Passenger Transport: November 18, 2022

Relief as Hunt commits to transport spending

The worst fears of transport professionals did not materialise this week when chancellor Jeremy Hunt made his cost-cutting Autumn Statement

There was tangible relief in transport circles this week when chancellor Jeremy Hunt avoided implementing deep cuts to transport spending in an Autumn Statement designed to plug a £40bn black hole in the government’s finances.

The chancellor confirmed commitments to transformative growth plans for the railways, including High Speed 2 to Manchester, the Northern Powerhouse Rail core network and East West Rail.

When making cuts, Hunt said capital is sometimes seen as an “easy option”.

“But doing so limits not our

budgets, but our future,” he said, adding that he will not be “cutting a penny” from the UK’s capital budgets over the next two years.

He added: “Smart countries build on their long-term commitments rather than discard them.”

Representing bus and coach

operators, Graham Vidler, chief executive of the Confederation for Passenger Transport, said: “It’s encouraging that the transport budget has been maintained in the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement.

“In the immediate term, CPT will work with devolved areas to prioritise improving local bus services as part of levelling-up funding.

“Our longer-term focus is with the transport secretary Mark Harper to secure a fair share of investment for the bus and coach sector - the nation’s most popular form of public transport - which is crucial for the UK’s wealth and health.”

The first in-person UK Bus Awards presentation ceremony since 2019 provided the opportunity to say ‘thank you’ to people who continued providing essential public transport links to the public throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. Among the winners was Koli Begum of Go-Ahead London (pictured), who took home the Top London Bus Driver award.

NEWS, VIEWS AND ANALYSIS FOR A SECTOR ON THE MOVE

“Smart countries build on their longterm commitments rather than discard them” Jeremy Hunt

It could have been worsebut challenges lie ahead

After the doomsday predictions of recent days there was some relief this week when chancellor Jeremy Hunt decided that he would not axe transport projects nor slash Department for Transport budgets in order to balance the books. And he commited the government to high profile infrastructure projects, including East West Rail, core Northern Powerhouse Rail, and High Speed 2 to Manchester.

As ever, the devil is in the detail, and while it appears that transport has done better than many expected there will still be difficult choices. It’s notable, for example, that Hunt did not refer to the eastern spur of HS2 to the East Midlands (only Manchester was mentioned). The eastern leg has already been cut back from its original destination of Leeds, could it yet be axed completely? Meanwhile, it appears that the version of Northern Powerhouse Rail that has been saved is the watered down version backed by Boris Johnson before he was ousted. Encouragingly the Treasury Red Book says that day-to-day Department for Transport revenue spending will grow by 1% per annum in real terms on average beyond 2021, shielding it from rampant inflation. However, while Hunt talked-up the virtues of investing in infrastructure, the DfT’s capital spending budget will only be maintained in cash terms beyond 2021 - a significant cut. It could have been worse, but that’s the impression the government will have wanted to create. Big challenges lie ahead.

IN THIS ISSUE

ORGANISATION PAGE

Abellio London Bus 8

Alexander Dennis 9

Arriva Cymru 10

Blackpool Transport 8 Brighton & Hove 11 CPT (UK) 1

CrossCountry 7 Dartline 9

Diamond Bus North West 8 FlixBus UK 8

Edwards Brothers 10

First Bus 11

Go-Ahead London 1, 8 Go Devon Bus 9 Go South West 9 Grand Central 7

Greater Cambridge Partnership 4

Metrobus 11

Network Rail 4, 6

Nottingham City Transport 8 Office of Rail and Road 7

Oxford Tube 8

Pembrokeshire Council 10 Rail Delivery Group 6 RMT 6, 9

Scarlet Band 11

Stagecoach East 8

Stagecoach Group 8, 9, 11

Stagecoach London 8 Stagecoach Manchester 8 Stagecoach South East 8 Stagecoach South West 9

Transdev 8

Transport for Wales Rail 7

TSSA 6

UK Bus Awards 1, 8 Uno 8

Volvo Bus 8

08 UK BUS AWARDS

MA K ES RET U RN

The winners of the UK Bus Awards were announced in London last week, including the winner of the Services to the Bus Industry award Omnibus founder Peter Crichton, pictured (left) with PassengerTransport managing editor Robert Jack.

13

AU TOMATED FLEET

SCHED U LING ROLLED O U T

First Bus and Prospective.io have signed a partnership agreement to deploy Prospective’s AI platform, rolling out automated, data driven timetabling and scheduling software across its largest UK operating companies.

18

O PPORT U NITIES FROM PLANNING REFORM

The planning system isn’t working but NickRichardson believes there may be opportunities to influence transport provision if reforms are implemented. He writes: “Public transport options should be thought about from the beginning.”

21

W HATEVER HAPPENS, IT WON’T B E PRETTY

Our Whitehall insider imagines what’s going on inside the minds of the mandarins at Great Minster House, home of the Department for Transport. “It’s hard to see how this government can avoid being accused of introducing another period of austerity.”

Experts back plans for road user charging

Former Network Rail boss Sir John Armitt and Centre for Cities chief executive Andrew Carter back plans for Cambridge city transport revamp

ROAD USER CHARGING

The Greater Cambridge Partnership (GCP) has launched an interactive map that demonstrates to local residents how journeys by public transport would be transformed as part of a consultation into plans for widespread road user charging.

The move comes as two senior transport and economic growth experts backed GCP’s plans for a faster and more reliable ‘turn-up and go’-style transport network.

In the summer GCP revealed its proposed City Access package which calls for an expansion of bus provision in the area (PT272). It moots new bus routes, additional orbital and express services, and

a huge increase in rural coverage, with buses supported by Demand Responsive Transport (DRT).

It also proposes longer operating hours with services running from 5am to 1am Monday to Saturday and 5am to midnight on Sunday with more frequent services - six to eight buses every hour in the city and from market towns and hourly rural bus

services.

Users on this improved network would also see lower bus fares with a £1 fare cap in the city and £2 cap for journeys in the travel to work area. The GCR also proposes new cross-city cycling corridors to boost active travel.

Road user charging - the socalled Sustainable Travel Zone - would see motorists paying a flat daily charge between 7am and 7pm on weekdays. The zone has been drawn around the outskirts of Cambridge and links between the park and ride sites, allowing vehicles to access the sites without incurring a charge.

GCP says the new bus network and reduced fares would be

phased in before road user charging was introduced.

To help explain the potential changes, GCP has unveiled the interactive map, allowing residents to see how their daily journeys would be transformed by more frequent and direct buses.

The proposals have been welcomed by Sir John Armitt, the former chief executive of Network Rail and chair of the National Infrastructure Commission, and Andrew Carter, chief executive for Centre for Cities.

Armitt said a city with a growing population and congested roads seeking effective local transport will realistically only achieve that goal if people are encouraged to make the shift out of private cars for some journeys.

He continued: “Improving local public transport alongside some form of demand management is part of the toolbox for promoting that transition.

“Cambridge is one of a number of cities grasping the nettle and actively exploring congestion charging. With a commitment to invest at the same time in active travel infrastructure, simpler ticketing and a better bus fleet, the aim is for many residents to have more attractive choices about how to get around.”

Carter said a quality public transport network is essential to ensuring cities can grow.

“The GCP’s proposals to deliver cheaper and more reliable bus services are a big step in the right direction,” he said.

“We support GCP’s plans to initially fund this scheme up front, but it will need to be sustained by increased ridership in the long term. Congestion charging is proven to be effective in both encouraging people on to public transport and reducing emissions, so it is right that Cambridge is exploring this option.”

GCP’s interactive map

“Cambridge is one of a number of cities grasping the nettle”

Sir John Armitt

‘Set out timetable for bus funding decisions’

House of Lords Built Environment Committee calls on the government to address the factors inhibiting the delivery of high quality public transport

POLICY

The government should set out a timetable for decision-making on bus funding and ensure that a good standard of bus service provision is maintained, according to a new report by the House of Lords Built Environment Committee.

Public transport in towns and cities concludes that, whilst it may not form the new administration’s first priority, neglecting issues such as bus services would have adverse consequences for passengers and public finances.

“The upcoming end of pandemic support funding in March 2023, with forecast cuts of up to 20%, could have a detrimental effect on those who rely on buses and risk a downward spiral of reducing demand,” the report states.

“Such cuts risk hitting the areas most in need of economic development the hardest: we heard that the poorest 20% of households make three times as many trips by bus as the richest 20% of households.

“The government should indicate a timetable for decisionmaking on bus funding and ensure that the provision of a good standard of bus services is maintained. Decisions on funding beyond next March are now urgently needed so that the appropriate service planning can be implemented.”

In its report, the committee, which is chaired by Lord Moylan, a former director of Transport for London, calls on the government to address the factors inhibiting

the delivery of high-quality public transport services. In addition to cuts to bus services, these include: wasteful competitive bidding processes; services not designed around passenger needs; and insufficiently joined-up transport and spatial planning.

The report also explores the role technology can play in enhancing connectivity across and within modes; how ticketing should be reformed; and how local governments can be supported to deliver better services across different geographical regions.

Bidding processes

The process of local authorities bidding for competitive central government capital funding is

“costly, resource intensive and inefficient”, the report concludes. It favours larger local authorities with a track record of winning. Smaller authorities, particularly those outside a mayoral combined authority, can lack the resources to produce a successful bid.

Meanwhile, the appraisal process is often poorly communicated to unsuccessful authorities, leading to repeated failures.

The report urges the government to examine the feasibility of transferring to a system of periodic block grants, which could encourage more coherent and long term transport delivery with spending priorities determined locally by those with local knowledge.

Enhanced partnerships versus franchising

The National Bus Strategy for England set in motion a requirement for local transport authorities to adopt either an enhanced partnership or a plan to establish a franchising scheme. Of the 79 local transport authorities, three opted to introduce a franchising model. The report calls on local and central government to monitor the effectiveness of both systems and review value for money in each case.

User priorities

The report observes that post-pandemic public transport demand remains unpredictable, with indications of a permanent reduction in peak commuter traffic. Many more people are travelling for leisure, at weekends and throughout the day.

It states: “Regardless of the pattern of demand, user needs should be at the centre of policy-making. Transport service providers must prioritise making public transport an attractive option and meeting users’ preferences for convenience, reliability, punctuality, fares, safety and frequency.

Ensuring that stations and interchanges are safe and well-lit should be a priority.”

Aligning transport planning with local planning

Given the competing demands and timelines facing local authorities, “spatial and transport planning have been insufficiently integrated, with new homes built in places without access to public transport”. To help integrate transport planning, the report calls on the government should formally link the production of Local Transport Plans with Local Plans.

“Such cuts risk hitting the areas most in need of economic development the hardest”

The report calls for monitoring of both enhanced partnerships and franchised schemes

RMT vote paves way for more rail strikes

will continue with Network Rail and the train operating companies.

currently taking more than its fair share from the taxpayer”.

them, and come to an agreement which is fair for passengers, taxpayers and workers alike. The very future of the industry depends on it.”

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

Members of the RMT union working at Network Rail and 14 train operating companies have voted by 91.7%, with an average turnout of 70.2%, in favour of further action. The vote means members will be able to take strike action for potentially another six-month period.

The union said the vote was “a massive endorsement of the union’s strategy to win workplace justice through negotiation where possible and industrial action if necessary”.

General secretary Mick Lynch said: “The National Executive Committee will now look at these fantastic results and negotiations

“This union is determined to continue with this campaign until the employers understand that they need to respond to our members’ aspirations on job security, pay and working conditions.”

Steve Montgomery, chair of the Rail Delivery Group, urged the union “to continue to work with us to agree the vital reforms necessary to both afford a fair pay deal, and secure a sustainable future for the railway which is

He continued: “Further counterproductive strike action would only heap more misery on our customers and struggling businesses in the run-up to Christmas, and continue to undermine the viability of an industry we all want to see thrive.”

Tim Shoveller, Network Rail’s chief negotiator, said that striking was not changing the railway’s precarious financial position, but actually only making it worse.

“The railway has not recovered from the pandemic and is currently losing millions a day, which makes reaching a deal both tough and essential,” he said.

“Our railway is in desperate need of modernisation and we once again urge union bosses to work with employers, not against

The announcement of further potential strike action comes despite the RMT and TSSA calling off strike action planned for early November just hours before they were due to begin.

The move followed an invitation to begin what was described as a “period of intensive negotiations” from the RDG and Network Rail. The RMT claimed this included “unconditional talks” with Network Rail, plus the promise of a pay offer from TOCs.

It is understood that a change of policy at the Department for Transport was behind the move, although there has been no official clarification that that was the case.

However, the decision to halt the strike action at the eleventh hour meant there was still considerable disruption on the network.

STEWART BAGS COMMITTEE

CHAIR

PARLIAMENT

Following the appointment of transport select committee chairman Huw Merriman as rail minister, Iain Stewart, the Conservative MP for Milton Keynes South, has been elected by MPs to succeed him.

Merriman had served on the committee since his election as MP for Bexhill and Battle in 2015 and had served as chair since 2020 when he succeeded Labour MP Lilian Greenwood.

Stewart faced stiff competition to succeed Merriman with the shortlist of candidates restricted to

Conservative MPs as agreed by the party leaders following the results of the last general election.

The other five candidates were: Jack Brereton, Stoke-on-Trent South MP;

Jackie Doyle-Price, Thurrock MP; Katherine Fletcher, South Ribble MP; Chris Loder, MP for West Dorset and a former senior rail industry manager; and Karl McCartney, MP for Lincoln.

McCartney was eliminated in the second round with Loder eliminated in the third. Doyle-Price was eliminated in the fourth round with Stewart facing fifth and final round competition from Brereton and Fletcher and finally just Fletcher.

Stewart said he was delighted to be appointed to the role.

“I have a real passion for, and experience in transport issues and I am very much looking forward to working with colleagues,” he said.“I want the committee both to scrutinise and hold to account government, agencies and operators, but also to do important horizonscanning proactive work into future opportunities and challenges.”

MINISTERIAL BRIEFS REVEALED

GOVERNMENT

The government has confirmed the ministerial briefs of the new transport minister line-up.

Ministers of state Huw Merriman and Jesse Norman take on the rail and HS2 and decarbonisation and technology briefs respectively while the buses brief passes from Baroness Vere to Richard Holden, who also gains responsibility for roads as under secretary of state.

Despite being stripped of the buses brief, Vere remains at the Department for Transport as under secretary of state with responsibility for aviation and maritime.

Iain Stewart elected to transport committee role

New TSC chair Iain Stewart

Merriman gains rail and HS2; Holden gets buses

Passengers could face another six months of strikes after vote

“Our railway is in desperate need of modernisation”

Tim Shoveller

Compensation claims return to 2019 levels

Over one million claims despite lower rail patronage

CUSTOMER SERVICE

The number of compensation claims for train delays in the first four periods of this year was almost the same as in the corresponding period in 2019, despite a significant reduction in the number of passenger journeys.

New statistics from the Office of Rail and Road show that 1,242,521 delay compensation claims were closed by train operators between April 1 and July 23. This is over four times higher than in the same periods in 2021. However, there were still restrictions on travel in spring 2021 to reduce the spread of Covid-19. A more useful comparison can be made with 2019 statistics. In the first four periods of 2019/20, train operators closed 1,246,438 compensation claims, which is only 0.3% higher than in the first four periods of this financial year.

Passenger numbers in the first four periods of 2022/23 were

FIRST NEW TRAIN FOR WALES

Class 197 DMUs enter service in North Wales

INVESTMENT

The first new train in the history of the Wales and Borders franchise entered passenger service on Monday, on the Conwy Valley line.

The 148 new trains include 77 Class 197 DMUs from Spanish manufacturer CAF, built at the company’s factory in Newport, South Wales. Following delays caused by

CrossCountry closed just 7.4% of compensation claims within 20 working days

approximately 20% lower than in the equivalent periods in 2019/20. Rail strikes and their aftermath reduced relative passenger numbers to below 50% on some days in June 2022.

In Period 4, June 26 to July 23, train operators closed 440,971 delay compensation claims, which at the time was the largest number for a single period since the start of the pandemic. “It is likely that this is related to the heatwave that peaked around July 19 2022 and led to cancellations and severe delays

Covid-19, the first Class 197 went into service this week between Blaenau Ffestiniog and Llandudno. Other routes operated from Chester depot will follow Eventually the Class 197s will operate on all Wales and Borders long-distance routes, including Manchester to Cardiff, Swansea and Milford Haven. Some will be fitted with ERTMS for the Cambrian lines.

Three fleets of Stadler trains are also on order, for South Wales routes. They are expected to enter passenger service in the spring.

on the rail network,” the ORR observes.

The number of claims closed in Periods 5 to 8 will not be revealed until next year, but they are likely to be significantly higher than in Periods 1 to 4. The August heatwave led to cancellations and delays, as did further strikes during Periods 5 to 8. Some operators were also affected by staff shortages or drivers not volunteering to work overtime.

The cost to the industry of compensation claims in the

current financial year has not yet been published. However, the Department for Transport has recorded that compensation payments in 2021/22 totalled £39.7m. This worked out at an average of £19.53 per claim.

If the average has remained the same, train operators’ compensation payments in the first four periods of 2022/23 totalled £24.3m. This would put operators on course to pay £79m in 2022/23, if claims were to continue at the same rate across the year and the average financial value remained at £19.53 per successful claim. The total compensation payment in 2019/20 was £89.4m.

The ORR’s latest figures record that train operators closed 97.8% of delay compensation claims within 20 working days during the first four periods of this year. Many operators achieved 100% but two stood out for slowness. CrossCountry closed only 7.4% of claims within 20 working days, and Grand Central 30.3%.

Overall, train operators approved 77.9% of the delay compensation claims which were closed during the first four periods of this year. This is considerably lower than the 84.2% of claims which were approved by train operators in 2019/20.

A Class 197 DMU at Deganwy on Monday morning

Blackpool wins Bus Operator of the Year

Council-owned operator wins coveted prize and Stagecoach tops the medal table as UK Bus Awards returns for first in-person presentation since 2019

AWARDS

Blackpool Transport is celebrating after winning the coveted UK Bus Operator of the Year Award at the UK Bus Awards in London. The company was also named the winner of the Gold Award in the Top Shire Operator category before fending off competition from Diamond Bus North West and Hertfordshirebased operator Uno to win the top gong in the Grand-Prix competition that pits the winners of the Top City, Top Shire and Top Independent Operator Awards against one another.

Blackpool’s win followed a pause by the industry’s premier awards scheme over the last two years as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. People, projects and bus operators came together at Troxy, London to once again compete for the top awards across 22 categories at the scheme’s first in-person presentation ceremony held since 2019.

It was also a rewarding afternoon for Stagecoach. Britain’s biggest bus operator topped the medal table with 21 Gold, Silver and Bronze winners. It was the gold winner in seven categories: Bus and the Community (The Friendship Bus by Stagecoach South East);

Engineer of the Year (Stagecoach Manchester’s Jamie Stockton); The ROSCO Award for Contribution to Safer Driving (Intelligent Speed Assistance by Stagecoach East and Volvo Bus); Supporting the Environment

(Stagecoach East ‘Big Switch off’);

Top Express Coach Operation (Oxford Tube).

Top National Bus Depot (Barrow);

Unsung Heroes (Stagecoach Manchester’s Lesley Hester).

It was the perfect birthday

THE MEDAL TABLE: UKBA 2022

B S G

Stagecoach 7 6 8 21

Go-Ahead 3 3 1 7

Transdev 2 3 0 5 Uno 2 0 1 3

Blackpool 2 0 0 2

First Bus 1 2 1 4

Rotala 1 2 1 4 Grant Palmer 1 0 1 2 Abellio 0 1 1 2 Other 3 3 4 8

present for Nottingham City Transport bus driver Jonathan Smallman. He took the gold in the Top National Bus Driver: The Chris Moyes Memorial Award category, marking the fourth time a bus driver from the council-owned bus company has won the gold at a UK Bus Awards ceremony.

In the capital, Go-Ahead London’s Koli Begum enthusiastically took to the stage to take gold in the Luke ReesPulley Award for Top London Bus Driver category and there was more good news for the London operator as its Putney garage received a gold in the London Bus Garage of the Year category.

In the Young Manager category, Hayley Russell from FlixBus UK took the gold ahead of silver

award winner Zachary McAskill from Stagecoach Manchester. The bronze in that category went to talented Stagecoach London engineer Ben Houghton.

Meanwhile, Jim Thorpe, managing director of Uno was the gold winner of the Leader of the Year award. In this category Stagecoach South East boss Joel Mitchell took the silver with the bronze award bagged by Samantha Teggart of Abellio London Bus.

The Services to the Bus Industry Award sponsored by Passenger Transport, was presented to Peter Crichton, founder of specialist software company Omnibus.

Transdev also had some notable successes, taking golds in the Buses for Pleasure sponsored and Culture Change categories. The Harrogate-based firm also took silver awards in the Marketing, Partnering for Delivery and Supporting the Customer Experience categories.

Alan Millar, chair of the UK Bus Awards, said: “After a tumultuous couple of years as a result of the pandemic, it’s fantastic to see the dedication, creativity and excellence of the UK bus industry have not diminished. We are particularly pleased to have celebrated the best in the business, from small, familyowned businesses to the very large multinational transport groups, including several who entered the scheme for the very first time.

“We’re honoured to have been able to recognise and celebrate the industry’s successes, achievements, innovations, dedication and sheer brilliance. All those celebrating today should feel proud that they have played their part in helping to deliver a firstclass experience for bus passengers across the UK. From everyone at the UK Bus Awards, we would like to say a huge congratulations to everyone involved.”

Blackpool Transport’s James Carney collects the Bus Operator of the Year Award

Stagecoach blasts RMT over staffing claims

Operator denies it has lost over 400 staff since late 2020

TRADES UNIONS

Stagecoach South West has refuted claims by the RMT union that it has lost more than 400 members of staff within the past two years, branding the assertion as a complete fabrication.

The move follows a public inquiry convened by West of England traffic commissioner Kevin Rooney last month to probe claims about the operator’s reliability. That followed a previous inquiry in June where Rooney made the decision to suspend making a verdict pending further investigations (PT271).

The union claimed this week that since late October 2020 there are “likely” to have been in excess of 432 employees who have left Stagecoach South West. The RMT also alleged there is a “culture of blame and fear” within

the operator. It called on the Exeter-based operator to focus on staff retention and to improve contracts, morale and wages.

The operator made a robust response to the claims. Stagecoach South West managing director Mike Watson, who is to step down from the role early next year (PT271), said: “Once again, the claims being made by local RMT reps are a complete fabrication and not representative of the true situation.”

He claimed that in the last 12 months the operator has recruited over 220 new drivers, and now has a vacancy rate of just 4%. He said this is significantly lower than the UK average driver vacancy rate of 9%.

Watson continued: “Contrary to the RMT claims, the south west is now in a far better position than other parts of the country which is representative of the work we have been driving around improved pay. We are one of the south west’s major employers and take our responsibilities to our people very seriously.”

Watson said the operator was “very focused” on staff retention and new pay rates have given all drivers a 10% increase in pay, with a new hourly rate of £13 from December. He added staff have access to flexible shifts, including part-time working.

“We are also working closely with our depots to carry out regular roster meetings to focus on the requirements of drivers,” he said. “We are proud of the work we have done to improve our level of resource and we remain focused on continuing to drive up the reliability of our services for our local communities.”

GO SOUTH WEST GROWS IN DEVON

Go-Ahead firm snaps up Exeter-based Dartline

ACQUISITIONS

Go-Ahead has announced a deal to acquire Exeter-based bus and coach operator Dartline. The purchase adds 118 employees and 84 buses to the group’s Plymouth-based Go South West (GSW) business.

Dartline’s business is a mixture of commercial routes and services operated under contract for Devon County Council, plus coach work that includes the operation of the team coach for the Exeter Chiefs rugby union team.

GSW has been expanding in Devon in recent months. At the end of October, it launched the Go Devon Bus brand after capturing a number of council contracts that had been relinquished by Stagecoach South West. The company says it intends to keep the Dartline name alongside its Plymouth Citybus, Go Devon Bus, and Go Cornwall Bus brands.

“We’ve been admirers of Dartline for a long time - it’s a family-focused, well-run bus company with a strong reputation,” said Richard Stevens, managing director of GSW.

Group

VEHICLES

Stagecoach has placed an order for new buses valued at around £50m that includes vehicles for the UK’s first all-electric city bus networks in Inverness and Perth. It claims the order is the largest single order for new buses in the UK this year.

The Perth-based group, now a subsidiary of DWS Infrastructure, has placed the entire order with Larbertbased manufacturer Alexander Dennis. While it includes 38 electric

buses for the Scottish initiatives, the bulk of the order comprises 200 new conventionally-powered Euro6 Enviro400 double deckers. They will enter service with Stagecoach subsidiaries across England.

Stagecoach said these vehicles will assist with its plans to cut carbon. The group aims to have an entirely zero-emission bus fleet by 2025 and the new Enviro400s will help reduce group emissions by around 3,500 ‘carbon tonnes’ per year.

The order has been welcomed by ADL president and managing director Paul Davies. “Our low-emission Enviro400 is a tried and tested product that combines efficiency

with high passenger capacity,.” he said. “Robust and easy to maintain, the 200 new buses will integrate seamlessly into Stagecoach’s fleet.”

“After the challenges both operators and manufacturers in the UK bus industry have faced in the last years, it is a heartening step on the road to recovery to see significant volumes of vehicles being ordered again by the country’s largest bus operator, Stagecoach.”

Sam Greer, Stagecoach’s regional director for Scotland who also takes the lead on fleet strategy, added: “We are proud of the continued investment we are making to our fleet with the largest single order for

new buses in the UK this year. This really shows our commitment to the future prosperity of our communities and to our people who can all benefit from cleaner transport and a growing bus sector.

“These new double decker buses will complement the investment we are already making with our electric buses to modernise our fleet in some of Britain’s major towns and cities, enabling reduced pollution and meaning customers will see more comfortable, quieter and newer vehicles on their everyday journeys.

“We look forward to working with ADL to get our new buses into service starting early next year.”

places what it claims is 2022’s largest bus order

ADL WINS £50M STAGECOACH DEAL

“The south west is now in a far better position”

Mike Watson

“The claims being made by local RMT reps are a complete fabrication”

Welsh council buys bus company to save money

Pembrokeshire Council is close to concluding a deal to acquire a local bus operator that aims to allow it to reduce costs. Rhodri Clark reports

ACQUISITIONS

Pembrokeshire Council is poised to buy one of the county’s bus companies, to avoid incurring higher costs for public and school transport in the future.

It has registered to take over six public bus routes currently operated by Edwards Brothers of Tiers Cross, starting on December 1. Four are in Haverfordwest, the county town, and two in Milford Haven.

The authority began operating bus services five years ago. Following the demise of local independent Silcox Coaches, some of the council’s tenders were receiving no bids or bids which were unaffordable.

The council told Passenger Transport that it was aiming to complete the purchase by the end of this month. All being well,

Edwards Brothers operates 37 vehicles

the entire Edwards Bros fleet of 37 vehicles will transfer to the council, along with a number of staff under TUPE regulations. The company’s depot is also part of the planned purchase and will become the base for services already operated by the council, as well as the former Edwards services.

Inconsiderate parking could see service axed

Residents of a small Flintshire village have been warned they risk losing their local bus route unless inconsiderate parking issues are resolved.

Some journeys on Arriva Cymru’s Route 11 corridor between Rhyl and Chester pass through Fffynnongroyw. The operator claims it has tried to resolve the parking issues with

local councillors and Flintshire Council, but the operator has now said it is considering diverting services away from Fffynnongroyw early next year.

“For quite some time now we have been having issues in Ffynnongroyw village on our 11 services which run between Rhyl and Chester,” said a spokesperson. “These issues have been caused

All of the routes Edwards operates under contract to the council would transfer, including 21 education contracts. A contract operated on behalf of a college would be novated to the council on completion of the purchase of the business.

“The principal reason for purchasing the assets of this

by numerous instances of inconsiderate parking in the area, which has meant our buses have been unable to pass safely.

“Arriva have been patient and have tried to work with local councillors and Flintshire Council to alleviate the issues, but unfortunately, we have seen little improvement. We are now considering re-routing the service on a permanent basis via the A548 and not calling into the village. This will allow us to operate a more consistent and reliable service.”

company is to ensure that PCC can continue to comply with its statutory obligations, in terms of things like school transport, and as an invest to save strategy,” said a council spokesman. “In Pembrokeshire there is very limited competition in the current market, having lost several operators over the last 10 years.”

Officers told councillors in January that Edwards Broswhich was not publicly identified at the time to avoid unsettling the workforce - intended to withdraw from the market (PT256). They estimated that this would result in an additional annual revenue expenditure of £300,000, due to reduced competition in the market and increased operating costs, if the authority did not purchase the company. The estimate pre-dated the start of the war in Ukraine and the high inflation rate which has prevailed since then.

The council promises to support the companies which continue to operate buses in the county. “We have no intention in competing against local bus operators for other work,” the spokesman said. “We intend to continue to operate all the contracts and as much of the private hire work that we can under the Section 19 and 22 permits that Edwards Bros currently undertakes.

“We will only tender for other work that local bus companies are unable to undertake and we will continue to work very closely with all of them to ensure their sustainability.”

“In Pembrokeshire there is very limited competition in the current market”

Pembrokeshire Council

Arriva Cymru threatens to divert Flintshire bus route

Century old County Durham firm closes

INDEPENDENTS

A County Durham-based independent bus operator has ceased operations after 101 years.

Proprietor Graeme Torrance cited rising costs and staff shortages as contributing towards his decision to close the Scarlet Band business after 15 years of ownership.

The company was established in 1921 by Sidney Blenkinsop and although it originally started as a taxi operator, Scarlet Band quickly moved into the commercial sector, running buses from 1925.

The West Cornforth-based firm remained with the Blenkinsop family until Torrance acquired the business in 2007.

Since then he has expanded Scarlet Band until it operated around 40 vehicles and had 60 members of staff. The company operated a range of contracted services largely for Durham County Council, including the Durham Park and Ride service.

While he paid tribute to his workforce and passengers, Torrance said he felt the company could no longer continue to provide full, reliable services due to the strain on its finances.

“Over the last couple of years we have struggled with a shortage of

skilled staff, shortage of spare parts, increasing fuel prices, increasing tyre prices, increasing utility prices,” he said. “All of that put a strain on the company.”

Torrance added it felt like the right time to call it a day.

“I took the decision that with the increasing cost pressures the best thing to do was to call a halt at the end of one contract period,” he said.

“All the drivers are guaranteed jobs. I thought that was the responsible thing to do to ensure all my staff were guaranteed a job and that’s why we didn’t also try and do these contracts and struggle to do them.

“Our customers would have suffered with a performance that was below the usual standard.”

GO-AHEAD FIRMS TARGET UKRAINE

Recruitment day aims to attract refugees

RECRUITMENT

Go-Ahead subsidiaries Brighton & Hove and Metrobus are working in partnership with the Department for Work and Pensions to help Ukrainian refugees to become bus drivers.

The move follows a change in government legislation which has resulted in Ukrainian refugees receiving immediate settlement status and the opportunity to work in the UK straight away.

The two operators held a special recruitment open day last week for Ukrainian refugees. Those who attended had been assessed by the Department for Work and Pensions on the basis of having a driver’s licence and good English skills.

“As a company, we have the ability to offer jobs to people from Ukraine who are here to start a new and more peaceful life,” said Brighton & Hove and Metrobus managing director Ed Wills.

A COST OF LIVING OPPORTUNITY?

RESEARCH

Separate research by First Bus and Stagecoach has highlighted how the cost of living crisis could be an opportunity for the industry.

Stagecoach has commissioned independent research that suggests councils can help motorists save up to £6,000 a year by introducing the right policy measures to help them use cars less.

The resulting report - Every journey makes a difference: how we can support people switch how they travel - sets out the financial, environmental and community benefits of reduced car use and

calls for coordinated action from government, councils and transport operators.

It finds the majority of motorists are open to using their cars less. Motorists are most open to reducing car usage for the school run (+34% net openness rating) or personal leisure activity (+22% net openness rating) like going to the gym. Some types of motorists were also more open to making the switch. The motorists most open to it are younger (+36% score), live in urban areas (+28%) or make shorter journeys (+21%).

A slim majority of motorists (51%) want councils to take action to encourage people away from using their cars. Council decisions can lead to millions of people using their cars less in favour of other modes of

transport, including buses. Introducing Clean Air Zones across the country would remove over 1.3 billion miles of car journeys each week. Changes to local roads through Low Traffic Neighbourhoods would save over 900 million miles a week and deliver cost savings, carbon emissions reduction and fewer cars on our roads.

According to the report, which surveyed over 4,000 people from across Great Britain, councils can deliver the greatest change by adopting blended policies.

For example, introducing a Clean Air Zone and lower bus fares leads to over half of motorists saying they would drive much less often for work (52%) and social (53%) or leisure activities (52%).

Meanwhile, research by First Bus

found that half of UK adults are set to take the bus more frequently in a bid to save money. Two-fifths of adults (41%) who haven’t yet made the change in their travel habits plan to in favour of increased bus use. According to the research carried out by First, the top cities whose bus services are expected to see this heightened demand are London (60%), Glasgow (47%), Leeds (45%) and Liverpool (43%)

Those aged 16-24 have made the most difference and claim to have started taking the bus more because of three top reasons identified by the research: to save money on petrol during the cost-of-living crisis; to help the environment; and to choose the more relaxing option of travel, as opposed to driving.

Scarlet Band owner cites rising costs for decision to quit

“Over the last couple of years we have struggled”

Graeme Torrance

Probes suggest there could be switch to the bus

ENVIRONMENT

UK cities need boost to deliver net zero plans

IN BRIEF

DEVOLUTION

A new settlement between the UK Governments and the nation’s cities is required in order for them to meet the challenge of climate change and deliver a net zero carbon economy by 2050. This is one of the findings of a new report - Achieving net zero carbon transport in our cities: key issues for policy makers - authored by researchers at Nottingham Business School for the Independent Transport Commission.

Many UK cities have already embraced the 2050 challenge by developing roadmaps for becoming zero-carbon locations, often with a target date ahead of that laid out in the national legislation. However, the report

TRAWSCYMRU

DECARBONISATION

ZERO EMISSION BUSES

Transport for Wales remains committed to introducing non-diesel vehicles on all TrawsCymru services by 2026, despite further delays to the inaugural electric buses.

One of TfW’s new Yutong electric vehicles was exhibited at the recent EuroBusExpo in Birmingham recently. It and seven others are due to enter service on the Aberystwyth to Carmarthen TrawsCymru route early next year..

Aberystwyth to Carmarthen now looks likely to be the first TrawsCymru route to convert from

looks at cities of different sizes with varying powers and concludes that small and medium-sized cities need greater direct control over their priorities in order to deliver zero-carbon locations.

Importantly, by analysing the effectiveness of different city models, the ITC concludes that additional powers are required to better align development frameworks with transport and decarbonisation strategies, thereby helping cities secure the most effective roadmaps to low-carbon urban transport for their locality.

The ITC concludes that an Avoid-Shift-Improve decisionmaking hierarchy should be adopted by city authorities seeking to reshape communities to promote shorter trips by making more amenities available locally and nudging local people towards active mobility (like cycling or walking). An assessment framework is provided to help cities monitor their progress.

Andy Street, mayor of the West Midlands, commented: “Given that transport accounts for a third of our region’s emissions, delivering a cleaner and more convenient local transport system is a vital task. It’s a task that further and faster devolution of powers and funding would make easier and that’s why I would encourage the government to back us to make change here on the ground.”

diesel to electric buses. In October 2020, the Welsh Government announced a £3.6m investment in six electric buses for two new TrawsCymru routes in North Wales, from Blaenau Ffestiniog to both Caernarfon and Llandudno.

A new depot, with charging facilities, was planned in Blaenau Ffestiniog but ran into complications. An alternative site was identified in Porthmadog, and the EVs were due to enter service this autumn. However, this has now been deferred to the spring, and the six EVs have not yet been delivered to TfW.

“We are waiting for charging facilities to be completed because if we used temporary charging facilities these would have to be run off a diesel generator, which

would be both costly and go against our objectives of reducing carbon emissions,” said a TfW spokeswoman.

The new TrawsCymru route between Llandudno and Blaenau Ffestiniog was launched using a diesel bus in summer 2021, but the Caernarfon service will not be introduced until the EVs and depot are ready.

The Welsh Government’s National Transport Delivery Plan, published in July, included the decarbonisation of the TrawsCymru fleet by 2026. Despite the deferred launch of TrawsCymru EVs, TfW told PassengerTransport the aim was still to decarbonise the fleet by the end of 2026. There are currently 13 TrawsCymru routes, covering medium and long distances.

FIRSTGROUP RANKED TOP FirstGroup has been ranked third out of the world’s 90 most influential transport companies in the World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA)’s 2022 Transport Benchmark, making it the top performing UK transport company in the category. The WBA is a non-profit organisation that holds 2,000 of the world’s most influential companies accountable for their part in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

LUMO IS ‘40 TIMES GREENER’

Open access train operator

Lumo has today revealed that it is 40 times greener to travel on its trains between Edinburgh and Glasgow than it is to flya significant increase from previous estimates of being six times greener. The 100% electric rail operator, which runs between Edinburgh and London, has released statistics showing that it only releases 0.006 kg CO2e per passenger per kilometre, which is 40 times less than the 0.24587 kg CO2e per passenger per kilometre for air travel.

This follows the news that rail has overtaken air travel to become the preferred mode of transport between Edinburgh and London. Between April and August, 57% of journeys between Edinburgh and London were by rail.

‘FALLING BEHIND’

RMT research shows that Network Rail is nowhere near its own rail electrification targets. “If this government was serious about the climate emergency, it would recognise the vital role that our railways and public transport must play in cutting climate emissions,” commented RMT general secretary Mick Lynch.

TfW sticks to 2026 target despite initial delays

“I would encourage the government to back us to make change” Andy Street

ITC report calls on government to devolve more powers

Automated fleet scheduling rolled out

resources and staff time.

SCHEDULING

First Bus and Prospective.io have signed a partnership agreement to deploy Prospective’s AI platform, rolling out automated, data driven timetabling and scheduling software across its largest UK operating companies.

The deployment in Glasgow, Bristol, Manchester, the West of England, Essex and West Yorkshire will improve service punctuality and will enable local scheduling teams to make subtle changes to schedules throughout the year to maintain service quality.

The use of Prospective’s automated scheduling system (FlowOS) has led to improvements in service punctuality and reliability at First Bus’ West Yorkshire operations as well as saving fleet

By using the Prospective platform, First Bus schedulers are now able to create or adjust full timetables and vehicle schedules for individual services in minutes, a process that can typically take days. This empowers local teams to make more frequent, subtler changes to services that ensure that timetables will remain accurate throughout the year.

Thanks to Prospective, First Bus now has the capability to leverage three years’ worth of real-time operational fleet data on passenger and vehicle flows and can identify:

How bus travel times fluctuate by hour of the day, day of the week and by season and how to accommodate this variability as efficiently as possible;

How passengers flow through its services and what this means for boarding times and vehicle occupancy at different times of the day; and

When and where to add or remove time in timetables to ensure enough time for services to remain punctual without slowing overall journey times.

First Bus chief commercial officer Simon Pearson said: “By combining automated timetabling and vehicle scheduling from Prospective, along with our recent investment in Optibus driver rostering software, it means that our scheduling team can now deliver speed, accuracy and flexibility across the full spectrum of network planning decision-making.”

‘OPEN TICKET’ MOBILE PLATFORM

Monapass - One App, One Account, for Open Ticket

TICKETING

Flowbird has developed a unique ‘open ticket’ mobile platform that delivers a ‘one-app, one-account’ environment for integrated multimodal transport, active travel and ID-based subscriptions and passes.

The Monapass app, developed by Flowbird for the Principality of Monaco, offers users access to a ‘mobility system in their pocket’ by enabling access to account-based ticketing, secure in-app m-ticket storage, combined ticketing for travel and entertainment (museums, cinemas, tours) and integrated journey planning with parking, public transport and active travel.

Flowbird’s ‘open ticket portfolio’ functionality makes it possible to import and manage third-party IDbased passes and subscriptions for transit and other services, such as e-bike hire.

“Monapass is the complete mobility companion in your pocket,” said Paul Rogers, Flowbird sales and marketing director. “We are expanding the traditional scope of MaaS apps to connect an ever-wider range of services and subscriptions and make them available through a secure, single sign-on account in a mobile environment.

The Principality of Monaco is committed to digital transformation through its ‘Extended Monaco’ programme. As part of this agenda, the city has worked with Flowbird to deploy Monapass as a new approach to mobility for residents, tourists, and commuters.

MaaS is key to Monaco’s environmental commitment to reduce light vehicle traffic by 20% by 2030. The mobile application makes it easier for people to use their cars less, adopt greener modes of travel and improve their quality of life.

“It means that our scheduling team can now deliver speed, accuracy and flexibility”

Simon Pearson, First Bus

SIGN OF THE TIMES In a first for intercity train operator LNER, new digital display screens installed at Doncaster station will advise customers of the train layouts and where they should wait on the platform to board the correct coach. It’s hoped that the three-month trial will make boarding simpler and smoother while further enhancing punctuality.

JONATHAN BRAY

Zero-emission buses need a bigger plan

It’s been a long time coming but the bus fleet is decarbonising. This transition needs all key parties to think bigger and act faster

Berlin, 2013

Nine years ago I was at an event in the Schoenberg district of Berlin, in what was a gas holder and is now repurposed as a conference centre. As well as being effortlessly Berlin cool the gas holder also symbolises the energy transition being part of a wider buzzing former industrial complex called EUREF, where businesses big and small, start-ups and researchers are working on a host of energy, mobility and sustainability projects.

Plug-in vehicles are being built and tested on-site. I’m shown displays on a digital panel which shows, in real-time, the energy the site is generating from its own turbines; what energy is being imported or exported from the site, how it is being used on the site; and the relative costs of different decisions and the implications of the weather forecasts.

The campus allows the cross-fertilisation of ideas and projects between those on site. It’s grown since and now 5,000 people work, research and study there in more than 150 enterprises, institutions and start-ups. And this is Germany so the local authority is also part of it. Innovations can be trialled and adopted by the municipalities beyond the boundaries of the campus. EUREF blows my tiny mind. I keep going on about it.

Birmingham/Coventry, October 2022

A constant throughout the pandemic, and since, has been regular Teams calls of UTG member bus leads. Trapped behind our screens

as a now battle-hardened crew we have dealt with everything the pandemic has thrown at us.

We told people to stay away from buses during Covid restrictions, told them to come back afterwards; kept the wheels turning as the clock approached midnight on government funding support; shared approaches to keeping bus staff and passengers safe. And now, at a bus stop outside Birmingham Moor Street station, we get to see each other in three dimensions for the first time since it all began; recalibrating our brains to take account of the fact that each other’s faces aren’t screen flat - they are part of three-dimensional heads.

We are heading for Tyseley Energy Park which turns out to be a UK comparator to Berlin’s EUREF. On a large site (well positioned in an industrial and transport area) the park is home to an expanding nexus of low and zero-carbon power, transport, heat waste and recycling projects. This includes a biomass power plant, a vehicle refuelling station (able to fill up vehicles with hydrogen, biodiesel, CNG and electricity) as well as space for low carbon focussed SMEs to base themselves as part of an Energy Innovation Centre. And that’s for starters as

more facilities and initiatives are being added. There’s the same onward and upwards “let’s try this” feel as in Berlin’s EUREF.

We move on (by ZEB of course) to Coventry’s Pool Meadow bus depot for some show-and-tell about Coventry Electric Bus City. Inside the hulking depot, the transition to electric is happening in front of our eyes as we gather around the latest boxfresh electric double decker. Interestingly, for the first time, we hear about three ways in which the advantages of zero-emission buses extend beyond the obvious environmental benefits.

Firstly, drivers prefer them. ZEBs make for a smoother driving experience making the working day that little bit easier. Meanwhile, maintenance and fleet management is less about spanners than it is about laptops. It feels like work of the future rather than of the past. And in a tight labour market this can only help with recruitment and retention.

Secondly, the smoother ride is doing something for passengers too. We hear that routes with electric buses are performing better for patronage than those with diesel buses (despite the bodywork being the same). Perhaps this is connected with something we don’t talk enough about when we talk about buses. There is a strong focus on what buses look like on the outside (branding and liveries) and internal bells and whistles (Wi-Fi, leather seats etc), but this masks a lack of interest in ride quality. And the ride quality of a typical modern, the lightweight bus is not great.

I don’t drive so I use a lot of buses and I spend a lot of time making the case for more people to do the same. But usually, when I’m on a bus I’ve had enough after about half an hour. Had had enough of rattling about like a loose coin in a washing machine spin cycle. And that’s without the discordant symphony of rattling windows and anything else where the screws holding it in place aren’t 100% tightened.

All of this is made much worse if it’s sunny and those big beautiful picture windows that are one of the delights of bus travel start to create a greenhouse effect. I get that lightweight means less fuel consumption (and that air con has multiple challenges in terms of costs, weight, and reliability) but ride quality is an issue that we need to talk more about? And perhaps the benefit of the better ride quality of electric buses is a factor in the patronage phenomena being observed

“We have the justification, the kit, the energy and potentially more money than we thought we had”

in Coventry.

And then there’s the third co-benefit. Smoother driving is leading to fewer accidents (including trips and falls on board).

So given all these direct (greener) and indirect benefits (safer, smoother and more popular) where are we on the transition to zero-emission buses and how do we scale up? At present, the transition feels undercooked. There are many reasons behind this but among the key ones is the stop/start approach to funding based on slow-moving ‘knobbly knees’ contests for local transport authorities which in turn mitigates against collaboration, leads to messy order books for manufacturers and a proliferation of different specifications.

All of this also means higher ZEB priceswhich in turn deters and slows orders. At the same time there is a problem not just with putting the vehicles in place but also with the green energy they need. Getting the buses hooked up to the mains can be a difficult and expensive project as the electricity distribution sector operates on a ‘first come, first served’ basis and in some areas can be difficult and expensive to deal with.

There’s a better approach which lies tantalisingly within reach. If we could align the new diesel buses’ end date with BSOG (Bus Service Operators Grant) reform and with a longer term capital support programme this could also be used to ensure more consistent

order books for manufacturers based on more standardised specifications. This in turn should drive down prices which in turn would mean that capital and revenue grant incentives for ZEBs could also be switched off sooner. This, combined with a more united front to bring the electricity distribution companies in line, might create the conditions for bringing in more private investment.

City of London, October 2022

I like a professional event where I don’t already know that many people (and what they are going to say). It means I’m probably going to learn something new. And at the Net Zero Investment Summit (part of the Cities Commission for Climate Investment’s efforts to secure the necessary finance to support the transition to net zero) at Guildhall in the City of London on October 25 I learnt more about what makes the ‘investment community’ tick. Alongside local government, chief executives are the people who invest your pension funds, who are responsible for your city’s crane count or who, for whatever reason, can find the money when they see the opportunity that’s just right for themthat plays to their niche or a hunch. All of them have an imperative to invest money and some of them want to skew that investment in the direction of decarbonisation. The problem is the investment community speaks a different language from local government and without a common understanding, it’s hard to build the necessary trust to see if there is an opportunity here that works for both sides. But if there’s a clearer framework for decarbonising bus fleets then perhaps an investable proposition could emerge?

It feels to me that if we are to decarbonise the bus fleet quickly then this will require all the key parties to think bigger and act faster. We have the justification, the kit, the energy and potentially more money than we thought we had. We just need a bigger plan.

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.

UTG member bus leads learnt about Coventry Electric Bus City at the city’s Pool Meadow bus depot

ALEX WARNER

There can be no refuge for bullies

Sir Gavin Williamson stepped down this month amid accusations of bullying behaviour. Do bullies exist in the transport sector?

A week wouldn’t be a week if we didn’t have a member of parliament needing to resign for some kind of unedifying behaviour. Arise, Sir Gavin Williamson who this week fell on his sword after a series of claims, including that he sent abusive messages to a fellow Tory MP and bullied a senior civil servant while he was defence secretary. This isn’t, of course, the first allegation of bullying in the senior echelons of government in recent times, there were claims that then home secretary Pritti Patel indulged in such behaviour and even last week Dominic Raab (nicknamed ‘The Incinerator’ according to media reports), was accused of hurling Pret a Manger tomatoes at civil servants. This is probably worse even than the odious Jacob Rees-Mogg and his pointedly snide notes on desks putting civil servants under pressure to cease working from home and return to the office. Amidst such accusations of bullying, I’ve reflected on the state of play in public transport and whether such a culture exists in our sector. Bullying is an emotive subject, for sure, and the ‘b-word’ has been used increasingly over the years, not necessarily because the issue has increased but, in my view, as a result of greater vigilance, awareness and intolerance. Along with anti-social and prejudiced behaviour, including racism, homophobia, swearing and other distasteful antics, there has thankfully been a greater intent to ‘call it out’ and not accept it, in a way that wouldn’t necessarily have been the case when I started my career 30 years ago. However, there are still varying

interpretations of what constitutes bullying and I confess to coming across transport leaders described by some as ‘bullies’ when I might have perceived their character as ‘demanding’ or ‘challenging’. The Anti-Bullying Alliance’s definition is instructive: “Bullying is the repetitive, intentional hurting of one person or group by another person or group, where the relationship involves an imbalance of power. It can happen face to face or online.”

So, is bullying an issue in transport? For sure, and that’s partly because we are such a huge industry, operating in challenging, ‘real time’ scenarios, where managers are put in pressurised situations and react to these in varying ways, sometimes with maturity and wisdom and quite often with disproportionate emotion and demands. The situation is exacerbated by the failure to provide rounded training for managers, beyond specialist ‘tools for the job’ type activity. In recent years, particularly in the bus sector, difficulty in attracting managers, partly because of a failure to keep up with pay scales in other industries, has meant, in my opinion, that the quality of managers has declined, with more and more

joining ill-equipped and then over-promoted. The inability of transport managers to understand and empathise with the conditions within which their frontline employees work means that sometimes their reaction borders on ‘bullying’. I’ve seen many managers’ patience snap after not understanding why their member of gateline staff doesn’t share the same level of enthusiasm as they do. They can’t comprehend that they view their employment as ‘just a job’ and one that has to be endured and where the tedium of standing at a gate in the freezing cold, getting abused by customers means that they will not unreasonably take shortcuts to make their day bearable, or simply will go off sick.

Bullying among frontline employees is also rife and if you visit any railway station or bus depot, for instance, there will be at least one active grievance at any one time. Senior leaders are often much worse than those further down the chain. I’m fortunate in that I genuinely haven’t felt that I have been bullied by a boss over the years, I’ve experienced more mental fatigue having inept, uninterested and absent line managers, rather than those with ill intent and bullying predications. I did, though at one transport company, report to a managing director, who had a reputation for an amazing temper and at many an executive meeting he would literally reach boiling point. On one occasion he suspended the meeting because I was refusing to acquiesce to his expletive-ridden demand to sack staff who had walked out of their workplace because the central heating had packed up and the temperature sunk below permitted levels. If they were walking out, then so would he and he just got up in the room, told us all to get knotted and slammed the door, leaving us to continue the meeting in his absence. On another occasion, he induced a walk-out of trade union representatives in one of our company council meetings because he lost his temper and then afterwards the two of us, not for the first or last time, were literally screaming and swearing at each other, after he lost his temper with me. Bizarrely, I didn’t view it as bullying because he did it to everyone in the team, so I just put it down to his temperament. If it were to happen now, I’d probably view it differently.

There was one occasion I stood up to a very senior and demanding colleague at a transport company. He scared everyone witless and once tried to force me to do something I

“If you visit any railway station or bus depot, for instance, there will be at least one active grievance”

wasn’t prepared to do. So, I called him a bully and he put the phone down on me. Then one night I was working late and under the cover of darkness, he entered my office, switched the lights off, cornered me against the wall, threatened me and then picked up everything on my desk and tipped it on the floor. He also threatened to break a colleague’s legs and vandalise his car. Things like that wouldn’t happen these days, but they did back then.

Back to the big bosses and bullying can take different guises. We all know over the years of CEOs of big owning groups and organisations who had a formidable reputation and who no one dared mess with. Succession after succession of robust divisional and operating MDs exited their businesses unable to meet the expectations of their demanding gaffers. Accordingly, their entire organisations gained a reputation as being ‘ruthless’ and when they themselves move on, their trademark travels with them. Their management teams then change, trying to ape their leader’s behaviour, thinking it is virtuous. Very soon, a lack of respect towards colleagues, suppliers and customers perniciously infects the whole organisation and common decency breaks down. I’ve seen it happen so often.

The nature of public transport means that many senior leaders manage by metrics, which isn’t unreasonable, but there are so many indicators that relate to the delivery of a good bus or rail service, that a lazy and overly demanding manager can very easily pick holes or ask constant questions for the sake of it, just to give their subordinates the runaround or make it look like ‘knowledge is power’ from their own perspective. I spoke to a TOC MD a few months ago who claimed that their boss would several times a day, go through the daily log and ask all sorts of questions about the minutiae of the operation. My MD mate would spend the whole day finding and delivering the answers only for there never to be any follow-up. The challenge is that in the modern transport world, with a few notable and excellent exceptions in some owning groups, there are too many divisional MDs who are ministers without portfolio and whose job consists of shuffling papers and emails, going through scorecards or logs and asking pointless questions just to justify their existence. Most do not actually get involved in developing and coaching their MDs, but instead manage by

spreadsheets and nothing else.

Bullying can manifest itself in other ways. I hear of countless re-organisations that ensue which are, to an extent, processes that exude passive-aggressive type bullying of senior leaders and others. Very often, experienced professionals with impeccable track records and well respected in the sector, suddenly become defined as underperforming failures when there’s a new broom in charge. They then go through the most faceless and protracted re-organisation structures, are treated coldly, not given the right information and it is very clear that the company is going through the motions just to get to an end result of exiting them from the business. For me, this, in itself is a form of bullying, and so too those sinister and stupid performance appraisal processes whereby the contribution and skills of individuals are defined and stigmatised as ‘under-performing’ or ‘needs improvement’ quite often because HR insist on some kind of neat calibration curve being delivered through ‘forced distribution’basically, this means ‘only so many people can get a certain grade irrespective of their work over the year’. One career highlight for me, in fairly recent times, was a stand-off with one boss when he threatened to downgrade me in my appraisal for ‘poor behaviours in the meeting’ because I was refusing to reduce the scores of my management team just to meet the group HR director’s pathetic curve.

For all of the above reasons, I’m relieved I work for myself, but, as a supplier, I have many bosses. I’m fortunate to work for some fantastic customers, but over the years, I’ve also been, including during the sales cycle, on the receiving end of belittling, demeaning and insufferable behaviour by certain individuals, often lacking integrity and decency. It’s prevalent when, as I do, you deal with recruitment - sourcing and placing candidates and being open to hiring managers trying all sorts of tricks to avoid paying your fee or your candidate the going rate for their work. Or quite often circumventing the process to directly deal with your candidate or even playing you off for months with a competitor without you knowing.

Quite often, bullying comes in the guise of emails and other online activities. In one role, my boss and his assistant used to send snotty emails at weekends, whilst I have had other

leaders who would make you feel worthless just by ignoring your messages. As a salesperson, you can experience such a debilitating feeling when you send well-intentioned, friendly emails, LinkedIn messages, texts or WhatsApps to folk and they just blank you or send the curtest response. A classic was a few years ago when I was briefly heading up the transport headhunting practice for a household name company and I emailed a leading rail industry professional who is now in one of the most senior roles in the sector and asked if he would like to meet for a coffee.

His reply was short and sweet: “no not really”.

The rude individuals in the sector (and they are more prevalent in rail than bus) tend to be those who have always been cossetted and insulated by being in full-time employment, taking a pay cheque and never having to bring home the bacon through winning and delivering work. They forget that suppliers are only human beings trying to earn a living, just like they are. It always makes me laugh when they are so quick to call me looking for my help in finding them a job.

All in all, though, it feels like there are fewer instances of bullying in public transport than yesteryear. For all my chiding of HR departments and their sanitising of the workplace, they have gradually managed to make some of the behaviours of old intolerable and eradicated them. There’s still much work to be done and it still takes a brave HR director to challenge their CEO or MD on their own behaviours. It also needs the industry to stop shrugging shoulders about the bullies we all know exist, stop pandering or condoning or maybe laughing about their behaviour and instead work collectively to ostracise and address such antics. Of course, we return to the age-old problem that it takes guts to deal with bullies and that’s why these individuals are still at a bus depot, railway station or HQ near you. But, as Gavin Williamson’s departure illustrated, no one is untouchable.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alex Warner has over 29 years’ experience in the transport sector, having held senior roles on a multi-modal basis across the sector

“It feels like there are less instances of bullying in public transport than yesteryear”

NICK RICHARDSON

otherwise be approved, regardless of whether they are accessible or not. In effect, the need to build housing takes precedence over access concerns, sustainability criteria or anything else that is enshrined in planning guidance. Car-dependent sites then secure approval, greenfield is swallowed up and public transport access is at best marginal.

Need for housing

Opportunities from planning reform

The planning system is a regular target for anyone opposing development proposals, and is used as a reason for poor development decisions. In reality, it’s much more complicated and it isn’t a fault of the systemalthough it does have flaws - other influences, such as the behaviour of developers and related interests. For transport, this creates uncertainties and inevitably ends up with poorly located developments where access to decent passenger transport services is not achieved. Claiming, as some proponents do, that sites are ‘sustainable’ because they include solar panels and cycle racks is hopelessly misleading. To be sustainable, a site needs to have a range of travel options including decent bus services and, if possible, access to rail stations.

Site selection

Fundamentally, public transport options should be thought about from the beginning, not added as an afterthought. By implication sites with good access typically use previously developed land i.e. brownfield rather than greenfield sites. Unless access arrangements are at the core of the land use planning process, it is inevitable that car dependency is perpetuated for decades to come, simply because other options are infeasible due to location or have not been provided by the developer. The mindset needs to change: any development wouldn’t be built without access to the road network so why should it not be

connected to other transport networks?

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) was intended to simplify the planning process and while it is relatively concise and includes sentiments of the need for sustainable transport, it is at the local planning level where the system is flawed. NPPF sets the overall principles within which Local Plans should function i.e. allocating development to sites in a local planning authority’s area, noting that regional development strategies were abolished some years ago. The trouble is that Local Plans become out of date very quickly and despite efforts to speed up the process, central government requirements mean that it is a protracted process that can be derailed along the way. The consequence is that when a Local Plan is enacted, there is a need to review them once more; as time progresses, the adopted plan becomes less relevant and the draft of the next one becomes more relevant, and more material to the debate in response to planning applications. This creates a window in the process for opportunist developments to fill the void, irrespective of whether or not they are in accordance with the agreed site allocations. This then leads to sites being approved which would not

The process requires engagement with communities and with target housing figures, the emphasis being to build more homes to relieve a chronic housing shortage. Needless to say, local people oppose any development near them but the Local Plan needs to reconcile all the different interests. If it doesn’t, or if the process is not followed and Judicial Reviews pop up, then the Planning Inspectorate can rule that the plan is not ‘sound’ and the planning authority has to go back several steps. Sometimes this means that the whole process needs to be re-started, leaving a big hole where the adopted plan is hopelessly out of date and opportunity sites emerge. These windfall sites are often promoted by landowners working with developers to beat the system. This is disastrous for communities, the credibility of the planning process and sustainable transport. It means that unsuitable sites can be developed and accessible sites are left alone.

Regrettably, there are few examples of great new developments. Some are hailed as groundbreaking, such as Poundbury in Dorset promoted by the Duchy of Cornwall. This was intended to be different by design but is a collection of pastiche architecture and fails to provide the sorts of homes that many people can afford. Generally, the number of ‘could-be-anywhere’ housing sites is alarming - they are unimaginative and have no sense of place. Regarding planning obligations, there is often just a nod to sustainable access such as providing a long footpath to somewhere else, some cycle parking that no one will use because it is in the wrong place and narrow twisty roads and cul-de-sacs that are totally unsuitable for buses. However, they usually have car parking for each property or nearby and include special buildings in which to park cars i.e. garages. All represent lost opportunities, especially where there are ‘cyclist dismount’ signs and remote bus stops on the passing main road.

The

“Public transport options should be thought about from the beginning”

The number of ‘could-beanywhere’ housing sites is alarming

Potential changes

There are two strands which could improve the situation. The first is to fill the holes in the system by reducing the time taken it takes to produce a Local Plan with (arguably) less consultation, a much stronger emphasis on sustainability and good access, flexibility to revise site allocations without revising the policies and an adapted role for the Planning Inspectorate with earlier involvement and a reduced judgemental role. Governments always maintain that local decisions should be taken by local communities and then proceeds to make this as difficult as possible. The second line for improvement should be an emphasis on transport from the start with transport providers and others helping to determine the location and shape of developments. This includes a proactive role for the relevant highway authorities regarding bus access as well as highways and involving public transport providers. Sites above a certain threshold are required to produce a Transport Assessment which is usually predictably archaic in that

there is a lengthy discussion about the effects of car traffic generated by a site then loose reasoning as to why this isn’t a problem. This is followed by a page or two on walking, cycling and public transport before concluding that the site is marvellous and the fact that despite there being no meaningful access for anything other than cars, the development should proceed. This is all back to front and if the content of NPPF is followed, every Transport Assessment would start with an explanation of how bus services can be included, how walking routes are orientated towards transport hubs and how off-road cycle measures will be created. Only then should the debate about traffic impacts be tabled.

For many locations, a wider catchment for transport services should be welcomed. This requires provision rather better than an occasional bus service nearby and should instead incorporate bus access around which other arrangements can be made. This is not fantasy - examples exist including building housing around the Fastrack

busway in North Kent and elsewhere; the principle of Transit-Orientated Development is very commendable and highly desirable. Creating active land uses around transport hubs really shouldn’t be difficult. Add to this the pressing need for new forms of bus service to substitute for those where demand has declined then there is a winning formula. Individuals and communities would benefit hugely and there is a chance to break away from the dull car-dependent places that have been foisted on us. The system needs to be revised but changing mindsets is just as important.

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.

GRUMBLES

Whatever happens, it won’t be pretty

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

Sometimes I wonder about the logic of some of our actions. I was having a drink the other evening with a good friend who works in a senior position in the rail industry and asked me what I thought passengers wanted and expected from their rail services. “That’s simple,” I said, “all they want is punctuality, reliability and cheap fares”. I was told my answer was spot on - which is hardly surprising - but it seems that earlier this year this department commissioned a research company at a cost of £85,000 to undertake a survey to find out what passengers’ expectations were of their rail services. Oddly, this survey found that what passengers wanted was punctuality, reliability and, er, cheap fares.

To my surprise, apparently it’s been decided to commission a second survey of passenger expectations, again costing £85,000. Why? I would have thought it is obvious what passengers’ expectations are of their rail services so why we need to blow £170,000 to commission surveys on the issue is rather beyond me, especially at a time when we should be looking to save every penny we can.

As I write, we are days away from the next fiscal statement, to be held on November 17. I think we can take it that this will be an altogether different statement compared to Kwasi Kwarteng’s “mini-budget” a few weeks ago. When you read this, the full gory details of the statement will be known, even if the broad thrust is already clear. The extent of the wicket rolling that has been undertaken these

past few weeks to soften up the public is surely a clear indication that the statement is going to make for pretty grim reading. The hope must surely be that we will all be so reconciled to the tax rises and spending cuts to come that there will simply be a collective shrug of the shoulders after Jeremy Hunt has delivered the bad news. The No 10 and Treasury spin doctors have been hard at work!

I’m not privy to where the spending cuts that might be imposed on this department will fall, but I would be surprised if any area escapes scot-free. Of course, all eyes will be on

what happens to HS2, and with Rishi Sunak back-tracking on Liz Truss’s commitment to building Northern Powerhouse Rail in full, it does feel as if the future of Phase 2 to Manchester and to East Midlands Parkway is hanging in the balance. With the Office of Rail and Road announcing that publication of the next High Level Output Specification (HLOS) and Statement of Funds Available (SoFA) for Control Period 7 is delayed until Januarywhich is logical enough as the impact of the fiscal statement must surely be assessed before the SoFA can be finalised - we won’t know how the railways will fare in all of this, but if Control Period 7 is as generous as the last two control periods I will happily eat my hat!

Which leaves us with buses and roads. I’m going to hazard a guess that the roads programme may suffer a pretty big hit and that many projects will face the axe. We are only a couple of years or so away from the start of the third Road Investment Strategy (which will cover the five years from 2025 to 2030) and I suspect that this will be rather less ambitious than the current investment strategy. For buses, I suspect that political necessity will kick in and that a further tranche of funding will be forthcoming to avoid the massive service cuts that will otherwise be made. Perhaps the Treasury won’t give us all the funding that’s needed but something will be better than nothing.

But the issue here is that we surely need to move to a longer-term funding plan as the short-term rescue packages we’ve seen over the course of the last couple of years do nothing to build any kind of stability into the market. If rail and road can have five-year funding settlements, why can’t buses? Of course, although Baroness Vere remains with us, she has given up the buses brief, with this particular poisoned chalice falling to Richard Holden, and Huw Merriman picking up the rail brief, including HS2. I’m so looking forward to Huw appearing before the Transport Select Committee to explain away the delays to the implementation of our rail reforms!

Whatever the outcome of the fiscal statement, it’s not going to be pretty. With the combined double whammy of the impact of inflation already eroding budgets anyway, plus the imposition of actual cuts, it’s hard to see how this government can avoid being accused of introducing another period of austerity.

“I would be surprised if any area escapes scot-free” GREAT MINSTER

Stagecoach wins ‘Gold’ for ‘earn and learn’

Over 1,400 group employees are in ‘earn and learn’ positions

TRAINING

Stagecoach has been awarded Gold Membership with the 5% Club. The honour recognises that 5% of the group’s employees are in ‘earn and learn’ positions and it is now one of only 107 employers across the country who meet the tough Gold Standard.

It represents a significant upgrade for the Perth-based group after it was awarded Silver Membership in 2021.

The 5% Club is a UK-wide charity that aims to contribute to the alleviation of poverty through increased employment. It works with employers to inspire, educate and retain a growing body of people into ‘earn and learn’

GRADUATE INSPIRATION

TRAINING

Glenn De Sousa progressed from graduate trainee to manager within a year - after getting onboard Oxford Bus Company’s graduate training scheme.

After completing the training scheme, which included passing his bus driving test and driving in service, he became head of commercial and planning for Oxford Bus Company and its sister companies, Thames Travel and Carousel Buses. Now De Sousa is encouraging other graduates to consider embarking on a career in the bus industry.

placements to increase the number of apprenticeships, sponsored students and graduate trainees.

A total of 1,464 Stagecoach employees are currently in ‘earn and learn’ positions, with the majority carrying out apprenticeships, from its total UK workforce of 24,000 employees.

“We are delighted to have been awarded Gold Membership with the 5% club,” said Tracey Smyth, Stagecoach’s head of people services and talent. “This shows our commitment by progressing year-on-year from Silver to Gold

by developing our people when they join us and helping us attract the best people from our local communities.

“‘Earn and Learn’ positions bring huge value to our business in terms of talent and diversity and Stagecoach has for many years been at the forefront of championing apprenticeships in our workplace. Not only is it important for developing a healthy talent pipeline, but we also find it’s a great way of being able to engage with our local communities and make sure that our workforce represents the people we serve.”

Smyth said the group had added an inclusion and culture business partner into its team in a bid to hone in on the benefits that diverse and inclusive teams can bring.

PEOPLE LONDON TRAVELWATCH

Passenger watchdog London TravelWatch has announced the appointment of Michael Roberts as the organisation’s new chief executive. Roberts (pictured) is a previous director general of the Rail Delivery Group and chief Executive at the Association of Train Operating Companies. He also represented the interests of business transport users as a director at the CBI. His was latterly chief executive of Water UK and he is a former board member of The Carbon Trust.

TRANSPORT FOR THE NORTH Transport for the North has announced the appointment of Katie Day as strategy, policy and communications director.

“I would recommend the bus industry to all graduates who want to launch their career,” he said. “We’re at the forefront of the communities we serve, not just at Oxford Bus Company but across the industry. There is a huge social and environmental value to what we do.

“It is an exciting time to be part of this industry and there is huge scope for development on a personal level. The graduate and internal progression schemes which exist at Oxford Bus Company offer fantastic opportunities for talented young individuals to join the business and develop their careers.”

Developing a career in the bus industry was De Sousa’s ambition since he was a teenager. He initially followed this passion by studying transport management at Aston

University. He completed a year-long Year in Industry placement at Oxford Bus Company during his studies and joined its graduate training scheme after he graduated in 2021.

“The placement gave me a great foundation to learn about the business and about the wider industry,” he added.

Day (pictured) has over 20 years of working in public bodies and central government, including the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Department of Energy and Climate Change. She joins TfN from the Office for Nuclear Regulation, where she is the Director of Policy and Communications.

TRANSPORT FOR THE NORTH Transport for the North has announced the appointment of Paul Kelly as finance director. Kelly (pictured), who is the interim finance director at TfN, was latterly head of financial and commercial for Metrolink at Transport for Greater Manchester.

De Sousa highlights graduate scheme

Glenn De Sousa

“‘Earn and Learn’ positions bring huge value to our business”

Group Leader (Public Transport)

Contract: Permanent Hours- 37 hours per week

Salary: NJC H3 £40,578.00- £44,624.00 per annum

Closing Date: Monday 21st November 2022, 5pm

Blackpool’s regeneration is in full swing, with new development underway in the town centre, which will be supported by the public transport network, including a state of the art tramway. Sustainable public transport is at the heart of bringing forward these major projects. Blackpool Council’s joint bid with Blackpool Transport to the Government’s ZEBRA programme was successful and you will be involved in delivering this project.

In an exciting role, you will lead on all aspects of Blackpool’s input to the National Bus Strategy,including the Enhanced Partnership and updates to the Bus Service Improvement Plan. You will look to maximise the opportunities arising across all public transport modes and seek additional funding for public transport investment.

If you are looking for a fresh challenge and want a unique opportunity to broaden your experience and help shape the future of public transport in the nation’s favourite seaside destination, please apply.

Benefts of working for Blackpool Council include: Enrolment into the Local Government Pension Scheme (optional); fexible working; enhanced parental leave schemes; statutory sick pay scheme and health support; generous annual leave entitlement and special leave provisions.

If you would like to discuss this role informally, please contact Jeremy Walker, Transport Policy Manager, on 01253 476172.

To view the Job Description and to apply please visit www.greater.jobs

A Rhaetian Railway record breaker!

Switzerland’s famous Rhaetian Railway hit the headlines at the end of October by claiming the title of operating the longest passenger train to ever operate in the world. It took eight months to plan and prepare for the event on the metre-gauge railway, which saw the train - which was comprised of 25 four-car Stadler Capricorn EMUs and weighing in at 2,990 tonnes in total, take an hour to complete its run over the famous Unesco World Heritage Albula Line through the Albula Valley in eastern Switzerland.

The record-breaking run was held both to mark the 175th anniversary of the first domestic railway opening in Switzerland and to celebrate the engineering achievements and scenic delights of the World Heritage route.

“After intensive preparation, we are overjoyed to have achieved this world record,” said Rhaetian Railway director Renato Fasciati, after the record was confirmed by Guinness World Records.

“Not only did we have a wonderful railway festival, but we were able to present ourselves around the world as a fascinating and innovative mountain railway.”

STAGECOACH’S (BUS) YARD SALE

In a surprising move, Stagecoach recently announced it was selling a large number of vehicles from its heritage fleet. Advertised as a one-of-a-kind sale, the group put a number of old buses on the block - and they included some very rare and special vehicles.

The rarest was probably Leyland Titan TD1 UF4813. It was new in 1929 to Southdown Motor Services and has remained with the same company and its corporate successors ever since. Until now it seems, sadly.

Also up for grabs was F110NES, the once famous Stagecoach ‘Megadekka’ tri-axle double decker, which caused a stir as Britain’s biggest bus in the late 1980s. It has now apparently been withdrawn from the sale after Stagecoach co-founder Sir Brian Souter entered into an agreement to buy it from the Perth-based group. Rumours are it will have a secure future as a meber of Souter’s private bus collection, which is housed at the Scottish Vintage Bus Museum.

Stagecoach’s decision has caused a stir - as some in the industry have noted, isn’t it important to remember where we’ve come from in order to plot our progress into the future?

FREE FARES, FOR VOTES!

In case you missed it, it was the midterm elections in the United States last week and there were all sorts of initiatives to get people out to use their democratic right and vote.

In central Ohio, transit agency COTA announced it would waive all fares on polling day, November 8. Taking to Twitter it said the move would “make it easy for everyone to exercise their right to vote for the midterm elections. Tag us when you get your ‘I Voted’ sticker”. Urban Transport Director Jonathan Bray noted: “Interesting - first time I’ve seen a free fares for democracy initiative!”

SEEN SOMETHING QUIRKY?

Famous Swiss railway has world’s longest train

Round and round it goes; where it ends nobody knows!