Wednesday October 10, 2012 Issue 1057 | ÂŁ2.95 www.coachandbusweek.com
COACH:
Shearings trials a pair of Irizar i6-bodied Scania coaches p4
SUPPLIER:
BUS:
Alcolock's relationship National Express UK with National Express' Bus MD Peter Coates coach division p34 on safer travel p28
DEPOT:
NatEx's part in the recently revamped Coventry network p38
for recruitment FOCUS ON
Dean Finch CEO: a rare interview
JOB ADVERTS EVERY WEEK
RECRUITNOW
p20
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Theoretical integration
C
alls for integratation between bus and rail at the Labour Party Conference are commendable, and it has to be said, hardly unexpected – given the political issues surrounding ‘control’ of networks. In theory at least, integratation sounds great. In areas with high frequency bus and rail services it should be fine, but in areas where services are sporadic, it’s decidedly more challenging. An oft forgotten practical consideration is what happens when a bus or train is late? Which one bears the brunt of the resultant performance impact? Build in too much slack and not only do you require more resource, you also reduce the attractiveness of a service. Advertising connections can be both a positive and a negative. Who pays for the substitute taxi for that missed connection? Urban areas may not be immune from such operational difficulties either. I believe bus stations in Greater Manchester for example, have stances
allocated on a time basis. Arrive too late and you miss your slot. That said, integration can work well. As a student I could, when the lecture timetable permitted, catch the train home from Birmingham to Gobowen (on the Shrewsbury – Chester line) on a Friday. I could then wait 15 minutes or so for an Arriva service into Oswestry bus station, before departing on a Tanat Valley service to my parents. On Monday morning, I could board the same Tanat service into Oswestry, before catching a National Express coach back to Birmingham, with a 20-minute connection. On a coaching note, I was interested to learn Shearings’ enthusastic response to the trial of a Scania Irizar i6. When I drove one back from Northern Spain in April last year, I too rated the type. I await to hear the winning bid with interest. Gareth Evans Editor
CONTENTS 4
28
44
The latest from across the coach and bus industry in the UK
12
An interview with UK Bus Managing Director Peter Coates
34
Steph Maher details her experience of the Nat Ex UK Bus programme
What’s happening across the country’s regions. Plus events diary
16
Director of Alcolock David Whittock on the firm’s relationship with NX
36
The story behind National Express’ oft-forgotten Scottish operation
Part 1 of our Nat Ex coverage with the first installment of its history
20
An artistic view of a Levante at Birmingham Coach Station
38
A lighthearted look at the industry. Plus Office Diary column
A face to face interview with the CEO of National Express Group
The benefits of partnership working at Nat Ex Coventry
All the latest people moves from across the industry
News
Regional News Nat Ex Intro Dean Finch
Face to Face
Supplier Profile The Big Picture
Operator Profile
Graduate Scheme
48
Nat Ex Dundee
69
Last Stop
70
People
The opinions and views expressed by authors and contributors within Coach & Bus Week are not necessarily those of the Editor or its publisher Coach and Bus Week Ltd.
For all the latest industry news and information, register with us online at:
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4 | COACH & BUS WEEK | October 10, 2012
news
“The art of running a good operation is reliability, cleanliness and value for money fares. You have to do it day in, day out.” Dean Finch National Express
briefly TfL is to recruit up to 100 graduate trainees. The roles are available in areas like engineering, project management and technical and corporate roles. Graduates will spend up to three years as trainees, joining teams at various sites in London. TfL has created 135 graduate roles in the last two financial years. Transport Commissioner Peter Hendy CBE said: “The industry needs highly motivated recruits and we can offer a fulfilling career with world class training. I know, I started as a graduate trainee in 1975.” Lothian Buses paid tribute to staff at its second annual awards ceremony. Around 250 employees congregated in The Hub on the Royal Mile last weekend for the presentation of 11 awards including Employee of the Year, Apprentice of the Year, Edinburgh’s Favourite Driver and Bus Driver of the Year. Over £800 was raised for its Charity of the Year - Lothian Austistic Society. Lothian Buses’ RIDACARD ambassador Grant Stott hosted the event, with entertainment from magician Kevin McMahon and the company’s male voice choir, B-us. MD Ian Craig said: “This year’s awards night gave us the opportunity to pay tribute and thank our team members for all their hard work.” Bus services in Jersey have stopped after workers walked out in protest at the terms of a new contract with CT Plus. Connex Jersey said the strike started on Monday morning. The walk-out is over changes to the contract for workers when CT Plus takes over in January. Jim McCartan from Unison said the strike action was indefinite and staff “had been backed into a corner”. He said: “We have been given a deadline of October 12 to sign this contract without negotiation, or else they are going to interview outsiders. That’s why we are on strike.” John Rogers, from Transport and Technical Services. said: “This [strike] is about money and overtime. It is money for a few drivers who are earning I believe an extortionate amount of money and doing too many hours every week driving a bus.”
News4,5.indd 4
Face to Face p20
FirstGroup optimistic about bus division Despite the challenging economic environment, the group said overall trading was in line with expectations FirstGroup claims it has seen the first signs of recovery in its UK bus business but warned there was considerable work to be done to turn round the underperforming division. The company said overall trading in the six months to September 30 was in line with expectations and reiterated its commitment to growing its dividend by 7% this year, despite the difficult economic environment. “While there is significant work to do we are satisfied with the progress of the actions we have taken, though we remain mindful of the uncertain economic backdrop,” said Chief Executive Tim O’Toole in a trading statement on Tuesday, October 2.
Shearings trials Scanias
Shearings has trialled a pair of Scania coaches as part of an evaluation process. The UK’s largest coach holiday operator has also evaluated a Volvo 9700, an MAN, a King Long and a Setra S415GT-HD and S416-GT-HD. It is believed Shearings has not operated a Scania coach since the early 1990s. “We’ve had a tri-axle Irizar i6bodied Scania on demonstration for six months in our livery, while National Holidays has evaluated a 12-metre two-axle variant. Shearings’ i6 has been operating mainly to Ireland and some fiveday tours,” explained Mick Forbs, Shearings Engineering Director. Asked how it has performed, he replied: “Mechanically, it’s been brilliant. The maintenance has been carried out by Scania, which has all been completed competently. To be honest, it’s a bullet-proof piece of kit. “We’ve still got the vehicle. Our
Mr O’Toole has admitted the challenges in the group’s UK and US bus businesses were greater than he had expected. In the past 18 months the company has twice sounded warnings about falling margins in these divisions, blaming rising fuel prices as well as pressure on public and consumer spending. FirstGroup expects the bus division in its domestic market to report a 2.5% increase in likefor-like passenger revenue on the back of improved revenue growth from the north of England and Scotland. The company is aiming to raise £100m by disposing of bus operations it has identified as nonperforming. Revenues in First Transit, which provides bus services in the US public sector, are expected to increase 3.2% on a like-for-like basis while the group’s school bus division is “set on the path to recovery”. While the group expects
operating margin in the school bus division to improve, it warned revenue, in US dollars and on a like-for-like basis, is expected to be down by 3.8%. The news of recovery will be welcomed after the DfT withdrew its decision to award the firm the West Coast rail franchise. Prior to having it withdrawn, FirstGroup said like-for-like passenger revenue in its UK rail division is expected to grow 8.1%. However, with all refranchising currently on hold, including First’s Great Western operation, its rail business is in a state of flux. Like-for-like revenue growth is expected to be 1.7% in the group’s Greyhound-branded coach business, which FirstGroup bought five years ago. Despite a contraction in the number of destinations offered in the UK, the group is rolling out new routes in the US this year.
Shearings has been operating an Irizar i6-bodied Scania in its fleet livery drivers like it in the main and the passengers love it, although they would prefer lap belts in place of three-point seatbelts. We’ve passed the feedback from our customers to Scania – they have never had that style of feedback previously.” Lee Wale, Account Manager at Scania (Great Britain) Limited told CBW: “It has been partnership between Scania and Shearings. The feedback from both drivers and
customers has helped us to develop a specification which best suits Shearings.” Mick concluded: “Scania has gone out of its way to show us what can be offered. They’ve done everything they said they would and more. “I have been most impressed with everyone from the Scania and Irizar organisations, the obvious passion they have for the product and the drive to take it forward.”
08/10/2012 20:05
October 10, 2012 | COACH & BUS WEEK | 5
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Transaid London to Paris bike ride raises £100k A 40-strong team has raised more than £100,000 for transport industry charity Transaid after completing a 326km Londonto-Paris cycle ride this weekend, sponsored by Bandvulc. The effort began in London on Friday morning, October 5, reaching the finish line beside the Eiffel Tower on Sunday evening, October 7. The team endured a day of torrential rain, a modest number of punctures, plenty of hills and one mechanical failure so severe that a participant – albeit one who had ridden the entire way on a Brompton folding bicycle – elected to run the last 2 km into Paris, all in the name of the charity. TfL Commissioner Peter Hendy CBE convinced 13 TfL staff to cycle to Paris and insisted on mending his own punctures, of which he had three on the first day. Gary Forster, CEO of Transaid, who also participated in the ride, said: “There was a broad mix of participants from across the transport industry, including representatives from some of the
RH Transport goes into administration Oxfordshire coach and bus operator RH Transport has ceased to operate ahead of an expected move into administration. The firm provided school
largest logistics and passenger transport companies in Europe. We’re lucky to have such support and grateful the challengers found the time to leave their jobs to put forth a tremendous effort to raise money for Transaid’s crucial cause.” Transaid’s cycle challenges have become famous across the industry;
since 2006 teams of supporters have saddled-up in Malawi, Kenya, Zambia, Tanzania and Madagascar, but this is the first time Transaid has run a cycle challenge so close to home. Next year, the charity is hosting a challenge in Uganda, with the funds continuing to reduce impacts of road crashes throughout the developing world. Forster says the enthusiasm generated on the London to Paris ride is also likely to lead to another European cycle challenge in the future.
The team included FTA President Stewart Oades, TfL Commissioner Peter Hendy, Transaid CEO Gary Forster, Chairman Graeme McFaull and Trustee Clare Bottle. There were also representatives from firms including Backhouse Jones, Bridgend Council and Price Waterhouse Coopers services on behalf of Oxfordshire County Council alongside private hire. A statement on its website confirmed the news and thanked customers for their business. Oxfordshire County Council had hoped to secure replacement services from other operators from October 8. It provided 30 school services in Oxfordshire and a number of commercial routes which ceased on October 5.
Oxford Bus Company will operate services from Water Eaton park-and-ride to the hospitals in Headington, with return services from the John Radcliffe Hospital to Water Eaton. It was announced that RH Transport season tickets are accepted on these services. Stagecoach will also extend some S5 journeys to the hospitals but RH passes are not valid on any Stagecoach-operated services.
Translink invests in MiX Telematics Northern Ireland public transport operator Translink has introduced MiX Telematics Fleet Manager onboard computers and optional RIBAS units on its entire Metro and Ulsterbus fleets. The operator awarded MiX Telematics a five-year contract to supply both the hardware and supporting reporting services with installation scheduled for completion by March 2013. The system was also used on more than 90 vehicles supplied for London 2012. The tracking function provided real-time information on the whereabouts of each vehicle to provide locational data in the event of roadside assistance being required. Translink Services Coordinator Hugh Scott said: “The decision was taken after a three-year evaluation backed by rigorous tendering. We were content with what we saw and what the system can deliver. We are currently in the build-up phase, which will see vehicles at 26 of our depots equipped with the system. The device will integrate into our ticketing system, providing details on which drivers are driving which vehicles. “We also expect to build a driver development programme around the system to help and encourage our drivers get the best from their vehicles. In addition, we will use the real time tracking provided by the system to give our depots complete visibility as to where their fleets are at all times.”
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6 | COACH & BUS WEEK | October 10, 2012
news › BUSeS
23m
The number of bus passenger journeys made in Coventry each year
briefly West Midlands independent bus operator Hansons has launched a website, which can be found at www.hansonslocalbus. co.uk. The site provides details of routes and service updates – in addition to an enthusiasts’ section. Transport for Greater Manchester’s weekly school bus pass is dropping from £8.50 to £7 from Monday October 29. TfGM agreed to make the change in response to First Manchester’s decision to cut the cost of its weekly child ticket in the same way. TfGM is responsible for providing almost 400 school bus services by paying operators to run them. On the majority of these services TfGM sets the fares. Councillor Mark Aldred, Chairman of the Bus Network and TfGM Services Sub-Committee, said: “First has taken a step in the right direction here and I’m pleased we’re in a position to follow suit. First Manchester has been criticised for having some of the highest bus fares in Greater Manchester and I trust that this move signals a change in approach which will ensure their services are more affordable, and therefore more attractive, to the communities they serve.” Plans for two BRT projects in Bristol have been challenged by opposition politicians. The Liberal Democrat-led city council wants to operate the routes but Conservatives argued the cabinet decision to spend more than £4.5m on it was “premature”. The call-in means the decision has to be further discussed by the authority, possibly in November. Conservative leader Peter Abraham and Councillor Geoff Gollop said their call-in on part of the cabinet’s decision was issued on the grounds of a failure to properly consult and “an obvious lack of clarity revealed in the decision-making process”. Deputy council leader, Dr Jon Rogers, labelled the moves as “scandalous and irresponsible”. He said: “If, as is very possible, this call-in cannot be held until late November at the earliest, it will load several hundred thousand pounds on to the cost of the BRT project – possibly, up to £1m.” www.coachandbusweek.com
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2002
The year National Express launched its first wheelchair-accessible coach
Re-regulation of public transport debated at Labour conference The panel of industry experts and politicians held the debate before an audience of professionals and labour members, discussing the effects of greater integration The turmoil caused by the cancellation of the West Coast rail franchise decision ensured the Labour Conference Transport Hub hosted by The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT), in Manchester was very timely. A panel of industry experts and politicians appeared before an audience of transport professionals and Labour members at the Institute’s Transport Hub event. Sir David Rowlands CB, former permanent secretary at the DfT and currently Chairman of Gatwick Airport and Angel Trains, chaired the discussion. On the panel were Lilian Greenwood MP, Shadow Transport Minister; Stephen Joseph OBE, CEO, Campaign for Better Transport and Martin Dean, Managing Director – Bus Development, Go-Ahead Group. The debate discussed issues of franchising and whether the pre1986, highly-regulated, local public
transport market was better able to respond to the need for more integrated public transport and the introduction of smart ticketing. Shadow Transport Minister, Lilian Greenwood, emphasised the need for integrated bus and rail services, through accountable local transport authorities. She acknowledged this might mean Bus Deregulation Exemption Zones would have to be created in some areas to ensure local authorities
Martin Dean, Managing Director of Bus Development at Go-Ahead Group, warned against the greater role of public authorities
Travel de Courcey wins environmental award Coventry-based bus and coach operator Travel de Courcey has picked up the Environmental accolade in the Birmingham Post Business Awards 2012. The company was chosen for the award on account of its new fastcharging electric buses. It launched three of the zero-emission vehicles on the Park & Ride South shuttle service at the War Memorial Park, Coventry, on June 12. Mike de Courcey, Managing Director of Travel de Courcey, said: “It is a huge honour to win this award and fantastic recognition for the whole team at Travel de Courcey.
“We are committed to investing in green technology for the benefit of our passengers, the environment and our industry. “Our launch of the electric buses is just one environmental initiative we are undertaking to achieve reductions in fuel and carbon emissions, but hugely significant as a first for the UK.” The award was presented in front of almost 600 guests at a glittering ceremony celebrating the best in business in the West Midlands. It was held at Edgbaston Stadium, Birmingham, on October 4 and was hosted by broadcaster
can take control without being left completely exposed financially. On the lively subject of existing passenger transport companies tendering to operate routes on behalf of local transport authorities through Quality Partnerships, Lilian looked to the continent. “Tendering is not controversial overseas,” she said. “In Denmark partnerships between authorities and tendered transport suppliers works well.” She reassured the audience that Labour’s new local transport plans would not be like the de-regulation of the buses in 1986, ‘when everything was thrown in the air under the Tories’. “Passengers want affordability and convenience,” she said. She stressed Labour was not looking for a return to the past, but the creation of regional transport partnerships with local transport authorities. “Government should then let authorities get on with the job,” she said. Go-Ahead’s Martin Dean pointed out that his company operates rail franchises as well as bus services and had everything to gain through better integration. However, he cautioned against a greater role for local authorities in local passenger
Travel de Courcey launched its electric buses on June 12 Jeremy Vine. It follows Travel de Courcey winning the Customer Service title at this year’s Coventry Telegraph Business Awards, having been awarded Green Business of the Year in 2011.
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The number of hybrid buses National Express is purchasing in Q1 of 2013 transport provision. “With local authorities in charge of public transport, it would have to compete for attention with things like healthcare, education, bin services etc,” he explained. Under the current arrangement bus operators take the financial risk; but under the introduction of Quality Contracts, local authorities would take revenue risks. Unlike experienced operators they cannot balance profit on some routes against losses on others, as a company such as FirstGroup can do between its operations, he said. Stephen Joseph, of the Campaign for Better Transport, said the core of the debate is what kind of cities do you actually want? He too referred to the Continent, where he said a week’s transport smart card gave free access to museums in Stockholm. Stephen called for UK towns to follow the Continental example of priority for public transport. He is involved in a new scheme in St Albans which has brought together five transport operators and already improved student usage by 20% this year. Sir David Rowlands summed up by asking ‘Why would anyone not want an integrated transport system?’ He emphasised that regional policy fits well into the continuing move towards localism. It is regrettable, he emphasised, that transport areas seldom fit around local authority boundaries, leading to a disconnect between local government and logical transport integration. He suggested that along with buses, the rail budget should be devolved more locally.
Industry share prices at the close of the Stock Exchange on Monday, October 8. Stagecoach saw the greatest proportional rise while FirstGroup saw the greatest proportional drop. Most figures obtained from www.iii.co.uk
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The Citaros are the first buses of their kind to serve under Arriva Midlands
£2.5m investment in new Citaros for Arriva Midlands Arriva Midlands has invested £2.5m in 17 Euro 5 Mercedes-Benz Citaros, which began operating on Saturday October 6. The buses were officially launched by Regional Managing Director Alex Perry, who was joined by local MP Christopher Pincher, council officials and Tamworth’s Lady Mayoress during a special event at Drayton Manor Park on Friday October 5. Alex Perry said: “Introducing these new vehicles will increase capacity on popular routes while making it easier and more comfortable for passengers to travel with us, providing an improved journey experience overall.” The Citaros are the first of their kind to enter service with Arriva Midlands, although the firm operates ex-London articulated
Brighton & Hove names RML2317 after Colin Curtis Brighton & Hove (B&H) has named its Routemaster RML2317 after Colin Curtis, who is closely associated with the development of the iconic London bus. Colin Curtis died aged 86 last month after a career spanning a lifetime in the bus industry. Colin was born in Brighton and had an early association with Brighton Hove & District (the forerunner of B&H). In the early war years, during his school holidays, Colin obtained work at the Conway Street depot. Although his career took him to AEC in 1947 and then to London Transport,
-2.30
he always took a keen interest in the Brighton-based firm. In recent times following his retirement, he made visits to Conway Street to keep in touch. He was delighted when the company acquired a Routemaster as it was the bus which epitomised his work, having spent many years with a team working on prototypes to develop the famous London bus in the 1950s and 1960s. “We hope Colin’s name on this very special bus will be a fitting tribute to a very clever engineer and busman,” said Roger French, MD of Brighton & Hove.
versions in Leicester. The company said it was keen to give them a try to test the manufacturer’s claims about reduced whole life costs. In addition to a comprehensive specification including CCTV, bookleaf boarding ramp wheelchair access and driver assault screens, they are equipped with GreenRoad telematics and driver behaviour monitoring. Alex Perry added: “Although Citaros are new to us, we do have some experience of them within the group. I recently spent some time with DB in Germany. They have vast numbers of Citaros and are very happy with them – so I’m confident they will deliver improved economy and reduced emissions while providing attractive, reliable and comfortable transport for our passengers.”
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FTSE 100
5,832
Colin Curtis died last month after a lifetime in the bus industry
Index: Year High: 6,103 Year Low: 4,791
+25 on last week
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8 | COACH & BUS WEEK | October 10, 2012
news › coaches
briefly Improvement work on the M606 junction 2 (Euroway) northbound exit slip road near Bradford which began October 8 is expected to last until October 23. The work includes installing new traffic signals and improving signing and visibility at the junction. Work takes place overnight between 2000 and 0600hrs, on week nights only. In order to carry out these works it has been necessary to close the northbound exit slip road at junction 2. Signed diversion routes are in place. Resurfacing of the southbound carriageway of the A19 in South Tyneside began October 10. The work, taking place between the A194 Lindisfarne Interchange and Testos roundabout, is expected to last until October 20. There are overnight closures of the southbound carriageway, Sundays to Fridays, between 2000 and 0600 with clearly signed diversion routes in place. Southbound traffic is diverted on to the A194 westbound to White Mare Pool Roundabout and then on the A184 eastbound to rejoin the A19 at Testos roundabout. During the day a 50mph speed limit remains in operation for safety reasons as a temporary road surface is in place. A programme of repair work on the Boston Manor viaduct which carries the M4 in west London has been substantially completed and the temporary weight restriction between junctions 1 and 3 has been removed. All eligible vehicles are now able to use the motorway between the junctions. The work began in May after a routine inspection found cracks in the structure and a temporary weight restriction was put into operation so the work could be carried out safely. The remaining work to complete the repairs, which includes painting parts of the structure, will be carried out without the need for restrictions on the M4. The M48 closure planned for the weekend of October 5-8 2012 is postponed until the weekend of November 2-5, 2012. www.coachandbusweek.com
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Yelloways Motor Coach Museum Many in the Greater Manchester region have fond memories of the now defunct coach firm The Yelloways Motor Coach museum, an original 1970s Duple Dominant-bodied AEC Reliance full of YellowaY (sic) memorabilia, helped attract a record number of visitors to Rochdale borough’s Heritage Open Days last month. The vehicle, which is normally based in the Bury Transport Museum, enjoyed 100 visitors on the first day when it was Rochdale Town Centre. Visitor numbers
climbed to 160 on the second day following a slot on North West Tonight and BBC Radio Manchester. Overall, it was the most visited attraction of 38 venues which were open across the borough for the event. Visitors climbed aboard to share memories and look at old timetables, advertising posters from the 40s and 50s as well as stacks of old models and photos featuring YellowaY coaches from 1910 to 1980. Paul Blackburn, who bought the coach museum earlier this year,
The Duple-bodied AEC Reliance is now a mobile museum
Jason Edwards highly commended Commercial Director, Jason Edwards of Pontypridd-based family-run operator Edwards Coaches was highly commended in the Institute of Directors’ (IoD) UK awards in the Family Business Director of the Year category. The lunchtime awards ceremony was held on Friday (October 5) at the Lancaster London hotel, Hyde Park, London and was hosted by Michael Portillo. The IoD, a non-party political organisation with approximately 38,000 members in the United
Kingdom and overseas, aims to represent the interests of its members to key opinion-formers at the highest levels. The family run firm claim to be the largest independently owned Coach Tour operator in Wales. Speaking to CBW about the awards, Jason said: “We were the only transport company here, so it’s great for our industry to get recognised like this. It’s still a fantastic achievement, when I reflect on it. Michael Portillo was an excellent MC. It was very daunting getting up on stage as I’m not really that sort of person, I’m more likely to be found in the back office. I was most impressed by the fact that I was nominated by my Bank Manager.” “We didn’t take the silver ware this year, but there’s always next year,” he mused.
was overwhelmed by the response he received during the Heritage Open Day Weekend. He said: “I was really impressed with the sheer number of people who came along to have a look around and share their memories. Many of them had worked for the company and many more had really happy memories of trips on the YellowaYs, including one woman, who used to take her cat on board with her. It’s clear that the YellowaYs name is still really popular in the North West and plays a big part in people’s memories of growing up and working in the region.” YellowaY Motor Services was run by Herbert Allen and his son Hubert from Weir Street in Rochdale between until 1985. The company began as Holt Brothers in 1910 and in 1932 Herbert Allen took over and the renowned YellowaY name was born. Courtesy Coaches in Chadderton, Oldham now trade under the YellowaY name, but the original company eventually ceased trading in 1988. Tim Nuttall, Tourism Officer at Rochdale Borough Council, said: “Coaching holidays a huge part of the social history of our country. To many people, YellowaY was much more than a coach, it was the start of a big adventure and the chance to see places which had only ever existed in people’s imagination. It was a coup for us to welcome this unique piece of our cultural history and we’re pleased so many people climbed aboard.”
Customer Charter for NatEx
As part of UK Customer Service Week National Express officially launched its first Customer Charter which outlines service and commitment to passengers in the UK. Coach stations across Britain organised special events as part of the week, which ran between Monday and Friday last week and a group of ‘customer service ambassadors’ were selected to be the face of the company in their regions. View the online customer charter at: http://tinyurl. com/9y8bo2u
08/10/2012 20:13
October 10, 2012 | COACH & BUS WEEK | 9
“No one likes sitting next to a fare dodger. We’ve got some old fashioned ticket inspectors working on the buses.” Peter Coates National Express
New Irizar i6 for Woods Coaches
the company. This year alone, we have won two tourism awards, and we make it our business to provide our customers with top-quality coaches. “But I thought it was time to treat ourselves to the company’s first new coach for a while and the Irizar i6 impressed me from the first time I saw it. It is great to drive and delivers a very high standard of comfort for our passengers. But it’s here to make a profit, too, and I believe we will get a high degree of reliability and great aftersales service from the Irizar UK set-up in Worksop.”
Award-winning operator Woods Coaches of Leicester has taken delivery of a new Irizar i6, the company’s first new coach for 30 years. The 12.9-metre 53-seat integral replaces a 2005 Neoplan Starliner and comes with climate control, two-screen DVD/media player, hot drinks console, toilet and fridge. It has DAF Paccar’s 12.9-litre 360bhp engine meeting Euro 5 emissions standards, and Woods has selected the ZF AS Tronic 12-speed automated gearbox. In addition, it has a liveryharmonised blue fabric with piping edges for the seating, and leather headrest inlays. As standard, the coach has LED strip lighting along the aircraft-style overhead lockers and along the aisle, with overhead reading lights. Externally, the coach has LED daytime running lights. Managing Director Kevin Brown said: “Woods has had a policy of buying late used vehicles for its fleet, and this has never hampered
Irizar UK Managing Director, Steve O’Neill, said he was honoured to have supplied Woods’ first new coach: “I know Kevin and his team have a reputation for delivering a quality service to their customers, and for him to select an i6 from a very competitive marketplace says a great deal about the product. “Going forward, Woods can depend upon a two-year comprehensive warranty backed up by our Masterparts stock here in Worksop, staffed by coach people, and specialised support for components from our multi-tiered network of service agents.”
Steve O’Neill (right) hands over the i6 to Kevin Brown and Ian Trigg
CPT annual Coaching Conference
Kicking off at 1000hrs with registration and coffee the event is free of charge to all CPT members. After a welcome from Chris Owens, Chairman, CPT Coach Commission who is acting as Facilitator, there are a number of speakers throughout the morning including Steven Meyerhoff, Director & Head of Employment, Backhouse Jones, Peter Hearn, Director of Scheme Management & External Relations,
CPT’s popular annual Coaching Conference, which is again being sponsored and hosted by Volvo in Warwick, takes place on Tuesday, October 23.
£750
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VOSA and Colin Moore, Technical & Operations Executive, CPT. After lunch, the conference continues with Adrian Wickens, Product Planning Manager, Volvo Bus giving a presentation entitled “40 years in the UK and on into the Future”. Other speakers in the afternoon include Alf Scrimgour, Operations & Tourism Executive, CPT, Cathy Summers, Coaching Executive, CPT and Steven Salmon,
M&A Coaches takes over Bus Eireann route Ballyragget-based Irish firm M&A Coaches is taking over the Urlingford to Portlaoise route to South Laois which was eliminated from the Bus Eireann timetable. Routes and fares are being formalised but the service will run by the end of the month. A temporary Bus Eireann service operates until then, running six times a day from Monday to Saturday. M&A Coaches owner Michael Dowling said: “We have to work out our bus times, how many runs we will do and the fares, but they will probably stay the same as they are.” Michael G Phelan from the Bus Service Action Committee (BSAC) said: “The company is well known in the area and a well grounded business. It is great that somebody local has got it as well.” Travel passes won’t be valid for the new private service, but the BSAC is seeking government aid. Director of Policy Development, CPT. At 1450hrs there is an ‘Operator experience’ from Arriva entitled “Open Debate on London 2012 and a Coaching Legacy?” To close, there is a Q & A session followed by a round up by Chris Owens. The event finishes at 1600.
Members wishing to attend should contact CPT on 020 7240 3131
Contains 100% compliance Long lasting protection L
email: julia.davies@backhouses.co.uk www.coachandbusweek.com
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news
Standardised smartcard plans for Scotland The Scotland-wide smartcard aims to build upon other ticketing schemes introduced by the Scottish Government The Scottish Government is planning to introduce a Scotlandwide travel smartcard for use across its public transport networks. The ‘Saltire Card’ will allow passengers to pre-load money which they can use on trains, buses, ferries, subway and trams throughout Scotland. Promotions such as cut-price travel and flexible pricing will also be available on the smartcard. Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon launched the delivery plans for the scheme at Glasgow’s Buchanan Bus Station. Ms Sturgeon, who was also speaking at the Scottish Cities Forum, said: “The Saltire Card will be a hugely exciting development for transport in Scotland and will help us achieve a truly world-class public transport network. “It will make it easier, more attractive and possibly cheaper for people to get around using public transport and will help further connect our cities. “While we are aware there is still some work to do on this proposal, we are now taking the first steps towards achieving this vision by launching a series of demonstrator schemes with a number of operators and public sector
Improvements to Transdev Unibus in York Unibus Route 44 in York, which runs up to every 10 minutes at busy times, has been extended to Stamford Bridge and Dunnington, offering a direct link to the University of York for the first time. Each weekday, Stamford Bridge and Dunnington is served by four journeys in the morning peak, two journeys at lunchtime and four www.coachandbusweek.com
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partners throughout the country. “Bus operators are already smartcard-enabled and many are already working in partnership with Transport Scotland to see how they can fully realise the benefits of the technology and how they can integrate with other operators to share those benefits with passengers.” The Scottish Government has already funded the provision of 7,000 smart-enabled ticket machines across the Scottish bus fleet and runs the Scotland-wide concessionary travel scheme on a smart platform. This is the biggest example of a bus smart ticketing scheme outside of London, with over 1 million cardholders and 146 million journeys per year across
Scotland’s 260 bus operators. Transport Scotland is currently working with operators, local authorities and Regional Transport Partnerships on a number of demonstrator projects. Details will soon be announced of pilot schemes in local areas. Ms Sturgeon launched the plans with bus company West Coast Motors. The firm’s MD Colin Craig said: “We look forward to working with Transport Scotland in developing a Scotland-wide smart card and, as part of this, we will continue our investment in the latest ticketing technology, ensuring our customers are best placed to take advantage of the benefits smart ticketing should bring including possible offers on fares.”
Transport Scotland is working with operators on demonstrator schemes journeys to take people home in the evening peak. Throughout the week, extra early morning and evening journeys were introduced between the city centre and the university following requests from passengers and the withdrawal of journeys by another bus company. Unibus is now the only service providing a frequent, free link between the university campuses. A new smartphone app has also been launched which provides realtime information on its buses and free WiFi has been installed on the Unibus fleet. Because of these improvement measures, achieved in partnership
with Transdev and the University of York, Unibus has been shortlisted in the UK Bus Awards, held November 20 at London’s Hilton Hotel. Fiona Macey, the University of York’s Travel Plan Co-ordinator, said: “Working in partnership with Transdev is delivering real benefits for both students and the wider community. Unibus provides a first-class service which is already receiving national recognition.” Kallum Taylor, the University of York’s Student Union President, added: “We look forward to working with them over the coming years in maintaining and enhancing the delivery of transport to and from the University of York.”
James Newby, University of Surrey, (left) with Kevin Hawkins, Arriva
Arriva and University of Surrey renew partnership Arriva Southern Counties has renewed its partnership with the University of Surrey at Guildford and is now providing an improved service between the main campus with Manor Park and the Sports Park. Buses run every 10 minutes Mondays to Fridays between the campus, university accommodation and the sports facilities, with a 20-minute frequency on Saturdays. There is also a 10-minute service from the university into the town centre. Arriva’s Guildford network is integrated with the university services. A number of changes have been introduced which Arriva claims will help improve reliability and make the services easier to understand. James Newby, Director of Traded Services and Business Support for the University of Surrey, said: “The University is delighted with the new arrangements it has agreed with Arriva. We are particularly pleased the new arrangements have delivered fare reductions coupled with service improvements for our students.” The new University link service, the 38, will normally be provided by a Volvo B7TL/Transbus ALX400 which has a special livery featuring the university’s stag logo to publicise the partnership. Arriva’s Regional Publicity Manager Richard Lewis said: “We are delighted to be continuing our relationship with the University of Surrey and we’re pleased to have made improvements to our services which will benefit those studying and working at the university.”
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news › REGIONAL
NORTHERN IRELAND
A multi-agency group is being set up to tackle traffic congestion in Belfast city centre after the introduction of controversial new bus lanes. Set up following talks between politicians and senior Department for Regional Development (DRD) officials, the group consists of the DRD, Roads Service, the police, Translink, city centre traders and the council. The group will meet at least every fortnight over two months. Lord Mayor Gavin Robinson, who chaired the meeting, said: “By bringing together these key players we will aim to address the issues our residents and those who work in the city have brought to us. “Our aim is to encourage all agencies to work together so greater access to Belfast and increased footfall is achieved. “We will meet every fortnight, or more often if necessary, to ensure a full flow of communications and to ensure current frustrations are conveyed to the relevant stakeholders.” Motorists have complained of added delays following the introduction of the traffic measures just over two weeks ago, but Stormont Transport Minister Danny Kennedy has urged people to give the scheme time to settle in.
NORTH
Durham County Council has completed the re-tendering of its supported bus services worth £3.3m in the south, centre and east of the county. About 15% has been awarded to Arriva, 13% to Go North East and 73% to smaller operators including Scarlet Band, Hodgsons and Weardale Motor Services. The changes will see some new routes launched to provide direct links from Trimdon Village, Trimdon Grange, Trimdon Colliery and Deaf Hill. Arriva North East is also planning to improve frequency on a number of commercial routes, including services between Peterlee, Durham and Hartlepool. Councillor Neil Foster said: “Despite a variation in the tender prices, we are able to ensure the overall cost is in line with last year.” Tom Dodds, Stakeholder Manager at Go North East, said from October 28, the firm will be operating most of the Monday to Friday daytime East Durham www.coachandbusweek.com
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Coach & Bus Week takes a look at the big issues where you live in our round-up of the regions. If you’ve got a local issue you’d like us to cover, contact James Day on james. day@coachandbusweek.com.
KEY
SCOTLAND NORTHERN IRELAND REP OF IRELAND NORTH WALES MIDLANDS EAST LONDON SOUTH EAST SOUTH WEST
services around Peterlee on a commercial basis, saving the County Council about £200,000 a year. The firm has also won a new contract for the evening service 239 between Easington Village, Peterlee and Sedgefield. Nick Knox, Area Managing Director for Arriva North-East, said: “We have not been successful in some of the tenders we submitted. “However, as part of the revised arrangements, we will be introducing some new routes, including a service which will provide direct links from Trimdon Village, Trimdon Grange, Trimdon Colliery and Deaf Hill. “Also, we will improve frequency on a number of commercial routes, including a service between West Auckland and Durham, service 43 between Esh Winning and Durham, services between Peterlee, Durham and Hartlepool, and between Coxhoe, Bowburn and Durham.” Digital and brand design consultancy Studio North has created and developed a bespoke campaign to launch Stagecoach Manchester’s Unirider ticket. The Unirider, which can be purchased on an annual or term by term basis, allows students unlimited travel at any time on a number of Stagecoach and Magic Bus routes in Manchester. The city-wide campaign includes bus advertising, posters, leaflets, online advertising, affiliate marketing, email marketing and
exhibition stands at key university buildings. The core thinking and messaging is based on feedback from students, 99% of which said they would recommend Unirider. Studio North has also developed a set of artwork templates which other regions have adopted and are now tailoring to suit their own requirements. Richard Lowe, Senior Account Manager at Studio North, said: “Starting a new university course can be a daunting prospect and travel is a must. Unirider is a great option so our job has been to spread that message across the student community.” Karen Coventry, Marketing Manager at Stagecoach Manchester, said: “Unirider is a strong brand amongst students in Manchester but we know getting it on the radar for new students is vital to its long term success. We asked our existing customers what they liked about Unirider and we were then able to ensure the key message of it being ‘essential to students’ was central to all our print and web based communications. “We are pleased with the results so far and will conduct a full analysis in November once the initial sales period closes.”
SOUTH EAST
The Thames Valley Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership (TVB LEP) has been awarded a grant of £1.5m from
the Government’s Growing Places Funds to revamp Bracknell’s bus station. Steve Lamb, Chairman of TVB LEP and senior Director at Oracle, said: “We have already allocated funds to several projects and have some very exciting initiatives underway including this Bracknell infrastructure project. “The injection of the fund will help the Thames Valley region be more innovative, productive and attractive for business as we focus on building the infrastructure that will deliver economic prosperity in the area for the next 30 years.” Bracknell Forest Councillor Marc Brunel-Walker said: “This is great news for Bracknell Forest and another positive step forward in the future of Bracknell town centre’s regeneration. The money will help with much needed infrastructure work to the town centre - including the bus station, which is a vital transport hub for the town.” Helen Barnett, Marketing Manager for Bracknell Regeneration Partnership, said: “I am delighted Thames Valley Berkshire LEP is awarding this money to Bracknell to help with the town centre regeneration. We will spend a large part of this money on much needed works to the bus station.”
LONDON
Free travel for over 60s on the capital’s transport system has been reintroduced. The government raised the eligibility age for free travel in line with the state retirement age for women from 2010 meaning people had to be at least 61 to qualify. Mayor Boris Johnson pledged to lower the age of eligibility for all Londoners to 60 and from November 1, Transport for London (TfL) is introducing the new 60+ Oyster Photocard which will be funded with £20m from TfL’s budget in its first year. The scheme allows free travel on all TfL services and some national rail services 24 hours a day, seven days a week, from the user’s 60th birthday. Like the existing Freedom Pass, it will also allow passengers free travel outside of morning peak hours on other national rail services in the capital. Application for the 60+ Oyster Photocard, which includes a £10 fee, begins on October 17. More than 100,000
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applications are expected with a further 10,000 Londoners expected to become eligible for the scheme each month. People living in England are entitled to a bus pass giving free off-peak travel on local buses once they reach the eligible age but The Freedom Pass for people living in Greater London goes further, allowing free travel on the entire TfL network. Boris Johnson said: “Londoners who have grafted all their lives and expected to receive free travel on retirement just as those before them quite rightly felt cheated when the age escalator removed the Freedom Pass from their grasp.”
TfL has opened up a consultation for route 275. Following discussions with London Borough of Redbridge, it is proposing to divert the route via Chigwell Road to Manor Road instead of via Cross Road towards Barkingside. The service has been experiencing delays in both Chigwell Road and Cross Road due to parked cars. TfL believes the change would decrease journey times for through passengers travelling towards Barkingside. It is asking for views on the proposed change by Friday November 2.
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
The Young Bus Managers Network Conference takes place on October 23-24. Roger French & Gillian Merron are seen at the 2011 event
2012 n October 14 Midland Red Centenary of the Reintroduction of Motorbuses. The Transport Museum, Wythall, near Birmingham.
www.wythall.org.uk
2013
n October 18 CILT Annual Awards for Excellence Dinner. London. 01536 740104. www.ciltuk.org.ukk
n January 1 New Year’s Holiday Open Day. Oxford Bus Museum. 01993 883617. www. oxfordbusmuseum.org.uk
n October 20-21 Heritage Bus Service Weekend. Museum of Transport Greater Manchester, Boyle Street, Cheetham. Featuring MetroCammell and Weymann bodied buses, 10-1700hrs. 0161 205 2122. www.gmts.co.uk
Merseytravel has concluded a three-month trial of a Remote Ticket Download (RTD) smartcard system which it aims to develop in conjunction with the full release of its Walrus smartcard next year. Developed in a joint venture with Ecebs Technology, the system allows customers to download tickets on to smartcards instantly through a reader attached to a PC. The trial consisted of two products - Pay As You Go (PAYG) for bus and Rail pass for Rail. Merseyrail operator Abellio is also an active partner in the trial. The RTD trial was timed to link in with Merseytravel’s Walrus Rewards programme which, based on customer research, aims to improve the Walrus card. In addition, Merseytravel will use the data from the scheme to track spend and usage, to drive engagement with different customer segments, map customer journeys and to incentivise and reward touch technology usage. Cllr Liam Robinson, Chairman of Merseytravel, said: “Response to the Remote Ticket Download (RTD) trial has been overwhelmingly positive and we can see many benefits, not just for individual customers but for the travelling public as a whole – reducing queuing, for example. Merseytravel has always believed in innovation and this is a very good example.” Helen Mitchell, Merseytravel’s Head of Smart & Integrated Ticketing, added: “Benefits of the RTD solution will not only be for travelling customers but our extensive retail network will be able to use the system. We are already looking forward to how it can be rolled out in our forthcoming school transport trial.” Mel Pashley, Strategic Account Director at Ecebs, commented: “RTD is Ecebs’ ITSO-certified delivery mechanism for the Merseytravel Walrus pilot. This is the first time anyone has been able to provide ‘ITSO in the cloud’ in a commercial environment and we are delighted with the response to the trial and also with the vision of Merseytravel and Abellio to bring this to market.” Full evaluation of the RTD system will be carried out before comprehensive implementation in 2013.
n November 20-21 ATCO Winter Conference 2012. Local Government Association House, London, SW1. Will include AGM. www.atco.org.uk
n October 21 The Very Best of London Buses. Brooklands, Surrey. Featuring 50 years of Routemaster buses. London Bus Museum. www.londonbusmuseum.com n October 23 CPT Coaching Conference. Volvo HQ, Warwick. Further details will be published in due course. Call CPT on 020 7240 3131. www.cpt-uk.org n October 23-24 Young Bus Managers Network October Conference. Novotel, Leeds. www. youngbusmanagers.org.uk n October 24-25 Trapeze UK User Conference 2012. Radisson Hotel, Manchester Airport. 08445 616771. www.trapezegroup.co.uk n November 6-8 Euro Bus Expo. NEC, Birmingham. 01926 834790. www.eurobusxpo.com n November 15 CPT Northern Bus Summit. Manchester Conference Centre. Details from contact CPT NW Regional Manager Phillipa Sudlow on phillipas@cpt-uk.org. n November 20 UK Bus Awards London Hilton Park Lane. www.ukbusawards.org.uk
n January 1 Annual King Alfred Running Day, Winchester. Further information from www. fokab.org.uk n March 13-14 Best of Britain and Ireland (BoBi). Travel Trade Forum at the NEC in Birmingham. 01926 834796. www. bestofbritainandirelandevent.co.uk n March 20-21 UK Bus Awards Annual Conference. Sir Brian Souter has accepted our invitation to speak at the conference dinner. Venue to be confirmed, but will be in Central London. www. ukbusawards.org.uk n April 6 South East Bus Festival 2013. Kent Showground, near Maidstone, Kent, brought to you by the organisers of ‘M&D 100’ and ‘M&D and EK 60’. www.facebook. com/southeastbusfestival n April 9-11 CV Show 2013. NEC, Birmingham. www.cvshow.com n May 26-30 UITP Congress & Exhibition. Palexpo, Geneva. www.uitp.org. +(00)32 2673 610 n July 21 Alton Bus Rally. Anstey Park, Anstey Lane, Alton, Hants. www.altonbusrally.org.uk
Send your event details to gareth.evans@ coachandbusweek.com
www.coachandbusweek.com
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16 | COACH & BUS WEEK | October 10, 2012
GROUP PROFILE › NATIONAL EXPRESS
National Express Part 1 Coach & Bus Week’s Editor Gareth Evans sets the scene for the first part of the in-depth look at National Express, which includes interviews with CEO Dean Finch and a look at operations in Coventry and Dundee www.coachandbusweek.com
Natex.Intro1.indd 16
W
elcome to first part of the in-depth look at National Express Group. As with our examinations of Stagecoach, the Go-Ahead Group and Arriva, we’ve tried to cover fresh ground. To this end we’ve been fortunate to secure an exclusive interview with CEO Dean Finch – the first time he has spoken at length to a trade journal. In a similar vein, we’ve interviewed Chief Operating Officer Matt Beeton, who has only been in the post for four months and is still getting his teeth into coaches. We’ve also looked at National Express’ relationship with Alcolock, which provides a key safety system for coaches. Alcohol is after all, an ever-present danger, one which can easily slip under the noses of those
in charge. Onto buses, we sent our James to Coventry, where he enjoyed a warm welcome thanks to Mark Kipling and the team. The emphasis has been on overhauling the network and as Mark readily admits, the changes have inevitably been controversial but are now bearing fruit. We’ve talked to UK Bus MD Peter Coates, who’s gained a reputation for his enthusiastic approach to tackling the costly problem of window etching, together with the associated anti-social disruption. Adapting the network, the relationship with Centro and technology are also discussed. We’ve also examined National Express’ oft forgotten Scottish operation – in Dundee. Remembering the past, the talk is mostly about investing in the future, from solar panels to upcoming hybrid buses.
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National Express:
a brief history
National Express is a household name for scheduled inter-urban coach travel
As ever here at CBW, we’re keen to trumpet the efforts of the new generation of industry professionals. To this end we’ve interviewed Steph Mayher, who’s recently completed the graduate programme and is now enjoying her first post as an Assistant Operations Manager at Birmingham Central, by far the largest garage within National Express. In Part 2, which is due for publication by the end of the month, we will focus on coach operations, including one which has not been featured for some time and a ‘partner operator’, as National Express likes to call them. On a final note, I would like to thank all at National Express for their help. At the risk of upsetting folk, I would particularly like to single out Carly O’Donnell and Jack Kelly. I’m also indebted to CBW reader Dave Francis for his assistance.
Natex.Intro1.indd 17
PART ONE
UK COACH: The 1968 Transport Act brought about an integrated public passenger transport system across the UK. One of the major provisions of the Act was the formation, on November 28, 1968 of the National Bus Company (NBC). NBC began operating on January 1, 1969 and, by December 31, 1969, NBC controlled 93 bus companies grouped into 44 operating units employing 81,000 staff and having a fleet of 21,000 vehicles. A new era of public transport had arrived. From the beginning, the directors of what was the biggest road passenger transport operation in Europe began to bring together the coaching activities of each constituent operator. Each local company was pursuing its own policy of express coach service operation. Inevitably, this was leading to duplication of services and it was soon decided a co-ordinated policy of express coach service planning would benefit both the customer and the NBC alike. However, regulation of services prevented any real expansion of services or the provision of routes where there were mass markets. October 1, 1969 saw the formation of West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive
(WMPTE). The inaugural fleet was an amalgamation of the existing vehicles of Birmingham City Transport, West Bromwich Corporation, Walsall Corporation and Wolverhampton Corporation. The West Midlands operations of Midland Red Omnibus Company were acquired on December 3, 1973 and the empire was completed on April 1,1974 with the acquisition of Coventry Corporation. Back to coaching, the ‘National’ brand name was introduced during 1972 and the original ‘all white’ livery began to appear on coaches as a first stage in offering customers a nationwide standard and a recognisable product. The winter of 1973/74 saw the publication of the first comprehensive coach timetable that included details of the entire ‘National’ network. The new brand name, National Express, first appeared on publicity in 1974 and on vehicles in 1978. The Transport Act 1980 resulted in the introduction of Coach Deregulation, which swept away 50 years of licensing restrictions and resulted in competition on long distance coach routes. National Express and the main Scottish express coach operator, Scottish Citylink, faced new competition from a host of established bus and coach operators trying their hand at operating regular long distance coach services. It came as no surprise to National Express to discover many of the ‘new’
An Optare Spectra sports the early low-floor bus livery
operators seemed to only want to run coaches at the busiest times and only the most popular routes. Totally without subsidy, and by introducing new services and lower fares, National Express fought to win or perish in the ensuing war. Most of the new operators were unable to sustain continued viable operation and withdrew from operating their services within a matter of months. Even the co-operative venture mounted countrywide under the title ‘British Coachways’ failed to capture sufficient business. The strengths of the nationwide, co-ordinated network operated by National Express became all too apparent and the publicity surrounding the coach war’ gave a major boost to the long-term fortunes of National Express. Annual passenger figures for the nationwide express coach network increased from 8.5 million in 1979 to around 15 million in 1986 as a direct result of post-deregulation competition. With skilful marketing and an eye for the needs of the customer, a handful of independent coach operators fared better than most. Both Trathens from the West Country and Cotters from Scotland introduced up-market services operated by coaches carrying hostesses, refreshments and toilets. Seeing the opportunities such an operation would present on other services, National Express entered into an agreement with Trathens to co-operate in running the West Country services. The new Rapide service introduced a hostess/steward service of light refreshments to each seat. The coaches used on the service were fitted with their own toilet/ washroom, air suspension and reclining seats. The on-board facilities cut out the need for time consuming refreshment and toilet stops offering an instant saving, in journey times, of around 20%. The introduction of ‘Rapide’ services also brought about the first seat reservation system for National Express. Despite being common practice today, the concept was almost revolutionary in public transport at the time as ‘freesale’ bookings often led to overloads. Back to buses, on the approach to bus deregulation arising from the Transport Act 1985, Central Coachways of Walsall was acquired in March 1984. On deregulation day, October 26, www.coachandbusweek.com
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GROUP PROFILE › NATIONAL EXPRESS
1986 WMPTE was renamed West Midlands Travel (WMT). Although designed to increase competition between all bus and coach operators there was surprisingly little change in the long distance express coach market; itself deregulated back in 1980. National Express was the subject of a management buy-out, led by Clive Myers, on March 17, 1988. Between 1988 and 1991, National Express Holdings Ltd, the name of the company set up to buy National Express from the NBC, acquired the established North Wales bus and coach operator, Crosville Wales; the Merseyside based coach operator, Amberline; the ATL Holdings Group (which included the Carlton PSV vehicle dealership and the Yelloway Trathen bus and coach company mentioned earlier); and the express coach services of Stagecoach Holdings based in Perth. In 1989, National Express took a controlling stake in Australia-based Westbus. However, members of the founding Bosnjak family continued to hold stakes. On July 23, 1991, a consortium made up of a number of City investment companies and the Drawlane Transport Group bought out National Express Holdings Ltd. Drawlane Chairman, Ray McEnhill, moved from that position and became the CEO of the new firm, National Express Group Limited. Crosville Wales and Amberline were not included in the deal. In December 1991, West Midlands Travel was sold to its employees in a unique 100% Employee Share Ownership Plan. The privately owned company embarked on a period of what might be termed ‘consolidation’, with the acquisition of Tame Valley Travel, Birmingham on March 23,1992, Coseley-based Metrowest on September 18, 1993 and a 76% share purchase of Smiths, Alcester, trading as ‘Your Bus’ in March 1994. On December 1, 1992, National Express took another change of direction when CEO Ray McEnhill and Deputy Chief Executive Adam Mills led National Express Group (NEG) on to the Stock Market through the London Stock Exchange at a share price of 165p. In 1993 East Midlands (EMA) became the first major regional airport in the UK to be privatised. NEG bought the airfield for £24.3m.
Above left: The MCW Metrobus dominated the West Midlands bus fleet for many years. Above right: The Midland Metro opened in 1999. Below: An Plaxton Supreme-bodied Leopard sports the early National Express coach livery
A £20m, 610 metre-long extension to the runway was added to allow EMA to handle long-haul flights. NEG’s investment would eventually total over £77m over an eight-year period. Scottish Citylink was also acquired in 1993 for £5m. At that time, Anglo-Scottish journeys were replaced by National Express services, leaving Citylink with Scottish domestic services, and coordinated timetabling and ticketing was introduced between the two operators. NEG spread its wings ‘down under’ when in December 1993 after the privatisation of Australia’s Public Transport Corporation. Branded NationalBus, operations centred around Doncaster in the Northern and Northeastern suburbs of Melbourne, WMT achieved national expansion when it bought Stanwell Buses, trading as Westlink in April 1994, Countybus of Ware in October 1994, and the Westcourt group (consisting of Tees & District, Teesside Motor Services and
United) on November 24, 1994. In April 1995, Travel West Midlands, one of the UK’s largest bus companies, merged with NEG, forming the Group’s core bus operation. TWM’s other businesses were gradually disposed of. Westlink was sold to London United on September 15, 1995. This was followed by Countybus on February 29, 1996 and North-East Bus on June 30, 1996 to the Cowie group (now known as Arriva). 1996 saw NEG enter the UK rail market after it won the concession to operate the Gatwick Express and Midland Mainline franchises. TWM sold its Central Coachways coaches to Birmingham-based Flights on November 25, 1997. Travel West Midlands reached agreement with Tayside Public Transport’s Chief Executive, Jack Henry in 1997 to purchase the growing Dundee bus operation. The business was soon re-branded as Travel Dundee with the same livery as the West Midlands. In Australia, the National Bus Company took over operation of
Bayside Buslines. NEG also won the Central Trains franchise in 1997, which it ran for the next 10 years. The Group also successfully bid for the Scotrail franchise. However, the Competition Commission ordered the sale of Scottish Citylink as it believed National Express would have the monopoly of long distance bus and rail services in Scotland. Citylink was sold to ComfrtoDelGro for £10.2 m in 1998. A year later, in 1998, NEG entered the North American market with the acquisition of Durham School Services. TWM broke into the London tendering market in 1998, winning contracts for the C1 and 211, to start in June. Trading as Travel London, a base was created at Stewarts Lane in Battersea. Optare Solos for the C11 and Optare Excels for the 211 were ordered. However, planning permission for the depot was refused – Wandsworth Council ordered Travel London to vacate the site by the end of 1999. An appeal failed. Travel London pulled out in August 2000, with operations passing to Limebourne. The £145m Midland Metro lightrail system is officially opened in May 1999. Travel West Midlands was awarded the management contract to operate Line 1 and a separate division, Travel Midland Metro, was formed to operate and maintain the new system, which runs between Birmingham Snow Hill and Wolverhampton. In 1999 NEG gained the Australian franchises ‘M>Train’, ‘M>Tram’ and ‘V/Line Passenger after privatisation by the Government of Victoria.
www.coachandbusweek.com
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20 | COACH & BUS WEEK | October 10, 2012
FACE TO FACE › DEAN FINCH
NAME: Dean Finch AGE: 46 POSITION: Chief Executive, National Express Group CONTACT: 08450 130130 www.nationalexpressgroup.com
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Fix It Finch Coach & Bus Week’s Gareth Evans talks to Dean Finch, Chief Executive of National Express Group, a man who has driven the turnaround of what seemed an almost ailing business in real danger of being broken up
P
erception can be a funny thing. Dean Finch is not routinely rolled out at dinners and conferences. He doesn’t seem to enjoy quite the same public profile as Sir Brian Souter, David Brown or Tim O’Toole. Indeed, I understand I’m in the privileged position of being permitted to give him his first UK road transport trade press interview. I meet him by the railings outside the main entrance to Victoria Coach Station on a damp morning in July. Far from being the reserved, quiet man I anticipated, he’s friendly, extremely chatty and instantly makes me feel at ease. “You used to work for us didn’t you?” he enthuses. “I like reading your magazine each week. It provides a good depth of coverage all-round.”
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FACE TO FACE › DEAN FINCH
As we walk past the crowds of passengers waiting to board coaches in the terminal area, we chat away like old friends – yet we’ve only met each other for the first time moments previously. Before we go through a door outside onto the concourse where coaches from a variety of operators, including National Express, are manoeuvring, he asks whether I’ve got a high-vis vest. Being neutral for my work at CBW, I don my customary orange example, which is branded ‘Rheilffordd Eryri’. Like me, Dean is interested in railways, so the colour of my visi vest is instantly recognisable to him. When he asks what the writing means, I tell him it’s Welsh for Welsh Highland Railway in Snowdonia, which my late brother proudly helped to rebuild. As we sit down for our interview to begin, in the comfort on a meeting room overlooking the sea of coaches below, nice coffee is served. We hit it off – Dean is not immune to answering questions – and his PR man helps me, as opposed to being akin to a defence solicitor in a police station. A transport man at heart, I watch the clock as the first hour flies by – the time I had been allocated. When I raise this with Dean, he replies enthusiastically: “Don’t worry, I’m happy to carry on if you are. I’m quite enjoying myself.” Two hours later, we go our separate ways and I’m left with a positive impression of a man who’s heading a company I was once so proud to work for.
CBW: Where did you grow up? What were your early experiences of public transport? What attracts you to the industry? Dean Finch: I was born and grew up in Wisbeach, Cambridgeshire. I recall the X47 to Kings Lynn. I worked on the land as a child. My grandparents were tenant farmers near Skegness. I helped with the daffodils and tulips in the spring – we used to get in the Spalding Flower Show. I hated removing the dead skin from the bulbs in the autumn – but the summers more than made up for it. It was great in the Fens. As a child, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. My grandfather advised I should become an accountant. I remember him telling me ‘They win in good times and they win in bad times.’ I listened to him. www.coachandbusweek.com
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I shall never forget when we took over Laidlaw – it was a Monday morning in October. That weekend, there had been a mass shoot out in Winsconsin. My office, as President of the new business, was on the sixth floor behind the Gents. There was a bullet case on the sink. We called the police there and they said, ‘We’ve got a problem!’ They said, ‘Someone is sending you a warning.’ We cleared that office PDQ.
50% of the National Express coach fleet is now less than two years old I took a conventional route – I was the first member of the Finch family to go to university. I got a job with Thompson McLintock, which has since been taken over by KPMG. I spent 12 years there and I ended up being on secondment to British Rail through privatisation. Two years later, FirstGroup headhunted me to help bid for franchises. We won Great Eastern. First also owned a 25% stake in Great Western Trains, which successfully bid for North Western Trains. I was appointed Managing Director of the rail division. In 1999 I became Rail Commercial Director and by 2000 MD of Rail. First Bus bought First Rider in the USA and changed the company’s name to FirstGroup. In 2004 I was asked to join the Group Board, whilst MD of Rail – I kept that until I went to the States in 2007. I was also made Finance Director. In the USA I had no role in rail as the business included Greyhound, which was a lovely company. When I first went over there, I put my jeans and jacket on. I spent time walking round Greyhound bus terminals. They nearly had me arrested after they became very suspicious of me.
Dean Finch: a brief history
Prior to joining National Express, Dean Finch was Group Chief Executive of Tube Lines from June 2009. Before that he worked for over 10 years in senior roles within FirstGroup plc. He joined FirstGroup in 1999 having qualified as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG, where he worked for 12 years specialising in Corporate Transaction Support Services, including working for the Office of Passenger Rail Franchising on the privatisation of train operating companies. At FirstGroup, he was Managing Director of the Rail Division from 2000-2004 and then was appointed to the main board as Group Commercial Director in 2004, before being made Group Finance Director. With the completion of the Laidlaw acquisition he became Chief Operating Officer in North America before returning to the UK as Group Chief Operating Officer.
CBW: A number of UK companies have struggled in the USA but public transport operators appear to have done well as a rule. Why is this? Did you struggle to buy Laidlaw? DF: We weren’t in an auction. Laidlaw was a listed company, so the owners had the option of not selling. The company was also in good financial shape. When I first went over there, I found the management culture very different. I had the advantage of living out there for two years. Perhaps a lot of companies fall into the trap of believing they can manage North American operations from the UK – which you cannot. If you have an hour with a UK team they spend 59 minutes telling you about all the problems and only inform you of the successes in the last minute – and the reverse is true of the USA. Our guys are not like that – perhaps because they know me so well. I love many things about transport, but as a business manager you have to be hands on. The art of running a good operation is reliability, cleanliness and value for money fares. You have to do it day in, day out. That’s the same wherever you go. Public transport is not a business to do with taste – it’s operational. CBW: What are the key things you’ve done to achieve the financial turnaround of National Express? DF: When I walked into National Express in February 2010 I found a demoralised workplace. We made a lot of management changes, especially around people reporting directly to me. Our focus was brought into the business, especially around operations. I heard a lot about marketing but I didn’t hear the word ‘customer’ for six weeks. We had lost sight of them. It was a business which had been very much allowed to run along
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and people had been allowed to do their own thing. The level of aggression our bus drivers face from the public in the West Midlands is staggering. If you fix operations, you fix the finances. North America is a good example of where National Express had gone wrong – it had forgotten it was a bus company and instead became an IT supplier. Durham had been allowed to invest in a ‘business transformation.’ They centralised recruitment and scheduling in Warrenville. It was crazy. North America is a local business – the relationship between the General Manager and Superintendent down the road is critical. Therefore, we had to change it back. The business had lost both money and expertise. We ditched the IT system and returned to local empowerment. We’ve introduced GPS though, as it enables us to know precisely where our vehicles are, something which is particularly important in school buses. On the first day we turned the system on in the US, we saved 10,000 bus fuel hours on a fleet of 20,000 vehicles. Roughly each bus had been allowed to idle for half an hour per day. It was staggering – our GPS was not a complex system.
CBW: What are the key things you see must be done at National Express over the next two years? DF: We’re doing a lot of work in the UK bus business at the moment. It’s a wonderful business. The age of fleet was terrible, however. We’re finally seeing investment in vehicles – 220 in the last 12 months. We’ll repeat that for the forthcoming year. Where we’ve invested in new vehicles, we’ve seen a 10% increase in revenue, so the customers have clearly responded. Drivers and managers love it too, as does Centro. The task ahead is to keep the fleet looking good. We have a zero tolerance to etched windows. It costs us a lot of money but it’s got to be done. That was another problem – our board did not know what a PVR (Peak Vehicle Requirement) was. They didn’t receive the data – I changed that. Vehicle presentation is vital. When I first met Geoff Inskip, Centro’s Director General two years ago, he asked why Stagecoach buses look better in Manchester than ours do in the West Midlands. I’m delighted with the Passenger www.coachandbusweek.com
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Describing Alsa as “a fabulous business,” Finch said National Express is in Spain “for the long term”
“In my honest opinion, fares are good value and I’m committed to that. We didn’t increase fares after April’s BSOG reduction. Interestingly, we saw patronage grow.” Dean Finch
Focus research – it shows growing passenger numbers, profits and investment. People say you can’t do it, but I believe you can.
CBW: Will the growth be affected when the economy improves? DF: I don’t think Margaret Thatcher’s perception of buses is correct any more. You need bus priority measures. I think because of road congestion, the rising cost of fuel and so on, the prospects for the bus and coach industry are good. However, it requires a commitment to run networks well. Take Birmingham and Coventry as
Finch said he didn’t hear the word “customer” for six weeks after he joined
an example – they’re turn up and go for most of the day. In my honest opinion, fares are good value and I’m committed to that. We didn’t increase fares after April’s BSOG reduction. Interestingly, we saw patronage grow. UK Coach has really struggled this year because of the loss of concessionary fares. With the removal of coach concessionary travel, we’re going through all sorts of pain. However, I feel the Government is doing right thing in terms of austerity measures. After all, I don’t want us to be like Greece. Last year we received £15m subsidy for UK Coach but it’s gone completely this year. I know some people say: Why should the Government subsidise if people want to travel anyway? However, I then look at the Green Park Tube Station upgrade, which has cost £100m. It looks pretty but in the long term, which is better?
CBW: Spain is in extreme turmoil. How’s this affecting Alsa? How is National Express coping with this? Is it soaking up lots of management time? DF: The business is doing remarkably well in fact. Passenger numbers are holding up well – they’re flat year-on-year but we seem to be seeing some
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mild shoots of growth. Contrast that with toll road data, which has seen a 10% fall. I feel we’ve enjoyed modal shift there. Alsa is a fabulous business. It’s extremely well managed and it’s clearly the market leader. We’re definitely there for the long term. In terms of expansion, we’re seeking to grow our presence in Morocco. It’s a nation of 30m with growing wealth – and they’re demanding better services. Since September 2011, we’ve invested in a new depot and new vehicles. We operate 180 buses in Agadir. When we took over the Moroccan operations, we saw a spike in fatalities. By now we’ve substantially improved – we’ve got better drivers. Allison Forster, formerly of First Great Western fame, is a great lady, who has worked wonders. The other expansion we’re looking at is coach and rail in Germany. Those are our ambitions for the next 12 to 18 months.
CBW: Do you consider yourself to be an entrepreneur or an emperor? DF: I have to act in the interest of shareholders. Any asset has a price. CBW: What’s been the best technological investment over the last two years? DF: In North America, it’s without a doubt GPS. We’re also investing in Zonar – our handheld system helps
typically involves visiting each business – including Spain and North America. The visits vary in length. Last week I was in Coventry looking at growth opportunities.
to ensure walk round checks are completed.
CBW: What is the top thing you would like the supply side of the industry to for the business? DF: Euro 6 engines have got to be made to work in a way they are not dearer to maintain.
CBW: What would you most like the Transport Minister to do over the next 12 months for coaches and buses? DF: Firstly, make sure they fully understand the implications on passengers of the removal of subsidy. A million fewer people are now travelling on our coaches, for example. Secondly, it’s not directly within his powers but I feel local bus services could be substantially improved if pressure was applied for true bus priority measures. Baker could incentivise everyone, rather than leaving local towns and cities to put cars first. CBW: How do you plan to grow the business? DF: We’re bidding for two UK rail franchises and four in Germany – in addition to new work in Morocco and urban local bus services in North America. CBW: How do you divide your time in a typical working week? DF: I don’t have one. A month
Passengers wait to board a pair of National Express coaches at Peterborough Bus Station
“The focus on UK Coach has been on getting the basics right. Our most distinctive achievement is that 50% of the coach fleet is now less than two years old – and they look great.” Dean Finch
One of the keys to success in the USA is to have operations managed locally, rather than from across the Atlantic www.coachandbusweek.com
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CBW: What’s been the most exciting/frustrating time in your career? DF: The most frustrating time in my career was at Tubelines. It was a very tough place to be – trying to get extra possession times to complete the Jubilee Project. That job was obviously late and everyone was facing reality. However, the last two years have been very exciting. It’s good to see National Express return to health and go from being an inward to a very outward-looking business. I love public transport – it’s a great industry to be involved in. It does real stuff – and it involves lots of people.
CBW: What are your views on audio-visual technology? Do you have plans to fit it to you coach and bus fleets? DF: I’m going to walk into a storm here. When I look at what the USA does, it seems to work well. By contrast, the European approach is ‘we won’t discriminate, yet we’ll have to pay a huge financial price.’ The North American approach is to introduce paratransit, which is akin to the community transport in the UK. It saves the cost of introducing hugely expensive lifts in tube and railway stations. There are a lot of lessons to be learned. I feel it would be better for taxpayers and disabled people. I would urge any Minister or interested parties to visit the USA. In the Boston Bay area, we carry 2,500 people per day. You don’t have to use a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
CBW: Any other words? DF: I feel asking Peter Coates to run our bus business was one of my best decisions. He’s very passionate and absolutely driven. Andrew Cleaves has completely transformed the coach business. He’s brought it back to life. The focus on UK Coach has been on getting the basics right. Our most distinctive achievement is that 50% of the coach fleet is now less than two years old – and they look great. The economic times dictate the customer is constantly looking for value for money. Interestingly, on the King’s Ferry, we’ve seen 7% growth on our commuter services.
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FACE TO FACE › PETER COATES
NAME: Peter Coates POSITION: Managing Director, National Express UK Bus CONTACT: 0121 2547272 www.nxbus.co.uk
A hands-on approach Coach & Bus Week’s Andrew Cream visits National Express UK Bus Managing Director Peter Coates to talk about making buses safer, adapting networks and the operator’s relationship with Centro
M
y meeting with Peter Coates took place at Birmingham’s Acocks Green garage at the end of August. Despite its sizeable structure and innovative green credentials (including photo voltaics solar panels installed on the garage roof), the place still felt humble and traditional. It was refreshing to conduct such an interview in the offices of a 1930s bus garage, instead of a faceless, corporate head office. Acocks Green’s claims to fame include it being home to the famous Outer Circle 11A/C, which at 27 miles (43 km) long, is widely held to be Europe’s longest urban bus route. It was also the venue for the ‘Metrobus Farewell’ event, when the last of the once iconic MCW double-deckers were withdrawn from frontline service two years ago.
Work philosophy
Peter Coates is a very hands-on individual. His day-to-day activities involve speaking with customers about how they view National Express’ UK Bus services. “I get to deal with passengers,” he explained. “My day includes talking to our people so we can offer them the best service possible.” He also tries to travel on his company’s services as much as possible. In fact, he took the 18 and 11 routes to meet me at www.coachandbusweek.com
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Acocks Green. Like many others, Peter claims “no day is the same”, although his first duties usually include checking the morning KPIs (Key Performance Indicators), mileage and PVR (Peak Vehicle Requirement). He said: “A good day is when all 130 vehicles get there and at Acocks Green invariably they do. If there is an issue we look to resolve it.” The rest of his day varies, but is often made up of reviewing the business and more specifically its operations, as well as “looking to make sure we have the right resources in place.” Peter’s active approach to his job is down to how the company has influenced him over the years, he claimed. “I have been here for 15 years and the longer I stay here, the closer I get to the role. You can really immerse yourself in the company.” While equivalents from other operators may have grown up around transport, Peter joined the industry when he took up his first role at National Express. That hasn’t stopped him being aware of the industry, however. “I’ve lived in Birmingham since 1985,” he explained, “and I’ve always been aware of West Midlands buses. But it wasn’t until I joined the company that I started to appreciate the size and scale of it.” Peter’s family is naturally supportive of his job and sees
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Peter Coates likes to be ‘hands on’. He is currently targeting window etching
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FACE TO FACE › PETER COATES
the benefits of public transport. His wife regularly uses NXWM’s services and his son takes the bus to school every day. “We are very pro buses and obviously very pro passenger transport,” he said. “I think it helps that the network we offer is super. In fact, I don’t think we make enough of it. It’s largely commercial and I’m proud it is so comprehensive.”
A safer travel experience
So after 15 years, what does he see as the most important aspects to running a public transport operation? “There are many aspects to a well-run bus operation. Safety, punctuality and reliability are all very important,” Peter said, “as is offering value for money fares and an attractive product. “I also see ensuring drivers have the tools they need, including training and support, and working closely with the Safer Travel Partnership as essential facets.” The Safer Travel Partnership was set up in 2008 as a way of making buses a safer working environment for drivers and providing a safer travelling experience for passengers. Peter said: “It’s about drivers being able to work without fear of assault. I want to see the company go forward with this and for us to take it further, supporting the people out there who know what a job it can be. “We have mobile inspectors who work closely with the police and we also utilise the command centre at Centro which is a very impressive facility.” “It’s also about revenue protection,” he continued. “No one likes sitting next to a fare dodger. We’ve got some old fashioned ticket inspectors working on the buses. This year over 100,000 passengers have had their tickets inspected. There has been a 61% reduction in on-board crime and antisocial behaviour in the last five years.” The partnership has also helped curb vandalism on buses, including graffiti and window etching. Peter explained: “The graffiti has largely gone and we are doing our best with window etching. Regarding the latter, it’s hard to prove who is responsible, although we have had some good progress on that with some innovative solutions. We have installed window sensors which, when someone starts etching on the www.coachandbusweek.com
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Acocks Green retains many of its 1930s features but also benefits from a modern workshop at the rear
panes, trigger the CCTV cameras to start rolling. It’s about producing hard evidence which will help result in prosecution. “Our buses need to be an attractive environment for people. It’s probably only a handful of people who are spoiling it for the majority.”
Adapting networks
When Peter was appointed Managing Director of National Express UK Bus in November 2011, he didn’t feel the need to rush in and make drastic changes. “I’m a great believer of the quality of the people we have,” he explained. “We have some great managers so there hasn’t been a need to change.”
NX UK Bus: new vehicles
By the end of this year National Express’ West Midlands division will have another 30 new 10.8-metre Enviro200s running on service 99, the Colmore Row to Queen Elizabeth hospital route. The operator is also investing in another 31 hybrids in quarter 1 of 2013. These include 22 ADLs, 10 of which will run in Dundee, and nine Volvos.
One of Peter’s main tasks has been to manage the changes forced upon them by Birmingham City Council’s decision to pedestrianise and introduce tram stops to Corporation Street. Stops on both Corporation Street and Bull Street had to be relocated to nearby roads. “It’s been a challenge relocating services and we have worked very closely with Centro,” Peter said. “We have rolled out a huge information campaign to help inform our passengers of the changes. I did my shift on the last Saturday morning on Corporation Street, handing out leaflets and talking to the public. It’s about making the changes go as smoothly as they can. “There are still some teething issues regarding the changes which are out of our control but we have worked exceptionally closely with Birmingham City Council and Centro which has been fundamental to making it work. “I think our network planners have done a brilliant job.” The company has also been carrying out a series of network reviews in places such as Wolverhampton and Coventry. Peter commented: “Now we have a very strong network in Coventry.” He added that not everyone could have been catered for in the network overhaul, but the firm has experienced some strong results since the changes
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FACE TO FACE › PETER COATES
Above left: 12 new ADL E400 Hybrids like the one seen here are due to join the fleet in 2013. Above right: A Wright-bodied Volvo B7RLE at Acocks Green were implemented. “In the first two weeks after the change there were 17,000 more people on the buses. It’s doing very well – we are very pleased with the results,” he said. Peter explained what they consider when looking to modify a network. “We look at important destinations such as hospitals and schools as well as cross-city services. Services to the railway station and bus station are also significant. We have to make sure everything is linked up and joined.” National Express is always challenging itself when looking at how to improve networks. “As cities move and change, our great team of network planners look at corridors which need strengthening,” he added. “We are looking to grow our network and achieve modal shift. We want the bus to be the first choice for travel for the public.” A new approach to supporting the economy is the links the operator is building with training providers. These links are helping ensure there is support for apprentices to find employment, helping them travel to and from work.
Bonnie Dundee
One may be forgiven if they forget National Express UK Bus has a Scottish division in Dundee, as the rest of its operations are based in the West Midlands. Peter spends time north of the border as regularly as he can, but it’s evident he can trust the local management team. He said: “It’s another great business with a really strong network, running as a semi circle on the edge of the bay. Passenger numbers are growing and there is a great operation to really take the network forward.” www.coachandbusweek.com
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A stable environment
In order to help out the bus industry, Peter believes the government should work on offering greater stability. “Networks and investments need to be planned and these decisions are better made in a stable environment,” he explained. “We need to know the regulatory and fiscal environment we are in. We also need stability on BSOG and concessionary fares. It would help if operators had the confidence to plan and shareholders will be more inclined to support investment.”
Smart technology
Asked what technology he sees as the most vital for his business, Peter first cited CCTV and Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) systems. Regarding the latter, he said: “AVL helps ensure we provide the best reliability we can. The controllers can help regulate our services.” The company is also launching a smartphone app for passengers to obtain information about journey times and stops, using technology from fleet management company Traffilog which also provides the telematics systems on the firm’s buses and coaches. The app is based on real-time information so customers can determine exactly when buses are going to arrive. Other technological advancements the company is adopting are those which improve fuel consumption. Peter is keen on hybrids and stopstart technology to help offset the rising cost of fuel. He added: “Fuelefficient vehicles are very important and we are focused on ensuring we have the best fuel consumption we can. We are currently trialling some exciting improvements.”
Centro partnership
Peter Coates: a brief history
Peter Coates’ routes lie in accountancy and finance. He spent 13 years at Ernst & Young before joining National Express Group in January 1997 as Group Finance Controller. He spent two years in this position before taking up the role of Financial Director of UK Bus in August 1999. In September last year he was appointed interim UK Bus Managing Director and was formerly assigned the role in November. Asked how his financial background assisted his current role, Peter said: “I think it has helped, although I let my Finance Director get on with his job. He makes it easy to do my job.”
NXWM’s relationship with Centro has been touched upon, but Peter was keen to stress the operator’s partnership was very strong. “We all want the same thing,” he said. “And that’s achieving passenger growth on the brilliant bus network. We work very well with them as a partnership. It doesn’t always mean always being nice to each other; it’s about testing and challenging each other. “We have a good professional working relationship with them. I think they are a great organisation. It helps when you all want the same thing.”
Urban operators
National Express’ bus division is well-versed in operating in urban environments, with branches in Birmingham, Coventry and Dundee. “Operating in cities is what we do,” Peter said. “We know the environment. And we focus on making sure we know the right vehicles to use. “We have to deal with obstacles such as congestion and significant roadworks – for example those which affected us on Coventry Road. We often have to arrange additional vehicles in order to maintain headways. “Birmingham County Council causes real headaches with some roadworks but our team do a brilliant job in difficult circumstances. “What I really want to see is camera enforcement of bus lanes, which has been promised for this autumn. A lot of disruption is caused for Birmingham residents by the out of town drivers who do not respect the bus lanes.”
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SUPPLIER PROFILE › ALCOLOCK
Eliminating risk Coach and Bus Week’s Alex Tyler speaks to Alcolock GB Director, David Whittock who provides an overview of the company’s relationship with National Express Coach and its unique technology
B
ased in Midsomer Norton, near Bath, Alcolock GB was established in 2006 with the aim of introducing a breathalyser locking system to UK fleet operators. It’s a basic but effective premise. The Alcolock handset is connected to the vehicle immobiliser and if the device detects alcohol in the driver’s breath, the vehicle cannot be started. Since the introduction of Alcolock to National Express coach
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operations in 2008 the product has evolved. Working closely with engineers and other national fleet operators, the firm has developed a complete management system which can monitor and help control all aspects of drink driving issues. “We started in 2006, and it’s a bit of an odd story I suppose, it was after my retirement from my first and only career, which was as a rally co-driver in the 1980s,” explained Alcolock GB Director, David Whittock. “I went on to be General Manager of European motorsports for Nissan. In 2000 it all changed
direction and they cut the budget and I got out. I then worked for a time also in motorsport, both in America and Africa because I wanted something different.” “I had seen the Alcolock product in a really basic form in Scandinavia and North America,” he continued. “I was keen on road safety and wanted to look into this more. It was a strange business and I needed to learn a lot about it. Now motorsport has since become a hobby, this is my life and I love every bit of it. Road safety brought me into it and seeing it prevents
accidents and saves lives, I consider it a real personal achievement.”
National Express
“Our first contact with National Express Coach came in 2007 at a Health and Safety show in the NEC when I met the company’s Health and Safety Executive,” said David. “He showed a real interest in the product and we had talks, which were followed by a nine-month trial in 2008 at Start Hill depot near Stansted. “A further trial was conducted in 2009, when we started to fit Crawley and Heathrow depots which concluded the trial. In early 2011 we started talking about introducing the product throughout the third party operators. Since then, we’ve had a steady progression to get to where we are today.” Asked how this relationship has progressed, David replied: “Extremely well, it’s really exciting to be working with such a large company. The relationship has developed over the years so there’s commitment on all angles of it.” In regards to the benefits to Alcolock GB, David said: “It’s
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ensured our long term security and it’s good to be working together, they have a good team. “National Express’ main priority is safety and to ensure it’s not compromised. They have invested heavily in this and it is integral to their system. It’s a big part of giving the passenger peace of mind and it’s been very well received.” A consummate professional David added: “Though we worked hard and were lucky to get their business, we of course maintain expectations.”
Technology and service
The company aims to ensure reliability and service for its customers and as such has developed a sophisticated monitoring system. “We introduced an online management system in 2008, which produces live reports. We have actually progressed the system further by working with National Express Coach. It’s gotten to the point when as soon as the system records a breath failure, they know. As such, they can react very quickly and this reduces downtime, which is imperative to coach operators. “The system will alert everyone,” he continued. “Up to five texts can be sent to relevant people within the business and unlimited emails. If you go into the reports you can see any alcohol trace under the radar. The main problem we’ve seen with some customers in general is the morning after. A driver might go for a couple of pints the night before, wake up and it’s not all gone. The system can help to monitor this behaviour.” National Express in particular set the limit significantly lower than the national average. Asked what Alcolock GB provides operators, David replied: “We supply them with the Lion breathalyser and GSM unit, linked with its own interface. Everything talks to everything else. This is all supported by our own engineers. We have four of them, and they cover all the UK and Ireland. They install, they calibrate and repair.” In regards to the monitoring technology, he said: “We have a dedicated website which they can log into, with their own username and password, which allows them to look at everything from the past to now. Any trace of alcohol at all and it will show on the system. National Express Coach can see everyone on their network, and the operators can see themselves. From the data, we can produce a
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good number of reports to help operators.” As a business, Alcolock understands the importance of customer relationships. “We have a customer first ethos. We are a small business and have had to think outside the box. It really helps to build relationships. “When we get a call, we give advice and find a means of getting them over the problem. We rarely have breakages, it’s a reliable system, but we have means of overriding it and engineers can be sent out if needs be.” Alcolock has a good working relationship with Lion, which is one of the largest breathalyser producers and supplies 80% of the UK’s police forces. “Lion is about two hours down the road from us in Barry, South Wales. Aside from having to pay the toll for the Severn Bridge, I can go down there and talk to whoever I need to. You don’t get that service with international suppliers, it’s just not possible.” David said it was important to have a good quality product, which he feels Lion provides. “Everything necessary to the system is from Lion. We have a gentlemen’s agreement with the company and don’t get me wrong,
there are some good products out there, but Lion is solid stuff and everything we sell has a two-year warranty. It really goes a long way that the police use it. What people don’t seem to realise is it’s a piece of medical equipment, it is very sensitive and is there to do a job.” “We have tethered it, which prevents theft and also this cable is used for power and data transfer,” he continued. “Which is especially useful on passenger vehicles. We’ve made ourselves into a one-stopshop and we pride ourselves on no hidden costs. It’s all on the table, take it or leave it.”
How and why
On the particulars of the device’s function, David said: “The system is incapable of stopping the engine once it is started. Once triggered by a bad sample, no power can get to the engine. It’s very effective.” With a system such as this, the potential for tampering and circumvention is always an issue. David was adamant the system cannot be beaten. “Anti-circumvention has come a long way since I saw the basic form in Sweden,” he said. “Old handsets could not tell the difference between
a human breath sample, and say, a balloon filled with air.” “However, the latest handsets have many, many sensors, more than the ones the police use by the roadside. Mainly, because when an officer asks for a breath sample, he is watching you do it. The sensors have to counteract that.” “It can now tell if the sample is from a human or a balloon, or whether it’s been heated up or cooled down,” he continued. “It couldn’t do that 15 years ago and now it knows immediately. It can’t be circumvented. 99% of those who use it, treat the system with respect.” David was keen to stress the financial importance of Alcolock to fleet operators. “We are constantly expanding in the bus and coach and fleet industries, but they have been slow to recognise it,” said David. “Comparing the price of the device to vehicle investment, the cost is miniscule. A lot of operators, especially the hauliers are still dragging their heels with rising fuel and other running costs, which is no surprise in the current climate.” “However, as of 2007, fatalities caused by drink driving are classed as Corporate Manslaughter – it can destroy people financially,” he added. “If a driver is sent out under the influence, then the director is responsible. It affects the whole firm, as ultimately it’s the executives who pay for it. “Companies can be destroyed overnight and more should think seriously about the consequences.”
The future
Above: Alcolock was trialled on coaches based at Start Hill depot. Above right: The Alcolock device. Below: An overview of the management system
Asked about the future with National Express, David replied: “It looks secure. We are currently working on new technology with them, which I can’t talk about at the moment, but we are hoping to tighten up even further. It’s good working with them, and it’s definitely a long term relationship.” Turning to the company and Europe at large, David said: “I’d like to think we can expand into Europe, but to be honest we have a great country for the product here. We think it’s better to get the system and the product as refined as possible in order to grow and cope within other parts of the continent.” Visit www.alcolockgb.com or call 01761 408159.
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THE BIG PICTURE
This unusual angle was shot on February 21 by CBW Editor Gareth Evans, prior to meeting National Express’ PR team to discuss this very issue over a coffee or three. As is so often the case, Gareth just happened to have his camera round his neck when he spotted this composition. The silhouette of the lone passenger makes an interesting contrast with the white coach behind. It also shows at first hand the standard of comfort inside Digbeth or Birmingham Coach Station, as National Express prefers to call it these days. The warm and clean, modern terminal facilities are a far cry from the damp and draughty former Midland Red bus garage it replaced over three years ago. Turning to the coach itself, the Caetano Levante-bodied Volvo B9R is registered ‘FJ11GKX’. New in June 2011, it is numbered 13106 in the Birmingham-based Flights Hallmark fleet. This serves as a reminder that while NX coaches may look the same, the majority are run by different operators.
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DEPOT PROFILE › COVENTRY
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Coventry: a network �it for the future
Coventry’s MD Mark Kipling joined National Express Group via the graduate scheme
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James Day meets National Express Coventry Managing Director Mark Kipling at the revitalised operator’s covered depot in the city’s centre to see how a recent and overdue network overhaul is powering a resurgence in passenger numbers
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oventry is widely thought of as the birthplace of the British automotive industry. The Coventry Transport Museum, which serves as a constant reminder of the city’s motoring heritage, is just a stone’s throw from Pool Meadow bus station and the conveniently located National Express garage. The garage is a cavernous covered building which was built towards the latter days of state ownership and wouldn’t be required in a modern environment, with vehicles out on operation for more of the day than they used to be. Despite the city being so transport-centric, its bus network was largely untouched for three decades, with frequent journeys to industrial estates which were all but deserted, while other areas saw insufficient coverage. The number of routes and route variants in the city was also large and confusing. Change finally came to the city on February 26 this year, when a new network was introduced after a city-wide consultation by Centro. The move followed the pedestrianisation of the city centre, an Olympic legacy project, which severed 80% of bus routes.
Coventry is a city of 311,000 with 23 million bus passenger journeys per year, making bus travel significantly important to the city. Although passenger numbers had been in decline, the problem has now been reversed.
A local operator
“National Express in Coventry is quite a standalone business,” said Mark Kipling. “While it’s only 25 miles from Birmingham, it has a different frame structure, a different brand and deals with a different council. The City Council takes a really proactive approach. It’s really great to work with and very well focused on the needs of bus users. “We try to manage National Express Coventry as a separate business as much as possible. We can try new ideas out here with less risk than in Birmingham. It’s great to have the benefits of a big organisation combined with the devolved decision making of a more independent operation.” Until June 2009, National Express Coventry operated under the brand ‘Travel Coventry.’ Mark explained the company still acts as a separate entity, even with the National Express name on the vehicles.
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DEPOT PROFILE › COVENTRY
Coventry has been hit hard by the recession and unemployment sits around 8%.”
The new network
Mark Kipling is a keen advocate of the people-moving capabilities of a Mercedes-Benz artic “Despite being part of National Express we act as our own separate brand and a local bus company. We serve local people living within the city and our drivers often live on the routes they drive. “We’re part of a bigger beast but we are a business based in this city.” With the recent overhaul of the city’s network, Mark had to try and strike a balance between customers and stakeholders. “After the network changes we saw a negative impact on revenue at first,” Mark explained. “People were discouraged due to the change. “It was difficult, but we got through it. In the end, a vibrant city centre is good for our business. If the centre is deserted you end up with retail parks outside which everyone drives to. Unless customers happen to live on the bus route which serves the retail park, they have to go into the centre and get another bus out again. For a lot of people that isn’t practical. “I spent a lot of time talking to elective members and used evidence to justify decision making. You have to listen to them – route changes can have a big impact on people’s lives if they were reliant on the service. We may not be able to solve every problem but must listen and resolve them where we can. We also try to reinforce how much goes into keeping fares down. Last year our fares increased at a rate below inflation, which is not common. It’s especially important here as
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Natex Coventry: vehicles
“We have a broad church of vehicles in Coventry,” Mark said. “We’ve got ADLs, Tridents, Mercedes 405s… it’s a pretty varied fleet. We’re looking to take some of this variation out and get it down to six or seven vehicle types. “We can’t really swap vehicles around with the Birmingham business either since all our vehicles are sky blue while Birmingham’s are red. We had some red vehicles around Coventry during the Olympic work, which ended up being very confusing for customers.” National Express Coventry also owns 10 articulated Mercedes-Benz Citaro O530s which were purchased new in 2005. “They’re great for moving large numbers of passengers,” Mark explained. “The only people who dislike them are people who don’t use them. There’s plenty of space on board and so on. “We invested £1.7m in 13 new ADl Enviro400s in February this year. Our investment will continue, with a further 27 vehicles expected next year.”
Despite some problems early on, the new network appears to have been a significant improvement and very successful so far. “The new network is simplified and easier to use,” Mark said. “Where previously we had 56 route numbers and variants, we now have around 25, with a smaller proportion of route variants. This has allowed us to reinvest some resource into increasing frequency, as well as introducing more evening and weekend services. Saturdays are bringing in almost as much income as weekdays now. “The additional frequency, evening and weekend services mean our vehicles achieve 5% more mileage, despite the route reductions. The network has been designed to maximise how far public money goes. “Over the eight months since the changes we’ve had outstanding growth. Passenger numbers have increased by 40% in some areas and satisfaction rates have improved.” The revised network is accompanied by new route branding, coloured to match up with maps and timetables and make the system easier to use. Also, an additional Passenger Focus survey has been commissioned specifically for Coventry, together with Centro and other operators. “We need to know for sure we are making improvements,” Mark added. National Express Coventry is certainly proactively watching its operations. While in the city centre I saw National Express staff at the road side in hi-vis armed with speed guns, making sure its drivers aren’t breaching speed limits and are driving smoothly.
The Managing Director
One of the 13 ADL Enviro 400s acquired this year for the cross-city route 21
Mark joined National Express in 2004 on the group graduate scheme. He spent four months in each of the group’s divisions, finishing with the bus division, where he remained. “There’s so much to do and achieve there in the bus industry,” Mark said. “I spent time learning and growing with the business straight out of university. I looked at several operators but National
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DEPOT PROFILE › COVENTRY
Above: Coventry bus liveries – the 2002 & 2007 variants and the old Corporation livery on Alx 400. Below: Inside Pool Meadow bus station Express resonated with me – they were really nice people when I met them. “I worked with Travel London for a while. I then ran one of the Birmingham depots before moving to Coventry.” As a frequent visitor to North America, I couldn’t help but notice the Canadian ice hockey jersey hanging up in Mark’s office. It turns out he was given it while on an expedition through National Express’ operations in the USA, Canada and Spain, in a trip aimed at sharing industry best practice. “We are taking some action as a direct result of what I learned on the trip,” he added. “It was a really good idea to see what this business can be taught from the wider group.” Mark said his priorities are safety, customers and people. “The best part of the job is going out and talking to people. We try to instil that the city is our customer.”
Partnership
There is a partnership approach to bus operations in Coventry. National Express and a number of other operators partner with the passenger transport authority Centro. “It’s a joint responsibility,” Mark explained. “We don’t want customers to wonder who’s doing what – they’re not interested. They just want the information they need then and there. We don’t want to be a company which points the finger when something goes and says ‘that’s their responsibility not ours.’ “However we can hold partners accountable. If bus stop information is inaccurate we can www.coachandbusweek.com
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Coventry & Birmingam: innovation
In both Coventry and Birmingham, National Express bus services are no stranger to innovation. Talking to Jack Kelly, External Communications Manager for National Express UK Bus, reveals a constant flow of new ideas and developments which the operator is rolling out. In CBW1056, we covered National Express’ “Bab on board” badges, which the operator was offering for free to pregnant passengers, helping other passengers and drivers to recognise they may need additional support. It’s a light-hearted way of dealing with the problem of passengers not giving up seats for those who need them, an issue which is difficult to effectively tackle. In Coventry, where ‘Bab’ is not such common slang, passengers can settle for the usual ‘Baby on Board.’ Jack also mentioned a deal with the Territorial Army allowing them to advertise on Birmingham buses for free and a new apprenticeship ticket. “We want to bring apprentice travel in line with students,” Jack explained. “It will allow them to save about £20 per month on travel. “Apprentices are often forgotten about when it comes to support and discounts and we felt this was some much needed financial help for them.” Jack stated it is always important to keep improving services, even when things are going well. “Everything gets better and it doesn’t mean it was bad before,” he said. “It just means there is room for improvement. It’s the reason why there’s an iPhone 5 and more than one Jaguar vehicle. “Expectations rise. Every time you change the game expectations levels become higher and you need to push slightly harder every time.”
ask Centro what is going wrong, while we would expect to be held accountable if the buses are not kept clean. The partnership is challenging in the sense we challenge each other.” The partnership is not all about multiple parties working together to make sure a good service is provided. There is also the Centroadministered N-Bus ticket which allows passengers unlimited bus travel around the West Midlands metropolitan area, involving multiple operators, for £3.60 daily. The tickets are part of Network West Midlands, which also includes Metro tram and rail travel.
Staff
“We’ve spent a huge amount on staff training, including a number of accreditations on top of the Driver CPC. We’ve been planning out our CPC schedule over the five years and will have all our staff through the process before the deadline. “Driver CPC has been fantastic. We get to talk to staff about safety and customers. Driver standards are important so we’re giving all staff a thorough induction in customer service standards. As a customer I appreciate the service more if the bus is on time, I have time to sit down and the driver makes eye contact and smiles. There’s no point in putting up posters about positive attitudes if staff don’t bother to follow them. “We’re proud to invest in people and have had that accreditation for four years. We want people to be proud and happy to work here and we seem to be successful, with our depot usually achieving the highest scores in employee surveys.”
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Transport Managers CPC Course – New & Refresher New Operators Course Drivers CPC
Venue: West Thurrock, Essex or we can come to you
01708 867564 info@wright-training.com
44 | COACH & BUS WEEK | October 10, 2012
GRADUATE SCHEME
Training the next generation Andrew Cream talks to Steph Maher, who has recently completed the National Express UK Bus Graduate Scheme, about how she found the programme, what it consists of and where it has lead for her
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ational Express’ UK Bus graduate training scheme is an allencompassing affair. Steph explained: “It’s a warts and all programme – you get really stuck in. I learnt about all the different departments, although I spent a lot of time in operations.” Steph spent some of her time at Perry Bar, learning about the traffic office, managing operations, scheduling and engineering to name but a few. “I got to smash some windows and unscrew seats,” she enthused. “That’s how handson it is. I also went up to Dundee for three weeks; that was brilliant too.” She even spent time at Birmingham’s Metro, which included driving a tram, and very recently went to “bus school” to obtain her PCV licence. Steph did her PCV training at the company’s in-house training department in Walsall. During her time there she also learnt about National Express’ recruitment procedure and interviewed some potential drivers in the process. The PCV training was just 10 days long, but Steph found it very enjoyable and helpful. “I absolutely loved it,” she said. “The training instructors are really supportive and instil you www.coachandbusweek.com
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with confidence.” Asked how she found driving a bus compared to a car, she replied: “It’s just a lot longer – that was the difficult thing to get used to. “I do like the way we are encouraged to save fuel – I will take that knowledge into my car driving. I also think my observations while driving a car will be a lot better now – I just need to remember not to give such a wide berth when negotiating corners!” “It’s been a challenge trying to fit everything together in my head,” she added. “It’s a massive task. You spend time in all these different areas, looking at the company in the big picture.” During her time on the scheme, Steph answered to her line manager Dean Watkins, who was Area Manager for Birmingham, although he has now moved on to manage the Metro.
The path to the programme
Steph doesn’t come from a transport background; in fact she studied law at Keele University. During her time off university over the summer months she worked as a Duplicate Planning Assistant for National Express Coach. This involved booking additional hires for the summer timetable on popular
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Steph now holds the role of Assistant Operations Manager at Birmingham Central garage
holiday routes such as London to Brighton and London to Newquay. She also booked coaches for the Events department for festivals such as Glastonbury, Reading and T4 on the Beach. She worked there for three summers in a row. After completing a postgraduate Legal Practise Course in 2009 she began working on the operator’s commercial team as a Pricing Analyst, which involved managing fares on specific routes. Steph explained: “I had been working on the pricing team for a year and a half and I was looking to progress and develop myself. I saw the graduate programme advertised and thought it would be a great way to do this.”
“There are a lot of knowledgeable people and everyone is quite open and honest. That’s what I like about the bus industry. The scheme has taught me how to talk to people and how to listen.” Steph Maher
She detailed the procedure of applying for the National Express UK Bus Graduate Scheme. “The process was quite tiring,” she said. “We first had to fill in an application form and complete an assessment. We then had to do tests, both numerical and verbal, and give a presentation. It also involved a group exercise and an interview. Those who passed all that had a second round interview with Madi Pilgrim, HR Director, Dave Kaye, former Managing Director UK Bus, and Mark Kipling, Managing Director of National Express Coventry – it was pretty intense!” Steph was joined by two other graduates who completed the programme with her – Samuel Houlders and Jason Pell. The trio were selected out of a pool of between 400 and 450 applicants.
Meeting people
Steph cites meeting all the different people who work for National Express as one of her favourite experiences of the scheme. She said: “We have got some characters and a lot of lovely people – it’s www.coachandbusweek.com
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GRADUATE SCHEME
been great learning from them all. There are a lot of knowledgeable people and everyone is quite open and honest. That’s what I like about the bus industry.” “The scheme has taught me how to talk to people and how to listen,” she added. “It’s about trying to understand everybody’s roles. We get various projects which help us gain an abundance of skills.” The projects Steph undertook included those on auditing and KPIs. The auditing project involved making sure procedures were standardised across all garages and that they were working with the same spreadsheets. She also looked at a potential rebrand of the operator’s Sutton services, which involved questioning people on the street.
The draw of operations
Of all the different areas Steph worked in over her time on the graduate scheme, operations was the area she took to best. The firm was specifically looking to recruit for roles in operations, although Steph explained the company was open-minded in the sense that, if the graduates had excelled in another area, they could have moved into that field instead. She spent some time covering the Assistant Operations Manager role at Birmingham Central (BC) when the AOM at the time was on holiday, so it will come as little surprise that Steph has landed the role now she has completed the programme; her first day being last Monday (October 1). She works as a line manager to the garage’s drivers, traffic controllers, CCTV operators and driver training officers, sharing the role with another person due to the sheer size of BC. Steph is also responsible for looking at driving standards. It may be a bit too soon to learn how she finds her new position, but first experiences are positive. “I’m really enjoying it,” Steph said. “There are a lot of names to learn, with around 550 drivers alone, and there are lots of positive projects to work on. I am looking in particular at our Employee of the Year scheme. In December 2011 we started an Employee of the Month scheme at BC. From this we will then award an Employee of the Year, which will be out of the 12 employees who won each month. We’re yet to decide on a prize but we want it to be something individual to the winner, www.coachandbusweek.com
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Above: Steph is currently learning 550 drivers’ names. Below: She learnt about engineering as part of the scheme
Steph Maher:
innovation award
so they will definitely enjoy it. “I also want to increase the amount drivers report anti-social behaviour on their buses. “Everybody has been friendly and welcoming and I am getting lots of support from the management team here.” Between December last year and this September, Steph also wrote the staff newsletters for the three garages she worked at – Perry Bar, Birmingham Central and Bordesley Green. Having joined BC exclusively, she will continue to write its newsletter. “At the moment I am just trying to get my head around my daily job,” she added. “But once I’m settled I will be looking at ways to increase the help for my drivers on the road.
A committed team
Despite not necessarily seeing herself in the bus industry when she was in education, Steph seems to have developed a liking for public transport and National Express in particular. “I really enjoy it, it’s a fantastic company,” she enthused. “The people are great here. You get those who work here from 16 to retirement – and you don’t get that a lot. National Express employees show a lot of commitment and are dedicated to our development.”
During Steph’s time as Pricing Analyst, she won a National Express Innovation Award for the UK Coach division. Taking up the story behind the award, she said: “I had been on a coach journey and there was a screaming child onboard. I started thinking that there should be something we can offer to keep children occupied on our coaches, so I came up with the idea of an ‘I Spy’ book (below). “I emailed Andrew Cleaves (UK Coach Managing Director) and compiled a business case. The idea went to the board and now there are 10,000 available to buy – they are available at all stations.” All of the profits made from the book go to the Little Princess Trust, a charity which provides real-hair wigs to children across the UK and Ireland who have sadly lost their own hair through cancer treatment.
For those wondering how the other two graduate trainees got on, Samuel Houlders is currently Assistant Operations Manager at Bordesley Green and Jason Pell is now Assistant Operations Manager at Coventry.
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OPERATOR PROFILE › NX DUNDEE
From horses to hybrids James Day speaks with Managing Director Phil Smith about the National Express Tayside operation in Dundee, a vital service for a city which has been reliant on public transport for over a century
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undee is a city which has an extremely strong bus market. With as many as 65% of households having no access to personal transport, only Glasgow has a lower level of car ownership. This, along with the quality of services offered, has resulted in significant bus usage in the city. While National Express has only been involved in Dundee since 1997, the operator which it acquired, Tayside Public Transport Company Ltd, has a history spanning more than a hundred years, making public transport in the city very well established. Despite this, the company is keeping its fleet fresh, as Managing Director Phil Smith explained. “The average age of our fleet at the moment is around seven and a half years,” he said. “We are buying in new vehicles to promote modal shift and have an annual intake of new buses. We’ve secured 10 new ADL Enviro400s with the help of £500,000 funding from second Green Bus Fund, and we are expecting a big shift due to those vehicles. They’re scheduled to arrive in early 2013. “We also recently took in 29 new Volvo B7 single deckers.” National Express Dundee currently has a fleet of 125 vehicles, employs 350 staff and has a £17m annual turnover. The fleet follows the preferred National Express composition of Volvo vehicles, with a small number of Optare Solos. All buses in the fleet are fitted with digital CCTV, and National Express Dundee claims to be the first major operator in the UK to use only www.coachandbusweek.com
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lowfloor buses. A major urban operation in Dundee city areas, the operator controls 70% of the local market. “Our routes are predominately high frequency,” Phil added. “We recently upped the frequency on one of our core routes, service 5, from every 10 to every seven minutes.” As well as increasing frequency, the operator introduced a new night service on route 5, named the 5N or Night Owl, on May 26. The service runs every Friday and Saturday night, beginning at 0032hrs and finishing at 0310hrs. After a slow start, the service saw a significant increase in numbers. “When we started the service it was the weekend prior to a bank holiday and prior to people being paid,” Phil stated. “The city centre was quite quiet then and the footfall was not particularly good, but the numbers are now going where we want them to be going.”
National Express Dundee also owns a subsidiary company in G&N Wishart. The operator is based at a depot in Friockheim and runs a mixture of tendered rural bus services in the county of Angus and private hire contracts. Travel Greyhound is another subsidiary, which offered coach and bus hire and was acquired by Tayside Public Transport in 1990, where it was originally rebranded as Tayside Greyhound. The brand is currently not in use.
The Managing Director
Phil Smith has 32 years experience in the coach and bus industry. He held a variety of middle and senior management roles with Stagecoach. He was most recently Operations Director at Stagecoach North West before he took over as National Express Dundee Managing Director on June 1, 2011, replacing acting Managing Director Simon Mathieson who had held the position since mid-December 2010.
Managing Director Phil Smith (centre) joined the company in June this year from Stagecoach North West, where he was Operations Director
It is his second stint working for the company, having previously worked for it when the operation was still under the Travel Dundee brand in 2001, leaving in 2004.
Off the road
Investment from National Express Dundee is not made only in vehicles. Recently, the operator has taken steps towards improving its green credentials on its premises, to match the environmental benefits expected of the soon to be delivered hybrids. “From December 2011 to June 2012, we made a substantial solar panel investment at our East Dock Street depot,” Phil explained. “We’re the only bus depot in Scotland to have them installed. “We also resurfaced the yard and reroofed the building. A partial office refurbishment was undertaken as well.” Like many large bus operators which CBW has visited, National
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October 10, 2012 | COACH & BUS WEEK | 49
NatEx Dundee: a brief history
Express Dundee takes a proactive approach to maintenance. “We do all our maintenance in house,” Phil said. “It’s performed at a frequency far in excess of VOSA requirements. Our policy is to have the vehicles maintained every 2835 days, although a 35 day gap is the absolute maximum and doesn’t happen often.”
Unions
In May 2011, there was a significant drivers’ strike in Dundee after some union officials were suspended. This followed a strike over pay in April 2009. Despite this, Phil believes the company’s relationship with trade unions is solid. “It’s fair to say that Dundee as a city is a place where trade unions are fairly well established,” Phil explained. “Overall at the moment our relationship with the unions is a positive one, if not robust. “We’re currently in the process of revising internal operation.”
Natex.Dundee.indd 49
Dundee is home to Dennis, Gnasher and Oor Wullie
The Future
While there is certainly some significant investment going into the future of the company, Phil expressed some concern about possible developments to come outside of his control. “There will be challenges for the business over the next year,” he said. “Fuel prices are always a cause
for concern. “There is also the potential for the Scottish Government to make changes to the current concessionary fares scheme. Any revision there is likely to pose even more challenges for us. “It’s important for the government to recognise its commitment financially.”
National Express Group came to the city in 1997, with its acquisition of Tayside Public Transport, although the roots of the company can be traced back much further. It originated as Dundee and District Tramways, which introduced horse-drawn trams on August 30, 1877. After becoming a municipal in the 1890s, the tramways were electrified between 1899 and 1902 the company changed its name to Dundee Corporation Tramways. The trams were double-decked and painted in a green and cream livery, with Tramcar 21 still preserved at the National Tramway Museum. The operation ran 100 trams at its peak in the 1930s, which declined to 55 after WWII. The Tramway closed in 1956 and was replaced by bus services renamed as Dundee Corporation Transport. On May 16, 1975, running of the company was passed over to Tayside Regional Council following the 1973 Local Government (Scotland) Act, which made the most far reaching changes to Scottish local government in over a century. The livery changed from the established green to dark blue, light blue and white, although the council’s bus operations were still confined to the Dundee area. In preparation for deregulation, the company was made ‘arms length’, renamed Tayside Public Transport Company in 1985, which is the name the company remains registered under. The livery changed once again - to cream. It was bought out by its employees in 1991 before finally being acquired by National Express Group in 1997, adopting the same red, white and blue livery seen in the midlands. It was rebranded as Travel Dundee, with a final name and livery change announced on November 11, 2007, when National Express rebranded all of its bus operations to include the company name. The company was a contractor for Scottish Citylink but following a joint venture between Citylink and Stagecoach in November 2005 it saw Travel Dundee’s services stop, only to be reinstated at short notice from January 9, 2006 when extra journeys were added from Perth Bus Station to Edinburgh. The work ended once again in September 2008. www.coachandbusweek.com
08/10/2012 18:01
50 | COACH & BUS WEEK | October 10, 2012
FACE TO FACE › MATT BEETON
NAME: Matt Beeton POSITION: Chief Operating Officer, National Express UK Coach CONTACT: 08450 130130 www.nationalexpressgroup.com
Managing the NX family Andrew Cream speaks with newly appointed Chief Operating Officer for Coach Matt Beeton about the firm’s ‘Partner Operators’, new technology, competition and his previous roles within the transport industry
A
t less than six months into the job, Matt Beeton may still be getting to grips with his new role as Chief Operating Officer for National Express Coach. However, during our brief meeting, it was evident Matt showed a lot of enthusiasm and commitment to the job. His knowledge of the role is already shining through and the company’s strong philosophy had already been instilled in him. Matt said: “National Express is a big company but you can still get your hands round it and make a difference. “We are all custodians of the brand. There is a great ethos here, especially in terms of how we treat customers.” “I joined the company a few months ago so I have spent most of my time talking to operators, customers and staff,” he added. “I see this as a great opportunity; it has been a big learning curve. “National Express has a strong brand and great product for our customers, so working to develop these further will be my main priority.”
Developing technology
There are already aspects of the company Matt is keen to further and make the most out of. He is an advocate of Traffilog, the firm which provides National Express’ onboard telematics system. “Traffilog just suits us for everything,” Matt said. “We’d like to build on U Track [the company’s internal vehicle tracking system] and Traffilog. “My priority is continuing to www.coachandbusweek.com
Natex.Beeton.indd 50
Above: A prime example of a Partner Operator is Whittle. Right: Matt Beeton has only recently taken up the role of Chief Operating Officer develop the potential of Traffilog and U Track to benefit customers and manage traffic incidents quicker. Delivering prescribed information to passengers is the future of the transport industry and we want to roll the real-time information into our key stations in 2013.” The operator has recently introduced a coach tracker for customers. “The coach tracker launched two weeks ago and initial feedback has been positive,” Matt said. “We have several thousand users per week and it is growing.” “We’re currently making sure the tracker data is reliable – ensuring everything is working correctly,” he added.
Partner Operators
Matt believes it is very important getting to know customers and drivers. “I spend a lot of time at stations and with Partner
Operators,” he said. “The drivers know more than I would ever know. Speaking with them is a good way of finding out what we could do better. You can learn a lot from the third party operators. We share ideas with the operators which can give us an exhaustive list of great ideas.” In terms of important skills drivers should posses, Matt said: “Safety and customer service are our absolute priorities so we expect drivers to excel in both areas.” Choosing ‘Partner Operators’ is obviously a very important decision for National Express as they make up 80% of the company’s coach operations. Matt said: “We choose Partner Operators who share our values and are as committed to delivering as excellent service as we are. “I’m proud to say we work with some of the best independent coach companies in Britain who ensure our services are delivered in a safe
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October 10, 2012 | COACH & BUS WEEK | 51
and customer-focused manner at all times. “I visit operators regularly and I see this as a crucial part of my role. Partner Operators are the eyes and ears of the network, so it’s essential we work closely together to ensure issues are acted on promptly and best practice is shared across the network. “We have a team of people who visit operators to talk about their performance, conduct vehicle inspections and generally ensure the partnership is working well for both parties.” National Express’ business model of outsourcing its operations is not widely-used within the industry, but Matt believes the pros certainly
“People still have an old fashioned view of coach travel so investing in new technology, providing real-time information, WiFi and new vehicles are essential to winning new customers.” Matt Beeton
outweigh the cons. “National Express has always operated as an outsourced model and it offers far more benefits than issues,” he explained. “Appointing operators allows us to introduce and expand routes at short notice and add resource when we need it – for example for Glastonbury festival or major events at Wembley – all while remaining extremely competitive against rail and car travel. “Of course we have to select our operators carefully and ensure there is a robust system of checks in place, but the operators’ dedication to safety, cleanliness and service ensure customers keep travelling with National Express.” The firm’s own operations make up 20% of its work. It has garages based in Crawley, Heathrow and Stansted. Company standards are unsurprisingly very high across the board. “We want to be the best in class for safety and standards,” Matt added. “We have a huge programme of satisfaction and engineering audits which
www.coachandbusweek.com
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52 | COACH & BUS WEEK | October 10, 2012
FACE TO FACE › MATT BEETON
Above: Passengers at Birmingham Coach Station. Matt believes encouraging people to try coach travel is National Express’ biggest challenge are agreed on corporate level. We like to make sure everything is done just right.”
Reviewing the network
National Express is clearly a company which is always looking at its network and what it offers to see if it can provide a better service to customers. Having said that, the operator already has a wellrecognised network under its belt. “We look at the rail network and demographics in certain areas but it’s such a developed and established network,” Matt said. “We are not perfect but we have started thinking ‘does this make sense?’ when it comes to reviewing our network. I think we are getting a lot better at mapping demand.” “The main priorities for me are linking what we do in operations with what the customer sees,” he added. “The way coach travel has been measured traditionally is by mileage. But we operate on mileage per customer – as long as the customer gets from A to B – that’s our priority.”
External competition
On the face of it, it could be argued National Express doesn’t have a lot of competition on its coach side. Matt however, believes its www.coachandbusweek.com
Natex.Beeton.indd 52
competition comes from outside of the coach industry. He said: “The leisure travel industry is highly competitive, which is why we have to be absolutely on top of our game. To encourage people to choose coach over rail or car we have to deliver excellent value and great customer service. Coach isn’t always people’s natural first choice so we have to work hard to ensure we remain a preferred mode of transport. “One of our biggest issues is perception, so encouraging people to try the coach is our biggest challenge. When you get a new customer onto a coach and they have a good journey they’re likely to choose us again. However people still have an old fashioned view of coach travel so investing in new technology, providing real-time information, WiFi and new vehicles are essential to winning new customers.” Like many people who didn’t grow up around coaches, before he joined National Express it had been a long time since Matt last boarded a coach – and a lot has changed since then. “I am astounded by it,” Matt enthused. “Last time I went on a coach I was 15 years of age. It’s about getting the message out to people that coach travel is not old
Matt Beeton: a brief history
While Matt has always worked within transport, his role as Chief Operating Officer for National Express’ coach division is his first job within public road transport. In fact, Matt’s CV is decidedly varied. His first role in transport was at Rolls Royce’s aerospace division as a Commercial Director, between September 1997 and December 2002. He then moved to Bombardier Transportation as a Commercial/Sales Director. In 2009 he joined Northern Rail in the role of Area Director, a position which he held for a year. His last job before joining National Express was at Serco, where he was the Managing Director for its transport systems. “Serco was a really good place to work,” Matt said. “I learnt a lot while I was there. “I have always been involved in the transport industry and therefore the skills are very transferrable. I think the most important element in any role is that when you provide a service, you view it from the eyes of the customer and work closely with all the stakeholders.”
fashioned. People don’t realise how modern it is, especially with features like live ETA, for example. We just need to get people to try it.” He added: “Also, we are always looking to improve the coaches and we are currently working with Caetano on some upgrades to the Levante.”
Sharing with the bus side
With a sizeable bus operation, National Express can benefit from sharing ideas across the company. “We’re lucky to have some of the most talented people in the industry working across our bus and coach divisions, so there is a lot to be learned from each other,” Matt enthused. “The Traffilog system originated in the bus division and by introducing it to coach we have been able to deliver real-time information for customers for the first time. “By working together National Express has also become the first transport company to be awarded the ‘Gold Standard’ by Carbon Saver – an independent advisory board which rates environmental performance across all major industries. This was delivered by making our depots and stations as energy efficient as possible.”
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COACH&BUSMARKET – the place to buy and sell
To advertise on these pages for as little as £30 just call 01733 293247
...then 50 come along at once. Due to a major influx of new vehicles, we are selling a number of ex-TWM service buses. They’re in great condition for their age and have been maintained to a very high standard. There are currently 50 vehicles available, all stored at our site for viewing. Although mainly Volvo, Scania and Optare single deck, there are some double deck buses also available. All will be sold with 12 months MOT and repaint if required. Please call for more details. Finance and rental packages available.
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BARGAINS – MUST GO DUE TO RESTRUCTURING MAYPOLE COACHES HAVE THE FOLLOWING VEHICLES FOR SALE: 74 bus seats, Eminox exhaust, 12 months MOT, air-con, choice of 4 £9,550 + VAT each
1997 VOLVO OLYMPIANS
1994 VOLVO B10M JONCKHEERE DEAUVILLE
Retrimmed 2 yr ago, 12 mths MOT, 51 seats with belts, toilet, DVD/monitor £11,250 + VAT
1993 VOLVO B10M VANHOOL T8 BODYWORK
12 mths MOT, toilet, DVD/monitor, 49 seats with belts £10,250 + VAT ZF gearbox, Cummins engine, 63 seats with 3 point seat belts, 12 months MOT, 3 point belts, tacho, choice of 2 £5,500 + VAT each
1992 LEYLAND LYNX
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Passenger and Commercial Vehicles Recovery Dismantlers Parts Sales
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Ensig DOUBLE DECK 1999 T/V REG DENNIS TRIDENTS
LEZ
COMPLIANT
Cummins/Voith, LEZ compliant with traps, Plaxton President bodies, 62 seats dual door (£13,000) or 70 when converted to single door (£16,000).
Cummins / Allison, Wrights Cadet body, ramp, wheelchair space, Hanover LED’s, CCTV, 39 retrimmed individual seats, from our own fleet and very tidy.
2000 DAF SB120
1999 T/V REG DENNIS DART SLF’S
Caetano Compass bodies, 39 seats, ramps.
ZF automatic, Plaxton Premiere 320 Interurban body, 53 seats.
1993 L REG VOLVO B10M
Volvo Euro 2 engines, ZF gearboxes, Northern Counties bodies, 78 seats.
1997/98 VOLVO OLYMPIANS
1997/8 R REG VOLVO OLYMPIANS
9.9m, 2 door, 62 seats, DDA and LEZ compliant, large choice.
2001 DENNIS TRIDENTS
LEZ
COMPLIANT
2000 W REG DENNIS DARTS
LEZ
COMPLIANT
Cummins/Voith, LEZ compliant for 2012 with traps to Euro 4, CCTV, Alexander ALX400 bodies, DDA compliant or upseated to 80 seats.
1999/2000/2001 V/X/51 PLATE DENNIS TRIDENTS
Cummins / Allison, Plaxton Pointer 2 bodies, LEZ compliant, 2 door, CCTV, large choice, £4500 each plus tyres (£400).
Volvo Euro 2 engines, ZF gearboxes, Alexander low height 13 feet 8 bodies, 87 seats.
2005 MINI POINTER DART Cummins Euro 3, Allison automatic, 8.8m, 29 seats, new MOT.
OPEN TOP BUSES A SPECIALITY -
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K ER SPECIALIST ZF automatics, Plaxton Premiere 320 bodies, 53 seats, exhaust traps fitted, LEZ compliant.
1998 R REG DAF SB3000’S
2000/2001 X REG DENNIS SUPER POINTER DARTS
2001 DDA COMPLIANT DENNIS DART
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1999 T REG DAF SB220 SLF
8.8m, 29 seats, DDA compliant, Cummins ISB Euro 3 engines.
2002 MINI POINTER DARTS
2002 DART SLFs
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1999 S REG SUPER POINTER DART 11.3m, uprated engine and Allison World Series gearbox, 41 seats.
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- BRITAIN’S BIGGEST BUS DEALERS Park, Purfleet, Essex, RM15 4YF 8 864340 e-mail: sales@ensignbus.com t stock at www.ensignbus.com
553368-1057-Pembridge
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NEW PRE-REGISTERED FORDS
New Ford Transit 17 seat 4.3ton 135ps minibus. From £20,595 + VAT
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(11) 2011 Ford Transit 9 seat Shuttle Bus, twin side loading doors, large rear luggage area, delivery miles only £16,995 (11) 2011 Ford Transit 15 seat 3.5 ton, 2.4tdi engine 115ps, tacho, 10,000 km £17,500
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(57) 2007 LDV Maxus 17 seat, high back seats with three point belts, twin side doors, COIF/ PSV, silver £8,995
(05) 2005 LDV Convoy 2.4tdi 17 seat minibus, high back seats with three point seat belts, COIF/PSV tacho £4,995
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New Peugeot Boxer 16 seat 3.5 ton and 17 seat wheelchair accessible minibuses, 2.2 diesel 120ps, six speed gearbox
LEZ COMPLIANT From £23,500 + VAT
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(57) LDV Maxus LWB 9 seats tracking to take two wheelchairs, inboard lift, 49,000 miles, £9,995
(09) 2009 Renault Master 16 seat minibus, tacho,high back seats with three point belts, 35,000km £15,650
(07) LDV Maxus LWB 13 seat, tracking to take two wheelchairs, under floor tail lift £7,995
New Renault Master 17 seat LWB LM39dci 126 Minibus, tacho ONLY £20,350
(07) 2007 LDV Maxus 13 seat wheelchair accessible minibus, under floor lift, space for two wheelchairs, electric side step £8,495
(07) 2007 Peugeot Boxer 3.5 ton 17 seat minibus, high back seats, rear two rows of seats on tracking, 33,000 miles COIF/PSV £9,500
(06) 2006 Vauxhall Vivaro 1.9 cdti 9 seat, inboard lift, tracking for 2 wheelchairs, 45,000 miles £8,995
(07) Peugeot Boxer 3.5 ton 17 seat minibus, 2.2 diesel with three point seat belts, 28,000 miles, COIF/PSV £10,495
(03) 2003 Fiat Doblo SX 1.9 diesel, low floor, four seats plus one wheelchair, lightweight ramp, 45,000 miles £3,495
2006 (55) Vauxhall Vivaro, 7 seat, wheelchair tracking, inboard electric lift, easy clean floor, 55,000 miles £7,995
Y 2001 Renault Mascot 2.8 diesel, 16 seat wheelchair accessible minibus, front entry drop step, fully tracked floor to take five wheelchairs, under floor lift, rear heating, COIF/PSV £6,495
SOLD
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Contact Graham Thatcher – email: sales@minibussales.co.uk
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Pembridge House, The Park Business Centre, Plough Road, Goytre, Penperlleni, Nr Usk, South Wales NP4 0AL – 10 minutes from M4 motorway. Viewing by appointment only Finance Contract Hire and Finance Lease Available. We deliver Nationwide. All vehicles prepared to VOSA standard COIF/PSV specialist
All above prices are subject to VAT @ 20%
679547-1057-Connaught
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Mini Coach Sales
BRAND NEW MERCEDES FERQUI SOROCO 16 high back reclining seats, 3 point belts, A/C, D/G, forced air, reading lights, power door, large boot.
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BRAND NEW MERCEDES BENZ 513CDI EVM CLASSIC 16/19 high back seats, 3 point belts, luggage racks and A/C.
2008 08 MERCEDES BENZ 311D SPRINTER 16 high back seats, 3 point belts, forced air, reading lights, brand new conversion LEZ compliant.
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2006 55 REG MERCEDES 814 PLAXTON CHEETAH 33 high back seats, 3 point belts, forced air, reading lights, curtains, power door and boot, in silver.
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2005 55REG MERCEDES BENZ 413 CDI SPRINTER 16 high back seats, 3 point belts, forced air, reading lights.
2001 51 REG TOYOTA CATEANO OPTIMO 5 22 high back seats plus courier, lap belts, forced air, reading lights, curtains, power door and boot.
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V d PS ste te
2008 (57) FORD TRANSIT FACTORY MINIBUS
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For more information visit
www.staffordbuscentre.com Tel: 01782 791774/07803 222552
For more information visit
www.staffordbuscentre.com Tel: 01782 791774/07803 222552
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ÂŁ13,950
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Mercedes engine, 27 seats 23 with belts, currently undergoing body prep and paint.
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2002 (52 reg) Optare Solo M850
For more information visit
www.staffordbuscentre.com Tel: 01782 791774/07803 222552
679458-1056-Pickrell
H. W. PICKRELL
1/10/12
18:07
Page 1
MINIBUS AND WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBLE VEHICLES
Gardiners Lane North • Crays Hill • Billericay • Essex • CM11 2XE Tel: 01268 521033 • Mobile: 07860 894331 • Fax: 01268 284951
Email: sales@hwpickrell.co.uk - www.hwpickrell.co.uk Finance available on all vehicles (subject to status) Written details on request.
WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBLE MINI BUSES For latest stock arrivals follow @h_w_pickrel
53 REG MERCEDES SPRINTER 416 CDI
06 REG RENAULT MASTER SM 33 2.2TD
06 REG RENAULT MASTER SL 33 2.2TD
55 REG MERCEDES SPRINTER 413 CDI UVG TREKA
4x4 ambulance, LWB, Wilker box body conversion, full air con/climate, side loading door, 3 high back seats, Falcon stretcher, PLS stretcher lift, very high spec, one owner ex Air Force, only 25,950 kms.
Manual gearbox, high roof, O & H conversion, PAS, side loading door, side step, 6 high back seats plus 1 x w/chair, Eberspacher heater, air con, Unwin tracked floor, Ricon tail lift, 21253.441 miles.
Manual gearbox, low roof, O & H conversion, PAS, side loading door, side step, 4 high back seats plus 1 x w/chair, Eberspacher heater, Unwin tracked floor, Ricon tail lift, 17,491 miles.
Auto gearbox, LWB, PAS, climate control, n/s/f electric power door, 16 high back removable seats on NMI quick release, Eberspacher, PLS underfloor tail lift, ex local authority, COIF’d, 83,180 kms.
54 REG M ERCEDES SPRINT ER 411 CDI
08 REG FORD TRANSIT 430 JUMBO 2.4TDCI
09 REG VAUXHALL MOVANO LM35 2.5TD
2008 57 REG VAUXHALL VIVARO L H28 2.0 T D
Tiptronic gearbox, Euromotive PSC bus conversion, front entry slam door with low entry step, 16 x high back removable seats, Eberspacher, ex local authority, COIF'd, tacho fitted, only 66,780 kms.
Manual gearbox, high roof, PAS, LWB, tacho, side loading door, AVS side step, 13 rear high back seats, Unwin tracked floor, Eberspacher heater, air con, underfloor Ratcliff tail lift, tacho, 53,946kms.
Manual, semi high roof factory bus conversion, side entry slam door with low entry step, 16 x high back seats plus driver, ex local authority, tacho, only 23,469 kms.
Manual gearbox, hi roof, O & H conversion, PAS, side loading door, side step, 5 high back seats plus 1 x w/chair, Eberspacher heater, Unwin tracked floor, Ricon tail lift, 30,280 miles only.
56 REG RENAULT MASTER MM33 2.5TD
60 REG FORD TRANSIT T430 JUMBO 2.4TD
2008 58 REG VAUXHALL MOVANO LM39 2.5TD
57 REG VOL KSWAGEN CRAFTER CR35
Manual gearbox, high roof, Warnerbus conversion, PAS, side loading door, side step, sat nav, 6 high back seats plus 1 x w/chair, air con, Unwin Innotrax floor, Ricon tail lift, 14,300 miles only.
Manual gearbox, high roof, factory bus conversion, side entry slam door with low entry step, 16 x high back seats plus driver, ex local authority, only 6,900 miles.
Manual, high roof, PAS, LWB, O & H conversion, side loading door, AVS side step, 8 high back seats + driver, Unwin tracked floor, stretcher, Ricon tail lift, piped oxygen, Eberspacher heater, 48,441 miles.
LWB, semi high roof, BC conversion, PAS, SLD, side step, 11 rear high back seats, front storage area or double passenger, air con, Unwin tracked floor, space for 2 x w/chairs, PLS internal tail lift, choice of two.
09 PEUGEOT EXPERT TEPEE 1.9 HDI
07 REG RENAULT MASTER MM33 2.5TD
2008 57 REG RENAULT MASTER LM39 2.5TD
07 REG F ORD TRANSIT 100 350 2.4 TDCI
Manual 5 speed gearbox, PAS, CD player, air con, twin side loading doors, 2 high back seat in rear, double passenger seat front, cut out floor, fold down ramp, blue metallic silver, alloy wheels, 14,932 miles.
Manual gearbox, high roof, Warnerbus conversion, PAS, side loading door, side step, sat nav, 6 high back seats plus 1 x w/chair, Webasto, Unwin innotrax floor, Ricon tail lift, 14,300 miles only.
Manual, high roof, PAS, LWB, SCW conversion, side loading door, AVS side step, 10 high back seats, Unwin tracked floor, Ricon tail lift, ex local authority, 27,478 miles.
Manual, MWB, high roof, PAS, DL conversion, side loading door, AVS side step, 8 high back seats, fully Unwin tracked floor, Eeberspacher heater, Ricon tail lift, 28,779 miles.
2008 57 REG RENAULT MASTER LM39 25TDI
06 REG MERCEDES SPRINTER 411 CDI
60 REG RENAULT MASTER SM33 2.5TD
07 REG RENAULT MASTER LM39 2.5TD
Manual, high roof, PAS, LWB, new conversion, side loading door, AVS side step, 14 high back seats, AMF m2 fully tracked floor, AMF tail lift, tacho fitted, only 49,046kms (30,478 miles).
Auto gearbox, LWB, PAS, Frank Guy conversion, n/s full height electric power door, 16 high back removable seats on NMI quick release, Eberspacher, PLS underfloor tail lift, ex local authority, COIF’d, 103,080 kms.
Manual gearbox, high roof, Advance conversion, PAS, side loading door, side step, 6 high back seats plus 2 x w/chair, heater, air con, Unwin tracked floor, Ricon tail lift, 2,060 miles only.
Auto gearbox, coach built body, KFS conversion, PAS, side loading door, low side step, 15 high back seats plus driver, full air con, Webasto, Unwin tracked floor, lowering air suspension and ramp, 44,087 miles only.
09 REG RENAULT MASTER MM33 2.5TD
2009 59 REG VAUXHALL VIVARO SL28 2.0 TD
08 REG FORD TRANSIT 430 JUMBO 2.4TDCI
07 REG RENAULT MASTER LH35 2.5TD
Manual gearbox, high roof, Warnerbus conversion, PAS, side loading door, side step, 7 high back seats plus 1 x w/chair, full air con, Webasto, Unwin Innotrax floor, Braun tail lift, 27,087 miles only.
Manual gearbox, low roof, O & H conversion, PAS, twin side loading door, side step, 4 high back seats plus 1 x w/chair, modified low floor, electric winch & fold out ramp, 15,491 miles.
Manual gearbox, high roof, PAS, LWB, tacho, side loading door, electric side step, 11 high back seats, Unwin tracked floor at rear, Eberspacher heater, underfloor Ratcliff tail lift, 34,954 miles.
LWB, hi roof, multi purpose office/comms unit, PAS, SLD with AVS side step, awning, 3 x workstations, amber light, bars front and rear, overhead storage lockers, heating, generator, microwave, tv, only 1,500 miles.
000000-1047-Eastwoods DPS
30/7/12
15:51
Page 1
DUE TO ILLNESS OF THE MD, MASSIVE SALE WITH HUGE REDUCTIONS – ALL MUST BE SOLD! 2003 DENNIS JAVELIN PLAXTON PROFILE Registered Dec 2003, double glazed tinted glass, Cummins 275 engine, 6 speed manual gearbox, 49 seats, toilet & washroom, ready for immediate use, MoT tested, 120,000 miles, choice of two. Straight from MOD.
£P.O.A
Straight from MOD
VOLKSWAGEN TRANSPORTER Dec 07, low mileage, 7 seats, quick release tracking for wheelchair use.
£12,500 + VAT
06 MAN EVOLUTION
14/220, 37 seats, SLF automatic, wheelchair ramp, superb condition throughout, fully MoT’d.
£45,500
Part exchange considered
BERKOF RADIAL 1998
53 seats, Cummins 300 engine, ex council, manual box, air cond, MoT, very low mileage, super condition.
£19,500
CAETANO (SALVADOR) 1998
57 seats, in white, Cummins 245 engine, MoT Sept 2012, very clean vehicle.
£19,500 + VAT
BMC AIRPORT BUS
32 seats, 220 Cummins, new MoT this week. QUICK SALE WANTED.
£15,000
1995 PLAXTON PREMIER MERCEDES VARIO 612
1998, 20 new seats, wheelchair lift on wheel tracking, 20 new seats. Choice of 6. TRADE SALE OR SEPARATE
1995 DENNIS JAVELIN PLAXTON PREMIER HIGHLINER
53 recliner seats, 290 Cummins, automatic, continental door, toilet, full years MoT, must be seen.
£POA + VAT
02 LDV
Minibus with 12 seats, long MOT, wheelchair lift and very clean.
£P.O.A.
1996 DENNIS JAVELIN
10 metre, new MoT, 41/47 seats, 220 Cummins, 6 speed box, new stretch panels, repainted. Choice of 2.
£POA + VAT
B10 engine In excellent condition throughout MOT
£16,000 +VAT
000000-1047-Eastwoods DPS
30/7/12
15:51
Page 2
IVECO SERVICE BUS
67 seats (moquet), new 2006, only 12,000 miles since new,Vihixel body, auto gearbox, air-con, MOT full year, LEZ, must be seen, superb condition.
£65,000 + VAT PX considered
PLAXTON PARAGON
48 reclining seats plus courier seat, air-con.
£49,500 + VAT
03 MERCEDES VARIO
With wheelchair lift, 13 seats, low mileage.
£12,000 + VAT
02 SETRA
1996 VOLVO PLAXTON PREMIER HIGH LINER
B10 engine, 14 months test, 70 seats, tinted double glazing, curtains, continental door, must be seen.
£POA
Model S-315 GT HD, 6 cylinder MAN engine, manual 6 speed gearbox, 49 seater, full air conditioning, many extras, full year MOT
£45,000 + VAT
Part exchange considered
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64 | COACH & BUS WEEK | October 10, 2012
V d PS ste te
2011 11 REG FORD TRANSIT 15 seat factory bus, PSV, COIF and tacho, 20K miles, ready to go
THE FOLLOWING VEHICLES OFFERED FOR SALE DUE TO FLEET REPLACEMENT
£16,450
For more information visit
www.staffordbuscentre.com Tel: 01782 791774/07803 222552
LEZ
COMPLIANT
Setra 315GTHD DOFR: LEZ Cert: MOT: Mileage:
22/04/2005 30/09/2013 12 Months 350-450,000 kms
£ POA - last two remaining 49 seat Exec, Toilet, Boiler, Cooler, DVD, 2 x Monitors, Mercedes Engine, A/S Tronic Gearbox, Intarder, Air Conditioning, Webasto, Alloy Wheels. Owned and maintained by us from new. Repaint by arrangement.
MCV EVOLUTION
Light Weight
10.3mtr, 35 seats 11.1mtr, 40 seats
Excellent Fuel Economy
Light Weight Excellent Fuel Economy
LEZ
COMPLIANT
Toyota Optimo V DOFR: LEZ Cert: MOT: Mileage:
WRIGHTBUS PULSAR 2 11.9mtr, 44 seats
11/04/2006 31/10/2013 12 Months 250-300,000 kms
£29,950 o.n.o. 18 Reclining Seats, Extended Boot, Manual Gearbox, Air Conditioning, Euroliner Wheel trims. Owned and maintained by us from new. Repaint by arrangement.
01274 681144
Gomersal, Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire, BD19 4BJ Email: busandcoachsales@arriva.co.uk www.arrivabusandcoach.co.uk Bus and Coach
take a test drive today
2001 51 Reg Mercedes Sprinter Optare Siroco Full luxury coach with all extras, fantastic condition for year, was s/r with keys, no damage, new test.
£14,950
For more information visit
www.staffordbuscentre.com Tel: 01782 791774/07803 222552
LEZ
COMPLIANT
Scania Irizar Century K114
DOFR: 28/04/2006 LEZ Cert: 30/10/2013 MOT: 12 Months Mileage: 250-300,000 kms £79,950 o.n.o. - Choice of two 53 Reclining Seats, 11 Litre Engine, ZF Auto Gearbox, Reverse Camera, Air Conditioning, Alloy Wheels. Owned and maintained by us from new. Repaint by arrangement.
Please Contact Andy Nixon To Arrange A Viewing Office: 020 8768 9610 Mobile: 07872 409281 E Mail: andynixon@clarkescoaches.co.uk
p56_CBW_1048
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Page 1
3 WEEKS 4 WEEK FREE
BUY GET A
PRICES INCLUDE :
TH
• Design Service • Web Advert • Full Colour
WHEN YOU ADVERTISE IN
COACH&BUSMARKET T E K R A M S U B & nd sell a H y u C b o A t e CO – the plac
7 1733 29324 0 ll a c t s ju £30 as little as r o f s e g a p e on these To advertis
l £90 o c 4 x m 5c co 5cm x 1
TO BOOK YOUR ADVERTISEMENT CONTACT:
JADE CASSIDY
£30
col 10cm x 2
£90
col 15cm x 1
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10cm x 1
col
£50
01733 293247 jade.cassidy@coachandbusweek.com
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l £50 o c 2 x 5cm
ek.com andbuswe ch a co @ y jade.cassid 47 or email 2 3 9 2 3 3 7 1 y on 0 Jade Cassid Telephone
VEHICLE SALES | PRODUCTS & SERVICES | MARKET | VEHICLE SALES | PRODUCTS & SERVICES | MARKET | VEHICLE SALES | PRODUCTS & SERVICES
p66_CBW_1057
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Page 66
66 | COACH & BUS WEEK | October 10, 2012
COACH&BUSCLASSIFIED HEAVY DUTY STEEL BUILDINGS
BUILDINGS
• Bus Workshops • Secure Storage
• Supplied any width, any length
• Building to BS5590
• Doors high enough for Double Deckers
• Finance available Phone for further information
BLUELINE BUILDINGS 01709 578333 anytime CHECKPOINTS
HEATING
GARAGE EQUIPMENT
Mobile Column Lifts FREE
Set of Axle Stands when you purchase your Mobile Columns JHM Butt & Company Limited Sales: 01302 718226
www.buttsequipment.com equipment.com
Heaters • A/C Equipment Blowers • Motors • Radiators Silicone Hose • Ducting Wiper Equipment • Gas Struts
Wheel Nut Indicators and Retainers
++44(0)1524 44(0)1524 2271200 71200 checkpoint-safety.com
www.
Tel: 01993 849522 Fax: 01993 706920 Email: sales@thhs.co.uk
www.thhs.co.uk
UNIT 9 NIMROD BUSINESS PARK DE HAVILLAND WAY, WITNEY OX29 0YG
COACH&BUSCLASSIFIED
Looking for a great deal to promote your products and services? Contact Jade Cassidy now for details of our current offers : 01733 293247 jade.cassidy@coachandbusweek.com
Coach & Bus Week – the only paid-for weekly magazine in the bus and coach industry – there’s no comparison!
GARAGE EQUIPMENT SPECIALISTS Experts in Commercial Garage Equipment
www.bwsequip.co.uk BWS (0117) 9530381 REPLACEMENT LEZ EXHAUSTS
Direct Replacement LEZ Exhaust Systems Typical 2-4 Hour Install 2 Year Standard Warranty Unique Maintenance Modules - Keep your Vehicle on the Road Passive and Active Systems available - Suitable for all Drive Cycles For your Regional Agent or Further Information, Contact Tom or Brian on :- 01768 480111 or sales@greenurban.co.uk
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October 10, 2012 | COACH & BUS WEEK | 67
COACH&BUSCLASSIFIED TICKETING
REGISTRATIONS G
SPEEDY REGISTRATIONS CO LTD G ‘Buy with confidence – CNDA Member’
£690 AXZ 70 DRZ 18 MHZ 24 RNZ 12 KIG 17 TJZ 50 TUI 18 TUI 19 TUI 20
£350 £99 £99 £50 AJZ 262 DXZ 1150 MJZ 6749 CXZ 4470 CEZ 979 HIG 5338 MNZ 1195 CXZ 4471 RBZ 696 HIG 5339 ONZ 1165 DXZ 4501 RDZ 919 IIG 2278 REZ 9410 DXZ 4502 SBZ 171 IIG 2279 RUI 2117 DXZ 4503 UKZ 525 JIG 9298 SUI 8836 ERZ 6171 VIW 979 JIG 9299 SUI 8837 ERZ 6181 WJI 848 KIG 5113 TJZ 1116 JFZ 8394 XJI 474 KIG 5114 TJZ 1119 JIG 8459 We Buy for Cash, also Part Exchange
£50 JIG 8479 KIG 8781 KIG 8782 RNZ 9195 RNZ 9196 SNZ 1068 SNZ 1069 TUI 7991 TUI 7992
Tel: (028) 6638 7124 Fax: (028) 6638 7771
Millwood, Lisbellaw, Co. Fermanagh, N. Ireland BT94 5HQ
TICKETING
TRIM
COACH TRIMMERS LTD
Supplying the Bus and Coach Industry with quality seat retrims and interior refurbishment. Full floors re-laid and centre gangways. Collection and delivery service anywhere in the UK, seven days a week.
Email: info@eastgate-coachtrimmers.co.uk Web: www.eastgate-coachtrimmers.co.uk
TRAINING
Tel/Fax: 01751 472229
COACH&BUSCLASSIFIED Looking for a great deal to promote your products and services? Contact Jade Cassidy now for our current offers: 01733 293247 jade.cassidy@coachandbusweek.com Coach & Bus Week – the only paid-for weekly magazine in the bus and coach industry – there’s no comparison!
p68_CBW_1057
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68 | COACH & BUS WEEK | October 10, 2012
COACH&BUSCLASSIFIED TYRES
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MANAGEMENT & REPAIRS
MOUNTAIN TYRES LTD VEHICLE CERTIFICATE AGENCY
QUALITY AVON TREAD USED
Mountain Tyres is a newly established company making commercial retreaded tyres. We have a modern retreading plant based near Caerphilly, and we only use Grade One Tyre Casings in the production of all our tyres to produce a top quality tyre. All our tyres are guaranteed against failure.
WE ALSO CARRY OUT MAJOR AND MINOR REPAIRS, BUILD TYRES ONTO RIMS Our staff have over 25 years experience in the Retreading industry and we are Certified by the Vehicle Certificate Agency
PRICE LIST
205-75-17.5 from ........................................................£50.00 215-75-17.5 from ........................................................£50.00 245-70-19.5 from ........................................................£60.00 275-70-22.5 from .....................................................£120.00 295-80-22.5 from .....................................................£125.00 315-80-22.5 from .....................................................£125.00 385-65-22.5 from .....................................................£135.00 MAJOR REPAIRS ..........................................................£35.00 MINOR REPAIRS ..........................................................£15.00 All Prices Plus VAT
Ffynonau-Duon Farm, Pentwyn, Bargoed, Caerphilly, CF81 9NP
VEHICLE SPARES
Passenger and Commercial Vehicles Recovery Dismantlers Parts Sales OUR SERVICES: • • • • • • • • • •
Recovery
Refurbishment Testing
Repairs
Engine/gearbox rebuilds Fault finding
Buying & selling vehicles
DISMANTLING/SPARES: • • • • • •
Reconditioned engines Reconditioned gearboxes Engine spares Windows
Windscreens Seats
Trevor Wigley & Son Bus Ltd
TW FULLY LICENSED END OF LIFE VEHICLE CENTRE TW REDUNDANT AND SCRAP VEHICLES TAKEN TW PROFESSIONAL, EFFICIENT SERVICE TW ALL REQUIREMENTS CATERED FOR TW VARIOUS SPARES AVAILABLE TW CONTACT US FOR FULL AVAILABILITY
Export to foreign markets Repairs
Finance repossession and storage
CALL: 01226 727 769 Bus sales: www.geoff-ripleysbuscoachsales.com Geoff Ripley, Boulder Lane (off Shaw Lane), Carlton, Barnsley S71 3HJ
Mob: 07912 103 497 or 07711 750 434 Fax: 01226 727 607 Email: geoff-ripley@btconnect.com
Call 01226 723147 Night Service 01226 716479 Fax 01226 700199 Email wigleys@btconnect.com
www.twigley.com
October 10, 2012 | COACH & BUS WEEK | 69
Seen something funny? Send it to gareth.evans@coachandbusweek.com, fax 0845 2802927 or write to: Last Stop, Coach & Bus Week, 3 The Office Village, Cygnet Park, Forder Way, Hampton, Peterborough PE7 8GX
Monday: The usual manic press day. Finish a little later than the last couple of weeks but it’s still not stupidly late. Tuesday: Complete my Dean Finch feature and email it to NX’s PR team with a polite request they don’t sanitise it and merely stick to fact checking, which they respect. I’m delighted when a visit to a well-known coach operator is confirmed.
Metrobus 2941 at Stratford station. Below: Your Editor in TWMPH uniform, complete with his Welsh dragon tie clip
Happy Days… Your Editor was once a proud employee of Travel West Midlands (TWM). I was fortunate to work alongside fellow Aston University Transport Management students such as Alex Hornby and Andrew Sherrington – not to mention my ‘gaffers’, who included Richard Kirk, who’s now at FirstGroup and Pete Bond of Centro fame. TWM ran a seemingly little known Private Hire unit (TWMPH), a remnant of the firm’s coaching operation. Indeed, it was often described as ‘coaching with buses’. Prior to the site’s closure, TWMPH was based for a number of years at the fondly-remembered
Dilbert
Hockley Garage, before moving to Acocks Green and finally Perry Barr. The vehicles were coach seated with most being seatbelted. Livery was essentially the then lowfloor bus scheme. The work included school trips, rail replacement, third party staff
bus contracts and private hire. The ability to transport two classes on a single vehicle was something of a USP – and in the Midlands, with its short geographic distances, meant the MCW Metrobuses were ideal vehicles. TWMPH also ran seasonal trips to Alton Towers and Drayton Manor Park. In addition to Metrobuses, there were also three Alexander-bodied Volvo Olympians. I drove one of the latter, N126YRW (3126) on my first tachograph job shortly after my 21st birthday. The fleet also included Optare Solos, not to mention an open topper. I also completed my Sandwich Placement Year with TWM, which included work on reliability and RTI and overtime driving service routes. More in a future issue.
Wednesday: A hectic day in the office working on the NX issue. It’s a lot of work but I’m in my element. Enjoy a spot of banter with the ever-friendly PR man of a major coach and bus manufacturer. In the evening, make a start on preparation work for decorating the main bedroom, the current DIY project. Thursday: Another day in the office, writing and subediting. The hard work continues, but as ever, I’m a firm believer that a happy workplace is a productive workplace. Enjoy a classic from a PR man on the phone in the afternoon. Asked what his client is supplying, he replies: “A range of small components.” Hmm... I put him on speaker phone for the benefit of my colleagues – got a right one here, we conclude. He’s unable to give me further details. I politely point out we’re a trade publication with readers who know the difference between a spanner and a hammer, so such generalisations are frankly unacceptable. Still, it gives us all a laugh... Friday: A manic day in the office trying to get as much as possible done before the Monday deadline, including writing, subbing and allocating photos. Catch up with a friendly coach operator in the afternoon, who fills me in on some news. Despite feeling shattered, I forge on with the DIY project in the evening – I’m determined to get it done. www.coachandbusweek.com
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70 | COACH & BUS WEEK | October 10, 2012
RECRUITMENT
Deadlines Booking: Monday 5.00pm Full artwork: Monday 5.00pm
Contact Ian Gillis 01733 293484
New Service Delivery Manager for PCS
Zara becomes Reading’s first female apprentice
Paul Clark Services (PCS) has appointed Mike Britten as Service Delivery Manager. Mike brings with him a wealth of industry experience and knowledge following a long career in senior engineering management positions. More recently Mike has undertaken short term specialist contracts. He worked with Arriva in Scotland, which included the McGills buses handover, and in Malta with Arriva’s new operations. Mike is based at PCS’s Swindon HQ and is responsible for business delivery, including quality and customer care and a number of high profile ventures and projects. PCS is in its 15th year providing engineering support to the bus and
Zara Murphy is on course to be the first woman apprentice mechanic to become a skilled worker with Reading Buses. Zara has always had an interest in mechanics and buses and is following in the footsteps of her grandfather and father. Grandfather Wayne McMahon drove for Reading Buses while her dad, Adrian Street, has been a driver for 12 years. There were nearly 60 applications, 20 of which were shortlisted. Zara and William Dawson of Tilehurst were selected for the apprenticeships. Reading Buses HR Director Caroline Anscombe said: “The selection of candidates was a difficult task with many quality and
keen people applying. This is part of our routine recruitment, but we are particularly pleased to welcome this new talent to our team. “Reading Buses has a long history of developing its own talent to provide the needs of its increasingly complex workshop. “Each year we try to take at least one new apprentice and we are already seeing the benefits of this approach with former apprentices staying on to take permanent roles. We are looking forward to the next two apprentices graduating in the summer of 2013 after a four year programme.”
Mike Britten coach industry. It has an increasing customer base, including National Express, Arriva, Go-Ahead, First and Stagecoach, while also providing continuing support to ADL, Optare, Wrightbus, BAE and ZF. Mike said: “PCS is a great business, but like many industries it faces many new challenges. The business continues to invest heavily in staff, equipment and technology, allowing PCS to remain the preferred choice for many of the UK’s largest operators.”
ian.gillis@coachandbusweek.com
Apprentice mechanics William and Zara at work with Reading Buses
“I honestly couldn’t believe the response from the job advertisement we put in CBW. We had nine great CVs sent in and are in the process of interviewing all of them for the two roles. The service I received from Ian in the sales department and June, who designed our ad, was second to none. I wouldn’t hesitate to use CBW again and would recommend the magazine to anyone looking to �ill their own vacancies.” Keith Sanzo, Director, Eurotaxis
RECRUITNOW www.coachandbusweek.com/jobs www.coachandbusweek.com Testamonial_Eurotaxis_serif.indd 1
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“Advertise all your recruitment vacancies the affordable way; book a series of three adverts; buy one week, get the second week half price and have a third week on us… yes, that’s free! CBW is the only paid-for weekly publication serving the coach and bus industry; read by directors, managers, engineers and drivers alike. Your vacancy will be seen in the print and digital editions, and online at www. coachandbusweek.com/jobs. This amazing offer is extended to October 17, 2012, so don’t delay, contact me, Ian Gillis, on 01733 293484, or via email: ian.gillis@coachandbusweek.com”
RECRUITNOW www.coachandbusweek.com/jobs Find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/coachandbusweek Join the discussion on Twitter by following us at @cbwtweets Search LinkedIn Groups for ‘Coach and Bus Week (CBW)’
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