Climate Control

Contributing writer 'CW' offers his thoughts on how the bus and coach industry could benefit from the more widespread fitment of climate control to its fleet, despite the number of hot days per annum here in the UK being minimal.

The recent heat wave that residents of most of the UK have been experiencing has made travelling by public transport very tiresome. When the air temperature reaches 30 centigrade, that found within the confines of a double-decker bus or tram, for example, is always higher. Much higher.

The response often met by bus and coach companies is that the number of days in which the UK finds itself in the grip of a Mediterranean summer's day can be counted on the fingers of both hands and so the investment in climate control or its derivatives is a false economy.

But a growing number of coaches - and now buses - are being fitted with a form of climate control. All coaches operating on the National Express network built from 2004 must now have climate control fitted as standard; virtually all new coaches delivered to the 'big five' in recent years have come with gas pods on their roofs, which ensure a pre-set temperature within the saloon below can be selected and maintained.

Bus operators have increasingly opted for 'air chill' fitment to their fleets. One of the more recent to do so is Stagecoach with its Cambs Guided Busway fleet of vehicles. I believe some of its Gold-branded services operating in Oxford and between Cheltenham and Gloucester also have this system fitted.

Often climate control comes hand-in-hand with other premium facilities, such as leather upholstery, though this is not always the case. Stagecoach in Lincolnshire has recently re-branded its Connect 3 (Grimsby-Lincoln) service, extending it to Newark and naming it Executive Connect. It boasts leather, coach-style seats yet no climate control other than window vents. It seems churlish to offer leather seating without climate control of sorts as burnt flesh is a real possibility to passengers who board a vehicle matching this description that's been parked in the sun for a length of time. We've all sat in a car that's been parked in the sun and found it unbearable to touch the steering wheel. A bus' seat is no different.

While the domain of climate control tends to be with the coach industry, operators in Oxford - notably City of Oxford - have introduced air conditioning to its urban services. This is very welcome when the temperatures are in excess of 30C. If passengers were to be assured that one operator's service would offer this facility over the other's, they'd surely choose the climatically controlled route, provided the fare wasn't too much higher.

In summary, while 'red hot' days are of limited number here in the UK, the relatively recent addition of climate control (and its air chill and air conditioning derivatives) has made such a noticeable difference on these infrequent sweltering days, that more and more people whom I speak with now plan their journeys by public transport accordingly.

Climate control per se works, of course, at both ends of the temperature spectrum, offering efficient heating to a bus, coach, train and tram during the winter months. The only time a vehicle with climate control should be avoided at all costs is when the unit fails in the summer sunshine!

Lines

Contributing writer 'CW' was most annoyed at our recent blog about the Network Rail Directors' bonus payments:

"Dear Editors. I feel you must write out 94 times that 'The NR Board of Directors received £2.4 million not £1.2 million'. There mere £1.2 million, which may have resonated at the time you put finger to keyboard, is the austere annual payment to the UK's (now outgoing) highest-earning civil servant, Ian Coucher, who is NR's chief exec."

The NR Board of Directors received £2.4 million not £1.2 million
The NR Board of Directors received £2.4 million not £1.2 million
The NR Board of Directors received £2.4 million not £1.2 million
The NR Board of Directors received £2.4 million not £1.2 million....

Signs of austerity

The amount of job advertisements in the transport trade press hasn't relented during these austere times. Indeed, it could be argued that the level of 'positions vacant' has risen, if you go by the amount of job ads seen in routeone, CBW and New Tran-sit.

With all non-essential government departments likely to see a 25% reduction in their funding over the length of the current parliament, it was a little surprising to see one organisation offering the following EIGHT position to successful candidates on p59 of New Trans-it recently. See if you can guess who it is!

1. Transport Operations and Performance Manager, £42-48k
2. Transport Partnership Manager (Rail), £40-45k
3. Transport Partnership Coordinator, £23-27k
4. Area Manager (Black Country), £38-42k
5. Area Manager (Coventry), £38-42k
6. Network Coordination Manager, 3 vacancies, all £32-36k each

That's a combined annual outlay of up to £312k - all for what could largely be described as 'non jobs' by many within the transport industry.

The 'gong' goes to Centro, the West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive.


This pulls very firmly at the heart strings that have been alluded to on numerous occasions by members of the Coalition Cabinet. When the private sector has had to make far-reaching cuts, some areas of the public sector just carry on regardless. Eight positions for the West Midlands' PTE, costing a third of a million points a year, at a time when all other public sector workers are to commence a two-year pay freeze is completely unacceptable.

Would Centro honestly have us believe their organisation would not be able to operate without such positions? Paying someone £48,156 p/a to monitor the PTE's performance rather defeats the object!

And, hot on Centro's heels is the Board of Directors at the absolutely-not-nationalised-yet-show-how-government-enforced-cuts-will-bring-down-the-national-debt Network Rail, who have awarded themselves £1.2 million in bonuses. A small point to consider that was largely omitted by the national press is that the directors themselves did not have the final say on the amount awarded and that, apparently, the total payout was "considerably lower" that that which was initially offered.

The LEYTR Stig contacted us to say: "Feel sorry for the poor souls at NR - of the £1.2 million, they'll only get to see a maximum of £75k in the pot after the tax man has his share". This is something that will at least put a smile on Chancellor Osborne's face.

Telegrammed from HQ

'HQ' is Grimsby, the locality where it all began in 1963. The LEYTR's home town, that is. 47 years ago our publication started life as merely the Lincolnshire Transport Review, though grew in size to now cover what was known as Humberside in addition to the shire county.

I made a visit to HQ today and in so doing photographed a couple of items that I thought would be interesting to view on the blog. The first is of a bus stop flag that can be found stuck to a street light along Oxford Street in the town:


It's particularly unique for a number of reasons. Firstly, that it still bears the logo of the erstwhile Grimsby-Cleethorpes Transport Company Limited (GCT), the municipal undertaking that sold to Stagecoach Holdings plc during November 1993 - it was the first municipal purchased by Brian Souter's limited company (the company had only just floated on the stock exchange at that time).

The reason this bus stop flag was never treated to a Stagecoach sticker, covering a logo which represents the nasty excesses of the public sector (if the theme of the recent Emergency Budget is to be believed) lies in the second reason regarding the flag's uniqueness: no bus has called here since 2001.

For it was then that the only service to operate along Oxford Street in Grimsby was withdrawn, following the loss of funding from North East Lincolnshire Council. Service 14 was the route, which operated latterly on Tuesdays and Fridays only, linking the Belvoir Park Estate in Cleethorpes with Grimsby Town Centre via a circuitous route that mirrored much of the former Service 12.


The third oddity about this flag is that it was the only one of its kind ever to be attached to a pole by GCT. Their standard bus stop flags looked totally different. This one was of the design used by Humberside County Council for its more rural outposts - outposts that GCT never served, being the preserve of Lincolnshire RoadCar (remember them?).

Who'd've thought a seemingly innocuous bus stop flag could have so many interesting facets to its history! Similar to Railway Eye's 'Railway Garden Competition', we've thought of introducing our very own equivalent, though based on bus stops that no longer serve any purpose whatsoever: the LEYTR's Bus Stops that Time Forgot

We've got a couple in our recent archive we could blow the dust off and upload, though if anyone would like to send in any bus stops that fit the same theme as that above, offering us as much information as possible, we'd gladly upload it.

The second photo was taken that the town's local hospital, named after the late Diana, Princess of Wales.


It all looks very technological. The local authority has enlarged its FWT-designed transport map of the area and placed it in a frame and above is a 'next bus' departure screen, that shows a list of pending departures. Next to it on the screen is a section that must be linked to GPS as it shows your locality within a square half-mile. It looks very good indeed, and boasts the local authority's logo everywhere.

So, then, why can't the town's bus station benefit from such a facility? Grimsby's hospital boasts 1 bus service, yet the town's bus station over a dozen. Perhaps one is in the pipeline? We can but hope.

UPDATE from "Tommo": Grimsby bus station could have the facility for a next bus screen but it is simply not operational. I refer to a strikingly similar screen as that shown at the local hospital, which is situated at the exit to the shopping centre, Freshney Place, but which has never worked.

The Three Fs

"Fortunate. Fantastic. Fabulous."

These are the 'three Fs' that National Express Group's new chief executive Dean Finch used to describe how he feels at not having to run a railway franchise from next year. He was in conversation with Nooo Transit's James Dark.

With a decade at First and even longer as a management consultant for KPMG, choosing the right words to describe a very sensitive issue is something with which Finch will be well acquainted. Yet despite this, the grey box on page 29 of Transit Nouveau (in which the comments were made) was so obviously a chief exec back-pedalling that it brought a very sly grin to my face.

The facts are indisputable - since defaulting on its East Coast franchise last year, NX made a strong enemy in former Transport Secretary Lord Adonis, who swiftly announced that the group's remaining rail franchises - NX East Anglia and NX c2c - would not be given discretionary extensions beyond their franchise renewal dates. The rumour mill did suggest that Finch would consider bidding for these two franchises again, especially now a new administration is at the helm.

And perhaps the Adonis red traffic light, which flickered to amber at the prospect of His Lordship no longer being in office, ought to become an outright green after the DfT recently announced that, by default at least, NX will continue to operate its duo rail franchises beyond their 2011 end dates.

The future of rail franchising policy is being reviewed and to reflect the possible changes likely to be made, the invitations to tender for NXEA and c2c (to be re-named Greater Anglia and Essex Thameside) are being extended well into 2011. Clearly, NX has been let-off-the-hook. And if the DfT is willing to allow them to continue their franchise obligations beyond their respective end dates, what else will they be willing to consider?

It was Finch himself who re-negotiated First's Great Western franchise renewal in 2005/6, offering £600 million more than its nearest rival, but was shrewd enough to have two additional agreements written in: that revenue support payments could be considered for implementation after only 2 years (not 4 or 5) and an additional £130 million subsidy for which First would invest more than was required of them.

However, to quote Finch: "I am in a fortunate position in that I am under no pressure from the board or investors saying you must have a railway.... As a chief executive that is a fantastic place to be and I suspect I am the only chief executive of the transport groups in that position. We may not have chosen where we are but for me personally - fabulous."

Expect NX to place tenders for Greater Anglia and Essex Thameside next year, then!

Our longest day

This time precisely one year ago, the LEYTR Editorial and a couple of hardy Associates, made our epic Top 'n' Tail jaunt between John o' Groats to Land's End, undertaken entirely by public transport. Our 'angle' was that we would reach the happy medium between duration and cost. We think we hit it very well, managing the maximum north-south journey in 32:07, costing £19.40.


Read our full account by clicking here.

But as we mentioned at the time, the headline story only accounts for 50% of what is essentially a round robin. Our total expenditure from leaving home to returning five days later was £85.15, which comprised accommodation totalling £52.50 and travel costs at £32.65.

Not only did we choose to undertake the lengthiest A-B journey possible on mainland Britain, but we also chose to tie-in a few other journeys that took our fancy. Two of us, while travelling to central London, which was to be our start point, took a trip on the new Megabusplus service from Hull to London; we travelled on the UK's longest scheduled coach service, that was severely curtailed in March; we also travelled on the UK's longest duration scheduled bus service, too. As you'll see from our account, we also stumbled across the world's shortest street on our travels.

Ebenezer Place, Wick, the world's shortest street

Both LEYTR Associates had never undertaken such a mammoth journey by public transport before and while m'colleague and I, both stalwarts at lengthy transport journeys in the UK, tried to prepare them for what lay in store, both confess to there being a considerable amount of unknown factors affecting such a journey as this. The weather and vehicle type undoubtedly help, too. Punctuality is a must and we accept that you're in the lap of the gods here. While travelling to Thurso from Wick in order to start our epic journey, for example, our vehicle's windscreen wipers failed in heavy rain - this could have severely caused problems to our journey.

Both Stagecoach in Caithness vehicles, but none show any outward signs of this. Our vehicle, which formed the first bus of our John o' Groats to Land's End trip, is seen at the rear. We left 2 minutes late at 1027, bound for Thurso.

Our last vehicle of the journey was this ECW-bodied Leyland Olympian, operated by First Devon & Cornwall. The route taken to Land's End is not for the faint-hearted!

We all heartily recommend an epic journey like this. We chose to travel during mid-June to make the most of the long days and (hopefully) fine conditions. A year ago last night, we all wandered back to our furnished lodgings in Wick from the town's Wetherspoons pub at 11pm in virtual daylight.

The bits in the middle were provided by two trains, both operated by First ScotRail, and National Express Service 336, at the time operated by First Devon & Cornwall. The entire journey saw us travel on services owned by Scottish transport groups.

Bedding down for the night. As this blog entry is uploaded at 6am, this time last year, we were all safely ensconced aboard this First Devon & Cornwall Volvo B12M/Plaxton Paragon, somewhere between Birmingham and Bristol. 681.02 miles was the precise distance covered on this one vehicle alone (we noted the odo readings at both Edinburgh and Penzance)

How we'd love to do something similar again this week! Regrettably, we've all been unable to convene at the same time (one being out the country for six months hasn't helped, plus all-bar-one have changed jobs since last year) and come October, the weather will simply not be as reliable as in June. It's a shame but there's always next year.

And because we could, we travelled aboard First Hampshire's Jurassic Coast Service X53 between Exeter and Poole which, at the time of writing, is the UK's longest-duration scheduled bus service

Read all about the LEYTR Top 'n' Tail jaunt here.

Eurotunnel buy GBRf

With news that First was to sell its only freight arm last month, a buyer was recently found - Europorte France, who has purchased GBRf (GB Railfreight) from the UK's largest transport operator in a deal worth £31 million.

Europorte France's parent company, Groupe Eurotunnel, is currently one of two freight operators between England and France through the Channel Tunnel. Unlike their competitor, DB Schenker, they're restricted somewhat by regulations here in the UK and our non-standard track gauge, to only providing services to/from Folkstone. With one of the UK's rail freight company's now in its fold, the possibilities of expanding service north of the White Cliffs is a very real possibility.

Eurotunnel described the UK rail freight market as one of the most developed in Europe, seeing annual growth over the last 15 years of 4%. GBRf received a £56 million turnover in 2009 and was described by Eurotunnel as a profitable business, employing 299 people. It's a credit to First that they continued to ensure this oddball in its pantheon continued to perform well.

Eurotunnel's long-term ambition is to grow its presence throughout Europe. It's a key player on the continent and with a foothold in the UK, it will be much easier than virtually all other freight providers to link the two together. It actually charges DB Schenker to use the Tunnel - charges DB has stated on record on many occasions as being too high. Eurotunnel will find itself charging its own freight operation the same fees, too, and if it chooses to reduce them, will find that this benefits its main competitor.

Only Eurotunnel is currently permitted to convey ad hoc road transport between Folkstone and Calais through the Channel Tunnel. DB Schenker transports traditional rail freight, but could have competition on its hands with Eurotunnel now owning GBRf. Channel Tunnel access charges may be reviewed, too

The government is planning to sell-off High Speed 1 sometime soon, to realise quite a few millions for its coffers and with it comes the possibilities of other passenger services operating through the Channel Tunnel - who'll also have to pay the set fee per passage as defined by Eurotunnel. Pressure will be on to ensure this level is set at one conducive to all operators. At least with the company who sets the charge likely to see first-hand how exorbitant this charge can be, a reduction could see many more freight companies opting to use rail into Europe and this can only be a good thing for the rail industry as a whole.

Driver-less Tube

The Conservatives have called on the London Mayor to investigate the plausibility of transforming the entire London Underground network into a driver-less operation, identical to that of the Docklands Light Railway (DLR). This could save around £141 million a year in wages.

Many will undoubtedly believe that Tube drivers are paid a handsome sum for the work required of them - around £40k a year. Compared to what their above ground counterparts at London Overground receive, this is in the same ball-park. Compared to what the vast majority of other train drivers throughout the country receive, Tube drivers are in the upper quartile in the spectrum of basic gross annual earnings.

Compare the role of a train driver to that of a bus driver and the disparity between pay becomes positively cavernous. Bus and coach driver rates of pay suffer in direct contrast to that of their railway counterparts due, in part, to their job descriptions not being classified as 'safety critical'. As one of our LEYTR Associates, who's a train guard - paid in excess of a bus driver and classified as 'safety critical' - said recently: "We're paid a lot more as a basic wage as we come into our own when things go wrong."

I can see where he's coming from, but there will be plenty of bus drivers out there who will disagree.

Comparing bus and train driving is something that shouldn't really take place on account of the respective roles being so different. Travelling within the confines of one of Southeastern's new Class 395 'Javelins' earlier in the year brought it home to me just how technical and mechanical the task of driving a train is. You have more than the speedo to concern you here. While the cabs of TfL's fleet of Tube trains looks nothing like that found in a Javelin, the job's premise and core requirements remain the same.

Which, in itself, is a good argument not to convert the Underground network into a driver-less operation. Who will assist with evacuations? Who will press all the shiny buttons and pull the levers and check the gauges? Even the driver-less DLR has on-board customer service assistants, who 'come into their own' when things go wrong (and are paid £34k p/a). Then there's the d-d-dreaded RMT union to consider. They take much responsibility for Tube driver wages being at the level they are. They've fought their corner since year dot and have a very high membership rate. The former London Mayor, Ken Livingstone, publicly told the nation during one of the London Mayoral debates that it was impossible to break the RMT.

Now Livingstone wasn't given the name 'Red Ken' for nothing, and his affiliation with the large unions is well known, but to make such an outspoken and, frankly, unexpected statement not only to the millions of Londoners watching but to his advisories, was unprecedented. His comments came as Boris Johnson said he'd vow to insert a 'no strike' clause into Tube drivers' contracts.

If, in the opinion of London's most popular and respected mayor to date, the RMT cannot be broken over a no strike clause, how do the Tories propose they overcome the comparatively gargantuan proposal of getting rid of the lot of them? The DLR is to be badly affected by strike action soon, as Serco, who operate the systems as a concession to TfL, see its staff undertake the first of three days' strike action over pay. If the Tories want Londoners to believe a driver-less Tube would also mean a system which was never disrupted by strike action, they need look no further than Canary Wharf DLR station from 27 June!

And all this for a measly saving of £141 million a year. If the UK's financial deficit is the size of the Atlantic, the savings made here would genuinely be just one single drop in the ocean.

Bitter-sweet

First the sweet.

News broke yesterday that Network Rail's (NR) chief executive Iain Coucher is to step down from the post he's held for three years. Coucher, who had been with NR for 8 years in total, was latterly seen as one of the main protagonists for NR's bureaucracy overload, was recently heralded as one of the highest-paid civil servants in the land, receiving a combined annual salary and bonuses of £1.24 million.

We wonder if his successor will be availed of a similar salary? The DfT goes to reasonable lengths to remind us that NR is a self-contained, arms length, not-for-profit organisation that it has very little to do with, yet includes the savings NR will make as part of its £680 million cost-cutting measure. With talk of all NR Board's bonuses being withheld each and every year a member of its 35,000-strong workforce is killed in an industrial accident, further savings could be made here - and will be reflected in the chief exec's salary, too.

Now the bitter

As part of the austerity measures - specifically the DfT not wanting to spend lots of money on new trains, as had been promised by Lord Adonis - Lincoln, in the heart of the LEYTR area, will not now receive its two-hourly direct train service with London, following news that it's been effectively dropped. One direct train will operate to/from Lincoln-London each day, with resource found within East Coast's (EC) existing fleet. This will save an estimated £9mil a year on top of the price tag for five brand new Class 180 'Adelantes'.

It was interesting to note the press release referred to there being two direct Lincoln-London services from May 2011: one the new EC route, the other the existing East Midlands Trains service that takes longer than changing trains at Newark!

And a cynic would cite it as more than just a coincidence that Stagecoach in Lincolnshire has only last week commenced a new direct Newark North Gate-Lincoln City Centre bus service.....

NXWM dangles a carrot

The UK's largest bus company, National Express West Midlands (NXWM), is offering its drivers a cash lump sum and in return is asking them to accept a reduced hourly rate of pay and a reduction in annual holiday entitlement. This deal is not dissimilar to that entertained by British Airways, and akin to the offers, both companies are not thought to be performing financially well, too.

NXWM believes that £10.60 per hour is currently above what the West Midlands average is for a bus driver and so has made its voluntary offer to those who it believes can afford to take a cut in hourly pay

(Photo: Quality Photo Man)

A NXWM driver on the upper pay grade receives £10.60 per hour and is afforded 25 days' holiday per year. The offer that's been made is to give each driver a lump sum of £1,500 in return for a cut in hourly pay to £9.40 and the number of holiday days drop by five to 20 p/a.

A reduction of £1.10 per hour, as is the case, multiplied by a 40-hour week, sees drivers' weekly gross earnings reduce by £44. As a very rough ball-park 'guestimate', multiplying this by 52 shows the annual drop in wage: £2,288. What we don't know is whether the £1.5k lump sum is gross or net, though we suspect the former. Either way, the potential savings for drivers on this upper tier is eaten up in less than a year as a result of the cut in hourly pay; and we've not even factored in the loss of five days' holiday a year.

It's difficult to see why any driver would accept this deal. We understand that the majority of NXWM drivers are not on the upper tier grade and so won't be directly affected by this specific offer. NXWM claims that there are numerous pay grades within its business and the remainder are well below that at the top. NXWM feel £10.60 is above the market place pay rate for a bus driver in the West Midlands, which is why they've opted to single the specific pay grade out.

Those on lower pay grades are to be offered similar deals, too. We understand that the offer being made is completely voluntary and at no point (now) will this offer be forced on any employee. Perhaps the fact the voluntary offer is so financially unrewarding is specifically why NXWM is not tying it up in official pay negotiations? The company can't be too bothered about its plethora of pay grades as it isn't expecting to reduce any as a result of the offer.

This is what the streets of Birmingham used to look like, though sadly not anymore. Drivers who drove these stalwarts for the longest are those who are now paid the greatest - and those who have the biggest decision to make regarding NXWM's voluntary offer

(Photo: Lady Wolfrun)

On the plus side, many families or couples could do with £1.5k right now. Is it any worse than borrowing money to purchase a sofa and over the duration of the loan end up paying back double the sofa's worth? Perhaps the most obvious difference is that the pay grade will never revert back to its current standing, or, extending the analogy, means you'll never stop paying for the sofa, long after it's been taken to the skip.

Co-ordinated High Speed

Co-ordination of the development of three European countries' high-speed railway networks was agreed last Wednesday, when at a meeting of EU transport ministers in northern Spain, Portugal, France and Spain all agreed to work together in order to maximise the cost efficiencies, build times and benefits to passengers.

All three countries also called on their respective governments for the creation of a joint cross-border passenger company, which would comprise national railway operators and be modelled on Thalys, which is the high-speed train company owned jointly by Dutch, French, Belgian and German railways.

At the meeting in Zaragoza, details of planned and 'advance planned' high speed lines were detailed. Portugal, for example, has advance plans to introduce high speed travel between Lisbon and Madrid in Spain, as well as from the country's Atlantic coast to the central Spanish city of Salamanca. Spain has proposed a high speed line between Madrid and Irun on the Spain/France border, before then linking up with the French network.

An existing high speed line in Spain between Madrid and Zargoza is to be extended to Figueres - again near the border with France, where it too will then connect with France's high-speed network.

LEYTR Comment: Well, what a difference this makes to the proposed High Speed 2 line here in the UK. While it makes excellent sense for countries that board each other to co-ordinate their efforts, rarely does this happen throughout the rest of the world. Thalys is an excellent example of what can be achieved when four countries commit to high speed rail - and this long before the most recent boom and bust cycle.

Pooling resources and efforts also provides greater efficiencies when paying for the lines. A high-speed line between Madrid and northern Spain alone would provide significantly fewer journey possibilities than one that linked up with France's TGV network. The more destinations, the greater the patronage and ultimately the revenue received. It could eventually be possible to travel between Madrid and London wholly by high speed rail. With journey times by air between these two capital cities being under 2 hours, high speed rail could start to redress the balance.

Finally, and in a potential contrast to the plans for HS2 here in the UK, reassurances were given at the meeting that measures taken to implement massive spending cuts in all three countries would not affect their commitment to the development of high speed rail. While the Con-Dem Coalition has yet to give firm details on HS2's timescale, many believe that while a long-term commitment will be assured, not a penny on construction will be paid in the current five-year parliament. Meanwhile, Portugal, Spain and France will be progressing apace with their networks.

Ad nauseum

I'm one of the growing number of people who believe that announcements on the London Underground system could do with updating. There are simply far too many nowadays. If you listen out to all announcements made while you're either on a Tube train or wandering through the tunnels to reach the platforms, the vast majority of them are completely needless.

London Overground - the Tube's above-surface counterpart - has virtually identical automated announcements. Passengers aboard one of Overground's shiny new Class 378s were recently forced to listen to all possible on-train announcements and variations thereof, which totalled over 6-and-a-half minutes' worth when read out continuously.

View the YouTube video below and see what you think. There are some absolute corkers in there.

No contest

When faced with the option to either stay at home to watch England's first match of the 2010 World Cup tournament or to travel to a suitable, yet perfectly legal, vantage point along the East Coast Main Line to video Deltic 55022 Royal Scots Grey (which would necessitate being precariously perched on a very dodgy wooden fence), there was only one likely outcome:

Downhill fast!

What does the following photo and the statement in The Spectator have in common?

This is the scene that the RAIB (Rail Accident Investigation Bureau) were faced with on Sunday evening as they initially tried to make sense of why the 1820 Glasgow-Oban Scotrail service derailed (Photo: Railway Eye)

This is a one-liner taken from an interview with the Spectator in which new Transport Secretary Philip Hammond intimates that he'd much prefer a job as Chief Secretary to the Treasury:

"If I had been a Liberal Democrat, I would have been there before him", referring to the recently sacked David Laws.

Both have gone down hill very fast indeed.

Mass default

We very often receive emails which are aimed at tipping us off about forthcoming news stories; others are purely gossip. Some, when either received on numerous occasions or from people who've 'come good' in the past, catch our attention. One such email has repeatedly been sent to us by no fewer than four seemingly unrelated people, concerning the 2016/2017 accessibility legislation deadline.

If you're unaware of this home-grown piece of legislation, let us briefly detail it. From 1 January 2016, all single-decker PCVs operating stage-carriage, passenger bus services here in the UK, with a minimum capacity of 22 seats, must be fully accessible for disabled people. The same applies to all double-deckers, conforming to the same criteria, from 1 January 2017. Coaches don't escape - they must conform by 1 January 2020. Single-deckers that weigh less than 7.5 tonnes must conform even earlier: 1 January 2015.

No more step-entrance buses without wheelchair provision.

With this in mind, there are one or two scenarios that one could envisage on the eve of each respective deadline. By 31 December 2015, the worth of a Dennis Dart SLF will have sky-rocketed as smaller, cash-strapped operators vie for these machines that will ensure they're effectively able to continue trading. The same will be the case for cascaded, seen-better-days Dennis Tridents on 31 December 2016. Come 31 December 2019, never again will you see an un-modified Volvo B10M operating in service in the UK.

Another scenario that *could* be a very real possibility is today's raison d'être: larger bus groups who operate small to moderately-large fleets in areas of the UK that don't see massive financial returns will ensure these fleets remain well below the minimum standards required by 2016/7 and will offer the government an ultimatum: either scrap the forthcoming legislation, or we pull the plug on the entire operation here, effectively defaulting on their businesses.

Considering the operational sprawl of each of the 'big five', we can immediately identify operating companies therein that have already been passed over in favour of more cash-rich urban subsidiaries. What would the government do if, say, faced with Stagecoach refusing to make Orkney and Shetland conform, or First threatening to close down its Devon & Cornwall operation if the DfT's low-floor crusade isn't re-thought? Unlike when National Express defaulted on its East Coast franchise, the DfT has far less obligation to step in itself. Could we conceivably see renationalised bus companies? Would the legislation be dropped, delayed/prolonged or modified to afford certain operators more time to comply?

And if the 'big five' are given, say, five more years to conform, why shouldn't a small, family independent with a much lower profit margin be given the same opportunity?

Many in the industry are hoping that the current recession will see the brakes applied to the legislation, though there are no real signs that the DfT is thinking along the same lines. Production lines at UK-based manufacturers have never been more sparse, so where are the low-floor vehicles going to come from? Smaller operators will obviously favour second-hand examples, cascaded from larger companies, but if, in turn, these operators are buying fewer vehicles, what will oust their ageing SLFs?

There are so many potential problems and outcomes surrounding the 2016/7 accessibility legislation that it isn't clear at all what will happen. The rumour we've detailed could have been perpetuated by certain operators to at least make the DfT take stock of the impact in just over half-a-decade's time. We still maintain the cost of a 10-year old Scania OmniCity will shoot up in 2014, as too will a Volvo B9TL the following year, as many operators who are resentfully purchasing conforming vehicle types scrummage with others for the best deal for limited supplies in the market place.

easyCourt

In 1995 at Luton Airport, a relatively unknown Greek businessman did - with a £30 million loan from his father - lease two Boeing 737s in attempt to enter the short-haul passenger aviation market in a manner that saw all frills removed. The business was named easyJet and the businessman Stelios Haji-Ioannou. eastJet was floated on the stock market in 2000 and today Stelios and his two siblings own a majority share (£646mil) in the £1.7 billion easyJet business - an aviation company that carries more passengers to/from the UK than any other.


There have been simmering tensions between Stelios's easyGroup and the airline he founded following the airline's interpretation of the brand name it had been assigned by the Greek billionaire. Floatation, did of course, release the grasp Stelios had on the airline and at the same time he'd used the 'easy' brand to launch easyInternet. The airline agreed not to receive more than 25% of its revenue from ancillary on the back of its brand, which remained the property of Stelios' easyGroup - who resigned from the eastJet board last month citing his unwillingness to be gagged over the airline's performance.

However, both easyHotel and easyCar (hire agents) are direct descendants of easyJet and other ancillary activities include the charging for large and excess items of luggage. The point has now been reached where Stelios and his siblings believe easyJet is earning in excess of the agreed, permitted threshold of revenue from the brand and a two-year court case was instigated by the Chancery Division of the High Court is timetable to start very soon indeed.

Should the judge side with Stelios, easyJet could be forced to rebrand completely or lose the name of its associated hotel and car hire businesses. Either way, this is likely to see a cost to the company of between £50-150 million. Stelios claims foul play on behalf of easyJet who, when declaring the income from these ancillaries, do so with profit only, not the total transaction.

One of easyGroup's current project is easyPizza, as eaten by its founder, Stelios

It's not the first legal battle in which Mr Haji-Ioannou has found himself - in 2005 easyMobile was introduced whose branding was almost identical to that used by mobile phone provider Orange. This saw Stelios at the other end of proceedings and while an amicable settlement was reached, there seems no obvious way out of the pending court case other than for one side to blink. Stelios isn't short of a bob or two and will be hoping easyJet will be the ones to falter.

easyJet themselves seemed a little defiant: "As you will be aware, the view of our professional advisers Herbert Smith is that the company's interpretation of the brand licence is well-founded, and therefore the board does not feel it is right, in the interest of all shareholders, to offer material concessions to easyGroup." They're acutely aware of the potential costs involved and the knock-on effect this is likely to have to the business as a whole as passengers become very confused at the potential of a name change and the associated problems this caused with the retention of patronage.

In Memoriam: 24

So. Farewell, then
Jack Bauer
And 24
Day 8 was your last
"Dammit"

For the uninitiated, 24 was an American serial drama whose remit was breathtakingly simple: 24 one-hour episodes in real-time, spanning a 24-hour period. While the main plot lines were reasonably believable enough, the twists and turns needed to pad out such a typically American mass run of episodes were far less plausible, though in our household, Sunday nights on Sky1 will never be the same again.


The eighth and final series (cleverly referred to as 'Day 8' throughout) was set on the island borough of Manhattan, New York City. This is a locality that the LEYTR visited in 2008 and to commemorate the end of an era - save the almost inevitable 24: The Movie, expect it to be released within 2 years - we've uploaded a dozen or so of our favourite transport shots, taken during our short time there.

The series 24 is a little more travelled than the LEYTR Editors (only a little more!). Here we can be found 36,000 feet above sea level looking across the tops of the clouds

Upon arrival at JFK Airport we caught a cab to South Ferry at the southern tip of Manhatten. From memory, a set fare of $45 is charged per cab ride, excluding tolls that may be encountered. There are just over 13,000 yellow cabs in New York.

To kill a bit of time before we were permitted access to our hotel rooms, we made use of the Statten Island Ferry service, which links said borough with Manhatten, docking at South Ferry terminal

South Ferry Subway station became synonymous with the movie, The Taking of Pelham 123 (which had literally ended its production when we arrived). Unbeknown to us was that the Subway trains are all fitted with air conditioning - we boarded the first car (seen here) which had inoperable air con, but it felt no worse than the Northern Line in the midst of a heat wave. How silly we felt when locals about-turned and looked for a carriage further down. We soon sussed the error of our ways

The best way to see, and indeed get around the hard-core touristy elements of, Manhatten is using one of the two main tour bus providers. We opted for Stagecoach subsidiary Gray Line, seen here at its Times Square calling point

The seating is nothing to write home about - I've been on more comfortable MCW Metrobuses. But, with our visit coinciding with a heatwave, the top deck was the best place to be!

Look familiar? Stagecoach's no-frill Megabus brand made it to the States long before competing First's Greyhound made it to the UK

Talking of First, Bolt Bus is their attempt to get in on the inter-city low-cost coach market. Seen heading to the coach terminal - reputedly the world's largest

The MTA New York City Bus might provide a 'comprehensive network around New York City' but offer very few services on Manhatten. This borough must be one of the most sparsely populated for local bus services. The vehicles' capacities are very low and seem to offer a token gesture, if only to remind the yellow cabs that they do not have the island all sewn up. So poor is the service that we used the tour buses as local services. Other NYC borough see much better local bus service

The iconic yellow school bus is something First attempted, with limited success, to introduce on our shores. Other local authorities have opted to paint their dedicated school services in an identical yellow though not marketed them in the same fashion as First did - identical to those operating throughout America. This bus was seen in the borough of Brooklyn.

Gray Lines make use of the ADL Enviro500, deploying many of these examples on the tour bus routes in and around Manhatten. Seen here, mid-way through the Downtown Loop Tour is one such example

Megabus services were few and far between, though they're well advertised. Seen here on a sister vehicle owned by Gray Line/Coach USA is about as big an advert as you can get

Not the best move

Yesterday, you may have read about a very fraught journey for passengers aboard the 1820 Scotrail service from Glasgow to Oban on Sunday evening and how the front car derailed, caught fire and lay stricken, inches away from a 50-foot drop.

Contrast this with the journey new Transport Secretary Philip Hammond took last Wednesday. He was chauffeured from his home near Sloane Square to Marsham Street in Westminster (where the DfT can be found), a distance of just over 1 mile and most certainly not in a manner befitting his new Dear Leader's stance on such gratuities.

Sloane Square to Marsham Street, as chauffeured by Transport Secretary Hammond's government Toyota Avensis

Later he was seen being chauffeured between the Houses of Parliament and Marsham Street, which takes at most 5 minutes to walk.

It's not the sort of start to a tenure in office that, when placed in the context of the current economic climate, we would expect of the man at the helm of the government's transport agenda. We're not saying his predecessor Lord Adonis jogged everywhere, but this didn't stop the Labour Party from getting the boot in: "It's clear that Mr Cameron's pledge to get ministers out of their chauffeur-driven cars was just a hollow promise. They still want to ride around in luxury rather than walk to work on the sunniest of days - or use public transport like millions of others."

In their defence the DfT said that in order to make use of the Transport Secretary's time in the most efficient manner, he is occasionally chauffeured from place to place but that this is, on average, just one or two times per week. It's just not the most efficient use of taxpayers' money, though!

When to complain?

Over on Omnibuses at the minute, the blog's author has been in discussion with commenters recently about an entry that was uploaded a few days ago in which he experienced a less-than-pleasurable ride on a bus service.

M'colleague and I travel comprehensively by public transport throughout the UK and share many of the minimum standards shown by the Omnibuses author. So far as I can recall, we've only had cause to complain on two occasions since we've both been editing the UK's third-longest running transport journal.

The Disappearing Bus

The first concerned the non-operation of an advertised bus service in the LEYTR area. The now-defunct operator claimed to have ticket machine evidence that their driver was issuing tickets in the town centre at the time we claimed not to have seen the service, yet it most certainly did not operate from the bus station, as it was timetabled to do. This town in question has two central boarding points and we strongly inferred that, despite the operator's apologetic response for not being able to resolve our complaint, that due to late running, the drive of the service in question omitted the bus station in favour of starting his journey at the second, more populus, locality in the town centre.

This really inconvenienced us as we were at the peripheral of the LEYTR area and were catching said bus service to photograph a special train working a few miles up the road. The route in question was very rural in nature and ran to an incredibly sporadic timetable. In this case we felt totally justified to complain to the operator as we knew, categorically, the company had failed in its obligation to operate as per the published timetable, despite this not being proven.

M'colleague, looking back through his photos taken while we were stood at the bus station in question, spotted our vehicle operating a town service 30 minutes before it should have formed our service (the operator volunteered the vehicle's registration plate in our communication). Drilling down further showed that the time he snapped the 'decker, the bus was operating the town service 12 minutes late. We waited 30 minutes before giving up. The company in question claimed the service left punctually. Even checking m'colleagues photos taken at the time our service was due, it wasn't to be found in the bus station, even with an incorrect destination or parked at the wrong stand (in the case of the latter, no one would have surely boarded in any case).

It was a very odd situation, which clearly frustrated both the passengers and management alike. The driver held the key to the answer, but under investigation claimed not to have any recollection of the incident.

The Scottish Incident

The second occasion concerned a bus service that operated, but in a manner that both of us would rather it hadn't. It was last summer while holidaying in Scotland. We boarded in a very large, populated city at around 2230 hours bound for where were were staying, on the outskirts. In our opinion this operator is an absolute bastion of bus operation here in the UK. Their vehicles are spotless, both inside and out; they offer incrible value for money through their limited ticket range; and have a massive retail presence in their home city.

We boarded at the end of a queue of foreign tourists, all of whom were headed for our destination, too. I placed my exact fare on the hopper and asked for the same destination as those before me. The driver, before accepting my money, pointed to the ticket that had clearly already been printed and waiting to be pulled from the dispenser. This I duly did and sat down. M'colleague paid an identical fare to me, but commented to me while we were both sat down upstairs that my money didn't find its way into the hopper.

CCTV cameras littered the bus and sensing the whiff of gross misconduct at play, I was not happy. We both inferred that the gaggle of foreign tourists who'd boarded immediately before us had not all taken their tickets and the driver, spotting this, thought he'd wave me through, effectively selling the same ticket twice. A few minutes later, while still in the city centre, we turned right at some traffic lights, only to all be thrown forward seconds later as the driver stood the bus on its nose. There was a nasty bang, too. I brushed myself down and ran to the front and saw that we were incredibly close to a black Range Rover in front and assumed we'd hit it.

A minute or two later and we're off again. Now, there are two different routes to our destination; hitherto, we'd travelled on the other of the two routes - this being our first time on this route. The complex at the end, to which we were destined, has a number of stops within it and we were to alight at the very last one. With 4 people on board, we came to a halt at the penultimate stop in the complex and remained stationary for a couple of minutes. We both ventured downstairs and I asked the driver whether he'd be travelling to the next stop or if he'd like us to leave here.

He half-nodded - that is he dropped his head to signify 'yes' (yes to what - he would call at the final stop or he would like us to alight?) - and then pulled his assault screen right the way down to the base. He might as well have punched me in the face. We joined the other two now in the lower saloon and waited another minute or two before the bus continued to the terminal point.

What a journey. There are some operators out there - I'm sure we could all name at least one - who provide drivers that regularly undertake journeys in this manner. Our main reason for complaining was due to this operator's reputation being so high and their value-added aspects, that aren't necessarily spotted by the average passenger, being ranked so highly on our radar that we felt compelled to ensure this individual was brought to book.

I emailed the company in a clear, concise and clinical fashion and a week later received a response befitting the operator in question. They weren't in agreement with everything we stated - namely the first 'issue' of my ticket being printed before I requested it. They said the driver claimed he issued one too many and since the ticket dispenser is too far from his cab to be retrieved manually, he'd offered it to me. Now I know my ticket machines and this model offers a 'take-back' function, which he is instructed to use. The company will have known this (since it is on their instruction that he does it) but thought it pragmatic not to detail this in writing to me.

The second incident saw them go one further. The bang we heard wasn't the bus hitting the Range Rover in front, but 'driver error' that saw the Plaxton President-bodied ADL Trident 2 hitting the high kerb protecting the central island on which stood a traffic light. This collision caused damage to the bus' bodywork.

The third incident of pure ignorance at the penultimate stop at our complex saw the company offer no excuse other than a full and frank apology. They assured me that they do not accept behaviour in this manner and that the driver would face the full weight of their internal disciplinary procedure as a consequence. They hinted at the fact that the driver in question may not have been English-speaking. We did not seek compensation in the form of a voucher of some sort (as is so often the case with many complainants nowadays) and nor did we expect them to offer us this kind of remuneration.

Writing a letter of complaint is not something either of us take lightly. I remember with the Scottish Incident that for the following fifteen minutes we actually attempted to understand why the driver behaved as he did - even contemplating the possibility that we may have both done something to annoy him by accident. Of course, this wasn't the case. I hope that the individual involved in the Scottish Incident has learned from the incident and has improved. The manner in which the company responded has ensured that we won't desert them for another operator or a private motor vehicle. This must surely have been one of their greatest fears.

In communication of this sort, neither of us state we're magazine editors as we both feel that, in so doing, it offers politely threatening undertones. We most certainly do not expect to be treated differently in any way while travelling by any mode of public transport, though the occasional free First Class upgrade is always welcome :-)

Virgin at King's Cross??

There were some strange goings on at King's Cross station last week and it was not just the filming of the new Harry Potter movie. Those nice people at Virgin Trains must be over the moon that their Mk3 'Pretendolino' will have a starring role in the film, but also that for four days - including through the peak periods - the branded Virgin Mk3 set was there for all to see as they either arrived or departed from the station.

Without the Harry Potter filming we suspect that had Virgin asked to stable its Pretendolino in King's Cross for four days, the answer would have been a curt 'No'. That said, it seems that Virgin Trains' PR machine saw opportunities, with one of its press officers seen lurking at the end the platform. An avid LEYTR reader watched with interest and then repeated the Virgin Trains PR-man's shot. And here it is...


Perhaps with an eye to the next franchise, the 'Welcome to London King's Cross' message provides an ideal setting for Virgin Mk3 set in the background?

Better Scottish Stations

As part of the cost-saving measures forced on the Department for Transport (DfT), the £50 million Better Stations scheme, championed by former Transport Secretary Lord Adonis last November, has been scrapped. The scheme's brainchild was seen as Adonis himself, who, while travelling the country by train as Transport Minister, found much wanting at many major stations.

Perhaps the scheme's demise is sensible when faced with the kind of deficit transport will need to play its part in curbing - especially if it enables existing capacity-enhancement schemes to continue.

However, as is so often the case now, Scotland has seen money pledged to improve a number of its major train stations, at a cost of £1 million. At a time when a scheme along the same lines has been disbanded, many will question why Scotland is receiving a share of the Station Community Regeneration Fund. That's partly a self-answering question, since the finance comes from a different pot. A pot that hasn't been taken back by the DfT, presumably since it has no absolute control of it.

Dundee, Kilmarnock, Cupar, Dumbarton Central and Kinghorn stations will all receive money for projects including shops and arts facilities. This, in turn, aims to achieve precisely what the Better Stations scheme aimed to do - improve the travel experience for passengers, create new amenities at stations and offer new employments opportunities.

Further applications for grant money are still invited, with the closing date being October. It would be nice to think that stations such as Manchester Victori and Warrington Bank Quay, that officially made it onto the 'worst ten' list, will receive a similar financial sprinkling during the next round of grant awards.

Barriers elicit strike ballot

As part of numerous train operating companies' (TOCs') franchise agreements, measures have been taken to install ticket barriers at key railway stations. In so doing, the argument is that the level of ticket-less travel will drop and more revenue can be retained by the TOC and ultimately the government. It is widely accepted that ticket barriers are more than worth their weight in gold.

Newark North Gate saw ticket barriers installed last September. Here's a shot of them immediately prior to them becoming operational. They additionally prevent rail enthusiasts from popping onto the platform without having to seek permission first - and sometimes having their request denied

That doesn't mean they're popular though. Travellers dislike them as they slow down passage onto the platform. They're prone to problems, too. At Lincoln Central station a few months ago, my perfectly valid ticket would not grant me exit and the solitary East Midlands Trains member of staff manning the gates was dealing with another query at the far end of the line of barriers, so I had to wait a good two minutes until he saw me waving frantically. Last week my credited Oyster card wouldn't grant me access at King's Cross St. Pancras Underground station - first error code 94 was shown and the next time code 18.

Ticket barriers also prevent that quintessentially British trait of waving goodbye to a loved one. Along the East and Great Western Main Lines, it is still possible to kiss your beloved as her train slowly glides out of the station, thanks to the Mk3 carriages sandwiched between two Class 43 HSTs having sliding windows. Not with ticket barriers you can't.

Mk3 carriages only operate with HSTs along the East Coast Main Line. Ticket barriers prevent those wishing to bid their loved one a fond farewell from getting onto the platform

The installation of ticket barriers has been successfully defeated at both York and Sheffield stations for reasons of legitimate access to non-railway property and that they would look unsightly and not fit in with the building's graded status at York. Open-access train operators such as Grand Central and Hull Trains openly welcome on-train sales, yet at stations with ticket barriers cannot fulfil this. The DfT claim open-access ops should now be aware of stations at which they call having ticket barriers and the manner in which this could affect their on-train revenues factored into future aspirations to call their services there.

Now, ticket barriers could see East Coast guards strike, but for a reason you might not immediately conjure up. All train guards, conductors and managers earn commission from on-train ticket sales. This can range from amounts as low as 2% per ticket to over 6%, depending on the TOC. The advent of ticket barriers at numerous East Coast-controlled stations has seen on-train purchases drop dramatically, and along with this has been guards' associated commission. East Coast has offered its guards - who claim to be the lowest-paid in the industry now their commission is virtually nil - compensation for the drop in earnings here, but the RMT union is currently holding a ballot for strike action or action short of a strike.

For a number of years now Edinburgh Waverley station has been fitted with ticket barriers, which in turn has seen Scotrail, Arriva XC and East Coast guards' on-train ticket sale commission drop

East Coast make perhaps the most obvious reason for its guards' reduction in commission: that the ticket barriers play but a small part, with the massive upsurge of online ticket purchases and the cost of on-the-day tickets for immediate travel being so high that this ensures around 80% of its travellers purchase their tickets in advance - purchases that, of course, see no commission due for the guard. Over 50% of East Coast travellers now purchase tickets online, we're told.

The public reaction to striking guards in this manner will surely be unfavourable. The biggest problem we can see is that guards have grown accustom to expecting commission as part of their basic salary when this isn't usually the case. They're being offered a 'fair and comprehensive compensatory package' by their employer but are still balloting for the possibility of strike action.

If East Coast's guards are successful in securing a package even greater than that on offer now, through their ballot, you can be sure of other TOC guards undertaking to do something similar if they operate through stations now protected by ticket barriers. I feel this story is one that could escalate to ridiculous proportions if not put to bed as quickly and effortlessly as possible. No one wants another BA scenario. Not the passengers. Not the TOCs. Not the unions.