Wednesday October 31, 2012 Issue 1060 | £2.95 www.coachandbusweek.com
COACH:
Bowen Travel Group placed into administration p9
OPERATOR:
BUS:
How Travel de Courcey Independent research works as a Nat Ex �inds £310m black 'partner operator' p32 hole in Nexus plan p6
INSIGHT:
Innovation paves the way forward for Eurolines p46
This week we’re launching a brand new website to revolutionise vehicle sales
FOCUS ON
PART TWO
Kings Ferry: life under National Express p38
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www.coachandbusweek.com ISSN: 1351-3877 © 2012 Coach and Bus Week Ltd. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or system or in any means without the written permission of the directors. This is considered a breach of copyright and action will be taken where this occurs. This magazine must not be lent, sold, hired or otherwise disposed of in a mutilated condition or in any authorised cover by way, or by trade, or annexed to any publication or advertising matter without first obtaining written permission from the directors.
War of words over QCs
W
ith Stagecoach having commissioned an independent review into Quality Contracts by Oxera, which accuses Nexus of overstating the benefits of QCs to the tune of £310m, it’s hardly surprising Nexus responded vehemently to the criticism – yet it is difficult to stand back and see the logic in the authority’s reasoning. Nexus believes if the London system works there’s no reason it can’t work elsewhere. To my mind this is only true if someone is prepared to pay for it. Look at the money TfL gobbles up from ratepayers in addition to fares from passengers. It couldn’t sustain itself relying on passenger revenue. Similar has been true for Dublin Bus – which takes in massive public funding through subvention while elsewhere in Europe so many of the municipally-owned operations eye-up the freedom seen by most UK
operators with a high degree of jealousy and it’s why our market has been attractive to them. Nexus has an important function in working with independent operators to ensure its routes are not just cherry picked and essential services are maintained. Working together will bring results. Imposing unwanted QCs will only see operators withdraw services, possibly altogether, and there won’t be many rushing to fill the empty spaces unless they find sustainable and favourable operating conditions. If there isn’t sufficient profit from running services operators won’t reinvest in upgrading fleets or developing initiatives to stimulate further growth. The operators must believe in the area’s potential if they are prepared to fight QCs. If they had no faith in Tyne & Wear they would just pull out. Martin Cole Technical Editor
CONTENTS 4
30
46
The latest from across the coach and bus industry in the UK
12
Part two of our National Express coverage. Plus more history
28
Popular destinations, innovation and modal competition
Mercedes-Benz unveils its 10.5m Citaro K Euro 6 for the UK market
16
An update from National Express Coach MD Andrew Cleaves
32
Partnerships are the way forward in the West Midlands, says PTE
What’s happening across the country’s regions. Plus events diary
22
An NXWM ADL E400 Hybrid heads up Birmingham’s Broad Street
44
A lighthearted look at the industry. Plus Office Diary column
How to get the best out of Coach & Bus Week’s new sales website
The story behind the rarely reported team at Hagley Road
All the latest people moves from across the industry
News
Citaro
Regional News Website guide
Nat Ex Intro Face to Face Big Picture
Service support
Eurolines
50
PTE Partnership
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.
www.coachandbusweek.com
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4 | COACH & BUS WEEK | October 31, 2012
NEWS
“We’ve taken on serving the Cheltenham Festival, which proved very successful. We’re doing nearly all the big venues.” Andrew Cleaves National Express
BRIEFLY The High Court in Ireland has ruled private companies have no right to bid for the multimillion euro contract to provide school transport across the country. An attempt by a company called Student Transport Scheme (STS) to force the Department of Education to allow private companies to provide the service was blocked, meaning Bus Éireann will continue to receive about €150m a year to provide the service. Judge Brian McGovern ruled there was no contract between the department and Bus Éireann and therefore no requirement for it to be tendered out. The firm has operated the school transport scheme since 1967 under a long-standing arrangement. STS argued it did form a contract and should be open to competition, claiming the tender process, as allegedly operated under a contract with Bus Éireann, lacked transparency and infringed various EU directives and regulations. Bus Éireann said it had reduced costs by more than €10m in recent years while increasing the number of services, particularly for children with special needs, and it ‘looked forward’ to continuing to provide the service. Eight ADL Enviro400 Hybrid double-decker buses went into service at three park-andride sites across Bath on Sunday, October 28. The £2.5m fleet, run by First under council contracts, is part of a £30m public transport scheme to reduce city congestion and improve accessibility. A £650,000 grant from the Green Bus Fund has helped to pay for the vehicles, which have been described as “particularly well suited to the geography of Bath”. Regional MD Justin Davies said: “The buses are able to generate significant battery power through the regenerative braking system as they approach the city centre from the park-andride sites on the outskirts. This allows us to save fuel as we can capture the free energy which is created by braking and use this to help power the buses. The city’s public transport improvement scheme also includes the expansion of the three Park & Ride sites and a regular Sunday and bank holiday service.”
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Face to Face p26
Coach & Bus Week launches coachand busmarket.com Free introductory offer means for a limited time sellers can upload unlimited vehicle adverts at no charge A revolutionary new online marketplace for coaches, buses and minibuses has been launched by Coach and Bus Week Ltd. coachandbusmarket.com is a new online service which gives you unrivalled control over your advertising, never seen before in our industry at unmatched prices. You can advertise used vehicles, products and services quickly and at a low cost. The website allows buyers to easily browse a huge range of vehicles, products and services, all in the same place at any hour of the day – there’s no need to wait a week to find out what’s for sale. Sellers can take advantage of the first online market in the industry updated by its own users. The convenience of uploading adverts at any time and allowing your vehicle to be up for sale the moment it’s ready is something not found anywhere else without a percentage of the sale price being taken as a cut. On coachandbusmarket.com a variety of one time cost packages are available, allowing adverts to
remain online between one and three weeks, with variable coverage in the magazine. However, at this moment sellers need not worry about cost at all, as for a limited time, uploading ads to the website is free. Coach and Bus Week Chairman Jonathan Taylor said: “I have been telling everyone how determined I am to give the site the launch it deserves, so why not let it be used
Top: The Coach and Bus Market homepage. Above: The seller’s dashboard for controlling adverts
free of charge for vehicle sales at the beginning to let everyone quickly see the benefits. “From now until November 21, or until 1,000 vehicles have been loaded on to the site, you can place as many vehicles as you like on the website for free.” Coach and Bus Market also offers unrivalled control of advertising. Sellers have access to a dashboard allowing them to edit adverts and mark vehicles as sold, or even ‘pause’ an ad in progress. This means if you have some interest in a vehicle for sale, you can pause the advert online, maintaining the time left on the advert and allowing you to reactivate it if a sale isn’t made. The dashboard also allows you to see in real time the amount of views your advert is getting. The site is live and the launch offer is available now, but even once the offer has expired it is possible to upload vehicle adverts to the website for an unmatched price of £9.98. This is possible if you take advantage of a deal granting Coach and Bus Week subscribers an enormous 30% discount, potentially saving money if you sell several vehicles per year. Coachandbusmarket.com can be accessed via your computer, tablet or smart phone so take a look and start benefiting from how we’ve made buying and selling used vehicles, products and services easier than ever. Coach and Bus Market is live now. Visit it at coachandbusmarket.com or call us on 01733 293240 for more information. Take a look at our user’s guide on page 18.
Coachandbusmarket.com allows a quick and easy comparison of a huge number of vehicles, products and services
We will also be promoting the website at this year’s Euro Bus Expo on November 6-8 at the NEC in Birmingham. If you’re at the show, come visit us at stand T 165 and we’ll be happy to talk you through the new website.
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Join the discussion on Twitter by following us at @cbwtweets and find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/coachandbusweek
‘Hyperlink’ service launched between Leeds and Bradford The new Leeds-Bradford ‘Hyperlink’ service was officially launched in Bradford’s Centenary Square on Wednesday, October 24. First worked in partnership with West Yorkshire ITA (WYITA), Metro, Leeds City Council and Bradford Metropolitan District Council to establish a rapid transit style service between Leeds and Bradford. The first vehicles went into service on Sunday, October 28 and link Leeds, to Bradford along the existing service 72 route. First has refurbished its fleet of Streetcar vehicles for the service and rebranded them ‘Hyperlink’. The vehicles boast a range of extra facilities such as free Wi-Fi, leather seating and new ticketing systems. Other investments in the route include a greater frequency of seven minutes during the Monday to Saturday daytime period and customer service training for staff.
NEBOA outlines proposals
Bus operaters in the North East are promising cheaper fares for young people, a new range of busto-bus tickets and savings for local councils of a quarter of a million pounds in the first year alone of a bus partnership agreement. In the partnership document, called ‘Better by Far’, the companies proposal includes a ‘no-change
The service is part of a long term project with Metro and the Bradford and Leeds Councils to deliver key local policy objectives. These include: Helping to achieve future employment and population
growth in Leeds and Bradford Supporting targeted regeneration initiatives and economic growth in deprived areas. Improving access for jobs and services, as well as reducing congestion from regional roads First invested £400,000 in the project to refurbish the £6m fleet, along with a high profile marketing campaign along the corridor and in the local media.
One of the articulated Wrightbus Streetcars running on the Leeds-Bradford ‘Hyperlink’, which have seen £400,000 of refurbishment work amnesty’ under which bus operators are committed to no changes to services in the first twelve months of the partnership. Kevin Carr, Chairman of NEBOA, said: “Our partnership offering contains clear benefits for existing passengers and a range of new fares which should help us grow patronage. A three-tier approach to ticketing provides simplicity, value for money and customer choice. Multi-operator tickets suit people who use the services of more than one company but don’t need to use Metro. Single-operator tickets allow firms to offer best-value fares for
local journeys and the Network One multi-operator tickets will continue to be ideal for people using multimodal transport. “A new ticket range will also mean huge savings for 16 to 18 year-olds. Partnership means cheaper fares for thousands of people next spring, when Nexus already admitted fares will rise if a QC is introduced. “In the first year of a partnership agreement, bus companies will be investing more than £32m in new vehicles, depots and staff training. Partnership working offers an effective, efficient and affordable
The campaign involves local radio and newspapers, along with outdoor media along the route and targeted mailing offering the public a chance to sample the new service for free. The local authorities have supported the project and provided an initial £74,000 for improvements to street infrastructure. Future phases of the project will consider the feasibility of new bus priority schemes. First has committed to reinvest any surplus resources as a result of these improvements into further frequency and network enhancements. Dave Alexander, Regional MD for First in the North of England, said: “Hyperlink is an exciting, strategically important, partnership project which brings significant economic and social benefits. “We will continue to work with our partners at WYITA, Metro, Leeds and Bradford Councils to help us achieve our joint aim of achieving passenger growth leading to a more sustainable transport system in West Yorkshire.” method of delivering improvements for Tyne and Wear’s buses. On the other hand, the QCS is seriously flawed, exposing local authorities to increased financial risk. “Implementing a QCS could take years and involve set-up costs of £2.5m, but if the ITA decides to progress the partnership proposals, all of this could be in place as early as next April.” “NEBOA will meet with members of the ITA to give a presentation on its proposals on November 9. “Tyne and Wear has one of the best bus networks in the country according to Passenger Focus.”
www.coachandbusweek.com
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£3m 13
news › BUSeS
The amount invested by Travel de Courcey on 14 new Levantes
briefly TfL has announced details of its latest tendering round. Go-Ahead-owned Docklands Buses lost the contract to operate route 425 to First London East (FLE). Starting on July 6, 2013, the new contract calls for a Peak Vehicle Requirement (PVR) of 10 new double deckers. FLE also gained two night bus routes – the N550 from Stagecoach London and the N551 from Docklands Buses. Both contracts commence on August 31, 2013 to be operated with existing double deckers. Meanwhile, Metroline retained a number of contracts, including the 143D; school bus route 643; and night bus routes N5 and N20 using existing double deckers. Routes 143D/ 643 take effect on June 29, 2013, while routes N5/ N20 begin on July 27. Plans to develop two car parks in Cheltenham into a bus station, a multi-storey car park and new housing have been submitted. The new development is situated at North Street and Portland Street.
Nexus exposed over QCs inaccuracies – £310m short Stagecoach commissioned a report into Nexus’ QC figures from economic consultancy Oxera An independent report commissioned by Stagecoach from economic consultancy Oxera has shown Nexus overstated the “benefits” of its bus contract plans by at least £310m. Oxera reviewed the model used by Nexus to underpin its proposals to introduce a Quality Contract Scheme (QCS) in the North-east. It found a series of flaws in the model, with several elements of the Nexus plans based on incorrect assumptions and claims “not supported by the evidence available.” Some claims were contradicted by research commissioned by the
Central Buses completes acquisition of Valley Travel
Plans to run bendy buses on the proposed “rapid transit” routes through Bristol have been scrapped. The Lib-Dem authority will look at long single deck buses with multiple doors. Deputy leader Jon Rogers said: “These buses will cost less allowing us to purchase more of them thereby increasing frequency on our routes.” The authority plans to bring the new buses directly into Bristol Temple Meads railway station.
Central Buses has completed the purchase of the operations of Valley Travel, part of the Merlin Venture Group, which operates the 696 Castle Vale circular service. Two
£750
UDIT
IANCE A
COMPL
The number of bus routes being withdrawn by South West Coaches
AT PLUS V
tel: 08450 575 111
DfT and even Nexus itself. One serious finding in the report centres on Nexus claims around the impact of so-called “soft measures under a QCS, including smart ticketing and a customer charter. The Oxera report said there was no evidence zonal ticketing would increase bus use and a 2009 DfT
The research paid by for Stagecoach revealed vast differences in costs Dennis Dart SLFs were acquired along with the transfer of driving staff under TUPE. Geoff Cross, MD of Central Buses said: “The Valley Travel operation fits in well with our local bus network in North Birmingham and Warwickshire. Valley Travel has built a loyal customer base over the last 13 years. We aim to provide Castle Vale community with an affordable, reliable, frequent and comfortable service.’’ Robert Brown, Merlin Venture
report found it may even reduce it. Previous research for Nexus by consultants MVA “consistently found ticketing was not a priority for bus users.” Oxera says there was also limited evidence for Nexus claims of a customer charter leading to increased bus use. Removing the unfounded uplift from these elements from the Nexus model reduced the alleged financial benefit of a QCS by nearly 40%, which amounts to at least £310 million. Oxera concluded: “In deriving its model Nexus appears to have made assumptions about inputs and the outcomes of different interventions which are not adequately supported by the evidence available. Given the feedback CEO said: “Central Buses has acquired a specialist bus operator which is more likely to sustain the service than we are. However, we have mixed emotions because we’ve operated the ‘Purple Bus’ for almost 13 years and have completed over one million passenger journeys. Merlin is part of the Castle Vale community – it’s in our DNA – but we have always put our customers first and we feel it is in their interests the service becomes part of a larger bus group.”
Contains 100% compliance Long lasting protection L
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91%
October 31, 2012 | COACH & BUS WEEK | 7
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The percentage of passengers either satisfied or very satisfied with their buses in Tyne and Wear
effects in the model, this may have significant impacts on outcomes. In light of this, the evidence presented by Nexus thus far to suggest the proposed QCS would lead to net welfare gains should be treated with caution.” Stagecoach North East MD Phil Medlicott said: “This report exposes a multi-million-pound black hole in the Nexus plan. It is based on false assumptions, unproven claims, and unsupported numbers. “Elected members are being misled by officials into taking a disastrous decision. Why destroy a system delivering high satisfaction for a flawed experiment?” The Oxera report also found: Nexus presented no evidence the actions of bus operators were resulting in a decline in passenger numbers. Other possible explanations of patronage reduction in the North East were not considered by Nexus, such as the relationship between increasing car ownership and falls in bus use and the expansion of the Metro system. Bus use in the North-east is increasing – from 129.3m in 05-06 to 140m in 11-12 according
Young Bus Managers Conference a success
Over 70 delegates attended last week’s Young Bus Managers Network (YBMN) Conference in Leeds which was held October 23-24 - themed Innovation in Yorkshire. Keynote speaker was Les Warneford, Stagecoach UK Bus MD. Les gave advice for all those attending the conference and some amusing anecdotes about his experience in working in various positions around the country, from his time as a conductor in Bradford right the way through to his current position at Stagecoach, from which he retires next May. Dr Bob Tebb of BRT UK was another high profile speaker; Dr Tebb has taken a key role in the development of guided busways throughout the UK, and worked in getting the two Leeds systems up and running. Delegates had the opportunity to sample the
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to Nexus’s own draft bus strategy Bus operator costs have risen “faster than inflation” over the eight year period from 2004-11. Lower public sector support for buses in metropolitan areas compared to London. Public support per passenger journey in London is 29.6p compared to 22.2p in metropolitan areas. “The evidence put forward by Nexus does not appear to provide sufficient support for the proposition where any potential problems in the bus market in the Tyne and Wear area can be addressed by a QC,” Oxera said. “Nexus has not examined in sufficient depth the reasons behind trends in the North-east bus market, nor has it set out how a franchising model might address the problems which have occurred.” Nexus is pursuing QCS plans despite independent research by Passenger Focus the North-east has the highest bus passenger satisfaction in the country at 91%. Bus operators instead called for a partnership between themselves and Nexus to further improve the standard of services in the area. In response, Bernard Garner,
Director General of Nexus, said: “It is unsurprising an operator which takes 23% profit margin from the North East and whose CEO said he would rather drink poison than talk about a QCS should make these claims. We’ve always known some operators would set out to discredit an attempt to explore whether a system working in London and many world cities might work here. “Change is needed as the number of fare-paying passengers is falling. “We shared a working draft for a QCS with operators in August and asked for their input to refine proposals. The assumptions Stagecoach make for 10 years of future bus use are different to our own, but by getting bus firms involved, despite their opposition in principle to the idea of franchising, we can ensure any final proposals are robust and fully considered against the merits of a partnership. “We’ve been clear from the start any scheme we propose must cost no more than the £62m the taxpayer now puts into local bus services, while looking to make better use of the £20m a year bus companies take out of the North East in profit.”
Industry share prices at the close of the Stock Exchange on Monday, October 29. Rotala saw the its price remain unchanged, while 21st Century saw the greatest proportional drop. Most figures obtained from www.iii.co.uk
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Young Bus Manager delegates socialising at the event on October 23-24 York Road scheme with an early morning bus tour. With the Gosport BRT system having recently opened and Luton-Dunstable opening next year, Dr Tebb’s key message was that the future is certainly bright for Bus Rapid Transit in the UK. Nigel Eggleton of Transdev Blazefield illustrated the numerous marketing initiatives the company has undertaken in order to grow bus routes further, notably the 36 between Leeds and Ripon, the Harrogate to Knaresborough corridor, the ‘Mainline’ network
between Colne and Padiham, and also the wider Burnley local bus network under the ‘Starship’ brand. David Young, Head of Customer Experience at South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive, was the final speaker of the day, and gave an absorbing presentation on how the Sheffield Bus Partnership has come about through liaising with key stakeholders, and working in partnership with operators to launch the new bus network for Sheffield which went live last weekend.
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news › coaches
briefly Maintenance work on the A38 Mardle Viaduct near Buckfastleigh is scheduled to start on Monday (November 5) and continue for six weeks. During the work one lane of the westbound carriageway on the viaduct will remain closed 24 hours a day, with the remaining lane narrowed. A 40 mph speed limit will also be in place. The adjacent slip roads on to the viaduct from Dart Cross Bridge and Peartree junction will also be closed to allow traffic to flow smoothly through the one lane. Overnight maintenance work on the A12 Breydon Bridge in Great Yarmouth is set to begin on Monday. While the work is completed, the bridge will be closed in both directions with clearly signed diversions in place. The work will take place overnight between 2000 and 0600. Work is due to end on Friday, November 23, with no work taking place on Saturday or Sunday nights. Safety improvement works have started on the M180 near Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire. Work is taking place between junction two and three of the M180. Road users are being advised that the speed limit between the junctions has been reduced to 50mph, 24hrs a day until November 18. Until November 12, lanes 2 and 3 will be closed to install new concrete barriers. Between November 12 and 18, lane one and the hard shoulder will be closed to remove temporary CCTV and safety cameras. Ground investigation work starts this weekend on the anti-clockwise M25 exit slip road at junction 24 near Potters Bar, Hertfordshire. The work, which will determine the cause and extent of cracks along the slip road, starts on Sunday and, weather permitting, is due to be complete on Friday November 16. It will be completed using lane and full slip road closures. The hard shoulder and lane two of the anti-clockwise exit slip road will be closed for the duration of the work, with lane one of the slip road still open to traffic. There will also be some overnight closures. www.coachandbusweek.com
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Mercedes-Benz unveils Euro 6 OC500 chassis at Madrid Show The new chassis has been designed to cater for the newly developed powertrain Mercedes-Benz revealed its Euro 6 OC 500 chassis line-up at the FIAA show in Madrid last week. The range includes an OC 500 LE bus chassis and OC 500 RF chassis for touring coaches – both built at the Samano factory in Spain. The chassis have been altered to cater for the newly developed Euro 6 powertrain comprising the new generation of engines forming part of the BlueEfficiency Power concept. The engine range already complies with Euro 6. Common features include the basic technical configuration with common rail injection and emission control using SCR technology with AdBlue injection plus an oxidation catalytic
converter connected in series and a particulate filter. The manufacturer claims fuel consumption is generally below the level of its predecessors. A further benefit is manifested in longer service intervals of up to 120,000km for engine oil changes in touring use. The new Mercedes-Benz OM 936 six-cylinder in-line engine is compact and lightweight. It offers two power ratings of 220 kW (299bhp) and 260 kW (354bhp) from a displacement of 7.7 litres. This engine is deployed in both in the OC 500 LE and the OC 500 RF. The larger OM 470 six-cylinder in-line10.7 litre engine is optional for the OC 500 RF. It’s also available in two power ratings – 290 kW (394bhp) and 315 kW (428bhp). Modifications to the engine bay are in line with the exhaust system
The MercedesBenz OC 500 RF is available to third party body builders
Nominations open for 2013 UK Coach Awards Nominations for the UK Coach Awards (UKCA) have opened and close on December 7. The results will be announced at the Annual Presentation Ceremony, to be held at the UK Coach Rally and Awards weekend over April 20-21. Categories for 2013 include Making Coaches a Better Choice and a Young Coach Industry Professional Award. The categories cover the full range of services
provided by and for coach firms and their passengers. There are prizes for industry people, for excellence in coach operation and management, in coach friendliness by attractions and local authorities. Suppliers of services for passengers, such as catering and venue ticketing, are also recognised. In a new development, awards will be made to the Coach Destination of the Year, chosen from
now being installed on the left side and the cooling system on the right. The radiator unit is separated from the engine by a bulkhead and is also encapsulated on top. The OC 500 RF has standard fitment of manual six-speed gearboxes from Mercedes-Benz. The new GO 250-8 PowerShift fully auto eight-speed bus transmission is optional. It’s claimed to offer faster and more comfortable changes. The shift mechanism is completely new and all functions are compactly incorporated in a steering column switch. The OC 500 LE comes with the ZF EcoLife auto with torque converter. A new retarder is employed in conjunction with all manual transmissions. It uses the engine cooling water as a braking and cooling medium. The previously necessary oil/water heat exchanger is no longer required. The new design results in a weight reduction of around 30 kg, accompanied by an increase in continuous braking power. Mercedes-Benz RO 440 drive axles are low weight, low friction, quiet running, further improved suspension and enhanced ride comfort. The load-carrying capacity has risen to over 12tonnes. The new rear axle is one of the weight-saving features employed to largely offset Euro 6 compliance. the winners of the four awards for Coach Friendliness, and the Coach Passenger Service Provider of the Year, chosen from the winners of the four awards for best service provider. UKCA Chairman Allan Edmondson said: “The scheme is designed to recognise and reward excellence, original thinking and innovation. That way, we can promise taking home a UK Coach Award really is a badge of achievement.”
Visit the UKCA site at www.ukcoachawards.co.uk
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“For us, the top destinations are always going to be Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels – in addition to Ireland...” Clare Gee Eurolines
Insight p46
Bowen Travel Group enters administration
Environment Minister Alex Attwood and Airporter Director, Niall McKeever
Use of digital technology to make NI roads safer welcomed Environment Minister Alex Attwood praised Derry-based coach operator Airporter for its use of cloud-based technology to improve its bus fleet safety and inspection regime. Emphasising the importance of road safety compliance, the Minister said: “Our road safety laws are strict and I make no apology for that. My Department works hard to improve the roadworthiness of vehicles and ensure compliance with the highest standards by both operators and drivers. “It makes absolute sense, in this digital age, for operators to look at the efficiencies digital technology can provide to help
them be compliant and I commend Airporter for showing the way.” Cloud based software deployed using mobile devices is the key to Airporter’s compliance to VOSA’s new transport legislation. Paul Whittingham, Sales & Marketing Manager, Truckfile said: “We’re delighted that Airporter is the first public transport operator on the island of Ireland to commission Truckfile. The system is VOSA compliant and will manage the maintenance and documentation cycle throughout the life of the vehicle providing a totally transparent picture of each vehicle’s service history and more.” Niall McKeever, Director, Airporter said: “We travel more than a million kilometres each year between Northern Ireland’s airports, getting over 80,000 people to their planes on time. Passenger safety is absolutely critical to us and we passionately believe using technology to embrace change helps us to be an innovative company. We’re a practical example of Digital Derry in action.”
Bowen Travel Group has gone into administration following serious cash flow problems. The firm employed 448 people across the UK, of which 393 were made redundant immediately. 55 have stayed on as a skeleton crew to assist appointed joint administrators Matthew Cowlishaw and Dominic Wong, partners at business advisory firm Deloitte. The group comprised six firms; Bowen Travel Limited; LF Bowen Limited (trading under Bowens, Applebys, and Yorks); Jeffs Coaches Ltd; York (Bros) Northampton Ltd; Bowen Travel Transport Ltd and Woottens Luxury Travel Ltd. Collectively the group ran three divisions of coach tour operations and coach hire with a fleet of 132 coaches and 33 MPVs, and a retail travel agency network of 38 stores. Matt Cowlishaw said Bowen had been affected by the “depressed leisure sector”. He added: “We’re working closely
with Bonded Coach Holidays to assist impacted customers, ensuring they are all fully aware of the situation and next steps.” Bowens Travel was rebranded BTG Travel after it ended its franchise agreement with First Choice and joined Hays Travel Independence Group which has been offering employment to some of the displaced staff. Other firms reportedly offering Bowen Travel Group staff potential roles include Blue Sea Holidays, Holidaysplease and new Sunset Faraway homeworking subsidiary Travel-PA. Hays Travel Managing Director John Hays reportedly told Travel Weekly: “We are starting to print letters to send to clients to reasure them that their money is safe and to suppliers to say we will administer their bookings for them. “We will offer the staff the opportunity to become homeworkers with Hays, as we have in other situations.”
The Bowen Group had invested heavily in its fleet
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news focus › citaro k
Above: Despite being a mere two metres shorter than its larger sibling, the Citaro K appears noticeably more compact
The new Citaro in short Coach & Bus Week’s Gareth Evans reports on the unveiling of the Mercedes-Benz Citaro K, the shorter 10.5-metre long variant, which will complement the familiar 12.5-metre model It’s been a long time coming, but the ‘short’ Mercedes-Benz Citaro is now available for the UK market. Unveiled to the trade press at Evobus’ Coventry dealership on Friday, the all-new Euro 6 bus will make its public debut on the Evobus stand at next week’s Euro Bus Expo.
Euro 6 from the start Jan Aichinger, CEO of Evobus UK took up the story: “The UK midi market is for circa 800 units per annum. We know 10.5m is the upper end of that segment, but it will still give operators the opportunity to run a single vehicle type, with the obvious operational efficiencies.” Andrew Allsop, Director Mercedes-Benz Sales explained: www.coachandbusweek.com
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“It’s going to be competitive against other 10.5m products, just like the Citaro is in the 12.5m segment. It’s meeting market demand – customers want a smaller version of the Citaro. The answer is in Euro 6. It remains to be seen what lower cost vehicles will look like for Euro 6.” Jan continued: “This vehicle is one of the first Euro 6 buses for the UK market. The first customer example will be available in the spring. Deliveries are due to start in the fourth quarter of 2013. In the meantime we’re doing our best to promote the vehicles. “We’ve been surprised how little operators know about Euro 6. With the Citaro we’ve found a vehicle to answer all questions on matters such as fuel consumption, weight and maintenance. We’ve taken larger operators to Mannheim and we’ll take the smaller operators in due course.” Turning to the important question of ‘savings’, Jan said: “The
starting point for Euro 6 is what savings you’re up against. We want to be the latest – as opposed to being compared to Euro 2 or 4. Comparing fuel consumption and torque is like a curve on a graph. Data we’ve collected ourselves has shown fuel saving for 3-5%. However, we’re currently doing in service trials with ESWE in Wiesbaden, Germany where the Euro 6 Citaro was launched – as featured in CBW in May 2012. The results will be published by an independent firm. We’re going to do the same on the coach side with Setra. “At the end we hope to convince customers that yes, the capital purchase price for Euro 6 is going to be higher but the lifecycle costs will have a payback. We expect the servicing costs to be lower due to the increased service intervals. We’ve increased the filter size so vehicles can operate for longer.” Asked about the premium for Euro 6, Jan replied: “From a
technical perspective it’s been such a big step. We’re talking roughly €10-15,000 or about £12,000 – but again the question is what’s the starting point? Euro 5 or EEV? Pricing in 2014 remains in crystal ball territory. I estimate the pay back period will be seven to 10 years.” Andrew said: “You need to look at the body and chassis together to reduce weight. A Euro 6 Citaro weighs less than its Euro 5 example. We’ve also maintained the capacity. “The easy option would have been to increase the size of the filter on the Euro 5 design to achieve the same legal requirements but we wouldn’t have gained the same in terms of fuel economy.” Perhaps striking a chord with some operators who have privately expressed such sentiment, Jan said: “As a UK bus operator, if I can achieve greater fuel economy and higher cut emissions without government support, that’s brilliant.” Looking ahead to the future, Jan
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Join the discussion on Twitter by following us at @cbwtweets and find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/coachandbusweek
Above: The bright and airy interior. Evobus says the interior is a ‘blank canvass’. Below: The new Citaro is certainly attractive on the eye said: “We expect Euro 7 will come in due course – which will perhaps look at cutting CO2.”
Safety first “The safety side is important too,” stressed Andrew. “Anyone who’s experienced ESP (Electronic Stability Programme) on a coach or car won’t want to travel in a vehicle without it. This is the first bus so fitted in the UK. It’s also got a front collision guard, which was first introduced on coaches. The new Citaro benefits from greater cab integrity and a higher driving position too – and it also meets the 2017 rollover regulations.” New developments for Citaro K are the off-side door plus a two-door version for London and other operations. Andrew said the interior “is a blank canvass.” Turning to the specification, Bi-Xenon headlights are optional, as are cornering lights, which illuminate on tight bends. A fire detection system is fitted as standard, while fire suppression is optional. Asked about passenger capacity, Andrew replied: “It’s 30+1 tip up, but this bus is a prototype. I would
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like us to get us another tip up ideally. We don’t know the standees yet as we’ve not got the weight. It’s purely a test vehicle – it can only be driven by Evobus staff.” The introduction of the Citaro K for the UK has been mooted for at least three years – since the CPT One Stop Shop at Broxbourne in June 2009. However, CBW respected Evobus’ request not to publish the story at the time. “The challenge was for all manufacturers to get this work done to Euro 6, and as a result,
some projects had to pulled back. The payback period was too short – we only had two years until we had to start again,” explained Andrew.
Articulate question Asked about articulated versions of the Euro 6 Citaro, Jan replied: “We know there is no longer any demand for bendies in the London market but this year we’ve converted 17 from three to two-doors. It’s good work for our workshops but we also see them as ambassadors for us around
the UK. We know double-deckers will always be preference for UK operators but there must be some advantages to artics. “Interest in ex London artics has been gradual – Brighton & Hove started with five and then more were required. So, the Citaro G is an option for the future. I can’t say we’re expecting orders for new ones anytime soon. After all, there are 130-160 parked up. It would quite simply be wrong to direct customers to buy new while this remains the case. The Isle of Man for example, is considering artics for the future. “Bendy buses will never be a mass market segment but it’s one we don’t want to ignore. Drawings for a right-hand drive Euro 6 Citaro G have been produced and no decision has been made to rule out production in the future.” FACT FILE
length 10.5 metres (34’) height 3.12 metres (10’ 2”) Engine Mercedes-Benz OM936h Transmission Voith DIWA.6, four-speed auto Seats 30 Inter Star Eco seats, plus one tip-up
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news › REGIONAL
SCOTLAND
Stagecoach has introduced ‘greener’ fuel on more than 900 vehicles in its Scottish bus fleet as part of a drive to cut its CO2 emissions. A new mix of fuel called B30 is being used by 530 buses and coaches across its East Scotland business and almost 400 vehicles at Stagecoach West Scotland. The new fuel blend uses a mix of 30% biofuel and 70% standard diesel and the company said buses in both areas previously used a mix of 5% biofuel and 95% diesel. The new fuel is expected to cut CO2 emissions from the vehicles by up to 22% and the blend was introduced in partnership with Motherwell-based Argent Energy, which manufactures biofuel from waste products. Argent Energy and Stagecoach have worked together on the launch of nine bio-buses in Kilmarnock in 2007 which operated using 100% biofuel. Stagecoach Regional Director for Scotland Sam Greer said: “We are constantly striving to make our business more sustainable and we believe the introduction of this greener biofuel will make a real difference to our carbon footprint as a company. “Public transport can play a key role in reducing climate change and new technology, such as the use of biofuel and improved environmental monitoring systems, is crucial if we are to get people to switch from the car on to our greener smarter bus services.”
NORTH
Go North East has adorned the back of one of it’s Mercedes-Benz Citaro artics with the name of Paralympic gold medallist and world record holder Josef Craig. The swimmer’s record-breaking achievements now feature on the X66, which transports people from Gateshead to the MetroCentre. The medal design was put onto the bus following the 15-year-old’s success in the pool, breaking two world records on his way to gold in the S7 400m Freestyle during the Paralympic Games in London last month. Go North East had wished Josef luck with messages on the back of its buses, which has now been replaced with a giant gold medal and a congratulations message. The bus was even brought into St 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. Manchester, said: “The extension of route 18 to operate via Manchester City Centre and onto Oxford Road is a significant and historic step which will benefit tens of thousands of bus passengers. “We have worked closely with Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) to develop this route which offers a real travel alternative to staff at the city’s main Hospitals and Universities, as well as people travelling into the city for shopping and leisure purposes.”
KEY
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MIDLANDS
Joseph’s RC Comprehensive School in Mill Lane, Hebburn, where Josef was able to see it. Martin Harris, Go North East Commercial Director, said: “As a company, we ran good luck messages prior to the Games, and then when Kat Copeland and Josef Craig achieved medals, we also wanted to recognise their achievements. It’s fantastic what they have achieved.” Josef said: “I couldn’t believe it when a bendy bus turned up at the school. “I had heard there was a bus with my name on it, but I thought it might have just been a single decker. “I thought what they had done was really good. It’s nice to know they are being so supportive.” A “One Way £1” scheme for under-19s was launched across the Yorkshire Dales by the Dales Integrated Transport Alliance (DITA) on October 27. The scheme aims to provide more independence for social activities as well as better access to work opportunities in the school holidays and weekends. It means young people will pay a fare of £1 on both outward and return bus journeys at specified times. The lower rate is available after 1700hrs on weekdays and at any time on weekends and during all school holidays. An ID is required as proof the passengers are under 19. Local buses participating in the
scheme have the “One Way £1” logo on the front window. A cross city bus service linking parts of North Manchester with Universities and Hospitals situated south of the City Centre began Sunday (October 28). First has extended the current route 18 from Langley and Middleton to now run via Piccadilly and Oxford Road to the Manchester Royal Infirmary (MRI). First has worked in partnership with Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) on the project which provides direct links across the city. First’s current service 18 begins at Langley, and travels via Middleton Bus Station and Rochdale Road before finishing its journey at Manchester Shudehill Interchange. It now carries on its journey via Piccadilly and Oxford Road before turning around near the MRI to make the return journey. First is offering a number of ‘value for money’ fares on the cross city service to grow passenger numbers, including a FirstDay ticket at £2.50 and a FirstWeek ticket at £9. These cheaper fares are valid along the full route of First’s 17 and 18 services. The routes operate every 10 minutes at peak time, with an improved Monday to Saturday evening service every 30 minutes (from an hour). Simon Pearson, Commercial Director for First in Greater
All nine Nottingham City Transport Omnidekkas on the Go2 Pink Line have been decorated with special ‘Wear it Pink’ logos in a show of support for the Breast Cancer Campaign’s biggest fundraising day of the year. NCT has pledged 10% of the day’s ticket takings on the route. The Breast Cancer Campaign was established in 1988 with the aim of researching the cure for breast cancer. They currently support 102 research projects, worth over £17m in the UK. It’s just one of the national charities supported by NCT, and like the spotty yellow double-deckers in aid of Children in Need and Red Line buses with noses for Comic Relief in previous years, passengers will be left in no doubt as to the charitable cause behind the bus operator’s day of fundraising. Nottingham City Transport Marketing Manager, Anthony Carver-Smith said: “As we’re currently promoting our 28 buses through the “Think Pink” campaign, it was the perfect opportunity to go big on ‘Wear it Pink’ branding for our pink line double deckers, and raise funds and awareness for the cause in the best way we know.” Arriva Midlands has relaunched its route 112 between Lichfield and Birmingham, via Sutton Coldfield. The move includes a new look timetable, offering an hourly Monday to Saturday daytime service, and improved journey times. Keith Myatt, marketing and Communications Manager for Arriva Midlands, said: “We’re continuing to make bus travel more popular with the introduction of some great value for money fares – such as a Adult Lichfield to Birmingham Day Return for £4.50. We’re committed to making bus travel a viable alternative to the private car.”
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news › REGIONAL
SOUTH WEST
New times for the X53 and 31 services in the Bridport and Lyme Regis area will take effect on November 4. The X53 is now due to depart Weymouth 11 minutes earlier – at 0720hrs, while route 31 will leave Lyme Regis at 0626 instead of 0639hrs. The X53 will continue to run on Sundays until Christmas after a public outcry over proposals to stop it. Dorset County Council said it will decide on November 7 whether to provide funding for it to continue after Christmas. First has also announced changes to a number of services in Taunton from Sunday, November 4. Simon Ford, Regional Network Manager for First in the South West, said: “The changes are in response to the shifting needs of customers, such as capacity problems. These service alterations are part of our on-going efforts to develop the
network. Some routes have been changed, while others have been subject to increased frequencies. A few routes have also been revised.” South West Coaches is withdrawing 13 bus routes linking towns and villages in Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire. The company operates from depots in Yeovil, Portland and Wincanton and has said the lossmaking services are to be phased out over the next six weeks. Lewis Trahar, a spokesman for South West Coaches, said: “Regrettably for some people in the rural parts, it’ll mean the bus which comes once a week won’t come any more.” The services which are affected include those from Castle Cary, Templecombe in Somerset to Salisbury in Wiltshire. Other affected services run from Wincanton, Chard and Sherborne to Dorchester, Weymouth, Poole and Sherborne in Dorset.
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
The UK Bus Awards presentation will take place on the afternoon of Tuesday November 20 at the London Hilton Park Lane hotel
2012 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 November 20-21 ATCO Winter Conference 2012. Local Government Association House, London, SW1. Will include AGM. www.atco.org.uk n December 15-16 Santa at the Oxford Bus Museum. 01993 883617. www.oxfordbusmuseum.org.uk
2013
Stagecoach North East has donated £500 to the Marie Curie charity as a result of funds awarded from the company’s Ready Steady Green Eco Rewards. The rewards recognise achievements the company has made to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions. The engineering department and traffic department at each of the company’s six depots and also Head Office were awarded for year-on-year energy savings. Each depot was given the option to either purchase something for their own depot, or donate the funds to charity, with most depots choosing the latter. Stagecoach North East plans to invest up to £350,000 over the five year initiative’s course. Paul Hillman, Business Support Manager and Green Team Member at Stagecoach North East, commented: “Marie Curie is a fantastic cause and I’m thrilled that through our various energy saving schemes we can donate this substantial amount of money to them. “It’s also great to know for yet another year all of our depots have successfully reduced their energy consumption and carbon emissions. Our aim was to significantly reduce our energy usage, material waste and our carbon footprint, while educating and encouraging our staff to be environmentally aware always. “We designed the eco awards to acknowledge and reward our employees for their dedication and enthusiasm to make Ready Steady Green a huge success.”
n January 1 New Year’s Holiday Open Day. Oxford Bus Museum. 01993 883617. www. oxfordbusmuseum.org.uk n January 1 Annual King Alfred Running Day, Winchester. Further information from www. fokab.org.uk k n January 24 CPT Annual Dinner 2013, Grange Tower Bridge Hotel, 45 Prescot Street, London E1 8GP. For further details, call 020 7240 3131 or visit www.cpt-uk.org 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 April 20-21 UK Coach Awards & UK Coach Rally. Alton Towers, Staffordshire. 01753 631170 www.coachdisplays.co.uk or www. ukcoachawards.co.uk n May 14-15 ALBUM Conference. Belton Woods Hotel near Grantham, Lincolnshire. www.albumconference. co.uk 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 n July 28 The Annual Peterborough Bus & Commercial Vehicle Rally. Sacrewell Farm (A47/A1 junction). All buses and commercials welcome. Free entry. 07828 754412 or 01462 626750k n September 22 Showbus 2013. Imperial War Museum, Duxford. www.tshowbus.com n October 2-3 Coach & Bus Live 2013. NEC, Birmingham. www. coachandbuslive.com n October 18-23 Busworld Kortrijk. Kortrijk, Belgium. http:// kortrijk.busworld.org/
Send your event details to gareth.evans@ coachandbusweek.com
www.coachandbusweek.com
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Coach and Bus Market Users Guide Our launch Guide to the industry revolution which provides a onestop market for vehicles, products and services. Coach & Bus Week's James Day explains what it can do for you and your business and how to make best use of the site
T
he brand new website coachandbusmarket. com has been many months in the making. Now it’s up and running the result is a revolution in the ease, speed and cost of getting vehicles, products and services in front of buyers. With a free launch offer underway to help you get selling, now is the best time to try it. The key benefit of coachandbus market.com for buyers is the huge choice and ease of comparison on one site. For sellers there is the breakthrough low cost, a superb range of ad spaces, speed of upload and direct control. There is a one time fee to display the vehicle for a week, fortnight or three weeks, with no cut taken from the sale price of the vehicle.
FREE LAUNCH OFFER Coachandbusmarket.com is free to use from now until November 21 or until 1,000 vehicles have been loaded on to the site. You can place as many vehicles as you like on the website for free for up to four weeks while the offer is in effect. There is also a £20 offer which includes two additional adverts in the magazine on top of displaying your vehicle for up to four weeks online free. Since this is all online and www.coachandbusweek.com
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automated, your advert appears immediately, you do not need to wait until the next magazine goes to press, or for one of us to upload your advert for you.
TAKE A LOOK AT THE HOMEPAGE Close to the top of the homepage is the ‘featured vehicles’ bar. This scrolling bar displays up to 30 vehicles which sellers have paid to have featured on the homepage. Hovering the mouse over an image enlarges it, and clicking it takes you
to the vehicle’s detailed ad page. Also displayed on the homepage is a newsreel and featured companies providing products and services. At the bottom of the page, the most recently listed vehicles are displayed by default, which can be changed to display the most viewed or a random selection for those wishing to browse.
GETTING STARTED AS A SELLER Once you’re on the website, you can register automatically. Simply
For £20, your advert can appear as a featured vehicle on the homepage
click the register button on the right hand side of the screen, fill in your desired username, email address, password and phone number and you’re good to go. Before you upload anything, do consider subscribing to the magazine if you aren’t already. Subscribers get a massive 30% discount off their advert costs for as long as they subscribe. This can more than cover the cost of the subscription and end up saving you money. There is an image of the magazine to the top right of the coachandbusmarket.com homepage which when clicked takes you straight to the subscription process, or you can call our ever-friendly subscriptions department on 01733 293480. Step one of the selling process is simply choosing whether the vehicle you are selling is a coach, bus or minibus.
FILLING OUT YOUR VEHICLE DETAILS Step two involves entering vehicle details, pictures and choosing your ad package. The first field to fill in is the title. This is the heading of your ad and is what is displayed to people browsing vehicles. It needs to make your ad attractive but keep it succinct. It’s a good place to put specific body and chassis models. When filling in vehicle
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(price on application). Your telephone number will appear at the top of the ad automatically. It may be a good idea to add any further contact details to the end of the description, or even repeat the telephone number to give it more presence on the page.
information, put details for every single category if you can. Buyers searching for an integral vehicle, such as a Bova Futura, could place their search terms under the body or the chassis, so you’ll want both covered just in case. Other buyers will want to know for sure whether the vehicle has the seating capacity to meet their requirements, or may be looking for something of a specific age. The important thing about your description is that it reads quickly and easily. If you’re listing features of the vehicle, such as entertainment systems, engine specifications and driver aids, use bullet points. It makes detailed information far more easy to read, especially when numbers are involved. If you want to write in detail, make sure you use paragraph breaks properly and keep paragraphs relatively short. There is little on the internet which puts off readers more than the dreaded ‘wall of text’. Remember seller information can be displayed on your profile and it isn’t necessary to clutter single vehicle ads with it. A price for your vehicle is not required, but is recommended, as price is one of the options listed on the site’s search engine. If you choose not to add a price, your ad will automatically display P.O.A
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Pictures Picture quality is important. You have a two megabyte limit on the size of images you upload, which is about the quality of images produced by your average digital camera. Make as much use of this as possible. Try not to submit tiny thumbnails which are difficult to see and become pixelated when potential buyers attempt to zoom in. Remember, you can upload five images per advert. Show buyers as much of the vehicle as you can. Don’t leave them with only your word that the interior is in good condition. Show, don’t just tell. With exterior photos, try to control the surroundings. Sometimes there’s no option but
to show the vehicle inside a busy depot, but if you can take a photo in a wide open car park, near some attractive architecture or in an area with plenty of greenery, go ahead. Take advantage of this country’s rare sunny days, but make sure you take a photo of the side of the vehicle the sun is shining on and be sure to keep your own shadow out of the way.
Ad Choice At the moment, the launch offers are running, so be sure to choose one of those from the dropdown menu at the bottom of the step two screen.
Once the offer is over, the pricing structure for standard packages will be as follows: One week online: £14.25 or £9.98 with 30% subscriber discount; Two weeks online: £24.95 or £17.47 with discount; Two weeks online and one week in magazine: £39.95 or £27.97 with discount; Three weeks online: £29.95 or £20.97 with discount; Three weeks online and two weeks in magazine: £49.95 or £34.97 with discount. We also recommend giving us a call if you sell more than ten vehicles in a year and we’ll discuss what more we can offer. For an additional £20 you can have your listing featured on the home page. After you have selected your package, you are taken to step three. This is a confirmation step as well as where payment is made. Coachandbusmarket.com uses Paypal, a safe and secure online payment method which will streamline any future uploads you make. Your ad appears on the site as soon as payment has been made.
Your dashboard Your dashboard is a toolbar from which you can control all of your advertisements. You can access it from the right-hand side of the homepage by clicking the button labelled ‘Manage Ads’. From the dashboard you can edit any details of the advert if you wish. There is also a pause function, where you can temporarily remove your ad from the site. The time remaining is frozen and ticks down only when you resume the advert. You can delete your ad if you wish, but you will have to re-upload and pay again for it to reappear, so be careful. You can also mark the vehicle as sold. Finally, your dashboard can tell you how many views each of your adverts has had and how long until each one expires, in real time.
Using Coach and Bus Market as a buyer First and foremost, you do not have to pay for the vehicle through coachandbusmarket.com. The site is a tool which sellers use to advertise their vehicles and buyers use to browse the market and make contact. This prevents a cut being taken from the sale price and means we do not handle your transaction money at any point. On the coachandbusmarket.com
homepage you will see three search options – coach, bus and minibus. Choose which type of vehicle you are looking for and click “search” to be taken to a specific search engine. Once there, you can either browse all the vehicles by scrolling down, or search for something more specific. The search function is quite thorough – you can search by chassis or body if you’re looking for something specific, or by price, maximum mileage, maximum age and seating capacity, if you’re looking for the best deal to meet specific requirements. Once you choose a vehicle, you will be greeted by much more detailed page on the vehicle, which includes price, age, seating, mileage, location, listing date and how long until the advert expires. Any additional information is written under ‘description’ below this brief fact file. An ad reference ID is at the bottom of the advert. You will also see images of the vehicle. Click on an image to enlarge it and bring it to the centre of the screen. Once one image is enlarged, either click on it again or use the arrows at the bottom of the image viewer to navigate through all the images of the vehicle. On the right hand side of the screen you will notice a Google map displaying the location where the seller is based. Above the map are two more tabs, ‘contact’ and ‘seller’. Under ‘contact’ you will find an email contact form where you can ask the seller for further information, clarification or if you’d like to organise a viewing or buy the vehicle. At the bottom of the form you will be asked a basic maths question – please don’t feel patronised! This is simply a small security feature to ensure you are human and not a dreaded internet spam bot. The ‘seller’ tab shows more information on who is selling the vehicle. It shows their name, how long they have been a member of the site and other vehicles listed by them. Even more information is found by clicking on the seller’s name, which will take you to their profile page. This can contain website and social media links, listed vehicles and a description of the company. See the website for yourself – visit coachandbusmarket. com. If you’d like more information or explanation call us at 01733 293240.
www.coachandbusweek.com
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GROUP PROFILE › NATIONAL EXPRESS
W
The current Birmingham Coach Station, which opened in 2009 is a far cry from the draughty former Midland Red bus garage
National Express Part 2 Coach & Bus Week’s Editor Gareth Evans sets the scene for the second part of the in-depth look at the National Express Group, which includes an interview with Coach MD Andrew Cleaves and a third-party coach operator, Travel De Courcey www.coachandbusweek.com
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elcome to the second part of the indepth look at the National Express Group. As in our previous ‘Big Five’ operator in-depth features, gaining fresh angles and covering new areas has been the order of the day. The firm’s coaching side dominates this second part. We’ve been fortunate to secure a rare feature on the operations of Gillingham-based The Kings Ferry, which of course, was crowned UK Coach of the Year 2012. To the layman, The Kings Ferry remains an independent business. Indeed, in something which perhaps has parallels with the Go-Ahead Group, The Kings Ferry vehicles do not openly carry National
Express branding – and long may it continue. We’ve looked at the firm’s European operations in the form of Eurolines. Far from declining in the face of intense crosschannel competition, Eurolines is innovating. We’ve also talked to Bill Akhurst, Eurolines’ Network Manager, a life-long coachman and a loyal reader of this publication. We’ve enjoyed a peek behind the scenes at the seemingly oftforgotten Coach Service Support, which performs an invaluable role from its central base in Birmingham, as the point of contact for the coach network. A prime example of a successful third party contractor is Travel de Courcey – or ‘partner operator’, as National Express likes to call them. Andrew Cleaves, Managing
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National Express:
a brief history
Director of Coach has given us an update on matters such as life after the withdrawal of the government’s coach concessionary fare scheme and network modernisation. Onto buses, Centro confirms partnerships are the order of the day in the Welsh Midlands PTE area. Depending on your political allegiances, some of you will doubtless agree with Centro’s belief that Quality Contracts are “very circumstantial” and though the idea “would not work” in the West Midlands, “it may work elsewhere.” On a final note, I would like to thank all at National Express for their help. Once again, at the risk of upsetting folk, I would particularly like to single out two members of the media team – Carly O’Donnell and Jack Kelly – who have been particularly helpful.
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PART TWO
The UK rail business was expanded in an instant in July 2000 with the acquisition of Prism Rail. The deal included LTS (London, Tilbury & Southend), Valley Lines, Wales & West, (which became Wales & Borders) and West Anglia Great Northern. In 2000, Stewart International became the first US commercial airport to be privatised when NEG was awarded a 99-year lease on the facility. However, seven years later, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey voted to acquire the remaining 93-year lease. NEG announced its intention to concentrate on bus and rail provision, and sold East Midlands Airport, together with Bournemouth Airport in March 2001 to Manchester Airports Group for £241m. Further expansion in Australia came in late 2001 with the acquisition of the Glenorie Bus Company in New South Wales. One of Canada’s most respected private student bus companies, Stock Transportation (Stock) was purchased in 2002. In November 2002, the new Travel Coventry brand was unveiled by Travel West Midlands. This gave a unique local identity and livery for the firm’s bus services in Coventry. In December, NEG exited from its Australian tram and train operations after what were described as “protracted discussions.” The one-off cost to the Group
of writing off these operations was £125.9m. The Australian bus division was described in the 2002 Annual Report as “cash negative with a high capex requirement in the year and the discontinued train division absorbed cash of £15.0m.” After many years of acquiring different coach businesses, National Express had actually become an organisation which was operating under many different brand names. Flightlink, Jetlink, Speedlink, Express Shuttle, GoByCoach, Airbus etc. seemed at times to be competing with one another. Something needed to happen to bring all these businesses together. In March 2003, National Express revealed a new corporate identity, which included a new logo, new identity and new coach livery. The new single National Express identity retained the traditional values of the familiar red, white and blue colours but brought the company much more up to date, offering many more opportunities for marketing, cost savings and future development. The company’s UK rail business peaked at this time, with nine franchises, which included Scotrail, Silverlink and Midlands Mainline. Spring 2004 saw NEG acquire the London bus operations of French transport group Connex (Veolia). The business was re-branded as Travel London. Plans to replace Birmingham Digbeth coach station with a new one in Great Charles Street were scrapped in April 2004. In January 2005, with debts of $90m and a parent (NEG) unwilling to provide further funding, Westbus in Australia was placed into voluntary administration.
Travel Surrey was formally launched at Thorpe Park in November 2007
Along with Glenorie and Hillsbus, Westbus was acquired by ComfortDelGro in October that year. NEG bought Alsa, an operator of bus and coach services in Spain, Portugal and Morocco, and longdistance coach services to other parts of Europe. Alsa’s operations in South America and China were retained by the previous owners. The £149m deal also gave Alsa’s owners, the Cosmen family, a 10% stake in NEG. The summer of that year saw Travel London expand, with the acquisition of TGM Buses (Tellings Golden Miller). This saw three further depots being added to the business – Byfleet, Hayes and Twickenham. NEG was awarded the InterCity East Coast rail franchise in August 2007. The Group committed to pay a £1.4bn premium to the Department for Transport (DfT) over the seven years and four months duration of the franchise. NEG started operating the franchise on December 9. That year also saw Travel London’s operations at Byfleet depot re-branded ‘Travel Surrey’. The National Express Coaches brand received a further refresh in November 2007 when the current so-called radiator logo was launched across all of National Express’s UK businesses. NEG announced plans to re-brand its constituent companies under a new unified National Express identity. This was intended to achieve greater recognition for all the Group companies. It came following the then recent rail acquisitions and after current rail operations had improved in reliability to warrant association with the established express coach image. It also coincided with the appointment of a Group Director for all UK operations and relocation of the head office from Victoria in London to Birmingham, bringing all operations under a single strategic management structure. While an office was maintained in London, day-to-day management remained within individual companies. The Coach business extended its interests with the acquisition in November 2007 of The Kings Ferry, the award-winning Kent-based coach company, which provides popular commuter coach travel services in London and the South of England. Also in November, NEG announced the formal launch www.coachandbusweek.com
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GROUP PROFILE › NATIONAL EXPRESS
Above left: The temporary Birmingham Central Coach Station in place for the redevelopment of Digbeth. Above right: Alsa was acquired by NEG in 2005 of its new on-demand door-to-door airport transfer service, National Express Dot2Dot. The venture brought together the airport and transport experience of National Express and Hotelink, the London airport transfer service acquired by the Group in April 2007, together with Go Airport Shuttle, the international consortium of airport shuttle providers operating throughout North America of which NEG was a network partner. A fleet of over 60 Dot2Dot branded luxury minicoaches was acquired to operate the transfers between central London-based hotels and Heathrow and Gatwick airports, at rates which were “competitive with other modes of travel.” The vehicles were also available for special events, private hire and corporate bookings. A further acquisition came with Continental Auto, the second national coach and bus transport operator in Spain. Birmingham’s draughty old Digbeth Coach Station closed in November 2007 for redevelopment. National Express used a temporary site in Oxford Street on the opposite side of Digbeth High Street, called Birmingham Central Coach Station. In October 2008, it was revealed Dot2Dot lost a higher-thanbudgeted £5m in the first half of the year. Total costs of exiting the business, including losses and start-up expenses, were reported to be around £8m. In January 2009, National Express teamed up with the Daily Mirror newspaper to offer an exclusive £1 coach fare to over 150 destinations throughout the UK. In May 2009, the Travel London operations were sold to NedRailways (now Abellio), a
subsidiary of NS Dutch Railways, for £32m. On June 29, 2009, NEG rejected a takeover bid from FirstGroup, saying it did not “consider it appropriate at the present time” to discuss a takeover. This was followed in August 2009 by NEG’s main shareholder, the Cosmen family and CVC Capital Partners with a bid for £765m. In July 2009 it was announced NEG planned to default on the East Coast (NXEC) franchise, having failed to renegotiate the contractual terms of operation. NEG said it would not provide any further financial support necessary to ensure NXEC remained solvent. This meant NXEC would run out of cash by the end of 2009. As a result, the DfT announced it would establish a publicly owned company (Directly Operated Railways) to take over the franchise. NXEC continued to run the franchise until 2359hrs on November 13, when the DfT took over through its East Coast subsidiary. With the launch of FirstGroup’s
rival Greyhound coach service and its headline rate £1, National Express announced passengers on its services from London to Portsmouth and Southampton would “be the first to benefit” from 99p coach fares. The Group agreed to open its books to the Cosmen and CVC consortium on September 10, 2009, though it had reportedly been looking into selling its bus and rail franchises to rival Stagecoach Group, according to The Times. The consortium led by the Cosmen family abandoned its bid on October 16, 2009, leading to a drop in shares of 26%. At one stage, £250m was wiped from the value of the company. Stagecoach later submitted a new solo all-share bid. The company had initially ruled out making an independent bid and had agreed with the Cosmen consortium to purchase the group’s rail and bus services. Birmingham Coach Station (formerly Digbeth Coach Station) was officially reopened on December 18, 2009 after a rebuild,
The Travel London name returned in 2004
which cost £15m. The honour fell to then England football manager Fabio Capello. After a two-year trial, National Express adopted the anti-drinkdrive system Alcolock across the network’s coach fleet in February 2010. History was made over the weekend of September 18-19, 2010 during the Papal Visit to Birmingham. Nearly 1,000 buses and coaches, planned and managed by National Express, drove to the city’s Cofton Park. Every Pilgrim who attended the mass arrived by a bus or coach. NEG worked with hundreds of local suppliers around the country to provide the vehicles. Coaches travelled from as far as Edinburgh and Penzance. January 2011 saw further expansion in North America when NEG’s Durham School Services subsidiary announced the acquisition of Vogel Bus Company. The English government’s concessionary coach scheme, which gave pass holders 50% off, was withdrawn on November 1. National Express said it ran 18 routes where between 32% and 51% of passengers use the concession. History was made in the bus business when a 10-year Statutory Quality Partnership Scheme was signed between Centro and Birmingham City Council. The purchase of another US school transport operator was completed on May 1, 2012. Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, Petermann was the fifth largest firm of its kind in the US. This acquisition strengthened NEG’s position in the school bus market, increasing fleet size to 20,000 buses across North America.
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INSIGHT › KEY DATA
Corporate Governance Coach & Bus Week’s Alex Tyler looks at the corporate make up of the National Express Group, including its board members, facts and figures
T
hough known primarily for it’s coach operations, which has its own management structures, the National Express Group has a rigid corporate system of it’s own keeping it on the straight and narrow. The Board has overall responsibility for the Group’s system of internal control and maintains full control and direction over appropriate strategic, financial, operational and compliance issues. Within NatEx there are formally defined lines of responsibility and clear operating processes. Strategic and financial planning take place annually for each division and consituent operating company, whereby their competitive position and goals are taken into account. This strategy is translated into a financial plan with clear milestones and performance indicators. The performance of each division and operating company, including health and safety, is closely monitored against its plan by a formal monthly reporting process and by the attendance of the relevant Executive Directors at monthly divisional executive meetings. This is bolstered by an internal audit undertaken as an annual review at each operating company to assess the integrity of the balance sheet and to check the effective operation of key financial reporting and information systems
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controls. The results of the reviews are presented to both divisional and Group finance with any required actions agreed with the relevant divisional Finance Director. Any necessary material capital expenditure requires Board approval. Each division and operating company evaluates its internal control environment and key risks, and the results are reviewed at management level and passed to the Audit Committee before being presented to the Board. These procedures are mandated and designed to manage the risk in order to ensure the operations achieve their business objectives. During the year the Audit Committee reviews regular reports from the internal audit function, the external auditors and executive management on matters relating to internal control, financial reporting and risk management. The Audit Committee provides the Board with an independent assessment of the Group’s financial position, accounting affairs and control systems. In addition, the Board receives regular reports on how specific risks that are assessed as material to the Group are being managed. The Board currently consists of;
JOHN DEVANEY Chairman John Devaney has managed businesses across Europe, the UK, Canada, USA and Japan. His previous roles include Chairman
of Kelsey Hayes (part of Varity Corporation), Eastern Group, Exel and Telent and Non-Executive Director of HSBC Bank Plc, Ocean Group and British Steel. He is currently Non-Executive Chairman of Cobham Plc and Chairman of National Air Traffic Services Ltd and Tersus Energy Plc. John was appointed to the Board in April 2009 and holds membership of the Safety and Environment Committee and is Chairman of the Nomination Committee.
Clockwise from top left: Belen Martinez – Customer Service Director, National Express Group; Jez Maiden – Finance Director, National Express Group; Dean Finch – CEO, National Express Group; Madi Pilgrim – HR Director, National Express UK Bus Division; Luke Dirou – Commercial Director, UK Coach; David Bradford – Commercial Director, National Express UK Bus Division
DEAN FINCH Group Chief Executive Prior to joining National Express, Dean Finch was Group Chief Executive of Tube Lines from June 2009. Before that he worked for over ten years in senior roles within First Group plc. He joined First Group 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 First Group, he was Managing Director of the Rail Division from 2000 to 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 in 2010.
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Facts & Figures: UK COACH:
£34.9m £259.1m 1,500 Operating profit
Revenue
Employees (approx) UK BUS:
£32.7m £263.5m 5,400 1,600 Operating profit
Revenue
JEZ MAIDEN Group Finance Director Jez Maiden was formerly Chief Finance Officer at Northern Foods plc and joined the NatEx board in November 2008. Prior to that, he was Group FD of British Vita plc, Director of Finance of Britannia Building Society and Group FD of Hickson International plc. He is currently a Non-Executive Director of Yule Catto & Co plc and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.
TIM SCORE Senior Independent Director Tim Score was appointed to the Board in February 2005 and acted as Interim Chairman between December 2008 and April 2009. He is Chief Financial Officer at ARM Holdings plc. Before joining ARM he worked as FD of Rebus Group Limited which he joined in 1999. Between 1997 and 1999, he was Group Finance Director of William Baird plc, which he joined from LucasVarity plc. He is a chartered accountant and a member of the Safety and Environment Committee, Remuneration Committee and is Chairman of the Audit Committee. JORGE COSMEN Deputy Chairman Jorge Cosmen was appointed to the Board as Deputy Chairman at the time of the ALSA transaction in October 2008. He was Corporate Manager for the ALSA Group from 1995, becoming Chairman in 1999. Between 1986 and 1995,
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Employees (approx)
Vehicles (approx) GROUP:
£225.2m £2,238m Operating profit
All figures relevent to 2011 and compiled from www.nationalexpressgroup.com
Clockwise from top left: Mark Kipling – Managing Director, National Express Coventry; Peter Coates – Managing Director, National Express UK Bus Division; Simon Mathieson – Operations Director, National Express West Midland; Susanna Holdsworth – Marketing Director, UK Coach
he worked in sales, distribution and banking. He is a Business Administration graduate and has an International MBA from the Instituto de Empresa in Madrid. He is Non-Executive Director of Brunara, S.I.C.A.V. and SA, as well as of other private companies. Jorge has been on the Board of the Safety and Environment Committee since December 2005.
SIR ANDREW FOSTER, Non Executive Director Sir Andrew has had an extensive career in the public sector, having served as CEO of the Audit Commission for England and Wales between 1992 and 2003. Before this, he was Deputy CEO of the NHS and Regional CEO for Yorkshire. He is currently Deputy Chairman of the Royal Bank of Canada Europe Ltd and Chairman of the Commonwealth Games England. He is also Non-Executive Director at PruHealth. Sir Andrew has conducted independent reviews for the government into the Intercity Express Project, the Building Colleges for the Future programme, and previously into Further Education and the Future of Athletics. A member of the board since August 2004 Andrew is also a member of the Committee Safety and Environment Committee, Nomination Committee and Audit Committee.
CHRIS MUNTWYLER Non Executive Director Chris Muntwyler was appointed to the board in May 2011 and is also Chairman of the Swiss Management Consulting company Conlogic Ltd. He is also Non-Executive Director of Panalpina World Transport (Holding) Ltd. (Switzerland) and the Austrian Post Ltd. (Austria). During his 27 years at Swissair he held top executive positions in Switzerland, Sweden and North America. In 1999 he joined DHL Express serving as MD Switzerland, Germany and Central Europe and from 2005 to 2008 as CEO of DHL Express (UK) Ltd, based in London. JOAQUÍN AYUSO Non Executive Director Joaquín Ayuso is Board Vice Chairman for Ferrovial, the €12bn Spanish transport infrastructure and services group that employs over 70,000 people worldwide. He has been with Ferrovial since 1981 and was appointed CEO in 2002
and held that position until October 2009. During this period Ferrovial expanded internationally with business interests in the UK, USA, Canada, Latin America and Europe.
LEE SANDER Non Executive Director Elliot (Lee) Sander is President and CEO of the HAKS Group, Inc. An American citizen, he was recently Executive Director and CEO for the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority and has served as Commissioner for the New York City Department of Transportation. Lee is Chairman of the Regional Plan Association, a prominent NGO based in New York which has played a highly influential role in gaining public policy and investments in the New York Metropolitan area over the last 80 years. He has also played a very active role on the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Finance Commission, having been appointed by the United States Congress in 2006. He was appointed to the Board in June 2011. MICHAEL HAMPSON Company Secretary and Group Legal Director Michael Hampson was appointed as General Counsel and Company Secretary in January 2012. Prior to joining he has held the position of General Counsel and Company Secretary at Whitbread plc, RMC Group plc and Charter International plc; he was also the Director of Corporate Development at Anglian Water Group plc. He is Deputy Chairman of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents and is a barrister and Chartered Secretary.
JACKIE HUNT Non Executive Director Jackie Hunt is a Director and Chief Financial Officer of Standard Life plc. She is also Chair of the Financial Regulation and Taxation Committee of the Association of British Insurers. Jackie joined Standard Life in January 2009. Before this, she held various senior management roles at Aviva, including Chief Financial Officer at Norwich Union. After qualifying as a Chartered Accountant with Deloitte & Touche in South Africa, Jackie then worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers and Royal & Sun Alliance before joining Aviva in 2003. The most recent addition to National Express senior management, she was appointed to the Board September 13, 2012.
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FACE TO FACE › ANDREW CLEAVES
Service update
Just over two years after his appointment, Tim Deakin talks to Andrew Cleaves, Managing Director of National Coach about over 60s travel, network modernisation and the importance of customer service
C
oach & Bus Week last caught up with Andrew Cleaves, National Express’ Coach Managing Director, over a year ago (CBW 994). Since then NX has continued its programme of improvements, centrepiece of which was February’s wholesale revamp of its scheduled network north and west of Birmingham. It has also faced up to the government’s withdrawal of concessionary half-fare coach travel for over-60s, while its events business has continued to flourish. In his interview with CBW Editor Gareth Evans last July, “fabulous” was the word Andrew used to describe NX’s web of services as it was then. So why the ground-up revision of a sizeable chunk of it in the meantime? “We’re the only national coach travel network, and often there is no other viable way of getting between various towns and cities in the UK,” he observes. “But when we analysed it, we realised it hadn’t been updated or improved for something like 25 years.” “In that time a number of things have changed; population flows, the location of our third-party partners. Operators have changed. We fundamentally did the north and west of Birmingham review and discovered there were a whole load of improvements we could www.coachandbusweek.com
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NAME: Andrew Cleaves AGE: 49 POSITION: Managing Director, National Coach CONTACT: 08450 130130 www.nationalexpressgroup.com
An approachable gentleman, Andrew Cleaves is passionate about his work and an enthusiastic advocate of good customer service
make to an already comprehensive network.” One of the most important of these revisions was to services on the North West to North East corridor, which ranks amongst NX’s most significant says Andrew, and one where it now has the upper hand over the competition in more ways than one. “If you catch a train from Liverpool to Sunderland you’ve got to change two or three times,” he notes. An overhaul of routes across this axis took 40 minutes off the journey time with the result that coach is now the quicker mode on the majority of trips. This scheduling improvement has paid off, and the revised crossPennine routes’ success is simply measured in terms of patronage. “Passenger numbers have more than doubled since the changes were introduced,” said Andrew, adding how a similar increase had also been generated on the Bristol to Leeds corridor. While less significant a flow than the one in the north of England, it too was improved earlier this year. The success of February’s revisions may well lead to more of the same in the future, Andrew notes. “I’m really pleased with what we did. I can say we’re going to look at other parts of our network, because I think we can work better with our partners
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FACE TO FACE › ANDREW CLEAVES
in terms their location and the routes they serve. We can make improvements because of changes to the roads and passenger flows.” To operate the revised network, which features more than 130 additional journeys per day, no extra vehicles or drivers were required, “an important efficiency gain” says the MD. Research was undertaken by both computer analysis of traveller data and faceto-face surveys. “It’s a combination of the two things,” says Andrew. “Talking to passengers, they’d say they would much rather get the coach because they get their bag taken off them, the driver looks after them and they just get off at their destination. A computer won’t tell you that; you have to ask your passengers.” The key London-centric routes could be next in line for attention. It is on these where NX is experiencing most competition, including an overnight ‘sleeper’ service between the capital and Glasgow recently introduced by Megabus. That’s not an avenue National Express will be going down, says its MD. Instead, he’s keen to ensure his coaches present a uniform passenger experience regardless of the time of day or location a passenger boards, and goes to lengths to make sure this is the case. “My aim is to make sure when you step on a National Express coach you know the service you’re going to get. We’ve taken more than 250 vehicles over the last two-anda-half years to National Express specification. Our passengers know the quality of the operation they’re going to experience and to me that’s the main thing.” Whereas a decade or two ago operators may have been allowed some leeway in specifying vehicles, this is no longer the case. “We demand the same level of service in terms of how passengers are treated, and of course in terms of the technical specifications of coaches. There’s no latitude there; they all have to be the same.”
A fare deal
Touched upon in last year’s interview was National Express’ ongoing commitment to value fares. Not ultra-low, £1 tickets, but nevertheless attractive prices regardless of the time of day or week. Offers not affected by the whims of yield management systems beloved of low-cost www.coachandbusweek.com
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More than 250 new coaches have entered service on the network over the last two and a half years
Andrew Cleaves: a brief history
Andrew joined National Express as Managing Director of the firm’s coaching division in September 2010, taking over from Paul Bunting. He came from Tube Lines where he was Chief Executive following a 10-year career in a number of senior commercial roles with the organisation responsible for the maintenance and upgrade of the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines. Prior to Tube Lines, Andrew worked in sales and marketing for Otis plc and as a consultant to PA Consulting. He has an MBA from Cranfield School of Management as well as an MA from Cambridge University.
“Organising extra vehicles is something we can do quickly. Even days in advance we can increase our capacity as required.” Andrew Cleaves
airlines, in other words. “One thing we’ve already done on our London routes is introduce a major initiative to look at and simplify pricing,” said Andrew. “10 of our major traffic generators into the capital now have really good advance prices between £10 and £12,” he explained, referring to destinations as distant as Leeds or Manchester. “We promote our business on the prices people can get day in, day out. Important for me is that I know for example between Brighton and London, you can book for £5 in advance or for £14 on the day of travel. Those aren’t offers; they’re full time, standard fares.” A simple and easy to understand fare structure not only benefits existing passengers, but also stands an excellent chance of attracting new custom. “Part of the feedback we get from people talking about trains is they often find pricing very confusing. You can get different prices online or offline and there are different offers depending on the day of the week. We’ve tried to simplify our fares so people know they can get great value. Our advance prices are the same all day, every day,” he explained. Although National Express’ core business is growing at a rate of 5% this year compared to 2011,
thanks in no small part to its simple and good value price structure, it suffered as a result of the government’s decision to withdraw the national concessionary half-fare travel scheme for coach passengers last November. Over-60s form about 20% of NX’s traveller numbers, taking approximately four million journeys per year. In response NX introduced an over-60s coach card. Priced at £10 and valid for twelve months, it offers holders a 33% discount on adult fares and over 100,000 have already been sold. “It’s not as good, of course, as the government’s scheme,” says Andrew. “But it couldn’t have been.” However the coach card does offer value and is “something worth having,” in his opinion. “Initially the scheme didn’t encompass our airport destinations, but subsequently we increased its coverage to include them. It’s seen a doubling in the rate of sales.” Nevertheless the government’s removal of coach services from the concessionary scheme has affected passenger numbers in the important over-60s segment. “The simple fact is they are now paying 33% more than they were under the old scheme, and that’s a big change,” Andrew notes. “As a result concessionary
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FACE TO FACE › ANDREW CLEAVES
ticket sales have been slower than we expected. However, it’s fair to say passenger numbers, in general, have been steadily increasing since the start of the year.” At the other end of the age spectrum, National Express is also keen to further increase the number of young people using its services. Andrew describes coach travel as a “natural ally” of this part of its passenger makeup. “Looking forward, what I’m keen to do is get a new offer in for students,” he explained. “With changes to the modern media and the way people get messages nowadays, there’s an exciting opportunity for us in this space.” Pushing passenger numbers up amongst students remains a work in progress, with much dialogue having already taken place with university-related organisations. Sometimes the ensuing alterations are as simple as relocating stops. “We did a lower-level review in East Anglia and improved services to UEA. We’ve also got very good links with Southampton University, where the coach calls right at the front door. We’re working hard with young people.”
An eventful extra
Another area of the business NX is working hard to promote is its special events arm, which takes in service to major music festivals and also sporting and other fixtures at Wembley. In spite of the national stadium’s prolonged rebuild having been executed with public transport access in mind, waits to enter its surrounding London Underground stations can be long and unpleasant. Similarly, queues to leave muddy festival car parks are almost legendary. Passengers travelling to Wembley by coach – and their numbers are increasing, says the MD – face wasting no time in a Police-marshalled line. National Express’ vehicles stop almost within shouting distance of the iconic arch and up to 20 individual routes operate, bringing spectators to and from the stadium from places as distant as Plymouth, Dover, Norwich and Preston. “Our events services are growing in importance,” explained Andrew. “For example, we’ve taken on serving the Cheltenham Festival, which proved very successful. We’re doing nearly all the big music festivals which are going ahead this year, but the jewel in our crown www.coachandbusweek.com
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is the relationship we have with Wembley.” National Express is an official sponsor of the stadium, a status proudly announced to passengers boarding its vehicles thanks to prominent stickers located adjacent to the door. Planning for big events, such as a qualifying match for a major tournament at Wembley or a large festival, starts six to nine months in advance. “We have a schedule which we develop in September for the following year,” explained Andrew. “Of course it has to be flexible, but we work with all our partners to
make sure it’s in place, because quite often coach travel will be sold along with the event ticket, and it often happens in a similar timeframe.” Although the planning stages begin months beforehand, flexibility is key to the whole process. The ability to bend according to demand is built in from the start and remains present almost until the first band appears on stage or the referee blows his whistle. “Organising extra vehicles is something we can do quickly. Even days in advance we can increase
Part of National Express’ practical response to the withdrawal of the national concessionary coach scheme was the over 60s coach card
Andrew Cleaves: mystery traveller
Although Andrew Cleaves is the top man at National Express’ coach division, he regularly takes the opportunity to observe goings-on at the coalface, as it were. “Twice a year I put my jeans and rucksack on and travel. Two months ago I started in Victoria Coach Station, went down to Lille and back, then up to Birmingham and travelled around the country. I spent a week on the network. “It’s really important that I travel as a passenger, not as a boss. Because it’s the only time you get the real experience. You appreciate what it feels like to turn up at a place really late in the day, or when you have onward connections to make. It’s important I get to experience that, because our passengers do.” Drivers and other NX staff don’t always cotton on to who their mystery shopper is. “I try to travel in casual clothes, and it’s amazing that when you’re just slightly out of context people often don’t recognise you. I don’t try to catch individuals out. I don’t want any preparation or special treatment. If I’m not recognised then I introduce myself either during conversation or at the end of the journey.” His observations are fed back to all those concerned, with one having been regarding the approach to safety briefings at the beginning of journeys. As before, this comes down to his desire to see National Express’s on-board experience identical across the board irrespective of who the coach-operating partner might be. “There has to be a human touch and people do it in their own ways. However, underlying this has to be a consistency of approach. The way we greet, the way we load luggage, the way we disembark. Those things have to be standard,” he stated. “There are also some really important things we want to tell our passengers. One of the things which came out of my journeys was to ensure a much stronger and consistent approach to that.”
our capacity as required.” As an example, NX took a considerable number of passengers from Merseyside to London for this year’s FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Everton following the late discovery track engineering work by Network Rail would prevent supporters returning north by train after the match. “Even if we get 50 people booking on the last day, we can get a coach for them,” noted Andrew. Much of the demand for special events is accommodated through NX’s existing fleet (both its own coaches and contractors’) and tweaks to the regular network. Vehicles hired ad-hoc from other operators also feature. “We have a clear specification for our scheduled routes, and we are equally clear for events services,” said Andrew. “We have a very strong checklist which we make sure is upheld.” “Everything is assessed in advance. We carry out an engineering audit and a quality audit of all the operators who supply coaches so we know we can guarantee the latter. We can also guarantee it mirrors the kind of service we want to provide. We very tightly control that. Our reputation is always on the line; while we can’t always provide white National Express coaches we can guarantee the quality of the vehicle passengers are going to get on.” At Wembley, National Express is able to offer one further clear advantage over rail-borne travel. Andrew refers to May’s FA Cup final between Liverpool and Chelsea to illustrate the point. “One of the promises we made to Liverpool fans was if the match should go into extra time, the coach waits. Whereas, if you want to catch the last train to Liverpool, you might have had to miss the most exciting part of the game. With coach travel you’re guaranteed to see the whole match because the vehicle won’t leave without you.” This segment of National Express’ business has continued to grow over the past two years, he said. “We’ve continually got new events coming on board. We’re doing more festivals this year, despite Glastonbury and a couple of others not going ahead.” Even three weeks before the match was to take place, England’s June friendly against Belgium at Wembley had attracted almost 1,000 bookings – 20 coaches – for travel with NX.
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OPERATOR UPDATE › TRAVEL DE COURCEY
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National Express’ Gold Partnership
Travel de Courcey’s Birmingham Garage is located next to National Express’ Miller Street premises
Andrew Cream meets the team which heads up Travel de Courcey’s National Express operations to find out how the partnership works and how the operator is performing
T
ravel de Courcey has its own dedicated depot on Newtown Row, a short distance from the centre of Birmingham, for its National Express-contracted work. I met with Director Adrian de Courcey and Operations Manager for National Express work John Bowns, along with Andy Hall, National Express’ Network Purchasing Manager. Adrian explained the depot was purpose-built for the operator’s contracted work, adding: “We knew we needed a depot in Birmingham. It wouldn’t work if we ran from Coventry.” The company runs 14 Caetano Levantes from the site. Third-party operators like Travel de Courcey, or ‘Partner Operators’, make up around 80% of National Express’ work.
A positive start
Travel de Courcey has been working for National Express since June 27, 2011. It hit the ground running too, winning Best Newcomer at the National Express awards this year. It’s clear to see from chatting to Adrian and John they take a huge amount of pride in their work – and from talking to Andy, it’s clear their work is of very high-quality and appreciated. The operator is also in it for the long-term. John said: “We consider ourselves to be a long-term Partner
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Operator and we are willing to expand given a viable opportunity harnessing the company’s central location.”
Establishing the partnership
The relationship with National Express strengthened after Veolia ceased its own partnership. Veolia had a sizeable contract so not all its work went to Travel de Courcey, although it did take the lion’s share. Andy said: “We knew we had to consider the size of the operations when looking for replacement companies so we didn’t seek to replace with one operator. We were also after a more manageable operator, although we didn’t want a company which relied solely on National Express work.” Adrian continued: “Travel de Courcey did ad-hoc work before we formalised the partnership. We were curious about the chance of working more closely with them so we engaged with the company to find out more. The move represented a sizeable investment from Travel de Courcey, including £3m on the 14 Levantes, and a lot of commitment from National Express. “I think it works as we both share the same high-quality ethos and passion for customer service. We have also learnt a huge amount from National Express, although we learn off each other. “The partnership is built on sound business principles.
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OPERATOR UPDATE › TRAVEL DE COURCEY
We have done everything we can to make it work.” Andy agreed: “They have a real will to succeed; there is a committed team behind the company. They have excellent training quality measures and are great with the media as they are a customer-facing company. We know it’s going to be in safe hands. “We want an operator who is honest and upfront. That’s why these guys are very good.” Andy gave a brief outline of how Partner Operators win National Express contracts. “The routes go out to tender, then we look at each company’s diversified income streams and consider quality, cost and delivery. We do a lot of research on prospective partners.” It’s not just those at National Express who appreciate Travel de Courcey’s hard work. The firm has a text message system where passengers can send in feedback while travelling via their mobiles. Both Adrian and John said they log onto the system to see if their drivers are getting any kind of feedback – and both have been pleased to see positive responses from passengers. John added: “Customers sending in these encouraging texts shows we are doing something right.” Regarding the depot, the site was purpose-built from scratch as the area had been totally abandoned. “It’s all new,” Adrian explained. “It was a big challenge – our new depot was built and fully operational in within six weeks, right in the middle of winter.”
resulted in significant increases in driver behaviour and performance. We believe we have the best driver team on the network and our success as an organisation is underlined by their outstanding commitment every day. “Both organisations are data driven. We try to be as analytical as possible. We set ourselves very demanding targets. Currently, 100% of our National Express drivers are classified either green or gold, with a network leading 60% of drivers classified as gold and
40% green. “We are a totally transparent. Our drivers can see how we are performing against our internal KPIs and targets in monthly meetings.”
Keeping up the standards
Both National Express and Travel de Courcey both give a lot of attention to quality, customer focus and innovation. Becoming a Partner Operator has helped Travel de Courcey maintain its high standards.
Accounting for risk
Above: A Travel de Courcey Levante is seen in Victoria, London. Below: A friendly crew – John Bowns, Adrian de Courcey and Andy Hall
Improving standards
Travel de Courcey is very active in improving its overall operating standards. It sets itself especially high targets - either meeting or surpassing them. Driving standards is one such category with the target made more challenging after inheriting a number of employees from Veolia, through TUPE. John explained: “In order to create a best-in-class environmentally friendly operation, we mentored each driver explaining how we could optimise driving techniques to reduce our carbon footprint in line with Travel de Courcey’s company-wide Green Commitments. In return, drivers benefit through a performance related bonus. Mentoring, strict monitoring, feedback and improvement initiatives have www.coachandbusweek.com
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“Working for National Express is a real eye opener,” commented John. “This is a different scale of operations. The intensity is constant; it requires hands-on management. “Procedures are formalised by National Express. There is no room for error which really helps us. “In terms of what we feel makes a good Partner Operator, we feel sustainability, being innovative, flexibility and complete 100% dedication are the most important. You can’t have any distractions, which is why we built this depot and a considerable cost.” The company takes a proactive approach to improving and developing. “We still want to be the very best,” Adrian said. “The use of technology has helped. Amongst other things, I love the iPhone Traffilog app which helps us see where the vehicles are.” John joked about how when you’re running an intense coach operation, the days are hard to differentiate. The firm has 24-hour cover, 365 days a year.
Travel de Courcey: a brief history
The company was founded in 1972 and has a fleet size of 120 vehicles. While the operator has a dedicated National Express arm, its core business is the bus side. It operates across the Coventry, Warwickshire, West Midlands and Leicestershire regions. The company runs 92 buses, with most of them operating from the depot in Coventry. In June this year Travel de Courcey became the first operator in the UK to operate large fast-charging electric buses. Three Optare Versa electric vehicles run on Coventry’s Park & Ride South route. Along with the 14 National Express Levantes, Travel de Courcey also has 14 of its own coaches which are mainly deployed for corporate work. Adrian commented: “Our National Express work is important to the company but it’s essentially a bolt on – our bus side is the core.”
While a lot of being a Partner Operator is about operating exactly to National Express’ standards and procedures, Travel de Courcey still gets a little flexibility in how it decides to run. John explained: “I built the vehicle schedules to allow flexibility as we are exposed to risk with London being over 100 miles away. “The schedule takes into consideration all risks – we have 16 hours of flexibility in London where vehicles and drivers can be moved around in order to sustain daily service requirements without any delays.” Travel de Courcey’s 14 vehicles cover in excess of two million miles a year which works out at 180,000 miles per calendar month. John added: “We face daily unforeseen issues due to operating between the three biggest cities in the UK – Birmingham, Manchester and London. We also have to deal with motorway closures, accidents and mass congestion.” John is a strong advocate of recognising staff and believes his management team in Birmingham is very important to the organisation. In addition to John, the Travel de Courcey Birmingham depot is managed by Paul Godwin, Operations Supervisor, and Roy Pearson, Training Manager.
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THE BIG PICTURE
This week’s ‘Big Picture’ is quite literally a hybrid – in terms of the contrast between the 1920s architecture and the modern technology of the bus’ propulsion system. ADL Enviro 400 Hybrid no.5409, which is registered ‘BX61LHL’ is seen as it heads up Birmingham’s nightlife heartland which is Broad Street. The bus is seen at the junction with Granville Street, passing the attractive frontage of O’Neill’s bar, which has thankfully survived the bulldozer to date. The pub was built in 1923 as the Granville Inn by Smethwickbased brewery Mitchells & Butlers, and designed by the firm’s own architect Arthur Edwards. JD Wetherspoons fans may care to note the chain’s Figure of Eight pub next door. Back to the bus, it’s working route 23 to Woodgate, via Harborne and California. The vehicle is one nine identical E400Hs and nine Wright Gemini Volvo B5L Hybrids allocated to Birmingham Central Garage. The scene was caught on camera by CBW Editor Gareth Evans June 19, 2012 while in the city covering the ATCO summer conference.
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OPERATOR PROFILE › THE KINGS FERRY
The management: Danny Elford, Commercial Director and his colleague Ian Fraser, Operations Director
The Kings Ferry under Nat Ex Coach & Bus Week’s Gareth Evans visits renowned Gillingham-based coach operator The Kings Ferry and learns how the business has developed since its acquisition by National Express Group in 2007 www.coachandbusweek.com
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I
t may be akin to a household name in the coach industry and it’s no stranger to awards but The Kings Ferry tends to prefer to maintain a somewhat lower profile in the trade press. Therefore, it was with considerable interest CBW was invited to visit the Gillingham-based operation in early October. It’s part of the National Express Group but you could be forgiven for being unaware of that fact. Perhaps reflecting the power of The Kings Ferry identity, it fortunately survived the controversial introduction of the
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OPERATOR: The Kings Ferry LOCATION: Gillingham, Kent ESTABLISHED: 1968 CONTACT: 01634 377577 www.thekingsferry.co.uk
“We were in limbo – nobody knew what to do with The Kings Ferry as a business – it was still a wholly-owned subsidiary of National Express. Dean and Andrew Cleaves got us more involved in the coach side. By then we were part of the coach executive. Through that process we’ve developed with experience.” Danny added: “You can’t help but learn from a company the size of National Express. Sitting on the coach executive, we’re dealing with the National Express Coach bit. Having said that, our business is compact so the management team is close to the coalface. We can see the drivers in the mess room or at a football ground.”
Private Hire
corporate brand in 2007, which saw established names such as Travel West Midlands re-named National Express West Midlands for example.
Life under National Express
Asked what life has been like under the ownership of National Express, Operations Director Ian Fraser replied: “I joined the business in 1999 and Danny in the first half of 2000. National Express acquired the business in November 2007. At that point almost all the O’Neill family left the firm and since then it’s been run by Danny Elford and I. “It’s fair to say the first two years were transitional and the
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relationship did not mature until Dean Finch’s appointment in February 2010. It was autonomous.” Commercial Director Danny took up the story: “We got a bit of fuel hedging which helped us. To be fair, we’ve run our own business.” Ian continued: “Dean didn’t want a ‘them and us’ – he wanted us to be part of the National Express family. We were purchased in the main because the then CEO Richard Bowker made a statement to the press about commuting by coach being the future. Bowker left shortly after that. We then reported to Richard Smith and later Neil Barker, MD of Bus. There was no MD of Coach at the time.
Illustrating one of the ways the nature of the operation has changed, Ian said: “We’ve always been a 24/7 business but in reality it was 0430-2000hrs and then the phone was diverted to a mobile. However, two and a half years ago we went truly 24/7 to improve customer service. We’ve now got staff here all through the night. We can get called at 0300 with a request for coaches at an airport to help with disruption caused by technical or weather difficulties. “Our VIP brand was originally called ‘Select’ and targeted at football clubs and corporate hires. We’ve managed to grow it successfully with customers such as VSOE (Venice-Simplon-Orient Express) and we gained the work for 15 clubs fairly quickly. “A spin off was the hire of executive cars and as a bit of a joke we offered helicopter hire. We work with another operator but there’s little demand for it to be honest.”
In terms of numbers, 24% of the firm’s annual revenue comes from its commuter services. This year’s contact with the Metropolitan Police (more of which later) over a certain high profile sporting event was huge. In a typical year, private hire accounts for 40% of the business and Connections amounts to 36%. Danny described The Kings Ferry ‘yellow fleet’ as “another success story, which we can be attributed to National Express.” “We’ve really become so much more customer focused. We always consider our visions and values in everything we do: it’s got to be safe, and we must look after our customers and staff – and it’s got to be done in an environmentally friendly way. Introduced by Dean, that checklist controls our business.” With many operators bemoaning the decline in demand for coach hire, asked what he thought of the current state of the market, Danny replied: “It’s really strong again. It’s been challenging because people have been thinking twice about travelling. As long as you do it right, there is work. I feel that by giving good service and offering value for money, we can get our fair share.”
Connections
Coach Hire Connections is the coach travel management arm of The Kings Ferry. “Connections started when corporate customers wanted us to provide a single national source for corporate coach hire,” explained Ian. “Customers such as BT have offices in different parts of the UK. We were awarded the BBC contract for anything over six seats. To deliver that, we needed to have the infrastructure in place.” Danny took up the story:
A ‘yellow fleet’ Caetano Levante is seen at the UK Coach Rally 2012 www.coachandbusweek.com
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OPERATOR PROFILE › THE KINGS FERRY
“We were the management company – we had responsibility for managing costs. The BBC was ahead of the times there. It gave us a good business model for managing coach travel. Once we had tendered and successfully delivered, we found we could offer it to other people. It’s steps ahead of brokerage.” However, Ian is at pains to stress Coach Hire Connections is a world away from a broker. “Every week we take calls from people who’ve been let down by brokers. It pains me to be labelled a broker. The idea is it saves people looking through telephone directories.” Danny agreed: “We do so much more – we own the solution. If something goes wrong we take responsibility. A broker traditionally hires the cheapest possible coach operator and leaves it there. We work from an audited pool of firms.” Ian said from an industry point of view, it gives operators access to work they wouldn’t necessarily get. Danny continued: “We spend more than an average coach operator on marketing. We attend shows for example. We’re selling coach hire proactively. We use a lot of digital media. Calls are made to maintain relationships, so we’re always at the forefront of different individuals’ minds when it comes to coach hire. In the sales team, we’ve also got language ability – French, German, Spanish, Russian and Japanese. Thanks to our work with a number of UK football clubs, they promote us to their opponents. “There’s not commitment in volume terms for operators. Our work there is to fill the periods in the diary when they’re quieter. That said, once they commit to a job, we expect them to fulfil it. Whilst it’s aimed at corporate clients, it works equally well for traditional private hire.” Ian described Connections as “a real growth area” for the last six years. “We make 15,000 coach movements in a typical year,” he said. “We tendered for the Metropolitan Police work for a high profile sporting event at a time when we were still up against National Express Coaches. Planning for the work took several years and it culminated is 68 days worth of work, 24/7. We estimate there were a million police officer movements, using 115 coaches at its peak – a massive contract for a business of our size. It added about a third to our turnover. There’s a big gap to fill next year.” www.coachandbusweek.com
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Above: A Caetano Levante-bodied Mercedes-Benz. Below: Inside a new Irizar i6-bodied Scania
24%
Of the Kings Ferry’s annual revenue comes from its commuters services
35
The number of new coaches which have entered the fleet in the last couple of years
2007 The year The Kings Ferry was acquired by the National Express Group
Commenting on the Met police work, Danny said: “We needed 32 ground controllers to manage the delivery. We approached Aston, Cardiff and Huddersfield Universities, i.e. those which offered specialist transport courses. We wanted to take people on who could use the experience elsewhere in the industry. We didn’t want a Group 4 scenario. “To be honest the experience restored my faith in graduates. Dealing with coach drivers is not always easy but they came up trumps. It was stupidly busy. We’ve given them all certificates and letters. Pretty much all of them said they enjoyed it. We also seconded four people from National Express Bus and Coach. We had 21 operators. Sadly I doubt we’ll see that volume of work again.” Danny continued: “The other
place we realised Connections had a future was during the ash cloud. The phone rang non-stop. The Department for Transport called us and initially said they needed 150 coaches to go to Madrid the following day. We had to politely explain about Drivers Hours rules. Gordon Brown went on TV to say coaches were on their way. We sent vehicles down there that evening.” Ian added: “One of the powerful messages at that point was the CPT adding us to its website advertising our requirement. Ironically, only weeks previously the CPT had turned down a request for Connections to be given associate membership.”
Commuter
If you’ve ever wandered around central London during the morning and evening peaks, The Kings Ferry commuter coaches are a familiar sight. Perhaps Danny summed it up: “It’s a great known product – it’s a very visual brand.” Reflecting an ethos which appears to come from the top of National Express – from Dean Finch and Andrew Cleaves, Danny said: “Two years ago we decided to speak to our customers. We thought we knew customer service and safety – until we spoke to our customers. What people really want is a personalised journey. Coach commuters want to be picked up at the end of their road and likewise at their workplace.
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OPERATOR PROFILE › THE KINGS FERRY
We guarantee them a seat, all our coaches have air conditioning and we also have backups on hand. “On the social media front, our passengers will often back us up – they’ll say a coach is stuck in traffic for example. Some comments can be particularly venomous when people are waiting at the roadside.” However, Danny offered some helpful advice: “If you’re going to do social media, you’ve got to give fabulous customer service because it puts your business under the microscope. It’s a good business management tool – you get some great feedback. We encourage customers to respond about their experiences on Facebook and Twitter. You need credibility on social media. If you’re not big enough to take criticism, don’t do it. You’ve got to respond positively.” The cost of rail commuting has undoubtedly helped The Kings Ferry, not to mention the fact users don’t have to face car parking charges and can benefit from an almost door to door service. Explaining the scale of the operation, Danny said: “We’ve been doing it since 1983/4 and it works well for us. We operate 36 services in the morning using 38 vehicles on 14 different routes. It’s the largest of its kind in the UK. We’ve revamped our website to be capable of displaying whole routes. Previously you could only use the journey planner. In October 2010 we revamped the network. It had grown piecemeal from a single journey. Frankly, it was very messy. One bus stop had 17 arrivals in an hour and a quarter – it was crazy. Customers were understandably concerned about their personal journey, so it was a very difficult thing to do. Ridership is up 13%
Berkhof-bodied Scania double-decker coach year-on-year, which is fantastic. We found it’s easier to change the morning journeys. Evenings are far more difficult as people need flexibility for getting home. Leaving work is not as predictable as getting out of bed.”
Fleet
“We’ve benefited from massive fleet investment – 35 new coaches have entered the fleet in the last two years,” explained Danny. “The majority have been with Caetano Levante bodywork. We’ve taken the National Express model and adapted it to suit our business, which includes the need for a centre sunken WC, continental door and to be DDA-compliant for our commuter services.” The Kings Ferry operates a mixture of Levante-bodied MercedesBenz OC500 and Volvo B9s and B12 tri-axles. Asked why the firm chose what remains the relatively rare Mercedes-Benz/ Levante combination, Danny replied: “We’ve successfully operated Mercedes-
The Kings Ferry: a brief history
The Kings Ferry was established in 1968 by Peter O’Neill with one mini coach operating private hires. It grew throughout the 1970s to a fleet of 15 coaches. In 1982 after the deregulation of coach services, the firm started commuter services from the Medway towns to London. In the late 1980s Peter was joined by his daughter and son, Vanessa and Steve, who helped him run the business and to grow it to its peak of 85 vehicles operating internationally with its own coaches. Peter remained Chairman until November 2007 when the Kings Ferry Travel Group was sold to National Express Group for £8m. The Kings Ferry is named after The Kings Ferry Bridge, which links Medway with the Isle of Sheppey.
Benz products for a number of years. It was also down to price and availability of chassis. We’re also fortunate to have a local MercedesBenz dealer we can trust. “We’ve also acquired two Mercedes-Benz Tourinos. We like the product but it’s a shame there is not an automatic transmission option available.” Everything the firm buys is wheelchair accessible – the only exception being the VIP fleet. Ian took up the story: “For VIP, we’ve moved from the Irizar PB to the i6 to benefit from the advancements in the new body construction. We convert them from 55-seaters and keep them as VIPs for a good seven years. They’re maintained very highly and they don’t do high mileages. We don’t cascade internally – we convert them back to 55-seaters and sell them on.” As would perhaps be expected, given the scale and nature of the operation, self-sufficiency is the order of the day. “We won’t buy a coach we can’t maintain ourselves,” explained Ian. “If a coach returns here at say midnight and needs to go back out again at 0300hrs, we need to be able to diagnose and repair it ourselves. As a family business, we’re used to mucking in and being self-sufficient. Of course, vehicles have become far more technologically advanced – it’s not about spanners and hammers any more. Volvo, Scania and MercedesBenz are all very helpful. Volvo for example, provided us with the software to allow us to interrogate the vehicle.” As Danny right said, “Ultimately you want to them go out and return daily without issues.”
Above left: Part of the workshop and yard at Gillingham. Above right: Inside a luxury minicoach, or ‘Land Yacht’ as The Kings Ferry prefers to call them www.coachandbusweek.com
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INSIGHT › COACH SERVICE SUPPORT
Coach Service Support tends to the needs of customers, partner operators, drivers and operations staff alike
Supporting the network Coach & Bus Week’s Andrew Cream finds out about how the National Express coach service support division benefits operators, site managers, drivers and customers www.coachandbusweek.com
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N
ational Express’ Coach Service Support division is based at Hagley Road in Birmingham. The centre is located a number of storeys up a tower block, offering perhaps surprisingly appealing views of the city. I met with Head of Coach Media Carly O’Donnell and Route Manager Shahid Qadeer, or Taz as he is known as in the office, to talk about how the department offers assistance to employees, third parties and customers alike. The centre’s main purposes are to keep customers as happy as possible, especially through unexpected delays or unforeseen circumstances, and being a central point of contact for drivers, operators and customer service staff.
The division also aims to work together with operators to look after customers in the event of a breakdown or other operational incidents.
A network divided
Taz has been working in Coach Service Support for 16 years. He is currently Route Manager for the Cross Country network – other networks being London and Airport – and says he really enjoys his role. The centre recently had a strategic change, separating staff between the three sectors. Taz explained the more experienced members of the team work on the Cross Country routes due to the more intricate network, with smaller towns and villages involved, and less frequent services. London services tend to run hourly which makes it easier to arrange replacement vehicles, while
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Airport services are also more frequent. Taz added: “However, the Airport network is on a very strict timescale as it is very important to get people on their flights.” “We mainly deal with major events and motorway closures,” Taz explained. “We are there for the customers, looking after the whole network. “This is a problem centre – we need to be aware of everything. Everyone comes to us with their questions so there’s a lot to handle. We have so much information coming in – from traffic reports to breathalyser results to service updates.” On the subject of breathalysers, Taz has a lot of praise for National Express’ choice of supplier – Alcolock. “It’s an excellent system,” he enthused. “It’s virtually foolproof – we would know if a driver started
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their vehicle in any other way. We obviously operate a zero tolerance regarding alcohol. You want drivers who abuse the system off the road. We always look at safety as a first – so you need to be on top of stuff like this.” While the vast majority of enquires still come through the conventional means of the telephone, social networking is playing an increasing role in communicating with customers, as well as the more established method of text messaging. The centre has a small dedicated team responding to messages on Twitter and Facebook as well as emails. A team member explained they only respond to tweets directed as serious questions to the company, not if National Express is just being spoken about in conversation and rarely if the messages are abusive. When I visited, the team member was overseeing the company’s four Twitter accounts and two Facebook pages. National Express uses a social media management dashboard called HootSuite to collate all the company’s tweets in one place, as National Express West Midlands and Eurolines for examples do not share the same account. She also had access to the firm’s text messaging system Fizzback. Fizzback is also used by a number of high-profile companies such as T-Mobile and Tesco. The operator invites customers to text their feedback which is collated by the Fizzback system.
assist people and assist them at the “When Scotland had scene if necessary.” some terrible weather events a couple of years ago, Large “If a calendar year was going to test I had to deal with a Coach Service Support division it be this one,” Taz explained. some customers who would “Not only did we see the biggest had been stuck on sporting event in the world hit the country but the Queen’s Diamond a motorway for 12 Jubilee was also a reasonably big hours. We had a deal. The Jubilee however, was considered more as preparation for coach load of people the Olympics. waiting who really “We prepared by having a ‘test Olympics’ last year to trial the needed support.” diversions. We also made sure we Shahid Qadeer Route Manager
CSS division: statistics
Typically, non-customer calls to coach service support are broken down as 77% drivers and operators and 23% sites. In January 2011 the centre received an average of 822 calls per day while in July 2011 the figure was 1038. In 2011, 312570 calls were answered.
were proactive by discussing plans with operators.” While there was a lot more work to do during the summer months, Taz feels the team took on the work with a positive attitude. He said: “It was a challenge but people enjoyed it. I enjoy it when it’s busy. “It was managed well – everybody did all the hard work beforehand. I think we coped very well with it.” Speaking about the Olympics and operating in London in general, Taz commended the performance of TfL, describing “it is as a good organisation to work alongside.”
Challenging environments
Asked what kind of challenges the team faces, Taz noted some particular examples. His first was structural: “If there is a problem on the M40 it is really hard to divert as there are not that many junctions.” His second, however was more specific. “When Scotland had some terrible weather a couple of years ago, I had to deal with some customers who had been stuck on a motorway for 12 hours,” Taz recalled. “The M8 was so bad that people were abandoning their vehicles. We had a coach load of people waiting who really needed support. “I managed to book them into a nearby youth hostel. The hostel was excellent with the way they helped us out. “We try as much as we can to
U-track is National Express’ in-house tracking system
U-track:
in-house tracking system
U-Track is the operator’s in-house tracking system which determines where every National Express vehicle is located when out on the road. The system updates every 30 seconds and helps with accident investigations, traffic jams and a host of other incidents. The tracking hardware is fitted to all network vehicles and National Express claims further developments are ongoing to enhance the system. “It’s a good in-house system,” Taz explained. “We can record everything and everybody can feed into it.” www.coachandbusweek.com
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INSIGHT › EUROLINES
Eurolines Update Coach & Bus Week’s Gareth Evans talks to Eurolines’ Marketing Manager Sue Gee and Network Manager Bill Akhurst & learns about current and future developments with the European scheduled coach operator
L
ondon’s Victoria Coach Station (VCS) is a hive of activity – even when it’s quiet. A seemingly never-ending stream of coaches arrive and depart from all corners of the UK, not to mention continental Europe. It’s no exaggeration to describe the place as the coaching equivalent of Heathrow. Like its airport equivalent, VCS requires slick operation. Staff need to despatch coaches and tend to customers with the utmost professionalism. It was therefore most pleasing to find an experienced, highly committed, yet approachable team, who enjoy a spot of friendly banter behind Eurolines. Sue Gee, Marketing Manager is a relatively recent addition to the team. “Eurolines is a very different type of business,” she said. “Having worked at National Express (NX) for four years in Bus, I’ve been with Eurolines since January. I’ve found it’s really like a family business. Our
Managing Director John Gilbert is like the dad – and he’s very proud of the operation. That feeling filters down to everyone in the organisation. “Recent changes have seen the management team strengthen. Rob Conway is now General ManagerOperations. His promotion created a vacancy for the Operations Manager at VCS. Andy Norris, who’s got a bus background, has been brought in run the day to day.”
How does Eurolines work?
As essentially the European arm of NX, Eurolines is a familiar name to many of us – yet few of us know precisely how it all works. Sue took up the story: “NX owns Eurolines UK. On a European level, it’s a partnership of 29 different coach companies. John Gilbert sits as President of the organisation, a post which is elected. The Eurolines organisation shares a common brand. We span 33 countries, 600 destinations and 100 major
European cities, 500 departures per day, 4m passenger journeys. “NX and Veolia in France tend to take a lead. The annual conference is supplemented by regular sub committee meetings, such as the bi-monthly marketing meetings I attend. “From a UK perspective, it’s great to be part of NX – we can leverage knowledge and experience from other parts of the business. In marketing terms, if people are already using coaches in the UK, it’s reasonable to assume they will use coaches to go abroad.” There is Europe-wide publicity but individual countries target different audiences. “For us, the top destinations are always going to be Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels – in addition to Ireland. This year we’ve focused on the student market. We’ve done traditional outdoor media and in bars, where students spend a lot of time,” she mused. “We’re also focusing on social media. At the start of this summer,
Above left: Sue Gee is Eurolines’ enthusiastic Marketing Manager. Above right: A customer is helped at the Eurolines desk inside VCS. Top right: Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam remain highly popular destinations www.coachandbusweek.com
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we were still in the hundreds on Facebook but we’ve now got 5,000 followers. We’re also active on Twitter. We’ve got separate accounts for customer services. If you’re not on-line, you’ll be talked about anyway, so you may as well intervene. A small dedicated team monitor the channels. We chose people who are naturally interested in social media. After all, they’ve got to know when to dip in and dip out. “One of the biggest challenges we have social media wise is people tuning into Eurolines UK to complain. There’s always two sides to every story. We can intervene
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– we’re fortunate to have strong relations with our partners. We’re proactive. We let them know if one of our connecting services is going to be late for whatever reason.” Eurolines UK launched a new website this year. The previous site was a slightly different version of the NX Coach pages, which according to Sue, “didn’t reflect Eurolines’ personality.” “It went live at the end of June. It scales according to the device you’re using. We’re pleased with performance so far – we’ve seen visits increase 9% and revenue rise by 5%. We also know people
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are spending longer on the site. A website has got to evolve.”
Success this year
Successes this year have included the fact passenger numbers on the Paris services have increased by 5%. “I’m told by colleagues that capital cities are cyclical – Paris was most popular last year. I think it’s because it’s so iconic,” commented Sue. “Point to point, the coach can be competitive. We know we draw most of our passengers from within a radius of London. Our overnight departures, particularly on a Friday, are very popular. Customers
can save the cost of a hotel. It’s not about the time you leave, it’s about the time you arrive. Morning departures tend to be popular as you’ll reach your destination by mid afternoon or early evening, depending on what time you leave. Still got time to enjoy an evening and obtain value from the cost of a hotel room. “In the evening, if you depart VCS circa 2100hrs, you’ll arrive first thing in the morning in time for breakfast. Afternoon departures are less popular. In the height of summer, we ran 12 departures per day to Paris. Even at Christmas,
we’ll typically run eight departures per day, which we’ll easily fill.” Turning to the fare structure, Sue said: “We’ve had a great lead in price this year from the end March to end of July, and then from the start of September to December 15 of £9 single or £14 return to Paris, Amsterdam or Brussels. “If customers are flexible, those fares are still available. The national press has really embraced it – we’ve been fortunate to get positive coverage in both The Sun and The Daily Mirror – and similarly from Simon Calder on LBC Radio and Martin Lewis on This
www.coachandbusweek.com
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INSIGHT › EUROLINES
Eurolines:
a network view
Above: A Eurolines Setra coach awaits despatch from VCS. Below: Bus Éireann is a partner operator Morning. For a small brand like us, that’s a real coup.” Sue added: “While we are targeting young people, we still get a number of ‘silver surfers.’ They’re no longer working, so they’re watching the pennies but they do have time to spare.”
New developments
“Language is always the hardest barrier,” explained Sue. “We’re refreshing our ‘Welcome Aboard’ CDs – I felt it could be more friendly in tone. We’re also going to produce printed information too. The CD will also include a reassuring message about customs checks. It’s about managing customer expectations and recognising the fact not everyone speaks native English.” She continued: “Customer service is an area we’ve been working on. There’s also increased competition, which is good for everyone. It makes you drive consistency and to look afresh at your business – the stuff you should be doing anyway. “We’ve always had competition – budget airlines were the catalyst to make people think about customer service. There are no hidden charges with Eurolines. You can take two medium suitcases per person plus hand luggage.” With competition on the crosschannel corridor having increased substantially this year, both from the UK’s Megabus and French state-railway-owned (SNCF) iDBus. How has Eurolines responded? www.coachandbusweek.com
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How is competition perceived? “We welcome it,” enthused Sue. “We ensure our fares are keen. We’ve held our best value fares the same as 2011. “We launched the £9 fare in March and Megabus launched in April. We’ve had joint campaigns with out partners – France had a €9 fare. After all, to make it work well, you need traffic both ways.” Sue highlighted a couple of interesting developments: “We’ve recently introduced priority boarding on Paris service for £3 per person. It will gradually be introduced across the network. Services to Amsterdam will be next. “We’re trialling a student special next month on the South Coast with dedicated student services – from Brighton, Southampton, Portsmouth, Chichester working towards Kent. If they prove popular
we’ll extend. It’s very exciting.” Looking ahead, Sue said WiFi is being gradually introduced. “It’s currently available on services between Cork and Paris and is being fitted to Amsterdam now. Over the coming year we’ll roll it out across the network. We’ll do it on a destination/ corridor basis. WiFi is an expectation. It’s free too, which is great and our customers love it. It also gives them something to do – be it work or social media. That overcomes an important barrier – what are they going to do for ‘all that time’.” On a final note, Sue was keen to stress the importance of knowing your product. “As a management team we go out on the coaches. I recently went to Paris, as did John Gilbert. Andrew Cleaves is a huge advocate of it. It’s a very worthwhile investment of our time.”
Bill Akhurst is Network Manager at Eurolines. Describing his role, he said: “In short I watch the traffic flows and how the timetables are working. It’s a fairly mature network, but you need to keep up with changing times and technologies. “My relationship is very much with the partner operators, some of which are still nationalised. National Express (NX) has just about everything it can in-house, whereas with Eurolines everything is done with a partner and that brings with it a different set of operational challenges.” “We apply for our Service Authorisations to Eastern Office of the Traffic Office, which is home to the International Road Freight Office, which then takes them forward with its counterparts in the relevant European state(s). I have to ensure the paperwork is shipshape. “I’m based at Dover but I spend time in Birmingham and Luton, which is home to Eurolines’ accounts function,” he added. Bill has spent his lifetime in the coach industry, and like so many of his colleagues, is passionate about his work. “I started life at Wallace Arnold’s European operation, which was known as Euroways, where I met John Gilbert. He employed me at National Express’ European operations, which was then called Supabus. At the time, there were just three employees – John, the PA and myself. I’m still here. “From then on we collected international licences – some firms didn’t want to continue to operate them commercially, while others were acquired through commercial agreement. “We took on the international operations of such names as Grey Green and Frank Harris Coaches and gradually it built up to where we are now. The liberalisation of the EU has allowed us to expand the network. “I spent eight years at NX, followed by just over two years at The Kings Ferry as Assistant Traffic Manager during which time Peter O’Neill insisted I take my PSV in a crash box Queen Mary. I then came back to NX in a more senior role as Operations Manager. The job became too big and was split. I became Network Manager.”
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INSIGHT › PARTNERSHIP
Encouraging best practice Coach & Bus Week’s Alex Tyler provides an overview of Centro’s relationship with National Express West Midlands, and its views and plans for public transport in the region
I
ntegrated Transport Authorities (ITA) can be met with suspicion from some operators and open arms with others. To the uninitiated, they appear to work in extremes, with some fighting daily with operators while others enjoy beneficial relationships. Centro, the West Midlands ITA is firmly in the latter enjoying what Chris Perry, Head of Integrated Services describes as a “grown up” relationship with National Express West Midlands (NX), the largest operator in the region. “Centro has always had a relationship with NX, they were a strong player in the mid 80s and used to run the local Central Trains franchise, but the dialogue with NX was extended in the mid 2000s when we started running our bus network reviews,” explained Chris. “As the biggest operator obviously there needs to be some significant partnership work between the two of us to actually try and improve the way the network operates for passengers.” Last year Centro and Birmingham City Council announced the launch of a 10 year Statutory Quality Bus Partnership Scheme (SQBPS) with operators in the region. This legal agreement aimed to improve quality and management of the city centre as Centro and the City Council invested around £15m in on-street infrastructure improvements, including bus priority measures and better parking and loading controls, ahead
www.coachandbusweek.com
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of the then planned extension to the Midland Metro from Snow Hill to New Street station. In addition, some 98 bus stops in the SQBPS area were upgraded to include Real Time Information displays and regular cleaning was introduced. In return, operators pledged to maintain services to a standard laid down in the SQBPS in a range of areas such as customer service, punctuality, reliability and vehicle presetnation. “We understand routes need to be commercially viable,” said Chris. “The first bus network review began in Dudley, April 2008, and with the introduction of Voluntary Multilateral Agreements (VMA) we have reviewed virtually whole network.” “Instead of fighting each other we need to work together,” he continued. “Operators need to make a modest profit so they are able to reinvest into the network. For example, Wolverhampton and West Walsall hadn’t had a new bus in about 10 years. However, since our work with NX and other operators, over 20 new hybrids have been introduced. Customers can see the investment across the city.”
Relationship
“We enjoy an excellent working relationship with NatEx,” enthused Chris. “However, we respect the importance of commercial confidentiality but feel we can add value to the organisation process. Obviously, we want them to do well and to exist. “Public transport is not there to
Centro said it wants operators to succeed and continue to exist ride on because it’s fun, it supports the economy. We help transport nearly a million passengers into Birmingham on a daily basis, so the service is absolutely vital for leisure and business; it plays a core role, a cog in the west midlands economic regeneration.” Guy Craddock, Area Manager Birmingham – Transport Operations Birmingham added: “By working with NX and other operators we’ve compiled a comprehensive set of timetable information which is available both online and in paper form.” “In addition to this the operators share data with us on pinch points, where they are and how best to work around them. This allows us to implement improvements and this doesn’t just include the introduction of bus lanes but other bus priority measures, but these can be difficult to fund in the short term.” “We hold a lot of individual operator meetings and we get a lot of positive work done,” continued Chris, “In group meetings however it’s not quite the same, though still useful for swapping best practice,
ultimately all these operators are rivals in a deregulated environment.” Asked about Quality Contracts Chris replied: “It is part of our tool kit, but we don’t feel we have to use them. It is an alternative but also very circumstantial, and though it would not work here, it may work elsewhere.” In regards to deregulation and regulation, he added: “Ultimately we work to the best of our ability in our environment it isn’t really about regulation or deregulation, it is about providing the best service with the materials at your disposal. London is indeed regulated, but it receives a lot of subsidy and TfL’s budget is massive compared to ours.”
Beneficial agreements
Centro’s VMA between itself, local councils, Passenger Focus and operators aims to give passengers faster, more punctual services, as well as shorter waiting times and a more comfortable journey – the most recent of which, was introduced in Coventry.
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we’ve begun negotiations to that effect,” he added.
Passenger safety
Commenting on the partnership schemes Guy Craddock said: “We treat the whole city centre like a bus station. Operators have to come to Centro to organise times and departure slots. This improves reliability and provides a more balanced service. It also goes someway to curbing irresponsible levels of service duplication, which ultimately helps both operators and passengers.” “Furthermore, it allows us to address environmental issues and vehicle standards. Frequencies more than every half hour have to be at least Euro 3 – and Euro 2 is expected for less frequent services. “Emission standards dictate vehicle type, and by controlling departure slots, it all puts a discipline on operators as it’s a large area for buses to enter so we need to police it accordingly. ANPR camera enforcement is being introduced for bus lanes. It can also monitor vehicle types entering certain areas. We hope to go live in January next year. “We’re keen to expand the partnership across the region, and
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NX is a keen advocate of passenger safety, a trait which Centro encourages with its Safer Travel Partnership (STP). Launched six years ago, STP is a joint venture between West Midlands Police, Centro, NX and British Transport Police. It works to make public transport journeys safer for passengers by deterring crime and anti-social behaviour. According to Centro, crime on and around the West Midlands bus network has fallen by 12% over the last year. This figure was mirrored by the rail network and by 4% on the Midland Metro. The drop means crime on and around the region’s bus network has fallen by 65% over the last five years. Excluding vandalism, this is equivalent to just one offence in every 147,000 bus rides. A growing intelligence database, much of it built on information supplied by passengers themselves, is also helping to pinpoint crime hotspots and persistent offenders. STP figures showed bus crime fell by 15% in Birmingham, 16% in Coventry and 1% across the Black Country last year. “We host the STP here which is now a large intelligence-lead system which relies on social media and information from passengers,” explained Chris. “The ‘See Something Say Something’ campaign has proved a huge success on the bus and tram network.” The service allows passengers to text information directly to police and transport chiefs, helping them to crack down on anti-social behaviour across all modes of transport. “There is a low crime on public
transport, but people’s perception of safety is very different. This is why NX has aimed to tackle window etching, it makes buses appear scruffy and they have highlighted it as an issue.” Tactics used by the STP include high visibility and covert patrols, the deployment of specially trained drugs sniffer dogs, ‘Gateway’ operations to blanket-check specific routes and the use of hi-tech ‘Invariance’ equipment which links in to on-board bus CCTV cameras to beam live images to hand-held screens in nearby police cars. The Safer Travel Partnership also works with schools a to raise awareness among pupils about personal safety and the effects of nuisance behaviour and crime.
The future
Asked about Centro’s future plans with National Express, Chris responded simply: “Their continued commitment to partnership. We are not always going to agree, but they see the bigger picture as we share similar objectives. NX is the biggest private employer in Birmingham, so their success is tied to the success of the city. “There’s been a high level of interest in creating a Better Bus Area to draw extra funding, but we’re still working through what it could look like and the challenges in supporting it. Any investment would be spent where it will benefit the public, i.e. not on pet schemes.” Chris added: “We’re also hoping to introduce a Birmingham sprint service. We see it as Metro’s little sister, but it’s a bus-based way to get people out of cars. We’re currently looking at European best practice and a suitable corridor to introduce it, but i’s still very much in the development process.”
New buses which have joined the fleet in recent times include this Volvo
Centro:
a brief history
Following the 1968 Transport Act, the West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive (WMPTE) was established in 1969 to coordinate and operate public transport in central England. On its formation it acquired the vehicles and other assets of the municipal bus fleets of Birmingham, Walsall, West Bromwich and Wolverhampton. Although tasked with planning and coordinating bus and rail transport in the Passenger Transport Area, the Executive’s activities in its early years were largely confined to partially integrating the inherited municipal bus operations. Much of the Passenger Transport Area was not served by WMPTE buses, and the Executive had minimal involvement in operation and planning of railway services. In the West Midlands many bus services continued to be run by the Midland Red bus company. This was considered undesirable by the WMPTE, so it entered into negotiations to partly buy them out. In 1973 there was a transfer of assets and services between the Midland Red and the Executive involving routes which operated wholly within the proposed West Midlands County. By April 1974, the PTE’s fleet numbered around 2,600 vehicles The West Midlands Metropolitan County was formed in 1974 as a result of the 1972 Local Government Act and incorporated Coventry. As a result, WMPTE’s operating area was adjusted to match that of the new county. The 1985 Transport Act deregulated and privatised stateowned bus services across the UK. From that date, WMPTE assumed its new role co-ordinating the services of all local private bus operators. The Executive adopted the name of Centro in the early 90s to help distinguish itself from its previous role as an operator. The Local Transport Act 2008 gave Centro and other PTEs enhanced powers, including the right to rename themselves Integrated Transport Authorities (ITAs) which Centro did in February 2009 becoming the West Midlands Integrated Transport Authority. www.coachandbusweek.com
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Contact Graham Thatcher – email: sales@minibussales.co.uk
Tel: 01633 485858 Mobile: 07866 443304
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%
681074-1060-Ventura
25/10/12
14:23
Page 1
681122-1060-Heatons
29/10/12
15:31
Page 1
The North West’s Premier Minibus Sales, supplying nationwide for over 40 years
LEZ
LEZ
LEZ
LEZ
Wheelchair Accessible
Wheelchair Accessible
Wheelchair Accessible
Wheelchair Accessible
06 VOLKSWAGEN LT 35
07 MERCEDES SPRINTER 515
09 RENAULT MASTER
08 VAUXHALL MOVANO
MWB covered 30,000 miles, 8 highback passenger, seats lots of Unwin tracking, SLD with cassette step, Ricon internal Clearway tailift, showroom condition inside and out £10,995
Only covered 45,000 miles, fitted with 16 highback Restcroft seats, lots of Unwin tracking, SLD with cassette step, external Ratcliffe fully automatic tailift, good quality O&H conversion, totally like new.
MWB, covered 49,000 miles, 5/8 highback passenger seats, SLD with cassette step, Ricon internal tailift, totally showroom condition inside and out. £14,995
LWB, low mileage, 8 highback seats, lots of Unwin tracking, Ricon internal fully automatic tailift, SLD with cassette, step totally immaculate, choice of 4 £13,995
PSV’d
LEZ
LEZ
Wheelchair Accessible
Wheelchair Accessible
Wheelchair Accessible
PSV’d
06 MERCEDES SPRINTER 413 CDI
57 IVECO 45c15
58 VAUXHALL MOVANO
52 VOLKSWAGEN LT 46
LWB, 15 highback passenger seats, power side door, lots of Unwin tracking, external cassette tailift, LEZ compliant, will come with 12 months PSV test, excellent condition inside and out £14,995
With 16 highback passenger seats in coach moquette, 3 point belts, front powerdoor low step entry, panaramic tinted windows, 1 charity owner from new, will come with 12 months PSV test, automatic transmission £14,995
LWB covered 41,000 miles, 8 highback passenger seats, lots of Unwin tracking, Ricon internal fully automatic tailift, totally showroom condition, SLD with cassette step £15,995
8/10 highback seats plus wheelchair spaces, Ricon internal fully automatic tailift, choice of 2 £4,995
LEZ
LEZ
PSV’d
Wheelchair Accessible
LEZ
PSV’d
58 IVECO 50C15 IRIS BUS
09 VAUXHALL MOVANO
59 VAUXHALL MOVANO
2010 FORD TRANSIT
Powerdoor front low step entry, 15/16 highback passenger seats, euro 4, soft trim, totally immaculate, plant on panoramic windows, 12 months PSV test £15,995
LWB, PTS spec, covered 41,000 miles, 8 highback passenger seats, Ricon internal tailift, lots of Unwin tracking, SLD with cassette step, totally totally immaculate, LEZ compliant, choice of 2 £16,995
LWB, 17 seat inc driver, 3 point belts, 23,000 miles, totally immaculate inside and out, 12 months PSV test £14,995
LWB, highroof, 17 seat factory spec minibus, digital tacho, showroom condition inside and out, LEZ compliant, above average miles but fantastic value at £12,995
PSV’d
LEZ
LEZ
LEZ
LEZ
Wheelchair Accessible
Wheelchair Accessible
Wheelchair Accessible
Wheelchair Accessible
06 RENAULT MASTER LWB
56 RENAULT TRAFFIC LWB
57 MERCEDES SPRINTER 511
08 FORD TRANSIT LWB
Ricon internal fully automatic Clearway tailift, lots of Unwin tracking, SLD with side step, totally immaculate inside and out.
Highroof, covered 55,000 miles, 7/8 highback passenger seats, lots of Unwin tracking, twin SLDs with cassette step, m1 Unwin Innotrax flooring,Ricon internal Clearway tailift, totally showroom condition inside and out £11,995
16 high back passenger seats, lots of Unwin tracking, SLD with side step, external PLS cassette tailift, tinted windows, showroom condition inside and out POA
High roof, covered 38,000 miles, external Ratcliffe fully automatic tailift, totally immaculate, 12 highback passenger seats lots of Unwin tracking £17,995
PSV’d
LEZ
LEZ
LEZ
Wheelchair Accessible
Wheelchair Accessible
Wheelchair Accessible
55 VOLKSWAGEN LT 35 LWB
08 MERCEDES SPRINTER 511
56 FORD TRANSIT
08 FORD TRANSIT MWB
Covered 40,000 miles, 8 highback passenger seats, Unwin tracking, SLD with electric side step, Ricon internal Clearway tailift, totally showroom condition inside and out, excellent value £10,995
16 high back passenger seats, lots of Unwin tracking, SLD with side step, external PLS cassette tailift, tinted windows, showroom condition inside and out POA
39,000 miles, factory spec, 8 high back passenger seats plus lugguage space. twin SLDs, totally immaculate £7,495
High roof, lots of Unwin tracking, 8 high back passenger seats, Ricon internal tailift.
Tel: 01942 864222 • WWW.HEATONSMOTORCO.CO.UK ALL PRICES PLUS VAT We guarantee quality vehicles, right prices, no pressure sales. Come and have a coffee while you browse at your leisure. Junction 23, M6 or 20 miles from Manchester/Liverpool airport.
680936-1060-Rotala
29/10/12
15:47
Page 1
681130-1060-Pickrell
H. W. PICKRELL
26/10/12
14:59
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.
WH E E LCH AIR ACCE S S IBL E MI NI BUS E S For latest stock arrivals follow @h_w_pickrell
06 REG MERCEDES SPRINTER 411 CDI
07 REG VOLKSWAGEN CRAFTER CR50 UVG TREKA
07 REG FORD TRANSIT 100 350 2.4 TDCI
2008 57 REG RENAULT MASTER LM39 2.5TD
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, COIFʼd, 103,080 kms.
Auto gearbox, 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, 81,280 kms.
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.
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.
08 REG FORD TRANSIT 430 JUMBO 2.4TDCI
2009 59 REG VAUXHALL VIVARO SL28 2.0 TD
09 REG PEUGEOT BOXER 330 2.5 TD
09 REG IVECO 65c15 IRIS BUS 3. 0
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 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, LWB, semi high roof, Atlas Bus conversion, side loading door, step, 16 x high back seats plus driver, exlease, only 19,675 miles. s.
Automatic, tacho, LWB, PAS, Mellor body, power door, low entry, only 8 seats but space for upto 24 high back removable seats, climate control, Unwin tracking, Ricon internal tail lift, very low 16,000 kms.
2008 58 REG VAUXHALL MOVANO LM39 2.5TD
06 REG FORD TRANSIT 430 JUMBO 2.4 TDCI
07 REG RENAULT MASTER MM33 2.5TD
2008 57 REG VAUXHALL VIVARO LH28 2.0 TD
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.
Manual gearbox, high roof, PAS, LWB, tacho, side loading door, side step, 11 rear high back seats, full Unwin tracking, Eberspacher heater, underfloor Ratcliff tail lift, 31,813 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 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.
54 REG M ERCEDES SPRINT ER 411 CDI
54 REG MERCEDES SPRINTER 413 CDI UVG TREKA
08 REG RENAULT MASTER LM35 2.5 TD
06 REG RENAULT MASTER SL33 2.2TD
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.
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, 104,180 kms.
Manual gearbox, high roof, O & H conversion, PAS, side loading door, AVS side step, 13 high back seats plus driver, Unwin tracked floor, Ricon internal tail lift, 33,175 miles only,choice of two.
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.
09 REG RENAULT MASTER MM33 2.5TD
09 PEUGEOT EXPERT TEPEE 1.9 HDI
60 REG FORD TRANSIT T 430 JUMBO 2.4TD
06 REG RENAULT MASTER SM33 2.2TD
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 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, 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 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.
57 REG VOLKSWAGEN CRAFTER CR35
08 REG FORD TRANSIT 430 JUM BO 2.4TDCI
2008 57 REG RENAULT MASTER LM39 25TDI
07 REG RENAULT MASTER LM39 2.5TD
LWB, semi high roof, BC conversion, PAS, SLD, side step, 12 rear high back seats, front storage area or double passenger, air con, Unwin tracked floor, space for wheelchair, AMF internal tail lift, only 25,000 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.
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, 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.
681144-1060-Cabmasters
29/10/12
15:33
Page 1
New Van & Bus Parts Cummins 5-9 B series Short Engine ESN 29111177 Druk 0032serx
Cummins L10 Short Motor Daily Spare Wheels 22-75 16C
Pirelli New
Diggi Techo 1
Drivers Suspension Seats New £250+VAT
Ducato Front Passenger £175+VAT
Fiat Ducato Rear Doors Old Model
Gramma Air Seats New
Gramma Paddle Change Seats New
Iveco Daily Mirrors £50+VAT Each
Iveco Daily Rim Continental Vanco 195-75R-16C 107-105R Tyre
Iveco Daily SLD £250+VAT
Iveco Daily Wings £35+VAT
Leyland GB397,390
MB Sprinter 616 Axel part no A9053500300
MB Sprinter VW LT Doors old model £150+VAT
MB Vario 24 Volt Wiper Motors £35+VAT
MB Vario Bumpers £75+VAT
MB Vario Headlamps £35+VAT
New MB Vario Parts
New Sprinter Spare Wheels Continental Vanco Winter 235 65 R16C Tyres
New Transit Spare Wheels Continental 215 75 R16C Eco Tyres
Nissan 2-7 TD New
Peugeot Boxer Relay Fiat Ducato Doors £300+VAT pair
Renault Master Rear Mavano Doors £300+VAT Pair
RUD Matic Snow Chains
Sprinter & Crafter Wings £35+VAT
Toyota Landcruiser V8 20 inch Alloys Dunlop 285 50 R20 Unused
tTansit Millennium Bus £750+VAT
Transit Minibus Seats Unused
Transit Millennium Doors £125+VAT
Transit Tourneo Seats Unused £500+VAT
Vauxhall Astra Mk2 Convertible Bodyshells
VW Crafter Mercedes Sprinter Front Doors £200+VAT
ZF 16S-109
www.cabmasters.com ZF Astronic 12-AS-1930-TD
01706 211 838
ZF S6 36-2 Gearboxes ZF Reman
p62_CBW_1060
29/10/12
18:33
Page 62
62 | COACH & BUS WEEK | October 31, 2012
V d PS ste te
2011 11 REG FORD TRANSIT
2002 (52 reg) Optare Solo M850
ÂŁ16,450
ÂŁ17,950
15 seat factory bus, PSV, COIF and tacho, 20K miles, ready to go
For more information visit
www.staffordbuscentre.com Tel: 01782 791774/07803 222552
Mercedes engine, 27 seats 23 with belts, currently undergoing body prep and paint.
For more information visit
www.staffordbuscentre.com Tel: 01782 791774/07803 222552
Dennis Dart Super Pointer 45 seats with belts, Tacho, Euro4 with RPC/LEZ, ready to go
ÂŁ13,950
For more information visit
www.staffordbuscentre.com Tel: 01782 791774/07803 222552
2001 51 Reg Mercedes Sprinter Optare Siroco
!"# "#$ %$!&# $ '( N Reg Bluebird American School Bus 60 seats with 3 point belts, Cummins engine/Allison gearbox
ÂŁ5,950
Also 2000 W Reg at
ÂŁ12,000.00
For more information visit
www.staffordbuscentre.com Tel: 01782 791774/07803 222552
Full luxury coach with all extras, fantastic condition for year, was s/r with keys, no damage, new test.
ÂŁ14,950
For more information visit
www.staffordbuscentre.com Tel: 01782 791774/07803 222552
N Reg Volvo Olympian
Alexander body, 78 seats with belts, Cummins engine, Voith gearbox, some with Eminox and RPC, new MOT
ÂŁ9,950.00
For more information visit
www.staffordbuscentre.com Tel: 01782 791774/07803 222552
p86_CBW_1059
22/10/12
15:32
“
Page 1
COACH&BUSMARKET Testimonial
Hi Jade, I just wanted to drop a note regarding the advertising of our vehicles recently. We have now sold all of the vehicles we wanted to dispose of this year. The ad worked fantastically and all but one of the vehicles was sold as a result of the advert in your publication.
”
Please accept my thanks for a great job done.
Andy Nixon Clarkes of London Coach & Bus Week – the only paid-for weekly magazine in the bus and coach industry – there’s no comparison!
679547-1059-Connaught
22/10/12
14:36
Page 1
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. Order now for March/April
BRAND NEW MERCEDES FERQUI TORO 32 high back seats + courier, A/C, D/G, forced air, reading lights, power door, large boot. Available for immediate delivery.
MORE PHOTOS AND DETAILS AVAILABLE ON OUR WEBSITE:
BRAND NEW MERCEDES BENZ FERQUI SOROCO 19 high back seats, 3 point belts, A/C, D/G, forced air, reading lights and boot. Order now for March/April
BRAND NEW MERCEDES BENZ 516CDI EVM SHUTTLE 16 high back seats, 3 point belts, luggage racks and A/C.
BRAND NEW MERCEDES BENZ 513CDI EVM CLASSIC 16/19 high back seats, 3 point belts, luggage racks and A/C.
www.connaughtpsv.co.uk
2009 59 REG MERCEDES 515 SOROCO 16 high back leather trimmed Vogel recliners, 3 point belts, AC/DG, forced air, reading lights, DVD, power door, large boot.
2008 08 MERCEDES BENZ 815D VARIO OPTARE TORO 28 high back seats, courier seat, 3 point belts, forced air, reading lights, A/C, D/G, power door and large boot.
2007 07 MERCEDES 515 CDI COACH BUILT SOROCO 16 high back reclining seats, 3 point belts, AC/DG, power door and large boot.
2005 05 REG MERCEDES 814D VARIO PLAXTON CHEETAH 33 high back reclining seats, 3 point belts, auto gearbox, A/C, D/G, forced air, reading lights, power door and boot.
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.
Steve Peach Tel: 01302 770863 Mob: 07836 551020 Email: steve@connaughtpsv.co.uk www.connaughtpsv.co.uk
p65_CBW_1060
29/10/12
21:34
Page 1
M M B D U T V K c T B F M U U J M T B S P G T F H B Q F T F I U O P F T J U S F W E B P U
FRP HN GEXVZH RDFKDQ F # \ G L V FDV DGH M O PDL H RU Q R G\ L V &DV -DGH SKRQH H O 7H
p66_CBW_1060
29/10/12
15:08
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66 | COACH & BUS WEEK | October 31, 2012
COACH&BUSCLASSIFIED AUDIO &VISUAL
CHECKPOINTS
GARAGE EQUIPMENT
Mobile Column Lifts FREE
Set of Axle Stands when you purchase your Mobile Columns
Wheel Nut Indicators and Retainers
++44(0)1524 44(0)1524 2271200 71200 checkpoint-safety.com
www.
Contact Jade Cassidy now for details of our current offers :
JHM Butt & Company Limited Sales: 01302 718226
www.buttsequipment.com equipment.com
01733 293247 jade.cassidy@coachandbusweek.com
BUILDINGS
HEAVY DUTY STEEL 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
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!
ENGINES
CRAIG TILSLEY Suppliers of Reconditioned Tel: 01782 791524 or 01782 791527 Fax: 01782 791316
Email: info@craigtilsley.co.uk www.craigtilsley.co.uk
DAF MAN MERC, VOLVO SCANIA, GARDNER LEYLAND, CUMMINS ENGINES CYLINDER HEADS CRANKSHAFTS CRANKCASES CAMSHAFTS PUMPS ETC
Moorfields Industrial Estate, Cotes Heath, Stoke-on-Trent ST21 6QY
GARAGE EQUIPMENT SPECIALISTS Experts in Commercial Garage Equipment
www.bwsequip.co.uk BWS (0117) 9530381 INSURANCE
p67_CBW_1060
29/10/12
15:17
Page 67
October 31, 2012 | COACH & BUS WEEK | 67
COACH&BUSCLASSIFIED REGISTRATIONS G
TRAINING
SPEEDY REGISTRATIONS CO LTD G ‘Buy with confidence – CNDA Member’
£690 AXZ 70 DRZ 18 KIG 17 MHZ 24 RNZ 12 TJZ 50 TUI 18 TUI 19 TUI 20
£350 £99 £99 £50 ACZ 727 DXZ 1150 LIG 1311 CXZ 4470 AJZ 262 FRZ 1411 LIG 1312 DXZ 2268 CEZ 979 HIG 5338 MJZ 6749 DXZ 2269 KBZ 181 IIG 2278 MNZ 1195 ERZ 6180 RBZ 696 IIG 2279 REZ 9410 ERZ 6181 SBZ 171 JIG 9298 RUI 2117 FRZ 1407 VIW 979 JIG 9299 SUI 8836 JFZ 8261 WJI 848 KIG 6556 SUI 8837 JFZ 8262 XJI 474 KIG 6557 TJZ 1119 KIG 8781 We Buy for Cash, also Part Exchange
£50 KIG 8782 LIG 1235 LIG 1236 RNZ 9197 RNZ 9198 SNZ 1068 SNZ 1069 TUI 7991 TUI 7992
Tel: (028) 6638 7124 Fax: (028) 6638 7771
Millwood, Lisbellaw, Co. Fermanagh, N. Ireland BT94 5HQ
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
TRIM CPC Nat / International Driver CPC Digital Tachograph Drivers’ Hours Tachograph Analysis
Coach refurbishment, spray painting, structural work & accident repairs
www.blackpoolcoachservices.co.uk
TICKETING
Contact Neale – 01253 698686
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
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_1060
29/10/12
15:22
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68 | COACH & BUS WEEK | October 31, 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
TYRE EQUIPMENT
VEHICLE SPARES
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
Call 01226 723147 Night Service 01226 716479 Fax 01226 700199 Email wigleys@btconnect.com
www.twigley.com
October 31, 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
Sunday: I’m full up with cold. Pop round to my ‘inlaws’ to feed their three spoilable cats. Get a call to say the office alarm is going off. Procedures kick into place. Thankfully, it turns out to be a false alarm, but I stay put to spend a couple of hours subediting – to give me extra time in bed in the morning. Shopping in the afternoon, a face from the past ignores me. While I have the memory of an elephant, I still try to extend the hand of friendship. His loss. Monday: Press day. It’s a 96-page issue. James is in the sick bay and Alex doesn’t feel great. It’s a long day…
Above: Mercedes-Benz 0405N no.1696 is seen at Hockley Garage. Back then, the Mercs were great buses to drive. Below: Plaxton President-bodied Volvo B7TL no.4078 is seen at Simmons Drive, Woodgate Valley North estate
Happy days at TWM – 2 As something of a second part to his reminiscences which appeared in CBW1057, your Editor was once a proud employee of Travel West Midlands (TWM). In addition to part-time and holiday work with the Private Hire Unit, I was fortunate to spend my Sandwich Placement Year with TWM, where I worked on the implementation of AVL/ RTI and other projects centred on service reliability. I enjoyed my time at Birmingham Central (BC), Perry
Dilbert
Barr (PB), Walsall, and Coventry Garages – in addition to Miller Street and the old head office at Sovereign Court. I often worked overtime to cover morning or afternoon peak driving duties at BC and PB, which
provided me with valuable insight into the routes I was working on in an office-based capacity. Driving and doing whatever was needed also helped to win respect from colleagues – I was not looked upon as merely ‘the university student’. For an enthusiastic student, there seemed no shortage of opportunities at TWM. I benefited from being with a great bunch of knowledgeable people. At the risk of omitting folks, I learned from experienced hands such as Des Hadley and Steve Vale, not to mention Keith McNally (now of CPT fame) and Pete Bond (now at Centro) – and the ever-friendly team of schedulers.
Tuesday: Just after 0200hrs hear an almighty bang, followed by a vehicle horn sounding continuously. A car on our close, which we naiively all thought belonged to a rather strange neighbour, has been dumped and set alight. I later learn it’s been “involved in criminality” (police) and has stolen plates. I don’t get to sleep until 0430hrs. The firemen are brilliant. The police are on the scene before 0900, followed by the recovery truck – hopefully allaying the risk that such behaviour becomes the norm. Wednesday: Start in the office bright and early as I’ve got so much work to do. I’m tired, having had little sleep – an arson attack near where you live really shakes you up. A hectic day in the office. Andrew is on holiday in the USA. Thursday: Another mad day in the office and likewise an early start. Alex is in the sick bay. Friday: Accompanied by Jonathan, who’s excited about seeing the vehicle, head to the press unveiling of new Mercedes-Benz Citaro K at Evobus, Coventry. Arrive back in the office by 1400 and write and sub-edit. www.coachandbusweek.com
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RECRUITMENT
Daniel wins award for top apprentice
MWS wins award for its safety initiative John Ellis, MD of Motor Wheel Service Distribution has been presented with the Northwest Automotive Alliance’s Business Excellence Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Project of the Year Award. The company was highly commended for its work into the issue of commercial vehicle wheel safety with the DfT, EU and main CV industry bodies, which is currently focusing on the early fatigue of wheels operating on noncircumferential hubs. In the last 12 months Motor Wheel Service Distribution has also signed a two-year key supplier agreement with tyre specialist ATS Euromaster, plus heavy investment
Wilts & Dorset has appointed Adam Keen as Operations Manager for its Poole, Bournemouth and Purbeck bus network. Adam, who started his career as a trainee bus driver for Stagecoach in Gloucestershire in 1998, brings a wealth of experience having progressed his career within Stagecoach at Cheltenham as a Controller and Assistant
Operations Manager (AOM), before moving to Exeter in 2003 and overseeing the opening of a new depot in Barnstaple in 2004. He then became AOM for Exeter and Torquay until his recent position since 2010 as Operations Manager for Stagecoach in Chichester. Wilts & Dorset MD Andrew Wickham, said: “Our Poole operation alone is one of the busiest in Southern England with over 900 departures from the bus station each day. Adam’s experience and enthusiasm will be welcomed as we invest and remain committed to providing a first class service within the region.”
John Ellis (left), MD of Motor Wheel Service Distribution is presented with the Northwest Automotive Alliance’s award by Amer Mushtaq (right), from GETRAG FORD Transmissions GmbH in an education and marketing campaign to support xlite forged aluminium wheels was praised. The Northwest Automotive Alliance (NAA) Awards took place at Carden Park Hotel in Cheshire on October 18. Ellis said: “This has been a pivotal year for the firm and we find ourselves in excellent shape to grow
“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! Your vacancy will be seen in the print and digital editions, and online at www.coachandbusweek.com/jobs. This amazing offer is extended to the end of the year, 2012, so don’t delay, contact me, Ian Gillis, on 01733 293 484, or via email: ian.gillis@coachandbusweek.com”
RECRUITNOW
WITH
and influence a heavily suppressed market. The Award is a recognition of the efforts of every member of the team.” The NAA is an independent, notfor-profit company which provides a membership service to the automotive community, supporting micro-companies through to the locally-based global vehicle
Reading Buses’ Daniel Moss, 20, has won the special awards category for ‘Outstanding apprentice in heavy vehicle engineering 2012’ at the S&B Training Academy’s annual awards presentation in Bristol. Daniel completed the formal off-the job training part of his four year apprenticeship and now has another year to do in the workshops before becoming a fully qualified engineer. Daniel, of Winnersh, Wokingham, received a trophy and was presented with a certificate along with Stefan White who is also on his way to becoming a qualified engineer with Reading Buses. Phil Herlingshaw, Engineering Manager at Reading Buses, said: “Dan and Stefan are setting a high standard for those following.”
New Ops Manager for Wilts & Dorset
WORKSHOP SHIFT MANAGER 42.5 hours per week
We are looking for a team player to assist in the management of our Workshop team maintaining our Bus and Coach fleet based in Henley-in Arden. You will need a deep understanding of the PCV industry, be IT literate, with a proven ability to communicate at all levels, motivate and encourage others to the work to the highest standards of vehicle preparation. A competitive package is available for the right candidate. To see the full job description visit our website. To apply please send your CV and covering letter to Steph Sollis at Liveridge House, Liveridge Hill, Henley-in-Arden, Warwickshire, B95 5QS. Or apply by email to stephs@johnsonscoaches.co.uk Closing date is Friday, 29th November 2012
www.coachandbusweek.com Recruit.Quarter.serif_rounded.indd 1
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Deadlines Booking: Monday 5.00pm Full artwork: Monday 5.00pm
Contact Ian Gillis 01733 293484
New chairman for Go-Ahead Group
directors who have helped steer the company over the years. “The Group is now in a strong position to move forward and the time is ripe for me to step down. Andrew has both significant knowledge and understanding of the Group, gained not least through his four years as Non-Executive Director, and has considerable board experience. I am confident he will do an outstanding job as we continue to progress our strategy.” Andrew Allner joined the Board as Non-Executive Director and Chairman of the Audit Committee in October 2008. He was appointed Senior Independent Director in October 2011. Andrew said: “I would like to thank Sir Patrick for his longstanding stewardship of the Group. He successfully steered the Group through challenging times and leaves the Group with a clear strategy, a strong Executive Team and significant opportunity for the future. I feel very privileged to be taking over from him.”
The board of Go-Ahead has announced that Sir Patrick Brown will step down as Company Chairman and retire from the Board on April 24, 2013. Andrew Allner, currently Senior Independent Director and Chairman of the Audit Committee, will succeed Sir Patrick Brown. Sir Patrick joined the Board in 1999 and was appointed as Company Chairman in October 2002. Commenting on his decision to retire, Sir Patrick said: “Since I joined the Board, the Group has grown significantly and has weathered very well the economic storms of recent years. I am grateful for the opportunity to have worked with Go-Ahead and have enjoyed working with four CEOs and the small, but immensely able, board of
ian.gillis@coachandbusweek.com
www.coachandbusweek.com
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