Tram-Train trials

An innovative form of public transport called a 'tram-train' is to be trialled for the first time in the UK on a the ever-growing 37 mile stretch of the Penistone Line between Huddersfield-Barnsley-Sheffield.

Five new tram-trains, which can run on both railway tracks and tram lines, will replace conventional trains currently used on the Penistone Line; tram-trains are lighter and greener than conventional trains; they use less fuel and weigh less, which reduces wear and tear on tracks therefore decreasing the need for disruptive maintenance works. Tram-trains have faster acceleration and deceleration rates so they can also offer passengers better journey times.

The trial will commence in 2010 and will last for two years. It will look at the operating costs, environmental benefits and technical suitability of the tram-trains as well as gauging how popular the vehicles are with passengers on the route. A second phase could also be possible, which would test the vehicles on the Sheffield Supertram system to see what additional benefits the vehicles can deliver when extended onto city centre tram lines.

The project is a partnership between the DfT, Northern Rail and Network Rail and seeks to establish whether tram-trains similar to those operating successfully in Europe are suitable for Britain's railway network.

The manufacturer of the five new tram-trains has yet to be decided, with Northern Rail (owned by Serco-Ned Railways) planning to run a competition to decided which manufacturer to use. All five vehicles will be leased. Network Rail have signalled that they will spend around £15k in track improvements and alteration to stations in readiness for the trial.

Transport Secretary, Ruth Kelly, is quoted as saying: "Tram-trains will bring quicker journeys and offer a greener travel option for passengers in Yorkshire. This trial, the first in Britain, could herald the start of a new era in public transport. Passenger feedback is a vital ingredient in determining the success of the trial and I look forward to hearing what the people of Yorkshire think about the comfort and reliability of tram-trains."

The Penistone Line, one of the most successful Community Rail Partnerships, has been chosen for the trial because it offers the chance to test the tram-trains on a route that in part is for passenger trains only and in part for passenger and freight trains.

Terminal 5

In the early hours of last Thursday (27 March), Heathrow's brand new Terminal 5 opened for business with the arrival of the 0450 plane from Hong Kong.

The airport cost £4.3 billion to build and was funded by BAA. Completed on budget and to time the new building is capable of handling 30 million passengers a year. Some of the projects undertaken in the building of T5 included moving the 900-tonne top cab of a new 87m high control tower 2km across the airfield; tunnelling over 13km for rail and baggage links; diverting two rivers; installing over 30,000 square meters of glass building facades and erecting the UK's largest free-standing building.

The complex boasts 60 new aircraft stands, plans for two satellite buildings (one has been built the other projected for completion in 2010); direct rail links to the Tube and Heathrow Express and a multi-storey car park. It is to be solely occupied by British Airways, who plan to move virtually all their long-haul flights from neighbouring T4 over the next month with only a very small number remaining at T3.

The project was vehemently opposed by local residents and environmental groups and was only given the go-ahead following the positive outcome of a record-breaking expensive four-year Public Inquiry, running from 1995-1999.

However "teething problems" with the hi-tech automated baggage handling equipment saw a large number of delays in arriving passengers claiming their luggage and flights leaving were subject to delays; there were 36 cancellations. Worse was to come on Friday (28 March) when an estimated 20% of flights were cancelled while BA and BAA struggled to catch-up with the backlog of luggage they had.

BAA and BA have yet to provide a full explanation for the disruption experienced by passengers. However, the luggage problems are understood to have resulted from a shortage of staff airside with British Airways workers unable to keep pace with the automated conveyor baggage system which moves luggage from check-in desks to airline bays. BA staff were reportedly delayed by security checks and problems finding parking spaces. As a result, the underground conveyor system became clogged up even though the fast bag drop inside the terminal was working as planned.

Nationwide free travel for the under-21s

As if the forthcoming free concessionary scheme wasn't complicated enough, Labour MP for Bury North, David Chaytor, has called for a nationwide scheme to benefit people under the age of 21 who are in education and training. He commented, "It makes obvious sense in terms of encouraging young people to use the bus and the train more, to reduce congestion on our roads and of course to help with the problem of climate change by reducing pollution and carbon dioxide emissions."

A similar scheme exists in London for under-18's.

However, the proposal has met with criticism and concerns by Unions and Head Teachers, in particular citing London as an example which has seen a rise in violence and graffiti since the scheme was introduced there.

Peter Kavanagh from Unite commented that the scheme had put his members, buses and passengers in danger, "There's a spectrum which at one end does involve our members being spat at, punched at, kicked, bricks through windows. And at the other end of the spectrum of course is the unruly and anti-social behaviour that unfortunately some young people do engage in."

A spokesman for TfL responded, "Crime is committed by only a small minority, and we are working extremely hard to tackle this element."

No comment was made as to how the proposed nationwide scheme would be funded.

NatEx's BIG secret

Free concessionary travel on a nation-wide scale within England is introduced next Tuesday (1 April) and with it comes something the UK's most popular coach operator and world-ranked 179th Superbrand would rather you not know. Around 20% of National Express' coach services are registered as local bus services and qualify as services that must allow free concessionary travel. The following Q&A should shed some light......

Why do National Express register their services as local bus services?
If an operator, any operator, runs a PCV service that has gaps of a maximum of 15 miles between stops, Bus Service Operator Grant (BSOG) can be claimed by registering the route as a local bus service.

What is BSOG?
As we mentioned in a recent blog entry, BSOG is a form of fuel rebate paid for by the government to bus and coach operators. Within England the rate is 41.21 pence per litre (against the price many bus operators pay for their fuel - estimated to be around the 90-95 pence per litre mark). This payment can be worth a substantial amount of money to bus and coach operators and in recent cases brought before a Traffic Commissioner, often the first form of punishment is to prevent an offending operator from claiming BSOG for its services for a set period.

So how do we know which NatEx routes are affected?
Good question! It is not being widely advertised, actually it almost certainly will not be advetrtised at all, although we plan to upload a file showing which routes have registered sections. In a few cases, sections of routes that are less than 50km have not been registered for reasons known only to NatEx, but generally if you wish to go from A to B and at no point travel more than 15 miles between any consecutive bus stop along the full length of your journey, you should be able to travel from free on NatEx services, provided you comply with the National Guidelines for free concessionary travel, i.e. between 0930-2300 weekdays and at any time during weekends and bank/public holidays.

Give me some examples!
Okay, within the LEYTR area these are the registered sections within NatEx services:
Service 322 (Brecon) between Scarborough-Bridlington
Service 322 (Swansea) between Hull-Scunthorpe and between Mansfield-Nottingham
Service 350 between Manchester Airport-Grantham and between Stamford-Peterborough
Service 390 between Leeds-Bradford
Service 447 (south) between Lincoln-Peterborough
Service 447 (north) between Grantham-Lincoln
Service 448 between Grimsby-Peterborough and between Peterborough-Stamford
Service 449 between Mablethorpe-Peterborough
Service 534 between Hull Docks-Beverley and between Sunderland-Newcastle Airport
Service 562 between Beverley-Scunthorpe
Service 563 between York-Whitby

Did NatEx want this?
We suspect not. Last year they briefed their workforce saying they only anticipated services within Cornwall as being affected by the forthcoming free local travel on a nation-wide basis, as these Cornish sections of route operate as local services - in many cases being the only services linking settlements in that area. It would appear that the DfT have not given NatEx any special dispensation, preferring the "you want to claim the BSOG then you have to accept free concessionary travel!" line.

So I just turn up at the permitted time with my pass do I?
Yes. So long as it's one of the new-style English concessionary passes, baring a rose in the top-left and a hologram on the right. Drivers have a special form to complete, taking details from your pass, in order for NatEx to claim back your fare. Just make sure the section you wish to travel on is registered - we suggest you telephone them to confirm your journey, they won't be legally able to lie or not answer you.

They'll get all of it back will they?
No. As with all bus and coach operators, they will only be reimbursed the agreed percentage by the local authority in whose area each journey commenced. Taking North-East Lincolnshire Council (NELC) as an example, a passenger boarding Service 448 in Grimsby for a free ride to Peterborough would expect to pay £15.60 if they were paying an adult fare. NELC will reimburse NatEx 60% of this fare - £9.36. The percentage differs from local authority to local authority, some paying less than 50%! A journey in the opposite direction (Peterborough-Grimsby) would be reimbursed to the tune of 70% (£10.92) by Peterborough City Council.

Any strings attached?
Free travel is only permitted if sufficient space is available on the coach and free travellers will board last. NatEx are understood to be lobbying the DfT in order to get this situation overturned and should they be successful we'll let you know, but until they are, happy travelling!

Keep an eye out down the left-hand side of this blog for the Registered Sections file for all NatEx services in England.

Routemasters in Nottingham!

The once familiar icon of London, the Routemaster bus, is set to take to the streets of Nottingham!

From 7 April, Bellamy Coaches will use Routemasters to operate a six day service between the city and Arnold via Sherwood and Carrington. This will be known as service 20 and will start at Parliament Street in the city, running from 7am to 7pm Monday to Friday, every 20 minutes. On Saturdays the service will run every 30 minutes, from 7am until 5.30pm.

Director Karina Murray commented, "The buses are part of the British heritage. People always remember the older buses, but this was something that faded out in the 80s and 90s. We wanted to put Nottingham back on the map and reintroduce the buses on a regular service. Research has found buses with a driver and conductor could provide a more efficient service. Passengers do not have to wait to pay the driver, therefore getting on and off is much quicker and the bus is not stationary for long periods."

The company will also be using the buses for day trips to Crich Tramway Village, Home of the National Tramway Museum on May 25 and 29.

BSOG reform planned

The government plans to reform the Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) later in the year, something widely welcomed – with reservations – from bus operators. Transport Secretary, Ruth Kelly, is thought to want the BSOG replacement to focus more on the current climate, specifically congestion and accessibility as well as benefit those operators who offer smartcard infrastructure and offer GPS data informing passengers when their next bus will arrive.

Payments in BSOG will total £413 million this year, forming part of the government’s £2.485 billion support given to the bus industry.

The rate at which operators are paid the BSOG is 41.21p per litre and hasn’t altered since September last year, when fuel duty was around the 50p per litre mark. With fuel prices increasing steadily since then, operators were keen to see the BSOG increase, but while the government hasn’t ruled this out for England, operators in Scotland and Wales have been told by their devolved parliament/assembly that they will not see a rise.

There are six proposals contained within the government’s reform package:

1. Cap BSOG at a minimum fuel efficiency level, on a litre-per-km basis.

2. Move to a new distance-based payment with 100% rebate for low carbon buses (offering 30% lower CO2 emissions than standard diesel buses of the same passenger capacity).

3. Devolve BSOG payments to areas undertaking Quality Contract, for example South Yorkshire and London.

4. Tiered rates of BSOG based on service quality and performance, linking this with smartcard ticketing and GPS ‘next bus’ schemes.

5. To pay BSOG in arrears.

6. To offer additional BSOG to operators demonstrating SAFED – safe and fuel-efficient driving, giving a 12% fuel saving on average.

In the long-term we understand the government wants to tie-in concessionary fare reimbursement with the BSOG and to move towards a per-passenger payment as well as devolving all subsidies to local authorities.

Bus operators have until 5 June to make their views known. The full consultation document can be downloaded here.

Recent BUS/COACH developments, no 3

• Rennies sold to Stagecoach. Rennies of Dunfermline, a long-established coach operator based just north of the city in Wellwood, has been purchased by Stagecoach East Scotland for an undisclosed sum. Rennies has an annual turnover of £2.3 million and being unusual for a Stagecoach acquisition, operates virtually no regular stage-carriage bus services, instead concentrating on coaching/private hire work. The firm has a mixed coaching fleet including Mercedes-Benz Touros, Dennis Javelins, Volvos and BMC 850 Clubs. Stagecoach has been quoted as saying they will continue to operate this firm under its current identity and have no plans to change the current make-up of the business.

• Possible sale in Huddersfield. Arriva has entered discussions with Stagecoach Yorkshire about the possibility of purchasing Stagecoach's bus business in Huddersfield. Arriva, trading as The Huddersfield Bus Company, has won recent new tenders in the area and has applied for a 35-vehicle O-licence at the current Penistone Road depot used by Stagecoach.

• Optare sold to Jamesstan Investments. Optare, the UK's third largest bus manufacturer with operations in Leeds and Hellaby, was sold to Jamesstan Investments, a company controlled by north-east entrepreneur Roy Stanley, for an undisclosed amount. Optare was formed in 1985 following Leyland's decision to close its Roe body-building plant in Leeds. Optare went on to produce many very recognisable body designs: Delta in 1988, Spectra double-decker in 1992, Optare's integral Solo launched in 1998 and the Alero in 2001. Optare and other operators joined a co-operative called United Bus from 1990-1993 when this collapsed and a second management buy-out occurred; they were then sold to North American Bus Industries in 2000 with yet another management buy-out in 2005 following problems in America before being sold earlier in the month to Jamesstan Investments.

• Award for First. First's North Staffs and South Cheshire bus operation won the 2007 ACES Public Transport Service award. During January First ran 99.31% of its scheduled services - higher than that required by the Traffic Commissioner, and start-of-journey punctuality was 96.73%, again higher than that required by the TC.

• They just bounce off. Manchester-based Bluebird has halved its replacement glass costs following smashed windows, caused by brick-wielding youths, by using polycarbonate sheets - the same material used in riot shields. In a two-year period, Bluebird made 300 reports to Police following smashed windows to its buses. The sheets cost £250 each and is making considerable savings on the firm's reported £2,000-a-month glass bill.

• Redbys in liquidation. Sunderland-based Redby Coaches went into voluntary liquidation last week, with debts of £450,994. Redbys was sold to Go North East last month who had wanted to continue operating the firm separately, as a coach-only business. Redby Coaches was formed in 1946 by Fred Stratton and had remained a family business throughout.

• 116 caught flouting bus lane. In a two-hour period during a morning peak period, Police caught 116 motorists flouting bus lane rules in Norwich at Brazen Gate. A number of those caught were repeat offenders though all were issued £30 fixed penalty notices.

• The Kings Ferry MD steps down. Steve O'Neill, The Kings Ferry MD, has stepped down after 18 years in that position with the company. His resignation comes 4 months after the firm was purchased by National Express. Mr. O'Neill plans to take six months off to recharge his batteries before returning to NX as a consultant working on strategic projects until the end of 2008.

• CPT warns of "shrinking of England's bus network". The Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT) is warning of commercial bus service withdrawals, higher adult fares and tender prices, all as a result of changes in the way local authorities reimburse bus operators over the concessionary free fares scheme in England. The CPT's concerns were contained in a letter to the DfT, which was leaked to Local Transport Today trade journal. The CPT's chief executive Simon Posner warns the DfT that, "there is a very real danger that the most visible effect on the Government's generosity to older and disabled people will be the substantial shrinking of England's bus network. Routes that are extremely popular with older and disabled people will not be able to cover their costs even if buses are full."

• Cross-Forth Wi-Fi trial. Stagecoach is trialling free Wi-Fi on its cross-Forth bus services to/from Edinburgh in an attempt to increase patronage. The technology, costing around £36,000 has been fitted to vehicles operating services 53, X54, 55, X58, X59 and X60, which carry around 400,000 passengers each week. Stagecoach runs 32 services an hour across the Forth road bridge.

• First's BoltBus operation. From 27 March First will launch their equivalent to megabus in the USA with BoltBus. Fares start from $1. Initially eight returns journeys will operate between New York-Washington DC and from next month additional services linking New York-Philadelphia and New York-Boston will occur. First are investing $15 million (£7.43 million) in 33 new 51-seat Canadian Prevost X3-45 coaches for the routes. Tickets can only be purchased from www.boltbus.com

• Dudleys at 70. Dudley's Coaches of Inkberrow in Worcestershire, is celebrating its 70th anniversay. Formed in 1938 by Ernie Dudley, his involvement in passenger transport came when he purchased a orange Chevrolet school bus to convey children to nearby schools. The company made two acquisitions - in 1986 Royal Motorways was purchased and in 2002 Reddich-based Kingfisher Travel was bought. The current fleet stands at 34 staff and 17 coaches.

• Child porn found on director's PC. The director and traffic manager of local family coach firm Collins Coaches Ltd, Hanwell, London, received a nine-month suspended sentence after Police searched his home and found 322 pornographic images, some of which contained children. Eric Colins, a self-confessed naturist, had been running Collins Coaches since it was formed 22 years ago and holds 12 O-licences. He comes into children on a daily basis operating school contract services. He had also been a Scout for 40 years. In addition to his suspended sentence, he was placed on the Sex Offenders' register for 10 years, banned from spending time alone with children and using the Internet, except for work.

• TfL to run Croydon Tramlink. Tramlink Croydon, the private finance initiative concession holder, responsible for the operator on the Croydon Tramlink in south-west London is to be taken-over by TfL following a deal worth £98 million that will give TfL full control of the system. Over the years a couple of high-profile spats between both organisations have occurred and with TfL assuming full control, the tramlink aims to be better poised for any potential expansion.

• Coach driver's 80th birthday. Marshalls of Sutton-on-Trent, just outside the LEYTR area, employs one of the oldest coach drivers in the country. Norman Wells, soon-to-turn 80 years of age, retired on 13 March in readiness for his 'four score years'. Mr. Wells was a tour driver with Marshalls when he retired but returned as a part-time driver, latterly operating afternoons only.

Congestion Charge - 5 years on

16 February marked the fifth anniversary of London's Congestion Charge Central Zone. I remember vividly the weekend immediately before its introduction as I got caught up with the mass protest against the possibility of British troops invading Iraq, the demo culminating in Hyde Park. However, as I was forced to walk at a snail's pace through the streets of London, the red "C" symbols had been painted on the tarmac in readiness and signage had been erected.

Since then TfL have reported that traffic within the Central Zone has reduced by 21% and that congestion in the same area is down by 8% though this figure is since 1999/2000. The Congestion Charge is seen as a contributing factor to the Tube's record passenger-carrying figure, recently revealed as being in excess of a billion journeys during the last year. Since 14 February 2003 bus patronage has increased within the Central Zone by 45% to 1.9 billion journeys a year. Hot-on-the-heels of this figure is cycling, which has grown by 43% over the same period.

February also marks the first anniversary of the Western Extension to the Central Zone, which saw Kensington and Chelsea and parts of Victoria fall within the Congestion Charge Zone.

The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, has made no secret of the fact that he has always been in favour of introducing and extending the congestion zone. When he came to power in 2000 London suffered the worst congestion in Europe with a figure between £2-4 million being lost by industry as a direct result. The current Congestion Charge Zone forms part of TfL's comprehensive transport strategy, which was published in 2001.

March/April LEYTR

The next edition of the LEYTR will be distributed to members early next week. It contains 28 pages with the latest news stories affecting all transport modes in Lincolnshire & East Yorkshire as well as fleet/service alterations affecting the following operators:

• East Midlands Trains, Hull Trains, NXEC, Grand Central, Northern Rail, CrossCountry.

• The 13 planned charter trains/railtours to/from our region before the end of the year.

• The ECML RUS has been deciphered with findings shown.

• EYMS, Stagecoach in Hull, Stagecoach in Lincolnshire (inc. Grimsby-Cleethorpes) including details of the loss of Stagecoach's 'Phone n Ride' contract plus National Express alterations.

• Abacus (Swayfield), Amvale (Grimsby), Barnard (Kirton Lindsey), Barnet (Hull), Bellamy (Nottingham), Cavalier (Long Sutton), Centrebus (Grantham), Delaine Buses (Bourne), East Riding Council (Beverley), Fisher (East Keal), Fowlers (Holbeach Drove), Grayscroft Bus Services (Mablethorpe), Holloway (Scunthorpe), Hornsby (Ashby), Howe (Waddington), Hunts (Alford), Isle Coaches (Owston Ferry), Kimes (Folkingham), KJB, (Lincoln) - including their latest fleetlist, Lawtons (Stickney), Norfolk Green (King's Lynn), Oaklands (Immingham), PC Coaches (Lincoln), Redley (Barton-on-Humber), Sleafordian (Sleaford), Tourmaster (Crowland), Veolia (Lincoln & Hull depots), Webster (North Frodingham) and AC Williams (Ancaster).

• Articles celebrating the 10th anniversary of the first-ever InterConnect service - route 6 with an exclusive insight from RoadCar's MD, Paul Hill; plus one of your editors has sampled the Class 86 being employed over the weekend on the ECML by Hull Trains.

Manchester Transport Museum

Both editors spent the weekend in the north-west, with attandance at the Manchester Transport Museum's open day on Sunday. Adjoining First's depot in the city on Boyle Street, free transport was laid on in the form of vintage buses operating to a 20 minute frequency, picking-up in the city centre at Victoria Station. We rode on TTD 386H, a Leyland Titan PD3/14 dating from 1969 that has been restored to its former operational status as part of the Ramsbottom Urban District Council Transport fleet.

We'd both been to the Manchester Transport Museum before, though by tram, which is a fair walk from the Woodlands Road stop so were impressed that within 5 minutes of leaving Victoria we'd arrived at the Museum.

Once inside, having paid the £4 admission fee, it was clear to see that this was a stall-orientated open day, in part no doubt to the lack of parking space outside the museum for visiting vehicles. The poster online advertising the open day - it was in fact part of an open weekend - stated 150 stalls would be on display and at a guess an amount near to this number were in attendance.

Having typically spent far too much money on the merchandise that I'll only ever read a couple of times or merely look at on a window cill, I had a wander round the main exhibition room within the museum, which housed the following vehicles:

BND 874C - a 1965 Manchester Corporation Leyland Panther Cub
NDK 980 - a 1956 Rochdale Corporation AEC Regent V
A706 LNC - a 1984 Greater Manchester Leyland Atlantean
LMA 284 - a 1949 R Bullock Leyland PVSC6
HVM 901F - a 1968 Manchester Corporation Leyland Atlantean
PTC 114C - a 1965 Leigh Corporation AEC Renown
MJA 879G - a 1969 Stockport Corporation Leyland Titan PD3
DB 5070 - a 1925 North Western Tilling Stevens TS6 petrol
PND 460 - a 1956 Manchester Corporation Leyland Titan PD2
C 2367 - a 1921 Todmorden Corporation Leyland G2/Phoenix
DBU 246 - a 1947 Oldham Corporation Leyland Titan PD1
JND 791 - a 1949 Manchester Corporation Crossley DD42
TNA 520 - a 1958 Manchester Corporation Leyland Titan PD2
HTF 586 - a 1947 Warburton Bros (Bury) Bedford OB
D676 NNE - a 1987 GM Buses MCW Metrorider
VR 5742 - a 1930 Manchester Corporation Leyland Tiger TS2
EDB 575 - a 1951 Stockport Corporation Crossley DD42
JBN 153 - a 1956 Bolton Corporation Leyland Titan PD2
122 JTD - a 1959 Lancashire United Guy Arab IV
BEN 177 - a 1952 Bury Corporation AEC Regent III
ORJ 83W - a 1981 Greater Manchester MCW Metrobus
B65 PJA - a 1984 Greater Manchester Leyland Olympian

Plus a few more that I couldn't physically get to, such was the way in which those at the museum had managed to park so many vehicles in such a small 'depot'.

Also on display was the Metrolink tram prototype, an Officine Casertane Caserta on a T68 (prototype) chassis, all built in Italy and given fleet number 1000.

Operating the shuttle service in the afternoon was HEK 705, a 1961 Leyland Titan PD3A in Wigan Corporation livery with the destination set to Red Rock. This didn't stop a passenger attempting to board for a free ride using her concessionary free travel pass as we alighted at Victoria Station, asking for a destination in the opposite direction of the Transport Museum!

It was an enjoyable day at the museum, not least because of the additions to my tie collection (update due within the next week). The day's photography of vehicles seen at the museum has been uploaded to My Fotopic.

Network Rail fined £14 million

A fine of £14 million has been imposed on Network Rail following major disruption to passenger rail services caused by overruning engineering works over the New Year period.

In fining government's own arms-length infraco, the Office of Rail Regulators (ORR) said that the amound it had to pay must reflect the serious nature of the disruption, with the knock-on effect felt by passengers and freight operators, and should also act as a wake-up call to the company that it should take urgent action to improve its approach to managing engineering possessions.

It has been widely reported that, as justified as the fine is, the money generated will not be ploughed back into the rail industry via the government, but used to booster the Treasury's coffers; the £14 million is also understood the thus reduce the money Network Rail has to spend on maintaining and improving the rail network.

The fine follows a report by the ORR into Network Rail’s management of engineering projects over the Christmas and New Year period, including the overruns at Rugby, Liverpool Street station and Shields Junction.

Bill Emery, ORR chief executive, said: “What happened over the New Year was totally unacceptable for passengers and freight customers, and to train operating companies. The weakness in Network Rail’s management of these projects had a serious impact on all of them and on the reputation of the railway. It is quite clear from our thorough investigation that Network Rail is failing to manage major engineering work as consistently well as it should. This is due particularly to weaknesses in the company’s planning, risk assessment and site management of projects as well as to failures of communication within the company and with train operators. We have published a draft Order directing them to address these failings and thus reduce the risk of similar events in the future."

The fine was based most on the failings at Rugby, which left commuters without any rail services for the first two working days of 2008. Here, the ORR admitted that Network Rail had good planning and project management processes in place but failed to ensure that site management was adequate. This meant that at key times it was unaware of the extent of the problems on the ground, unable to minimise their impact and unable to provide reliable information to passengers and train operators.

Responding to the ORR's announcement Network Rail's chief executive Iain Coucher, said: “We are clear that the ORR has said that what happened at the New Year cannot happen again. We agree and accept the findings in the report. We will make changes in the way we plan and manage future work on the railways. We have already made changes and the action we have taken since the New Year to bring in more specialist engineers and to create military-style command posts will further improve our delivery record and enable us to build a bigger, better railway that passengers and freight users deserve.

We are now focused on delivering our improvement programme for Easter and have already begun informing passengers about the works taking place. We will work with the train operating companies and National Rail Enquiries over the next few weeks to get the message out so passengers will be able to check their journeys before they travel. Clearly the fine is very significant. We will now be making representations to the ORR that this money should be used to deliver additional and concrete benefits for passengers."

Network Rail plan to spend £75 million over the long weekend break over Easter, which will see works take place again on the West Coast Main Line - including work at Rugby - with other works taking place at Liverpool Street, Derby, Sheffield, Clapham Junction and the upgrade of the Calder Viaduct in Cumbria. The cost of failure in turns of an uverrun is likely to be catastrophic, though more so in Network Rail's capability rather than any potential fine being imposed. We would assume there will no delays in handing the railway network back on this forthcoming occasion!

Tube strike planned

The transport union TSSA announced today that its members, recently balloted, have chosen to progress with strike-action by 81.2% for and 18.8% against. The move follows union claims that London Underground have renaged on a promise to ensure all LU staff became direcly employed and were to be fully trained to meet LU safety standards. The RMT union has yet to announce what its members plan to do.

We understand the Silverlink stations are at the heart of the dispute, with them becoming part of the LU network, named Overground, since November 2007. Silverlink had used agency staff to meet passenger demand at peak periods, something which is continuing under LT ownership and it is these agency staff who do not meet the basic LU safety standards.

The Budget

Main points raised in this afternoon's Budget - Alistair Darling's first as Chancellor of the Exchequer - are listed below:

• The planned increase in fuel duty by 2p per litre has been postponed until October of this year. This is seen as a positive step by transport operators in the UK as it was only last week that a barrel of oil had reached an all-time high of $110. The Freight Transport Association claim that the deferral will save the transport and logistics industry around £140 million.

• Despite many thinking road-pricing was not off the agenda, the Chancellor announced he plans to set-up test areas for road-pricing throughout the UK.

• A major reform of vehicle excise duty will take place in 2009 which will see a staggered road tax fee per car per year from new. It is unlikely to have a direct effect on PCVs, though the small-print has yet to be released.

• Check-in times at Heathrow and Gatwick ariports are to be reduced

• 10% increase in air passenger duty is planned.

And for those Blackadder Goes Forth fans out there, it only seems fair we should upload the picture we immediately think of whenever the word "Darling" is used...

Open-toppers return

Five Stagecoach open top MCWs have recently returned to Skegness depot in preparation for the new "low season timetable", commencing 17 March. 15958 (BLZ 1423) was noted at Skegness bus station today, parked up between duties on tree lopping. Other closed-top versions are planned on being withdrawn in June.

Recent RAIL developments, no 3

• Salford Central opens. Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly has officially reopened Salford Central railway station following a £5m overhaul. Nearly 500 square metres of glass has been used to create a new entrance hall and the Victorian brickwork inside the building has been uncovered and restored. A new ticket office, ramps, lifts, a public address system, customer information screens and CCTV have also been installed. Taxi and bus facilities have been upgraded. Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority provided £3.85m for the scheme with £1.1m being provided by Manchester Enterprises - the economic development agency for Greater Manchester - from the European Regional Development Fund.

• No extension to Robin Hood Line. Notts CC has failed to persuade the government to release funds to extend the Robin Hood rail line beyond Nottingham to Bingham; the county council has provisionally planned a £6 million park and ride site near Saxondale Island on the A46.

• FGW formally warned by the govt. First Great Western (FGW) has been formally warned by the government that it must improve service quality or risk losing its rail franchise. FGW has been issued with a Remedial Plan setting out measures to reduce train cancellations following what transport sectary Ruth Kelly described as "unacceptably high levels of train cancellations" during the second half of 2007. The plan specifies additional rolling stock and employment of more drivers, guards and technicians to secure a more reliable service and drastically reduce the number of cancellations. The Department for Transport will monitor the train operator's performance against agreed milestones. The government has also revealed that a Breach Notice has been issued under Section 55 of the Railways Act in response to FGW misreporting the number of trains cancelled.

• Three-fold wi-fi increase on NXEC services. National Express East Coast has said that three times more people now use on-board wi-fi than did when they took over the operation of the East Coast franchise from GNER in December. NXEC made wi-fi access free to standard class passengers, when under GNER, it was only first class ticket holders entitled to free wi-fi.

• Mayor Ken puts weight behind central London tram project. London Mayor Ken Livingstone has reaffirmed his commitment to a tram line running the length of Oxford Street in London's West End. He was quoted recently saying, "If re-elected I intend to start installing a tram running the length of Oxford Street. There are some factors which pose difficulties but we have thought about it and there are ways of overcoming them. It will either be a shuttle tram or will be linked to the Cross River Tram. We would demolish the gyratory system [at Marble Arch], handing part of it back to green land and building two developments on part of it which will fund the project. People getting a taxi would have to use the roads running north and south of Oxford Street.We would phase the buses out slowly and maybe run some along Wigmore Street." The £200m scheme would effectively pedestrianise one of London's busiest shopping streets. It would be paid for by two new office blocks at the western end of Oxford Street Street and see areas of Marble Arch grassed over to become part of Hyde Park. Black cabs would pick up shoppers from adjoining streets either side of Oxford Street.

• Commute into Leeds causing problems on outskirts of W. Yorks. So problematic has become the commute into Leeds that West Yorkshire PTE is in talks with neighbouring boroughs to try and find a resolution to solve parking problems at the first rail stations within West Yorkshire, which become taken by Leeds-bound commuters each day. WMPTE's MetroCard is understood to be the preferred solution, with a Zone 6 being created to encompass areas of North Yorkshire (Skipton, Harrogate, York and Selby).

• 'One' officially dropped. National Express Group has formally scrapped the much criticised One brand used for its rail services in East Anglia. Group chief executive Richard Bowker last week unveiled the first three trains sporting the new National Express East Anglia vinyls, which will eventually replace all One liveries. The roll-out of the National Express East Anglia brand will take place through a phased programme to achieve a visible, but "cost effective" transition, utilising planned refurbishment and maintenance schedules to apply the new livery to trains. Initially, all trains will receive a stripe showing the new identity, but the application of the full livery will be done on a staged basis. National Express says this will ensure investment is focused on customer service improvements.

• Prankster given jail sentence. Andrew Ogden of Chorley, was jailed for 6 months at Preston Crown Court last week after a prank that took place on 14 July 2007 saw him stand in the path of an oncoming train at a level crossing in Chorley, only to jump out of the way at the last moment.

• More cctv for ScotRail. Train operator First ScotRail is to install a further 116 cctv cameras as part of its commitment to increase safety for passengers. Cameras will be provided at three stations – 47 at Inverness, 46 at Motherwell and 23 at Glasgow Queen Street Low Level. The £350,000 investment also includes eight cctv help points on platforms at the three stations, providing additional reassurance as well as an extra information service day and night. The work is scheduled for completion in April by which time the train operator will manage a total of 3,950 cameras and 441 cctv help points at 241 stations across Scotland.

• Permissions given the Hull Trains' class 180s. Hull Trains' class 180 DMUs have been granted new permissible routes and track charges by the Office of Rail Regulation. This will allow the trains to operate to the Toton depot for maintenance from Grantham via Nottingham; Doncaster via Chesterfield; or Trowell Junction via Lenton Junction. The charges are set at 24.52p per vehicle mile, compared to class 170s which are charged 14.10p per vehicle mile. A class 86 is charged 56.44p and 11.25p per mark 3 coach.

• New station entrance for Bank. Transport for London said last week that it has struck a multi million pound deal with Legal & General to build a new station entrance at Bank station to serve the Waterloo & City line. The new street level entrance in Walbrook Square will provide step-free access with lifts, as well as escalators and stairs to the London Underground Waterloo & City Line platforms. Legal & General is redeveloping Bucklersbury House, which will see their existing buildings replaced by offices, shops, cafés, restaurants and bars. As part of the construction programme a new station box will be constructed in the basement of the building for London Underground. Demolition of the existing Bucklersbury House buildings is expected to start this year.

• Milirary precision for NR.Network Rail claims it will instigate "military-style" management structure to ensure that its engineering works over the Easter holiday weekend will be completed on time.

• ORR approves track access for Crossrail. The Office of Rail Regulation has approved an application to allow track access for Crossrail passenger services. The access rights reserve capacity for services to operate on routes between Maidenhead/Heathrow Airport and Abbey Wood/Shenfield. The rights are to use Network Rail lines and do not include the proposed new tunnel through central London. All of the paths requested by the applicants, the Secretary of State for Transport and Network Rail, have been awarded except for two trains per hour off peak and at weekends, for which the ORR did not believe the business case showed there was sufficient demand. However, this exclusion does not mean that approval could not later be given if a persuasive case can be demonstrated in future. The ORR proposes access should be awarded for a term of 30 years from the start of services to provide adequate certainty for the multi-billion pound investments that will be required in infrastructure and rolling stock.

• London Midland refurbs. The first London Midland class 323 has gone to Railcare Wolverton for refurbishment. Specifically the EMU is 323201, which was based at the company's Soho depot. It is the first of London Midlands 26 class 323s to be overhauled. They are to be used on cross-Birmingham services. To a lesser extent, ten of the firm's class 350 Desiros have been "refreshed"; new seating, carpets and grabrails have been replaced in three class 170s, too.

• New station on T&W Metro to open next week. Simonside station on the Tyne and Wear Metro system will open to passengers next Monday (17 March). The £3.2m project - including an £800,000 contribution from the European Regional Development Fund - will provide the residents of Simonside with five trains an hour in each direction - towards South Shields and Newcastle and Gateshead.

• Southern place order for 11 new trains for new Thameslink service. Preparations for the £3.5 billion upgrade of cross-London Thameslink rail services have taken another step forward with train operator Southern placing an order for 11 new trains to allow a rolling stock cascade to facilitate construction works. Southern's £53m order for 11 4-car Class 377 Electrostars follows a £58m order for 12 matching 4-car trains placed in May 2007. The 33 new trains, all of which are being built by Bombardier in Derby and are scheduled for delivery in January 2009, will allow Southern to cascade dual-voltage units to First Capital Connect, which operates on the Thameslink route.

• Open day at Appleby Frodingham.The Appleby Frodingham Railway Preservation Society is operating railtours around the Corus site at Scunthorpe as usual this year, with an open weekend on 10/11 May. Haulage is provisionally booked as being by 20056 and 20066, both on hire to Corus from Harry Needle Railroad Company. Cab rides may also be available. Further details will be given in the next LEYTR.

• New stretch of route opened in Peak District. WyvernRail and the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway Association have opened a further three and a half miles of the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway, which links the Midland Main Line with the Peak District. The launch event last Saturday (8 March) represented the culmination of nearly two years work to bring the section from Wirksworth to Idridgehay up to a standard to allow the operation of passenger trains. This has involved 100,000 hours effort by a team of unpaid volunteers and an investment of £200,000 in shareholders’ funds into a range of activities including the restoration of level crossings, the replacement of 1,200 sleepers, clearance of four miles of land drains and the installation of dozens of signs, as well as erecting new fencing and gates. The Ecclesbourne Valley Railway comprises 8 and a half miles of single-track railway, with five station sites, two level crossings, a yard with sidings and a mineral branch to the old Middlepeak quarry at Wirksworth. The plan is to link-up with the Midland Main Line at Duffield, offering passenger connections here as early as 2010.

• Steamy Affairs goes into liquidation. Railway charter operator Steamy Affairs has gone into liquidation. Its owner Adrian Parcell took the voluntary step, though was keen to reassure the industry that this would not affect his other businesses, Advenza Freight and Heartland Rail.
  

New NX timetable

March each sees alterations to the National Express scheduled coach operation. Often the changes are minor with slightly amended timings to reflect traffic flows and such like, and sometimes additional coach journeys have been added, calling points moved, added or withdrawn.

Here in the LEYTR area, most NX services have remained largely unaltered, viz:

Service 322 (Scarborough-Brecon) - minor timing alterations
Service 322 (Hull-Swansea) - minor timing alterations

Service 339 (Cleethorpes-Westward Ho!) - no alterations

Service 350 (Cambridge-Liverpool) - no alterations

Service 390 (Hull Docks-Manchester) - no alterations

Service 447 (Lincoln-London) - no alterations

Service 448 (Grimsby-London) - no alterations
Service 448 (London-Peterborough/Stamford) - additional timing point at the University of Hertfordshire

Service 449 (Mablethorpe-London) - coach stop at Wrangle has moved to the main A52 and the high season timings have been pin-pointed to school holidays rather than a blanket July/August as last year

Service 534 (Glasgow-Hull Docks) - no alterations

Service 562 (Beverley/Hull - London) - amended timings, seeing southbound departures ex Hull earlier

Service 563 (Whitby-London) - minor timing amendments

Butlins (Skegness) Services - Service 660 (to/from Bradford) receives a new operator - Tate's Travel, replacing Tetleys; Services 661 (to/from Birmingham), Service 662 (to/from Liverpool) and Service 664 (to/from Preston) operationally remain the same although Service 663 (Butlins-Newcastle) that was operated by Rowells of Prudhoe last year, appears to have been withdrawn without replacement.

Those 'in-the-know' will be aware that National Express operates its services on a contracted basis to third-party operators, running a very small percentage of services itself. In the LEYTR area services are operated by Stagecoach (350, 447, 448 & 449); First (339); Park's of Hamilton (534); EYMS (322, 390 & 562); Veolia (563); Tate's Travel (660); Skyline (661); Clynnog & Trefor (662); and Travellers Choice (664).

But what about all the others?

LEYTR has come to the rescue with the following file, in pdf format, that lists all National Express scheduled coach services throughout the country, detailing which operator covers each service. This information is not exclusively obtainable in this format, if you have the time and patience you can travel the full length of the country to observe each route, noting down the legal lettering on each coach.

Or you could download our 63 page printable file, based on a template produced by National Express themselves, to whom we are eternally grateful.

The new, colourful broom

A shot of four Volvo B7RLEs with Wright Eclipse Gemini bodies parked at Stagecoach's Skegness depot today. All vehicles were purchased new by RoadCar in 2005 for service in the seaside town. They are in the process of being re-painted into the Stagecoach corporate livery - a very different colour scheme to the RoadCar colours as this picture shows. Also, in a slight variation within the Stagecoach scheme, notice the white painted area around the front headlamps.

Farewell to the MCW Metrobus

Stagecoach in Lincolnshire, part of the Stagecoach East Midlands divisional group, are planning to withdraw all MCW Metrobuses that operate normal stage-carriage services during June.

These vehicles were acquired with the Lincolnshire RoadCar business, a subsidiary of the Traction Group, which Stagecoach acquired in December 2005. LEYTR Chairman and Managing Director of RoadCar, Paul Hill, has said on numberous occasions to us that the vehicles were purchased from Travel West Midlands between 2001-4 with a view to operating for around the 12 year mark.

Of those remaining in service with Stagecoach now, six are being retained to operate seasonal services along the Lincolnshire Coasts (Skegness and Cleethorpes) and are painted in a special "Coastal Cruiser" livery; the others will see final operation during June.

A farewell day is planned for Saturday 12 April, which will be centred around the Newark depot - the main area for current Metrobus operation. Stagecoach will operate all journeys on Service 602 (Newark-Grantham) with Metrobuses and many "shorts" on Service 29 (Newark-Southwell): 1030 and hourly to 1430 ex Newark and 1002 and hourly to 1402 ex Southwell. One vehicle will also operate on Service 1 (local Newark town service).

Updated fleetlists

The Lincolnshire & East Yorkshire Transport Review maintain and upload two fleetlists covering the entire fleets of two of our largest independent bus operators: Stagecoach East Midlands and East Yorkshire Motor Services (EYMS).

Correct to 1 March 2008, the two files (pdf) can be viewed by clicking the links below:

Stagecoach East Midlands fleet list (comprising Stagecoach in Mansfield, Bassetlaw, Lincolnshire, Grimsby-Cleethorpes and Hull)

EYMS fleet list

Delaine's third B9TL

We can reveal exclusively that the delivery of the next and third Volvo B9TL decker for Delaine Buses of Bourne is due at the end of next week.

Full service for Grand Central

From last Saturday, 1 March, the UK's newest train operator, Grand Central, advertised the full operation of its timetable. Unfortunately, due to a problem with one of its trains the day before, had to cancel the implementation of the full timetable until today.

Grand Central started running direct trains between Sunderland and London on 18 December and had only been able to provide one direct through service in each direction, with a "short" return trip between King's Cross and York.

It had been suggested that this short return working was merely cashing-in on the revenue generated by passengers travelling on the East Coast Main Line services, though Grand Central defended its operation citing it as "very useful" in training its drivers and conductors. They also produced virtually no publicity for the short return service.

Now, however, as from this very morning, the new timetable was successfully operated seeing weekday departures from Sunderland to London at 0646 (0653 on Saturdays), 1230 and 1730, with northbound services from King's Cross to Sunderland at 0804 (0757 on Saturdays), 1127 and 1650. On Sundays the services from Sunderland will be at 0910, 1342 and 1842, returning from King's Cross at 0855, 1345 and 1820. All Grand Central’s Sunderland to London services call at Hartlepool, Eaglescliffe (for Teesside), Northallerton, Thirsk and York.

Grand Central are now able to instigate their full, planned timetable as a result of receiving delivery of their sixth and final power car. They have also received three additional carriages to extend the length and capacity of their trains. At-seat catering is being temporarily provided until a full buffet service is introduced on all services and open to all passengers.

Rotala buys Go West Midlands business

Forwarded information from an LEYTR operator who subscribes to one of the trade magazine reveals the following:

Go-Ahead has sold its loss-making Go West Midlands (GWM) business to AIM-listed Rotala plc for £2 million. Announcing the sale to the Stock Market at 0800hrs this morning, Go-Ahead says the gross asset value of the business is approximately £1m and the net book value is nil.

Go-Ahead entered the West Midlands market in December 2005 when it bought Birmingham Coach Company for £2m, and People’s Express for 2.4m in March 2006.

Rotala already operates North Birmingham Busways and Central Connect in the Birmingham Area. The GWM purchase makes it the second-largest West Midlands operator.

Rotala also announced that Bob Dunn, 53, is appointed to its board as a non-executive director with immediate effect. His sons, Simon Dunn, remains Rotala Managing Director, and Scott Dunn has been retained by Rotala “to lead the integration of GWM.” Robert, Simon and Scott Dunn have committed to raise their investment in Rotala to £650,000.

GWM operates 134 buses, has 370 employees and three depots. In its last filed accounts, for the year ended 1 July 2006, GWM reported a £1.9m loss on a £13.4m turnover.