompetence of our industry that we’ve been mired in since Richard Trevithick first pitched up on the scene. Had I been using one of my mystery shopping programme forms, I would have stumbled across countless imperfections and it’s the summation of these that makes you question whether it’s worth the hassle of a trip as opposed to staying at home.

There comes a point where the situation can be so poor that emotions move from mild chuckles to full-on hilarity. Towards the end of 2019, just before Mark Hopwood took temporary and resuscitating charge, the service on South Western Railway felt so out of control, it was almost feral in its service ‘delivery’. I remember one evening arriving at the top of the escalators at Waterloo to see such imploding chaos on the main concourse that my first reaction was actually to burst out into laughter as we’d entered a new threshold of incompetence. The expression ‘you gotta laugh’ being that classic catchphrase to manage emotions in adversity.

SWR has improved and I don’t see any parts of the industry out of control anymore, but I do see a general level of mediocrity, and the lack of visible discontent and headshaking is a sign of the railway’s increasing irrelevance in society.

It’s as if the poor customer experience has become so normalised that they’re no longer riled. Remember the protests across Southern stations by folk whose fabric of their entire lives had been destabilised by the poor performance of their local train operating company?

The media has largely lost interest too - those bad news stories - big and small, seldom make it near the front pages or even into print or online at all, and the lack of gathering narrative about the distinct prospect of a national strike this summer speaks volumes for the industry’s peripheral role. Even last week’s reporting of a Lumo train jolting perilously close to a derailment as it navigated points on a 25mph speed restriction at a hell-raising 75mph, filled column centimetres rather than inches.

Meanwhile, the big press releases from our industry aim to create momentum around the as yet unknown location of Great Brritish Railway’s HQ. I think we’re bigging ourselves up to think your average Joe Public is really interested - even I’m not interested. In any case, it will probably be empty as most of the staff will be working from home. As for the Great British Rail Sale - do me a favour! This www.passengertransport.co.uk

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was a campaign with small booking and travel windows and fares at times when most folk wouldn’t want to make a journey. And putting transport secretary Grant Shapps as the frontman for such a campaign shows how out of touch the railway is to outsiders!

We’re becoming a bit like banks and building societies. Back in the day, the station manager used to model his or herself on the local bank manager - in terms of status, presence and folk knowing their name. Both are declining forces and indeed in the community, there would appear to be far less connection with the railway. I work with many train operating companies and whilst they will give you the odd bullet point about a community scheme, these tend to be tokens or at a handful of locations or at best focus on a recycling initiative - laudable but unlikely to have an indelible impact on the wider local population.

The supremos running the sector, household names to you and I on the ‘inside’, also get fewer column inches than ever and seem to have a harder task to be heard within government.

It’s common knowledge the Treasury has lost patience with a sector that has a cost base that is still far too high and perceived as being unwilling and/or unable to change - hence the workplace reform imperative.

Some of it is subconscious, we’re less relied upon than the NHS and other public sectors, whilst the cost of living and Ukraine situations are real, tangible, immediate crises. It’s a bit like the member of staff who you no longer hear from, you suddenly notice you call them less because you don’t need to have those daily conversations, and then you realise that they are surplus to requirements. This out of sight, out of mind scenario is a slippery existence.

The bus sector feels better positioned than rail. That it serves a more local market and one that is perceived as being closer to the ‘breadline’, whilst also being so closely aligned to the fortunes of High Streets that have become increasingly blighted by the effects of socio-economic changes, means that it is the frayed but just about intact thread that keeps a community alive. It’s the beleaguered heartbeat that keeps going in adversity, seemingly impervious to each setback thrown its way, whilst untainted by those rail industry traits of ridiculous rip-off fares, arcane procedures, fat ‘know it all’ aloof management structures, failed franchises and botched timetables. The bus

sector creates an impression of more genuinely ‘facilitating lives’, and the fact that we’re all doing stuff closer to home these days means that it’s seen as an enabler.

Indeed bus would appear to be at a crossroads of opportunity. There’s more emphasis than ever before on active lifestyles - from government to local authorities, quangos and charitable trusts - all have funding-linked business plans with targets around these. If customers are going out of the house, targets can be met on this front, even if they’re just doing a trip a mile down the road. You don’t need a long distance train journey to tick that box, but if the bus didn’t exist, how many wouldn’t leave the house. The sector has already done work to illustrate the positive impact it has on reducing loneliness, mental health and physical conditions in a way that rail hasn’t.

In the absence of a great marketing campaign (with a proper railway top dog as the poster pin-up) combined with folk realising its not all it’s cracked up to be and now working or playing at home, what is the cure to the railway’s increasing irrelevance? Culturally, the industry needs to be open with itself and admit that these ‘typical railway’ imperfections make a mockery of itself and cannot be glossed over on social media. Managers should get out of the clouds, stop producing self-aggrandising videos and realise they’re not as great as they tell everyone they are. In short, the railway needs to act and present itself more professionally.

It should constantly reflect on the marketing promise it makes in its various campaigns and then meticulously strive to replicate this every time - not as some kind of ‘holy grail’ but as the standard norm. I would estimate that over 90% of journeys across the UK right now are not delivering what they promised in their advertising. In what other sector would that be acceptable and not warrant a major inquiry?

Silence speaks volumes and for those who love the limelight, or who just like feeling that the service they provide is indispensable for the masses, the railway isn’t the place to be anymore.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR George Alex Warner Muirhas wasover director 28 years’ general experience of the in Association the transportofsector, Train Operating having held Companies senior roles on afrom multi-modal 1999 to 2008 basis across the sector

20 May 2022 | 21

18/05/2022 17:00

COMMENT

NICK RICHARDSON

Challenging the perception of bus

You wait for ages and then two come along at once - buses have had a bad press for years but how can this change post-pandemic?

One of the many problems facing the bus industry is the deeply-ingrained populist view that buses are big smoky things that get in the way of other traffic and are only to be used as a last resort. Most within the bus world think that the bus offer is good and in many places it is good or very good, but that message has yet to permeate through a society that has become lazily devoted to car-dependency.

Supressed enthusiasm Some people are heavily dependent on buses and view them as a valuable resource. A recent unfortunate situation was explained to the Prime Minister regarding an elderly woman who rode on the buses to keep warm; the advice apparently was that she should be grovellingly grateful to the great man for giving her a free ride (which he didn’t, according to fact-checkers). I suppose that if more concessionary travellers did the same, then buses would be carrying more people, resulting in a reasonable revenue stream from concessionary travel schemes as a direct consequence of rising energy prices. During the evenings, their place can be taken by the homeless who have a similar need for warmth. The unfortunate by-product is a reinforcement of the perceptions that buses are a refuge for old people, the homeless and opportunistic vagrants.

This translates through the system in that funding for buses is ‘subsidy’ but for other things it is ‘investment’, neatly skimming over 22 | 20 May 2022 PT265p22-23.indd 22

the multitude of community and societal benefits derived from a decent bus service.

Hence we need to move on from the image of buses as a branch of the local social services department towards an essential component of communities. Taking a look at the regular outputs from bus operators might unwittingly be reinforcing the negative - a few people in suits standing cheerily in front of a row of new buses isn’t the right image in that it doesn’t demonstrate ‘real’ bus users or diverse communities. Instead it looks rather artificial.

Bus services are a people business but still there is the suspicion that local authorities provide them and that because local authorities can’t do anything right, buses are another way of

showing how inefficient they are. Cuts in local spending affect bus services as much as anything else but turnouts for local elections remain disappointingly small, as the recent election has shown. The fact that most services are provided commercially by operators similarly to other activities such as shops or banks doesn’t seem to wash with people who think they have a right to buses even if they don’t use them. As we know from painful experience, if it isn’t used, then it is at risk, regardless of the consequences - as empty shops and banks demonstrate. Buses underpin many opportunities so this results in degraded communities more often manifest as apathy.

The people who really like buses are those that have an understanding of how they are provided and use them willingly. There are lots of them around but their views are not always captured. Relating services to people helps to provide a community flavour. One possibility is to name individual buses after notable locals or places because this sends some very positive vibes in a conspicuous way. If every vehicle was named, it would be overkill but a few certainly provide focus and pride.

Seeking a new image Rebranding may help. People associate bad things with certain brands and changing how the offer is made can make all the difference.

A recent example is the parcel delivery service Hermes, now called something else to overcome negative associations. It can work wonders – in my own experience on Sundays using smaller buses branded ‘Street Shuttle’

The cultural joys of The Inbetweeners are probably not far from the reality, deriding bus users for no apparent reason

www.passengertransport.co.uk

18/05/2022 16:45

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

generated lots of positive noises because the drivers were much nicer than the usual weekday drivers, although of course they were the same people. The bus as a local service is not well-suited to corporate image and we are currently trying to revitalise local services which are more meaningful to the people that use them. Some large operators are relaunching services under local brands because it makes sense such as the Buses of Somerset rather than plain old First. There are many other examples which should be welcomed if the branding is part of the bigger agenda.

Connecting with potential users through careful marketing is a crucial element of the mix to get higher levels of use.

The media get blamed for a range of problems but the inherent craving to undermine public services lives on. Think of those news stories where people are assaulted, ‘at the bus stop’ rather than in the street or ‘wiating at the bus stop’ rather than being on the way home.

Reporters love to pin lazy headlines on victims, especially if they can make connections with the apparently dangerous environment that is public transport. This is the mindset that thinks that travelling by car or taxi is somehow immune to disaster.

Best of all, government has been joining in!

Covid-19 messaging has been much derided from many within but the message has stuck with many bus users who are scared to return as Transport Focus research shows. Instead of following the science as was claimed throughout the pandemic, government chose to do the opposite to create the impression that use of public transport was intrinsically harmful. Any message from government usually has widespread effect - think back to the doom-laden AIDS messaging of the 1980s. The pandemic wasn’t helped by some operators spreading the message of ‘Face coverings must be worn’ rather than ‘welcome’ even when restrictions were lifted. The cultural joys of The Inbetweeners are probably not far from the reality, deriding bus users for no apparent reason.

A national campaign?

With calls for a national campaign to get people back on board, timing is key. For areas where funding is available through Bus Service Improvement Plans, there is a positive message of change for the better. www.passengertransport.co.uk

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Naming individual buses after notable locals or places, like Brighton & Hove’s fleet, creates a community atmosphere

“Anything that makes people think differently about bus services must be welcomed ” For the railway, advertising is being targeted on former users based on recovery plus an improved product and some discounted fares. The problem with bus services is that for areas without significant funding, there is not a promising offer to market. In the current funding situation, fewer services are being operated than before and many are fast approaching tipping point from borderline justifiable to dire. Hence, now is not the time for a national campaign. For the selected areas that are to receive funding, some imagination is needed to promote services as improvements are being made. Elsewhere, much more caution is needed. Essentially, if a shop is running out of stock and its prices keep going up, it’s not the time to claim that people should be changing their purchasing habits it’s the same with bus services.

Anything that makes people think

differently about bus services must be welcomed but the situation is made worse if the experience of using the bus isn’t what it should be. In this sense, efforts to attract users are not ideal unless they remain committed and tell everyone else about how good it is.

If it doesn’t meet their aspirations, they will pass on the message to anyone who will listen, adding to the prejudice. It all emphasises the fact that the bus services of the past are not the aspiration of the future and the offer must adapt to survive. Only then can we sell the virtues of bus use. It might be better to focus on those areas that are able to make improvements to services, particularly if they are also tied into Levelling Up and similar funding streams; a national campaign may have to wait if it is to be successful.

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

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18/05/2022 17:52

COMMENT

GREAT MINSTER GRUMBLES

‘Goody two shoes’ to cut DfT headcount Our Whitehall insider imagines what’s going on inside the minds of the mandarins at Great Minster House, home of the DfT

We have our Transport Bill, duly announced in the recent Queen’s Speech. I’ve heard it said that the bill’s second reading may not be until the autumn, which struck me as odd - why wait so long? But then I heard a suggestion that the bill, or at least parts of it, may be subject to consultation. I was a touch surprised by this given that the proposed rail reforms which the bill gives effect to have already been subject to a major rail review.

Everybody with an interest in the railways has had plenty of opportunity to express their views about the reforms proposed.

But the bill also deals with autonomous vehicles and e-scooters and I can see that these aspects of the bill may justify some form of consultation. We shall see.

Meanwhile, the prime minister has ordered that the size of the civil service be cut by 90,000. This would apparently save about £3.5bn a year, freeing up resources to address the cost-of-living crisis. In 2016 there were some 384,000 civil servants - its lowest level since the second world war.

At the end of last year the civil service had swelled to a whopping 475,000 as the government prepared for the UK to leave the EU. Whatever the reason for the huge increase in the size of the civil service there is no doubt that it has become rather bloated (my colleagues won’t thank me for saying that I’m sure!) and some pruning may be no bad thing.

Ministers have been given a month to www.passengertransport.co.uk

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produce proposals to cut the size of their departments. Given that our ‘Goody two shoes’ secretary of state, Grant Shapps, always seems to do No 10’s bidding I have little doubt that he will be one of the first to submit his job-cutting plans to the prime minister.

Mind you, he may not have to look very far to start to make inroads into this department’s head count: as I have said recently there are a whopping 1,000 officials dealing with rail issues, so I can’t help but feel there is plenty of scope for cuts here! Mind you, ministers will need to avoid falling into the trap of cutting the rail head count, only to see the jobs reappear in Great British Railways!

That would be no saving at all.

Fortunately our relationship with Grant Shapps feels pretty good - we’ve not had the kind of run-ins with ministers that we’ve seen in other departments, especially the Home Office. Something tells me that the home secretary, Priti Patel, is going to relish the idea of wielding the axe on her department’s headcount. Across Whitehall there will be many officials looking nervously over their shoulder! Perhaps we will see a sudden rush of officials returning to their office desks rather than working from home!

Rotala won’t give in Meanwhile, bus operator Rotala is appealing the earlier High Court decision to throw out its earlier appeal, jointly with Stagecoach, against Greater Manchester’s plans for bus franchising. This will be extremely frustrating for Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, who has been wanting to introduce his franchising plans for years. Indeed, let’s remind ourselves that it was back in November 2014 that the then chancellor, George Osborne, signed that devolution deal with the combined authority which gave it its franchising powers - sending the bus industry, and indeed this department, into something of a tailspin!

Eight years on and still we have no franchise contracts in place.

I can’t help feeling that Rotala is wasting everybody’s time and its own money with this further appeal. There’s nothing unlawful in what the combined authority is planning, and I can’t see that it’s “irrational” either - a key test for any appeal to be successful.

Stagecoach and Rotala may hate the proposals, but that doesn’t make them irrational.

And the combined authority has spent years, and goodness knows how much taxpayers’ money, working up a business case for franchising which, to the best of my knowledge, nobody has suggested is flawed. I feel that Rotala would also be wise to realise that Boris Johnson, and therefore Grant Shapps, rather likes the idea of franchising! I’m afraid that all Rotala has done is put off the day when Andy Burnham can finally press the “go” button on his franchising plans.

And, you know what, I rather think it will be a good thing when an authority can actually introduce a franchise as, after years of debate over the merits of franchising, we will all be able to see if it actually works or not - and the acid test for that is whether bus patronage actually increases as a result and, if it does, whether the cost merits the increase achieved. My advice to Rotala is to recognise the inevitable and move on.

“In 2016 there were some 384,000 civil servants.

At the end of last year the civil service had swelled to a whopping 475,000” 20 May 2022 | 25

18/05/2022 17:52

CAREERS

End of an era for Stagecoach director Sue Hayes has retired as Stagecoach Yorkshire operations director Stagecoach Yorkshire operations director Sue Hayes retired this month after almost five decades working on South Yorkshire’s buses.

Hayes has seen many changes over the years, from starting her career as an engineering clerk in 1973 at then National Bus Company subsidiary Yorkshire Traction, to 2022 where she leads all driving and operations teams across five bus depots in South Yorkshire and North Derbyshire.

“The bus industry now is a world away from what it was

when I started in 1973, and it’s for the better,” she said. “It’s always good to look back and reflect on how things have evolved. When I started, there were no women bus drivers, let alone a female operations director. I am proud

Sue Hayes

to have been one of the women leading an industry wide change to see more women represented in public transport.”

In 2018, Hayes spearheaded a national campaign within Stagecoach to revolutionise how driving roles were recruited, aiming to attract a more diverse pool of applicants. Her efforts have made a great impact at Stagecoach Yorkshire which now boasts a higher percentage of female bus drivers as well as a strong representation of women in the senior management team.

“For me this is not just a job, it is a passion, and a passion I hope I have spread to others,” she said.

STEVENS TO CHAIR TRANSPORT FOCUS Former Transdev boss to lead passenger watchdog

Former Transdev UK & Ireland chief executive Nigel Stevens has been named as the new chair of watchdog Transport Focus. He will take up the role at a pivotal moment during the creation of Great British Railways, the biggest reform on Britain’s railways in 25 years. Stevens succeeds Jeff Halliwell, who has chaired the organisation since 2014.

“Transport Focus champions the needs of users across the transport network – a role that has never been more critical than at this exciting time of change for transport,” said Stevens. “I am delighted to have been appointed as the new chair and look forward to working with the Transport Focus team and its stakeholders as I lead the organisation in the exciting times ahead.”

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Advertise your vacancy online for only £150, or online AND in print from just £250!

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18/05/2022 17:16

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

General Manager System One Travel (Greater Manchester Travelcards Limited - GMTL) was created in 1994 in response to local customer demand for multi-operator, multi-modal transport ticketing options. GMTL is co-owned by Greater Manchester’s bus, rail and tram operators and Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM). Current turnover is c£30m (Covid affected). The Board are looking to work with TfGM to ensure that the scheme continues and adapts as the various stages of franchising are introduced over the next few years.

GMTL has been a fast moving, ever developing, customer lead and focused organisation and is now looking for dynamic and enterprising administration, management, and development of its travelcard business, objectives, and strategies under the direction of the Board.

The role will involve working closely with the GMTL Chair, Board, shareholders, and members, coordinating and delivering the day to day operational and business requirements including control of banking, suppliers (including legal, financial, and marketing) and contractors, reviewing business practice and commercial arrangements and performance whilst analysing commercial data to ensure the customer remains the central focus of the business.

Applications are sought from suitably qualified individuals from any background (transport knowledge not essential but desirable) who can engage with multi organisations and partners developing customer focused products and expanding a multimillion-pound business.

www.passengertransport.co.uk

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This role could be on a self-employed basis or through contract to a business organisation and will require a flexible approach to deliver the necessary guidance and control with ongoing commitment being based on the various tasks encountered and involved.

Working from home or attending Company and associated meetings (mainly in central Manchester), the role averages 25 hours of working time per week, with some variability particularly at period end.

A good degree of flexibility will be expected of the successful candidate.

Contract payments are negotiable but expected to be circa £40k p/a renewable on a six-monthly basis.

If you are interested in the role but would be looking for more, or less, hours per week (with consequent adjustment to contract payments), we would be interested to hear from you to discuss a work configuration that suits all parties.

For a more detailed job specification or to explore the role further prior to application please contact: T G Roberts FCILT Consultant Director TGRL On behalf of Greater Manchester Travelcards Limited Email information requests and applications to tgrl@talktalk.net Closing date: 27th June 2022

20 May 2022 | 27

18/05/2022 17:16

DIVERSIONS

Community celebrated through its bus stops

Reflecting on how buses continued to run throughout the Covid-19 lockdowns, ensuring hundreds of thousands of key workers were able to get to work, On Our Way celebrates how, although the 74

route has barely changed, the people who use it and the buildings around it have. The pandemic experience is one episode in its long history.

“Soho Road is a road that has been a part of many generations,” said Nilupa. “Many elements of art history document the changed landscapes around us and our mini bus stop galleries are telling you all the stories we heard and we want you to be a part of them too.”

Chaman Lal, Transport for West Midlands lead member for transport delivery, said:” The community has come up with some fantastic ideas and designs. They have really brightened up the street.”

Coles described the Number 12 operated by Brighton & Hove between Brighton and Eastbourne as “the best in the world”.

Coles recently moved to Sussex after retiring and has done nothing but sing the praises of the route on Twitter. “The number 12 from Eastbourne to Brighton is without any wisp of a doubt the best bus IN THE WORLD,” he said in one post, which led to an online battle as some of his 450,000 followers gave their own views and suggestions on what they felt was the best bus route.

But Coles is standing his ground.

“I understand I’ve caused some controversy by stating, I think with justice, that the number 12 bus route and its variants from Brighton to Eastbourne is the finest bus in the world,” he said.

“Not only because it chugs along very nicely, the panoramic scenes to be seen from the top deck and the free Wi-Fi, but also because it’s massively convenient for me because it stops at the end of my road and drops me off at my favourite supermarket. Beat that.”

Fair enough!

On Our Way celebrates West Midlands bus route Seven bus stops lining Birmingham’s Soho Road have been converted into art galleries to celebrate the area’s diverse communities and history as part of the Birmingham 2022 Festival.

China Plate Theatre artist Nilupa Yasmin has spent months working with local groups to create the dazzling displays for the stops along the National Express West Midlands number 74 bus route between Dudley and Birmingham.

Cream of the crop?

IS THIS THE BEST BUS IN THE WORLD? As bus operators battle to restore patronage, one route has something of a champion after broadcaster and former vicar and pop star Reverend Richard

Nilupa (right) with Daniel, who runs a Soho Road business

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