Yearly Archives: 2023

Christmas cheer for public transport!

London’s buoyant retail and hospitality sectors has spurred public transport recovery in the capital. Outside of London, bus groups reveal ‘very encouraging’ year-on-year passenger growth of 5-10%  Bus use is up by 8% in London   The festive period has brought encouraging signs of continued recovery in public transport passenger volumes. Transport for London in particular is continuing to bounce…

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Reflecting on a year of growth

First Bus has set the groundwork to enter 2024 with strong momentum, and continued investment  Janette Bell: ‘We’re on a mission to get more people to use the bus’  By Janette Bell At First Bus, we’re on a mission to get more people to use the bus – so unsurprisingly this has been the driving force across the business throughout…

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A quarter century of caring for customers

  For almost 25 years Anthony Smith has represented transport users. He’s about to move on and leaves behind a strong legacy  Anthony Smith received the ‘Lifetime Contribution to Transport’ award at this year’s National Transport Awards   The internet was just a novelty, text messaging was starting to replace pagers, compact disc players were in their pomp, Connex ran…

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We need one last Christmas cracker

  Capital investment in transport across English cities is welcome, but we must not forget London. Its success must be maintained  50 year old Bakerloo line trains being maintained   I am writing this column after our work Christmas party, which was held in Manchester. Unfortunately, the Urban Transport Group team didn’t get invited to the Chanel Metiers d’Art that…

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$12B Brightline West new passenger railway advances (RailwayAge)

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) has authorized construction and operation of a modified alignment of the high-speed passenger rail project proposed by private-sector firm Brightline West, subject to environmental mitigation measures. Brightline West says its planned 218-mile passenger rail service will run from Las Vegas to Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., with 96% of its alignment within the median of the I-15…

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HS2 – A High Speed Beeching

We have noticed a plethora of different analyses and realisations of the impacts of the recently-announced HS2 Phase 2 cancellation. Initially, there was a new article about it almost every day. Lately, it has slowed to every week or two. So, on top of our own analysis, we add a summary of these other predicted impacts. In brief, the government’s…

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It Seems Inescapable …

 … Politics and Transport Some of fbbs readers may remember the positive vibes that accompanied privatisation and deregulation proposals back in the early 1980s. Bus Companies would be free to run what the people wanted, their buses going where the people wanted and at a cheap fares held low because of competition. In rural areas  local operators would be free…

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New Battery-Powered Very Light Rail Train Trials (RailTechnology)

A new deal announced this week will pave the way for trials of innovative lightweight passenger trains that run entirely on battery power. The trains, known as Revolution Very Light Rail (RVLR) vehicles, are expected to carry passengers within three years and could significantly reduce emissions on Britain’s railways. Eversholt Rail, a leading rolling stock owning company, has signed contracts…

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It’s A New Railway …

 … And All About The World Cup. fbb might be 81 in 2026; but who knows when the call to a Glorious Eternity might come. If he has not “passed” (really silly euphemism); if he has not been “taken” (almost as silly); of he is not dead (much better as it is the truth!) fbb is unlikely to be too…

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