The vehicles chosen for rail replacement are certainly variable. When National Express is called in, the quality is excellent, but I have seen coaches at Peterborough which don’t even have a full complement of windows. Though I have no doubt that most coaches provided are serviceable and legal, a great many are out on school […]
It’s a mess, and the panic whipped up by the DfT’s new guidance for Section 19 and Section 22 Community Bus Permits shows little sign of abating until March, when Secretary of State for Transport, Jesse Norman MP, says consultation with stakeholders will be finished. Suffering seasonal dyslexia, the DfT had promised this consultation in […]
As you will read here, the Transport Select Committee has now heard evidence from a number of key figures on the subject of the impact of the new guidelines for using S19 and 22 bus permits. Before that hearing, a number of parties responded to a consultation exercise, putting their point of view. It’s actually […]
This weekend, we will fall silent, as did the guns on World War One’s battlefields in 1918, and remember our losses in conflict. There are many among us who abhor politicians who have given spurious reasons to go to war over the last 100 years, but none of us who do not value those who […]
By day two of the Coach and Bus UK exhibition, I was becoming aware of my age – these legs, each heading towards 60 years old, ain’t what they used to be. For the ‘little’ show, Coach and Bus UK seemed to be quite big, with plenty to see and, especially on day one, a […]
Apologies to Tubeway Army for the headline, but the question should really be ‘Is electric our friend?’ And the answer is ‘yes.’ My visit a couple of weeks ago to the Cenex LCV2017 event at Millbrook – where vehicle activity is so secretive, you usually have to have a sticker put over the lens of […]
While we applaud the formation of Mobility Matters – full story in next week’s issue – to offer help to community transport organisations left high and dry by the DfT’s ‘new’ guidance, it is ridiculous to simultaneously pretend that it’s all to do with an ongoing Public Inquiry, that it will never happen, and that […]
Mark Self has dropped me a line, after reading our ULEZ/CAZ extravaganza, highlighting the machinations of operators over the route to Euro 6. Aiming leftfield, Mark points out that, while diesel cars now garner the kind of reaction once reserved for dog mess, their petrol equivalents are regarded as ‘clean,’ simply because NOx and particulate […]