Take Back Control Act would streamline path to greater bus powers with a presumption in favour of franchising for all local transport authoritiess The Labour Party has announced plans to take significant steps to reform bus services in England if it wins the next general election, claiming that “decades of failed deregulation have left communities with little say…
Issue 288 of Passenger Transport is published on May 5. Contents include: LEAD STORY Labour would presume in favour of franchisingTake Back Control Act would streamline path to greater bus powers with a presumption in favour of franchising for all local transport authorities NEWS Cost of HS2 at Euston only revealed last yearHS2 Ltd chief executive Mark Thurston told…
‘We are here to build the largest intercity coach network’ McGill’s has added 18 high specification Volvo 9700 coaches to its FlixBus services, in addition to the existing seven vehicles FlixBus launched its expanded Scottish network last week with celebrations and free cake at Edinburgh bus station. The move comes not long after the global intercity coach service brand…
My rough estimate is that open toppers are worth £30m a year. The bus industry does them well – but what more can be done? East Yorkshire’s open top Beachcomber buses returned on April 1, running up to every 20 minutes between Scarborough’s North and South bays Never mind the weather being murky, happy days are here again…
Labour’s recent announcement on buses was about who controls the levers. There was no mention of money or other support Last week’s policy announcement from the Labour party on buses means both main parties are now devoting time and space to this key method of public transport. This is very welcome, not least because until recently, the…
A passenger who types in ‘cheap train tickets’ to any search engine will get a wide range of pages offering tips and tricks to get those prices down (including our advice of course). From where and when you buy them to where you change trains, the savvy shopper can save a lot of cash on a long-distance journey. But it…
What makes a good journey for passengers? We’ll all have our own ideas and preferences. When I’m travelling by train for work I want space to get my laptop out and a good view out of the window. If I’m catching a bus into town I look for a frequent service and a good value ticket. What almost every passenger…
Last week, the Transpennine Route Upgrade entered a very busy period of work, with a nine day rail blockade at Morley Station, meaning disruption for passengers and closures of stations, routes and the use of rail replacement buses. As the rail passenger watchdog, we were out and about observing many of the temporary changes that passengers experienced. Travelling on a…
Transport Focus has been reviewing the online information available to rail passengers in the run up to this week’s strikes affecting many train companies in England. I’m glad to say that we’ve found good practice in a number of places. Overall, though, the information is frustratingly in need of ‘sharpening up’ to make it as simple as possible for passengers…
We’ve been following up to see if earlier suggestions to make rail strikes information clearer for passengers have been taken on board. There’s been action in some places, but we found there was still room for improvement: Our suggestion to use graphics more, making things easier to see ‘at a glance’ have been acted on. Since we looked ahead of…