Public Transport news

• Out now: The latest issue of Passenger Transport

  19-09-2025 12:59 via passengertransport.co.uk
  Issue 345 of Passenger Transport is published on September 19.Contents include:
   
   LEAD STORY
  ‘The bus industry in Britain is on the rise’There was an unbeat mood at last week’s UK Bus Summit in Manchester, with speakers expressing enthusiasm about the industry’s future
   NEWS
  ‘The most exciting time for buses in 50 years’Franchising has brought a new era for buses in Greater Manchester and we’re sharing our lessons
  Mayors say their vision
  
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• ‘The bus industry in Britain is on the rise’

  19-09-2025 11:57 via passengertransport.co.uk
   
  There was an upbeat mood at last week’s UK Bus Summit in Manchester, with speakers expressing enthusiasm about the industry’s future
  Andy Burnham speaking at last week’s UK Bus Summit
   Last week’s UK Bus Summit, organised by Transport Times in partnership with Passenger Transport, was the seventh to have taken place – but it has been five years since the last one, held in London in February 2020. So much has changed since then in the UK bus sector, but
  
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• ‘The most exciting time for buses in 50 years’

  19-09-2025 11:51 via passengertransport.co.uk
   
  Last week’s UK Bus Summit in Manchester saw political leaders, transport chiefs and bus companies express enthusiasm about the direction of travel
   Metro mayors are keen to replicate – and surpass – what Greater Manchester has achieved
   The overall vibe was a positive one at last week’s UK Bus Summit in Manchester. Whereas previous summits often featured terse exchanges between representatives of transport authorities and bus companies about the franchis
  
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• Gilligan: NPR ‘makes HS2 look sensible’

  19-09-2025 11:46 via passengertransport.co.uk
  Advisor calls for Elizabeth Line-style fix for the north’s railways
  Rumours suggest the NPR scheme could be revived within weeks Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR), the high-speed project designed to link Liverpool, Manchester and Leeds, has come under fierce criticism from former Downing Street transport adviser Andrew Gilligan.Rumours suggest the scheme could be revived within weeks following its curtailment in 2021 as part of Boris Johnson’s Integrated Rail Plan.
  In a new report
  
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• Transdev completes Ticketer upgrade

  19-09-2025 11:42 via passengertransport.co.uk
  Operator moves to TK300 consoles and Tap On/Tap Off tech
  Transdev has replaced its older TK200 units
   Transdev Blazefield has completed the deployment of Ticketer’s Tap On/Tap Off (TOTO) contactless technology across its 472-strong Yorkshire bus fleet, alongside a fleetwide upgrade to the supplier’s TK300 driver consoles.
  The move marks a significant step in the operator’s long-running digital transformation strategy, designed to speed up boarding, simplify ticketing and i
  
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• Going for growth, but lacking vision

  19-09-2025 11:39 via passengertransport.co.uk
   
  Keir Starmer’s administration is all about ‘growth, growth, growth’ – there is money available but its transport policy is often ‘grey’
   Is Keir Starmer presiding over a technocratic transport policy? Keir Starmer is now into his second year as PM – but is transport a secondary priority for his administration? Yes and no. It’s a priority insofar as it relates to the main goal of pursuing economic growth – which is reflected
  
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• The view from the (UK Bus) Summit

  19-09-2025 11:35 via passengertransport.co.uk
   
  Last week the bus sector gathering in my home city of Manchester led me to reflect on how far we have come, and where we’re going
  Last week’s UK Bus Summit in Manchester
   Notwithstanding the wet and thundery weather, something that the city region is famous for, hosting the Transport Times UK Bus Summit in Greater Manchester this month was clearly a clever idea. The sheer number of people who turned up, from every corner of the sector, as well as key politicians, created
  
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• A sector failing to move with the times

  19-09-2025 11:29 via passengertransport.co.uk
   
  A week of sub-standard public transport experiences exposed areas where the public transport sector has failed to evolve
   The industry is in denial if it thinks, as some do, that Uber isn’t more attractive and represents far better value for money
   As regular readers of this column will attest, I frequently extol the benefits of public transport and highlight great practice, whilst also not holding back when improvements could be made. For this reason, and despite some po
  
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