Cambridge’s Busway has fully re-opened, having been partially closed for over two years. RICHARD WALTER The southern section of Cambridgeshire’s Busway has reopened, in a move that operator Stagecoach says will see journey times between the city’s Biomedical Campus and central railway station reduced to less than five minutes, with buses on the route no longer needing to divert via already congested public roads, a journey that Stagecoach says can take over 30 minutes at peak times. A section of the guided Busway has been closed in one direction since February 2022 for safety reasons, and only ..read more

Go-Ahead London has signed the first deal with Rock Road to fund 60 battery buses. GO-AHEAD UK Infrastructure Bank Rock Rail, which has extensive experience in the rail sector, and Aviva Capital Partners have formed a partnership to provide a new funding platform for zero emission bus financier Rock Road. The partnership, alongside a debt facility from UK Infrastructure Bank and HSBC UK, is committing an initial £100m to fund up to 250 zero-emission buses and associated infrastructure. Rock Road is able to offer a finance solution for bus operators and public transport authorities to decarboni ..read more

Labour sees franchised networks such as that in Manchester as the way forwards. RICHARD SHARMAN Ahead of a general election, the Labour Party has set out how it sees the future for bus services across England Labour’s shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh MP has set out the party’s plans for a better bus network across England should it win the next general election, with a promise ‘to allow every community across the country to take back control of local bus services.’ Labour says it’s plan could ‘create and save up to 1,300 vital bus routes’ and allow as many as 250 million more passenger ..read more

Transport UK (formerly Abellio) has converted its route 306 to electric operation. TRANSPORT UK Transport UK London Bus (formerly Abellio) celebrated the mobilisation of a new fully electric fleet on its Transport for London route 306 on 13 April using Wrightbus Electroliner double-deckers operating from its Battersea depot. Head of Commercial at Transport UK London Bus Alastair Willis said: “We are delighted to mobilise route 306 as a fully EV service on behalf of Transport for London. These new state-of-the-art buses will give our customers cleaner and more comfortable journeys.” The post Tr ..read more

First Bus has pledged to pay all its employees and those working for it through third party contractors a minimum of £12 per hour. FIRST First Bus has announced that it is has been accredited as a Real Living Wage (RLW) employer, which means 1,300 staff across its UK businesses have benefited with a pay rise in line with the new commitment from 1 April. The move brings every employee to at least £12 per hour across its UK business and includes workers employed through third party contractors. First Bus says it is the UK’s largest national bus operator to make this commitment, cementing its pos ..read more

Keith Watson has joined Wrightbus from EO Charging. WRIGHTBUS Wrightbus has appointed Keith Watson as its new Director of Sales for the UK and Ireland. The manufacturer says that Keith is well-known in the industry for being customer-focused and for introducing new technologies and added value. He joins the Northern Ireland-based company from EO Charging, where he was Director of Bus, Truck & Van Sales. He also served as Head of e-Bus and e-Truck at EO, and also spent many years at Alexander Dennis as Customer Development Director. Keith said: “I am delighted to be joining Wrightbus at wha ..read more

Faresaver has taken delivery of four MCV Evoras, and has six more on order. VOLVO/TIM SQUIRES The Volvo MCV Evora is proving a successful combination for one Wiltshire operator, which has recently ordered more Volvo Buses has delivered four more B8RLE MCV Evora 10.8m buses to Faresaver of Wiltshire, and the operator has ordered a further six. The additional buses are set to join the family-owned fleet later this year, primarily for its services between Chippenham and Bath. The new buses have been purchased as fleet replacements for older vehicles, as the company says passenger comfort remains ..read more

A discounted travel rate from NETS will allow more schools to take advantage of the National Park. NATIONAL EXPRESS The South Downs National park has teamed up with National Express Transport Solutions (NETS) to enable more schoolchildren to enjoy trips to the National Park. The National Park has teamed up with NETS to offer schools based in southern England discounted travel to over 100 attractions and venues in the Park, including all manner of nature and heritage-based activities. The partnership was announced as the National Park’s Outdoor Learning Grant was opened for applications from sc ..read more

Altro’s new range has been designed with zero-emission vehicles in mind. ALTRO Altro has announced the launch of what it says is an innovative new collection of next generation bus flooring engineered to address operational challenges unique to zero-emission vehicles. The company’s three new ranges will be presented to the industry at the ALBUM conference and at Germany’s Bus2Bus trade fair. Altro’s Global Commercial Manager for Transport, Serge Townsend, said: “The new Altro Transflor Artis, Altro Transflor Metris and Altro Transflor Sonis offer so many new benefits to operators globally. Thi ..read more

Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan TD launched the new fleet at Limerick’s Colbert Station on Friday 12 April. BUS ÉIREANN The Irish operator’s first regional electric fleet is taking to the roads, using Wrightbus Electroliner buses, following a €54m investment A fleet of 55 double-deck electric buses is to introduced as part of €54 million investment by Ireland’s National Transport Authority (NTA). The investment will see Bus Éireann operate more than 2.1 million emission-free kilometres on Limerick services per year, in a city which saw a 15% year-on-year passenger increase in 2023. The inves ..read more