Discounts for passengers supplying cooking oil

Bus, rail and tram firm Stagecoach has launched an environmental initiative that will allow passengers to exchange used cooking oil for discounted bus travel. Eight vehicles at the firms Kilmarnock depot will be converted to run on 100% biodiesel manufactured from used cooking oil and other food industry by-products, resulting in an expected 82% cut in carbon dixoxide emissions. Crucially, the bio-diesel is produced from tallow and used cooking oil, both of which are sustainable sources that do not involve the destruction of natural habits or compete with the human food chain.

All households on the Service 1 (Stewarton-Kilmarnock-Darvel) - a route which carries around 15,500 passengers a week - will receive a free container to recycle their used cooking oil. It can then be taken to East Ayrshire Council’s recycling plant at Western Road, entitling customers to a voucher for money off their bus travel.

The single-deck Bio-buses, running under the slogan 'do your part, be bio smart!', have been fitted with bespoke dual fuel tanks as part of the project undertaken with Motherwell biodiesel business Argent Energy. Argent Energy, which operates the UK’s first large-scale biodiesel plant, will provide bulk fuel storage at Stagecoach’s Kilmarnock depot for the duration of the six-month trial and will supply all the biodiesel. The Bio-bus initiative is expected to result in an annual saving of 960 tonnes in carbon emissions.

Brian Souter, Stagecoach group chief executive, said: “This innovative project is a great opportunity for our customers to play their part in saving the planet by recycling household products that would otherwise go to waste. I’m sure the idea of cheaper travel in exchange for the used contents of your chip pan will capture people’s imagination.

“Bio-energy is an excellent renewable fuel, which has a number of environmental benefits, and we are delighted to carry out the first UK trial of this technology on a commercial bus service. We are looking forward to assessing these vehicles and the potential of this technology for our bus operations in the UK.”

Jim Walker, operations director of Argent Energy, said: “We are delighted to work with Stagecoach on this ground-breaking trial. I am pleased that Stagecoach has recognised the importance of using biodiesel made from the by-products of other industries and from the left-overs from our everyday lives.”

The buses involved in the trial have MAN engines and Alexander Dennis bodies (as featured above). The dual fuel tanks have the capacity for 184 litres of biodiesel and 40 litres of mineral diesel. From first start up in the morning, the buses will run on mineral diesel until the normal engine operating temperature is achieved a process that takes no more than 10 minutes. The system then automatically switches over to biodiesel, which powers the vehicles all day.

Stagecoach currently uses a blend of 5% biodiesel in more than 4,300 vehicles, covering around 60% of its UK Bus fleet. Last year, Stagecoach conducted the first UK trials of a bioethanol-fuelled bus outside London to evaluate the technology that can use sugar beets to power vehicles. The pilot study covered Liverpool, Barnsley, Sheffield, Newcastle and Manchester.

In the LEYTR area we are no strangers to biodiesel fuelled vehicles, with local bus and coach operator Hunts of Alford converting two of their fleet to run on biodiesel: an 02-reg Volvo B7R and an ex-Trent Optare Excel L1170.

Photo: Raymond Khan

Recent Transport Developments

• Massive investment by Stagecoach. Stagecoach is introducing 108 new Euro4 spec Alexander Dennis Trident 2s with Enviro400 bodies into Manchester and a further 20 into Cambridge for the Park & Ride services there. This will enable two-to-three year old Tridents to cascade to other fleets within the UK and enabling concentration of vehicles with Euro4 spec in certain localities. For example in Cambridge, the S-reg Tridents ousted by the Enviros have gone to Devon to upgrade service 57 there.

• Imperial Wharf station costs increase. The cost of building a new station at Imperial Wharf on the West London Line has risen by a further 22% since a funding package was agreed in summer this year. Construction of the station has once again been postponed as the project's price tag reaches £7.93m and promoters, Hammersmith and Fulham Council, consider how to plug a £1.4m funding gap. This is the latest in a series of cost escalations and delays for the two-platform station, which was priced by Railtrack at £1.75m in 1999. Since then figures have been revised to £3m in 2003, £5.1m in September 2006 and £6.5m in summer this year. H&F Council says this is partly in response to construction price inflation and rising contractor rates but the main "bone of contention" is the soaring project management cost now being budgeted for by Network Rail, which will oversee construction of the station by contractor Fitzpatrick.

• O Licence cuts for Stagecoach. The Yorkshire group of bus operator Stagecoach has had its O Licences cut by the Deputy Traffic Commissioner for the Eastern Area following problems with maintenance.

• Derby Dial-A-Ride ends. Derby Community Transport has ceased operating its Dial-A-Ride service in late September due to driver shortages and financial losses.

• New Shepherd's Bush station opening delayed. Network Rail has confirmed that no opening date has been agreed for the new £12m station at Shepherd's Bush. Construction of the station on the West London Line has been completed but it has now emerged that the western platform is 18 inches too narrow and there are doubts as to whether it is wide enough to accommodate the number of passengers expected to use the interchange. The station forms a crucial link to the new White City shopping complex, which is due to open next year and will then be the largest urban shopping centre in the UK. Car parking for the centre has been restricted to 40% of the expected number of shoppers with developer Westfield committing to fund a series of public transport improvements, including the new Shepherd's Bush station on the West London Line, to make it easy for shoppers to access the site without travelling by car.

• The new-look Solo launched. Optare has launched a new Solo model that borrows a number of styling features from the Versa, its larger sister vehicle. The new Solo SR is initially presented as a premium option at the top end of the range, although it is likely to replace the existing Solo in the future. It will be available at 8.9m and 9.6m lengths with a choice of SCR or EGR engines Mercedes-Benz OM904 at 115kw, MAN D0834 at 132kw or Cummins ISBe at 150kw.

• Thameslink upgrade starts. Work will get underway this week to lengthen platforms at Luton Airport Parkway, the first station to be upgraded as part of the £3.55bn Thameslink upgrade programme. Platforms at Luton Airport Parkway will be extended by 50% to accommodate 12-car trains. The station is the first of around 50 on the Thameslink route north of London that will need platform extensions. Major engineering work to build a new double-track viaduct carrying the railway over Borough Market in London is scheduled to begin next year for completion in time for the 2012 Olympics. The project - which will remove a rail bottleneck by providing a new viaduct across Borough Market to supplement the existing track – is intended to tackle overcrowding and support economic growth in London and the south east by increasing rail capacity. The Thameslink programme will be delivered in two phases, with extra capacity by 2011 and the full scheme up and running by 2015. When completed it will allow 12-car trains to operate up to 24 times an hour through central London with expanded routes to additional stations outside the capital. The government has also agreed to buy new rolling stock for the route, which takes the total project cost up to £5.5bn.

Recent Transport Developments

• No fare rises to pay for Crossrail. Mayor of London Ken Livingstone has confirmed that there will be no fare rises on the capital’s public transport networks to pay for the Crossrail project. Instead Mr. Livingstone appeared to suggest that changes to interest rates could affect funding for the project. In a statement the Mayor said: “The financing model for Crossrail, as already announced, relies on £5.2bn from government, a supplementary business rate of 2p applied for 25 years to properties with a rateable value of more than £50,000 and the fare income from passengers on the route itself at standard Transport for London zonal fares - with a premium fare applying only to Heathrow airport. No fares increase in London is required.

• London's Dial-a-Ride to become free. Mayor of London Ken Livingstone is to abolish Dial-a-Ride door-to-door fares for older and disabled people living in the capital. The move is expected to benefit around 50,000 Londoners who currently pay to take a total of 1.2m journeys a year. Dial-a-Ride is a minibus door-to-door transport service provided by Transport for London for older and disabled people who cannot use buses, trains and the Tube. It is used for everyday journeys that are taken for granted by people who use mainstream public transport. Following the Mayor's announcement, services will be free from 1 January 2008. Carers travelling with disabled and other people on Dial-a-Ride services will also travel free.

• Driver who caused passenger death has been bailed. On 25 April bus driver Ishmail Ahmed, 42, ran into three passengers waiting for his bus at a bus stop in Mortlake, South London. The three passengers were part of the same family. Elizabeth Panton, 65, was killed, her daughter Sarah Hope, 35, was injured and her daughter, two-year old Polyana lost part of her leg. Mr. Ahmed is facing a charge of causing death by dangerous driving and two counts of unlawful and malicious wounding.

• Direct London-Amsterdam trains halted. Plans for a direct London-Amsterdam train service have run into further difficulties after the Dutch government announced that the opening of a new section of railway for high speed journeys would be delayed indefinitely. Thalys trains between Amsterdam and Paris were due to start using new, dedicated track between Amsterdam and Rotterdam from December this year and run at up to 160km/h as a precursor to 186mph between the French and Dutch capitals, scheduled to start in October 2008. However, in a letter to parliament last week Dutch transport minister Camiel Eurlings said that the plan to start 160km/h running in December was "dangerous". There is now no date fixed for the Dutch part of the high-speed link to open.

• NX expand in Spain. National Express Group says its trading is "in line with expectations" when it announced the completion of its purchase of Spanish bus operator Continental Auto at a cost of £449.7 million. The deal, which had been agreed last April has been given unconditional clearance by Spain's Council of Ministers. Combined with another NX-owned company in Spain, Alsa (acquired in December 2005), passenger numbers for the Company there are expected to exceed 142 million annually with around 2,100 Spanish vehicles being owned.

• Glasgow's Subway expansion possible? Glasgow's Subway could be extended to link the West End to Celtic Park as part of the first phase of an expansion of the city’s underground rail network. The new £670m line could be built in time for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, which Glasgow is bidding to host. It would replace a previously proposed second Subway circle around the East End which is expected to be shelved because of the £2.3bn estimated cost. If Glasgow's Games bid is successful, the opening ceremony would be held at Celtic Park, with an indoor sports arena and velodrome due to be built nearby. By using disused tunnels, promoters say an east-west line would be cheaper than a new circle. It could also use faster tram-type vehicles instead of trains.

• First 'blitz' Sheffield. The UK's largest transport operator, First Group, have undertaken an advertising 'blitz' in Sheffield, promoting the firm's bus services in the city. 33 posters have been placed at strategic areas of the city, with three key messages highlighted (price, network and investment).

• New image for Cardiff Bus. Although recent news from bus operator Cardiff Bus has been of potential sale of some of the council-controlled firm, some good news has been reported of a new brand applied to some of its vehicles. Designed by Best Impressions, 15 new Scania OmniCity vehicles have entered service on routes 28, 29 & 30. The vehicles boast air conditioning and have GPS satelite tracking linking them all to the Cardiff Bus control centre and also to bus stops along the routes giving real-time arrival information. Cardiff Bus are also taking delivery of 13 Scania NUDs with East Lancs Olympus bodies (Darwen Group).

• New bus link for Liverpool. A new city centre bus link, designed to support next year’s European Capital of Culture celebrations, has been unveiled in Liverpool. The S1 service, launched by official ’08 partners Merseytravel and Arriva on 14 October, will offer visitors to next year’s festivities an easy and convenient way to take in the city’s main tourist attractions. It will operate alongside the less frequent S2 and S3 city centre circular services. S1 buses will run every 10 minutes throughout most of the day, including weekends. The current Arriva flat fare of £1.40 will apply for the S1 service and all existing Merseytravel and Arriva Day and Weekly Tickets will also be valid. Highlights of the circular route include the Philharmonic Hall, Cavern Quarter and St Georges Hall, while all major public transport links – Lime Street, Queen Square, Norton Street (coach station) and the Pier Head (for Mersey Ferry crossings) – are also served by the S1. The project has been delivered by a partnership between Arriva, which operates the S1, S2 and S3 buses, and passenger transport executive Merseytravel.

• More late buses for Nottingham. Nottingham City Transport will introduce 8 late-night weekend services to its 'Go2' brand of services on 30 November as part of a re-launch of its night bus network.

• Bendy-bus Inquiry. London Liberal Democrat MEP, Baroness Sarah Ludford, has asked EU Commissioner, Jacques Barrot, to look into concerns about the high number of accidents concerning articulated buses on the streets of London. Mrs Ludford claims the Mercedes-Benz/Citaro buses have a 75% higher accident rate when compared to all other types of TfL-permitted bus.

• IoW bus boom. Southern Vectis (owned by Go-Ahead) and the main bus operator on the Isle of Wight has increased this year's Winter timetable following significant passenger growth. The company claims passenger numbers have increased by 45% in 18 months, justifying the 60% increase in the level of service it provides on the island. However, underlying growth (excluding the surge in concessionary free journeys) is lower at 14%.

• Arriva's Swadlincote depot is to close. At the end of the year bus operator Arriva has announced that its bus depot in the Derbyshire town of Swadlincote will close with all vehicles and drivers transferred to nearby Burton on Trent. All jobs are secured and there are no plans to alter local bus services.

• New East Midlands Airport bus link. Airlink Coalville 155 bus service from Arriva Midlands has been launched in partnership with Leicestershire County Council and East Midlands Airport. Buses operating in a special branded livery serve the Airport seven days a week between 0400-2400hrs and offer direct journeys to/from Coalville, Castle Donington and surrounding villages.

• More B9TLs for EYMS. Local LEYTR operator, East Yorkshire Motor Services, is so impressed by its Wrightbus Eclipse Gemini-bodied Volvo B9TL deckers that it has placed an order for 20 more - the firm's largest ever single order for one vehicle type. This compliments additional vehicle orders EYMS announced two months ago, the additional B9TLs are due to arrive in the Spring.

• Uniformed Glasgow bus timetables. Strathclyde Partnership for Transport has reached an agreement in principle to produce all bus stop timetable information on behalf of bus operator First Glasgow. Once finalised, the agreement will mean that First Glasgow will pay SPT to take responsibility for the production and distribution of roadside information at more than 11,000 bus stops. Under the Transport (Scotland) Act 2001, SPT currently sets the standards for the way bus timetable information is presented to the public. Commercial bus operators voluntarily provide and maintain timetables and bus stop information panels, while SPT provides the necessary information for its subsidised services. Although First Glasgow does provide the required information, compliance with the Act across Strathclyde is only around 40%. When an operator does not comply, SPT is required to provide the necessary information and then recover the cost from the operator.

• Darwen Group use Bus & Coach Live to set out its stall. Andrew Brian, Chief Executive of the Darwen Group, hailed the timing of the Bus & Coach Live show as "the perfect platform for us to roll out the Darwen brand". A new brand image for the company was on display at the Show and despite planned redundancies Mr. Brian was confident that its new, larger premises, increased output and the launch of its first hybrid vehicle would put it in good stead. Two current East Lancs bodies - the Esteem single deck and the Olympus double deck - continue to be the Darwen Group's core products and are expected to take the business forward.

• New Arriva website. Arriva Bus & Coach has launched a new website with details of its history, rental details, finance, service, parts and stock at www.arrivabusandcoach.co.uk.

• Acklams' new Panther. Beverley-based local operator Acklams has received its sixth new 12.3m Volvo B12B/Plaxton Panther vehicle and the latest arrival's first visit was to take local cricketers to the NPower National Village Cup final at Lord's. Acklams started as a taxi business over 50 years ago, moving into coach operations on a small scale in the 1970s. The firm now operates 16 coaches - one of which may feature on the 2008 cover of LEYTR.

• Illigal limo petition launched. A petition has been started on the Downing Street website calling for proper enforcement against illegal limos with the capacity to carry 8 or more passengers. The petition is sponsored by Gareth Griffiths, proprietor of Pontyclun, Mid-Glamorgan-based GG Carriages who calls on the Prime Minister to, "Question the Police and VOSA as to why they are failing to enforce these laws: Is it incompetence or corruption?..."

• TV4 open. Network Rail’s £350m Trent Valley four-tracking project to widen the West Coast Main Line through Staffordshire has reached a key milestone with one of the first stretches of new railway to be constructed being used by trains for the first time. The new track opened this week is a 1.5 mile stretch linking Armitage with Handsacre, which is now supported by existing signalling equipment. It is the longest single stretch of new track to be opened so far in the Trent Valley four-tracking project. New sections of track have already opened over the River Tame near Tamworth and at Huddlesford. As well as widening the tracks there are 37 structures to be replaced or modified as part of the Trent Valley project. The majority of the engineering work on these structures has now been finished and the project itself is now over 75% complete.

• Bus driver 'flasher' loses PSV licence. John Robinson, a First bus driver from Leeds, had his PSV licence revoked indefinitely by North Eastern Traffic Commissioner Tom Macartney at a Leeds Public Inquiry following Mr. Robinson 'flashing' near Leeds bus station on 30 November 2006 in front of a woman and her two-year old daughter. He was convicted of disorderly behaviour. Mr. Robinson claimed he had been to the toilet and after re-dressing himself had inadvertantly left his penis exposed. He claims he was in conversation with someone and his rain coat may have "swung open" allowing his penis to become visible, but was unable to explain why, if this was so, he was unable to realise he was exposing himself at 1430hrs on a "quite cold" November day.

• Drug-smuggling coach driver. Charles Colefax of Leeds appeared at a Public Inquiry in Leeds just over five-and-a-half years ago and was convicted of smuggling 49kg of heroin in his coach from an international trip taking people to a pop concert and sentanced to 12 years in prison in January 2002. He was released on parole on 19 March this year and applied for his PSV licence back. Last year a Deputy Traffic Commissioner had revoked his application to re-apply for his licence stating it was too soon to apply when still in prison. Now released and aged 57, he is awaiting the decision of North Eastern Traffic Commissioner, Tom Macartney.

• Fort William station upgrade completed. Fergus Ewing, Minister for Community Safety and MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber has unveiled a plaque to officially open the new look Fort William railway station on 17 October, which has undergone a £750,000 refurbishment programme. The refurbishment work is the result of a partnership between First ScotRail, Transport Scotland and HITRANS - the regional transport body for the Highlands and Islands. External and internal improvements have included replacing the toilets, upgrades to the left luggage facilities and ticket office and the introduction of five new showers. New flooring has been laid throughout and lighting across the station has been enhanced. Passengers will also benefit from improved facilities on board the Class 156 trains which operate to and from Fort William as a result of a refurbishment programme currently underway.

Stagecoach Peterborough pay offer

A two-year deal has been offered as follows:

Year 1 (April 2008-March 2009)
An increase of 45p per hour (or Inflation, whichever is greater) to all rates but also an increase of 7 minutes to the unpaid meal break allowance (currently 45 mins) to 52 minutes. This will place drivers on the following pay rates:
£8.63 - Senior (employed pre 1995)*
£8.00 - citi (employed post 1995)
£8.20 - National Express
£8.25 - Outstation (March, Oundle & Holbeach Drove)*

Year 2 (April 2009-March 2010)
An increase of 50p per hour (or Inflation, whichever is greater) to all rates but also an increase of 8 minutes to the unpaid meal break allowance (currently 52 mins) to 1 hour. This will place drivers on the following pay rates:
£9.13 - Senior (employed pre 1995)*
£8.50 - citi (employed post 1995)
£8.70 - National Express
£8.75 - Outstation (March, Oundle & Holbeach Drove)*

The evening allowance applied to citi duties seeing time-and-a-half from 2130hrs to be brought forward to 2100hrs and applied to all duties (i.e. not just citi duties) finishing after 2230hrs, including the late-Spare duty.

Sick pay is unchanged at 65% of the hourly rate for each year, based on a basic 39 hour week.

National Express drivers have been given an additional offer for comparison: a 1-year deal of 28p per hour increase with 'no strings attached', taking that rate of pay to £8.03.

Training Rate will increase by 10p per hour in Year 1 to £6.50 per hour and will remain unchanged during Year 2.

* - ringfenced pay rates

Missing body

During the Summer, locally-owned coachbuilder East Lancs, so named as a result of their location, Blackburn, was placed into administration. The Darwen Group took control of the company and saved around 360 jobs, having a simple strategy: to revitalise the ailing firm's fortunes by promoting investment in key areas.

However, earlier this month the Darwen Group announced that it plans to move away from the traditional heartland of East Lancs in order to improve profitability with the potential loss of 97 employees.

Another aspect of the fall of East Lancs is ongoing in the LEYTR area with the delayed arrival of the third Volvo B9TL double decker to the bus firm Delaine of Bourne, Lincolnshire. Delaine Buses purchased the first-ever two Volvo B9TL chassis fitted with Euro4 standard engines. Both vehicles are fitted with the East Lancs Olympus body and have been received very well by the Company and their passengers alike.

Unfortunately, the third vehicle Delaine have had on order for some time, that was due to arrive in time for the Showbus Rally at Duxford, was delayed and there appears to be no end in sight to the delay. It has been reported that the body hasn't even been attached to the chassis and isn't at the current East Lancs plant at the moment. It has also been reported that the body left the site at the time of administration.

No doubt the Darwen Group and Delaine Buses are working together to take delivery of AD57 DBL with fleet number 143 as quickly as possible.

A copy of Delaine's current fleet list can be seen by clicking here.

Recent Transport Developments

• New bus Neasden-Paddington bus service. A new bus service - route 332 - launches in London on Saturday 13 October. The 332 will run between Brent Park Tesco in Neasden and Paddington. At the same time route 316, which currently runs from Kensington to Neasden will be shortened to run between Cricklewood Broadway and North Kensington.

• A shift in aviation tax. Aircraft rather than passengers are to be taxed under a new charging regime, announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in hi Comprehensive Spending Review, to encourage more environmentally efficient use of planes. Alistair Darling said climate change was one of the two "great challenges for this generation", along with combating world poverty. The Chancellor said air travel accounts for a growing share of carbon emissions and concluded that it was therefore right that aircraft emissions should become part of the EU emissions trading scheme. He added that aviation should make a greater contribution to counter its environmental impact.

• SWT to close 9 travel centres. Train operator South West Trains, part of Stagecoach Group, is to close nine of its 10 travel centres. Centres at Salisbury, Guildford, Bournemouth, Southampton, Weymouth, Winchester, Richmond, Poole and Woking will close with only the London Waterloo travel centre remaining open. The train operator plans to rent the space vacated by the travel centres to shop and catering outlets. A spokeswoman for SWT denied that the company, which has pledged to pay £1.2bn to the Treasury under its 10-year franchise, is making the changes to save money, claiming that passengers are now buying more tickets on the internet. She added that 194 ticket vending machines would be installed across the network next year and the services provided at travel centres will be available through telesales, the internet and at ticket offices. No jobs will be lost.

• Projection adverts on the Underground. London Underground and media company CBS Outdoor have begun trials of cross track projection advertising at Euston Tube station. Cross track projection is a new technology that allows moving advertising messages to be digitally projected on to the wall opposite station platforms in high definition, but without a soundtrack. An initial observation period by CBS and Tube staff will enable final testing of the system. Once complete, and provided the conclusions are satisfactory, the new technology will be rolled out to 24 major Underground stations with 150 units to be installed from early 2008.

• TfL to take over delivery of Crossrail. Transport for London is to take charge of delivering the £16bn Crossrail scheme, the government announced on 9 October. Cross London Rail Links, the 50/50 joint venture between TfL and the Department for Transport which has worked up plans for Crossrail Lines 1 and 2, will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Transport for London, subject to certain unspecified rights retained by the DfT that will "reflect the Department's contribution to the project". TfL, which answers to London Mayor Ken Livingstone, will also arrange to borrow billions of pounds to pay for construction of the project.

• New European Rail Traffic Management System announced. A nationwide, multi-billion pound project to roll-out the European Rail Traffic Management System across the UK railway network is due to begin in 2011, according to a newly published government strategy document. The ERTMS National Implementation Plan has been submitted to the European Commission to comply with a series of EU railway directives and commits the UK to installing the next-generation system on 72% of the National Rail network between now and 2038. ERTMS is currently being trialled on the Cambrian Line in Wales but once adopted on busier routes would have the potential to increase line capacity for a relatively modest investment in infrastructure. The technology would replace conventional trackside signals with high-tech beacons which would communicate with in-cab equipment, allowing trains to safely travel more closely together and potentially at higher speeds.

• Norwich-Cambridge line celebrates its 5th birthday. More than 670,000 people a year are using a direct train service launched five years ago. The Norwich-Cambridge rail link celebrates its fifth birthday this month with train operator One, part of National Express Group, claiming that use of the route has grown more than 35% since the first year of the service. The route was launched five years ago this week, following the award of a £9.2m grant from the Strategic Rail Authority under the Rail Passenger Partnership (RPP) scheme amid strong support from county councils, MPs, rail user groups, regional media and the business community who recognised the pressing need for a direct link between the two cities. Using new Class 170 diesel trains the service encouraged additional journeys by train and offered an alternative for motorists using the A11. Research carried out in the second year of operation revealed that 44% of passengers using the link said they would have previously travelled by car. The route has seen further improvements since its launch with the addition of an extra return trip each day giving 16 trains each way (32 trains in total) on Mondays to Saturdays, plus 10 trains each way on Sundays and additional stops at Brandon. At Wymondham part-time staff are now present on weekday mornings in an initiative to improve customer service and reduce vandalism.

• Public transport improvements & road-use charges for Bristol. Bristol has this week taken the next step towards securing a major package of public transport improvements and introducing some form of road-using charging. Authorities in the West of England have submitted a strategy document, entitled Our Future Transport, mapping out plans to improve the region’s transport links, to the Department for Transport. The move is part of a process which sees the four West of England Partnership authorities - Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire - uniting to express continued interest in developing a bid for a slice of the government’s £1.4bn Transport Innovation Fund early next year, subject to political approval.

Grimsby & Cleethorpes Station revamp

A £350,000 upgrade of Grimsby and Cleethorpes stations will be completed this month. North East Lincolnshire Council and train operator First TransPenning Express have funded the works, which have included providing 53 cctv camera, electronic information displays (that have read "under test" for the past week), four interactive help points and a new waiting room. Work on the waiting room has been partly funded by the Railway Heritage Trust which has provided cash to restore the building's ceiling to maintain its original features.

Martin Lear, principal transport officer at North East Lincolnshire Council, said: "We believe the new facilities we have installed together with TransPennine Express will be a real benefit to passengers as they will make it easier than ever before for them to keep up to date with day to day services. The new digital technology help points in particular really are state-of-the-art and will be a great aid to people who want to find out more about the town in general such as useful numbers and even places of interest."

Cllr Martin Vickers, cabinet member for environment at North East Lincolnshire Council, said: "As an authority we have been very pleased to contribute to what has been a major improvement programme at both stations to boost services. This scheme is a clear example of the benefits which can be achieved when the private and public sectors work in partnership to deliver improvements for customers."

Vernon Barker, managing director of First TransPennine Express, said: "This large investment should make a real difference to people in this area. It has been fantastic to work with the council on this project and we are sure that passengers who use these stations will appreciate the new and updated facilities."

Stagecoach East Midlands fleetlist

Click here to view the full Stagecoach East Midlands fleetlist, correct to late September 2007. The file is in pdf format.

Crossrail gets go-ahead!

The £300 million funding gap that ultimitely stood between the ultimate success or failure of London's Crossrail project, an east-west rail-link, was plugged today when London businesses agreed to pledge the money needed. Further details of this agreement is to be published in the government's Comprehensive Spending Review next week. The gap in funding represented only 2% of the total scheme, expected to cost around £15 billion.

The scheme, running from Heathrow Airport and Maidenhead in the west, through central London though underground via important stations such as Bank, Canary Wharf and Ealing Broadway, and out to the east, terminating at Abbey Wood and Shenfield, would see up to 24 trains per hour at peak periods and would become the largest rail infrastructure project in Europe.

Commenting on the government's green light, Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling said, "Crossrail is key to the long term development of London and the UK and I welcome the fact that everyone has worked together to achieve this. We are able to afford this investment on the foundation of a strong economy."

Mayor of London Ken Livingstone said, "Crossrail is not just a transport scheme – it is the key to the next 20 years of economic development of London. Crossrail will provide the transport underpinning for the greatest centres of London’s business – the City, Canary Wharf and the West End – as well as linking these areas of high jobs growth to the areas of greatest deprivation in east London and opening up the areas of new housing development in the Thames Gateway.

"Crossrail, like all good ideas, is simple. It gives the financial centres of London, the City and Canary Wharf, a single transport platform, links this to Heathrow, provides massive new transport capacity in the West End, and opens up the connection to the areas of housing development in the Thames Gateway. It passes through most of the areas of highest job growth in London. The station at Whitechapel provides a junction to the East London Line – which passes through the areas of London’s greatest deprivation. With a capacity twice that of the Jubilee line, and expanding London’s rail capacity by 10%, it is the largest addition to London’s transport system for more than 50 years. It will touch the lives of millions of Londoners whether they are travelling to work, going to the West End to shop or for the evening out, travelling to Heathrow or living in East London – and by providing the transport backbone of the internationally competitive businesses of London it will aid the whole UK economy.

"It is a tremendous, £16bn, internationally recognisable vote of confidence by businesses and government in London’s economic success. In the seven years since I have been Mayor delivering Crossrail has been by far the most important transport project I have sought to deliver, working together with London’s businesses and the government, and I regard today’s statement as a tremendous combined achievement of all those who have worked for it and one of the most important announcements London could have."

There are numerous pdf files avaiable to view, all showing different takes on how Crossrail will provide an integrated transport system within London - see all of them by clicking here to go to the main Crossrail website or click below for the two which I think best depict the route services will take.

Basic route map showing all Crossrail stops (pdf 192kb)

Map showing actual routes taken in a regional format (pdf 341kb)

Recent Transport Developments

• East Lancs to move? Darwen Group-owned East Lancs Coachbuilders plan to move away from the Blackburn area in a bit to improve the ailing firm's profitiablilty. 97 of the firm's 360 staff have been told they could face redundancy.

• New bullet train for UK. Train manufacturer Hitachi Europe has shown off the first six-car Class 395 'bullet train' for Southeastern high speed domestic rail services at a ceremony to mark the opening of the company’s new train depot in Ashford. Hitachi's Ashford Train Maintenance Centre will create more than 100 jobs and includes a five track maintenance shed, incorporating a double road bogie and equipment drop pit and a heavy inspection road. It also has carriage washing plants, a bio-hazard pit for the safe removal of waste, a 25kV test track and a tandem wheel lathe. Additionally, the depot includes stabling facilities for rolling stock operating on Southeastern mainline services.The depot will house the first Class 395 unit, which has been manufactured in Kasado, Japan. A further three trains are currently being assembled and will be delivered over the coming months to undergo testing on the High Speed 1 line between Ashford and St Pancras and on the existing Kent rail network. The remaining 25 trains will be delivered in 2009.

• Roadliner's new company. Poole-based coach company Roadliner Passenger Transport launched a new company on 1 October called Victory Tours, to complement its existing operation.

• Rossendale's new commuter service. A member of the Greater Manchester Bus Operator's Association (GMOA), Rossendale Transport, has commenced a new bus service between Weir-Manchester, in a bid to encourage car-users in the Weir, Bacup, Whitworth, Rochdale and Middleton area to leave their vehicles at home. If forms part of the GMOA ethos to provide "truly integrated and improved public transport network". The service has been branded 'City Smart'.

• No decision yet on BSOG. Despite the increase in fuel, imposed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer last Monday, the DfT has yet to decide whether the level of Bus Service Operator Grant (BSOG), also known as Fuel Subsidy Rates, a tax break in a repayment form paid for 'live' (in service) mileage operated by local bus operators, will increase at the same amount as the cost of fuel. Peter Shipp, the Chief Executive of local LEYTR bus operator East Yorkshire Motor Services, hit out at the delay in a decision, saying that his costs could rise by £150,000 if a decision isn't made.

• Comments welcomed by OFT for GoVia venture. The OFT have invited comments about the Go-Ahead joint venture, GoVia winning the West Midlands Rail Franchise.

• Coach departure charge at Stansted. Stansted Airport will impose a £8 departure charge on all coaches picking passengers up within the grounds of the BAA-owned airport. Drop-offs are free. Currently no charge is made. See further down for improved rail links to the airport.

• Maynes to sell-off bus operation. Maynes of Manchester have split their business into two: Maynes Coaches of Warrington and its bus unit has been prepared for possible sale. The Company was formed in 1920 and currently operates 40 buses on commercial and tendered bus services from its Ashton New Road depot in Manchester.

• LEZ for Oxford? Another city has shown an interest in a Low Emission Zone, this time Oxford. The proposals have won strong support from the two major bus operators in the area, COMS (Go-Ahead) and Stagecoach, as well as being backed strongly by the local paper.

• New Enviro300s for Barnsley. Stagecoach Yorkshire are to introduce 34 of the first, fully integral ADL Enviro300 buses to its Barnsley network from December. These are the first vehicles in an order by Stagecoach to see the ADL Enviro300 on the MAN 18.240 chassis.

• Bus Rapid Transit approved for Bath. Bath is to get a bus rapid transit route as part of a £51m upgrade of public transport in the city which has been provisionally approved by the government this week. The Department for Transport will contribute more than £48.85m towards the £50.86m cost of the Bath Public Transport Package, which has been designed to improve nine major bus routes into the city and provide better park and ride facilities. The bus rapid transit corridor will connect an expanded park and ride site at Newbridge to the west of the city with a new 800 space park and ride site at Lambridge to the east. The route will include a 1.4km segregated section using a disused railway line between Brassmill Lane and Windsor Bridge Road. Elsewhere it will use bus lanes with priority measures at traffic signals.

• New Stourbridge bus station planned. Centro (West Midlands Passenger Transport Authority) has submitted plans for a new £2.5 million bus station in Stourbridge to Dudley Council. If approved the new facility would have 11 stands, a bus layover bay, indoor waiting areas, electronic information screens, cctv and help points.

• Improved off-peak rail services to.from Stansted. An extra 13 Stansted Express services a week will run from 9 December 2007 as improved night time working measures implemented by Network Rail allow more time to run passenger trains. The new extended timetable will help meet increased demand from business and leisure travellers, in particular at peak times (Fri-Mon), and will provide greater choice for people on late arriving or early departing planes to travel via rail using Stansted Express – the fastest way to and from the airport and central London. A further nine additional earlier and later trains will also run on the West Anglia route, providing extra trains to stations including Bishops Stortford, Cambridge, Harlow Town and Sawbridgeworth as part of the initiative.

• Rapson Licence cut. Rapson's subsidiaries Orkney Coaches & Highland Country Buses has seen a cut in its number of permitted O Licences from 61 to 55 following a Public Inquiry before the Scottish Traffic Commissioner, Joan Aitken. It followed a series of mechanical failures and poor reporting procedures between drivers and mechanics.

Showbus photos uploaded

It took just under 8 hours to upload 406 photos to my fotopic. As mentioned previously, none have their image numbers altered as it would have taken far too long to do. I took more than 406 shots on the day, removing duplicate photos and ones with peoples' shoulders in have whittled it down to this amount. Click here to have a look at them.

Hull strike threat ended

Fears that another strike 'on the buses' in the East Midlands could have occurred, have been quashed with drivers at Stagecoach's depot in Hull accepting their latest pay settlement, though by a slim margin of 107 for and 77 against.

The timetable of strike action coincided with the annual Hull Fair and would have caused unimaginable problems to Stagecoach had all services been suspended on these dates. Strike action had been planned for 5 & 6 October (Hull Fair) and additionally 8-13 October inclusive.

The offer accepted represents a 9% pay rise in real terms over a 2 year period and sees drivers with more than 12 months continuous service at the depot be paid the following (rates in brackets are for drivers with less than 12 months continuous service):

£7.63 (£6.70) from 30 April - 1 December (inclusive of back-pay)
£7.83 (£6.85) from 2 December - 3 May 2008
£8.03 (£7.00) from 4 May - 20 September
£8.13 (£7.10) from 21 September

Enhancements have been made to auxiliary payments, including Leading Drivers & Driving Instructors receiving £4 per day; Route Mentors receiving £2 per day; Spreadovers will attract a daily payment of £3.75; drivers of post-midnight services on Fri/Sat nights receive £5 per duty; and First Aiders receive a weekly £3 payment.

Recent Transport Developments

It is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain a weekly transport update due to work and social commitments, so the updates are being altered to become less regular (sometimes more than one post a week, sometimes fewer) - hopefully maintaining (or improving) the amount reported.

• Capital's Cross River Tram project partially delayed. London’s Cross River Tram project is unlikely to be completed before 2020, according to the capital’s Mayor, Ken Livingstone, who went on to say that his instructions to Transport for London, in shifting the focus of tram scheme development from the West London Tram project to the Cross River Tram, was to approach the latter scheme in two parts. Ken Livingstone said: “We will proceed to build the Cross River Tram south of the Thames. Once that is complete and has demonstrated that it works we will move on to the second phase of the project.” When asked when he expected the northern section to be completed the Mayor said “2020 at the earliest”. Click here to see a map of the proposed routes.

• GMPTE opts for Beck-style rail map. A new colour map of the local rail network, similar to the world-famous London Underground map, has been launched by Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMPTE). Sixteen colour-coded train routes are shown on the map, which also includes the Metrolink tram network, major bus interchanges, station car parks and cycle facilities. Click here to see the map. The new Greater Manchester rail map has been included in the latest edition of the free public transport booklet, Connecting People With Places. GMPTE has printed 20,000 copies of the booklet, available in Travelshops and ticket offices. People wanting to use the map to explore different areas of Greater Manchester can buy a Rail Ranger ticket, allowing unlimited travel after 0930 on weekdays, and all day at weekends and on Bank Holidays. It costs £3.50 a day for adults and £1.75 a day for children under 16.

• Nottingham rail station re-vamp. East Midlands Development Agency and the Greater Nottingham Partnership have agreed to provide £1.5m to take forward work on a plan to revamp Nottingham railway station and the surrounding area. The grant, together with funds from other partners including Nottingham City Council and Network Rail, will be used to progress the business case for the project, known as The Hub, and carry out design work. The proposed changes to the station include encouraging new commercial development for mixed use in and around the station, including retail opportunities; restoring the Edwardian station frontage; creating a new travel centre, toilets and passenger information points; building a new concourse directly connecting the station with Nottingham Express Transit Line One and Phase Two; constructing a new multi storey car park; and implementing new traffic arrangement enforcements to the public realm to improve bus, cycle, pedestrian and taxi access around the station and upgrading the area’s environment.

• Glasgow-Edinburgh rail line to be electrified. Scotland’s Glasgow to Edinburgh mainline is to be electrified, but hopes of creating Britain’s second high speed railway have been dashed after the Scottish Government's transport advisers said a new high-speed line would cost at least £7bn and be poorer value for money than upgrading the existing route. Instead, ministers have confirmed plans to increase services on the main line via Falkirk from four to six an hour and cut some journeys to less than 40 minutes. The project, which would involve electrifying the route, would take nine years to complete and cost between £500m and £1bn. Money to part-fund the scheme has been released by scrapping the Edinburgh Airport Rail Link.

• Oyster Card travellers receive discounts. Mayor of London Ken Livingstone has announced a reduction in the price of bus fares for Oyster users, from £1 to 90p, and a reduction in the price of a weekly bus pass from £14 to £13. The changes further widen the gap between cash and Oyster tariffs with the £2 single cash fare now costing more than double the price of the same journey made using an Oyster smartcard. A single Tube fare in Zone 1 is currently £1.50 when paid by Oyster compared to £4 if cash is used.

• 24-hour bus to the Dome. Transport for London has announced that from 29 September 2007 the 472 bus service, from the O2 arena in North Greenwich to Thamesmead will run 24 hours a day throughout the week. The route will provide a half-hourly service throughout the night improving night time links from the O2 arena to Woolwich, Plumstead and Thamesmead. In addition, the frequency on the route will be increased to a bus every six minutes on weekdays with a bus every 10 minutes in the evening from Monday to Saturday. Weekend services are increasing in frequency to provide eight buses per hour during Saturday daytimes and on Sundays an extra bus per hour during shopping hours and in the evening, bringing the total to six.

• More off-peak Manchester services from First. Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority has welcomed an initiative by bus operator First to introduce new early morning and evening journeys on more than 20 local services later this month. Members of the Transport Network Committee heard that the improvements include extra evening trips to and from Manchester to the Trafford Centre. Additional early morning and evening journeys will also be introduced to services in Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Tameside and Wigan.

• Last 2% funding needed for London's Crossrail project. Speaking at the Labour Party conference in Bournemouth on 26 September, Mayor Livingstone appealed to businesses to provide the "last few hundred million pounds" required to fund Crossrail. He said ministers working on the funding package had received financial commitments only 2% short of the £15bn total price tag. "We just need the last few hundred million pounds from the city corporations," said Livingstone. "If you don't offer it up voluntarily they [the government] might give me the power to raise it," he added. If built, Crossrail would provide an east-west rail link across London. Trains would run from Maidenhead and Heathrow Airport in the west to Abbey Wood and Shenfield in the east. In central London trains would travel through deep tunnels, with stations at Paddington, Bond Street, Tottenham Court Road, Farringdon, Liverpool Street and Whitechapel. If funding for the scheme is approved this year, the first trains could run in 2015.