The dwindling supply of PCV drivers is highlighted by the driving test passes since the height of the pandemic. In the five years from 2007/8, 24,568 PCV tests were passed. In the five years until April 2022, just 16,586 drivers joined the industry – a fall of more than 30%. Not all of this is […]
BASE Coach Sales has supplied Applegates Coaches of Berkeley, Gloucestershire, with its first MOBIpeople coach. The new MOBIpeople Explorer is based on a Scania chassis and has 74 seats, a ZF automatic transmission and is to PSVAR specification. Ceri Taylor, Managing Director at Applegates, said this latest fleet upgrade comes as Bristol and Bath are […]
National Express West Midlands is investing £150 million in 300 UK-made electric zero-emission buses, for delivery by the end of December 2024. The buses will be deployed across the West Midlands. This investment is part of National Express delivering on its commitment to have a completely zero-emission bus fleet in the UK by 2030. Thanks […]
Stagecoach is closing its Blackwood depot in south Wales. Blackwood depot will close and services will operate from the new £7m Cwmbran depot instead, which has additional capacity, and from the Caerphilly depot. The changes come into effect from Sunday 5 February. The operator assures customers they will see no bus service reductions as a […]
Barnsley-based Globe Holidays has received a £180,000 investment from Finance Yorkshire. The investment, from Finance Yorkshire’s Business Loan Fund, supports the acquisition of new vehicles and onboard ticketing technology. Globe Holidays also operates private hire and school transport services, along with a UK holiday programme and day excursions. The company runs travel shops in Barnsley, […]
A coach hire price comparison website is eyeing expansion into Europe as part of its growth plans as bookings for the year surge above £5m for the first time in its history. Coach Hire Comparison is on track to achieve bookings worth a total of £5.3m for the financial year to the end of February, […]
FlixBus is unveiling UK growth plans in partnership with the UK’s biggest independent bus operator, McGill’s Buses. McGill’s has confirmed it will be placing 18 new vehicles exclusively on the FlixBus network in 2023, in addition to its current fleet of seven. The coaches will be Volvos and along with some ancilary expenditure represent an […]
CPT has launched a new Cost Monitor replacing the Cost Index that tracked industry costs before the pandemic. The new Cost Monitor is designed to allow operators to benchmark their costs and performance anonymously against their peers, as well as inform CPT’s policy discussions with governments and industry stakeholders. “Once collated, we can use up […]