Year of Change

20 years ago today, Newspaper headlines throughout the world rang out to the fall of the Berlin Wall. In fact, 1989 was a year that reshaped our world. Arguably, there’ve been other momentous years even in recent times—the Suez crisis, Cuban missile crisis, our entry into what was then called the common market, decimalisation, for example—but 1989 saw freedom in Europe on an unprecedented scale. 1989—year of considerable change...

Sunday Times magazine front cover, May 2009

Kegworth air disaster; Solidarity union legalised in Poland; Soviets leave Afghanistan after nine bloody years; Sky TV finally launches; first GPS satellite enters orbit; death threats made against author of the Satanic Verses; agreement eventually reached on the banning of CFCs; the Purley rail crash; the Exxon Valdez spills its 9mil gallons of oil off Alaska; Soviet troops kill civilians during peaceful Georgian rally in capital Tbilsi; Hillsborough disaster kills 96 Liverpool football fans; Hungary dismantles 150 miles of barbed wire along Austria border soon followed by historic reburial of 1958 executed leader Imre Nagy; Tiananmen Square massacre in Peking; Solidarity wins in free elections in Poland; space shuttle Columbia takes off for the first time; Dow Jones Industrial Average crashes; Guildford Four freed after 14 years; free movement allowed between east and west Berlin as Wall is torn down; Velvet Revolution begins in Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia; Romanian revolution sees historic Christmas changes in Bucharest.		Grampian Regional Transport sold to management under Moir Lockhead; Trinity buys Hestair Group vehicle division; Southern National buys Brutonian; Drawlane buys Crosville; National Welsh buys Inter Valley Link; Lincoln closes both Lincoln taxi & Scunthorpe minibus operations; South Yorkshire Transport launches Eager Beavers; Docklands Transit commences; London Buses fragments; Stagecoach buys East Midlands; Stagecoach buys Ribble; London Country South West renamed London & Country and passes to Drawlane; Shamrock & Rambler & Charlie's Cars close; Stagecoach takes over operations in Barrow; Busways privatised; Traction buys Gash; Plaxton buys Henlys; Trent buys Barton; Plaxton buys Duple; Stagecoach buys Southdown; Merthyr Tydfil Transport goes bankrupt; National Express buys Stagecoach Scottish expresses; Derby City Transport sold to consortium; Drawlane buys Midland Fox; Stagecoach buys Portsmouth; Metrobus design passes to Optare; Alexander North East split between Stagecoach Magic Bus and Grampian; United Bus formed upon DAF & Bova merger; Stagecoach buys Hastings & District.

Omnibuses meets Jenni Wilkinson

Marketing has played a fundamental role in turning Bournemouth's bus service around. When Omnibuses2.0 met Transdev Yellow Buses' long-standing marketing manager Jenni Wilkinson, we asked her some obvious questions. It's not surprising that Jenni also enthused about the potential for this week's UK Bus Awards 2009...

OB: Now that you’ve grown the market by over 40 percent, where else is there to go?

JW: You can never sit on your laurels. We need to continue to grow the market and look at converting current non-bus users, wherever possible.

OB: What made you decide to buy Versas and Tempos? What other options did you consider?

JW: We had a variety of demonstrators to look at, and all factors were taken into consideration including seat layout, leg room etc . The decision to purchase Versa followed by Tempo was taken as they were the vehicles that best fitted our needs.

OB: Café Nero-style buses and leather’s been quite affective in upping the image of the bus but more on longer distance rather than local services. Why have you chosen leather for the 1A?

JW: The decision wasn't really about leather, but about raising the bar on the attention to detail inside the bus. We are really pleased with the growth on both the 1A and subsequently the 3.

OB: Bournemouth once prided itself on a standard fleet of double decks. Do you ever see the time when you will buy any more new?

JW: Vehicle purchases are based on the requirement of the network, so never say never.

OB: Why have you abandoned the open top bus service?

JW: Abandoned is such an emotive word. We took the decision, rightly in the current economic climate, to put our resource into our core network and ensure the stability of our year round customer base. We are not averse to an open top services but it has to be commercially viable and sustainable. Better weather locally would help as well!

OB: There’s a campaign around Bournemouth at the moment to rid the town of car parking at bus stops. Do you see this ever as being successful?

JW: We sincerely hope so, any initiative that improves journey times for our passengers receives our full support. Ensuring the roads are kept clearer doesn't just benefit the wider travelling public, but also makes using public transport an even more attractive option.

OB: How much of the recent innovation has been the result of the in-house team and how much brought in from consultants or Transdev?

JW: We are lucky to have such a wealth of experience within the group we can call on if required, and Transdev promotes best practice, which means we share ideas but in the main the ideas and innovations come from the team locally here in Bournemouth.

OB: You have reduced the 5/5A to the frequency you adopted in 2006. In spite of your success, why have you done this?

JW:Pre-July 2007 the frequency on route 5 (Kinson) was already every seven/eight minutes. We increased this to six minutes as we saw potential growth. Sadly, this growth has not materialised, hence our decision to reduce the frequency to pre-2007 levels after, effectively, a two year ‘trial’ period.

OB: Why was the white Your Bus fleet set up and what are your long term goals for it?

JW: Your Bus is a brand that is used for vehicles which solely service schools or other non-network contracts. As these are older, step vehicles, the separate brand was to ensure there was no confusion as to whether this style of bus served on our network routes, and the white is to emphasise the difference.

OB: Why did you alight at the lighter shade of yellow compared to the 'bluer' yellow of the old YB?

JW: It is all part of our brighter philosophy. We are so much more than just a brighter yellow; it is all part of our 'smart' image.

OB: Well done for getting through to the shortlist of the Bus Oscars™. Do you feel you may get the national recognition you deserve?

JW: It would be fabulous to think so. We have done very well in recent years in the local tourism awards, so, of course, that raises our profile within our market place, which is exactly what we are after. I should say that being short listed is enough, but Shire Operator... of course we want it. All that aside, it is amazing to be short listed, to be down to the final six operators and with two of our sister operations as well, who we have a healthy rivalry with. I have of course wished them luck, just perhaps not quite as much as us, but we will be cheering each other on, on the day.

It's no surprise to us to see that Ed Wills [head of operations] was short listed for Young Manager of the Year. One of the many advantages of working for Transdev Yellow Buses is being able to take projects forward if you are able to do so, if you have the business acumen and the ability, you get the support to progress. As a group, Transdev is really pro-active in recognising young talent and has a management development scheme which allows access to each business in the UK.
Carbon Stoppers has really progressed this year. We have seen growth on a Thursday across the network and it fits really well with us being a community- based company on many different levels. We trademarked Carbon Stoppers very early on, as we knew it was going to be special, and it has really captured the imagination of our passengers and readers of the local paper the Daily Echo Bournemouth.

Wait till the Bus Stops

Another news story and another case where the bus industry is on the back foot.

I refer to Wednesday’s Echo article in which a two-year-old ended up in hospital with a swollen nose after he fell on his Transdev Yellow Bus journey. The allegation is that the driver took off before the family of one mum and three children were safely seated.

This raises a number of issues.

• Passengers are most at risk while standing or moving around the vehicle.


• This does not stop children from messing around and it doesn’t seem to have any impact on some parents who fail to control their children’s behaviour.


• We still allow standing passengers on service buses. If they are more vulnerable when standing, why? Yet, without the ability to load standing passengers, urban buses would seize up at peak periods.


• Setting off before passengers have found their seats is not an indication of a rude or intolerant driver, though passengers seem to think it is.


• Passengers have responsibilities e.g. to find a seat quickly and, as stated, to control children. Most (indeed many) drivers will show due consideration where passengers find it difficult to get to their seats easily.


• To what extent should a driver wait for passengers to get to their seats before restarting the journey? For years, it’s been custom & practice to pull away at the earliest opportunity. Realistically, to wait for *every* passenger to sit would cause unacceptable delays for *every* passenger.


• Timekeeping constraints are nothing new. Almost exactly 29 years to the day since Hants & Dorset operated its last bus with a conductor, I can still hear the cry ring out, “Hold very tight, please” followed immediately by two bells to single the driver to depart, and a prompt re-entry into traffic, as passengers moved down the bus.


• That said, we now live in a “no-win-no-fee” era. You used to grin & bear minor injuries on buses—but no longer.


• Like many operators, TYB recommends that passengers signal by the bell when they want to get off and remain seated till the bus stops. By publicising this, TYB is covered to some extent. How many passengers actually do this? Few, if any. Passengers accept that moving to the front as the bus approaches their stop is all part & parcel of their journey.

As an aside and in terms of attitudes towards safety, an increasing number of service buses these days have seat belts and generally all coaches do, too. How many passengers use them?

Going Dutch—or Gallic

Another new name, another new brand. NedRailways, fire sale owners since May of former National Express’ Travel London/Surrey, has renamed its bus operation Abellio.

With some 85 per cent of its operation in London, the Abellio name is unlikely to hit people in the face, subsumed as it is under the strong TfL bus brand. It nevertheless will appear on the sides of its 350-vehicle London bus fleet. The brand will, of course, be more transparent in Surrey.

Abellio joins the trend towards the establishment of UK transport brands with seemingly made up names such as Arriva, Veolia, Govia, Transdev and Rotala.

Abellio is a Northrhine-Westphalia, Germany, bus & rail operator that NedRail took over in 2008. Interestingly, the origins of German Abellio appear to have involved a majority investment by a British investment fund manager, Star Capital Partners. The name Abellio may be traced either to either a Gallic god or it may even be a derivative of the Greco-Roman god Apollo.

One Nation

Among all the words written about the so-called ‘nationalisation’ (that rather isn’t) of the east coast main railway line, we should remember two things. First, the same fate would’ve befallen all three other franchise bidders. Secondly, there are other lines, for example, those in, erm, Wales?

Most of Wales’ patchy rail network runs around the principality’s periphery (serving much of its population). Since partial devolution, there’s a desire within the region to become more united. It’s up to the bus to fill the gaps.

A newish bus/rail map shows just what’s been achieved. It marks out all rail routes plus the Trawscambria bus network, side-by-side. This is a positive development, no doubt made much easier by Welsh government funding for both bus & rail and a single bus/rail operator over much of Wales—Arriva. Of the Trawscambria network, the maps calls it’s “expanding”. That isn’t strictly true because, in the last four years, the network has certainly expanded but is now static. In fact, Arriva Buses Wales has recently retrenched from Chester to Wrexham on its Barmouth X94. With the recent appointment of a Welsh Trawscambria manager, things may change. His remit is developmental though lean years to come may have some impact.

One easy way of expanding Trawscambria is to fill in the gaps between the map’s red buses and green trains and to subsume those bus services not directly competing with rail that perform more than local functions. These might include the X63 Brecon-Swansea, X43 Abergavenny-Cardiff and X50/52 Rhyl-Wrexham. The recent upgrade to the X63 was designed to Trawscambria specification.

Now’s the right time to see a second Trawscambria expansion. Trawscambria was born 30 years ago—remember the 700 Bangor-Cardiff?—and its development till 2005 was patchy. To date, the principle’s been the replacement of sometimes piecemeal services with regular, connecting ones. Seasonal traffic congestion in parts of rural Wales can hinder these connections. Pivotal has been the all-new Newtown-Brecon service, the first time ever there’s been a regular bus along the Cambrian mountain spine.

Trawscambria is now a Welsh government-controlled brand though technically it still belongs to Arriva Buses Wales as successor to the original owner, Crosville Motor Services. You can now see Trawscambria branding on Arriva, First, Stagecoach & Richards Bros buses.

Update at 1800: find the map online here

Additional information by Omnibuses’ Northern Correspondent

Merry Christmas

Here’s a thing. After the atheist bus advert campaign that sort of backfired, this Christmas Christian churches will begin their first ever organised advertising campaign. And it’s coming specifically to a bus shelter near you.

“Christmas starts with Christ” aims to retell the Nativity in a modern, secular context. In particular, agency churchad.net is concentrating on bus shelters because these, they believe, are the modern day equivalent of a stable. Not a bad analogy, actually, as there are parallels with “no room at the inn”. Bus shelters can and actually do offer shelter to marginalised and homeless people, for short periods and long, during the day and evening. Passing through bus shelters will be a great many people whose lives are in need to the hope of the Easter & Christmas messages, the agency feels.

Getting all modern: note the Tesco carrier bag at the foot of the TfL flag pole

The campaign aims to sponsor 2,000 shelter adverts in the last two weeks of December 2009. For a modest sum, local churches can “buy” an advert in local shelters and they are being invited to give a carol concert on 22 December 2009 at or by their respective shelters. Who was it who said churches needed to get out beyond their buildings? Bet they never thought that this would involve a bus shelter.

With Advent but 24 days away, may we be the first to wish you all a merry Christmas.

Compromise by Design

Phase One of Bath’s new Southgate shopping precinct opens today. And all within a short walk of the already complete new bus station. Shopping’s a vast improvement upon the early 1970s covered square that it replaces.

Brand new bus for a brand new bus station. New Volvo B7RLE Eclipse 2s with their pretty features have recently begun on the busy 173 Bath-Wells

But is the accompanying new bus station better than before?

The so-called Busometer

Bath’s bus station opened in the spring to a welter of criticism. The structure at one end was likened to a gasometer but, actually, it’s a welcome relief from Southgate’s swollen regency facsimile. The bus station adds something iconic to the otherwise mediocre architectural merits of Southgate. You watch, it’ll be Listed in 50 year’s time and rightly so.

The Southgate shopping centre tries to emulate Bath Regency

What about operationally? The station has its pluses… and minuses. Passengers no doubt appreciate the large, light, glazed & covered area, now sheltering them from the worst autumn rain & chills. It’s well designed for them. The old canopied bus station seemed incredibly exposed and caught the wind no matter its direction. The passenger area befits a major tourist & shopping destination.

A modern, comfortable, well lit area offers shelter & space for passengers

Passengers won’t like the inquiry office closing at 1700. In a busy tourist honeypot & sub-regional centre (especially at 1700), such an early closure seems strange. At least there is a supervisor on duty till after 2300, though this isn’t immediately obvious.

Difficult to break out of the waiting area unless a driver opens the stand doors

Operationally, the bus exit is difficult, especially at peak times. The signals hold general traffic on the road outside but this tends to stop too proud of its white line, hampering drivers of longer buses turning right. His could be cured by setting the white line back a few yards. A bigger exit yellow box would benefit all buses. Currently, some traffic ignores the modest box junction, leaving no room for buses to squeeze out in either direction. During peak traffic conditions, only one or at most two buses can leave at a time.

City services continue to use the road outside. There appear problems with parking

And the operational side of the site itself could be classed as a slight compromise. Buses take longer travelling to the south and west but that’s an acceptable trade off in terms of facilities. Minimising operating space means a bus station that operates on a nose-in-reverse-out system. This is no worse than beforehand but minor bumps are already reported. First seems no longer in a position financially to deploy the planned banksmen. It’s as well, then, that by good design pedestrians will find the operating apron virtually impregnable. If they do break through the diver-operated stand security doors, there’s nowhere for them to go, no destination that they can reach by straying into the running area.

Some buses travelled through the bus station at nearly double the permitted speed

One omission that was a feature of the old was the plaque in memory of the late driver whose bus in the mid-1970s was hit by a tree. At least I couldn’t see it. It’s a shame First has not yet reset the reminder of a fallen comrade who died in service.