My last vehicle launch of 2013 was TfL’s new BYD e-bus and at the press lunch that followed it Isbrand Ho, General Manager BYD Auto Europe, said that now was ‘the Kodak moment’ for the European bus manufacturing industry. It was a reference to the once all-powerful film manufacturer’s refusal to take seriously the threat […]
It would be an understatement to say Worksop based parts and consumables supplier, MasterPart Truck and Bus, has become an even busier company over the past few years. Arriving there early, I found General Manager, Jon Hale, on the phone deftly marshalling his business and PSV Parts Specialist, Steve Clarke, equally busy. I had originally […]
Malcolm Robson, MD of Ipswich Buses, has had a busy year as President of CPT UK, but he hasn’t been neglecting the day job. 2013 was an eventful year for the business which has faced competition from First and won a significant new contract, as I found when I visited him in the run up […]
The Friends of King Alfred Buses’ annual Winchester Buses Running Day has become a New Year’s Day institution over the past 30 years. What started in 1983 with just two buses, a King Alfred Leyland Tiger Cub and a former Paris bus offering a free service, developed until over 30 buses and coaches were providing […]
On 18 December, following consultation with the finance company that underwrites its VOSA financial standing and invoice discounting facilities, a decision was made for Classic Bus North West Ltd (CBNW Ltd) to suspend trading. The routes being operated on the CBNW Ltd licence were therefore suspended, affecting services 80 (Blackpool-Poulton-Preston) and the Red Rocket Express […]
One of the simple measures of the strength of a country’s economy is the number of tower cranes and new multi-story buildings under construction. Istanbul is booming and spreading on both sides of the Bosphorus. A new rail tunnel link has just been opened under the waterway, and a third bridge will be built to […]
Operators of all sizes are invited to enter their technicians in the IRTE Skills Challenge as the event returns for its fourth year of competition. Pioneered by IRTE (Institute of Road Transport Engineers), one of the most respected names in UK transport, it is aimed directly at technicians from the bus and coach industry. It […]
Director of Carmarthenshire based Taf Valley Coaches, Clive Edwards, is to make a TV appearance on the Welsh language channel, S4C, on 17 January at 19.35. He is to appear in an episode of Cefn Gwlad. The show gets an inside view of his day job running a rural coach operation, as well as his […]