2013 – A curate’s egg of a year!
Events both good and bad
VOSA and DVLA announced they were to merge into presumably some other dubious acronym. I can’t personally think why they have been separate for so long. The commercialisation of VCA is on the other hand quite different. I think most vehicle builders and dealers who have had to deal with this organisation will have grave doubts that it has the mind set, or expertise, to become commercial.
At long last Dartford Crossing is to become toll free – sorry toll barrier free – you’ll still have to pay, just not stop to do it. I remember going through the barrier in a gismo equipped Kings Ferry coach years ago and thinking what a good idea – what took so long?
Liverpool decided bus lanes don’t work and then wondered why congestion increased and bus service times went out of the window.
Sorry Boris you can’t escape. We got our first 100% Borismaster routes in London. To operate this you need a batch of the World’s most expensive double deckers at around ￡350,000 and to operate them properly you need a two man crew – good for getting people off the unemployment register, but at what cost? I’ll direct you to Roger French’s excellent piece in Issue 1233 12 July 2013 which you can access via our brilliant new website.
NBfLs or Borismasters as they are popularly known began operating on services in London
The latest Euro legislation to come fully into force during the year was the Driver CPC. Operators I speak to report greater difficulty than ever getting part time drivers and a reduced ability to help out other operators in their hour of need.
Passengers in Scotland got a new focus group Bus Users Scotland – I’m sure it will do as good a job as Bus Users UK has done for the rest of the country – will the latter have to change its name now? Passengers in Scotland are also going to get Transport for Edinburgh to co-ordinate all public transport in its area. I hope it doesn’t think it’s going to get similar funding to TfL, unless Alex Salmond has a magic pot none of us know about.
Still on Edinburgh, the infamous tram has started making test runs. At only ￡776m for half a scheme it makes Boris look parsimonius. Apparently the brilliant bus service that has served the Scottish capital for decades is to be diverted in one direction away from running down Princes Street to run down the far less convenient George Street. Now there’s progress for you!
We could talk about the impending referendum on Independence but then again perhaps we’ll leave that until next year!
Mercedes-Benz has been building clone copies of its Sprinter van shells for competitor VW for years. VW calls them Crafters. Now MB has decided that when the new Sprinter comes along probably in 2015 it’s going to stop building for VW. Is that why the latest Euro6 Sprinters have a much more aggressive frontal appearance or was that really just to accommodate the larger package size of the power unit?
Also coming out of Brussels are rumbles of moves to increase the maximum gvw on two and presumably three axles – why have we had to wait for so long?
You might have missed what I think was a significant announcement. The Irish Government will put up 10% of services previously only available to Dublin Bus or Bus Eireaan to private tender. Small beginnings but I think this is the beginning of the end for State run dominance in the Republic – will Northern Ireland follow the trend?
Fire!
Fire hit the headlines too often in 2013. There was the devastating fire at Bruce’s Coaches in Scotland which saw Rangers new and very expensive Van Hool team coach and others badly damaged. Then there was another bad one at Barfoots in Southampton but by far the worst was that at Western Greyhound, destroying or damaging 37 buses. All these fires were allegedly deliberate torchings. But didn’t it make you proud to be a member of this industry when you witnessed the way the industry responded to Western Greyhound’s plight.
The horrific fire at Western Greyhound that destroyed or damaged 37 vehicles
Another alleged arson attack was of Stagecoach London’s memorial bus ‘Spirit of London’. Built in 2005 as a replacement for the bus they lost in the 7/7 bombing and which remembered those who lost their lives and were injured in that horrific incident – in true Stagecoach style they rebuilt it, irrespective of the costs, and it runs again today – well done to them.