Passenger Transport: March 24, 2023

FO EV RT ER NI Y GH T

ISSUE 285 24 MARCH 2023

NEWS, VIEWS AND ANALYSIS FOR A SECTOR ON THE MOVE NEWS

Uneven rail and bus policies defended

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Welsh Government defends disparity

ENVIRONMENT

Coach sector joins forces to reach net zero

Richard Holden announced the Bus Centre of Excellence and additional ZEBRA funding during a visit to Leicester

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‘Simple and valuefor-money solutions’

Centre of Excellence to on-track boost bus sector skills LNER for continued COMMENT

The UK Government has launched a Bus Centre of Excellence, aimed at improving local authorities’ ability to deliver better bus services A new initiative to upskill, recruit and retain a new generation of bus professionals, alongside support to help the bus sector get stronger, was announced by roads minister Richard Holden this week.

Backed by £815,000 of government investment, the new ‘Bus Centre of Excellence’ will bring together expertise from local government, bus operators and industry to boost skills and diversity in the bus sector.

Holden commented: “The new Bus Centre of Excellence will help drive the country’s bus sector recovery and help provide passengers with cleaner, more affordable buses that run on time.”

As pledged in the government’s

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National Bus Strategy for England, the new BCofE will give life to a new generation of bus professionals to drive forward more reliable, affordable and cleaner bus services. Hosted by the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation, it will provide training opportunities and direct access to resources and industry

“The new Bus Centre of Excellence will help drive the country’s bus sector recovery” Richard Holden

experts, as well as networking events to uplift the capacity and capability of the whole sector, working to encourage people to get back on the bus. Bus expert Leon Daniels, the former managing director of surface transport at Transport for London, will chair BCoE’s advisory board.

The focus of the centre’s training plans will include public transport service planning and network design, performance oversight, contract procurement and competitive tendering, design and development of bus priority measures, and wider traffic management measures to improve local bus performance.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

growth

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David Horne on recovery and beyond

COMMENT

A car-free future for attractions

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Jonathan Bray backs Good Journey’s goal

INNOVATION IN RAIL

The route to rail success

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Arriva’s David Brown on reforming rail

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CONTENTS

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

Centre of Excellence is vital part of bus strategy It has now been two years ago since the National Bus Strategy for England pledged to establish a Bus Centre of Excellence, enabling a long-term programme of support. This is a vital component of the enticing vision set out in the strategy, because in Robert Jack too many cases there is nobody on the ground able Managing Editor to deliver it. It’s going to take time to build up that skills base again and the BCoE is a welcome step towards that.

Successive rounds of budget cuts by local authorities have seen local transport authorities lose a lot of people who understood buses and what can be done to improve them. A generation of skilled council officers has retired and there are far too few younger managers ready to step up and replace them. The situation is often mirrored at local bus companies, where local management teams have been stripped down to the minimum required to function. Some local authorities and bus operators have skilled and motivated teams in place and were able to work together to produce compelling Bus Service Improvement Plans, others were not and clearly need some help.

The Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation is the ideal host for BCoE and Leon Daniels is the ideal chair for the advisory board. In his former role as managing director of surface transport at Transport for London, Daniels worked hard with bus operators and local authorities to get buses moving. He and his colleagues must now identify the skills required and deliver them.

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IN THIS ISSUE 30

MORGAN TAKES THE REINS AT TRENTBARTON

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SHOULD TRANSPORT CONTROL ITS LINEKERS?

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CAN WE MAKE A MORE EFFECTIVE STRATEGY?

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SOFTENING US UP FOR EVEN MORE HS2 CUTS?

Trentbarton commercial director Tom Morgan has stepped up to his new role as managing director for all of Trentbarton’s parent company Wellglade’s bus operations. The move follows the retirement of Jeff Counsell last month.

ORGANISATION

PAGE

Adventure Travel 5 Alexander Dennis 9 Arriva Midlands 9 Arriva North East 9 Arriva Southern Counties 9 Avanti West Coast 6, 7 Belle Vue 9 Campaign for Better Transport 5 Edinburgh Trams 8 FirstGroup 7, 9 FlixBus 9 Genesee & Wyoming 6 Go-Ahead Group 9 Great British Railways 7 Greater Anglia 6 Hull Trains 7 LNER 6 McGill’s 8 National Express West Midlands 9, 11 Network Rail 6 Nexus 11 NIBS Buses 9 Northern Rail 6, 7 Office of Rail and Road 7 Rail Delivery Group 6 RMT 6 ScotRail 7 South Western Railway 6, 7 Stadler 11 Stephensons of Essex 9 Thurrock Council 9 Transdev Blazefield 9 TransPennine Express 7 Transport for London 1, 5 Transport for Wales 4-5 Transport for West Midlands 10 Unite 11 Volvo Buses 11

Gary Lineker has aired some personal views on social media - but should transport employees do the same? “It’s a balancing act between employees respecting their employers but not being limited to a corporate sales pitch,” says Alex Warner.

Improvements to England’s National Bus Strategy are going to be needed if it is to ever achieve the goal of attracting more passengers, says Nick Richardson. “Society has changed and keeps changing so the bus offer must change with it,” he adds.

Great Minster Grumbles: Our Whitehall insider imagines what’s going on inside the minds of the mandarins at Great Minster House, home of the DfT. Is the decision to delay the opening of the Euston terminus of HS2 a strategy to prepare us for more cuts?

REGULARS NEWS ENVIRONMENT INNOVATION & TECH COMMENT GRUMBLES CAREERS DIVERSIONS

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NEWS ROUND-UP

Uneven rail and bus policies defended Welsh Government minister says ‘bus is absolutely where our priority should be’ but warns against raiding the rail budget to fund improvements FUNDING

The Welsh Government has defended its contrasting rail and bus policies, which include implementing its 2018 rail enhancement plans while bus services face further funding challenges and network changes.

Since the start of the pandemic, bus operators across Great Britain have faced periods of uncertainty over emergency funding while governments have provided sustained additional funding for train operators. This has enabled the rail sector to plan for the relatively long term, for example in recruiting and training staff.

The contrast is particularly noticeable in Wales, where the Welsh Government has awarded only a three-month extension to its Bus Emergency Scheme “while we continue to work

together on planning bus networks which better suit the new travel patterns we have seen since the end of the pandemic”.

Welsh bus operators can point to many changes to networks and services since the pandemic, including complete withdrawal last month of the T19 Blaenau Ffestiniog to Llandudno bus service.

Despite also being affected by changes in travel patterns, TfW Rail had reinstated all of its prepandemic services by May 2022.

From October to December 2022, TfW Rail planned to operate

“I don’t think there’s a good argument to just keep putting more and more money into a system that is inefficient” Lee Waters, deputy climate change minister

NEW TRAIN SERVICE GETS FUNDING While the Welsh Government argues that the bus system is inefficient, it is funding this new hourly service between Crosskeys and Newport which requires two crew members and a 41-tonne train, although a taxi would accommodate typical intra-peak passenger loadings.

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8.2% more services than in the same quarter of 2021 - the largest increase of any train operator except the Elizabeth Line.

During the pandemic, the government committed to introducing all of the frequency enhancements and new services contained in the 2018 Wales & Borders rail franchise agreement, mostly with deferred launch dates. The £1bn Core Valley Lines modernisation will deliver a doubling or quadrupling of service frequency on some lines, based on a blueprint drawn up long before the pandemic.

Deputy climate change minister Lee Waters was asked about the differential treatment of rail and bus when he appeared before a Senedd committee this month.

Plaid Cymru MS Delyth Jewell said: “Roughly 75% of all public transport journeys in Wales at the moment are made by bus and just looking at the disparity of the money that’s going in - I think that TfW’s business plan for 2022-23 shows £266m revenue funding allocated to support the running of the all-Wales TfW rail franchise - and the difference in passenger numbers in terms of all the journeys, do you think that that breakdown is a fair one?”

Waters accepted that “from a climate change and a modal shift point of view, bus has a far greater potential to achieve modal shift than train does” and that “bus deals with a great social inequity in a way the train does less well”.

He continued: “Bus is absolutely where our priority should be. The bus system is a privatised system.

So we have got to a position where the market has declined and the buses are no longer commercial.

“Because the farebox has declined post-Covid, they can

BUS SERVICE IS WITHDRAWN Withdrawal of the T19 service last month is one of many changes Welsh bus operators have made in response to new travel patterns after the pandemic. www.passengertransport.co.uk

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“Passenger numbers have not recovered, the farebox has not recovered” only run with public subsidy but that subsidy is going into an inefficient bus system. That’s why we are creating the bus Bill, to create a planned and strategic bus system so there isn’t leakage out.

“So, for example, under the new [bus] franchise, we would want to be able to cross-subsidise a profitable urban service with a less profitable rural service. Now, you can’t do that at the moment, so we’re having to double-fund, in a sense. I don’t think there’s a good argument to just keep putting more and more money into a system that is inefficient.”

Waters said rail systems were really expensive. “Somebody was making the point the other day that in some services it would be cheaper to buy somebody a car than to run the rail. A single service can cost £30,000, for example, to run one carriage down and back a railway, when you’re sometimes carrying six passengers.

“So we do have a very expensive piece of infrastructure running, which politicians are very attracted to having more of.

Everybody wants a railway service and station in their area.”

He said that having taken ownership “we have to support it”. TfW Rail is the government’s operator of last resort.

“Were we just to stop running services tomorrow, we would save very little money because of all the fixed and sunken costs. So, we do have a dilemma of where we do want to improve, particularly the North and South-east Wales metros, because we’re committed to doing that, and the work is under way. A huge investment on this £1bn project has already been committed, and we can’t pull back from that.”

He also said: “Just as with bus, with rail the farebox has been suppressed because passengers www.passengertransport.co.uk

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haven’t returned, so we’re having to increase the amount of subsidy to run the existing services, and we are investing in upgrades. So, there is a very difficult push-pull.

Now, I understand the point the bus industry are making in their lobbying, ‘You should be giving all the money to us and not giving it to rail,’ but it’s not quite as simple as that.”

Jewell also asked Waters why the Welsh Government had allocated £28m in its draft budget for bus emergency funding but

withdrawn that four weeks later.

Waters said: “Passenger numbers have not recovered, the farebox has not recovered, and unless we continue to subsidise to the levels that we can, we’re going to have to see service changes.

We cannot continue to subsidise to the level we have been because of wider budget pressures.

So, we need to figure out how we can get a smooth glide path out that keeps a core bus network in place but does it in a way that we can afford.”

High subsidy coach service rescued T1C links Aberystwyth and Cardiff with daily return FUNDING

The Welsh Government is using scarce transport funding to rescue a high subsidy coach service when its current operator surrenders the contract next week.

The TrawsCymru T1C, funded by the government, operates a daily return journey between Aberystwyth and Cardiff, where the vehicle has a layover of almost four hours. In 2019 the T1C’s subsidy per passenger journey was more than £15.

The service was suspended in the first pandemic lockdown.

In September 2021 its subsidy per passenger journey was £16.88, with loadings averaging about 13.5 passengers per vehicle journey.

Adventure Travel has given notice it will withdraw from the contract at the end of this month, but a Welsh Government spokesman said: “We are working with Ceredigion County Council to secure an alternative operator, so

that there is no break in service.”

One of the criteria for TrawsCymru services is that they should not duplicate existing public transport services, but the T1C duplicates trains for Aberystwyth-Cardiff and Carmarthen-Cardiff journeys and relatively frequent TrawsCymru bus services between Aberystwyth, Aberaeron and Carmarthen.

Asked why it was prioritising funding for a service which duplicated other subsidised public transport, the spokesman said: “The T1C coach service is an important and established part of the TrawsCymru strategic bus network in Wales and remains a popular choice for people wishing to travel between Aberystwyth and Cardiff and stops in between.

“We continuously review the operational performance of the T1C along with the all other TrawsCymru routes on the network to ensure services continue to meet passenger needs and remain financially sustainable.”

BUS CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE

Continued from Page 1 Activities will include a soon to be launched digital hub containing best practice, news, events and more. There will also be a training programme themed around ‘Developing Generation Bus’.

CIHT, which represents over 14,000 people who work in the highways and transportation sector, will provide the secretariat and additional support for the centre. CIHT president Neil Johnstone commented: “CIHT has a proven track record of delivering high quality continuing professional development for those working in the transportation sector ...

This partnership (alongside other government initiatives) will see CIHT help to bring together a wide range of professional skills and knowledge from both the public and private sector to facilitate change to local infrastructure, service delivery and the sector across the country - with the ultimate aim of improving bus services.”

Paul Tuohy, chief executive of Campaign for Better Transport, said: “We are pleased to see the Bus Centre of Excellence we helped to shape through our research is finally being launched two years after the government published its national strategy for buses.

“The centre will hopefully address the gap we helped identify between those local authorities that were already well-placed to deliver better bus services, and those with less resources and expertise. We now look forward to finding out more about how organisations like ours can work with the government to make the centre a success.”

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NEWS ROUND-UP

RMT accepts improved Network Rail offer 20,000 members accept new pay deal, ending dispute INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

The RMT union announced this week that its 20,000 members at Network Rail have accepted a new and improved offer from the infrastructure controller, ending the longrunning dispute between the two parties. The vote was carried by a margin of three to one, with 76% of RMT members in favour of the offer.

The new offer includes an uplift on salaries ranging from 14.4% for the lowest paid grades to 9.2% for the highest paid, as well as a total uplift on basic earnings between 15.2% and 10.3%. The deal also includes increased backpay, a renewal of the no-compulsoryredundancy agreement until January 2025, and discounted rail travel benefits.

Network Rail has also said it will

withdraw their previous insistence the offer was conditional on RMT accepting the company ‘modernising maintenance’ agenda, which the union has said it will continue to scrutinise and challenge on safety grounds.

According to RMT general secretary Mick Lynch, the new offer represents a significant victory for the union and its members: “When the union first declared the dispute with Network Rail a year ago in the Spring of 2022, RMT was told that Network Rail workers would only get two per cent to three per cent. However, strike action and the inspiring solidarity and determination of members has secured new money and a new offer which has been clearly

“I’m grateful for everyone who worked so hard... to find a way through this dispute” Andrew Haines, Network Rail

Shoveller quits NR for rail freight role Chief negotiator joins Genesee & Wyoming Network Rail’s chief negotiator Tim Shoveller has been announced as the new CEO of Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (G&W) European division, which includes UK rail freight operator Freightliner.

Shoveller, who has been with Network Rail for nearly four years, will join G&W in July. He has over 30 years of experience

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accepted by our members and that dispute is now over.”

Network Rail chief executive Andrew Haines also expressed his satisfaction with the outcome: “I’m pleased that RMT members were able to vote on this offer and the overwhelming vote in favour is good news for our people, our passengers and our country. I’m grateful for everyone who worked so hard at Network Rail and in the RMT to find a way through this dispute. My team and I will now focus all our efforts on rebuilding our railway so we can provide a better service for our passengers and freight customers.”

Despite the resolution of the dispute with Network Rail, the RMT has called for further strikes at 14 train operating companies

in the UK rail industry, having held various senior positions at a number of UK rail operators.

The appointment comes as G&W aims to expand its operations in Europe, having recently acquired container logistics company Pentalver Transport and currently operating rail freight services in several European countries.

Shoveller said he was “thrilled” to be joining G&W. He continued: “My priority is to lead the team to optimise the core business for our customers and to drive growth in new markets in the UK and Europe.

I look forward to building on the impressive work that is already underway and fostering innovations that extend our industry leadership.”

Interim CEO Becky Lumlock will continue to lead G&W’s European operations until Shoveller’s arrival.

for March 30 and April 1. Strike action took place last week as part of this seperate dispute.

Operators affected included Avanti West Coast, LNER, South Western Railway, Greater Anglia, and Northern Rail. The union has also highlighted large pay rises awarded to senior managers working for some operators.

According to Lynch, the ongoing dispute with these operators highlights the continuing need for improved pay and conditions in the sector: “Our members’ recent highly effective strike action across the 14 train companies has shown their determination to secure a better deal. If the government now allows the train companies to make the right offer, we can then put that to our members but until then the strike action scheduled for March 30 and April 1 will take place. The ball is in the government’s court.”

Although transport secretary Mark Harper this week welcomed the deal at Network Rail, he called for the train operator dispute to be resolved as a priority.

“I am pleased Network Rail’s RMT members have voted to accept a fair and reasonable 5% plus 4% pay offer over two years that the government worked hard to facilitate,” he said.

“While this is good news, unfortunately, RMT members who work for train operating companies are not being given the same chance to bring their dispute to an end. That’s because the RMT has refused to put the Rail Delivery Group’s very similar offer to a vote, denying these members the pay rise they deserve. I am once again urging the RMT to call off their upcoming strikes across train operating companies, put the Rail Delivery Group offer to a vote, and give all of their members a say.” www.passengertransport.co.uk

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“Andy Mellors brings with him a wealth of experience gained over many years in the industry”

New MD for Avanti as contract extended Andy Mellors takes over from First rail boss Steve Montgomery PEOPLE

FirstGroup has announced the appointment of Andy Mellors as the new managing director of Avanti West Coast. He succeeds Steve Montgomery, First Rail managing director, who has been acting in the role since September 2022 following the departure of Phil Whittingham (PT272).

Mellors, who joined British Rail as an engineering management trainee in 1988, has a wealth of experience in the industry, having served as managing director for South Western Railway and, most recently, as managing director, non-franchised businesses for First Rail.

Insiders suggest he is a good fit for the Avanti West Coast role and his track record in overseeing the successful post-pandemic recovery of Hull Trains and the

expansion of First’s rail customer contact operations is a testament to his ability to deliver for passengers.

Mellors’ appointment comes at a crucial time for Avanti West Coast, which has faced performance issues in recent years. However, Montgomery said that problems had been receeding rapidly in recent months.

“Andy Mellors brings with him a wealth of experience gained over many years in the industry and has worked hard to improve services

Mellors is third MD in six months

for customers at Avanti since he began supporting the team from last summer,” he said.

“Performance at Avanti is steadily improving and the number of services we run has significantly increased since the new timetable was introduced in December, with more seats and better frequencies.

“Andy is well-placed to take on the role of managing director and lead the business through the next period, which will include further progress on our train upgrade and refurbishment programme.”

In the third quarter of 2022-23, Avanti West Coast recorded a Public Performance Measure (PPM) score of 80.1%, up from 75.7% in the same period the previous year. Since the introduction of the new timetable in mid-December, the number of services operated has also increased by more than 40% compared to last summer, with

more seats and better frequencies on most Avanti routes.

Last month the Office of Rail and Road also welcomed improvements made by the operator as part of its timetable recovery plan (PT283). The regulator said Avanti had demonstrated a pathway to recovery, and passenger communication, particularly around when Advance tickets would be released, had improved.

Meanwhile, FirstGroup announced this week that it has extended the West Coast Partnership contract with the Department for Transport from the end of the current agreement on March 31 until October 15.

The agreement includes the operation of Avanti West Coast and acting as a shadow operator to the HS2 programme. Discussions about the longer-term National Rail Contract for WCP are ongoing with the DfT. FirstGroup chief executive Graham Sutherland welcomed the news. “[This] agreement allows our team to continue their focus on delivering their robust plans to continue enhancing services for our customers.”

TPE fully pre-cancelling 1,093 be addressed as a matter of urgency, DERBY NAMES AS SHORTAGES TRIPLE with and part pre-cancelling 532 trains for and strike action should not be a CANCELLATIONS HOME FOR GBR this reason. distraction.

TPE sees major increase in pre-cancellations PERFORMANCE

Statistics released by the Office of Rail and Road reveal that almost a quarter of TransPennine Express services were cancelled between February 5 and March 4, due to a shortage of available train crew.

When adjusted to include precancellations, known as P*-coded cancellations in the rail industry, the cancellation score worsened from 7.2% to 23.8% for the given period, www.passengertransport.co.uk

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The regulator has urged the rail industry to introduce a more passenger-friendly and transparent way of working when making late changes to services, while also changing how pre-cancellations are recorded.

Feras Alshaker, ORR director of planning and performance, stated that the publication of pre-cancellation data will continue until the regulator is satisfied that official statistics reflect the actual experiences of passengers. He also emphasised that this issue needs to

Of the 24 train operators in Britain, eight reported pre-cancellations due to resource availability shortages.

Northern Rail and ScotRail had the highest number of full precancellations at 380 and 159, respectively, while Transport for Wales Rail recorded 98 full and 159 part pre-cancellations due to a lack of available trains.

With the inclusion of P*-coded pre-cancellations, the national cancellations score increased by 0.4 percentage points in the latest period to 3.3%.

City wins race to become ‘guiding hand’s’ head office CORPORATE

Derby has been named as the headquarters of Great British Railways. The city fought off competition from Birmingham, Crewe, Doncaster, Newcastle and York following an assessment process and the public vote. Transport links and established connections played a key role in Derby’s bid.

GBR’s Transition Team will now work with Derby to identify the site for the HQ within the city.

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NEWS ROUND-UP

Young Scots make over 50 million free bus trips 63.5% of the eligible population are now card-holders CONCESSIONARY TRAVEL

The number of free bus trips made by young people in Scotland passed the 50 million mark last week. However, opposition MSPs say that many young people have limited opportunities to use free bus passes because there is not enough funding to sustain bus services outside urban areas.

“Yesterday we managed to hit the 50 million target for the number of journeys that have been taken through the under-22s scheme,” transport minister Jenny Gilruth said in Holyrood on March 14.

She also revealed that at the end of February, there were more than 590,000 card-holders in the young persons’ scheme, which equates to 63.5% of the eligible population.

TRAMS RETURN TO LEITH WALK Testing of new line begins as completion nears PROJECTS

Edinburgh’s Leith Walk witnessed its first tram movement in more than 65 years last week, as testing of the newly constructed tramway extension from the city centre to Newhaven commenced. The city council is still not committing to an opening date for the 4.7km route but says the project remains on course for completion “by spring 2023” and within its £207.3m budget.

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“That means that approximately 340,000 children and young people have not yet joined the scheme. However, uptake of the scheme is as high as 73% among 12 to 15-year-olds and 75% among 16 to 21-year-olds - who can use it more independently. Those who are already accessing the scheme continue to make good use of free bus travel.”

Liberal Democrat MSP Beatrice Wishart, representing Shetland, said many of Scotland’s rural areas

Free bus travel for young people has been publicised on the backs of buses

Lothian Buses services. The trams travelled at walking pace over short sections of the route, starting at Picardy Place. This initial phase will be followed by trams travelling faster and more frequently, and to a timetable.

The commencement of test runs followed a programme of driver training, including using a simulator.

Scott Arthur, the city’s transport and environment convenor, said the first test run was a huge milestone.

“We’re fast approaching the start of passenger services this spring, and that the project is set to be delivered on time and within budget, despite the challenges of recent years, is testament to the hard work of all those involved.

“Bringing the tram to Newhaven

lacked reliable and frequent bus services for young people to use.

She asked why the marketing campaign for free travel had not been more effective, to which Gilruth responded by reminding her that the campaign was delayed because the launch in January 2022 coincided with travel restrictions for the omicron Covid variant.

She admitted there had been challenges with processing applications in early 2022 but said she had worked with the Improvement Service to make it easier for young people to apply.

“Actually, the [marketing] campaign was really effective,” said Gilruth. “It managed to reach more than 97% of the adult population in Scotland who saw or heard the campaign at least three times - and more than 94% of 13 to 18-year-olds.

The campaign also had a positive impact on action: 79% of people

will be transformative for the area, and the wider city. As well as boosting the economy and providing sustainable, high-capacity public transport to this densely populated part of Edinburgh, the project has significantly improved the entire route, with new cycle links, spaces to relax and spend time and newly planted trees and shrubs.

“As we enter the final phase of the project, testing and commissioning will make sure the line and infrastructure works safely and efficiently, while also confirming service capacity. Of course, this is the first time there will be trams on Leith Walk and in Leith in recent years, so I would urge people to take extra care when in the area.”

who had seen or heard the campaign claimed that they had taken action as a result.”

Conservative MSP Megan Gallacher, representing Central Scotland, said local authorities had cut bus subsidies because of the Scottish Government’s “woeful local government settlement”.

“The fact of the matter is that, outside the major cities, public transport is unreliable and infrequent, particularly across the central region. Will the minister explain how the policy can be deemed a success, given the lack of bus services for our young people to enjoy?”

Gilruth responded that Scotland had “the most generous concessionary fares scheme in the United Kingdom, with more than two million people eligible for free bus travel”. This encouraged people to move away from taking the car, which was hugely important in relation to reaching net zero targets. “Additionally, we have been able to award more than £25m of funding in relation to the bus partnership fund.”

MCGILL’S CUTS IN RENFREWSHIRE

‘It now costs 25% more to keep buses on the road’ NETWORKS

McGill’s has announced cuts to a number of services in Renfrewshire as a result of rising costs and the cessation of emergency bus funding by the Scottish Government from March 31.

Company chief executive Ralph Roberts told local media that although patronage on the network was now between 80 and 90% of what it was in 2019, soaring inflation meant that it now cost appoximately 25% more to keep buses on the road and economies had to be made. www.passengertransport.co.uk

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“It makes something of a mockery of ‘Bus Back Better’ and other government messaging”

Thurrock becomes latest to axe bus budget Subsidised network scrapped as ‘buses not a statutory service’ NETWORKS

Thurrock Council in Essex has joined a growing number of English councils in withdrawing financial support for its subsidised bus network.

The council had supported the small network since 2019, but patronage has suffered due to the Covid-19 pandemic, resulting in a 27% decrease in passenger numbers compared to 2019. The majority of passengers using the services are concessionary pass holders, with only a third paying cash fares.

Contracts for the three routes, operated by NIBS Buses and Stephensons of Essex, expired in March 2022 but were given a

12-month extension due to what the council describes as market uncertainty.

Navtej Tung, the council’s strategic transport manager, told council cabinet members last week that the network costs £452,000 per year, with an additional liability of £14,611.25 projected for this year. Extending the services for a further year would increase costs by 8%-16%, putting pressure on the council’s budget for 2023/24 to the tune of between £150,000-£200,000.

Ben Maney, Thurrock’s cabinet member for transport and public safety, said the decision to scrap the network was a difficult one to make, but warned that costs rise to almost £1m after inflationary costs were considered. He claimed this was unsustainable in the current financial context

as providing buses “was not a statutory service”.

The overwhelming majority of communities served by the three routes will be left without public transport as a result of the decision, although Maney added that some existing commercial bus services would be re-routed to serve the village of Fobbing.

Commenting on the decision, Bill Hiron, managing director of NIBS Buses and Stephensons of Essex, told Passenger Transport it was a great shame the council was withdrawing the small network as it “will only place a greater strain on health and social care budgets, as well as in all likelihood increasing car use”.

“It makes something of a mockery of ‘Bus Back Better’ and other government messaging,” Hiron added.

HOLDEN’S BEHIND-THE-SCENES TRANSDEV TOUR Buses minister Richard Holden enjoyed an access-all-areas tour of Transdev’s Harrogate bus operations during the heavy snowfall on March 10. Holden, who was accompanied by local MP and former transport minister Andrew Jones, was welcomed to the bus operator’s headquarters and training academy by operations director Vitto Pizzuti, commercial manager Matt Burley and training manager Dale French. www.passengertransport.co.uk

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IN BRIEF YBMN GOES TO BRUM Booking has opened for the Young Bus Managers Network’s spring conference, which will be held on May 24-25 in Birmingham.

Confirmed speakers and topics include Martin Dean, Go-Ahead’s managing director, UK regional bus; David Bradford, managing director of National Express West Midlands; John Birtwistle, First Bus project lead for its autonomous bus project; and industry analyst Chris Cheek.

For more details or to book visit www.youngbusmanagers.org.uk.

FLIXBUS TRANS-PENNINE A new collaboration between FlixBus and Belle Vue, a coach operator based in Stockport, has been announced, signalling further expansion of FlixBus’s UK network.

It will result in the launch of a new trans-Pennine route that will connect Manchester with Leeds, Middlesborough, Sunderland, and Newcastle from the end of April. Belle Vue’s managing director, Philip Hitchen, said that he had been monitoring FlixBus’s progress in the UK for the past two years and was impressed by the company’s ambitious drive, swift accomplishments, and emphasis on sustainability.

ARRIVA DELIVERIES COMPLETE Alexander Dennis has completed the delivery of 74 Enviro400 and Enviro200 buses to Arriva’s UK bus operation. The vehicles were delivered in batches between summer 2022 and early 2023 with the Enviro400s allocated to Arriva North East at Ashington and Arriva Midlands at Thurmaston near Leicester. The Enviro200s are split between these two subsidiaries and Arriva Southern Counties at Gillingham in Kent.

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22/03/2023 16:04

NEWS ROUND-UP

West Midlands Metro receives £60m boost Funds will complete Wednesbury to Brierley Hill extension FUNDING

Transport for West Midlands has been granted £60m by the UK Government towards the completion of the next phase of the Wednesbury to Brierley Hill Metro extension.

The funds were announced by chancellor Jeremy Hunt in his first budget alongside confirmation of a Deeper Devolution Deal and they will be used as a catalyst to secure the outstanding funding needed to construct and open the Dudley town centre to Brierley Hill section of the route.

Following the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, rising construction costs and decreased fare income, WMCA Board decided to divide the extension into two phases. Phase one, connecting Wednesbury to Flood Street in Dudley, is currently

WRAPS TAKEN OFF NEW METRO TRAIN Special event marks start of next phase of project ROLLING STOCK

Nexus and Swiss rolling stock manufacturer Stadler have officially unveiled the Tyne and Wear Metro’s first new train at a special event attended by transport minister Richard Holden. The event also marked the beginning of the next phase of the £362m project.

“We are at the beginning of an exciting new era for transport in North East England,” said Nexus managing director Martin Kearney.

10 | 24 March 2023 PT285p10-11.indd 10

under development and scheduled to open to the public next year.

Phase two, which will include a stop at Merry Hill Shopping Centre, will extend the line, providing a new public transport link that connects local businesses and offers residents access to employment and leisure opportunities in Wolverhampton, West Bromwich, Dudley, and Birmingham.

West Midlands mayor Andy Street stated that the newly negotiated Deeper Devolution Deal has allowed the authority to secure additional funds and overcome challenges faced by public infrastructure projects, such as rising inflation and supply chain pressures.

He continued: “This additional £60m from government acts as a springboard for the completion

Gove and Street sign the Deeper Devolution Deal this week

“This is a new train whose design has been shaped by customers, employees, trade unions and specialist user groups. We believe this to have been the most farreaching consultation yet staged into a new train design.”

The new fleet is expected to enter service at the end of the year and it will comprise 46 trains, each boasting linear seating, charging points, air conditioning and an automatic sliding step at each door.

In the months ahead the new trains will undergo rigorous testing to ensure that they interface correctly with signalling systems and other Metro infrastructure.

of the scheme as it now puts us in a strong position to secure the remaining funding required to get this extension finished at the earliest opportunity.”

Patrick Harley, the leader of Dudley Council, welcomed the chancellor’s announcement, noting the positive impact on job creation and rejuvenation of the areas surrounding the Metro routes.

“We have always been absolutely committed to completing the Metro extension in full, and this £60m will give us a real springboard to secure the rest of the cash we need to make the second phase a reality,” he added.

The West Midlands Combined Authority board will revisit phase two funding options in June.

Meanwhile, Street and levelling up secretary Michael Gove this week signed the Deeper Devolution Deal which has been described as a “seismic shift in power, funding and responsibility from Whitehall to the region”.

The new long-term funding settlement will enable Street and local councils to plan for the long term, with certainty, and unlock tangible benefits.

Left to right: Martin Kearney, Richard Holden and Tobyn Hughes, managing director of Transport North East

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Busway plan faces stiff local opposition Cambourne plan gains approval despite controversial routing BUS RAPID TRANSIT

Plans for a new £160m dedicated busway in Cambridgeshire have taken a step forward after Cambridgeshire County Council and the Highways Authority agreed to progress the scheme.

A Transport and Works Act Order for the so-called C2C scheme, which will link Cambridge and Cambourne, will now be lodged with the government in the summer.

The dedicated 14km busway, which has been developed in partnership with the Greater Cambridge Partnership (GCP), would create fast links into Cambridge via the new Bourn Airfield development,

VOLVO QUITS BODYBUILDING Manufacturer to focus on chassis production only MANUFACTURERS

Swedish bus and coach manufacturer Volvo has announced a major revision to its production capabilities with the news that it is to cease bodybuilding at its plant at Wroclaw in Poland early next year and instead focus on supplying chassis to bodybuilding partners.

“Our business in Europe has been loss-making for years,” admitted Anna Westerberg, president of Volvo Buses. “With this business model, that we already today apply successfully in many markets, we will improve profitability and secure our long-term competitiveness.” www.passengertransport.co.uk

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WAR OF WORDS AS NXWM BUS STRIKE HEATS UP

a new travel hub at Scotland Farm, Hardwick and the West Cambridge development area.

Buses using the route would be optically-guided and offer journey times 19 minutes faster between Cambridge and Cambourne than existing services on public roads.

“The project will provide better public transport services and active travel opportunities for thousands of people in growing communities to the west of the city, helping to cut congestion on the roads, reduce carbon emissions and improve air quality for everyone,” said GCP. GCP executive board chair Elisa Meschini added that with thousands of new homes to be built in Cambourne and at Bourn Airfield, and new jobs being created at the West Cambridge site, it was vital that action was

taken “to create better and more sustainable transport journeys”.

However, the proposed route is likely to face stiff opposition from local residents and conservation groups as it cuts through an orchard dating back to 1922.

GCP admits at that location around 500 trees would have to be felled and the route also cuts through greenbelt land. As an alternative, campaigners have urged GCP to focus on installing new bus lanes and infrastructure on existing roads.

To mitigate these potential issues, GCP has committed to minimum 10% net biodiversity gain, including 1,500 new trees along the route. It has said the environmental impact would be “lessened to non-significant” within 15 to 30 years by planting new habitats elsewhere.

The decision to end the production of complete buses and coaches will impact approximately 1,600 Volvo staff, 1,500 of whom are based at the Wroclaw plant. The manufacturer has signed a letter of intent to sell the facility to Vargas Holding, a Swedish private equity player, which will repurpose the factory to serve a different industry.

Volvo has confirmed that orders placed for complete buses and coaches in Europe will be delivered from the Wroclaw plant according to plan and it will continue to give full support to the existing vehicles.

However, there has been no announcement about the future of Volvo’s line-up of integrated vehicles, in particular the 7900 bus, 8900 interurban bus and 9700 and 9900 coaches. It has fuelled expectations

these will be scrapped with the move to the bodybuilder partner model.

Meanwhile, Volvo has confirmed its factories in Sweden and Brazil producing chassis and the manufacturing of complete buses and coaches in Mexico and North America are not affected by the decision and will continue with production as normal.

1,600 affected by change of emphasis

Counter-claims between union and operator INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

Bus operator National Express West Midlands claimed that buses were prevented from leaving their depots as continuous strike action by drivers got underway this week.

The company said buses had been blocked at depots in Coventry and Birmingham on Wednesday morning on the second day of strike action.

Services across the operator’s network have been severely disrupted, but NXWM claimed that on the first day of action a total of 235 drivers had reported for work.

“We want to say a huge thank you to all our drivers who got out there yesterday and did their bit for the travelling public,” said a NXWM spokesperson. “We made an excellent offer of 14.3% pay increase to our drivers, which would take the typical driver to £33,000 a year, and our door remains open for talks.”

Meanwhile, the Unite union said it had started a hotline for striking workers to report “bullying” and “intimidation” by management.

The union claimed NXWM had “unjustly” called police to “peaceful picket lines”, and claimed the it had threatened striking workers with job losses and route closures.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Our members are rock solid in their determination to win a pay rise that reflects the difficulty of their roles and soaring living costs.

“The company’s bully boy tactics to break the strike will only result in worsening the dispute and Unite will make sure National Express is held fully accountable for any intimidation of our members. There is only one way to end this: National Express must put forward an offer that is acceptable to our members.”

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NEWS ROUND-UP

Rail retailers want level playing field with TOCs All-Party Parliamentary Rail Group hears plea for fares parity and reform, so that all operators and retailers can offer passengers the same fares RETAIL

A level playing field between train operators and independent retailers is needed to urgently increase UK rail ridership and create a competitive market that will spur on innovation and give passengers the services they need.

That was the case made at the All-Party Parliamentary Rail Group yesterday, where ministers and rail industry representatives heard from Mark Plowright, Virgin Trains Ticketing director; Alistair Lees, chair of the Independent Rail Retailers; and Michael Solomon Williams, campaigns manager at Campaign for Better Transport.

Outlining ways in which independent retailers can help grow the UK rail market by reaching new audiences, investing in technology and incentivising passengers through loyalty, the speakers also addressed the stumbling blocks retailers face that prevent innovation and called for more regulatory certainty.

Top of the list was the need for fares parity and reform, so that all operators and retailers can offer passengers the same fares.

Currently, independent retailers are prevented from selling certain fares and offering key services.

The retailers argue that this leaves passengers confused about how to get the best deal on their journey, and frustrated that they can’t easily access Delay Repay.

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be remunerated and incentivised to invest in the industry, arguing that these retailers offer the rail network a cost-effective way to trial and develop innovative new technology and services that will benefit all passengers.

At the annual George Bradshaw address last month, transport secretary Mark Harper showed his support for private sector investment in the rail industry and its role in helping to maximise competition, innovation, and revenue growth.

Plowright who has previously

worked for LNER, Virgin Trains East Coast and Eurostar, said: “Independent rail retailers are the shop window of the rail industry and we need to spend just as much time talking about the shop window as we do the products in the shop.

“Rail retail has an essential role to play in boosting rail ridership.

We are encouraged to hear the transport secretary show his support for a more competitive retail market, and things are moving in the right direction, but there is still not a level

“We need to spend just as much time talking about the shop window as we do the products in the shop” Mark Plowright, Virgin Trains Ticketing

playing field between operators and independent retailers especially not smaller retailers.

We need better conditions if we are going to flourish.

“Open-access competition on passenger services has been shown to work, and a form of openaccess retail would give retailers more confidence and the ability to invest; stimulating growth, driving innovation, and ultimately lead to better choice for rail passengers.”

Campaign for Better Transport is pro-competition, as long as that competition ensures a better offer for passengers. Speaking on its behalf, Michael Solomon Williams said: “Buying a train ticket needs to be made much easier. Passengers have lost faith in the current system which is convoluted, time consuming and provides no guarantee that they are being sold the cheapest available fare for their journey.

“We are calling for fares and ticketing reform to put passengers at its heart and ensure that the ticketing system encourages more people to travel by train by making the process of buying a ticket simpler, fairer and more

A TRACK RECORD IN TICKETING INNOVATION BARCODE TICKETS In 2016, Assertis, Trainline, RDG and three train operating companies designed, created and rolled out the barcode ticket standard, which is seen on 95% of routes today, in less than nine months. “I led the programme and we did this for free,” explains Alistair Lees, chair of Independent Rail Retailers. “To support this, thousands of barcode readers have been installed on ticket gates. Independent retailers not the Department for Transport or TOCs - have paid for the lion’s share of the costs for these - 75%, in fact.”

SPLIT TICKETING Split ticketing - where rail users save money by purchasing two or more tickets for their journey rather than one - has gone from being a niche activity to a mainstream one. Some had expected fares reform to make split tickets less relevant, but that hasn’t happened.

“Customers love it,” claims Alistair Lees. “Contrary to the fears of some, it hasn’t led to a drop in revenues, which have remained stable.

Who’d’ve thought it? Customers like better value, and that makes them more likely to travel by train.”

WHAT NEXT? How about a completely new way of selling tickets? Instead of customers having to search for prices on just a few trains at a time, as they have to now, how about if they could see all prices for a whole month, just like on airline websites?

“We want to offer airline style booking for the whole network, but RDG’s systems don’t support this,” explains Alistair Lees.

“We have even offered to pay for this - the rail network is missing out on hundreds of millions of pounds in revenue each year here.”

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A twin-track approach for rail success. Page 26 affordable. Independent retailers have a very important role to play in this process.”

Independent Rail Retailers’ members account for over 95% of all independently-sold rail tickets, and include Virgin Trains Ticketing, Trainline, Raileasy, Trip. com, Evolvi and Assertis.

IRR chair Alistair Lees,who is managing director at Assertis, said: “Independent retailers have a laser-like commercial focus on driving rail ticket sales through investment, innovation and marketing. Despite the barriers we face, that’s how we already account for some 50% of all rail ticket sales, and why we have been the driving force behind innovations such as barcode tickets (including some 75% of infrastructure funding), split ticketing and award-winning apps.

“But the rail finances are in crisis, and we need to work together to plug the £2bn gap by winning new customers to rail.

That means simplifying ticketing, creating a level playing field that encourages competition, and embracing the private sector to drive down costs.

“We welcome the secretary of state’s proposals in the Bradshaw address last month for more private sector involvement in rail and call upon the industry to work in partnership with independent retailers to deliver quick wins right now. There’s no time to lose.”

Virgin Trains Ticketing and Assertis are official partners of ‘Better Transport Week’, which runs from June 12 to 18. The week, which brings together transport operators, national and local government, and environmental and transport charities for a week-long celebration of sustainable transport, is being launched by Campaign for Better Transport to celebrate its 50th anniversary this year. www.passengertransport.co.uk

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LNER continues to lead patronage recovery Patronage in final quarter of 2022 was 96% of 2019 figure PATRONAGE

Intercity train operator LNER continues to lead the way when it comes to passenger growth and usage, topping the table for franchised operators for the seventh consecutive quarter.

Between October and December 2022, passenger journeys were at 96% when compared with the same period of 2019, according to new data published today by the Office of Rail and Road. The figures include 11 days of strike action and several consecutive days of engineering upgrade works at both Newcastle and York, affecting the number of services LNER could run.

During the quarter, LNER recorded 5.4 million passenger journeys, an increase of 15% on the same period in 2021.

Open access operators Hull Trains and Grand Central have recovered an even greater percentage of their pre-Covid patronage. Arriva-owned Grand Central’s patronage in the final quarter of 2022 was 97% of the corresponding period of 2019. FirstGroup-owned Hull Trains actually saw its patronage exceed 2019 patronage by 2%.

East Midlands Railway, London Overground, Merseyrail and Heathrow Express are the only other train operators to have recovered three-quarters or more of their pre-Covid patronage.

ScotRail remains the operator with the biggest recovery task.

Its recorded 15.6 million passenger journeys in the final quarter of

2022 - 58% of the figure for the same period of 2019. Southeastern and Avanti West Coast carried only 61% of their pre-Covid patronage, and there were eight more operators still carrying less than 70% of pre-Covid patronage: Chiltern Railways, South Western Railway, West Midlands Trains, TransPennine Express, CrossCountry, Northern Trains, Govia Thameslink Railway and c2c.

Writing in this edition of

Passenger Transport, LNER managing director David Horne offers insights into LNER’s formula for patronage recovery: “Growth in rail on the LNER route is not happening by chance - we have worked hard to attract customers to our trains. Over the past five years, substantial investment, both on track and train, has been taking place to welcome more customers back to rail.”

DAVID HORNE: PAGE 18

PASSENGER JOURNEYS BY OPERATOR, OCTOBER TO DECEMBER 2022, AND AS A PERCENTAGE OF OCTOBER TO DECEMBER 2019 Source: Office of Rail & Road

OPERATOR LNER East Midlands Railway London Overground Merseyrail Greater Anglia Great Western Railway Caledonian Sleeper TfW Rail c2c Govia Thameslink Railway Northern Trains CrossCountry TransPennine Express West Midlands Trains South Western Railway Chiltern Railways Avanti West Coast Southeastern ScotRail Elizabeth line

RAIL PASSENGER JOURNEYS OCT TO DEC 2022 5.4m 6.1m 38.9m 6.5m 16.6m 18.9m 0.1m 5.9m 8.4m 62.8m 19.7m 7.1m 4.9m 13.9m 34.1m 4.8m 6.2m 28.7m 15.6m 62.2m

PERCENTAGE OF OCT TO DEC 2019 96% 89% 80% 78% 74% 73% 72% 70% 68% 68% 67% 66% 66% 65% 65% 63% 61% 61% 58% n/a

Hull Trains Grand Central Heathrow Express Lumo

0.3m 0.4m 1.1m 0.2m

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22/03/2023 15:53

ENVIRONMENT

Coach sector joins forces to reach net zero Report by Zero Emission Coach Taskforce sets out how coach sector could make great strides towards meeting government’s decarbonisation goals STRATEGY

A greater use of low carbon fuels in the short-term and more zero emission refuelling or charging infrastructure as part of a National Zero Emission Coach Strategy are needed to maintain affordable long distance coach travel when new diesel vehicles are phased out in 2040.

This is according to a report by leading industry experts from the Zero Emission Coach Taskforce led by the Confederation of Passenger Transport and leaders from the coach, manufacturing and supply industries.

ZECT’s recently published report, Coach Route Map to Destination Zero, sets out how, with the right government

support, the sector could make great strides towards meeting its decarbonisation goals. It includes positive quick-win, cost-neutral solutions to help the sector, 81% of which are family or individually run, to successfully transition to zero emission vehicles by 2050.

Ian Luckett, chair of ZECT said: “Our report reveals that coach operators are wholly committed to decarbonising their 27,500

“We’ve identified simple and value-for-money solutions” Ian Luckett, ZECT

strong fleet in time for Net Zero targets.

“We’ve identified simple and value-for-money solutions that include legislation changes on vehicle weight loads, tax incentives to encourage low carbon fuel use until zero emission technology becomes more viable, as well as incorporating coaches into zero emission government funding already committed to cars, vans, buses and HGVs. “We look forward to working with the government on a National Zero Emission Coach Strategy, so that operators can continue to provide the wide range of vital services for their passengers in a carbonless future.”

A third of operators’ work is

made up of 600,000 daily home to school trips. It is the longdistance services on top of this, which cater for holiday-makers, intercity travellers and sports fans, that keep the sector thriving and in business. The coach sector contributes £14bn to the UK economy each year and in 2019 alone, was responsible for 23 million visits to tourist hotspots.

To sustain this important work, ZECT has identified ways in which the sector can play its part in decarbonisation. Solutions include: transitional technologies, such as engine retrofitting for hydrogen combustion, engine repowering and the use of low carbon fuels; working with manufacturers on trials and specifications for future zero emission coaches; sharing of best practice and the enabling of vehicles owned by other operators to access recharging or refuelling infrastructure at coach depots to create a reliable network.

The report calls for the government to provide additional support through:

CASE STUDY: MAYNES COACHES Transitioning to net zero is a strategic ambition of Maynes Coaches, a fifth-generation family run company in the Moray Firth in Scotland, who boast the latest low emission diesel Euro 6 engines across their entire fleet. Maynes do more mileage on a direct trip than most other UK coach operators.

As a greener alternative than taking the car or a plane, Maynes routinely travel 159 miles for fourhours from their depot in the town of Buckie to Thurso, the most northerly town on the British mainland. This is to pick up passengers off a boat from the Orkney islands and then take them to Dover via a ferry and

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into Switzerland.

Locally too, a Maynes coach easily exceeds more than 200 miles a day, taking shift workers to a shortbread factory at 4am and 10pm, with school runs and private hire work in between. Without available recharging and refuelling points, public transport in Moray and the Highlands could take longer when the sale of new diesel vehicles ends in 2040.

“While we are ready and excited about the challenge of decarbonising our fleet, some coach businesses are frightened to invest in new technologies due to cost and a lack of information on which step

Decarbonising coach fleet a challenge

to take - hydrogen or electric,” said Kevin Maynes, operations director at Maynes Coaches.

“If there’s a greater focus on more refuelling and recharging points through a government policy shift, then more operators and the rest of

the UK will follow suit in investing in low and net zero technologies.

“The UK Government needs to follow Scotland’s lead as the first Parliament in the UK to allocate zero emission funding to not just buses, but coaches too.”

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Installing coach friendly hydrogen and electric infrastructure. Industry needs a reliable network of refuelling and recharging infrastructure across the strategic road network.

A great first step towards achieving this would be to expand the Rapid Charge Fund (which currently supports cars and vans) to include coaches, as well as identifying opportunities for collaboration with the freight sector through the Zero Emission Road Freight Trials.

Incentives for low carbon fuels to increase supply and encourage use. Low carbon fuels, such as Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) can significantly, and immediately, reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of operators’ existing fleets. These fuels operate similarly to diesel and can provide a transitional solution for coach operators whilst the industry waits for a zero emission solution for longer distance services, however fiscal incentives are needed to increase uptake.

Vehicle weight amendments. Zero emission powertrains are significantly heavier than standard diesel engines. The legislation relating to axle weight could be revised to help mitigate the impact of the increased weight on passenger and luggage capacity.

CPT is developing an online platform to help operators navigate the process, including the installation of infrastructure. CPT chief executive Graham Vidler said: “It is crucial the taskforce’s constructive recommendations are delivered imminently to provide confidence to the sector to invest in a green future.”

Coach operators can contribute to the taskforce by contacting zect@cpt-uk.org. www.passengertransport.co.uk

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Multinationals present plans to reduce flying 10 UK companies have set a target on business travel emissions STRATEGY

Nearly a quarter of British companies have set ambitious targets to reduce corporate travel emissions, reveals the second edition of a ranking on business travel by the Travel Smart Campaign. These include AstraZeneca, Lloyds Banking Group, HSBC and consulting giants EY, PwC and Deloitte.

But of the 42 British companies in the ranking, over 30 are yet to set targets to reduce business flying emissions.

In the first ever overview of reporting of non-CO2 emissions related to business flying, the ranking finds that 11 British companies are leading the way by reporting all greenhouse gas emissions associated with corporate flights. AstraZeneca, HSBC, Deloitte and NatWest are among those who set the example by considering the full impact of flying in their reporting.

The climate impact of business flying extends further than CO2 emissions. On top of CO2, aircraft engines emit other gases - nitrous oxides, sulphur dioxide and water - and particulate matter (soot).

These are commonly referred to as non-CO2 emissions, and it is estimated that they account for two-thirds of total climate warming from flying. Yet only very few companies reflect the total impact of business flights by accounting for non-CO2 effects.

Michael Solomon Williams, campaigns manager at Campaign for Better Transport, said: “This

ranking shows that some UK companies are leading the way when it comes to reducing emissions from corporate travel, but many are lagging behind.

To tackle climate change and address a corporate culture that often never questions flying, more companies need to take steps to reduce the number of unnecessary business flights and replace them with virtual meetings or rail travel where possible.”

Florence Long, communications officer at AEF added: “Only a few frontrunners in the ranking are reporting non-CO2 emissions from flying. This needs to change.

Reporting non-CO2 should become the standard so that aviation’s full climate impact is made clear.”

Elspeth Wray, spokesperson for Transform Scotland, said: “If companies are really serious about tackling climate change

“More companies need to take steps to reduce unnecessary business flights”

Michael Solomon Williams

then they must fly less. Leading companies such as Lloyds Banking Group and AstraZeneca have shown that it’s possible to cut emissions from business travel whilst succeeding commercially.

Businesses that don’t act will increasingly be challenged for failing to follow their environmental rhetoric with concerted action to cut emissions.”

KPMG and Shell are the top emitters of the Travel Smart Ranking in the UK, without a target to reduce their travel emissions. Neither of these two companies have set targets to reduce corporate travel emissions.

But the analysis shows that setting such targets is possible and necessary, as companies of similar size and sector like Deloitte have done so.

The study shows that if 10% of companies - the biggest emitters in the ranking - set 50% reduction targets, this would go half-way towards achieving the global target of 50% reduction in corporate air travel emissions by 2025. Reducing aviation emissions is now more crucial than ever to stay within 1.5°C of global warming.

For the critical decade until 2030, the best way to reduce aviation emissions is to fly less, as the timing for scale-up of sustainable fuels and zeroemissions aircraft is currently post-2030, and offsetting cannot substitute for reducing emissions.

The Travel Smart Campaign calls upon companies to set ambitious targets to reduce corporate travel emissions, switch from air to rail travel where possible, and use video conferencing as a substitute for long-haul flying.

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ENVIRONMENT

Dunfermline LEICESTER BOOST EV UPGRADE is fully-electric ROUND-UP

£14m investment see 11 new BYD ADL zero emission buses operating on all city centre routes Stagecoach celebrated the launch of the UKs newest fully-electric city bus network in Dunfermline last week. 10 new BYD ADL Enviro200EV zero-emission buses and one BYD ADL Enviro400EV double deck vehicle are now operating on all city centre routes. The vehicles can operate from morning to evening on a single daily charge.

The vehicles are part of a £14.1m investment, which was supported by the Scottish Government’s Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund (ScotZEB).

Charging infrastructure has been installed at the Dunfermline depot ahead of the launch.

Stagecoach uses 100% renewable electricity across the business.

Douglas Robertson, managing director for Stagecoach East Scotland, said: “The launch of our fully-electric city bus network in Dunfermline is a proud moment for us. These fantastic new vehicles are further proof of our

commitment to operating a zeroemission bus fleet by 2035, and ensure cleaner air for our city.”

Marie Connell, national account manager at Alexander Dennis, said: “We are delighted to continue to support Stagecoach as it rolls out another full-electric city bus network in Scotland using our zero-emission buses. Customers will love their smooth acceleration, air conditioning and comfortable Alexander Dennis SmartSeats, while drivers will benefit from a familiar vehicle. Thanks to the Scottish Government’s support through ScotZEB, these buses have helped to underpin skilled jobs and apprenticeships in the UK bus manufacturing industry.”

Stagecoach will launch another fully-electric city bus network in Perth later this month and the group is on target for a zero emission UK bus fleet by 2035.

It will introduce 159 new electric buses in 2023, bringing the total to 343.

First Bus and council secure ZEBRA funding

First York begins passenger carrying trial

ELECTRIC BUSES

ELECTRIC BUSES

First Bus has announced that its Leicester depot will become one of the UK’s first electrified bus depots outside of London, alongside its York and Norwich depots. The announcement came after First Bus and its local authority partner successfully secured Department for Transport approval to boost their existing Zero Emission Bus Regional Area funding. First Bus will invest £6.6m to bring this project to fruition, alongside additional DfT funding of £2.9m secured in partnership with Leicester City Council.

A familiar bus was back on the streets of York last week as operator First York began a passenger-carrying trial service following a complete upgrade of the vehicle’s electric power system. The Optare Versa, an early generation electric bus, is the first to be converted in a contract awarded to Norfolk-based Equipmake.

The bus is now expected to have a range of 150 miles.

The new T1 buses

ALL-ELECTRIC T1 BUSES LAUNCHED

Pelican-supplied buses enter service on March 26 ELECTRIC BUSES

Douglas Robertson and Marie Connell

16 | 24 March 2023 PT285p16.indd 16

Brand new electric buses were last week unveiled for the TrawsCymru T1 route between Carmarthen and Aberystwyth by deputy minister for climate change Lee Waters. Supplied

by Pelican and operated by First Cymru under a contract managed by Transport for Wales, the buses will enter service from March 26 and will be based out of a new charging depot in Carmarthen.

FORMULA 1 VISITS WRIGHTBUS Technical experts learnt about bus solutions KNOWLEDGE SHARING

Wrightbus recently hosted a visit from F1 technical experts to talk about the challenges facing the automotive sector in its moves towards decarbonisation.

The visit presented the F1 representatives with the opportunity to learn how challenges and safety concerns regarding battery electric and hydrogen are resolved in the bus industry and to discuss the potential for crossover of research in the future.

Representatives from Transport for London were also present.

Representatives of Wrightbus, F1 and TfL

www.passengertransport.co.uk

22/03/2023 16:51

INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY

Via buys Citymapper to expand its offering 50 million users in over 100 cities have used journey planning app ACQUISITIONS

Via has acquired Citymapper, the UK-based journey planning app and transit technology company, accelerating its vision to build end-to-end digital infrastructure for transport.

While Via’s software enables cities, operators and transport authorities to efficiently plan and operate their public transit networks, Citymapper empowers passengers with the ability to navigate urban transport networks through intuitive apps.

By integrating Citymapper into its platform, Via said it will be able to connect all elements of a transit system, offering a unified solution for cities, transit agencies, and riders.

Founded in 2012 by Azmat Yusuf, Citymapper has built a best-in-class product, earning a

loyal and engaged user base across the world. More than 50 million users in over 100 cities have used Citymapper to plan their journeys - using a combination of public transport, walking, cycling, scooters, taxis, and other options.

Citymapper’s powerful technology and algorithms incorporate real-time public transit data and take into account information on disruptions and delays.

The Citymapper app will continue to be available to its worldwide user base, and Via anticipates it will further expand Citymapper’s global reach.

“We have the utmost respect for the world-class product and

“By bringing our teams together, we see an exciting opportunity” Daniel Ramot, Via

user experience that Azmat and his team have built,” said Via cofounder and CEO Daniel Ramot.

“By bringing our teams together, we see an exciting opportunity to deliver Citymapper’s capabilities to cities and transit agencies all over the world, so that they can create the most user-friendly and relevant transit experience for their communities.”

Citymapper founder and CEO Azmat Yusuf commented: “The team at Citymapper has spent a decade building some of the greatest technology in urban mobility, with the mission to make cities easier to navigate and urban transportation more efficient, sustainable, and accessible.

“We share this vision with Via, and through this acquisition, can expand Citymapper to a larger audience, make our technology available to cities and transit agencies, and extend the positive impact on the communities we serve.”

AWARDS SUCCESS FOR TICKETER John Clarfelt wins personal recognition AWARDS

Ticketer had a successful evening at the Transport Ticketing Awards 2023 in London earlier this month. The company was highly commended in the ‘Ticketing Technology of the year’ category for launching ‘Tap-on, Tap-Off’ readers.

Meanwhile, Ticketer’s founder, John Clarfelt, was awarded the prestigious ‘Industry Contributor’ accolade for his outstanding contribution to the industry. www.passengertransport.co.uk

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John Clarfelt, Ticketer founder (left) and Jason Mann, head of product (right)

POSITIVE START FOR PICKMEUP

5,000 people in High Wycombe area signed up DRT

More than 25,000 journeys have been made using Go-Ahead’s PickMeUp ride-sharing service since it relaunched in High Wycombe.

The landmark was broken this week in the Buckinghamshire town, five months after the service, which is operated by Go-Ahead subsidiary Carousel Buses, was launched thanks to funding from Buckinghamshire Council via the government’s Rural Mobility Fund.

PickMeUp enables passengers in High Wycombe to summon minibuses to pick them up at a ‘virtual bus stop’ of their choice, to go to a bespoke destination. It is designed to encourage more people to use active modes of transport to travel. A telephone booking service is available for those who want to use the service but are not able to use a smartphone. The service has a five-star rating on the app which is available to download for free from Google Play or the App Store.

Carousel Buses managing director Luke Marion said: “To break the 25,000 passengers journey barrier is a fantastic milestone for an innovative service that is new to the area. We’ve experienced a highly positive response to the service, with more than 5,000 people in the area now having signed up. Thanks to the strong response from the public to PickMeUp we have ordered additional vehicles which we hope to add to the fleet over the coming months to maintain our quality of service and allow for further passenger growth.

“The success to date of PickMeUp in High Wycombe further demonstrates demand responsive transport can play a key role in helping improve air quality and traffic congestion in the UK in conjunction with traditional bus services.”

24 March 2023 | 17

22/03/2023 16:51

COMMENT LNER

On-track for continued growth LNER has plans to welcome even more customers back to rail and continue passenger growth Figures published last week by the Office of Rail and Road showed that the number of passengers travelling by train on the David Horne East Coast route in 2022 was LNER back to pre-pandemic levels.

This is despite multiple days of strike action, and 10 days of major engineering work at Newcastle and further track upgrades at York, in the second half of the year.

As we mark in 2023 the centenary of the original LNER and its iconic flagship locomotive, “Flying Scotsman”, our route is leading the rail industry in recovering from the pandemic.

Indeed, over the six months between April and September including the summer period, we carried 6% more passengers than in the same months in 2019.

Growth in rail on the LNER route is not happening by chance - we have worked hard to attract customers to our trains. Over the past five years, substantial investment, both on track and train, has been taking place to welcome more customers back to rail.

As the country went into lockdown in the first half of 2020, our engineers worked with Hitachi to bring the final batch of our world-class high-speed Azuma trains into service. During the third lockdown in 2021, Network Rail’s construction teams delivered incredible infrastructure projects as part of the £1.2bn East Coast Upgrade, adding capacity and improving reliability and punctuality on the route serving the East of England, Yorkshire and the North East.

More investment is on its way. Last June, the UK Government confirmed £1bn to revolutionise the East Coast Main Line by introducing digital signalling. The new technology continuously communicates with each train, providing signalling information directly to a computer screen in the driver’s cab. It boosts reliability, reduces carbon emissions and provides a more punctual service for our customers.

But it is not just about trains, tracks and 18 | 24 March 2023 PT285p18-19.indd 18

technology. LNER has been leading the industry in attracting even more customers back, inspiring people to discover the joy of rail travel, while innovating and investing to further enhance the customer experience - last October we opened our Family Lounge at King’s Cross station in a UK industry first.

Despite what you may have read, the death of the restaurant car is a myth. We love working with our local suppliers like familyrun Beckleberry’s in Blaydon and The Original Baker in Malton, Yorkshire and we’ve brought new products to our on-board menus, served at your seat by our passionate team.

We’re making rail ticketing simpler and easier too. In an industry first, customers can now book six months in advance; ensuring people have confidence when travelling by

“Growth in rail on the LNER route is not happening by chance - we have worked hard to attract customers”

Over the six months between April and September LNER carried 6% more passengers than in the same months in 2019

guaranteeing a seat for the duration of their journey; and making fares simpler, smarter and more flexible by trialling pioneering fares reform.

These reforms have been incredibly popular and central to our growth. It is not only a strong recovery we have seen, but also a shift in who is travelling. We are regularly seeing 50% more passengers travelling on Sundays than in pre-Covid times - so we have submitted proposals to the Department for Transport to run additional services on Sundays. We also are in discussions with Network Rail to move engineering work away from weekends, which are now busier than ever.

Attitudes towards flying have changed too.

Since the pandemic, our customers are more environmentally conscious, choosing rail as the sustainable mode of transport. This explains why LNER, by itself, is the main mode of transport between Edinburgh and London with more than 50% of the market (before Covid LNER only had 35% modal share) travelling on our electric trains.

We also know that because of the investment made by the UK Government and ourselves to enhance the travel experience, we will continue to attract even more customers onboard. The collective long-term thinking and vision to grow rail on the East Coast means we now have the capability to use available capacity to deliver even more LNER services - welcoming an extra 9,000 customers each day. To do that all we need is a transformational timetable uplift - one that will grow rail, connecting cities, towns and communities, boosting LNER’s £2bn economic impact up and down the country.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR David Horne has been Managing Director of LNER since its inception in June 2018. He has held senior positions with several train operating companies including Managing Director of East Midlands Trains from 2011 to 2015, and Virgin Trains East Coast from 2015 to 2018.

Brought to you by Passenger Transport

22/03/2023 14:55

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22/03/2023 14:55

COMMENT

JONATHAN BRAY

A car-free future for visitor attractions

Not owning a car, or not wanting to use one, can make it difficult to get to tourist destinations. Good Journey wants to change that Is this the ultimate no brainer? Everyone agrees that leisure traffic is the growth market for public transport. So, how about the public transport sector works with visitor attractions to promote car-free travel?

How hard can it be? Not so hard now we have the well-established non-profit company Good Journey to bridge the gap between the sectors. Cheap too, compared with just about everything else the rail industry in particular tries to do.

I declare an interest. I don’t drive and I love a day trip (who doesn’t?). I have plotted and schemed ways of doing innumerable trips by public transport - from walking the east coast of the country from Hornsea to Edinburgh, to ticking off remote Neolithic sites across the UK and to exploring the windswept islands of Scotland. It can go wrong; it can be nerve wracking waiting at some remote bus stop dependent on the bus showing up.

But it adds to the sense of achievement.

Driving flattens everything out - makes getting to the back of beyond too easy. Plus, circular walks are boring - as is not rewarding yourself at the pub after a linear walk.

The main thing I don’t like about public transport day trips is feeling like a weirdo and pariah - particularly at a lot of the set piece visitor attractions outside urban centres. The National Trust’s Sizergh House near Kendal is a good example. When we last went there the bus service was fine. But it dumped you at a bus stop where, in the absence of proper 20 | 24 March 2023 PT285p20-21.indd 20

signage, you had to follow the blue dot on google maps and pick your way across various channels of roaring traffic and up the drive whilst the vast majority of visitors purred past in their motors bound for the convenient car park. Am I missing something or should those of us who don’t drive to visitor attractions be the ones who get the special treatment?

Or at least equal treatment? Or at least not Nat Taplin

“Our mission is to get every visitor attraction in the UK to welcome car-free visitors” Nat Taplin, Good Journey

to be made to feel like a freak? Things are changing though. Bus travellers to Sizergh will now, at least, be able to lord it over the car borne visitors at the cafe by waving their bus ticket in order to secure a free hot drink.

Nat Taplin, the founder and director of Good Journey, points to places that have already gone much further than a free cup of tea. Blenheim Palace got religious about carfree access back in 2018 and is the poster boy for what can be achieved. Car-free visitors went up from 5,000 to 30,000 in just two years.

It could be because they offer a whopping 30% discount to car-free visitors and that those visitors can also take advantage of a shuttle bus from nearby Hanborough station in the summer. And have a look at their ‘getting here’ page on the website. The getting there by car info is at the bottom of the page not the top of the page. Yes, you read that right.

Also in the commended category is the Royal Horticultural Society with all five of the RHS gardens now offering 30% off to car free visitors and, from the summer, they will all have shuttle bus links too. The newest of the RHS gardens, Bridgewater in Greater Manchester, embedded green travel from the word go, including a dedicated traffic-free walking and cycling route. It also puts car-free access info first on its website - and car access information last. Visitors arriving on the dedicated shuttle bus also get priority access when the site is full.

I declare another interest. I am on the board of Good Journey (for which there is no financial reward whatsoever - though I have availed myself of some nice slices of cake at the board meetings). Though the credit for the progress so far is all down to Nat’s determination, professionalism… and patience. I asked him how he got started.

“I love car-free travel myself - sitting back and enjoying the view, a picnic, a glass of wine, a snooze - all the things you can’t do if you drive.

The journey becomes part of the experience.

I want more people to be able enjoy that.”

He added: “Cars spoil beautiful places.

People go on trips to see these amazing landscapes and historic places and unwittingly, between them, spoil the very places they’ve come to enjoy.”

There’s also a practical reason. “The information on visitor attraction websites is often so poor; broken links, out-of-date www.passengertransport.co.uk

22/03/2023 14:57

“The day is coming when a carfree person like me can say ‘I am not a freak - I am a free man!’”

Images from the Good Journey website

timetables and useless information like saying the nearest railway station is seven miles away but with no further information. Good Journey’s key aim is to solve that problem and provide easy, reliable, door-to-door information.”

I highlighted Nat’s patience earlier - more than I’ve had at times with how long it has taken for the wider public transport sector to grab this opportunity with both hands.

Or for some of the big visitor attraction groups (who profess concern for climate) to get behind it. And as for some of the National Parks - don’t get me started. But Nat’s been right to deploy his greater reserves of patience and diplomacy and it’s now paying off. The National Trust, English Heritage and Historic Environment Scotland are all about to pilot some significant car-free initiatives including some big-name sites like Stonehenge, Stirling Castle and Dunham Massey.

As for public transport operators, Nat says that in the early days the public transport sector was hard to engage with - partly because of its fragmented nature, but now there are www.passengertransport.co.uk

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some exciting things happening. He points to Great Western Railway promoting car-free adventures extensively via its comms and marketing channels. And, a breakthrough is that they are using the Good Journey website and brand, rather than trying to invent their own way of doing it.

Imagine though if the wider industry took a break from the endless navel gazing, introversion and logo wars and got behind car-free leisure travel at scale? For example, you could start to retail combined tickets at scale for both visitor attraction entry and public transport travel to get there.

You could promote it nationally, regionally and locally. It’s all there for the taking. I ask Nat if Good Journey is achieving ‘escape velocity’? He is reluctant to go quite that far but he’s clearly pleased with progress.

“Not so long ago, nobody used the phrase car-free travel but now it’s cropping up more and more in newspapers and on the websites of attractions and train companies.” He also points to Norfolk which is about to become the first ‘Good Journey County’ - offering

discounts for car-free visitors and a suite of car-free itineraries.

So, what’s next for Good Journey? “Our mission is to get every visitor attraction in the UK to welcome car-free visitors. We want many more people to be able to enjoy car-free day outs - not least the 25% of households that don’t have a car. With the cost-ofliving squeeze that’s more important than ever. Improving car-free access should be a requirement for visitor attractions, like access for disabled people and families.”

The day is coming when a car-free person like me can say ‘I am not a freak - I am a free man!’. What’s stopping the sector from making that day arrive sooner rather than later?

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.

24 March 2023 | 21

22/03/2023 14:57

COMMENT

ALEX WARNER

Should transport control its Linekers?

It’s a balancing act between transport employees respecting their employers online but not being limited to a corporate sales pitch What do you lot make of the Gary Lineker shenanigans this month? I’ll be honest, there’s times when I think he’s like one of those smug old school rail bigwigs that have outstayed their welcome in the industry, but on other occasions I think he is a fine and compelling presenter.

He has certainly brought more to the fore the very sad and complicated asylum issue and engendered meaningful debate.

Many of you will be asking what this has got to do with transport - and not unreasonably so. However, the whole saga has made me examine the way in which our industry communicates and how our own Gary Linekers present themselves.

As I have the outlet of this column to mouth off unsolicited and I have spent over a third of my career outside of mainstream employment and thus able to speak freely, it must sound hypocritical for me to confess that I crave one day being a hermit. I wistfully and regularly dream of the days when I can retire and shut myself away, turn off social media, sit in the most extreme corner of a desolate county cricket ground or bus surrounded by absolutely no one, or hidden in my attic with the model railway and just be isolated from all the noise of life. You’ll never hear from me again, I swear.

In the aftermath of Lineker’s comments, I trawled social media and among transport folk, I saw a mix of pro-active statements and remarks about the state of the industry, of old timers who gave so much to the sector, but should maybe have better things to do than 22 | 24 March 2023 PT285p22-23.indd 22

get worked up about it all. I’m not being ageist nor suggesting they shouldn’t be deprived of a voice post retirement, but wondered whether it’s doing them or the industry any good profiteering their views on social media. Appearances at conferences or more detailed and measured articles in journals or mags or simply volunteering their time to help companies might be more beneficial.

Their wisdom may then not get lost in the chatter and increasing faux outrage, or be unfairly interpreted as the rantings of cynics of yesteryear.

I also looked at the social media outputs from those currently working in the sector and there is clearly a cognisance of the need to abide by contractual requirements, but this does, of course, mean that almost all outpourings are deeply sanitised, cautious and the sum contribution from everyone is of a transport sector where everything is rosy.

Managers are out on the frontline grinning with staff and customers 24/7 and it’s just great news all-round of social value contributions, environmentally friendly initiatives, rainbow images on staff ID lapels, long service awards and customer service excellence recognition.

The reality is rather different with prevailing, deep-seated morale issues in many companies, of grievances and inequalities including around race, gender and sexual orientation, of intense frustration around leadership, including bullying behaviours, and constant fear and despair around spending cuts, staff shortages and a continued inability to deal with basic issues that impact on operational performance and, in turn, customer satisfaction.

Whilst I believe that many of the social value type celebratory posts are commendable, some of them fill me with cynicism because many of those making them do not on an everyday basis imbue behaviours that are true to their comments. International Women’s Day earier this month was a classic example - trust me, there were comments doing the rounds from people who, when they drop their guard, don’t appear to practise what they preach or celebrate in that department.

‘Social value’ is a well-intentioned concept that started with the need for Corporate Responsibility Statements (CRSs) which were like Customer Service Standards in a train company. Organisations are asked to showcase their contribution to the community and other good causes. Many companies do this because they know it will look good in a bid and on a press release, or help them rub shoulders with the good and the great decision makers in power. It’s seen by some as a quickfire way to make some dosh.

The social value imperative brings out the worst of “virtue signalling” and is, I believe, sometimes contrived to deliberately distract attention from the failings of a transport company in doing what they are set up to do - please customers. Not too long ago, one transport director bemoaned to me that the www.passengertransport.co.uk

22/03/2023 15:01

“Employers don’t ‘own’ folk who work for them and they should encourage healthy debate” MD of their company was obsessed about focusing on niche minority, social causes to the detriment of operational service performance that was spiralling out of control. Indeed, many a newcomer to the industry would quite easily think that photos of foodbanks outside stations, or charity donations on platforms, and celebrating the emancipation of those from repressed walks of life, are the key elements of their role.

That’s not to say that these aspects aren’t important at all, but it’s about balancing the extent to which they are relayed across the sector, such that its use is part of a meaningful conversation, rather used so arbitrarily and regularly that it feels like virtue signalling. The transport industry does not exist primarily to promote good causes. But, if it can do so whilst successfully delivering its good cause of getting customers from A to B, then that’s success.

At the moment, it’s not delivering that.

Onto the Linekers of our sector. I pity youngsters trying to make their way in public transport currently. I am relieved that when I was a young hot-head, social media didn’t exist.

I’d have been the Gary Lineker of my time. I would have eventually been sacked because I found myself so completely and utterly energetic and wrapped up in the rollercoaster emotions of work, that, for sure, I would have been taking to social media after every depot or station visit, making a comment that would no doubt have been misinterpreted by staff or customers. In my usual defensive way, it’s likely that I’d have declared war on any stakeholder who dared to criticise the service we were providing and it would have been fair game humiliating competitors. My tweets and posts would have been made from nightclub dancefloors when I would have been in an irrational state of mind. That the youth of today are able to show restraint and maturity not to jeopardise their jobs by taking errantly to social media is commendable.

The risk to the industry is such that youngsters are now so alert to and in fear of the trip hazards posed by social media and the power it holds as a vehicle to virtue signal that they are in danger of being clones. It feels like we reside in an industry that is so sanitised and controlled, bereft of free speech. In doing so, a generation of transport professionals are being deprived of the ability to have proper discussions, to consider alternative, nonwww.passengertransport.co.uk

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mainstream approaches and viewpoints that are multi-faceted or might not necessarily be the pathway that has been taken by their employer.

The issue has become rather binary insofar as social media is the vehicle used to determine whether someone ‘complies’ or is a ‘free spirit’.

I’m not advocating a clamour to take to social media and start generating debate and in some respects dissension - for me, that tends to lead to an unsightly spectacle that does no one any favours. Instead, I’d prefer other vehicles to have these kind of discussions seminars, articles, ‘think tanks’, workshops, conferences or societies, as well as internally within organisations. Social media can often be arbitrary, headline soundbites, rather than properly researched, considered and comprehensive debate.

Sadly, though, many conferences are now so predictable - you could trot out, Chat GPT-style, the messages in advance, without bothering to pitch up. One pal asked last week whether I was shelling out 600 smackers for a future rail event. My response on WhatsApp was blunt: “It seems a rip off. It won’t tell you anything innovative or new as all the speakers are very scripted and many of them bland and some might appear at the ‘centre’ but are peripheral.” Many conferences are the same.

Top dogs turn up - the same old suspects - and read off an autocue and they don’t tell you anything you don’t know already and when you look round at the audience it tends to consist of sycophants or shirkers whose presence away from their ‘day job’ won’t be missed. This sorry state of affairs has motivated me to work with a great client to organise an alternative transport event later in the year - covering multi-modal stuff and with speakers who are innovators, entrepreneurs, controversial and don’t speak in platitudes and corporate mumbo-jumbo. It will be anarchic, but great value.

The Lineker debate is enlightening in the way it provokes reflection around how much our own thoughts and brand are owned and represented by the company who pays us money. “You don’t bite the hand that feeds you” is an old adage I subscribe to and I do believe that Lineker has enjoyed so much wealth due to the BBC that he should show them respect and not believe he is above their policies. But equally it does make me feel somewhat uneasy in our own sector when I meet managers who are so utterly wedded to and defined by their

employer that they seem so utterly bereft of articulating a view or way of being that is anything but some kind of pre-rehearsed, corporate gobbledegook press release. It’s like watching Invasion of the Body Snatchers with these faceless clones and they tend to be those who define their whole self-worth in life through their role and status within the company they work. The industry - and rail is the biggest offender - is now set up in such a constrained way that it creates an environment where dullards can flourish and where mediocrity thrives unchecked.

For us two-bob freelancers - the lowest denomination in the food chain - there are individuals in the industry who try and control our free speech, as though we exist just to write nice things about their company for free. They try and use their seniority to make you react as though you are controlled or employed by them. It’s always the same old grumpy, narcissistic suspects who throw in the odd veiled threat if they don’t like what you write or say. They delude themselves that even those who aren’t employed by them should feel they are subservient to them in the imaginary organisation chart in their minds.

Sensible balance is needed - employers don’t ‘own’ folk who work for them and they should encourage and respect healthy debate and ideas on a cross-organisational, industry basis, providing trade secrets aren’t being shared and the discussion isn’t besmirching the company being represented. It’s about mutual respect and the employer realising that constant advertorial and presenting an image of an employee of having swallowed some brainwashing pill actually creates a loss of self-respect for that person. The most heinous crime for me is to write anything in this wonderful mag that has a whiff of advertorial.

It will make even bigger a mug of me than I am now and insults your intelligence as readers too.

For me, it’s all about balance and measure, something that public transport and those representing it would do well to pause and remember from time to time.

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

24 March 2023 | 23

22/03/2023 15:01

COMMENT

NICK RICHARDSON

Can we make a more effective strategy?

Improvements to England’s National Bus Strategy are needed if it is to ever achieve the goal of attracting more passengers The National Bus Strategy for England and its equivalents in other parts of the UK focus on getting more people onto bus services.

In the absence of long term subsidy, this is the only means by which more revenue is generated to escape the financial perils of rising costs. Significant growth in bus use is needed if services are to survive and prosper.

However, much of the bus as a travel option is hidden and aimed at people who currently use buses which will never generate growth. This suggests that there needs to be a serious look at what would-be users will face if they decide to try the bus. Many of the basics have yet to be embraced which is a worrying sign as my recent experiences have shown.

Pre-journey failures I recently tried to find out which buses went along which roads to get into the city centre - which seemed a reasonable thing to want to know. Many routes appear to go the slowest way, through a busy corridor with lots of small shops and activity based on one road that is invariably congested for much of the time.

Using this route from the city takes three quarters of an hour, a journey which takes less by cycle and an hour or so to walk, a distance of just over four miles; the bus is desperately slow.

This even includes one route which is longer distance and needs to maintain a reasonable journey time if it is to compete with trains or, more pertinently, cars. It too plods along with the rest of the traffic although it isn’t required 24 | 24 March 2023 PT285p24-25.indd 24

to stop at every stop. There have been changes to several routes so that journey times get worse with multiple buses going to the main hospital which involves driving right round it much to the disadvantage of everyone with a destination beyond. There are thousands of people who work there and a constant stream of patients and visitors, but not every route has to include it. I gave up trying to find out which buses go where because there was nothing I could find that told me. The operator websites are a tangle and include timetables with selected timing points but nothing in between and certainly nothing resembling a reliable route map.

Bus stop publicity has improved but remains lacking in many instances; I sampled some

bus stops to see. One was presentable and included a reliable real time display. The printed material included a map of services (but without identifying the location of the bus stop) but missed out one of the two services.

This was because they are provided by different operators and the map was for one and not the other; this failure should have been overcome long ago. The route of the unidentifiable second service remains a mystery.

Further deficiencies There were several other problems evident.

The next stop display on the bus I used was stuck on the previous destination i.e. no use at all. Another alarming habit is to provide bus priority measures that can’t be negotiated by buses. One is a classic around a corner which would be difficult in a car, never mind a bus. As a result, all the buses join the queue of traffic to negotiate the junction and then the bus lane runs out just where it could be useful. In another example, the outer edge of the bus lane is not parallel to the kerb continuously so the bus is squeezed out into traffic. Priority measures are of little use if they don’t provide any priority.

It is also worrying that someone can design this sort of idiocy without realising how useless it is, highlighting the need to update traffic engineering and traffic management personnel.

Then there are examples of bus gates that delay buses which can be embarrassingly inadequate because buses avoid them. Where bus lanes end before junctions it creates priority for cars.

Before getting on to more sophisticated ways of helping bus journey times, it would be helpful to get the basics right.

Bus stop publicity has improved but remains lacking in many instances

www.passengertransport.co.uk

22/03/2023 15:07

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

Pricing opportunities Another interesting initiative has been the Department for Transport’s £2 single fare cap, now extended until June. This has been welcomed but there are some concerns. How many people have been using it when they would normally have bought another type of ticket? In doing so, they are established users not new ones. It seems that in issuing £2 tickets, operators do not identify what users would be doing otherwise or indeed discover if they are new bus users. The outcome may be that users are happy but they would be using the bus anyway. In effect this means that DfT is subsidising fares without generating any additional demand, not helped by the lack of a coordinated advertising campaign.

Taking this a step further my local authority, having received some healthy DfT funding through its Bus Service Improvement Plan, has been providing free Sunday bus travel within the city this month. This is a good opportunity for people to try using buses when they are not so pushed for time and want to try something different. However, I only heard about it in passing - there is no awareness of the scheme other than carefully hidden, almost subliminal mentions on the council’s website and in the local paper which not everyone reads. It appeared that no-one actually using the bus realised either and there was nothing on the outside or inside of the bus that told anyone about it or any messages at bus stops. The net result appears to be that people who would normally have paid save money thanks to DfT but again, no additional users are generated - an opportunity missed.

Outward thinking There could be a role for limited stop services, especially in this sort of situation where there are lots of routes all competing for the same passengers at the same stops. People in cars want to get from A to B in the shortest possible time, not hang around all over the place. In this particular corridor, the car time for a similar journey is 20 minutes or so even on a good day which makes the bus an unattractive option. With motorway and dual carriageway options available, surely a useful route could be devised that doesn’t take all day and simply gathers people from the outer areas and heads straight into the city without stopping dozens of times along the way. www.passengertransport.co.uk

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England’s £2 fare cap has been extended until June, but how many people have been using it when they would normally have bought another type of ticket?

“Significant growth is needed if services are to survive and prosper” My experiences illustrate the wider problem in that looking inward at existing users is not the way to rebuild a commercial bus network. The bus offer has to be seen from the outside i.e. from the point of view of anyone who is not a regular user but might at least to try it. In all aspects there remain fatal flaws from finding out about services, getting to the bus stop and actually getting on the bus.

None of the problems I identified are difficult to overcome but without doing something better, demand will never improve. In fact the track record in many areas has been one of long term decline and it’s easy to simply blame the rise in car use although there are reasons for this. Some of these reasons are attributable to self-inflicted inadequacies by bus service providers and uninspired highway authorities.

Contrast this with areas where there

have been high levels of coordination and cooperation by local authorities, bus operators and their communities which produce services that people want to use. The offer is tempting and well-presented so that potential users know what to expect and get what they pay for. The strategy is predicated on growth, so perpetuating aspects of service provision that don’t create growth is pointless.

There are risks in terms of revenue, but society has changed and keeps changing so the bus offer must change with it. If it doesn’t then the strategy won’t achieve any lasting impacts and the investment will not have been good value.

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

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INNOVATION IN RAIL ARRIVA UK TRAINS

A twin-track approach for success We must ensure that the long-term rail reform agenda stays on course while taking immediate action to bring customers back The railway finds itself at a critical point and it has never been more important that we move at pace to attract new customers, boost David Brown economic growth and reduce Arriva the burden on the taxpayer.

Of course, it’s vital that we don’t take our eye off the ball when it comes to longer-term reform. That’s partly why the secretary of state for transport’s recent George Bradshaw Address was so timely. It was essential that the question marks forming around the government’s thinking on rail reform were dispelled. And I welcomed the commitment to a more pragmatic partnership between the public and private sector under the guiding mind of an appropriately sized Great British Railways.

However, while the transport secretary’s remarks were constructive, there remains an urgent need to accelerate the reform agenda.

The financial impacts of the pandemic, coupled with the disruption brought about by industrial action, have created a burning platform for change. Inaction is a luxury the railway cannot afford, particularly when structural, longer-term reform is dependent on the parliamentary calendar allowing for the introduction of a Transport Bill.

That’s why we must give increased weight to those non-legislative changes that can be made immediately to bring passengers back to the railway. For instance, the use of revenue incentives has a track record of driving passenger growth and recovery, rewarding operators for innovating and winning new customers.

The Department for Transport has already shown a welcome signal of intent by considering modest revenue incentives within National Rail Contracts (NRCs). However, the action required must reflect the scale of the challenge. This means releasing the handbrakes 26 | 24 March 2023 PT285p26-27.indd 26

on growth that are currently in place within NRCs. This will enable operators to fully leverage their commercial expertise, increase passenger numbers and help return the railway to a more sustainable financial position.

To put the scale of the opportunity into perspective, Rail Partners estimates that incentivisation could generate an additional £800m of revenue for the railway and HM Treasury.

Immediate action can also be taken to place decision making around marketing and promotional spend back into the hands of those closest to customers - the operating companies. There’s an understandable determination from government to reduce

“There remains an urgent need to accelerate the reform agenda” It’s no coincidence that operators like Grand Central have been more successful than their contracted counterparts in winning customers

costs, but it’s short-sighted not to consider the impact that cutting certain areas of spend might ultimately have on revenue.

The transport secretary himself has said that he wants DfT to take a step back from the day-to-day running of the railway. There’s no better argument for this than the recruitment processes that can be enforced on operators, where every job advertised, safety critical or otherwise, must be approved by DfT a process which can take weeks to complete.

All this does is create unnecessary bureaucracy that ultimately adds to costs and impacts the service provided to customers.

These lessons must be taken into account when the new public service contracts are created, because, as ever, the devil is in the detail. As we heard in the Bradshaw Address, managing directors of train operating companies must be given the freedom to manage and direct their businesses, focussing on the issues that really matter to customers rather than spending disproportionate time and resources on scoring regimes that have no bearing on the passenger experience.

Open access providers have clearly demonstrated the importance of empowering operators to make strategic commercial decisions. It’s no coincidence that operators like Grand Central and Lumo have been more successful than their contracted counterparts in winning customers back post-pandemic.

That’s why it’s so important that the role and contribution of open access operators is not just safeguarded but given the opportunity to grow as part of the wider reform agenda.

What we need is a twin-track approach, ensuring that the longer-term reform agenda stays on course and retains its momentum, while at the same time taking immediate action that will bring customers back to the railway. If we get this right, then the railway will be in the best position to deliver for passengers, the taxpayer and the economy as a whole.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR David Brown joined Arriva in September 2017 as Managing Director of Arriva Rail North and then as Arriva’s Group Communications Director before being appointed Managing Director UK Trains in October 2020. Prior to joining Arriva, he was Chief Executive of Transport for the North.

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22/03/2023 14:54

“It seems pretty clear that in cash terms the project will cost around £150-£200bn”

GREAT MINSTER GRUMBLES

Softening us up for even more HS2 cuts?

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

I can’t shake the feeling that the recent statement from our secretary of state, Mark Harper, on HS2 - that the London terminus will initially be at Old Oak Common not Euston, and that construction of the route from the West Midlands to Crewe will be delayed by two years to save costs - is a strategy for softening us up for more dramatic cutbacks to come. As regular readers will know, I’ve never been a big fan of HS2 even if I could recognise a long-term strategic case for it when demand for rail travel was growing.

One of the early justifications for the project was that the West Coast Main Line was full, at least on the southern section from the West Midlands to London. But in a post-pandemic world is that still the case, now that demand for rail travel has dropped significantly and home-working is here to stay?

Critics of the project have always questioned whether it had a robust business case, but I would guess that any business case that might have existed has been blown apart given the soaring costs and reduced demand for rail travel. By the time the project is finished in its current form - assuming it is - by the early 2040s it seems pretty clear that in cash terms the project will cost around £150-£200bn.

That is an obscene amount of money.

Think what improvements could be made to the “classic” network for a fraction of that.

I have a hunch that the decision to initially use Old Oak Common as the London terminus is just the first step in the process www.passengertransport.co.uk

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to drop Euston altogether. And what I don’t understand about the decision to delay the construction of the section from the West Midlands to Crewe is how it will save money.

By the time construction does start, two years later than planned, inflation will surely have pushed costs up, won’t it? I’m sorry, but the cynic in me suspects that the recent statement is not the end of the matter and that further announcements to descope the project will come.

That said, I can see politics getting in the way of any rational decision to either further descope the project or cancel it - or at least cancel everything north and east of the West Midlands. The closer we get to a general election the less likely it is that ministers will

COMMENT

want to make any negative announcement on HS2. And if (or perhaps that’s “when”) Labour wins the next election, will a new Labour government really want to make one of it’s first announcements that HS2 is to be further descoped? I doubt it, especially as it was a Labour government that gave the approval to HS2 in the first place back in 2010 before the election that year.

To my mind the circumstances today are so far removed from the situation at the time the project was approved by the then Labour transport secretary, Lord Adonis, that a complete rethink is surely required and entirely justified. To plough on with HS2 regardless, when costs have ballooned in the way they have, just seems to me to be the hight of irresponsibility. And it would be so easy to sweeten the pill for those in the north who would doubtless raise the roof in outrage at any decision to descope or cancel simply by giving them a large pile of cash to improve public transport in their regions - a pile of cash that would be very substantially smaller than the cost of HS2.

But will we ever get a government or an individual secretary of state brave enough to take what would be an entirely rational decision, and a decision that would be more than welcomed by large sections of the community? Sadly, I doubt it.

GBR HQ On to other matters. We have (at last) had the announcement on the new location for Great British Railways’ new headquarters congratulations to Derby! Hurrah! I wonder if this might be a signal that progress is finally being made with our rail reforms. I’ve heard it said that one of the reasons it has taken so long to make the announcement is because new ministers wanted to reflect on the type of organisation they wanted GBR to be and didn’t want to make any announcement on its HQ location until they had - all of which actually strikes me as entirely sensible, for once! But with this announcement out of the way, let’s hope we can crack on with implementing the rest of the reform proposals and, not least, get the necessary legislation into parliament shortly after the King’s Speech.

Further dither and delay will be no good for anyone! The rail legislation is written, so I’m told, so let’s get on with it!

24 March 2023 | 29

22/03/2023 14:54

CAREERS

Morgan takes the reins at Trentbarton parent Promotion follows retirement of Jeff Counsell last month Trentbarton commercial director Tom Morgan has stepped up to his new role as managing director for all of parent company Wellglade’s bus operations.

The move follows last month’s retirement of Trentbarton and Kinchbus managing director Jeff Counsell after almost half a century in the bus industry (PT284). Wellglade bus operators also include Midland General, Notts & Derby and TM Travel.

“It’s an honour to lead our wonderful teams, fronted by our friendly local drivers,” said Morgan. “Working across the group benefits all the operators and enables us to take advantage of closer co-operation.

FIRST BUS MAKES APPOINTMENTS New senior directors for Yorkshire operations First Bus has made two appointments to the senior leadership team of its North and West Yorkshire business. Andrew Cullen joins as managing director with Kayleigh Ingham taking up the role of commercial director.

Cullen succeeds Paul Matthews, who leaves at the end of March after nine years in the role. First Bus said Cullen is an expert in logistics, public sector and commercial vehicle markets and joins the bus operator from DHL Supply Chain. He also has bus industry experience from dealer Arriva Bus & Coach, where he was managing director and before that 30 | 24 March 2023 PT285p30-31.indd 30

“There is more and more crossover between fully commercial and supported services, and the group structure now means we are best placed to take advantage of all new opportunities regardless of their type.”

Morgan said Trentbarton and Kinchbus would remain a “major focus” but he intended to support

Tom Morgan

commercial director of its Arriva Transport Solutions arm.

Commenting on his appointment, Cullen said: “I’m joining the First Bus team at an exciting time for the business. There are great opportunities for us to continue to grow and succeed in the North and West Yorkshire regions. We are committed to further embed a highperformance, customer-first culture supported by our colleagues in all departments.”

Ingham has comprehensive knowledge of the travel and aviation industries and joins from Jet2Holidays where she worked as general manager in its overseas function. She also led on commercial strategy at London Luton Airport and previously held a lead commercial role for tour operator TUI.

the company’s managers and encourage them to think of the businesses as their own.

Morgan continued: “The number one challenge remains getting more people back on buses, so we will be building on our really strong relationships with our local councils to overcome the biggest obstacle we face - congestion.”

Wellglade chairman Brian King said Morgan had a wide experience of the bus companies in the group, having held various positions with the group over the last few years since he joined the business in 2009.

He continued: “Alongside the recent arrival of John Bickerton as group engineering director, the group is now better positioned for our operators to create synergies and seize new opportunities.”

“It’s a great time for the bus industry, with new opportunities to explore post-Covid and as we transition to zero-emissions,” said Ingham. “I’m excited to continue to build on our partnerships with regional and local authorities to grow a sustainable bus network, responsive to new travel patterns and customer requirements.”

Kayleigh Ingham (left) and Andrew Cullen

Claire Groves (left) with Ryan Cooper and Sinead Blackledge

TEAM EXPANSION FOR CMAC GROUP Quality and training focus for transport specialist Ground transport and accommodation specialist CMAC Group has expanded its quality and training expertise with the addition of two new team members, Sinead Blackledge and Ryan Cooper, in managerial positions. They will report to the recently appointed head of quality and training, Claire Groves.

Blackledge brings over a decade’s experience as a business educator and course director to her new role as prior to joining CMAC, she had returned as a course leader to Hugh Baird College, one of the largest providers of college and universitylevel education in the Merseyside area, where she’d previously spent over four years as a business and finance tutor.

Cooper takes on his new role after nine years working in the company’s operations department, with the last three spent managing a front-line team. CMAC said his experience of company systems, client needs, and those of their staff and passengers will be invaluable in his new role.

“The new recruits demonstrate CMAC’s approach to building skills and expertise across the company,” said chief operating officer Neil Micklethwaite. “We want to have people in place whose thinking and practice is truly reflective of what is going on in the wider world.” www.passengertransport.co.uk

22/03/2023 14:53

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

Keolis international CEO passes away Highly respected chief executive of French transport group’s international operations passed away on March 19 at the age of 62 French transport group Keolis has announced that Bernard Tabary, group chief executive in charge of its international operations, passed away on March 19 aged 62.

A highly respected manager and personality in the transport sector, Tabary started his career with French conglomerate Bollaré, where he held a number of management roles in transport and logistics, including vice chairman of marketing, quality and information systems, managing director of the group’s

Australia and New Zealand operations and director of the Africa region.

He joined Keolis in 2005 as as executive vice president in charge of eastern France and Ile-deFrance. In 2007, he was appointed managing director of Keolis Lyon, the Keolis subsidiary in charge of operating and maintaining Lyon’s public transport network.

He was appointed chief executive of the group’s international operations in 2011.

He was also president of the Australia France Business

Association, a member of the AREP (a SNCF subsidiary) board of directors, and had recently been elected to the UITP International Association of Public Transport’s board of directors.

“Bernard was massively appreciated by our colleagues, partners and clients with whom he worked tirelessly all around the world,” said Marie-Ange Debon, Keolis Group chair and chief executive. “Renowned for his enthusiasm for public transport and encyclopedic knowledge of the sector, Bernard was also

defined by his extraordinary energy and humanity. His oneof-a-kind personality, openmindedness and understanding of different cultures have been of immeasurable value for Keolis, where he has left a profound mark and will remain a reference for us all. Our grief is immense and our heartfelt thoughts are with Bernard’s family and loved ones.”

He is survived by his wife, children and grandson.

Bernard Tabary

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DIVERSIONS

Brampton: a tale of two railway stations

the Tyne Valley Community Rail Partnership.

The twinning was celebrated with the unveiling of a new mural at the Suffolk station painted by the children. Meanwhile, the Tyne Valley

partnership worked with students from Lanercost primary school in Cumbria to create a similar mural at their Brampton station.

Postcards have been created from both murals which the pupils have sent to each other to officially twin the two stations and hopefully launch a long-lasting friendship.

“We’re delighted that the station has officially been twinned with Brampton in Cumbria,” said Alan Neville, Greater Anglia’s community and customer engagement manager. “Both are lovely examples of rural stations at the heart of their communities and are ideal for tourists looking to discover new hidden gems too.”

Line between Pontypridd and Treherbert in the Welsh Valleys completely closed from April 30 until early 2024.

Modernisation of the line will sweep away the archaic Token signalling system that has been in use since the mid-19th century.

In fact, some of the equipment used on the line is believed to date back to the 1930s. It will now be removed and replaced with a modern, brand-new signalling system for the entire line as part of the South Wales Metro project.

“We know it’s going to be

hugely inconvenient while the line is closed between April and early 2024, but transforming the dated railway line and bringing it right up-to-date with a modern, electrified line will allow us to run more frequent services, giving the people of the Rhondda a rail service they deserve,” said Karl Gilmore, Transport for Wales rail infrastructure director.

However, the jury is still out as to whether the new high-tech signalling system will be as robust and as long-lived as the Token system that it replaces!

Schools link up to celebrate their stations Schoolchildren at Brampton Primary School in Suffolk have helped to twin their local rail station with another Brampton station located over 300 miles away in Cumbria.

The link between the two Brampton stations was facilitated by the East Suffolk Lines Community Rail Partnership, who work to promote Greater Anglia’s branch lines between Ipswich, Lowestoft and Felixstowe, and

‘Does it accept Nespresso capsules?’

MORE THAN A TOKEN GESTURE

Some of the oldest railway infrastructure in Wales is set for a complete transformation as part of the South Wales Metro upgrade which will see the Treherbert

Brampton: the Suffolk branch

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STEVE GETS ON HIS BIKE FOR CHARITY A Stagecoach bus driver from West Sussex is doing his bit for charity, and swapping the driver’s seat for the saddle, to embark on a gruelling bike ride to raise money for the Multiple Sclerosis Trust Steve Murphy, who is hoping to raise £1,500 for the charity, is taking part in the London to Paris cycle, a four-day course which covers a distance of 315 miles, capital-to-capital, in July.

“We are always happy to support and get behind our staff in their fundraising efforts and would like to commend Steve on his dedication to the MS Trust,” said Phil Escott, Stagecoach’s Chichester operations manager.

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