Festive Transport Developments

Time away from the Internet over the Christmas period, coupled with work commitments has meant very little has been added to the Transport of Delight blog. Below are details of yule-tide developments in the transport industry.

• Eurostar fares available throughout UK. Cross Channel train operator Eurostar has launched through fares to France and Belgium from 68 towns and cities in the UK. The high speed rail company's booking system has been linked with those of seven UK train operators: Virgin Trains, First Capital Connect, National Express East Coast, East Midlands Trains, Chiltern Railways, Hull Trains and London Midland so that travellers to the Continent only have to book one ticket for their entire journey.

• Travellers Choice go for more tri-axles. Carnforth-based John Shaw (trading as Travellers Choice) has placed an order for a pair of 14.1m Axial-bodied Volvo B12Bs having been impressed with the initial pair they had delivered earlier in the year. The additional length means a capacity of 65 can be achieved. Orders for six 12.6m 53-seater Volvo B12Ms with Jonckheere bodies and centre toilet and a Volvo B7R with 70 seats have been placed. Both LEYTR editors travelled on a Travellers Choice 70-seat Volvo B7R/Plaxton last summer on National Express service 664 from Butlins (Skegness) to Manchester; they are only suited to school transport, not to mainstream service where the average height of passengers exceeds 5'-4"!

• New station for Reading. Reading Borough Council has granted planning permission for the first privately-funded railway station in southern England for 50 years. Green Park station will serve the new south Reading business park, situated alongside the M4 motorway, and the Madejski Stadium. However, West Berkshire Council must also approve the plans as the station is sited across a local authority boundary.If planning permission is forthcoming, construction is expected to begin in the spring to allow the station to open by the end of 2008. The Department for Transport gave the green light for the project last year.

• LEZ for Bromsgrove? Bromsgrove District Council is considering implementing a Low Emission Zone in the form of a two-mile radius surrounding the town centre.

• Majority in favour of higher congestion charge for most-polluting cars. Figures published just before Christmas by the London Mayor's office show that two thirds of Londoners support proposals to charge cars with the highest greenhouse gas emissions £25 a day to drive in the central London Congestion Charge zone and abolish the tariff for the lowest emitting vehicles. The results come from polling carried out by Ipsos Mori as part of a recent consultation on the emissions-based charging proposals. The survey involved interviews with 3,620 Londoners of which around half lived within the existing congestion charging zone. The research found that 91% of those questioned said that they thought climate change was "important" or "very important". Two-thirds (66%) of respondents were in favour of the proposal upon which Transport for London has consulted, with 38% strongly supporting it. Some 21% opposed the planned charging structure.

• Plans for Victoria refurb set back after royal intervention. Plans to build a £2bn office complex featuring an upgraded bus and taxi interchange in front of London's Victoria railway station have been sent back to the drawing board after local councillors pointed out that the development would obscure views from the garden of Buckingham Palace. Planning officers from Westminster City Council have told Land Securities, the UK's largest property developer, that the height of proposed office blocks is not compatible with the adjacent World Heritage Site. The scheme was also criticised for not providing more benefits to the local community. Land Securities wanted to erect two 128-metre high buildings as part of an extensive redevelopment of the 13-acre site, which would provide Transport for London with the cash to upgrade passenger facilities. Development options for the site are restricted by existing underground railway lines and the safeguarded alignment for Crossrail 2, the proposed Hackney to Chelsea rail link. Meanwhile, TfL is gearing up for work to begin on a £509m upgrade of Victoria Underground station, which will expand the existing Victoria Line ticket hall and fund construction of a new north ticket hall by 2016. A planning application is expected to be submitted this month with a public inquiry scheduled to start in June 2008 and construction beginning in late 2009.

• Some of Arriva's Chester routes cut. Bus operator Arriva is withdrawing service 9 (Chester-Piper's Ash), which it had started initially as competition against then council-owned ChesterBus, which was later purchased by FirstGroup. Arriva has increased frequencies on two other routes on which it competes head-to-head with First.

• Ebbw Vales handover "farcical". Completion of one of the handful of current projects to expand the UK rail network has descended into farce after a last minute decision was taken to postpone the opening of the Ebbw Valley railway. Passenger services between Cardiff and Ebbw Vale had been due to run on Saturday 22 December for the first time in 45 years and this week arrangements were being made for an official opening ceremony to take place on Friday 14 December. However, in an eleventh hour rethink, the scheme’s promoter Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council said on 12 December that track and signalling issues meant the line was not ready to open to the general public. Handover officially took place at 0500hrs on 18 December, which means Arriva Wales can start driver familiarisation on the route for delayed commencement of passenger trains due to start in January 2008.

• Robin Gloag killed. One of the founders of transport operator Stagecoach was killed on 5 December after the car in which he was travelling crashed on a sharp bend and into a field near his home in Perthshire. Robin Gloag, ex husband to current non-executive director Ann Gloag was aged 64 and ran Highwayman Coaches of Errol.

• New East Midlands Parkway station begins. Construction of a new railway station serving East Midlands Airport began this week. The £25.5m East Midlands Parkway project, primarily funded by Network Rail with a contribution of £895,000 from East Midlands Development Agency, will see a station built near junction 24 of the M1 motorway. East Midlands Parkway will open in December 2008 and will be situated just off the A453 at Ratcliffe-on-Soar, one mile from the M1. It will include four platforms, step free access, a station building with ticket office and 850 car parking spaces. The station will be staffed and managed by East Midlands Trains and the train operator is contributing additional funding to bring the total number of car parking spaces up from the planned 500 to 850.

• Red Routes in London opened up to some taxis. Transport for London is to change the rules affecting the capital's red routes to allow licensed private hire vehicles to pick up and set down passengers. From Monday 17 December, 40,000 minicabs which display a new 'Private Hire' roundel sign on the outside of their vehicle will be allowed to pick up and set down pre-booked passengers, but not park and wait, on red routes. Although red routes only cover 5% of London's road network they carry up to 35 per cent of London's traffic. The new sign, which will remind Londoners that licensed minicabs must be pre-booked, is expected to be adopted by the majority of private hire vehicles operating in the capital.

• £1million on Eccles buses. Arriva has spent £1million on ten new low-floor buses for its entire Eccles bus routes, 13 in total. The Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority funds the routes too.

• East London line closes. The London Underground East London Line shut on Saturday 22 December, ending its spell as part of the iconic Tube network and allowing preparations to continue for its rebirth as part of the London Overground network in summer 2010. Over the next two and a half years, the line will be connected to a newly built stretch of line running from Whitechapel to Dalston in north east London while the current New Cross Gate terminus will be connected to the National Rail network in preparation for services to and from West Croydon and Crystal Palace. When work is complete the route will be know as the East London Railway and will form part of the Overground network overseen by Transport for London with new Electrostar trains run by the MTR/Laing concession. All existing East London Line stations will be refurbished.

• Stagecoach claims bus growth. Year-on-year passenger volume on Stagecoach's UK Bus services have grown by 3.9%. This is one reason behind a record order for 584 new buses to be built, primarily, by Alexander Dennis Limited (ADL). The order is worth £71million of which £49million goes to ADL for around 435 bodies and 300 chassis, the rest to Optare. The balance of 135 chassis bodied by ADL are MAN, Volvo and Scanias.

• Crossrail bill 'cleared' Commons. The hybrid bill which will allow construction of the London Crossrail link has cleared the Commons after nearly three years of debate. The £15.9bn scheme, the largest civil engineering project since the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, will provide a new rail route across the capital. Ministers say it will ease congestion, create thousands of jobs and provide a multimillion pound boost to the economy.The twin tunnels will support a 24 train per hour peak time service in each direction between east and west London, improving rail links between the West End, the City, Docklands, Heathrow Airport and the Thames Gateway.

• Sacked driver steals coach as revenge. An employee of Highwayman, Errol, run by the late Robin Gloag (see above), who had been sacked while he was off sick, stole a coach as revenge. David Dutchyn, 51 of Perth was caught on cctv taking the keys to the vehicle, which was later found at a service station in Cumbria, with Mr Dutchyn asleep on the back seat. He was given 12 months probation and ordered to pay £300 in fines.

• Strathclyde PT to look into an east-west subway link. Strathclyde Partnership for Transport is to commission a second stage study to investigate plans for an east-west Subway link. An initial investigation by consultants Grant Thornton has found the proposed regeneration link to be feasible and has estimated the cost at between £60m and £210m. On Friday 14 December SPT members agreed to fund a more in-depth study at a cost of £250,000 to look in further detail at the proposals which involve using disused railway tunnels.

• Nat Ex claimed "exceptional". "Exceptional" operational performance has been cited by National Express Group is the result of 6% like-for-like growth over the same period last year for both its bus and coach businesses.

• New train order from Porterbook. Rolling stock leasing company Porterbrook has ordered 27 next-generation Turbostar trains from Canadian manufacturer Bombardier Transportation. Porterbrook is buying 12 2-car and 15 3-car trains for GoVia's London Midland franchise at a cost of £92m. All units will be built at Bombardier’s Derby plant, with bogies being produced at Bombardier’s Siegen site in Germany, and will be delivered during 2010.

• London bus garages start to move. Bus depots in Waterden Road, Stratford, East London are taking place in order to make way for the 2012 London Olympics. Bus operator First vacated its Hackney garage (Waterden Road) on 15 December. Four routes have gone to its Dagenham garage, the remainder to its Lea Interchange (former Kentish Bus) depot. Also on Waterden Road is a garage belonging to the East London Bus Group, ELBG, (used to be Stagecoach London), which houses Citaro articulated buses for use on service 25 - and a training centre - moved on 28 December to Rainham, on land previously owned by Ensignbus, but purchased by ELBG in 2006. The final depot on Waterden Road, also owned by ELBG, will move to be merged with its West Ham depot at the end of February.

• EasyJet to expand in the north-west. Budget airline EasyJet is to open a new base at Manchester Airport and expand its operations across the north west of England. EasyJet currently operates eight aircraft from Liverpool John Lennon Airport, offering a choice of 20 routes to main city airports across Europe and carrying around 2.5m passengers a year. By 2010, the airline will base a total of 10 aircraft in Liverpool but it will also establish a new operating unit in Manchester. This will make EasyJet the biggest airline operating in the north west, carrying more than four million passengers each year.

Brylaine accident

On Christmas Eve at around 1000hrs a 4-month old VDL/East Lancs double decker belonging to Wyberton-based bus operator Brylaine Travel was in collision with a small truck on Main Road in the village of Sibsey, Lincolnshire. Four people were injured and were taken to the Pilgrim Hospital, Boston for medical attention. As can be seen from the photo above, the vehicle suffered significant damage.

Ironically, both LEYTR editors were stood at the spot in Sibsey where the accident took place weeks earlier trying to capture a special shot for the 2008 magazine covers.

Bus and coach travel still remains significantly the safest form of travel in the UK.

Grand Central's grand start

Today saw the start of a brand new rail operator, Grand Central, operating direct trains between Sunderland-London King's Cross. Grand Central is an open access operator, effectively meaning the company can operate services between any points on a route subject to it being physically possible. Hull Trains, who operate along some of the same route are also an open access operator - the UK's first, though soon after the term 'open access' was introduced, any company operating any UK rail franchise was allowed open access. East Midlands Trains, for example, have pledged to operate a direct Lincoln-London service, so too have National Express East Coast.

At 0646 this morning the first direct passenger train from Wearside to London departed, the first such departure for just under 20 years, and reached King's Cross at 1032.

Upon arrival in King's Cross the train will operate a return "short" trip to York, departing London at 1127 (arr York 1319) and returning from York at 1405 arriving in King's Cross at 1602. The final journey is from King's Cross at 1650, arriving in Sunderland at 2035. This is only a temporary timetable, with a full schedule coming into operation during 2008 when the company has received the remainder of its rolling stock. Click HERE to see the Grand Central timetable.

All Grand Central’s Sunderland to London services will call at Hartlepool, Eaglescliffe (for Teesside), Northallerton, Thirsk and York. After the Christmas/New Year holiday they will all feature a full restaurant service, open to both first and standard class passengers. Free WiFi connection throughout the train will be fitted in January. The new Grand Central services will open up new journey opportunities to the capital for passengers from Sunderland, Hartlepool, Teesside and York, and provide an opportunity for business and leisure travellers from south east England to make direct journeys to the Tees Valley and Wearside.

The launch of services today is a landmark achievement for Grand Central, which faced opposition from train operator GNER and the Strategic Rail Authority during its seven-year battle to become Britain's second open access rail operator. In the past 12 months it has been forced to repeatedly postpone the launch of services due to delays to the refurbishment of High Speed Train rolling stock.

I particularly like the Company's tag line as printed on their timetable page: "The train you've been waiting for." Haven't we just!

Farewell to GNER

8 days ago saw the end of the line for train operator Great North Eastern Railway (GNER). The "East Coast" franchise that the company had been operating since 1996 was taken over by National Express, who at the same time adopted its new livery to be applied to almost all its transport businesses in the UK.

Initially awarded as a 7 year franchise in March 1996, GNER's parent company Sea Containers, based in Bermuda and operator of the Orient Express, began operating the East Coast franchise on 28 April of the same year.

James Sherwood, Sea Containers' chairman, chose the name Great North Eastern Railway in order to keep in with the route's proud history; adopted in this vein was the first and lone example amongst modern rail operators in the UK of a heraldic-style badge or crest and applied these to the centre of each of its coaches. These badges are to be sold to the highest bidders.

The GNER livery was designed by Vignelli, New York stylists (New York in the USA not the one in Lincolnshire) and the livery was initially applied to some mk4 carriages and all HSTs as brass castings rather than vinyls. The GNER lettering was applied over the 'midnight blue' livery in gold though in 1999 there were some white letterings to be seen on some trains where the blue was showing through under the gold, though this was readdressed soon after.

GNER won the franchise in the recently privatised railway by promising to improve the service in the following way:

• Improve business travel facilities
• Improve access and security at maintained stations
• Maintain train mileage operated in 1995/6 for two years with a view to increase it thereafter
• Refurbish all existing rolling stock
• Provide a buffet and trolley service on all trains with an on-board restaurant
• Increase car parking spaces
• Establish coach links between Bradford-Wakefield and Newark-Leeds
  
  

In the LEYTR area, we commented at the time that the setting-up of a coach link between Newark-Lincoln where a good rail service was already being provided seemed very strange and were somewhat concerned that this might be the way of the new privatised rail industry - not joined-up in the slightest.

However, and in addition to the above GNER increased the number of restaurant cars from 66 to 90. The number of train journeys increased too from 100 weekday trains in 1996 to 136 as National Express took over in December 2007.

Sea Containers bought the unique and experimental class 89 (89001), having spent a rumoured £100,000 in restoring it for main line operation in 1996, painting it into GNER livery soon after; it was withdrawn at the end of 2000 and is stored at Barrow Hill now.

Many techniques were employed in the early years of the franchise in order to meet the demand, one of the most interesting (and also forms the front cover photo for all LEYTR magazines during 2005) was the introduction of Eurostar trains (class 373/3) on 20 April 2000 between York-London. Up to five sets were leased from Eurostar, though the pantograph tension needed to be maintained at 300km/h which resulted in trains being limited to 110mph north of Grantham. Three of these sets were painted into GNER livery while two remained in the white, grey and yellow Eurostar livery and were dubbed the "white whales". From May 2002 the trains received clearance to travel north of York to Leeds. I travelled on one of these sets once and thought they offered a very stylish interior, with the air con vent by the passenger window though only one door per carriage (14 carriages per train) saw "dwell times" (I believe the phrase is) at stations increase. The trains returned to Eurostar in December 2005, with additional HSTs replacing them. A Eurostar class 373 is depicted below.

During 2002 the class 91 electric trains and the mk4 sets were approaching 10 years old and so GNER decided to overhaul them in a project named Mallard. The entire 302 vehicle fleet received brighter interiors, at-seat power sockets, air conditioning and disabled toilets. Such was the extensivity of the overhaul that the last set didn't enter service until 9 December 2005.

GNER's maintenance took place at their Bounds Green, Neville Hill and Craigentinny depots, with the two HST sets used on the Inverness-London service being maintained by ScotRail under contract. The Eurostar trains returned to that company's North Pole depot for servicing.

In January 2002 GNER was granted a short extension to its franchise up to April 2005; it had wanted a 20 year extension as Virgin was mounting a counter bid. So keen to keep other operators out, GNER chairman Chris Garnett put in an extremely high bid of £1.3 billion to keep out rival bidders Danish State Railways; Scottish & North East Railway; a consortium comprised of Virgin, Stagecoach and Deutsche Bahn; and First London. GNER retained their contract, running from 1 May 2005 to 31 March 2015, with operation beyond 2012 depending upon performance targets being met.

But the 7/7 bombings in London, increased services operated by open access operator Hull Trains and the setting-up of newcommer open access operator Grand Central plus parent company Sea Containers running into financial problems spelled the end of GNER and on 25 July 2006 Sea Containers filed for bankrupcy protection in the USA. Just under 6 months later, on 15 December 2006, GNER announced it could no longer continue to operate the franchise. Four offered to replace GNER and were First Group, National Express Group, Inter City Railways Limited (comprised of Virgin & Stagecoach) and Arriva Trains. Interestingly, GNER themselves placed a 10% steak in Inter City Railways. National Express were announced as new franchise operator on 14 August 2007, taking over the franchise from GNER on Sunday 9 December 2007 through to 31 March 2015.

At the end of the franchise, GNER operated 31 class 91 electric trains with mk4 stock, 27 HST power cars with 95 mk3 trailers. 11 HSTs are used on non-electrified services to/from Inverness, Aberdeen, Harrogate, Skipton, Bradford and Hull, which enables the class 91s to operate the new backbone of the East Coast franchise: Leeds-London.

National Express' new livery is applied to this ex GNER HST, 43238, taken on the first day of the Company's operation. Eventually the entire GNER fleet will be painted into this livery with a much smaller "East Coast" applied to the sides. NX's other main rail franchise, 'One', is to be re-named National Express East Anglia and painted into an identical livery to the above HST. The Company's coaches are to be painted into a similar livery.

Photos: Shaun Bamford (class 91), Jamie Squibbs (class 89), Carl Hodgkinson (class 373/3), Northumbria Transport (HST-GNER) & Guy Houston (HST-NEEC).

Recent Transport Developments

• Tracky depot to close. The Upper Sheffield Road, Barnsley depot belonging to Stagecoach Yorkshire is to close before the end of next year, with the 80+ vehicles moving to the nearby Wakefield Road depot, still within central Barnsley. The latter depot was an operating base from Traction subsidiary Barnsley & District. The sale of the main Barnsley depot to developers was already agreed prior to the company being purchased by Stagecoach. The Upper Sheffield Road depot opened in 1902 when the town's first electric trams operated, with other buildings added during the 1920s.

• SWT overhaul complete. South West Trains and rolling stock leasing company Porterbrook have completed a £67m refurbishment programme of SWT’s Class 455 fleet. The rolling stock upgrade has been ongoing since 2004 with 91 units getting a makeover. This has included providing a new livery, CCTV, passenger information system, reconfigured seating, cycle storage, wheelchair space and an electrical overhaul. The first refurbished unit was welcomed back into service on 5 Nov 2004 and the last unit should return to Wimbledon Traincare Depot shortly before Christmas. SWT says the programme was accelerated to ensure it would have a completely updated fleet by the end of 2007. SWT has been criticised by passenger groups for removing seats and toilets from suburban trainsets in order to increase the passenger capacity of carriages.

• 12-day-rule loop-hole to be overturned? In April this year, amendments to the EC Drivers' Hours (Regulation 561/2006) saw minimum weekly rest specified as having to be taken at the end of six consecutive working days at the very latest; prior to this drivers had been able to work 12 consecutive days with their weekly rest periods at both ends of this stint. This loop-hole closure, while benefiting drivers significantly from employers wanting to enforce them to work excessive hours, has been seen as detrimental to the whole Coach Industry to the point that a recent vote by the International Road Transport Union (IRU) voted by 536 to 22 to have this loop-hole resurrected for international coach journeys. Industry watchers have cited the likelihood of having this concession granted as "not a cat in hell's chance", since all EU Member States would need to agree.

• Skipton-Colne rail line to re-open? Options for reopening the railway between Colne and Skipton have been set out in a report published by SELRAP - the Skipton East Lancashire Rail Action Partnership. The line, which is viewed as one of the frontrunners among rail reopening proposals in England, has seen its business case strengthened by government plans to improve public transport links between northern cities and introduce road-pricing coupled with improved public transport in nearby Greater Manchester. Four service options are costed: An hourly Skipton to Colne shuttle is quoted at £860,000 a year; an hourly Skipton to Blackpool South, based on an extension of the existing service from Colne, is priced at £830,000; an hourly Skipton to Blackburn service, in combination with the existing Colne to Blackpool South service, is said to cost between £2.41m and £3.36m, depending on timetabling options; and finally an hourly Skipton to Manchester Victoria service, in addition to existing services, is priced at £6.25m.

• Preston MP attacks Stagecoach. The Preston MP Mark Hendrick used Parliamentary privilege on 27 November to specifically attack bus operator Stagecoach for trying to "kill off the local employee-owned Preston Bus". He added that last summer Stagecoach made it known they wanted to purchase Preston bus but that it was clear to the employee-owned firm that this would result in significant job losses and so declined. Stagecoach's Regional Director, Tom Wileman, was quoted as saying that "if it did not sell, Stagecoach would take its business away". The MP went onto say that Stagecoach had been "deliberately" offering misleading information about their rival, claiming that they planned to increase fares when they weren't and that they were likely to cancel some services. Two Stagecoach drivers have been convicted of throwing eggs at Preston Bus vehicles. Fellow MP, Graham Stringer (Manchester, Blackley) echoed the critical remarks of Mark Hendrick naming Stagecoach as a "subsidy junkie and a predator, and it engages in anti-competitive behaviour". Stagecoach North West's Managing Director, Christopher Bowles, said that the Group's Chief Executive, Brian Souter, had met recently with Transport Minister Rosie Winterton and told her that he has no with to put Preston Bus out of business.

• St Helens re-vamp opens. The completion of building works which form part of a £6m revamp of St Helens Central Station in Merseyside has been officially marked by transport minister Rosie Winterton. On 3 December the minister visited the Pilkington glass-fronted 'signature building', which has been designed to complement the neighbouring George Street conservation area and blend in with its surroundings. The station includes a new booking and ticket office, lifts, a footbridge for improved access, cycle parking, digital CCTV and new customer information systems. A 120-space park and ride, including dedicated bays for blue badge holders, is being built on the site of the former station building and is due for completion early in the New Year.

• Hutchinson Coaches to close. Coach operator Hutchinson Coaches of Overtown is to close at the end of the year. This is the result of the sale of its bus side of the business to First Glasgow from last July, which saw 20 vehicles and 50 members of staff included in the sale. Following this the firm, which still retains an O Licence for 54 vehicles, owns 12 coaches (4x Scania Irizars, 2x DAF Van Hools & 6x Volvo Van Hools), which will pass to Moseley Distributors for sale.

• Larkhall-Glasgow Sunday trains secured. Strathclyde Partnership for Transport is to pay the cost of running Sunday train services on the two-year old railway line between Larkhall and Glasgow for a year from Sunday 9 December.The decision, which will cost SPT £110,000, means trains will run from 0925 until 2240 every Sunday between Larkhall station and Glasgow Central via Merryton, Chatelherault, Hamilton Central, Hamilton West, Blantyre and Rutherglen. Train operator First Scotrail announced the line would gain a Sunday service in the run-up to Christmas but this will now be maintained throughout 2008 with a view to making the arrangement permanent.

• Pennine to reap M&S rewards! North Yorkshire bus operator Pennine Motors of Skipton has secured a deal with Marks & Spencer which sees the multi-national store open a new store on land developed by and rented from the bus operator. The rental will quadruple the Company's financial support to their local bus services. The 17-vehicle, 23-employee bus business claim this has secured the firm's survival for "as long as we want to stay in business". Ironically fewer bus passengers now wish to leave their locality now a M&S has been built!

• Bus passenger 'Champion' announced. Proposals to create a bus passenger champion have been published by transport minister, Rosie Winterton. The new champion would provide a more influential voice for bus passengers, who currently have no formal national representative. To ensure the champion meets the needs of bus passengers the Department for Transport has launched a public consultation on the plans. The consultation paper, Options for strengthening bus passenger representation, can be found on the DfT's website by clicking HERE. This document examines whether a standalone bus body is the best approach or whether the role should be handed to an existing body such as Passenger Focus. Any new body would need to reinforce, not undermine, existing non-statutory bodies which represent bus passengers' interests. The consultation runs until 17 March 2008.

• Transdev Blazefield order Volvos. An order for 18 Volvos, ten B9TLs and eight B7RLEs has been placed by Transdev Blazefield, for delivery during 2008. The 10.5m, 70-seat B9TLs will have Wrightbus Eclipse Gemini bodies (almost identical to those EYMS have received recently) and are for the Company's Yorkshire Coastliner operation, replacing the 4 deckers and 6 singles currently allocated to the services. The B7RLEs will have 44 seats with Wrightbus Eclipse bodies and operate in and around Keighley on their Keighley & District operation. All vehicles will boast air conditioning - the B9TLs will feature a public address system.

• Second showcase bus route opened in Bristol. Bristol's second showcase bus route was officially launched on Tuesday 4 December, with local school pupils marking the occasion by releasing 42 prize-winning balloons, each one representing a new bus that will travel along the route. The second showcase route runs from the Old Market interchange with Temple Way eastwards towards Kingswood and Hanham. It follows the launch of Bristol’s first showcase scheme in 2005, which connects Henbury, Southmead and Hartcliffe. Since it was launched, passenger numbers on the route have increased by 12% and an estimated 1,200 fewer cars are travelling along the A38 each week. The number of trips being made by bicycle has also increased by 11%.Ten showcase bus corridors are planned for Bristol with the aim of providing travellers with a more reliable, fast and efficient service. Under the Showcase 2 scheme upgraded pedestrian facilities, such as wider pavements and additional pedestrian crossings, have been installing along the route.

• Unfortunate accident in Peterborough. As vehicles were leaving Stagecoach's depot in Millfield, Peterborough this morning (6 December), a collision occurred between three low-floor Darts, a fuel-tank barrier, the Company's engineering van and a driver's 14-day old Mini Cooper. The multiple collision took place on the Company's premises and Stagecoach are looking into how the chain of events occurred.