The crossroads
It takes some bottle to hand in your notice on a £40,000-a-year salaried job and dive into coach tours to make a living. If we’re to believe many pundits, there are thin margins and a lot of stress in running a tour programme, with or without owning coaches. That said, there are a few well-known […]
Transit troubles
When the Mk8 Ford Transit minibus was introduced in 2014 it set new standards in what could be expected from a factory-built product; but the introduction of an all-new model, assembled at a new plant in Turkey for the global market with Euro VI compliant engines, greater levels of standard specification and a vastly more […]
The road to zero
Procuring the electric vehicles (EVs) themselves is just one aspect of the challenge to introduce zero-emission vehicles to meet the UK’s commitment to a net zero carbon economy. The bigger issue may be creating the means to charge them. Energy supplier SSE, one of the organisations playing a leading role in facilitating the introduction of […]
2020 – a pivotal year
2020 is set to be a pivotal year not just for our planet as a whole, but for local communities right across the UK. Why? Because for the first time ever there is a political consensus that we are facing a climate emergency which threatens the future of our planet – and something must be […]
New horizons
I’ve made no secret of the fact that I liked ADL Plaxton’s Panorama from the moment it appeared at the NEC show. My view of ‘decker coaches has been jaded in the past by vehicles which definitely give top-deck travel a good name but which feel more like a pot-holing expedition downstairs – claustrophobic, with […]
Driving forward
A record-breaking attendance for the annual National Coach Conference enjoyed a celebration of the industry then got down to work the following day, as the Confederation of Passenger Transport began the creation of the national coach strategy with delegates’ help. Staged at the Pera Business Centre in Melton Mowbray – also the home of one […]
Operator – New dawn rising
Crossing the Humber Bridge to get to Hull-based East Yorkshire was somewhat emblematic of what is happening at the operator. The business is making a journey from its past form as EYMS, crossing a gulf of uncertainty to get to the fresh banks of a new tomorrow. The company has been acquired by Go-Ahead Group […]