Passenger Transport: September 23, 2022

FO EV RT ER NI Y GH T

ISSUE 273 23 SEPTEMBER 2022

NEWS, VIEWS AND ANALYSIS FOR A SECTOR ON THE MOVE

Uber gets on board Having transformed taxis, Uber has teamed up with National Rail, National Express and Megabus to ‘take the hassle out of booking travel’

Uber has this month integrated UK coach and rail services into its app, creating “ a one-stop shop for all travel needs”. Uber users can now book journeys through National Rail, National Express and Megabus within the ‘Uber Travel’ section of the Uber app.

Uber Travel’s booking functionality is powered by the ground transportation platform Omio.

Uber users who make coach or rail bookings on the Uber app will receive 10% of the cost of their booking back as Uber Credits, for use on future rides, travel NEWS

bookings or Uber Eats deliveries.

Andrew Brem, general manager at Uber UK said: “Uber users have been able to book rides, bikes, boat services and scooters on the Uber app for a number of years now. We’re thrilled to expand Uber Travel, adding the UK’s best travel services across rail and road creating the ultimate door-to-door

travel experience.”

Many will see this expansion as an opportunity to enhance the visibility and appeal of public transport among people who might not otherwise use it. Chris Hardy, managing director of National Express’s coach division, said: “Being part of the Uber Travel expansion means that Uber users

“We’re thrilled to expand Uber Travel, adding the UK’s best travel services across rail and road”Andrew Brem, Uber UK INSIDE TRACK

COMMENT

can easily access safe and reliable coach travel that is great for the pocket and the environment. We are excited to see customers take advantage of the new offering.”

However, some public transport operators have expressed fears that they could eventually lose their direct relationship with customers to well-funded and convenient apps. To retain this relationship they have been improving their own apps and new analysis by Passenger Transport suggests that user ratings have improved (see pages 11-13).

COMMENT

Unions name two more rail strike dates

Ratings for Lessons we transport apps can learn from leap upwards Scandi cities

I’m the proud father of a young bus user!

07

11

16

ASLEF and RMT disputes continue

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We look at the top public transport apps

14

What Jonathan Bray learnt on Malmo trip

Alex Warner is happy - but not complacent

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21/09/2022 16:32

CONTENTS

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

Is Uber’s interest a threat of an opportunity?

There will be mixed feelings about Uber’s entry into the UK public transport sector. The popular ride-hailing app is now selling tickets for travel on National Rail, National Express and Megabus, becoming “a one-stop shop for all travel needs”.

Robert Jack It’s not the first time that Uber has ventured into Managing Editor the world of public transport. Back in 2019 it began selling bus and rail tickets in Denver, but its first foray into UK public transport is with long-distance rail and coach services.

Anything that makes public transport more accessible and more convenient is surely a good thing. Uber has invested vast sums of money into its app, which is now said to have 93 million active users worldwide. On the other hand, they aren’t getting involved out of the goodness of their hearts. They will want a slice of every public transport fare, drawing money away from those who plan and provide those services. There is already resentment at the huge profit margins made by Trainline for providing nothing more.

It perhaps doesn’t matter if these players get a slice of the public transport cake if they are helping to make the cake bigger. However, public transport operators must not stop trying to provide their own convenient booking platforms, to maximise their revenues and retain their direct relationship with their customers. Our analysis of apps (see pages 11-13) shows they have raised their game, with many of them receiving a higher rating from users than Uber’s 4.3 stars!

HAVE YOUR SAY Contact us with your news, views and opinion at: editorial@passengertransport.co.uk PASSENGER TRANSPORT editorial@passengertransport.co.uk forename.surname@ passengertransport.co.uk Telephone: 020 3950 8000 Managing Editor & Publisher Robert Jack Deputy Editor Andrew Garnett Contributing Writer Rhodri Clark Directors Chris Cheek, Andrew Garnett, Robert Jack OFFICE CONTACT DETAILS Passenger Transport Publishing Ltd PO Box 5496, Westbury BA13 9BX, UNITED KINGDOM Telephone (all enquiries): 020 3950 8000

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part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part without the publisher’s written permission.

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IN THIS ISSUE 11

MAJOR IMPROVEMENT IN TRANSPORT APPS

In 2019 we researched which apps were available for public transport users and how highly they were rated - three years later things have got better. More than two-thirds of the 113 apps we looked at this year received a four-star rating.

ORGANISATION

PAGE

Arriva London North Arriva UK Bus ASLEF Avanti West Coast Bristol Community Transport DRM Bus First Bus First West of England Go-Ahead Group Grand Central Great British Railways Great Western Railway HCT Group HS2 Ltd Island Line Kelsian Group LNER Lumo Megabus McGill’s National Express National Rail Network Rail Passenger RATP Dev Transit London Riverlinx RMT South Western Railway Southeastern Stagecoach The Big Lemon Tower Transit Transpora Transport for London Transport for Wales Transport Scotland Uber West Midlands Metro

5 11 7 6, 7, 11 4 8 11 4 11 11 11, 21 7 4 7 6 4, 5 7, 11 11 1 9 1 1 7 11 5 5 7 6 7 11, 22 4 4, 5 4 5, 11 8 9 1 6

06

MPS DEBATE FUTURE OF AVANTI WEST COAST

The government has said that all options are on the table when it comes to the future of troubled train operator Avanti West Coast. “Withdrawing Avanti’s contract is one of those options,” said transport minister Trudy Harrison earlier this month.

18

MAKING TRACKS WITH A TRIP AROUND DEVON

21

NEW MINISTERS IN THE PALM OF OUR HANDS?

Trains and buses have a lot to offer for smaller communities and rural areas. How can we take these services to another level? Nick Richardson recently revisited various rail routes and places in the West Country and Devon and reflects on what he saw.

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

On new ministers: “From what I can see, none of these three know anything about the transport industry”

REGULARS NEWS INSIDE TRACK JONATHAN BRAY ALEX WARNER GRUMBLES CAREERS DIVERSIONS

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21/09/2022 17:55

NEWS ROUND-UP

HCT backs out with Channel Islands sale Guernsey and Jersey operations sold to Tower Transit parent ACQUISITIONS

London-based not-for-profit operator HCT Group has backed out of mainstream bus operation with the sale of its Channel Islands bus businesses to Kelsian Group, the Australian parent of Tower Transit.

The move follows the recent closure of HCT Group businesses in Yorkshire and Bristol and the sale of its London bus operation to Stagecoach. It leaves the once expansive social enterprise operation with just its original community transport activities in east London. However, there has been some retrenchment there in recent weeks with the withdrawal of its community bus service in Islington.

HCT Group moved into the Channel Islands in early 2013 when it took over the States of Jersey

BIG LEMON STEPS INTO BRISTOL Brighton bus operator grows in West of England EXPANSION

Social enterprise bus operator The Big Lemon has announced it is planning to fill the gap left in the Bristol bus market following the closure of HCT Group’s bus operation there.

HCT Group announced the abrupt closure of Bristol Community Transport (BCT) on August 26 (PT272). It operated the flagship M1 Metrobus service between the Cribbs Causeway 04 | 23 September 2022 PT273p04-05.indd 4

contract to operate the island’s bus services from Veolia Transport.

It won plaudits for its relaunch and subsequent management of the Jersey operation which saw patronage growing on an island with some of the highest car ownership rates in the western hemisphere. Expansion came in 2015 when HCT Group was named as the preferred bidder to run bus services on the

neighbouring island of Guernsey.

HCT Group chief executive Lynn McClelland said the firm was “very proud of the work we’ve done” across both islands.

She said: “Tower Transit and Kelsian are noted for their high-quality services, their international reach and resources and their extensive experience with electrification of bus services and other sustainable

HCT Group operated 40 buses on Guernsey

shopping centre and Hengrove Park via the city centre on behalf of First West of England as well as several other supported bus services on behalf of the West of England Combined Authority.

While First West of England has taken on operation of the Metrobus route, operation of one former BCT route has passed to relative newcomer Transpora, a business linked to controversial Lancashirebased bus entrepreneur Philip Higgs.

Now it has been revealed The Big Lemon has secured contracts to operate four former BCT routes - Routes 505 (Long Ashton Park and Ride to Southmead); 506

(Broadmead to Southmead); 515 (Imperial Park to Stockwood); and 516 (Broad Walk to Hengrove Park).

It is anticipated that subject to securing a operator’s licence from the West of England traffic The Big Lemon plans move into Bristol bus market

technologies, currently high on everybody’s agenda.

“We are grateful to the Government of Jersey and States of Guernsey for the spirit of partnership that has characterised our work together. We are certain that we leave behind a strong foundation for the future development of the bus service.”

Kelsian Group CEO Clint Feuerherdt said Tower Transit’s London-based management team will oversee the operations which between them operate around 120 buses on the Channel Islands.

“Kelsian’s legacy is supporting island communities and economies and we are excited to serve the Channel Islands and their tourists to provide safe and reliable services,” he said.

“From a group perspective, these acquisitions are on strategy and add to the group’s growing contracted international bus fleet and global network of transport and tourism professionals at Kelsian Group.”

Feuerherdt added that Kelsian was exploring further opportunities for international growth outside of its home market of Australia.

commissioner, Big Lemon will take on operation of these services from October 3.

“The Big Lemon is passionate about providing an excellent passenger experience on the buses and excited by the opportunity to launch in Bristol,” said a company spokesperson.

Big Lemon demonstrated one of its Higer-manufactured electric midibuses to stakeholders in the Wiltshire town of Melksham last weekend. The move was part of proposals by the town council there for a new circular bus service that would be integrated with train services at Melksham station. www.passengertransport.co.uk

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“There could be hundreds of disputes involving tens of thousands of workers over the coming months”

Bus staff win 9.25% deal at London firm RATP Dev Transit London agrees to significant pay award INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

It is understood bus drivers at RATP Dev Transit London, the joint venture between French group RATP Dev and Kelsian subsidiary Tower Transit, have accepted a 9.25% pay award ending months of industrial unrest at the bus operator.

The deal follows similar announcements at other bus operators in recent months. Over the summer an 11.1% pay increase was accepted by staff at Arriva’s bus operations in the north west of England following weeks of strike action there (PT271).

Passenger Transport understands the operator initially offered a 3.6% increase for 2022

and 4.2% for next year. Trade union Unite branded that offer as a “substantial real terms pay cut” and accused the company of “failure to enter into meaningful negotiations”.

However, after a second walkout over the August bank holiday weekend, further talks have led to the robust pay deal that mirrors negotiations taking place at other London operators. But even then Initial pay offer was just 3.6%

it is understood staff at Arriva London North this week rejected a headline 11.2% pay offer.

Unite has warned that tens of thousands of workers will strike in the coming months in a bid to secure better pay.

“Workers are simply no longer prepared to accept poverty wages,” said general secretary Sharon Graham. “There could be hundreds of disputes involving tens of thousands of workers over the coming months if employers continue to offer real terms wage cuts presented as pay increases.

“Summer of discontent? We’ve had the spring, summer, autumn and winter of discontent with austerity every single season. If employers can pay, they should pay. If they won’t pay, eventually they will pay when Unite organises the fightback.”

IN BRIEF TfL PATRONAGE BOOST London transport commissioner, Andy Byford, said there had been “huge numbers of additional passengers” using the capital’s transport network since the death of Queen Elizabeth. Ahead of the state funeral Byford said September 19 would probably be one of TfL’s busiest ever days, adding that he expected there to be potentially up to one million visitors within the footprint of the royal palaces and Hyde Park.

Official figures are awaited.

JUBILEE REMOVAL The passing of Queen Elizabeth saw Transport for London quickly remove the special Jubilee branding on eight buses in London. The vehicles operated by Arriva, RATP, Abellio, Go-Ahead, Metroline and Stagecoach had been wrapped with special vinyls ahead of the Platinum Jubilee weekend in May.

SILVERTOWN TUNNEL IS GO Tunnelling work starts on new cross-river link INFRASTRUCTURE

Tunnelling of the Silvertown river crossing is now underway, Transport for London and construction joint venture Riverlinx have confirmed.

The 1.4km Silvertown Tunnel will link Newham to the Greenwich Peninsula and it is planned to open in 2025.

Its construction aims to alleviate congestion through the nearby Blackwall Tunnel and it will boast dedicated bus and coach lanes.

The two bores that make up the tunnel are being built using one 82 metre-long TBM, named ‘Jill’ in honour of Jill Viner, the first female bus driver in London. www.passengertransport.co.uk

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An aerial view of Newham worksite

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NEWS ROUND-UP

MPs debate the future of Avanti West Coast Decision about the way forward to be made on October 16 PERFORMANCE

The government has said that all options are on the table when it comes to the future of troubled train operator Avanti West Coast.

During an emergency debate on the matter on September 7, then transport minister Trudy Harrison said a decision will be made about the operator’s future on October 16, the date when the new Direct Award for the contract is due to start. Although she refused to be drawn on what that decision could be, Harrison said “the situation is untenable and needs to be improved”.

“We are considering all options, and all options remain on the table,” she added. “Withdrawing Avanti’s contract is one of those

options, but we must bear in mind all the implications of that ... We can cut this cake however we want, but ultimately we need the drivers to be driving the trains. That must be the absolute priority. One service an hour is completely unacceptable.”

Shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh demanded incoming transport secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan “guarantee that there will be no more reward for failure and to strip Avanti of its contract”.

“This ongoing fiasco is causing real damage to the economy, passengers and the public,”

“We need the drivers to be driving the trains” Trudy Harrison

Haigh added. “The ministers must stop washing their hands of responsibility and, finally, intervene.”

Harrison responded by noting the decision that will be taken on October 16 will be a commercially sensitive one and she refused to discuss it “not least because I am not the rail minister”.

She continued: “I have every confidence, because the secretary of state said so yesterday evening, that she will be meeting stakeholders, including those in the rail sector, and a new rail minister will be appointed very shortly.”

Harrison said Avanti West Coast had relied on rest day working from its driving staff for many years in order to operate a full service. She claimed that this was a way of working that can no longer continue.

She continued: “Part of the challenge is with recruitment and retention, which is why we are working to improve the gender balance among drivers, which is woefully low, and to improve the age diversity of drivers.

“When the average age is 51 years and the average age of retirement is 59, we clearly have a problem with retention. That is where we are focusing our efforts.”

Harrison said there was a finite number of qualified, trained train drivers and it takes, on average, two years to recruit and train a train driver.

“Trains need to operate seven days a week, which is why the system of train drivers volunteering to work on those rest days is no longer sustainable,” she added. “A 35-hour shift and volunteering to work rest days, while it has provided considerable extra income for train drivers, is no longer sustainable. That is exactly what we will tackle through the modernising workforce programme and Great British Railways.”

SICKNESS CLOSES ISLAND LINE Signalling staff issues lead to closure of line STAFFING

INTERCHANGE GETS GREEN LIGHT Plans for a £24m transport interchange in Dudley have achieved another major milestone after securing full planning permission. The project will see the exis1986-builtbuilt bus station demolished to make way for a modern bus and West Midlands Metro interchange. It is being delivered as part of the first phase of the Wednesbury to Brierley Hill West Midlands Metro extension which is set to open in 2024.

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South Western Railway was forced to suspend all services on the Isle of Wight’s Island Line on September 7 as a result of staff sickness.

The train operator said it was unable to cover a signaller’s shift on the vertically integrated network and would have to close the line between Ryde and Shanklin. It is understood the line relies on five qualified signallers with two required for duty each day.

Rail replacement bus services covered services between Ryde and Shanklin and on Ryde Pier. www.passengertransport.co.uk

21/09/2022 16:31

Unions announce two more rail strike dates Train drivers union ASLEF announces members will walk out on two days as the RMT union announces a further day of industrial action INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

After ceasing industrial action during the period of mourning for Queen Elizabeth, trades unions have announced two more strikes on Britain’s rail network next month with dates set around the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham.

Train drivers union ASLEF has confirmed that drivers at 12 train companies across the country will walk out on both October 1 and 5.

Meanwhile the RMT union said it has given notice to Network Rail as well as to 14 train companies that 9,000 of its members will strike on October 1.

The Rail Delivery Group said the action would “once again hugely inconvenience the very passengers the industry needs to support”.

“The strikes are not in the long-term interests of rail workers or building a sustainable rail industry,” said a spokesperson.

“We want to give our people a pay rise, but without the reforms we are proposing, we simply cannot deliver pay increases. Revenue is still around 80% of pre-pandemic levels. No business can survive that scale of upheaval without implementing change.

“The actions of union leaders have very real consequences: every strike day takes more money out of their members’ pockets. We want to see the industry and its people thrive - we are asking the union’s leadership to do the right thing, call off these damaging www.passengertransport.co.uk

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ASLEF members will walk out on October 1 and 5

strikes and work with us to make that happen.”

ASLEF said it had postponed a strike which had been called for September 15, out of respect for the Queen. Although it made no public announcement until after this week’s state funeral, it had been obliged to tell the operators on September 16 to comply with industrial relations law.

The operators who are set to be affected are Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, Greater Anglia, Great Western Railway, Hull Trains, LNER, London Overground, Northern Trains, Southeastern, TransPennine Express and West Midlands Trains.

“We would much rather not

“The companies with whom we are in dispute have not offered us a penny” Mick Whelan

be in this position,” said ASLEF general secretary Mick Whelan.

“We don’t want to go on strike withdrawing your labour, although a fundamental human right, is always a last resort for this trade union - but the train companies have been determined to force our hand.

“They are telling train drivers to take a real terms pay cut. With inflation now running at 12.3% - and set, it is said, to go higher these companies are saying that drivers should be prepared to work just as hard, for just as long, but for considerably less.

“The companies with whom we are in dispute have not offered us a penny. It is outrageous that they expect us to put up with a real terms pay cut for a third year in a row. And that’s why we are going on strike. To persuade the companies to be sensible, to do the right thing, and come and negotiate properly with us. Not to run up and say, ‘Our hands are tied and the government will not allow us to offer you an increase’.”

HS2’S EXTENSIVE INJUNCTION

Worksites to be protected

by High Court decision LEGAL NEWS

HS2 Ltd has been granted what has been termed as an “extensive” injunction along the entire length of the line from London to Crewe in a bid to clamp down on unlawful protests. Legal experts say this court order is one of the most far-reaching of its kind in English legal history.

It will make disrupting construction work or entering HS2 worksites without official permission a potential contempt of court and applies not only to identified protestors but also to “persons unknown”.

Sitting in Birmingham, Mr Justice Julian Knowles, said the injunction struck “a fair balance between the rights of the individual protestors and the general right and interests of HS2 and others who are being affected by the protests, including the national economy.”

HS2 welcomed the court judgement and said it was “not intended to stop legitimate protest” but opponents have argued it will stifle peaceful opposition and even hamper ecologists who need access to monitor the build.

Mr Justice Knowles took more than four months to consider almost 8,000 pages of evidence. He said he was “satisfied that there has been significant violence, criminality and sometimes risk to the life of the activists, HS2 staff and contractors.”

He said that, while he had “anxiously considered the geographical extent of the injunction along the whole of the HS2 route”, he had decided that “such an extensive injunction is appropriate.”

“I am satisfied that the trespass and nuisance will continue unless restrained, and that the risk is both real and imminent,” he added.

Protests against the line have so far cost an estimated £122m.

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NEWS ROUND-UP

Scottish free bus travel scheme underperforms Marketing campaign aims to increase scheme for under 22s CONCESSIONARY TRAVEL

Significantly fewer free bus journeys have been made by young people in Scotland than the Scottish Government had expected when it drew up its budget last winter, despite large increases in the cost of living.

Transport Scotland hopes that a new marketing campaign for the Under-22s (U22s) pass, starting this month, will improve usage.

The government has announced £500m of savings in 2022-23 to offset the impact of high inflation, which is affecting all of its spending areas. The reduced expenditure this year includes what deputy first minister John Swinney described as a “reduction of £37m in the budget for concessionary fares”.

However, a Transport Scotland spokeswoman told Passenger

Transport that the £37m related to “all funding for bus services, and not just for concessionary travel”. The figure reflected the government’s latest views on demand for the concessionary schemes for the whole of this year.

She explained: “As part of our routine management of the funding for bus services, we continually monitor our forecasted spend against budget.

As a result of the demand-led nature of the concessionary travel schemes, we have reduced our forecast for the rest of this financial year due to a lower than expected patronage.

“If patronage were now to rise above our forecasted levels, so would our expenditure on the schemes. With the launch of the U22s marketing campaign this month, we expect to see increased demand for that scheme.” She said that usage of the Young Persons concessionary scheme had been difficult to forecast because it had

launched only this year.

“A number of factors influence the forecast spend on concessionary travel schemes, including journey numbers. Bus patronage has been slower to return to pre-Covid levels than was initially forecast during the setting of Budget 2022-23, which has led to a lower forecast concessionary travel outturn for the remainder of the financial year. Patronage under the Older and Disabled Persons scheme, for example, remains around 30% below 2019 levels.”

The government decided not to postpone the launch of the U22s scheme in January but deferred marketing because at the time the official advice was to avoid using public transport.

Young people have made more than 21 million journeys using the free passes. However, only 52% of the 930,000 people eligible have received a pass, and there has been some criticism of the

SCOTLAND SET TO MISS BUS TARGETS Plans to phase out diesel buses unlikely to be met POLICY

NEW LOOK FOR MCGILLS ACQUISITION The first pictures of the new branding for McGills newly acquired operations in the east of Scotland have appeared on social media. It appears the former First Scotland East business will revive the former Eastern Scottish and Midland Bluebird brand names.

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The Scottish Government is to miss targets for the electrification of Scotland’s bus fleet, according to a new report from Transform Scotland.

Ministers had pledged to withdraw the majority of diesel buses by the end of 2023 but the pressure group’s report finds that only around 16% of the Scottish bus fleet will be zero emission by the end of next year.

The report also reviews whether 10 sustainable transport commitments

application process.

The new marketing campaign coincides with the start of the academic year, when young people establish travel routines.

The government’s £500m package of savings does not involve any changes to eligibility for free bus passes or new restrictions on when passes can be used. The Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish schemes are open to anyone aged 60 and over, but in England eligibility starts at the State Pension age.

The Scottish Government is making no changes to the reimbursement mechanism for operators for the carriage of concessionary passengers.

Operators have suggested that the £37m reduction in concessionary scheme funding announced

by Swinney should be used to support buses in other ways, in order to help people manage during the current period of pressure on personal finances.

Labour has pointed to the £2 cap on single fares in England for three months this winter (PT272), designed to help with the cost of living, and to a similar cap in some English cities.

from the three most recent Programmes for Government are being met. Transform Scotland concluded that efforts to decarbonise the bus fleet, improve bus priority on Glasgow motorways and introduce fair rail fares had made no progress.

It identified slow progress on targets relating to free bus travel for under-22s, car traffic reduction, low-emission ferries, decarbonising rail services by 2035 and bus priority infrastructure investment.

However, good progress was being made on efforts to increase active travel and phase out internal combustion engine vehicles. www.passengertransport.co.uk

21/09/2022 17:56

“As soon as they send us a letter saying we’re on the same level playing field, we will restart” DAVID MORRIS, PROPRIETOR OF DRM BUS

Two of Clayton Jones’ buses in Pontypridd

Passionate defender of independent bus sector OBITUARY

Clayton Jones closes start-up bus operation Bus entrepreneur demands a share of government subsidy OPERATORS

Veteran bus entrepreneur Clayton Jones has withdrawn the bus services he launched last winter in the Pontypridd area, blaming what he regards as unfair subsidy for competing buses.

Jones sold his Shamrock Travel company to Veolia in 2006 and later established the short-lived St David’s Travel to operate routes in Cardiff and Pontypridd.

After a lengthy period away from bus operation, he obtained a licence for up to eight vehicles on condition that an independent audit would be carried out by mid-September 2022.

He registered 13 routes to commence in February (PT258).

The vehicles carried a white and red livery and Street Buses brand. Their principal stop was in Pontypridd was almost directly www.passengertransport.co.uk

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in front of the headquarters of Transport for Wales In February, the Welsh Government said that any new services would not automatically be eligible for Bus Emergency Scheme funding, which was designed to support the reference network of services as at February 2020 and was payable to the companies which were operating the reference network at that time. In late June 2022, the government announced an additional £48m of support for bus operators to maintain services while they continued to recover from the pandemic and dealt with emerging financial challenges.

“Our competitors are getting part of the £48m.

Well I want a chunk of it as well”

This week, Jones said that his services had been suspended. He said they would resume as soon as the government agreed to pay the same subsidy for his services as for other bus services. “They told us in July we would get it and in August we didn’t get it. Our competitors are getting part of the £48m. Well I want a chunk of it as well.”

Jones said that his company was keeping five of the vehicles. “As soon as they send us a letter saying we’re on the same level playing field, we will restart.”

He said that his company had laid off all of the staff, except those involved in private hire.

He had employed local people to drive buses, and claimed other buses in the area were driven by people who had been brought in to South Wales on a rate 50% higher than the rate he could afford to pay his drivers.

The services had not been deregistered as of September 20 despite having been withdrawn.

Tributes have been paid to veteran independent bus operator David Morris who passed away on September 11.

Morris, who famously described himself as “just a little country lad”, was proprietor and managing director of Bromyard-based DRM Bus. He was well known within the industry for his passionate advocacy for the independent bus sector.

A member of the Confederation of Passenger Transport, Association of Local Bus Company Managers (ALBUM) and the Omnibus Society, Morris was a regular attendee at the All Party Parliamentary Passenger Transport Group and he was known, and respected by many MPs, members of the House of Lords and government ministers.

But Morris was also well known within his local community where he was a member of the Bromyard town twinning committee and he even switched on Bromyard’s Christmas lights one year. Community and industry came together at his famous DRM Bus hog roast events.

It has been confirmed the funeral will be held at St. Peter’s Church, Church Lane, Bromyard, HR7 4DZ on October 3 at 11am.

David Morris: 1944 - 2022 23 September 2022 | 09

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21/09/2022 15:09

INSIDE TRACK

Major improvement in public transport apps In 2019 we researched which apps were available for public transport users and how highly they were rated - three years later things have got better How many apps do you have on your phone? I have 124 on mine, Robert Jack which probably Managing Editor makes me an app aficionado. They help me to manage my life, including my use of public transport. I find the Transport for Edinburgh app invaluable for journey planning and real-time information.

A good app cements the role of a service provider in your life and builds loyalty. A bad one does the opposite - can that really be forgiven in this digital age?

Back in September 2019 we researched the apps available for public transport and how they were rated by their users (PT216).

Many of the 85 apps we found rivalled the best known, but many others were poor. Almost a third of the apps (28) achieved a rating of four out of five stars but a larger proportion (35) received a rating of just one or two stars. There was clearly work to be done.

Three years on and we have repeated this exercise. This time we identified 113 apps (including four from outside the UK for comparison), fulfilling a range of functions across different transport modes. We looked at their user rating for the iOS (Apple) and Android formats on September 14 and then we combined them to create an overall aggregate rating.

The good news is that there has been a significant improvement. www.passengertransport.co.uk

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More than two-thirds (78) of the 113 apps looked at this year received a four-star rating while only around one in six (19) received ratings of only one or two stars.

The graph below illustrates this improvement. It shows an enormous increase in the number of four-star apps and a decline in three, two and one-star ratings.

Much of this improvement can be attributed to the UK bus and coach sector (see page 13) where an impressive 92% of apps have a four-star rating compared to 60% in 2019. Go-Ahead Group’s relationship with website and

“How are you supposed to use an app for a public service that just doesn’t work?”

app developer Passenger is largely responsible for this increase.

With its devolved structure, Go-Ahead’s operating companies each have their own app, but in 2019 they were poorly rated highly rated operations like Oxford Bus Company and Brighton & Hove had apps with a one-star rating. Last year Bournemouthbased Passenger helped Go-Ahead launch 17 apps in the space of just five weeks (PT245) and they all now have four-star ratings. The lesson is simple - if your app isn’t performing, find someone who can help you turn it around!

Arriva UK Bus should heed this lesson - it’s bottom of the bus and coach class with a 1.4-star rating for its app. One of the many scathing reviews for this app states: “I rarely give negative reviews but this app is just unacceptable. How are you supposed to use an app for a public service that just doesn’t work?”

RATINGS FOR PUBLIC TRANSPORT APPS IN 2019 AND 2022 Analysis by Passenger Transport 78

28

2019 2022 Four stars

22

16

2019 2022 Three stars

24 13

2019 2022 Two stars

11

6

2019 2022 One star

In response, Arriva says: “We are looking at the known issues and will rectify them as soon as possible.”

The other major bus groups have apps that perform much better. Stagecoach, Britain’s biggest bus and coach operator, was struggling in 2019 with a 2.5-star rating but this has now leapt to 4.3 stars. First Bus has also improved, from 4.1 stars to 4.6.

There has also been a significant improvement among train operating companies, although the average rating of 3.8 stars lags behind bus and coach (4.4).

Open access operators Grand Central Railway and Lumo have the highest ratings (see page 12), followed by intercity operators LNER and Avanti West Coast.

At the other end of the table, Go-Ahead needs to perform the kind of transformation it did with its bus apps. The bottom three are all components of the group’s giant Govia Thameslink Railway operation.

It’s worth noting that the average 3.8-star rating for UK train operating companies compares well to some of Europe’s major railway companies.

Deutsche Bahn’s DB Navigator receives 3.6 stars and Trenitalia gets 2.8, although SNCF Connect achieves an impressive 4.5.

Will Great British Railways want to launch its own networkwide app? And could it rival Trainline, the highly rated and highly valued online rail retail platform? Transport for London’s 4.6-star app provides an example of a large publicly-owned body getting it right.

Customers will only increase as this technology develops. The best public transport apps must keep striving to get better, and those that are lagging behind must catch up fast.

THE RATINGS: PAGES 12-13 23 September 2022 | 11

21/09/2022 15:09

INSIDE TRACK PUBLIC TRANSPORT APPS

TRAIN OPERATORS FOUR STARS Grand Central Railway Rating: 4.8 stars (2.4k ratings) Developer: Grand Central LumoGo Rating: 4.7 (1.1k ratings) Developer: Lumo LNER | Train Times & Tickets Rating: 4.7 (8.0k ratings) Developer: LNER Avanti West Coast Rating: 4.7 (17.3k ratings) Developer: First Trenitalia West Coast Hull Trains Rating: 4.6 (1.2k ratings) Developer: First Hull Trains Eurostar Rating: 4.6 (36.7k ratings) Developer: Eurostar International Ltd Chiltern Railways - Tickets Rating: 4.6 (7.1k ratings) Developer: Chiltern Railways c2c Live Rating: 4.5 (4.0k ratings) Developer: Trenitalia c2c Limited TransPennine Express Rating: 4.5 (7.1k ratings) Developer: TransPennine Express EMR - East Midlands Railway Rating: 4.5 (462 ratings) Developer: East Midlands Railway South Western Railway Rating: 4.5 (37.5k ratings) Developer: First MTR South Western Great Western Railway Rating: 4.5 (61.9k ratings) Developer: First Great Western TrC | TfW Rating: 4.4 (2.6k ratings) Developer: Transport for Wales

JOURNEY PLANNERS Northern train tickets & times Rating: 4.3 (4.7k ratings) Developer: Northern Railway ScotRail Trains Times & Tickets Rating: 4.4 (3.9k ratings) Developer: ScotRail West Midlands Railway Rating: 4.1 (449 ratings) Developer: West Midlands Trains Ltd THREE STARS Heathrow Express Rating: 3.9 stars (366 ratings) Developer: Heathrow Express Greater Anglia Tickets and Times Rating: 3.5 (1.3k ratings) Developer: Greater Anglia Southeastern On Track Rating: 3.1 (1.4k ratings) Developer: The Go-Ahead Group plc TWO STARS Merseyrail Rating: 2.4 stars (260 ratings) Developer: Merseyrail ONE STAR Caledonian Sleeper Rating: 1.8 stars (22 ratings) Developer: Soluis Group Limited Gatwick Express Rating: 1.7 (238 ratings) Developer: The Go-Ahead Group plc Thameslink On Track Rating: 1.5 (902 ratings) Developer: The Go-Ahead Group plc Southern On Track Rating: 1.4 (1.3k ratings) Developer: The Go-Ahead Group plc

12 | 23 September 2022 PT273p10-13.indd 12

Virgin Trains Ticketing Rating: 4.2 (28 ratings) Developer: Virgin Red Ltd Moovit Rating: 4.1 (1.2m ratings) Developer: Moovit App Global LTD THREE STARS Traveline SW Journey Planner Rating: 3.1 stars (243 ratings) Developer: SWPTI Traveline Scotland Rating: 3.1 (1.8k ratings) Developer: Traveline Scotland Ltd TWO STARS Traveline Cymru Rating: 2.7 stars (402 ratings) Developer: PTI Cymru Ltd National Rail Enquires Rating: 2.6 (23.0k ratings) Developer: National Rail

TRANSPORT AUTHORITIES FOUR STARS TfL Go: Live Tube, Bus & Rail Rating: 4.6 stars (19.7k ratings) Developer: Transport for London THREE STARS Translink mLink Rating: 3.4 stars (6.4k ratings) Developer: Corethree Merseytravel Rating: 3.0 stars (344 ratings) Developer: Mentz GmbH

TWO STARS Translink NI Rating: Rating: 2.3 (1.2 ratings) Developer: Translink Pop Rating: 2.1 stars (55k ratings) Developer: Nexus (Tyne and Wear PTE) ONE STAR TfWM - Powered by Swift Rating: 1.7 stars (277 ratings) Developer: West Midlands Combined Authority

LIGHT RAIL OPERATORS

INTERNATIONAL FOUR STARS SNCF Connect: Trains & trips Rating: 4.5 stars (372.5k ratings) Developer: SNCF Connect Bonjour RATP Rating: 4.3 (93.7k ratings) Developer: Bonjour RATP

FOUR STARS Citymapper Rating: 4.7 stars (296.1k ratings) Developer: Citymapper Limited Trainline: Book train tickets Rating: 4.7 (281.6 ratings) Developer: thetrainline TrainPal Rating: 4.6 (21.0k ratings) Developer: Ctrip.com international Omio: Book train & bus tickets Rating: 4.6 (165.8k ratings) Developer: GoEuro Corp Redspottedhanky Rating: 4.6 (483 ratings) Developer: Worldline IT Services UK TrainSplit Rating: 4.4 (1.7k ratings) Developer: TrainSplit.com Ltd ZetTrans Rating: 4.3 (50 ratings) Developer: NC Communication

THREE STARS DB Navigator Rating: 3.6 stars (180.2k ratings) Developer: Deutsche Bahn TWO STARS Trenitalia Rating: 2.8 stars (38.5k ratings) Developer: Trenitalia S. p. A.

THREE STARS get me there - TfGM Metrolink Rating: 3.7 stars (12.1k ratings) Developer: TfGM West Midlands Metro Rating: 3.6 (498 ratings) Developer: West Midlands Metro Manchester Metrolink Rating: 3.0 stars (1.0k ratings) Developer: TfGM

TWO STARS NETGO! Rating: 2.9 (200 ratings) Developer: Tramlink Nottingham Ltd Tyne and Wear Metro App Rating: 2.7 stars (175 ratings) Developer: HaCon Ingernieurges

www.passengertransport.co.uk

21/09/2022 15:09

BUS AND COACH OPERATORS FOUR STARS Unilink Bus Rating: 4.8 stars (298 ratings) Developer: The Go-Ahead Group plc Unibuses Rating: 4.8 (610 ratings) Developer: The Go-Ahead Group plc BPL Transport Rating: 4.8 (5.0k ratings) Developer: Blackpool Transport Services Limited NCTX Buses Rating: 4.8 (10.7k ratings) Developer: Nottingham City Transport Southern Vectis Rating: 4.8 (696 ratings) Developer: The Go-Ahead Group plc FlixBus & FlixTrain Rating: 4.8 (7.6k ratings) Developer: FlixMobility GmbH Swindon Bus Rating: 4.8 (268 ratings) Developer: The Go-Ahead Group plc Borders Buses Rating: 4.8 (1.8k ratings) Developer: West Coast Motors morebus Rating: 4.8 (1.1k ratings) Developer: The Go-Ahead Group plc TV Buses Rating: 4.8 (212 ratings) Developer: Thames Valley Buses Touch & Go Warrington Rating: 4.8 (541 ratings) Developer: Warrington Borough Transport Limited Konectbus Rating: 4.7 (200 ratings) Developer: The Go-Ahead Group plc bluestarbuses Rating: 4.7 (155 ratings) Developer: The Go-Ahead Group plc East Yorkshire Buses Rating: 4.7 (1.0k ratings) Developer: East Yorkshire Motor Services Limited Metrobus Rating: 4.7 (3.3k ratings) Developer: The Go-Ahead Group plc Oxford Bus and Thames Travel Rating: 4.7 (846 ratings) Developer: The Go-Ahead Group plc www.passengertransport.co.uk

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Transdev Go Rating: 4.7 (6.0k ratings) Developer: Transdev Blazefield Ltd Xplore Dundee Rating: 4.7 (773 ratings) Developer: Tayside Public Transport Company Ltd Go Cornwall Bus Rating: 4.7 (390 ratings) Developer: The Go-Ahead Group plc Reading Buses Rating: 4.7 (6.7k ratings) Developer: Reading Buses McGill’s Buses Rating: 4.7 (1.9k ratings) Developer: McGill’s Buses Newbury & District Rating: 4.7 (191 ratings) Developer: Reading Buses Edinburgh Bus Tours Rating: 4.6 (166 ratings) Developer: Lothian Buses plc Big Bus Tours Rating: 4.6 (5.1k ratings) Developer: Big Bus Tours Ltd Salisbury Reds Rating: 4.6 (295 ratings) Developer: The Go-Ahead Group plc Cardiff Bus Rating: 4.6 (6.7k ratings) Developer: Cardiff City Transport First Bus Rating: 4.6 (101.8k ratings) Developer: FirstGroup plc Carousel: High Wycombe Buses Rating: 4.6 (180 ratings) Developer: The Go-Ahead Group plc PlymouthBus Rating: 4.6 (847 ratings) Developer: The Go-Ahead Group plc Green Line 702 Rating: 4.6 (294 ratings) Developer: Reading Buses Go North East Rating: 4.6 (3.3k ratings) Developer: The Go-Ahead Group plc Hedingham and Chambers Rating: 4.5 (176 ratings) Developer: The Go-Ahead Group plc Go North West Rating: 4.5 (610 ratings) Developer: The Go-Ahead Group plc

DRT Brighton & Hove Buses Rating: 4.5 (3.7k ratings) Developer: The Go-Ahead Group plc Uno Buses Rating: 4.5 (1.4k ratings) Developer: Rise Digital Media Ltd Oxford Tube: Plan>Track>Buy Rating: 4.4 (1.1k ratings) Developer: Stagecoach Group plc Falcon Bus Rating: 4.3 (334 ratings) Developer: Rise Digital Media Ltd Stagecoach Bus: Plan>Track>Buy Rating: 4.3 (79.9k ratings) Developer: Stagecoach Group plc Diamond Bus Rating: 4.3 (3.7k ratings) Developer: Rise Digital Media Ltd Newport Bus Rating: 4.3 (154 ratings) Developer: Newport Transport Ltd Preston Bus m-tickets Rating: 4.2 (111 ratings) Developer: Rise Digital Media Ltd Transport for Edinburgh Rating: 4.2 (17.6k ratings) Developer: Lothian Buses plc Ipswich Buses Rating: 4.2 (203 ratings) Developer: Ipswich Buses Limited National Express Coach Rating: 4.1 (11.8k ratings) Developer: National Express Ltd THREE STARS TfE M-Tickets (Transport for Edinburgh) Rating: 3.4 stars (9.8k ratings) Developer: Corethree Ltd TWO STARS NX Bus mTicket Rating: 2.6 stars (2.2k ratings) Developer: National Express Hugo (trentbarton) Rating: 2.3 (672 ratings) Developer: trentbarton ONE STAR Arriva UK Bus Rating: 1.4 stars (9.3k ratings) Developer: Arriva

FOUR STARS Worcestershire On Demand Rating: 4.7 stars (32 ratings) Developer: Via Transportation, Inc. HertsLynx Rating: 4.3 (17 ratings) Developer: Padam Mobility WM On Demand Rating: 4.3 (142 ratings) Developer: Via Transportation, Inc. THREE STARS Go2 Sevenoaks Rating: 3.7 stars (33 ratings) Developer: Via Transportation, Inc. ArrivaClick Rating: 3.3 (246 ratings) Developer: Via Transportation, Inc. Tees Flex Rating: 3.0 stars (71 ratings) Developer: Via Transportation, Inc. TWO STARS JustGo North Lincs Rating: 2.9 stars (32 ratings) Developer: Liftango fflecsi Rating: 2.7 (84 ratings) Developer: Via Transportation, Inc.

OTHER FOUR STARS Seatfrog Rating: 4.7 stars (14.9k ratings) Developer: Seatfrog Pty Ltd Railcard Rating: 4.7 (196.9k ratings) Developer: National Rail myTrip by Passenger Rating: 4.4 (478 ratings) Developer: Passenger THREE STARS Go-Hi Rating: 3.4 stars (17 ratings) Developer: FOD Mobility Group TWO STARS Intalink Herts Bus M-Tickets Rating: 2.8 stars (449 ratings) Developer: Corethree 23 September 2022 | 13

21/09/2022 15:09

COMMENT

JONATHAN BRAY

global greenhouse gas emissions are from goods production. Are there things that could be done to reduce the waste packaging around on-train catering that also be a signifier of a wider intent on behalf of the industry?

Local microgrids

Lessons we can learn from Scandi cities Scandinavian cities are the places to go to find out what it takes to be a ‘next level’ city on climate. Here’s what I learnt in Malmo Scandi cities like Malmo are the hope of the world on climate. Sure they are doing all the things everywhere else is doing on transport (zero-emission vehicles, modal shift and so on) but they are also doing the research and development for the rest of us on what you need to do next on climate. Willing to take risks, and learn by doing. Keen to ensure that they think fast and listen more to what all their communities are telling them. But they are also international - they want to share their successes, failures and works in progress with the world. They are the places to go to find out what it takes to be a ‘next level’ city on climate.

So I did go - courtesy of the excellent ICLEI (Local Government for Sustainability) summit.

Here’s what I learned in Malmo about eight priorities for those cities that want to be ‘next level’ on climate.

Decarbonisation of construction If concrete was a country it would be the third largest carbon emitter in the world.

Whichever city you live in construction plays a big part in carbon emissions - in Malmo it’s 25% of emissions. What can you do about it?

Now that the Oresund bridge links Malmo with Copenhagen there is no need for the hovercraft service terminal it replaced. But rather than flatten the terminal and then cart the rubble off for landfill they are going to ‘un-build’ it. The building is examined to find which parts and materials of the building can be reused, repurposed and recycled. From 14 | 23 September 2022 PT273p14-15.indd 14

bulky raw materials like sheet metal, stone and steel to fixtures and fittings like ceiling tiles, doors and lighting.

There are many challenges, such as where do you store the various elements of the deconstructed building while you wait to identify a use for them? How do you make potential re-users aware that you have these materials available? How long before a commercial market can be established and the re-use of deconstructed buildings becomes mainstream? Over in Copenhagen, you can begin to see building recycling in action apartments with bricks from the old Heineken brewery, an office block with recycled concrete flooring and recycled wood wall fittings.

Back in the UK, there’s a lot of construction going on in transport (which is great news, of course) and Network Rail’s sustainability strategy has some ambitious targets for recycling - which makes the decarbonisation of construction feel like it’s going to be one of the next big things for decarbonising UK transport provision.

The circular economy Decarbonising construction is in some ways a sub-set of big idea number two: the circular economy. In a nutshell, the circular economy means moving from a ‘take, make, waste’ model to one of ‘rethink, regenerate, reduce, reuse and recover’. We have a long way to go before we get there given that 90% of biodiversity loss is due to processing and extraction and 45% of

District heating (where a district has one boiler for every dwelling rather than every dwelling having its own boiler) is creeping in, in the UK, but is more common in northern and central Europe. Indeed some districts also have their own parallel cooling grids to save houses from needing their own energy-hungry air con units.

Throw in on-site turbines, heat pumps, solar panels and technologically advanced control systems into the mix and you can create your own local grid able to manage and balance power generation, and storage efficiently.

E-vehicles (from cars to bikes and scooters) can also be part of these local networks to create more resilient, carbon neutral and locally responsive micro-grids than being subject to the corporate machinations of national grids.

Biodiversity The rapid decline in biodiversity feels sometimes like one existential crisis too many - plus plants and animals don’t vote and aren’t particularly investible. However, like many other cities, Malmo is turning more of its lawns over to meadows as part of a wider strategy of preserving, restoring and creating new habitats. A lot of the surface land in our cities is devoted one way or another to transport and there is the potential for more of that land to be made available to promote biodiversity.

Working with all communities Malmo is a growing city and not without its social problems. But it has also sought to ensure that the work it does on climate is done through working with all of its communities as part of a just transition. One way of doing this has been through working with communities to promote local food production and small businesses which helps tackle another emerging focus for carbon reduction - which is food. Malmo purchases 8,500 tonnes of food a year (65,000 lunches a day). By 2021, they had gone 70% organic and reduced greenhouse gases by 30%. More to do but the best in Sweden. www.passengertransport.co.uk

21/09/2022 15:19

“Scandi cities are a source of hope as we all seek to move towards more climate intelligent lives” Sources of funding There is only so much funding national governments are going to provide for improving public transport but there are other sources of funding out there looking for long term, low risk, no surprises investments which will have climate impact investment. Pension funds are one source of this ‘patient capital’.

At COP26 a collective financial commitment of $130bn was announced by Nordic and UK investment funds to be invested in clean energy and climate investments by 2030.

And there’s potentially a lot more where that came from.

The Malmo district of Augustenborg became the city’s first ‘ekostaden’ with an open storm water system and botanical rooftop gardens

A snapshot of a residential area of Malmo

Accept no substitute if you want a bus that doesn’t have the temperature controls of a greenhouse and a tumble dryer ride quality. Not cheap mind

Cycle parking facilities don’t have to be ugly. Who knew?

Climate budgeting These days every private and public sector body has some kind of target for going net zero. But it’s not always clear how these overall targets are driving the work of the organisation (either as a whole or within its component departments). The danger is that targets become more of a displacement activity rather than a central organising principle. Climate budgeting aims to tackle this by ensuring that it is every department’s job within the organisation to deliver on its carbon budget.

And that this carbon budget is given the same importance as delivering on the financial budget. Critically this also includes the head of finance, and their team, at the organisation.

Climate budgeting is a way of joining up the aspirations of high-level targets and declarations with what everyone does when they show up for work on Monday morning.

‘It’s a triathlon’ Reading about climate tends to be an oscillation between hope and despair but Scandi cities are a source of hope as we all seek to move towards more climate-intelligent lives. The approach of learning by doing also feels right. Or as someone said at the event: “It’s a triathlon, you don’t have to be the best at everything.”

The world’s first bike hotel. Every room has a bike. No car parking

www.passengertransport.co.uk

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Jonathan Bray is the director of the Urban Transport Group. Throughout his career in policy and lobbying roles he has been at the frontline in bringing about more effective, sustainable and equitable transport policies.

23 September 2022 | 15

21/09/2022 15:19

COMMENT

ALEX WARNER

I’m the proud father of a young bus user!

My youngest child, Sienna,has embraced the bus as the tool to help her expand her horizons. I hope it becomes a lifetime habit We may have finally cracked it! My 16-year-old daughter Sienna is a bus convert! Last week she passed a 458 to Staines in the street and pointed to it and said, with a sense of possessiveness and pride: ‘That’s my bus!’ Better still, her bro (17) and sister (20) show absolutely no signs of wanting to learn to drive. These are good times in the Warner household!

I’m particularly excited because Sienna is generally one who likes to follow fashion and wouldn’t dream of doing something if it was out of sync with her peer group or would make her stand out as a bit nerdy - whereas I used to play Subbuteo, spot trains or collect Chaka Khan CDs when I was her age. So, if she’s converted, then her mates probably are too. However, I need to understand how it has come about and whether this is a template that gives hope to us all in the bus sector.

As with all things associated with bringing up kids, the role of the parent can never be underestimated but it’s possibly about doing those things that actually don’t cause rebellion.

So, all the while that I would be vocally extolling the virtues of travelling by bus, buses were boring, weird and something that was adult territory, rather than practical and funky.

Like with all teenagers, if you tell them to do something, they will undertake the exact opposite and the shutters will come down, so in some respects, you’re better off telling them that buses are no-go areas.

In Sienna’s case, it came naturally, she likes being self-sufficient and enjoys her own 16 | 23 September 2022 PT273p16-17.indd 16

company. Whereas her siblings might be the last to wake up in our household, she’ll be up and out before all of us. She enjoys being inquisitive, working it out, Googling to find the Surrey council website with a download of the 458 timetables and working out how she will go about her trip. We think that the youth of today want it all on a plate, but to an extent, the complexity of making a journey, of connecting routes, interchanges, times and fares are what got me so entranced by transport and navigating all this is a sense of independence, wonderment and achievement for teenagers suddenly finding their freedom.

The 458 to Staines is Sienna’s bus

I see with all three of them, their sense of pride when coming home from a day bobbing around all parts of London.

It’s also interesting to see how actually what we consider to be a distressed purchase is actually part of the overall experience and a key choice factor when teenagers make big decisions. Sienna has turned down a place at the excellent local private school to go to go to college in an interesting location. On some days that journey will involve a couple of buses and maybe a train. It will mean new scenery, new coffee shops to hang out in, and the opportunity to widen her social circle considerably while studying interesting new subjects. I’m not saying that the prospect of travelling on the 458 defined her choice of future education but it’s part of the overall experience and sense of independence, freshness and adventure. In the same way, it’s interesting how into adulthood, folk talk nostalgically about their commute by bus to school or college. I recall more about the 61 bus to Chislehurst from 1984-1990 than I do about the school itself and that’s not just because I am a transport weirdo.

But to make bus travel for youngsters who aren’t perhaps as inquisitive or up for a challenge as my youngest, there are some pretty obvious steps to be made. Making Traveline more visible, well known and accessible, as a National Rail Enquires equivalent for bus, would be a starting point to avoid folk having to Google ‘bus from Shepperton to Staines’ (or wherever would be a start). So too, awareness of the local county council 16-18 student card - it took her college to let her know about this, and even then a rather complicated process for her having to list options on which routes to select as her preferred ones. I then had to suggest that this was most likely irrelevant but a way of the scheme allocating reimbursement to operators. Transparency around the end-to-end fare would also be helpful - I genuinely had no clue whatsoever what it would cost until she made her first trip.

Then there’s the issue of drivers. In our house (along with other teenagers I’m told), there’s a whole lingo and one is ‘NPCs’ (‘nonplayable character’) which in essence refers to ‘bots’ - people in the background, almost like ‘extras’ in a movie, but who keep things moving to serve you, but do not interact. Uber www.passengertransport.co.uk

21/09/2022 15:28

“Sienna should be living ‘rent free in the mind’ of the bus company” drivers are seen as classic NPCs, because they turn up, say your name, drive and drop you off and that’s it. No one holds it against them for their automated role and expectations of them doing any different are low - indeed, it’s almost an irritant if they want to distract you from daydreaming out of the window or on your phone. However, bus drivers are viewed negatively if they are ‘NPCs’ - for the hassle of having to find a bus stop, wait for a bus, understand the fare, be surrounded by other customers and on an old bus, they are expected to at least interact, be friendly and simplify the journey experience, as has happened hitherto with my daughter and her ‘favourite driver’ - a smiling, caring and engaging lady.

As bus drivers have improved over the years and so too customer service across society - certainly from the 1970s and 1980s Generation Y and Z can’t understand it if they come across a rude one, now and then. It’s just not acceptable to them and they can’t get their heads around it. If I recounted every instance of a rude driver on the 61 to school in Chislehurst to my parents, back in the day, then there would have been a conversation more evenings than not, but a lack of customer care from drivers was just accepted practice. Now, if it happens, there’s a tale to be told at home from the kids.

What seems clear though is that bus drivers need not lapse into ‘NPC’ territory.

Other customers play a role too. In teenage speak, “goofy” is to be avoided. I am regularly chided for being goofy which is, in effect, someone who is incredibly naff both in attire, and body language and is, well, a bit of a henpecked wimp. I’m told I don’t present myself confidently, in a statesmanlike way, have weird mannerisms and I guffaw at my own comments nervously. In effect, I’m not one to be seen in public. I’m not suggesting that bus companies try and purge from their vehicles fellow goofy people, but we should seek to attract the full demographic and gender spectrum of society.

Maybe a marketing campaign with famous young celebrities, a poster pin-up boy and girl as the faces of travelling by bus would be helpful. It’s a self-fulfilling cycle, like a party or nightclub - if you have the ‘in crowd’ there, then that pulls more and more like-minded folk and soon it’s the hippest joint in town. The problem of course with youngsters is that beauty and perfection are everything and whilst this is wrong and totally discriminatory, it is what it is www.passengertransport.co.uk

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sadly and extends everywhere they go - be it the bus, club, coffee bar or retail outlet. You never see teenagers hanging around the local charity shop or model railway exhibition for a reason.

So, what next for my daughter? After the initial buzz of excitement borne of a few late summer holiday bus trips to the shops and now to college, how does travelling by bus remain cool and solos over Uber or the car (I’m told that solos means better than, since you asked)?

On a wet Tuesday morning in November when the novelty has worn off, will the bus have sustained a consistent service experience - can it genuinely play the long game?

In many other sectors, we would also, round about now, expect a company to become aware of the sudden interest of a new customer and reach out and celebrate it and try and trigger some positive advocacy. However, at the moment, we’re still unsure as to whether a season ticket can be purchased with her Student Card, rather than day fares and whether in doing so she can also purchase a point-to-point ticket. How cool would it be for her to receive an email or pack in the post cheerfully thanking her for being a bus convert and then reaching out, classic CRM style, to find out more about her and provide offers and tips tailored to her interests, alongside an incentive to tell her mates the benefits of travelling by bus and getting them on board? In fairness, many bus companies attend Freshers Fairs and have impressive introductory packs, but colleges and schools with sixth forms seem to be forgotten. Sienna should be living ‘rent free in the mind’ of the bus company, as the expression goes - in effect, constantly being thought about by them, without her knowing.

A word too about Uber. My son and elder daughter view travelling by Uber as an integral component of their lives, whereas Sienna, who is slightly younger, almost prefers the bus because it is different to Uber and therefore, her form of transport. When she starts to go out later to parties, restaurants and nightclubs, then I suspect Uber will come into play. I do believe that the situation isn’t binary and that both Uber and buses can reside harmoniously.

I also think that as an industry, we should also view Uber more as part of the public transport landscape and not as a threat. I wonder whether bus companies that cannot afford to run services late in the evenings or on Sundays could arrange tie-ups with Uber (and other taxi

companies) and there could be some form of co-marketing. Anything that encourages folk to go out more and also not to purchase and use their own car has got to be a good thing.

I do genuinely believe that car ownership is going to be in decline for the first time in decades. There’s far less of a clamour among my kids and their peers to learn to drive. Back in our day, peer pressure forced you to take out driving lessons the moment you turned 17, almost a rite of passage. I don’t see that now - the cost of petrol, insurance, lessons and buying a car is so prohibitive and with Uber accessible and easy to use, alongside a genuine improvement in the quality of branding and on-board experience on buses (even if networks and frequencies have declined over time), mean that youngsters are less bothered about driving.

It’s also much harder to pass a test than before (speaking as someone who has failed four times and never passed), with the slightest forgotten look in the wing mirror causing you to fail!

There is, of course, the whole environmental issue - the youth of today appear to be far more cognizant of a carbon footprint than they did when I was a lad. Quite frankly, and maybe I hung around with the wrong crowd, we didn’t give two hoots and I swear in all my time at school and then further education, I never came across a fellow student that ever mentioned the importance of the environment.

Remember these were the days when there were no such things as recycling - we just shoved everything in a dustbin and left it at the end of the drive once a week to be taken away.

I’m wary that teenagers have fads - interests come and go, and so too routines. For now, I’m quietly celebrating bringing up one of my kids the right way and Sienna seems to be enjoying bus travel. I’m going to monitor the situation carefully to keep her on the straight and narrow, so this enthusiasm keeps going.

It would be good if our local bus operators could give a helping hand with some pro-active engagement and marketing, alongside the service being tip-top, day-in, day-out going forward. I’m crossing my fingers.

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

23 September 2022 | 17

21/09/2022 15:28

COMMENT

NICK RICHARDSON

Making tracks with a trip around Devon Trains and buses have a lot to offer for smaller communities and rural areas. How can we take these services to another level?

Recently, I revisited various rail routes and places across the West Country and the county of Devon, it has been a long time since doing so previously, in some cases 40 years or so.

There is evidence of a coordinated approach to passenger transport involving transport providers and local authorities and involving local communities too. Also, train and bus fares seem reasonable, particularly compared with those in my local area which are about twice as much.

Strong local network I set out to travel the routes available and to see what has changed since my previous visits.

The Okehampton ‘Dartmoor’ line now has an hourly rail service to Exeter and destinations beyond having been expunged from the network for many years. It had a decent level of use for a rainy weekday and provides a worthwhile alternative to car use; it also has a connecting bus service next to the station entrance. The Exmouth ‘Avocet’ branch is well used for people of all ages including residents of the recent housing development at Newcourt using their station which opened in 2015. The Barnstaple ‘Tarka’ line includes small settlements and request stops without much catchment but they are useful for residents and visiting walkers and cyclists. For each of these routes, community rail partnerships help to raise the profile of train services and maintain stations to a creditable standard local people are proud of their railway. There 18 | 23 September 2022 PT273p18-19.indd 18

is lots of information available about activities and places of interest that are accessible from stations including walking and cycling routes, local eateries and pubs and heritage locations.

While Okehampton and Barnstaple were very much in Southern Railway territory until nationalisation, the local network is now provided by Great Western Railway. This may have Southern aficionados squirming but there are tributes to the London and South Western Railway in the form of Crediton station and similar acknowledgements elsewhere to demonstrate that history has a role in the remaining railway network.

There are other apparently thriving routes including the Paignton ‘Riviera’ line and the West of England main line (the former Okehampton station reopened earlier this year

Southern route) towards Salisbury and London Waterloo. Paignton and Torquay benefit from longer-distance CrossCountry and GWR services plus an array of local services. However, Paignton station deserves an upgrade and the bus station across the road is in a state that helps to explain why people don’t use buses. The Great Western main line provides the backbone through Devon with services emanating from London Paddington to Penzance along the celebrated coastal route through Devon.

Trouble ahead Using the railway provides some useful insight into how it might adapt for the future. Two big issues arise - maintaining the sea wall through Dawlish and Teignmouth particularly and the future of the West of England main line. There has been much debate about the resilience of the main line along the coast. While work continues to rebuild after the major breach of the sea wall at Dawlish in 2014, my recent visit involved lively sea spray coming over the wall onto the railway which highlighted the vulnerability of the route even with relatively tame weather. It seems that Network Rail’s proposal to re-route the line away from the crumbling tunnels and cliff faces and further into the sea has not proved popular. However, reinstatement of the Okehampton to Bere Alston section of the former alternative route continues to be raised and even the residents of Bude just over the border in Cornwall want their railway recreated. On this former main line, Tavistock too wants to re-join the network. Beyond Okehampton, Meldon Viaduct was one reason why the route was abandoned although my closer view suggests that it is in remarkably good shape. Now a walking and cycling route, the former railway provides access to some enticing landscapes.

Inland routes to avoid the damage inflicted by the sea have been investigated numerous times but the matter has still to be resolved.

The problem is one that was not envisaged when the line was built in the 1840s, the geology now being even less stable together with extreme weather events happening more often and with greater intensity. As the Dawlish incident proved, severing this important link creates a multitude of problems for people who live in or visit anywhere west; the economic damage is considerable. www.passengertransport.co.uk

21/09/2022 15:34

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

The West of England main line is in trouble.

Having been built on clay foundations, severe drought has meant that its foundations drying out require two-hourly trains to operate painfully slowly over long sections of it until something can be done. Trains wait in passing loops for ages - from Salisbury to Exeter currently takes three hours to cover one hundred or so miles. Once a double-track main line, the decision to single it has restricted growth for decades. Despite strong local support, exemplified by the re-opened station at Templecombe and providing an alternative to the Great Western main line, it will never fulfil its potential unless capacity is restored.

Faster and better services will only be possible once double-track is available and longer and disused station platforms are re-awakened.

Embankment strengthening will no doubt be required to overcome the deficiencies of the track but the current difficulties provide the opportunity to double sections of the route, or at the very least align the single track so that doubling at some point is possible.

In contrast to the effects of drying out, parts of the rail network are susceptible to flooding, notably at Cowley Bridge Junction where the Okehampton and Barnstaple routes diverge from the main line. Here the plan is to raise the track level, a major undertaking to avoid the regular flooding that takes place.

From mediocre to great Another observation is that although GWR is reasonably coordinated and the staff mainly seem helpful and cheerful, there are many detailed aspects that leave something to be desired. As with many transport operations, details count. For example, diesel multiple units battling with the Devon gradients mean that many of the on-train announcements are inaudible. Stations are generally well-presented but some remain grotty. Having adopted a zone system at its stations to direct passengers to the correct part of the train, it works only if it is correct. For example at Exeter Central, the train to Exmouth doesn’t stop where the station announcement would have you believe.

Timetabling is compromised by a few minutes here and there for no apparent reason; this seems to happen quite a lot given that my sampling was random. Some of the local trains remain in the previous colour scheme which was supposed to have been left behind www.passengertransport.co.uk

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Templecombe station on the West of England main line reopened in 1983 following local community pressure

“Devon’s passenger transport is well used and appreciated” with the 2015 GWR rebranding. Back then I was anticipating a root and branch uplift in standards with the branding being the face of deeper change - this hasn’t yet got to where it needs to be. Attention to detail is a sign of good service.

Services are valued and well used, not least by the huge number of young people travelling for education purposes to Exeter.

Without the trains, access to education, jobs and a half-decent social life would be severely compromised. My first visit to Okehampton found the station in a near-derelict condition, forgotten and unloved but it now thrives.

Barnstaple has gone from being an isolated shadow of its former self to a decent facility with bus stops outside and is now linked to the town centre by retail developments. The bus to Lynton on the north coast was operating as

a rail connection from Barnstaple, supported

by Devon County Council, which enables the residents of smaller communities and the many seasonal visitors to get around. Incidentally, this service provided by Filers Travel was good but could have been better with a smarter presentation. This and similar services provide a far more frequent offering than the long-lost railways they replace.

All in all, Devon’s passenger transport is well used and appreciated but attention to detail would elevate it to the standards that wouldbe users expect. While some of the problems are huge, there is much to be gained from investing in the network.

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

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21/09/2022 15:40

“From what I can see, none of these three know anything about the transport industry”

GREAT MINSTER GRUMBLES

New ministers in the palm of our hands?

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

In my last column, I said I would comment this time on the reshuffle and the new cabinet. Except that there’s not a great deal to comment on. Most of the top jobs have been allocated in accordance with the speculation in the media, so no surprises there. Here in Great Minster House, we have three new ministers - a new secretary of state in Anne-Marie Trevelyan, and two new ministers of state Lucy Frazer and Kevin Foster.

Well, I’ve heard of Anne-Marie Trevelyan (or AMT as I suspect she will become known!) but only because she has already served, albeit briefly, in the cabinet. But I’ve not heard anything of the other two, although with Lucy Fraser coming to us from the Treasury where she was financial secretary, I feel as if I should know a bit more about her. I always get slightly queasy when we get an ex-Treasury minister as I’m never really sure where their loyalties will lie!

The good news is that, from what I can see, none of this three knows anything about the transport industry and doesn’t appear to have the least interest in it, so with any luck they will do as we tell them! Certainly, I can’t see that AMT has ever taken part in any political or policy debate about transport, either in parliament or elsewhere, aside from her campaign to upgrade the A1, which of course serves her constituency!

And this “top team” is not that experienced either. They all became MPs in 2015 so are relatively inexperienced in the overall scheme www.passengertransport.co.uk

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of things, and with AMT having served in the Cabinet for not much more than five minutes, the overall lack of political “clout” is striking.

That probably serves us officials well as I can’t see this lot rocking the boat. I think we will have them nicely in the palm of our hands which, of course, is exactly where we want them! Sure, we are going to have to spend a lot of time briefing them on the issues and all the rest, but that might just be a price worth paying!

Baroness Vere and Robert Courts appear to be staying put as our parliamentary under

COMMENT

secretaries, but I do just wonder whether the final knockings of the reshuffle got disrupted by the Queen’s death, and there might be a touch more yet to come once the funeral is over and we return to normality. We’ll see.

In policy terms, it’s business as usual, of course. I can’t see this lot wanting to have any major rethink on transport policy. That said, as I commented on in my last column, we are going to have to get to grips with bus funding and take a decision pretty soon on whether we’re willing to provide long-term financial support or not to avoid service cuts on a pretty major scale.

On the rail front, there is the odd murmur here and there that we may be looking afresh at the terms and conditions that might be attached to the new Passenger Service Contracts in order to make them more attractive to private sector interests. Well, yes, I should say so! It did occur to me that the decision of the Dutch government to sell Abellio was a pretty clear signal that the new Passenger Service Contract regime was pretty unappealing - and that’s from the public sector, which is less worried by the profit motive than the private sector!

The more I look at our rail reforms, the less convinced I am that they will make any difference to rail performance, if only because Network Rail/Great British Railways will remain in control of, well, pretty much everything. But here are two interesting points.

Politically, ministers have spoken about the need to “harness the best of the private sector” and to devolve decision-making to a local level - including elected mayors, combined authorities. Over the past few weeks and months various documents, consultation papers and the like have been published by GBR and the Office of Rail and Road about how the new reforms will be implemented.

If you can find any clarity, let alone any actual comment, on how the best of the private sector will be harnessed, or how decision-making will be devolved in any meaningful way to elected mayors/combined authorities, then I will be mighty impressed as, so far as I can see, neither of these issues are addressed in any of the documents that have been published.

So it’s going to be the same old, same old, isn’t it? GBR will remain as the all-powerful force in the industry that no one dares challenge. Talk privately to people in the industry and they will agree, even if publicly they can’t. So much for “rail reform”.

23 September 2022 | 21

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CAREERS

Hodgson appointed as coach account director Stagecoach South bus boss takes on new role as account director for group’s express coach operations as Gordon Frost takes on interim role Stagecoach has announced Stagecoach South managing director Edward Hodgson will move to the new role of account director for the operation of intercity coach services from the start of October.

In his new role he will manage Stagecoach’s commercial and operational relationship with Scottish Citylink Coaches Ltd, in which the Perth-based group has a 37.5% shareholding. The remainder of the business is owned by Singaporean transport group ComfortDelGro.

The joint venture is responsible for the Scottish Citylink express coach network, as well as Megabus-branded services in Scotland, England and Wales, and the Falcon South-West express coach service in the West Country.

Under the new arrangements for these coach operations, a number of Stagecoach subsidiaries operate coaches on behalf of Scottish Citylink Coaches. Hodgson will be tasked with managing this relationship as well as working with key stakeholders, including

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the coach industry and local authorities.

Hodgson has been with

Edward Hodgson

Stagecoach for over 30 years. He has been managing director of Stagecoach South since 2016 Before leading Stagecoach’s bus operation in the South of England, he was managing director of the Megabus coach business for Europe.

He also previously spent three years in the United States as director of Megabus North America in the late 2000s before returning to the UK as managing director of Stagecoach West Scotland. In 2014 that role was expanded as he also took on the role of managing director of the Scottish Citylink express coach joint venture in Scotland.

Gordon Frost, currently operations director at Stagecoach South, has been appointed interim managing director at the Chichester-based business while a full recruitment process for the position gets underway.

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21/09/2022 15:45

DIVERSIONS

Right royal supporter of public transport The public transport moments of the Queen Public transport kept Britain moving throughout the long reign of Queen Elizabeth II. Her transport journey began from her first trip on the London Underground at the age of 13 in 1939 and continued right through to her opening of the state-of-the-art Elizabeth Line earlier this year.

We’ve heard industry insiders tell us is how enthusiastic she always was on these occasions, indeed, as you’ll see from the picture

above, the Queen was reportedly overjoyed when she was asked to ‘drive’ a Victoria line train in 1969!

What follows are just some of the public transport moments of Queen Elizabeth II.

In what turned out to be her last transport-related public engagement, Queen Elizabeth opened the Elizabeth Line at Paddington earlier this year.

Opening the Greater Manchester’s Metrolink light rail system in 1992

The Queen opened the Tyne & Wear Metro in 1981 and she returned in 2002 to open Sunderland extension.

Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh took a spin on the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway as part of a tour of the county in 2013.

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A trip on Merseyrail in October 1978 completed the ‘Loop and Link’ project.

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21/09/2022 15:43