Boulder Bridge Lane near Barnsley is the stuff of legend; the place where buses and coaches meet their maker. On the face of it, breaking up PSVs may seem a simple act of destruction but, as we discovered, it’s actually a complex and risky business, paying ahead for raw materials which may fall in value […]
In this week’s issue, B&CB visits the community of bus dismantlers and recyclers just outside of Barnsley. It was, above all else, humbling. Carving buses apart with a cutting torch is a hard business. Even in snow, the work goes on; tough men working in the grime of smoke, grease, oil and mud to reduce […]
ComfortDelGro Corporation has acquired south Wales based New Adventure Travel (NAT Group) for £13.4m. The acquisition is significant, as it is ComfortDelGro’s first acquisition of its bus operations outside of London. In the capital, its wholly-owned subsidiary, Metroline Ltd, is the second largest public scheduled bus operator, with a fleet of 1,700 vehicles. The Singapore […]
The UK’s new bus and coach market fell in every quarter of 2017, according to figures released today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). Following a period of strong growth in 2015 and 2016, last year saw registrations decline by 12.7% to 7,666. Double-deck demand saw the biggest fall across the year, […]
The Department for Transport has begun its consultation over Section 19 permits – but has raised hackles of PSV operating licence holders The promised consultation on Section 19 and 22 has begun but has already come under fire from the Bus and Coach Association’s Martin Allen. The DfT promised a consultation process shortly after issuing […]
The UK’s new Clean Air Zones could be the biggest boost to buses for decades… or another example of politics which ignores the evidence. Delegates at the UK Bus Summit heard the arguments from both sides but everyone including new Transport Minister for buses, Nusrat Ghani MP, was in broad agreement that buses are the […]
In a forthcoming issue, Bus & Coach Buyer will be reporting on test stations – are they overloaded, or under-resourced? Having had a number of reports that operators are suffering delays in booking tests – some so lengthy, vehicles are laid up – we want to get a better picture of the situation, both nationally […]
“Official guidance on the implementation of Clean Air Zones directs local councils to target older, diesel buses as the top priority, followed by HGVs, then vans, with private cars only to be targeted as a last resort. “But with 41% of emissions from road transport coming from diesel cars and 30% from diesel vans – […]