Passenger Transport: June 28, 2024 by Passenger Transport Publishing Ltd

CPT seeks clarity on future of £2 fare cap

The Labour Party’s manifesto makes no mention of the cap, which has supported the bus industry’s post-Covid recovery over the past 18 months

Bus operators have expressed disappointment at Labour Party’s silence on the future of England’s £2 bus fare cap. The fare cap has been in place since January 1, 2023, and has helped to support the bus industry’s post-Covid recovery. However, Labour’s manifesto makes no mention of it, prompting fears that it could be withdrawn if the party wins next week’s general election.

Representing bus operators, Graham Vidler, CEO at the Confederation of Passenger Transport, said: “In the short term, the industry needs urgent clarity on the future of the English £2 fare cap which ends on 31 December

RALPH ROBERTS RECOGNISED

McGill’s CEO honoured at Scottish Transport Awards

Ralph Roberts received the Lifetime Contribution to Transport award at last week’s Scottish Transport Awards in Glasgow. Roberts has led McGill’s for 14 years and the ﬁrm is now the UK’s largest independent bus operator. He has also represented the industry in various prominent roles. He is pictured with the event’s host, Jo Cauﬁeld, and PassengerTransport editor Robert Jack.

2024. It is disappointing that the Labour manifesto is silent on this because passengers could continue to beneﬁt from industry and government working together to keep fares low, particularly if investment is targeted on key passenger groups, such as under 22-year-olds.”

The Conservative Party’s

“It is disappointing that the Labour manifesto is silent on this” Graham Vidler, CPT

manifesto pledges to retain the £2 fare cap for the next Parliament. Meanwhile, CPT has welcomed Labour’s manifesto commitment to a long-term transport strategy. “This commitment must be matched with a ﬁve-year long-term spending programme, as happens for rail,” said Vidler. “Nothing less will ensure local authorities and operators can maximise investment in buses, drive a swift and smooth transition to a zero emissions ﬂeet, and deliver what passengers want: more bus services going to more places that are also more reliable and quicker.”

A LOOK AT THE MANIFESTOS: PAGES 10-11

Who will break their promises in the best way?

I recently enjoyed lunch with George Muir, who helped us to establish this magazine not long after he had retired from his role as director general of the Association of Train Operating Companies. George devotes himself to artistic endeavours rather than transport these days and had been touring Scotland, but I soon brought the subject back to transport and the election. In response, he gave me some seaweed that you can sprinkle on your food and he also offered some sagely advice: “People shouldn’t believe what is written in party manifestos. They should pick the party that they think will break those promises in the way that is best for the country.”

The idealist in me still baulks at the notion that manifestos are works of ﬁction (see pages 10-11 for an overview of what they say about transport this time), but the realist in me knows that George is right. Just take a look at the Conservative Party manifesto of 2019, for example, and see how many of its transport pledges were fulﬁlled.

IN THIS ISSUE

ORGANISATION PAGE

BLAZEFIELD TAKES WRAPS OFF 36

Two decades on since Stuart Wilde’s ‘shaving moment’, Transdev Blazefield has revealed the first of the new fully-electric fleet for the flagship service. It heralds the start of the electrification of the wider Harrogate & District bus fleet.

16 E LECTION FEVER: HOW DOES TRANSPORT FIT?

A general election is an opportunity for a fresh start and everyone has been limbering up, but what does it mean for transport? Nick Richardson probes the manifestos. “Transport has yet to be a big topic (apart from what to do about potholes),” he notes.

W E ARE POTENTIALLY IN UNCHARTED TERRITORY

Great Minster Grumbles: Our Whitehall insider imagines what’s going on inside the minds of the mandarins at Great Minster House, home of the DfT. “A massive Labour majority and a Conservative Party annihilation begs so many questions”.

O B E FOR BYERS IN HONOURS LIST

HAVE YOUR SAY Contact us with your news, views and opinion at: editorial@passengertransport.co.uk

Perhaps this isn’t entirely a bad thing because we are told by a range of experts that none of the main parties are being honest with us about what the trade-offs between taxation, debt and public services. And the same is also true of transport, where some want us to believe that an efﬁcient, affordable, attractive, accessible and green transport system won’t require us to make fewer journeys by car or plane. So who will break those promises in the best way? PASSENGER

Managing

Contributing

Directors

Sonya Byers, CEO of Women in Transport, was one of a number of people to be recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours 2024. Byers, who is also a patron of Women On the Move Against Cancer and a trustee of parkrun global, gains an OBE.

Relief as conﬁrmsgovernment train order

Additional Elizabeth Line trains avert Derby plant closure

ROLLING STOCK

Alstom and the Department for Transport have signed a contract worth approximately £3,570m for the supply of 10 new nine-car Class 345 Aventra trains for Transport for London’s Elizabeth Line, along with ﬂeet maintenance services until 2046.

Like the rest of the ﬂeet, these additional trains will be manufactured at Alstom’s Derby Litchurch Lane Works, which had faced potential closure due to gaps in the order book. Alstom previously indicated that a minimum of 10 new trains was necessary to keep the facility operational. The Department for Transport will provide £220.5m in funding for the new trains, with Transport for London contracting maintenance arrangements.

“We are delighted to now have a conﬁrmed workload for Derby Litchurch Lane and our supply chain across the UK,” said Alstom UK and Ireland managing director Nick Crossﬁeld. “The UK remains one of Alstom’s most important global markets.”

While the industry welcomed news of the order, the Unite union criticised the government’s approach. “Our members at Alstom will be breathing a huge sigh of relief, but they should never have been in this position in the ﬁrst place,” said Unite general secretary Sharon Graham. “The government was guilty of being asleep at the wheel. There is a huge need for new trains in this country, but Alstom was being

starved of work.”

The Railway Industry Association (RIA) also highlighted its efforts to push the government to decide on new and refurbished train ﬂeet orders and called for longer-term thinking on rolling stock procurement.

“It is good that the government speciﬁcally acknowledged the strong passenger demand and future rail growth as a reason for conﬁrming this train order,” said RIA chief executive Darren Caplan.“Whoever forms the next government should heed this call

“The UK remains one of Alstom’s most important global markets” Nick Crossﬁeld, Alstom

IN BRIEF

DLR NEW TRAIN DELAYS

Transport for London has reduced train lengths on services between Stratford International and Woolwich Arsenal on the Docklands Light Railway due to delays in introducing the £880m ﬂeet of new trains for the system. Trains on the route are now running in two-car rather than three-car formation to help ensure there is enough slack in the system to cover increasing maintenance issues with the DLR’s B90 and B92 trains, which are now over 30 years old. TfL had hoped to introduce the ﬁrst of the new trains from Spanish manufacturer CAF in the spring, but due to commissioning issues, this has now been pushed to summer 2026. Reports have suggested the programme is also running £61m over budget.

DIGITAL ZONECARDS

and bring forward the muchneeded invitations to tender for new procurements in the medium term across the railway.”

The DfT has also provided an update on the rolling stock procurement pipeline.

There are currently rolling stock tender invitations for four competitions covering new ﬂeets for Chiltern, Northern, South Eastern and TransPennine Express. Further competitions are expected in the next two to three years.

The DfT added that these have not yet been confirmed and would be subject to confirmation and business case approval, but Great Western Railway is currently conducting initial market engagement on options for replacing their Class 150 and Class 165 fleets, some of which are approaching 40 years of age.

Strathclyde Partnership for Transport has begun digitalising its ZoneCard ticketing on ScotRail, the Glasgow Subway, and most bus routes in the west of Scotland. Passengers can now purchase ZoneCard tickets via the web, mobile app, or shop, eliminating the need for paper tickets and allowing passengers to tap in when travelling using an ITSO smartcard. Unicard has worked with SPT to deliver the scheme.

DIGITAL PLUSBUS TRIAL

Stagecoach East has begun a trial that will allow PlusBus ticketholders travelling to and from Cambridge and Cambridge North railway stations to buy QR code e-tickets instead of the traditional paper-based tickets associated with the scheme. Passengers can scan their tickets when boarding the bus.

Litchurch Lane will produce 10 extra Class 345s for the Elizabeth Line

Stables aims big with Coach Travel Group

Former National Express boss takes a leading role in new ﬁrm

ACQUISITIONS

Seven regional coach operators in the UK have merged to form The Coach Travel Group. The new entity will employ approximately 700 people and operate a ﬂeet of 450 vehicles.

The move follows increased merger and acquisition activity within the coach sector recently. Despite being a traditionally low-margin business, some major players in the market are now reporting signiﬁcant proﬁts, leading to growing interest from private equity and the major transport groups.

A year ago, Go-Ahead purchased Cotswold-based coach operator Pulhams, and it followed up last month by acquiring four regional coach companies in Yorkshire and the North East. In January, FirstGroup acquired York-based coach and specialist transport operator York Pullman.

FIRST INVESTS IN RAILAIR UPGRADE

New coaches boost 20-minute frequency

INVESTMENT

FirstGroup has announced it is increasing its RailAir 1 service frequencies between Reading and Heathrow Airport. From June 30, services will operate every 20 minutes from Monday to Saturday, up from every 30 minutes. It said it had made the move in response to growing passenger demand for the service. First added

The Coach Travel Group brings together Alpine Travel (North Wales), Barnes Coaches (Swindon), Coatham Coaches (Cleveland), JH Coaches (County Durham), Johnsons Coaches (Warwickshire), Swans Travel (Greater Manchester), and The Ready Group (London and the South East). The merger aims to combine the experience and resources of these operators to enhance customer service and operational efﬁciency.

The new company said each operator brings local expertise and a strong safety and customer service reputation. Last year, these companies collectively transported over 140,000 passengers on various holidays and day trips.

The business is led by former National Express UK and Germany chief executive Tom Stables, who left parent company Mobico last year (PT295). Former Go-Ahead business development

that passengers can get from Reading Station directly to Heathrow T5 in under 45 minutes. With Heathrow now in the London Ultra Low Emission Zone, it added that RailAir also provides a cost-effective

alternative to driving.

First Bus South, which operates RailAir, has also invested over £2m in nine new coaches, supporting the expansion of services.

“It’s a hassle-free way to get to

director Peter Robinson has been named chief operating ofﬁcer.

“Today marks a signiﬁcant milestone not only for our group but for the entire coach travel industry in the UK,” said Stables.

“By bringing together these renowned and trusted regional operators under one roof, we are setting the stage for an unparalleled travel experience. We’re committed to being at the forefront of the industry, ensuring every mile travelled with us is a testament to the quality and innovation we stand for.”

Private equity player H2 Equity Partners, which describes itself as an “entrepreneurial and hands-on investment company investing in mid-sized companies with signiﬁcant growth or improvement potential,” has invested in the new venture. Several managers and former owners of the operators involved have also taken equity stakes in the Coach Travel Group.

Stables has indicated he intends to grow the business further. “My vision is for us to be the leading national coach travel provider, providing excellent services across the UK rooted in our local communities and markets,” he said.

Heathrow, providing a sustainable alternative for passengers and those working at the airport, potentially saving thousands of car journeys every year,” said First Bus South managing director Simon Goff.

The Coach Travel Group brings together seven coach operators

First has invested £2m in nine new coaches for RailAir

DfT ﬁnds £2 fare cap stimulating extra trips

49% make extra trips but higher cap could hit bus patronage

INSIGHT

New data from the National Travel Attitudes Study by the Department for Transport reveals a signiﬁcant trend. Almost half of those who are aware of the £2 bus fare cap in England have been prompted to make additional journeys due to the scheme. The latest survey probed the impact of England’s Bus Fare Cap Grant, better known as the £2 fare cap and concessionary bus travel. It gathered responses from 1,584 individuals.

The results of the survey show a signiﬁcant increase in the awareness of the £2 fare cap, which was introduced in January 2023 and has been extended until the end of

MILESTONE AS DIESEL REMOVED

First Bus in York is now completely zero-emission

INFRASTRUCTURE

The First Bus depot in York has made history by removing its diesel refuelling tank. This means the bus depot now operates its ﬂeet only using electric charging and becomes the ﬁrst in Yorkshire to do so.

The fuel tank removal is the latest step in a £23m depot transformation, in which First Bus invested £13m, and the City of York Council secured government co-funding of £10.2m.

“We are leading a greener transport revolution,” said First Bus North & West Yorkshire commercial director Kayleigh Ingham.

this year. 63% of the respondents reported being aware of the cap, a substantial rise from the 50% reported in the previous survey conducted in the summer of 2023.

For those who are aware of the cap, the survey reveals a positive shift in their travel choices. 49% of the respondents have taken additional bus journeys, and 51% have chosen the bus over other forms of public transport. The survey also found that 65% of the respondents reported saving money as a result of the cap.

The study also explored attitudes toward extending fare capping to other types of tickets. Among bus users in areas where the scheme is in place, 53% said that if the scheme were extended to place price limits on other types of tickets, such as daily, weekly or multi-journey tickets,

they would keep using the bus about the same as they do now. Meanwhile, 37% reported they would use the bus more.

If the fare cap for a single journey increased from £2 to £2.50, 59% of respondents said they would be willing to pay the higher fare. This fell to 17% at £3, 4% at £3.50, 2% at £4 and 1% if £5 or more. 14% indicated they would not travel at all if the cap increased.

On concessionary travel, the survey found that 79% of those aged 65 and over either have or are in the process of acquiring a bus pass. Of these individuals, 40% use the bus at least weekly, while 18% never use it despite having a pass or being in the process of acquiring one.

Across all respondents, 24% use the bus at least weekly, compared to 42% who never use it.

CAROUSEL TEMPTS ARRIVA DRIVERS

Second recruitment day follows closure proposal

RECRUITMENT

Carousel Buses will hold another recruitment day on July 7 in High Wycombe as it prepares to expand services if Arriva goes ahead with the proposed closure of its depots in High Wycombe and Aylesbury.

“We had a fantastic response to the recruitment day last month and so are holding another one to enable more people to come in meet some of the team and discuss the opportunities available,” said Carousel Buses managing director Luke Marion.

Carousel is offering existing PCV licence holders a £4,000 joining bonus, paid in installments over a one-year period.

Carousel and sister Go-Ahead subsidiary Oxford Bus Company have already taken on one Arriva route and are preparing to take on a second on July 1. If the closure is conﬁrmed, further routes will follow

Kayleigh Ingham (left) and Andrew Cullen, managing director of First North & West Yorkshire, witness the removal of the diesel fuel tank

Transdev Blazefield unveiled the first of the new fleet at a special event in Harrogate

Blazeﬁeld takes wraps off next generation 36

Two decades on since Stuart Wilde’s ‘shaving moment’, Transdev Blazefield has revealed the first of the new fully-electric fleet for the flagship service

It’s almost 21 years since the Harrogatebased Blazefield group first took the wraps of its trend-setting high specification double deckers for its Route 36 service that links Ripon and Harrogate with Leeds. Famously, the revamp had been inspired by two things: a period of abysmal performance on the rail link between Harrogate and Leeds and then Blazefield boss Stuart Wilde’s ‘shaving moment’where he wondered while shaving one morning whether it would be possible to tempt some of the lucrative rail commuter trade by offering an upgraded ambience with airline-style leather seats. Since then the 36 has delivered consistent passenger growth. However, Blazefield, which

now forms part of French group

Transdev, is not standing still and last week revealed the latest iteration of the service, several years on since its last upgrade, at a special event for stakeholders and local dignitaries in Harrogate.

The move sees the introduction of 19 new battery-electric Alexander Dennis Enviro

400EV double deckers. Transdev Blazeﬁeld managing director Henri Rohard told guests that the new generation of buses had been three years in the making following a successful application for a £7.8m grant from the UK Government’s Zero-Emission Regional Bus Areas scheme. That will see not only the 36 upgrade, but

Opportunity

charging part of the package

Enviro400EV batteries will be topped up between trips

TECHNOLOGY

Transdev Blazeﬁeld introduced eight Volvo 7900E electric single deck buses on Harrogate local routes in 2018. The limitations of battery technology at the time saw the operator choose

the arrival of 20 battery-electric Mercedes-Benz eCitaros that will upgrade Harrogate & District’s Route 1 between Harrogate and Knaresborough, Route 7 between Harrogate, Wetherby and Leeds, and rural Route 24 linking Harrogate with Pateley Bridge.

Commenting on the new fleet for the 36, Rohard said: “This service has a special place in Transdev Blazefield network. I believe that the configuration in this bus is the best available and integrates all the latest innovations that we could think of.”

The vehicles feature a glazed staircase with spacious two-andone seating, featuring wireless device charging, on the upper deck. Meanwhile, glazed roof panels let in plenty of natural light. On the lower deck two dedicated wheelchair spaces, high-visibility ﬂooring and improved lighting aim to make travel easier and accessible.

Driver familiarisation with the ﬁrst vehicle is underway with the new buses expected to enter service on the 36 from September. The eCitaros are due to begin enter service at the same time. All will run alongside the eight Volvo 7900E electric single deckers introduced on local routes in Harrogate in 2018.

ALEX WARNER: PAGE 18

opportunity charging to quickly top the batteries up every time the buses returned to Harrogate’s bus station. Now, the same system will allow the 472kWh batteries ﬁtted to the new ﬂeet of Alexander Dennis Enviro400EVs for the 36

to be topped up by pantograph between trips at the facility.

Transdev Blazeﬁeld managing director Henri Rohard highlighted how far electric bus technology had come.

“The Volvos were ﬁtted with a battery pack of just 76kWh,” he said. “Seven years later and the technology has improved massively - today that’s the battery pack of an electric car.”

Andrew Garnett Deputy Editor

Jean-Marc Gales

claims ﬁrm is fastest growing manufacturer

MANUFACTURERS

Jean-Marc Gales has heralded a promising future for Ballymenabased bus manufacturer Wrightbus. The Wrightbus chief executive announced significant growth at a special event in Bicester last week, marking the launch of NewPower - a new Wrightbus subsidiary that will retrofit diesel buses with electric powertrains (see pages 12-13). He said the company’s turnover has increased from £170m in 2022 to over £500m this year, and bus production has risen from 427 to over 1,000 units in the same period. Production has ramped up to keep pace with orders, with 22 buses being produced weekly compared to eight two years ago. That figure is expected to rise to 26 buses by the end of next year.

Gales claimed this makes Wrightbus the fastest-growing large manufacturing company in

STAGECOACH OPTS FOR ADL

Group places largest ever zero-emission bus order

MANUFACTURERS

Stagecoach has conﬁrmed it has placed the largest ever zero-emission bus order with Larbert-based manufacturer Alexander Dennis. The move follows the group’s participation with various local authorities across England in securing funding from the second round of the UK Government’s ZeroEmission Regional Bus Areas scheme

Page 12-13

Wrightbus aims for NewPower market.

Wrightbus boss heralds bright future for ﬁrm

the UK. The company was now making signiﬁcant investments in its production facilities in Ballymena and at its assembly plant in Malaysia.

The success marks a dramatic turnaround from 2019, when the company entered administration with debts of £60m. Wrightbus was subsequently purchased by Jo Bamford, son of Anthony Bamford, chairman of construction equipment manufacturer JCB.

(ZEBRA 2).

The order includes 180 newgeneration Enviro400EV double deckers, each equipped with 472kWh batteries. These vehicles will join similar ones purchased with earlier ZEBRA 1 funding. A total of 55 of these vehicles are currently in production for use by Stagecoach’s operations in Oxford.

Additionally, the order also includes 54 Enviro200EV single deckers in lengths of 10.9m and 11.7m. This is the ﬁrst order for ADL’s new integral single decker, which will launch next year to complement

Gales said having a UK-based workforce with UK suppliers was crucial to the company’s success.

“Every pound generated by Wrightbus creates another £3 in the wider economy and every job here ensures another three jobs are safe across the supply chain,” he said. “The knock-on effect is tremendous and really proves the impact of buying British at every level. When operators buy a Wrightbus they’re not just buying a class-leading product or our ﬁrst-class expertise, they’re buying something that supports the whole of the UK.”

Gales added that Wrightbus was growing fast, and he was proud of what the company had achieved over the last year “because every order, whether home or abroad, guarantees jobs across the UK”.

He continued: “Our growth is thanks to the incredible support we receive from our customers and of course from our workforce. We could not achieve this growth without the commitment of each and every one of them.”

the current range of next-generation electric buses.

Finally, the order includes 10 Enviro100EV midibuses, which are 8.5m long. The Enviro100EVs will feature 354kWh batteries. It is expected that Stagecoach will deploy these vehicles on town services.

“This landmark deal with Stagecoach conﬁrms the beneﬁts of our next-generation electric buses, which have been carefully designed to deliver a highly attractive total cost of ownership proposition,” said Paul Davies, ADL’s president and managing director.

CPT BLASTS SNP 2025 DIESEL BAN

Party manifesto proposal ‘risks 700 Scottish jobs’

PROCUREMENT

The Confederation of Passenger Transport and bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis have criticised the Scottish National Party’s (SNP) manifesto proposal to ban the sale of new diesel buses next year. The manifesto, launched this week, calls on the UK Government to halt the import and sale of non-zero-emission buses by 2025.

CPT Scotland director Paul White said the proposals would put manufacturing jobs at risk, create uncertainty in the supply chain, and potentially disadvantage the domestic sector in comparison to its global competitors. He added that the target would disproportionately impact smaller and rural bus operators and the essential services they provide.

White continued: “If the SNP wishes to accelerate the transition to a zero-emission bus ﬂeet it should commit to further rounds of the Scottish Zero Emission Bus Scheme (ScotZEB), support investment in research and development to deliver vehicles with the power and range to provide services in challenging geography, and work with CPT and its operator and manufacturer members to map out a credible pathway.”

A spokesperson for Alexander Dennis said the policy showed little regard for Scotland’s domestic bus manufacturing industry.

“Quite simply, it puts our 700 Scottish bus manufacturing jobs at risk,” they added. “The pledge would ultimately drive bus manufacturing orders to overseas countries who are not subject to the Scottish Government’s own fair work ﬁrst rules. We are still building lowemission buses in Scotland for UK bus operators in addition to orders for zero-emission buses.”

The Leeds NGT scheme is planned to open in 2020

NEWS ROUND-UP

ScotRail peak fares likely to be reinstated

Pilot requires passenger numbers to surge this summer

FARES

The suspension of peak ScotRail fares looks likely to end on September 27, unless there is a summer surge in passenger numbers. An interim evaluation of the pilot scheme, launched last October, has found that initial growth in passengers was cancelled out by subsequent decline.

“Whilst the initial impact of the pilot has been found to be somewhat positive, the impact on rail journeys since the start 2024 is signiﬁcantly less pronounced and there is currently no strong evidence of its effectiveness in achieving mode shift,” says the report of the pilot’s interim evaluation. It notes that the pilot

PERFORMANCE TARGET IN DOUBT

ScotRail may not reach its target by 2027/28

PERFORMANCE

Network Rail has assessed that ScotRail has a medium probability of reaching its target Public Performance Measure (PPM) score of 92.5% by 2027/28.

ScotRail’s PPM records the percentage of trains arriving at ﬁnal destinations within ﬁve minutes of scheduled arrival time. According to minutes of the ScotRail board’s April meeting, which were published recently, the medium-term priority is meeting the 92.5% PPM moving annual average (MAA), set by Transport Scotland for ScotRail and Network Rail.

eased cost of living pressures for existing rail users.

ScotRail’s passenger numbers were increasing before the pilot commenced, which makes it difficult to isolate the pilot’s impact. In the pilot’s first 11 weeks there was a 3.18% increase in passenger demand, and a 3.95% increase in the first three months. However, demand fell by 3.28% in the first six months and by 3.29% by the end of the interim evaluation on May 13.

“We need a signiﬁcant increase in passenger numbers for the pilot to succeed”

Fiona Hyslop

“The board noted that the target will only be met if both companies achieve good performance,” say the minutes. “Network Rail has reported that there is a medium probability this target will be reached in year four of CP7.” Control Period 7 began on April 1.

In the four weeks to May 25, ScotRail achieved a PPM score of 91.7%, not far short of 92.5%. However, spring is usually the least challenging operating season. ScotRail’s PPM MAA in late May stood at 89.7%.

Off-peak services in the west suburban sector (primarily services to and from Glasgow) had the highest PPM MAA, 91.5%, followed by Edinburgh to Glasgow Queen Street (E&G), 90.8%. The express sector excluding E&G had the lowest, 81.5%,

“Rail demand as a whole is around the same as it was before the pilot started, compared with the fact that it was rising in the run-up to the pilot,” the report explains.

A survey in the initial period of the pilot found some evidence of rail passengers shifting from off-peak to peak trains. Where passengers had switched to rail from other modes, it was assessed that 53% previously drove in cars and a third had switched from bus. “This should be considered in the context of a small overall increase in demand (over the initial three-month period) - the vast majority of passengers were existing rail users making existing journeys,” says the report.

The pilot initially had a budget of £15m for six months. ScotRail has estimated that the revenue impact will be within the revised

followed by the rural sector, 82.4%.

During 2024/25, ScotRail is replacing the top-down focus on overall PPM with an approach based on routes and sectors. “Setting targets at a local level and focusing on the most poorly performing routes will drive greater customer satisfaction, demand and revenue growth than the previous national focus,” the board was informed. “Each sector has been allocated a sponsoring director, whose department has the largest inﬂuence on current performance.”

ScotRail and Network Rail publish each day’s punctuality ﬁgures on the ScotRail website on the following day. The digest lists the most signiﬁcant incidents that affected the previous day’s performance.

The most recent quarterly ﬁgures

budget of £40m for the 12 months of the pilot, which has been time-extended twice.

It is likely that ministers will need to be make a ﬁnal decision in late August or early September, to allow ScotRail time to reinstate peak fares if required.

While many MSPs would like peak fares to be removed permanently, transport secretary Fiona Hyslop told them during a Holyrood discussion that it was important to understand the best way to encourage people to use public transport. This involves buses as well as trains, she said. “We have to set that £40m in the wider context.”

She also said: “I emphasise that we need a signiﬁcant increase in passenger numbers for the pilot to succeed, and I have asked the rail unions to help in that call.”

If the pilot’s initial success was improved on, she would “like to see us provide a solid foundation to demonstrate the success of removing peak fares as a means of encouraging modal shift”.

for Britain from the Ofﬁce of Road and Rail show that ScotRail had the seventh best On Time punctuality, a stricter measure than PPM. Its score of 69.8% was 0.5 percentage points higher than in the same quarter in 2023. Punctuality decreased for just over half of operators. The On Time average across all operators was 68.3%.

Off-peak ScotRail west suburban services have the best PPM MAA

TfW delayed train by hour for football fans

Passenger group believes that decision has set a precedent

PLANNING

The Football Association of Wales has given positive feedback on improved Transport for Wales Rail services when two Euro 2024 play-off matches were played in Cardiff. After one of the matches ran into extra time, TfW delayed a long-distance train by an hour for fans to get home. Passenger group Railfuture Wales believes that this sets a precedent for TfW to hold connections when passengers are delayed on an arriving train. Cardiff Central is close to the Principality Stadium and other large venues. Sports fans and concert-goers can sometimes be critical of the rail service provision, without appreciating the challenges of providing capacity for the sudden exodus of tens of thousands of people while also maintaining normal service on the rest of the network.

TRUMP CAN’T

STOP TRANSIT

US expert believes public transport is ‘silver bullet’

POLICY

US public transport expert Paul Comfort sees a bright future for the sector in his country - no matter who wins this year’s presidential election. Paul Comfort, former CEO of the Maryland Transit Administration and host of the Transit Unplugged Podcast, is currently promoting his new book, The New Future of Public Transportation, which features insights from leading ﬁgures in the

The mid-week Euro 2024 play-offs in Cardiff in March were particularly challenging for TfW, because they were arranged at relatively short notice and resulted in demand peaking when services would ordinarily tail off in the evening.

Before the matches, TfW provided additional capacity from as far away as Holyhead and Manchester. For the post-match surge, TfW fully reinstated Core Valley Lines services for the evening and provided extra trains to Rhymney, Newport, Penarth and Radyr, with a later Cardiff to Crewe train leaving at 22.47.

The recently published minutes of TfW’s board meeting in April noted positive FAW feedback. The train service had been “a step-up from previous

offerings”. “This included delaying a train for an hour to allow the Wales v Poland match to ﬁnish.”

The match, on March 26, went into extra time, followed by the penalty shoot-out which stopped Wales from progressing to the tournament now under way in Germany. “The deliberate delay to allow fans to catch the train following the delayed end to the match was not included in the performance ﬁgures,” say the meeting minutes.

Richard Wilcock, chairman of Railfuture Wales, said: “By delaying a train for an hour after a football match, TfW has accepted the principle that there are occasions when the needs of different groups of passengers justify holding a train back.

“We would like to see the same

“We recognise the importance of these games and have listened to feedback from our customers”Marie Daly, TfW

sector.

Speaking to Leon Daniels for the Lunch with Leon podcast, which is produced in association with PassengerTransport, was asked about the forthcoming US election and its impact on public transport.

“I think ... that depending on who’s elected president, one of them [Donald Trump] will double down on oil. He says ‘drill, baby, drill’, and there’ll be more diesel funded. There won’t be any funding coming from the federal government, or as much for zero emission. If the other [Joe Biden] is elected, there’ll be more funding for zero emission, hydrogen,

approach taken for late running connections, and for TfW to develop a clear policy - for passengers and staff alike - around when a train will be held back to await people from an arriving train which has been delayed.”

TfW told Passenger Transport that on March 26 the 21.55 Cardiff Central to Crewe was retimed to 22.47 for the beneﬁt of North Wales supporters and re-routed via Wrexham instead of Nantwich, as TfW explained to the public in advance. The train was delayed by a further 29 minutes to allow supporters to join it, following the extra time and penalties.

Ahead of the matches, Marie Daly, TfW’s chief customer and culture ofﬁcer, said: “We recognise the importance of these games and have listened to feedback from our customers about our services on a match day.

“Mid-week matches can be a challenge because we do not have control over important factors such as planned engineering work and the stafﬁng of signal boxes, which can have a big impact on late evening services, but our team have worked hard to add later and additional services where possible.”

battery, electric, those kind of things.

“But I do see a bright future no matter who’s elected when it comes to it, because public mobility is key to not only growing the economy of our country, but also just ease of access, and our cities are backed being clogged up by congestion again, and so public transit is a solution.

“It’s a silver bullet, to use the old analogy, to so many challenges that society faces that I can only see it growing in importance.

Comfort was joined on the podcast by Simon Reed, who contributed one of the new chapters to his new book. Reed spent 17 years at Transport for

London and is now an independent transport technology consultant. He remarked: “I think the big change that has happened now, and everybody will tell you this, from a technology perspective, is that data is the new oil. I mean, that’s been said for a long, long time, but now it is absolutely the case in many authorities ... Data is absolutely where it’s at across the piece.”

Who is offering the best plan for transport?

Ahead of next week’s general election, Robert Jack reports on the key transport pledges in the manifestos of Great Britain’s main political parties

Addressing a conference in London last month, Professor David Begg warned that the UK was lacking a vision for transforming transport in a way that will delivery essential economic, social and environmental outcomes (PT314). Many in the transport sector will agree with this view from the man who was a key advisor to New Labour on transport issues. Begg lamented that transport policy had gone backwards over the past 20 years, with politicians failing to stand up and make the case for changing travel behaviour. With the less than a week to go before the election, the parties have published their manifestos and we can look at their proposals for transport policy. Are any of the parties that will compete for our votes next week offering a vision that will prioritise and promote public transport and unlock its game-changing potential?

Labour

Labour is promising change, but typical of the party’s cautious approach to policy, the changes it is proposing for transport do not appear to go much beyond an extension of public ownership.

The party restates its commitment to giving local leaders in England new powers to franchise local bus services and lifting the ban on municipal ownership.

It also pledges to give mayors the power to create uniﬁed and integrated transport systems,

allowing for more seamless journeys, and to promote active travel networks.

But there is no commitment to extending England’s £2 bus fare, which has been in place since January 1, 2023, having ﬁrst been examined in the dying days of Boris Johnson’s time in Downing Street the previous summer.

The Confederation of Passenger Transport described this omission

as “disappointing”.

Labour’s manifesto also repeats the party’s commitment to reform the railways and bring them into public ownership.

It will do this as contracts with existing operators expire or are broken through a failure to deliver, without costing taxpayers a penny in compensation.

Great British Railways will meanwhile deliver a uniﬁed

system. It will work with publicly owned rail operators in Wales and Scotland, and mayors will have a role in designing services in their areas.

Open access operators are “an important part of the rail system and will have an ongoing role”.

There is no mention of HS2, despite pressure on the party to at least commit to extending the line northwards to Crewe.

Finally, the manifesto promises to develop a long-term strategy for transport, ensuring transport infrastructure can be delivered efﬁciently and on time.

Conservatives

Since their success in the Uxbridge by-election in July 2023, the Conservatives have abandoned the political consensus on transport policy and dusted off the old’ war on the motorist’ rhetoric. Their manifesto continues that trend, promising to introduce a new Backing Drivers Bill in their ﬁrst King’s Speech. This Bill would stop road pricing, reverse the expansion of London’s ULEZ and “rule out top-down blanket Low Trafﬁc Neighbourhoods and 20mph zones”.

The Tories also broke the political consensus on HS2 last October when Rishi Sunak told the Conservative Party conference in Manchester that HS2 would no longer be extended to the city. The manifesto says that the £36bn of savings from cutting back HS2 will transform local and regional transport.

Sunak’s government did not show such vigour when it came to implementing long-awaited and widely supported railway reforms, but the manifesto does commit to introducing a Rail Reform Bill in the ﬁrst King’s Speech. This would create Great British Railways, headquartered in Derby, which would be tasked

with ushering in a revitalised private-public partnership and growing the role of the private sector, including supporting the expansion of open access services.

The manifesto also commits to rolling out mobile pay-as-you-go contactless tickets nationwide over the next Parliament.

The only mention of buses is a commitment to extend the £2 bus fare cap in England for the entirety of the next Parliament - funded by savings from the railway reform. Notably, the Conservative manifesto does not mention the National Bus Strategy for England, which was only launched three years ago.

Liberal Democrats

The Liberal Democrats appear to devote more space to transport in their manifesto than Labour and the Conservatives.

They pledge to urgently establish a new Railway Agency, which sounds similar to Great British Railways: “a public body which would help to join up the industry, from track to train”. Unlike Labour, there is no promise to renationalise the train operating companies. Instead, they promise to be far more proactive in sanctioning and ultimately sacking them if they fall short. They also promise to freeze rail fares and explore the introduction of an annual pass for all railways.

Regarding infrastructure, the Lib Dems would review the cancellation of the northern leg of HS2 to see if it can still be delivered in a way that provides value for money, including by encouraging private investment or if an alternative is viable. Further rail infrastructure commitments include establishing a 10-year plan for rail electriﬁcation.

The Lib Dem manifesto also pledges to boost bus services by giving local authorities more

Norman Baker’s ‘Agenda for action’. Pages 14-15

powers to franchise services and replacing multiple funding streams with one integrated fund for local authorities to expand bus services. They would also maintain the £2 cap on bus fares in England “while fares are reviewed”.

Additionally, they say they would extend half-fares on buses, trams and trains to 18-year-olds and work with operators to introduce a ‘Young Person’s Buscard’, similar to the Young Person’s Railcard.

Unlike Labour and the Conservatives, the Lib Dem plans to curb the climate impact of flying go beyond promoting sustainable aviation fuels. They pledge to reform the taxation of international flights to focus on those who fly the most while reducing costs for ordinary households who take one or two international return flights per year. They would also introduce a new “super tax” on private jet flights and remove the VAT exemptions for private, first-class and business-class flights. Further interventions in aviation would benefit the railway. For example, airlines would be required to show the carbon emissions for domestic flights compared to the equivalent rail option at booking. Meanwhile, short domestic flights would be banned where a direct rail option taking less than two and a half hours is available for the same journey unless planes are alternative-fuelled.

Green Party

The Green Party is pledging to invest in fairer, greener transport, highlighting the decline in public transport provision.

Green MPs would push to increase annual public subsidies for rail and bus travel to £10bn by the end of the next Parliament to make public transport reliable, frequent, accessible and

affordable, including free bus travel for under-18s.

They also want to invest an additional £19bn over ﬁve years to improve public transport, support electriﬁcation, and invest in new cycleways and footpaths. Reallocating funding from the road building budget would achieve this.

Like Labour, the Greens would restore public ownership of the railways and give local authorities control over buses.

The Greens say that they would curb aviation in several ways. This includes campaigning for a frequent-flyer levy to reduce the impact of “the 15% of people who take 70% of flights”, and seeking a ban on domestic flights for a journey that would take less than three hours by train.

The Scottish Greens, a separate party, want to subsidise fares for long-distance rail travel from Scotland to England. A new frequent ﬂyer levy would cover the costs.

Reform UK

Reform UK is offering voters a “contract” rather than a manifesto, but this document has little to say about transport.

The party says critical reforms are needed in the ﬁrst 100 days of a new government. This would include saving £25bn by scrapping the remainder of HS2. Instead, the party proposes accelerating transport infrastructure, focusing on better road and rail links for coastal regions, Wales, the North and the Midlands.

Reform UK is also promising to “stop the war on drivers”. It would legislate to ban ULEZ Clean Air Zones and Low Trafﬁc Neighbourhoods. Scrapping Net Zero would mean no more bans on petrol and diesel cars.

The contract does not mention bus services.

SNP

The SNP’s manifestos says that its MPs would call for the UK Government to transfer full powers for complete integration of track and train to Scotland - a fully devolved railway, including full ownership and powers over Network Rail Scotland and with powers for permanent public ownership of rail services.

The SNP would also promote a fair and affordable transition to zero-emission transport fuels and a ban on the import and sale of new, non-zero-emission buses by 2025. In response, the Confederation of Passenger Transport Scotland warned that the latter would disproportionately target SMEs and rural bus operators and the marginal but socially necessary services they provide.

Finally, the SNP manifesto says that “reducing road trafﬁc is key to cutting emissions”, but expresses support for spending on road schemes.

Plaid Cymru

Plaid Cymru’s manifesto demands that Wales receives the £4bn of transport funding “to which it is entitled under the Barnett Formula for money spent by the UK Government on HS2, which is clearly an England-only project”.

With that additional funding, Plaid says that Wales could revolutionise its railway and transport systems, including “properly connecting north and south Wales for the ﬁrst time within Wales”, reopening major railway lines, electrifying the North Wales Main Line, and increasing and improving services west of Swansea.

On both a Welsh and UK level, Plaid believes that the railways should be renationalised. The party also favours the renationalisation of major bus services.

Wrightbus aims for NewPower market

The Ballymena-based manufacturer has become the ﬁrst OEM in the bus sector to launch a diesel to battery-electric repower solution for customers

There’s no doubt the electric bus revolution is in full swing, but for some years many have tried (and more often than not failed) to convert conventional diesel or dieselhybrid buses into fully electric vehicles.

Names like Magtec and Equipmake have tried to make inroads into what could potentially be a very lucrative market. Indeed, earlier this month, the latter company signed a deal with London open-top sightseeing outﬁt Golden Tours to repower 10 more Volvo double deckers using its Zero-Emission Drivetrain technology. However, these fringe players lack the robust reputation of the mainstream bus manufacturers. Now, that looks set to change with the arrival of NewPower, what the press release calls a “bold new enterprise designed to replace older diesel engines with new zero-emission electric powertrains”, from Ballymenabased bus builder Wrightbus.

New start for NewPower Wrightbus chief executive JeanMarc Gales cheerfully admits with effervescent Gallic charm that the idea for NewPower came about following a rather terse conversation with one of those upstart repower specialists. It seems they had the temerity to

ask whether the manufacturer would stand by its existing warranty offer if the repower specialist started “drilling holes into the chassis and structure of the bus” to shoehorn their battery-electric driveline into a Wrightbus vehicle. Gales left me with little doubt that they received (very) short shrift. But it set the former Lotus boss thinking, especially when over 30,000 diesel buses in the UK will need to be replaced by zeroemission alternatives within the next decade or so. Whoever forms the new government will also likely face spending constraints, so perhaps the government schemes that have provided the bulk of funding for new zero-emission buses in Britain will feel the purse strings tighten. Gales, therefore, believes there is a massive opportunity to convert existing diesel buses to battery-electric. Hence, the decision to launch NewPower, making Wrightbus the ﬁrst OEM in the bus sector to bring a repower solution to market.

“While we are selling new hydrogen and battery-electric buses all over the world there is a huge market of mid-life buses which, once converted, can have an immediate impact on helping to improve air quality in towns and cities up and down the UK,” said Gales. “We have long been recognised as the world-leading manufacturer of both hydrogen and battery-electric buses and now NewPower will add another string to our bow.”

Serious investment

Wrightbus is putting some serious money into NewPower, which is based in a new 45,000sq ft facility at Bicester in Oxfordshire. In a previous life, the modern building on a business park on the edge of the town was planned to be one of the ‘microfactories’ of doomed electric vehicle manufacturer Arrival. While much of the engineering legwork has been undertaken by Wrightbus in Ballymena, NewPower has added to its team, with senior ﬁgures in the venture joining from Land Rover Special Vehicle Operations, BMW and McLaren. Among them is programme director Graham Hamlyn, who joined the business from Switch Mobility but previously spent a decade with Aston Martin. While 22 jobs were initially created - split between production and ofﬁce staff - it’s predicted that 65 will be on-site at Bicester by the end of the year.

NewPower roll-out

To begin with, Wrightbus is focusing its NewPower efforts on its Streetdeck double decker model. It then plans to move on to other Wrightbus products such as the Gemini 2 double decker. That process could include London’s New Routemaster too, where the manufacturer has offered ﬂeet owner Transport for London a battery-electric repower solution. Gales candidly revealed that talks with TfL on just such a conversion have been ongoing for the last 18 months, which

could explain why TfL recently decided to scale back the midlife refurbishment programme for the ‘Boris Bus’ ﬂeet that’s currently underway.

Ultimately, there are plans to engineer solutions for products from other manufacturers. This could include continental Europe, where Wrightbus’s hydrogen fuel cell buses have gained ground in the German market. Gales hinted that the manufacturer’s new support facility in Cologne could play a role in these aspirations.

The total engineering investment is estimated to be around £1m per bus model, with

Andrew Garnett Deputy Editor

“We believe we are the number one zero-emissions bus maker in the UK ... No one else comes close”

each repower priced at around £200,000 - this represents a significant saving on the cost of a new battery-electric bus. Wrightbus is coy on numbers but claims it has firm orders for 40 conversions and hopes for 300 next year. Several Streetdecks from First Bus fleets in the Midlands, West Yorkshire and the West of England were in evidence at the Bicester facility last week.

Jean-Marc Gales

Repower details

The conversion process takes around 11 days to complete. NewPower sister company All Service One - which handles Wrightbus’s ﬂeet support operations - kicks off the process by inspecting the vehicle and then begins the stripout process, which removes the engine, gearbox, fuel tank, radiator, and other parts. These parts are returned to the

the front nearside wheel arch. The latter’s installation process necessitates relocating the side destination display from the top of the ﬁrst nearside window to a new housing within the new battery bay, but as Hamlyn points out, this enhances driver visibility. However, the conversion process has some drawbacks, namely the loss of the downstairs rear saloon window to accommodate the Grayson HVAC system that keeps the batteries cool. There is also some loss of passenger capacity - a 73seat diesel Streetdeck translates into a 68-seater with the 308 kWh and 385 kWh options. Standees drop from 22 passengers to 21 and 15 respectively.

Charging is accomplished via standard Combined Charging System (CCS) ports. First Bus has chosen to install a single 150kW CCS connector at the offside rear of its repowered vehicles, but Wrightbus says customers can specify ports on both sides of the vehicles if required. A full recharge takes around two hours, and that translates into a range of around 150 or 180 miles - a slight penalty on that offered by the newbuild Wrightbus Electroliner batteryelectric double decker .

customer for reuse. NewPower technicians then get to work installing the batteries and Voith Electric Drive System. The conversion process uses the existing differential and axle with the batteries and drive system mounted on a skid in the old engine bay for easy access. Wrightbus offers customers a choice between two battery options. The ﬁrst option, a 308kWh variant, comprises four Forsee Power Zen NMC 77kWh battery backs installed in the old engine bay. The second option, a 385kWh variant, includes a ﬁfth battery back installed over

After crunching the numbers, Wrightbus expects that over a typical 17-year life, the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of a Streetdeck converted from diesel to battery-electric power at seven years old returns a TCO on parity with a new Euro 6 diesel bus. Maintenance costs are reduced by 41% and energy costs by 17%.

“We believe we are the number one zero-emissions bus maker in the UK,” said a bullish Gales. “A year ago, we had 200 zeroemission buses on the road. Today, we have over 900, and in the next year, we will get to 2,000. No one else comes close.”

First Bus Streetdecks under conversion at the NewPower facility

NORMAN BAKER

Agenda for action - 20 steps for success

The outcome of the election looks increasingly certain, but the aftermath is unclear. But what actions should we be looking for?

Just a week or so to go before the General Election - what a long drawn-out campaign it has seemed - and barring a miracle of epic proportions, we will soon have the ﬁrst Labour government since 2010.

I cannot, even now, quite believe how incompetent the Conservative campaign has been. Every day has brought a new disaster, like opening a window on an advent calendar of ineptitude. If this had been written as a ﬁctional drama script, it would have been rejected as absurdly far fetched. I have begun to wonder if Rishi Sunak is some sort of ﬁfth columnist, secretly working for the opposition. But he ploughs on. Most of his colleagues have given up and booked a holiday.

I cannot shed any tears over the demise of the Conservatives. Mark Harper and Huw Merriman at the Department for Transport may have been the best of a bad bunch, but they have even had to sign up for the garbage that is the so-called ‘war on the motorist’. So let us waste no more time on the Tories. They will have some painful reckoning to face after July 4 when they have to work out what they now believe in and where, if the polls are to be believed, they go from what looks like being their worst result in 200 years.

Let us instead look forward to what the new government can do to shape a sensible transport package of measures. Of course, we have now had some broad brushstrokes, with the clearest of these painting a picture of more public oversight and control, both in relation

to buses and trains. But much remains unclear. Below, I set out my ‘Agenda for Action’, 20 steps which I suggest can be used to judge their performance in transport over the next parliament.

General

Labour can begin with a clear statement recognising the value of public transport, and cycling and walking, in economic, environmental and social terms, and pledge that their transport actions will be consistent with the evaluation. That means developing and implementing a strategy to achieve modal shift away from planes and road vehicles to public transport. Much of the planned roadbuilding programme should be cancelled with the money redirected to public transport.

There needs to be a more coherent policy approach between the DfT, the Treasury, and No 10. For example, there is little point in the DfT promoting bus use if No 10 insists on limiting bus lanes or promoting train use if the Treasury slashes the cost of travelling by air and continues to freeze fuel duty for car drivers. At the same time, rail fares go up every year. The fuel duty escalator should be reinstated, the recent cuts to Air Passenger Duty reversed and a new special tenfold rate of APD introduced for private jets.

Issue guidance and encourage the use of land value capture for big housing developments to ensure public transport provision is integrated with such development. Require bus operators to have mandatory consultee status when big housing or industrial schemes are proposed to avoid car dependency.

The new government needs to recognise that the local authority sector has been starved of cash since 2015 and simply cannot deliver the transport investment and changes the new government may want without a substantial widening of its income base. In an ideal world, local income tax would replace council tax. Still, in the absence of that, two or three new council tax bands should be created at the top end of the market, raising extra cash while not affecting the “working families” politicians always talk about.

4 5

The roll-out, especially in urban areas, of one-ticket solutions that enable people to change seamlessly between rail, light rail, bus and cycle with just one purchase.

Louise Haigh looks set to become the next transport secretary

Bus

The new government should commit to retaining England’s £2 bus fare cap for at least two years. The good value, and perhaps even more the simplicity of the fare system is undoubtedly driving business.

Incentives should be provided to allow bus journey times to be speeded up. So more 24-hour bus lanes, intelligent phasing of trafﬁc lights, and (for London mayor Sadiq Khan) an end to TfL’s counter-productive policy of holding buses full of passengers for long periods at bus stops to “regulate the service”, while cars speed by.

New guidance on 20mph limits for local authorities to suggest bus routes should operate at 30mph as a default setting, and guidance on the integration or competition between bus routes and cycle lanes which has led to some buses being removed from prime locations.

A reconﬁguration of responsibilities within government so that all money for buses is delivered by the DfT rather than DLUHC (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities) or anyone else, and that such money for councils is ring-fenced so that it can only be spent on buses.

An introduction of a national standard for bus information with bus stops graded into four categories: 1, termini and major interchanges; 2, main centres and minor interchanges; 3, centres of communities; 4, general bus stops

Light Rail

Light rail is popular, green and efﬁcient.

A fund should be set up to allow new schemes to be introduced where there is a market, in cities such as Leeds. At the same time, the regulations that apply to their construction should be eased, and cheaper alternatives should be introduced, for example, shallower schemes that do not require utilities to be interfered with.

Rail

Introduce legislation in the ﬁrst session of the new parliament to establish Great British Railways or its equivalent, and sharpen its focus. £64m has so far been spent on the GBR Transition Team with frankly little so show for it. Ensure the ORR is tooled up to undertake an enhanced scrutiny role of the new body. Clarify precisely the role of the passenger-in-chief that Louise Haigh says she will be. There must be an end to DfT ofﬁcials micro-managing the railway.

Reinstate the HS2 route north of Birmingham at least as far as Crewe, even if this is on a tweaked alignment where trains would run at a slower speed. There is a desperate need for more capacity along this corridor, both for passenger and freight trafﬁc, and the existing West Coast Main Line is incapable of meeting the pent up demand.

Deliver a comprehensive package of fares and ticketing reform within two years. The best split ticket option for each journey should be the new standard price for that journey. Single leg pricing should be rolled out, and fares frozen for at least three years, in recognition of the fact that they have, for decades now, risen way above inﬂation.

Publish a clear rolling stock strategy in the ﬁrst year to ensure a smooth pipeline of new and refurbished trains and to give more certainty to train manufacturers and the ROSCOs.

Take action to ensure the cost of rail interventions decreases and the speed at which they are delivered increases. We were promised by Network Rail action to reduce costs, but new stations are still coming in at above £20m in some cases, a ridiculous sum. Meanwhile, despite their Project Speed, enhancements are delivered far too slowly. The long-promised reopening of the Ashington-Blyth line has drifted past the general election, yet north of the border, the Scottish Government has reopened the line to Levenmouth in a much shorter time. Labour has said it will deliver projects 25% faster and 20% cheaper - a good challenge. Let us hold them to it.

Reform the methods used to calculate the effect of rail interventions, particularly in respect of new or reopened lines and stations. Almost every reopening over the last 20 years has signiﬁcantly underestimated passenger numbers, the latest example being the hugely successful Okehampton scheme. This systemic underestimation doubtless means other schemes that would have washed their face have been unnecessarily rejected.

..and smaller matters that irk me

Abandon plans for tighter regulation of heritage trains. The move to require central locking of doors is completely unnecessary and can only lead to the end of heritage specials and the end of steam on Network Rail tracks. Can we apply some common sense and perspective please.

It is very antisocial for passengers to put baggage on seats when trains are busy and when others are standing. It would not be tolerated on planes and should not on trains. Give conductors and revenue staff the power to require the removal of such baggage and the ability to charge the owner of the baggage for another ticket in respect of the occupied seat.

Can the new transport secretary PLEASE take action to eliminate the pointless and patronising drivel that comprises all too many announcements that are churned out mindlessly on trains and in stations, such as those telling us to “hold the handrail and face the direction of travel” on the escalators at London Bridge, or on Thameslink trains that “for our safety and comfort”, safety cards are provided at the end of the carriage which we are invited to inspect - have you ever seen anyone do this? And most of all, can we junk the incessant and hugely irritating ‘See it. Say it. Sorted’. I will buy whoever can get rid of this a ﬁne meal at an expensive London restaurant to thank you.

COMMENT

NICK RICHARDSON

Election fever: how does transport ﬁt?

A general election is an opportunity for a fresh start and everyone has been limbering up, but what does it mean for transport?

Anticipation about the looming general election has been building for months, and the past few weeks have seen a frenzy of ideas and promises from all sides. Transport has yet to be a big topic (apart from what to do about potholes), and other issues and events have undermined the broader Net Zero debate. However, transport is a signiﬁcant issue when we consider how to decarbonise and promote business, help people to work and keep the country moving.

Over-simpliﬁcation

It’s a complicated issue, though, and brief soundbites hide a myriad of themes. Many organisations have been presenting their manifestos to set out what an incoming government could or should do. Much of this is treading old ground because there has been little progress and arguably several steps backward.

The main political parties are full of promise concerning Great British Railways and the extent to which private operators will or will no longer be involved in providing train services. Sadly, much of the population doesn’t care about the railway because they don’t use it, and it costs a lot, far more than ever. It should be a united front because everyone beneﬁts from a national asset, but it is complicated by devolution and a lack of recent action in pursuit of the plan with delayed legislation and continuing disruptions. The last thing anyone needs is another review

of how the railway works and steps to create a better service, which is now desperately needed before it all falls apart. This requires a programme, actions, and funding to be clearly set out and not subject to yet more debate. Some relatively quick wins include filling in gaps in the electrified network to enable far more efficient freight workings and sorting out pinch points affecting passenger services. Any government that makes the trains run on time would be a bonus.

Selective ideas

Transport planners see the whole issue in the round. Road user charging is a must because

of changing circumstances and a need for road users to pay their way. This isn’t heresy; it’s simply a better way of managing what we have and avoiding the drying up of revenue from Vehicle Excise Duty. However, the Reform UK party, which appears to make up ideas as it goes along, has spoken about transport with some bright ideas to reduce fuel costs for motorists and to do away with low trafﬁc neighbourhoods and Low Emission Zones. In other words, this is pretending that Net Zero is irrelevant and ensuring that car dependency is frozen for eternity.

In contrast, the Green Party manifesto includes some measures for transport, including far more funding for public transport and a ban on domestic ﬂights that would take less than three hours by train. More extreme, it advocates ‘Adopting Active Travel England’s objective of 50% of trips in England’s towns and cities to be walked, wheeled or cycled by 2030’; this is somewhat optimistic given where we are now and assuming that all money it wants to put towards public transport subsidies has resulted in a vast capacity increase for buses and trains within six years, there won’t be many cars left. Setting any target is prone to problems because they can be unrealistic. Other somewhat naïve wishes continue to crop up in glorious ignorance of what is required to make them happen, however well-intended they may be. It would be helpful if clear routes were presented to overcome the tradition of making simple things complicated.

Labour, like all of the main parties, are full of promise concerning Great British Railways

Tel: 01536 740100

@ciltuk

Potholes are everywhere because of constrained local highway authority maintenance budgets for decades, leading to widespread deterioration and insufficient money to fill them in correctly. To quote the Beatles, “Now we know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall”, but it was all avoidable. Now we are spending more to repair worse damage than we would have had funding been maintained. The same applies to the railway, for which much of the infrastructure was neglected for decades, and now we are paying the price.

Buses get a look-in with some manifestos, mainly revolving around local authorities’ control, which is already underway in many places and assuming that local councils have any resources left after years of desperate cuts. Not much has been said about the state of local government and how their pressures can be resolved other than central government’s outrageous claim that they are failing because they are poorly managed. As is very evident, few can take on new requirements such as bus network management because they need more money to do what they are statutorily required to deliver, never mind anything else. Even requirements such as addressing illegal air quality are mired in confusion and process. Calls to adequately fund passenger transport are, of course, welcome. There needs to be more clarity about where all this lovely new money might come from, but there is one source: the billions currently allocated to National Highways for road capacity schemes in England. For example, moving this away from pointless and destructive road schemes to promote bus and coach services would be transformational. Supported by other changes, notably making it easier to create bus priority measures without being shouted down by a vocal minority, would greatly benefit the economy and environment. The profile of bus services has been raised, but the number of users has yet to return to previous levels (even with the Sunak-style interpretations of statistics), and re-setting the baseline for Bus Service Improvement Plans hides the fact that far more significant changes are needed. Much more is needed through subsidies and investments in infrastructure. It also requires a coherent policy that deals with the fact that we now have one car for every two people on an island with limited space.

Rishi Sunak announcing the election: transport is a signiﬁcant issue

“While funding of various sorts for buses has been very welcome, there has yet to be a plan”

Scraping the barrel

A sign of desperation was the appearance at my front door of the incumbent local MP, Penny Mordaunt, which allowed me to tell her what I thought of her. She feels that reducing trafﬁc speeds in Wales to reduce the number of people killed by cars is ‘insane’ (although her constituency has a 20mph limit on all its minor roads) and that all the local parking problems can be resolved by creating some areas for parking vans overnight. Sadly, lacking in evidence, common sense or any idea of how transport works, this nonsense must be left well behind.

Five-year funding periods have been adopted for Network Rail and National Highways, but there is no equivalent for other sectors.

While funding of various sorts for buses has been very welcome, there has yet to be a plan. Stability would result from having a longerterm view with ﬁnancing deﬁned as part of a comprehensive transport policy, ideally raising revenue where required and deploying it transparently.

It also involves wrestling with the demons defending the ‘rights’ of motorists at everyone else’s expense, tangible ideas about decarbonisation for all modes, workable processes to deliver new light rail networks and busways in less than twenty years and above all, a policy framework that doesn’t contradict itself as we have currently. We could make some progress towards transport that works properly. We will have to wait and see.

Nick Richardson is chair of CILT’s Bus and Coach Policy Group and is a former chair of the Transport Planning Society. In addition, he has held a PCV licence for over 36 years.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ALEX WARNER

Renewed 36 is the perfect bus service

Transdev Blazefield’s flagship bus route is the textbook study for those looking to see the benefits of investing in customer service

I’m spending almost every waking hour these days on buses, doing customer experience reviews across the country, and have done so for a good few years now. More recently, weighing up the totality of the customer service I received, I’ve started pontiﬁcating on what constitutes the perfect bus route. I’ll spare you the consultant’s classic ‘customer journey mapping’ exercise, and I’m not giving away my repertoire to you a lot for nothing (I have a model railway extension in the attic to fund). But, in summary, every customer touch point needs to be delivered consistently and true to the brand and marketing promise across the end-to-end journey experience in a way that differentiates between customer types. Fun, energy, a sense of momentum, a guiding customer-centric mind in leadership, and a desire to constantly review and refresh the proposition is also essential.

Unfortunately, when I think I’ve found that perfect route, there’s always a touch point that lets it down and prevents me from eulogising to others about it, constituting best practice. The onboard experience, including the driver, will be great, but the marketing will be insipid, the person who answers the customer calls will be a bit bossy, and the operator will not maintain the bus stops. They will also need more sense of brand identity.

Some routes come very close to being the best - Stagecoach’s scenic services in the Lake District, much of Trentbarton and certainly Nottingham City Transport. Lothian

Buses tend to hit the sweet spot for me, too. Go Ahead-owned East Yorkshire’s scenic collection and those operated by Go South Coast are always of the highest quality. My love affair with Stagecoach South’s 700 between Portsmouth and Brighton always make me purr, too.

However, there’s one route, though, that, like a scratched record, I’ve been imploring folk, across bus and rail, to visit and see how it is done. It’s Transdev Blazeﬁeld’s 36, which runs between Leeds, Harrogate, and Ripon - a route that sets the benchmark and is the nearest to perfection.

If you travel on the 36, the drivers are dressed so immaculately that they look like they’re going to a posh wedding, and the vehicles are so stylish that they surpass customer expectations. Fancy leather seats, some in the round like those in your lounge, a library onboard and a totally branded experience with a sense of local identity. Earlier this year, I persuaded a wealthy mate living in North Leeds to travel on this route, which is a few yards from his house. He’s a bus heathen, but the difference between what he was expecting

“The drivers are dressed so immaculately that they look like they’re going to a posh wedding”

and the service received was jaw-dropping. The marketing has always been progressive, and successive CEOs, including the incumbent, the impressive Henri Rohard, have made it a personal obsession to continuously seek to refresh and build on the product so it never gets stale. In Paul Turner, the Transdev Blazeﬁeld commercial director, they have one of the brightest brains in the bus sector and someone who is ﬁxated on customer service, so too is his side-kick, the energetic breath of fresh air of an operations director, Vitto Pizzuti. I caught up with him last month, and he is all over the details regarding customer service metrics and is intolerant of the slightest aberration that might taint this perfect product.

Pizzuti’s eulogising about the pizzazz of the event last week as part of the launch of 19 electric Enviro 400EV vehicles, which enter service in September - the third generation of double-deckers.

He’s proud of the new vehicles, rattling off their virtues. “Two-plus-one seating upstairs, double glazing, glass roof, pantograph so we can charge up in Harrogate bus station, Harrogate-themed ﬂoor parquet, information screens showing live bus and rail times and a low-level custom forward-facing equivalent for the two wheelchair bay.” Vitto catches his breath just in time to beam excitedly, “but it’s not just infrastructure, Alex, we’ve got great drivers, dedicated rosters, specialist training that immerses them in the heritage of this route and makes them realise the responsibility entrusted on them to continue this success story, and we have an intensive mystery shopping programme, as well as onboard customer satisfaction surveys to meticulously help drivers realise what they are doing so well and identify areas for improvement!”

The launch event, which Vitto was so excited about, epitomised the positivity and community engagement that are the bedrock of 36’s success.

In addition to unveiling the new ﬂeet, Transdev turned it into a family fun day involving dancers, face painting, music, ice cream, balloon modelling, circus acts, magicians and gifts bestowed on visitors!

As Turner explained to me, it’s very much about ‘feeling special’. Harry Gration, the local BBC newsreader, was engaged to record the

“Focusing on customer needs and constantly engaging with customers has been key”

onboard announcements, and there’s a real sense of occasion when you hear these. Sadly, he passed away in 2022, but his voice is being replaced by another Harry - a local icon who runs a free walking tour -harrydoeshistory.com.

Focusing on customer needs and constantly engaging with customers has been key - the leather seats, which have been used since 2003, have been developed further by extensive discussions with customers - they were unsure how to take account of ethical and environmental concerns, so asked those who travel for their views. The regular customer surveys help pinpoint issues, and there’s a detailed Customer Improvement Plan for the route, which has helped ensure that satisfaction levels have been as high as 97%. This route has had continuous focus and investment. It is a case study in renewing, refreshing and creating a narrative of regular initiatives and interventions - helping drive customer engagement and keeping staff and

management teams motivated to do better. As far back as 2003, single-decker vehicles gave way to double deckers, then they were refurbished seven years later, in tandem with an increase in frequency from 20 minutes to 15 minutes. In 2016, 14 new low-emission, highspec double deckers were introduced, and the frequency was increased to every 10 minutes between Harrogate and Leeds. Of course, the new vehicles arrived in two months to keep the momentum going even further.

Patronage growth on the 36 has been the textbook study for those looking to see the beneﬁts of investing in customer service. It grew from 1,232,557 customers in 2005 to 2,019,296 in 2023, only 41,527 less than the 2019 pre-Covid peak. This was achieved despite Northern Railway increasing its own frequency that year from two to three an hour on the Leeds to Harrogate corridor.

The competition with rail is fascinating. I consistently save myself £8 by travelling on the 36 instead of on the train and ﬁnd

the service far more reliable, comfortable, and less crowded. Even though I’m arriving in Leeds by rail, I’ll happily walk to the bus station to continue my journey rather than change platforms. I’ll admit that there aren’t too many bus routes across the UK where the competition by bus is better than rail, in terms of comfort, reliability and customer service, combined with journey time not far out of range, but this feels like one of them. Chesterfield to Sheffield (Stagecoach), York to Scarborough, Manchester to Burnley/ Accrington (Transdev again!), Truro to Newquay (First), Coventry to Leicester and Rhyl to Llandudno (both Arriva), Oxford to London (Stagecoach) are those that mainly float my boat. There are a few others that are particularly compelling (that’s another article for the near future, I promise!).

There will be dissidents among you claiming that market and political forces have contrived a framework for the 36 to prosper. The road network is good and direct, whilst

The launch event epitomised the sense of positivity and community engagement that is the bedrock of the 36’s success

the local politicians tend to have been bus fans - including the MP for Harrogate, being previously the buses minister and, earlier this year, Rishi Sunak supped tea in Transdev’s Harrogate depot with drivers and engineers. Harrogate is a prosperous location, whilst Leeds has been rejuvenated - both are trendy and have decent day and nocturnal economies - and there are many nearby tourist attractions, including the fantastic Ripley Castle and Harewood House.

A report from Systra in 2019 showed that half of customers use the 36 for leisure and a quarter for commuting, with workﬂows in both ways - into and out of Leeds and workers from North Leeds into the care sector in southern Harrogate. It’s a strong corridor with a lot going for it. Furthermore, the route’s demographics have meant that it hasn’t suffered anti-social behaviour or issues eroding the proposition that others might have done. With all of the above elements working in its favour, cynics may suggest that it would be hard not to make a success of it. However, a quality bus proposition doesn’t just happen automatically - which is what Transdev have done with the 36. Furthermore, there are countless examples of other bus routes in the UK with similarly favourable factors, where patronage and customer satisfaction have slumped (again, an article for another day!). It would also be reasonable to argue that given the 36 doesn’t run through ‘classic, fertile bus territory’ in terms of its market, stimulating growth and modal shift is even more challenging. Take my very well-to-do mate from North Leeds, who wouldn’t have previously been seen dead on a bus had I not been in his ear relentlessly to break the habit of a lifetime. How many other neighbours of his are missing out because they haven’t been subjected to one of my brainwashing exercises? This population is the ultimate test of Paul Turner’s talents in many respects.

Sustained energy and investment have made the 36 the ‘go-to’ bus route in the UK and far beyond these shores. It’s also a great example of an overseas-owned group building on the achievements of its predecessors and continuing with a locally focused management structure and an approach that realises it’s all about living and breathing the market and being immersed in the community. In many respects, last

week’s launch event felt like the culmination of decades of consistent customer-centricity. Still, it also represented another landmark on a journey of continuous progression where momentum continues unabated.

As we embark on a new world where franchising is set to be very much part of the landscape, the 36 is an excellent example of an operator and owning group in Transdev, setting and delivering the strategy and standard itself with unassailable aplomb.

This is the perfect bus route.

“Sustained energy and investment really have made the 36 the ‘go to’ bus route in the UK”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alex Warner has over 30 years’ experience in the transport sector, having held senior roles on a multi-modal basis across the sector. He is co-founder of transport technology business Lost Group and transport consultancy AJW Experience Group (which includes Great Scenic Journeys). He is also chair of West Midlands Grand Rail Collaboration.

A SUCCESS STORY WITH DEEP ROOTS

Success for Blazefield and its flagship 36 didn’t just come in the past two decades. I chatted with my business partner, Giles Fearnley (pictured on a 36 bus in his Blazefield days), who, together with Stuart Wilde, following a management buyout of Blazefield in 1991, went on to transform the 36 before selling the business to French group Transdev in 2006.

“The train service was unreliable and did not cope with increasing demand, and we knew there had to be the potential for the 36 to play a bigger role. However, we knew that almost all of those who were not already using the bus on this corridor, saw us as a last resort for the journey. So we had to come up with something that turned heads and made people think differently about the 36. A striking livery was launched in 2003, but this was not enough. The interior had to make our customers feel good about travelling with us, and we needed to deliver high levels of customer service if we really were taking on the competition! The decision to go with leather, coach-style, seats, ample legroom, and an internal identity that matched the external was so right - despite the massive scepticism that this drew from many across the industry!”

Fearnley’s fascinating, and I’m hanging on every word, not for the ﬁrst time, about the legacy his team created and which has been continued so successfully. He continues: “We obviously knew that the service operated through quite magniﬁcent Yorkshire countryside, so moving to double deck operation would give our customers the opportunity to really enjoy their journey too - and it does every time they travel! But it was our fantastic team of drivers, supervisors, engineers and cleaners that were the key to making this new product work. And they did - they all rose to the opportunity and from Day One, ensured that we gave a fantastic customer experience, exceeding the expectations of all who travelled on the 36!”

“Growth was spectacular from the very first week and has just continued through Transdev Blazefield’s continued investment in all aspects including frequency, fleet investment, and much more.”

Transdev turned the launch event into a family fun day

“A massive Labour majority and a Conservative Party annihilation begs so many questions”

GREAT MINSTER GRUMBLES

We are potentially in uncharted territory

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

I wonder what the implications of a Labour government with a “super majority” might mean for how parliament holds the government to account. One poll by Savanta published on June 20 gave Labour a majority of 382, returning 516 MPs, with the Conservatives reduced to just 53 MPs. Another gave Labour a rather lower majority but still a huge one, with the Conservatives having just 74 MPs. Reform UK does seem to be taking large chunks out of the Conservative vote right across the country. This election will highlight more starkly than for many years not just how unfair the ﬁrst past the post system is for the smaller parties but also how it can distort the electorates’ collective wish. If the Savanta poll is accurateand I’m ﬁnding it hard to believe it is - Labour will get 44% of the vote but have 80% of all MPs. Put another way, 56% of the electorate won’t vote for Labour but will see only 134 candidates who they voted for elected - that’s just 20% of all MPs in the Commons. And here’s another interesting statistic. Reform UK is about 4% ahead of the Lib Dems in the polls but will return no more than about three MPs (the Savanta poll says it won’t get any), yet the Lib Dems are expected to return about 50 MPs. There’s even a suggestion that Reform UK may secure a higher percentage of the vote compared to the Conservatives but still only get two or three MPs. How can any of this be right?

The Conservatives can hardly complain, mind you. The party beneﬁted substantially

from a split Labour/Liberal vote throughout the 1980s, for example, enabling Margaret Thatcher to secure large parliamentary majorities. And the Lib Dems have been highlighting the unfairness of the ﬁrst past the post system for decades, so they won’t be showing much sympathy for any complaints from the Conservatives about the system’s unfairness. Even so, this election will shine a light on the issue like never before - how can it be right that over half of the electorate don’t want a Labour government yet see it secure 80% of all MPs?

Of course, these statistics don’t take account of two factors. First, many people may be voting tactically simply to turf out the Conservatives, while the turnout may also be much lower than usual for a general election, reﬂecting increased apathy or a simple mistrust of both Labour and the Conservatives. Nonetheless, Labour’s majority will not reﬂect the overall voting pattern of the electorate. The majority of those who vote will not be voting for a Labour government and certainly not a Labour government with a massive majority. In fact, I can’t recall a time when the majority of the electorate actually voted for the government of the day. But back to that key issue of how parliament holds a government to account when, or if, it has such a vast majority. The reality, of course, is that it won’t be able to. Standing Committees scrutinise the details of legislation, and Select Committees examine

departmental policies and performance. All have memberships that reﬂect the government’s parliamentary majority.

So, taking that Savant poll again, 80% of MPs on these committees will be Labour. How they will be able to hold the government accountable is beyond me. Mind you, I’ve never felt that Select Committees are remotely effective in scrutinising and challenging government policies and performance but the point holds good, at least in principle.

Of course, this won’t be the ﬁrst time we’ve seen a government elected with a huge majority - Tony Blair had a majority of 179 at the 1997 general election - so this is hardly a new issue. But at least there has always been a functioning and credible formal opposition party in the past. If the polls predicting a total Conservative wipeout are accurate, not only will Labour have a massive majority, but a functioning opposition won’t even face it with any “clout”. The Conservative Party will be in total disarray and can barely function as the formal opposition party.

The irony of this is that, in all probability any opposition to a Labour government’s policy and legislative agenda is more likely to come from its own MPs many of whom will surely be uncomfortable with many aspects of a Labour government policy agenda - especially if shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves is good to her word on her commitment to ﬁscal responsibility and is forced to impose spending cuts at the ﬁrst Comprehensive Spending Review! But even that won’t make any difference as, with such a huge majority, Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves will be able to do it just as they please. Thanks very much. We are potentially in uncharted territory.

A massive Labour majority and a Conservative Party annihilation begs so many questions. How will parliament be able to hold a Labour government to account? Will the Conservatives be forced into an alliance with Reform UK? And so on. But I leave you with one ﬁnal thought. Based on the Savanta poll, the Lib Dems could be the second largest party in parliament and hold the right to be the formal opposition. Ed Davey as the formal leader of His Majesty’s Opposition. His apparent belief in the power of silly stunts to attract attention to his party’s policies will make Prime Minister’s Question Time a little different!!

CAREERS

OBE for Byers in honours list

MBEs for ALBUM’s Bill Hiron, Network Rail’s

Sharon Salmon and Denise Harrison of First Bus

Sonya Byers, CEO of Women in Transport, was one of a number of people to be recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours 2024. Byers, who is also a patron of WOMAC (Women On the Move Against Cancer) and a trustee of parkrun global, has been honoured with an OBE.

“This award is testament to the incredible work of the teams at Women in Transport, WOMAC and parkrun global,” said Byers. “Together, we have made strides in promoting diversity and inclusion in transport, supporting vital cancer initiatives, and fostering healthy communities.

“I am grateful to everyone who has been part of this journey and look forward to continuing our work to create positive change.”

Bill Hiron, chair of ALBUM (Association of Local Bus Managers) since 2018 and managing director of Stephensons of Essex, has been awarded an MBE. Hiron’s career in the bus

industry spans nearly 40 years. He is a fervent advocate for the sector, playing a key role in representing the interests of local bus operators at a national level.

David Astill, new vice chair of ALBUM and managing director of Nottingham City Transport said: “Bill has dedicated much of his time to engaging with policymakers to ensure that small to medium operators have a voice. His focus is on achieving results rather than seeking recognition, so this is so well deserved! From all of us at ALBUM, we are grateful to have Bill as our chair.”

Network Rail’s Sharon Salmon was also awarded an MBE, for services to the railway and diversity and inclusion. In her 18 years at Network Rail, Salmon has devoted much of her time volunteering to help make Network Rail and the industry a more diverse, open and inclusive. She was a founding member of Network Rail’s Cultural Fusion Network (CFN) in 2014 - an employee network for black, Asian and minority ethnic employees and their allies, and became chair in 2019. There was also an MBE for Denise Harrison, who is currently head of health and safety at First Bus, in recognition of her career-long dedication to the bus industry. Harrison began her career 40 years ago as a catering assistant at Ashton-under-Lyne Bus Station in Greater Manchester. She said: “I’ve had an absolutely amazing career - no regrets whatsoever!”

APPOINTMENTS

GO-AHEAD GROUP

Go-Ahead has announced the appointment of experienced transport leader Louise Cheeseman, who will join the board of the Go-Ahead Group as a non-executive director, effective from July 1.

The addition of Cheeseman (pictured) as a new director is intended to support the company’s strategic plan to grow its business within the UK and internationally, ensure greater diversity in thinking and strengthen the board with internationally recognised industry expertise and experience.

Since its acquisition by Kinetic and Globalvia over 18 months ago, Go-Ahead has acquired bus and coach companies across the UK, won major contracts to run franchised bus networks internationally, and built its market share overseas, including the contract award for the Stockholm Metro. It is also on track to achieve its plan of decarbonising its entire 7,000 strong bus ﬂeet by 2035.

Cheeseman brings a wealth of experience to Go-Ahead from her diverse career as a senior leader in public transport across the public and private sectors. She began her career in rail operations, working for Northern Rail and Arriva Rail. Cheeseman led Hull Trains as MD for over four years from 2017. Her most recent role in the industry was as director of bus at Transport for London from 2021 to 2024, overseeing the strategic direction of the capital’s bus services.

In 2023 Cheeseman founded Women in Bus and Coach (WiBC), a national network created to encourage, represent, support, and retain women in the bus and coach profession. She remains chair of the network.

FASTRACK

Gavin Smith, managing director of Go East Anglia has taken up a new role within the Go-Ahead Group. He is now leading the team delivering the Fastrack network in Kent, a 15-year contract worth £110m which Go-Ahead will operate from November 2024.

Smith (pictured) has worked in the public transport industry for over 20 years, starting his career as a bus driver in London before progressing into management roles and later leading the development and mobilisation of Go-Ahead’s River Road depot. He worked as operations director of Go-Ahead Singapore and then as project director in Australia before becoming managing director of Go East Anglia.

He will be replaced on an interim basis by Rupert Cox, formerly a regional director for Stagecoach UK Bus. Cox has worked with Go East Anglia since March this year on business development projects.

GO NORTH EAST

Simon Carlisle has joined Go North East as its new engineering director. Carlisle (pictured) brings extensive experience to the role, having most recently served for seven years as engineering director for First West Yorkshire.

Career milestones for Carlisle include his ﬁrst supervisory role in Leeds in 2004, followed by his appointment as engineering manager in 2007. In 2011, he took on the leadership of 14 depots across the North England, implementing improvement projects that earned him recognition as Engineer of the Year at the UK Bus Awards.

Sonya Byers OBE

DIVERSIONS

George the Poet’s ‘ode to the bus’

Work highlights the role of buses in the community

. Acclaimed spoken word performer and poet George the Poet has released a poem and video celebrating buses as central pillars of UK communities. It follows research commissioned by First Bus that discovered that Brits increasingly fear connecting with people around them.

The research found that while 89% of people say conversations with strangers brighten their day, 90% struggle to initiate them.

WATCH OUT FOR CUBS ON THE LINE

Eagre Beavers, Cubs, and Scouts from Essex and Suffolk are diving into the world of railways through a fun new community rail initiative, earning themselves a

Additionally, 83% view buses as vital for community connection.

In response, First Bus partnered with George the Poet to create an ‘ode to the bus’, highlighting the cultural and social signiﬁcance of

buses as community hubs.

Discussing the poem’s inspiration, George the Poet said: “Buses have played a pivotal role in shaping who I am today. When I was young, I had a long commute between home and school, which introduced me to many life-long friends and helped form the foundations of my career as a poet.

“Working with First Bus on this piece of work has been a great reminder of the importance of shared spaces for our local communities, and opportunities for connection that they offer.”

You can check out George the Poet’s ‘ode to the bus’ at tinyurl.com/mrybmjm6.

Age of the train?

brand-new Platforms for Change badge.

Community Rail Partnerships from the two counties are delivering the new badge in collaboration with train operator Greater Anglia as part of the Community Rail Network’s Platforms for Change initiative.

Participating in activities linked to the railway can earn the groups badges in gardening, volunteering, nature, photography, and writing, in addition to the Platforms for Change badge.

So far, local Beavers, Cubs,

and Scouts have been busy at stations across Essex and Suffolk, engaging in activities like making bird boxes, creating art, planting ﬂower tubs, and learning about rail safety.

“The programme aims to engage and empower Scout groups across Britain through community rail activity, station projects, and rail conﬁdence trips. We look forward to seeing what the young people can achieve!” said Karen Bennett, Community Rail Network’s education and youth engagement advisor.

NEW COUNTRY, SAME PROBLEMS

You may recall our recent report on the High Speed Trains exported to Nigeria (PT311). Nigeria isn’t the only country to acquire a retired HST ﬂeet; a few trains have also found new life on a rail line in southern Mexico. However, one of these trains has encountered a familiar issue. It seems that 43007, still wearing the classic 1970s British Rail HST blue and grey livery applied by CrossCountry before its withdrawal from service in the UK, recently collided with a car which ignored the stop sign at a level crossing. Luckily, nobody was hurt, but plus ça change and all that.

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George the Poet

Badges for Beavers