Devon operator, Carmel Coaches Ltd, has taken over Nailsea based North Somerset Coaches. The acquired company’s bus service work was passed onto Abus of Bristol on 11 November 2013. Carmel has taken on the remaining coach side, which consists of two vehicles and two staff operating from the existing base at Nailsea. Carolyn Alderton, daughter […]

First Scotland East has announced a replacement for MD, Paul Thomas, who has left to take up a new position elsewhere in the bus industry. Paul McGowan, who was Regional Project Director for First Bus in Scotland working closely with First Scotland East, has now taken over as the company’s new MD. McGowan is based […]

There were 7,708 buses and coaches registered in 2013, down 4.9% on the year before, according to the latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). Despite this, December saw the fifth consecutive month of growth, with registrations totalling 647, a 55.9% rise on the same month in 2012. Mike Hawes, SMMT […]

Leon Daniels, TfL’s MD Surface Transport, didn’t hold back at the launch of two new BYD e-bus electric buses at Go-Ahead’s Waterloo depot on 18 December. ‘This is a really exciting day for us,’ he said, ‘We hope to see hundreds of these in due course.’ He had been to the BYD Auto plant in […]

I think 2013 will go down in the memory as something of a curate’s egg as far as the bus and coach industry is concerned. Curate’s egg? – good in parts. The Government, or at least Chancellor George Osborne, spent much of the year telling us that the economy was improving and things were getting […]

Kent County Council hosted the first Clean Bus Technology roadshow to be held by exhaust system specialist, Eminox. The event aimed to inform attendees of the importance of reducing emissions from buses and coaches, as well as the best practice in doing this. It also highlighted the new SCRT emission reduction system from Eminox, which […]

For the past 25 years Q’Straint has focused on the goal of developing the world’s most effective wheelchair passenger safety solutions for public and private transportation, a process that has seen it repeatedly create innovative product options. When I was invited to its Whitstable, Kent, headquarters with the promise of seeing a new product the […]

Group Chief Executive of Translink, Catherine Mason, is to leave her post in March 2014 to take up a position in NATS, providers of Air Traffic Management (ATM) services. Catherine said, ‘It is with mixed emotions I am making this move; firstly genuine sadness, I have enjoyed my time in Translink and Northern Ireland. I also […]