In this issue
New contract's full of eastern promise
The route that is part of our history Page 4
G
No smoke without fire for Myron Page 7
Mark likes to live life in the fast lane Page 8 2
O-AHEAD Group has been awarded a five-year contract to run bus services in Singapore from September, beating seven other short-listed bidders. The Loyang contract covers 26 routes with approximately 900 employees and is expected to generate around £230 million of revenues over five years. There is also the option of a twoyear extension based on good performance. David Brown, Go-Ahead Group Chief Executive Officer, said: “As a well-established and the largest operator of bus services on behalf of Transport for London, we have a strong track record of providing passenger transport in busy urban areas. We will combine our skills, experience and people-focused approach with best practice in Singapore to provide a service that customers value and our team is proud to deliver.” Following his initial role as Transition Director, Nigel Wood (pictured above, left), previously GoAhead London General Manager Service Quality, has now been appointed Managing Director of Go-Ahead Singapore. Nigel said: “Go-Ahead have the scope to develop the business and grow. The challenges ahead all relate to establishing Go-Ahead in Asia from scratch, which has been a great learning curve for me. “Following the bid announcement, I travelled to Singapore, staying in temporary accommodation. I’m now finalising a more permanent home. After a short Christmas break in the UK, I was back in Singapore for the New Year. It was great to see it in eight hours ahead of my family. “With the addition of two new grandchildren who arrived before Christmas, my family are developing their own careers and family in the UK but are very much looking forward to visiting
me in Singapore. Regular group WhatsApp messaging and FaceTime contact keeps me in touch with them. “First impressions? I like Singapore’s local food and warm weather along with the safety and people-friendly society.” Also joining Nigel from Go-Ahead London is former New Cross Operating Manager Graham Oliver as Head of Training (pictured inset above). Graham moved to Singapore in January and expects to be there until at least September 2016, when services begin. His tasks include the recruitment and training of up to 400 new bus drivers, many of whom will be recruited from China or Malaysia. There is almost full employment in Singapore, which makes recruiting there more difficult. Another significant challenge will be that many of the Chinese and Malaysian recruits will not be English speakers. Graham will arrange induction training for around 300 existing drivers who will be transferring to the garage from an existing employer before Go-Ahead takes over services in September. He is putting together a suite of training programmes that will have to be approved by the authorities. A group of trainers arrived from the UK in January to help recruit and train a team of trainers locally. The brand new garage will also be equipped with a fleet of training vehicles. Graham’s first impressions of Singapore are that it’s very clean with no litter, graffiti or chewing gum stains anywhere, people queue, it’s very hot and humid, everybody is very polite and the public transport is excellent – clean, cheap and air-conditioned. And they have the most efficient customs and passport controls he has ever experienced at an airport!