MORE 'BORIS' BIKES

Radical extension: several hundred battery-powered bicycles will be on  London’s streets next year

Boris bikes to go electric next year as part of major expansion of London cycle scheme

Boris Johnson is to spark an electric bike revolution by introducing a new rental scheme on the streets of London next year.

Several hundred battery-powered bicycles will be on London’s streets next year in a pilot scheme that breaks new ground in the UK. The bikes will be introduced in some of the capital’s hilliest parts, where steep climbs put many off taking their bike or even walking.
Earmarked corridors will run through Muswell Hill, Crouch End and Alexandra Palace, with a base station at Finsbury Park Tube. Boris bike-style docking stations in these areas will double as electric charging points for the bicycles.
The cost of the £700 e-bikes and hi-tech docking stations will be met out of the Mayor’s £913 million cycling fund.
Metropolitan Police beat officers will be given electric mountain bikes to help in the fight against cycle-mounted crime such as mugging. German-built “Haibikes” costing about £1,000 each can climb stairs and go over rough ground as quickly as a normal bike can travel on a road.
With e-bikes, police will be able to chase criminals into places cars cannot go and make officers more mobile. The Mayor also hopes to lure estate agents out of their branded city cars and on to e-bikes as a convenient way to shuttle between appointments without arriving in a sweat using only pedal power.
Mr Johnson said: “E-bikes are already big on the continent as they take the puff and pant out of cycling. Once again, London leads the way in Britain with new cycling innovations — and the elevated latitudes of Haringey are perfect for this trial.”
Haringey council leader Claire Kober said: “We’re really excited to be Britain’s first e-bikes borough.
“This project with the Mayor underpins our commitment to being one of London’s greenest boroughs and to promoting and rewarding greener travel through improved cycling facilities and sustainable transport across Haringey.
“Together, we can encourage more people to leave cars at home and offer the next generation of cyclists safer, better routes in our borough.”
E-bikes will supplement buses — the area’s only public transport. Routes will lead to Finsbury Park Tube station and will also link into an enhanced network of “quiet ways” of bike-friendly side streets and parks.
Although e-bikes will not link with the established pedal-powered Boris bikes or match that scheme in scale, the Mayor hopes Londoners will acquire the taste for electric bikes and invest in one themselves.
Boris bike sponsors Barclays have been given first refusal as backer  of the e-bikes.
Assisted pedal power is much bigger in Holland, where one in five new cycles is an e-bike — and they are particularly popular among older people. Electric bikes are like normal cycles except for a small, battery-powered motor to aid pedalling. No licence, equipment or insurance is needed for one.
They are especially useful in hilly areas, for people who need to ride without breaking sweat or for those who are older or less fit.
Jos Dings, director of Brussels-based lobby group Transport & Environment, said: “Electric bikes are an opportunity and a threat. The amount of accidents involving assisted bikes driven too fast and causing serious accidents is a huge issue. But we’d like to see a shift, with more public money spent on electric bikes instead of electric cars.”

SEE ALSO THE LATEST ON THE FOCUS FLICKR SITE

In contrast Kath Lomas has provided a set of modern images from her latest tour of Europe

CROSSRAIL UPDATE

Crossrail tunnels reach the halfway mark

Halfway: Crossrail workers celebrate as 13 of the 26 miles of tunnel are completed.

Crossrail workers celebrated on the 8th of October as excavation work on its tunnels reached the halfway mark.

 

Long way to go: the project was given Royal Assent in 2008, with services expected to begin between Liverpool Street and Shenfield in 2015 The machine completed the 4.2-mile stretch from Royal Oak to Farringdon. So far, 13 of the 26 miles of tunnels on the the £14.8billion  project have been drilled.

 

Control: the operations room for Crossrail's giant tunnel boring machine (TBM), Phyllis
 
 

Hard work: some of the team involved in the Crossrail project
 
   

Vast: one of the Crossrail tunnels last year
 
 

Big the TBMs used in boring weigh just shy of 1,000 tonnes

And furthermore.....................................

£35m 'flat pack' Crossrail station takes shape in Sheffield

Building work: The Crossrail station takes place

A £35 million “flatpack” station for Crossrail is being built hundreds of miles from London in a first for the rail industry.

The new station for Custom House is taking shape in a factory near Sheffield, pictured left, before being transported to London for assembly in 2015.

Crossrail chiefs say this will save time and money and minimise disruption for residents near the new line.

Built by Laing O’Rourke, the station will serve ExCel London and intersect the Docklands Light Railway line.

Terry Morgan, Crossrail chairman, said: “The construction of Custom House station is a perfect example of how a pound invested in London’s infrastructure delivers economic benefit to the rest of the UK, in this case securing skilled manufacturing jobs in the East Midlands.”

Roger Robinson, CEO Europe for Laing O’Rourke said: “Digital engineering has allowed us to design the station virtually before feeding the specifications directly to our manufacturing facility at Steetley where the major structural components are manufactured and pre-assembled in a controlled factory environment.

“Transporting them to London for assembly on site minimises site traffic volumes and general disruption to the local community, as well as reducing pollution and waste levels.”

The Crossrail station is being built on the site of the former North London line station and will include a new ticket hall, an interchange with the DLR and step-free access between the platforms and street level.

When Crossrail opens, up to 12 trains an hour will link Custom House with central London and beyond, improving access between the Royal Docks and London’s key employment areas.

The journey between Custom House and Bond Street will be about 10 minutes quicker and passengers travelling to and from Heathrow should shave about 35 minutes off their journey.

The new station — at the junction of Victoria Dock Road and Freemasons Road — is the only above-ground station in Crossrail’s central section. Work on the site is scheduled to finish in December 2015.

FIRST GROUP HERITAGE BUS LIVERIES IN MANCHESTER

To celebrate their history, First Manchester have painted 8 buses in their heritage livery, in order to highlight the importance to remember the history of local communities.

Lancashire United Transport

Lancashire United Transport was formed in 1905 to take over the operations of the South Lancashire Tramway Co. to run trams and later buses in South Lancashire from three bases in Swinton, Hindley and the main head office and works at Howe Bridge, Atherton. On 1st January 1976 LUT was taken over by Greater Manchester Transport but continued to run largely independent until being fully absorbed into GMT in 1978.

This vehicle, no.37430, has been repainted into the last livery used by Lancashire United to form part of a new 'Heritage Fleet' aimed at remembering the predecessors of our company and to show new generations the history of our public transport in Greater Manchester.

Bolton Corporation Transport

Bolton Corporation Tramways was formed in 1899 to take over the operations of the Bolton Horse Tramway to run electric trams in the Bolton area. The last trams ran on 29th March 1947 with the network being taken over and expanded by motorbuses under the Bolton Transport name with garages on Shifnall Street, Bridgeman Street and Crook Street. On the 1st November 1969 all Corporations in the area, including Bolton, were grouped together into one local body called SELNEC PTE which stood for "South East Lancashire, North East Cheshire Passenger Transport Executive" and the maroon and cream livery was swapped for sunglow orange and mancunian white.

This vehicle, no.69139, has been repainted into the last livery used by Bolton Transport to form part of a new 'Heritage Fleet' aimed at remembering the predecessors of our company and to show new generations the history of our public transport in Greater Manchester.

Ramsbottom Urban District Council

Ramsbottom UDC began running trolleybuses in 1912 after an attempt to open a tramway network stalled due to costs. A small depot was constructed on Stubbins Lane, Ramsbottom to park and maintain the vehicles. In the middle of 1923 Ramsbottom UDC began operating a motorbus to connect two trolleybus routes and started to convert fully to motorbuses during 1926, although the last trolleybus actually ran on the 31st March 1931. On the 1st November 1969 all Corporations and Undertakings in the area, including Ramsbottom UDC, were grouped together into one local body called SELNEC PTE which stood for "South East Lancashire, North East Cheshire Passenger Transport Executive" and the crimson and cream livery was swapped for sunglow orange and mancunian white.

Despite the undertaking no longer existing, Ramsbottom UDC still made history when in 1969 and just a few days after SELNEC took over, the former UDC took delivery of the very last half cab Leyland bus to come off the production line. Painted in full Ramsbottom livery, complete with coat of arms this vehicle also became the only brand new half cab bus to operate for a PTE anywhere in the country. Ramsbottom was also the smallest undertaking taken over by SELNEC with a total of 12 buses in 1969.

This vehicle, no.69166, has been repainted into the last livery used by Ramsbottom Urban District Council to form part of a new 'Heritage Fleet' aimed at remembering the predecessors of our company and to show new generations the history of our public transport in Greater Manchester.

Bury Corporation

Bury Corporation came into being in the late 1900s with a view to running electric tramcars in the town. In 1902 a new depot was constructed on corporation land on Rochdale Road and in the evening of the 3rd June 1903, Bury Corporation Tramways was officially opened. By 1908 the depot had been expanded to house more trams as the network expanded. In the period just after the First World War, the Bury Postmaster approached the Tramway committee with a view to transporting mail on the trams from Bury to Bolton and Rochdale. This was agreed upon, as long as a fare was paid for each mail bag. The bags would be secured to a handrail on the platform with a padlock and chain and unlocked at the other end by a postman who would take the mail bags to a post office. Infact, this scheme continued right up until 1969!

Motorbuses began operating in the town on Friday 18th September 1925 and by the 13th February 1949 almost 1500 residents came out to watch the last tram enter the depot for the final time, with many removing items from the tram as souvenirs! The motor bus livery of grass green and cream was introduced in June 1944 replacing the previous vermilion and cream. On the 1st November 1969 all Corporations and Undertakings in the area, including Bury, were grouped together into one local body called SELNEC PTE which stood for "South East Lancashire, North East Cheshire Passenger Transport Executive" and the green and cream livery was swapped for sunglow orange and mancunian white.

This vehicle, no.37297, has been repainted into the grass green and cream livery used by Bury Corporation Transport to form part of a new 'Heritage Fleet' aimed at remembering the predecessors of our company and to show new generations the history of our public transport in Greater Manchester.

Manchester City Transport

Manchester City Transport began life in 1901 as Manchester Corporation Tramways to run electric trams in the Manchester region and becoming the Manchester Corporation Transport Department in 1929. The last trams ran on 10th January 1949 after the network had been wound down with the conversion to trolleybuses and motorbuses under the Manchester Corporation Transport name with garages on Birchfields Road, Parrs Wood, Princess Road, Queens Road and the Headquaters, depot and works on Hyde Road/Devonshire Street. On the 1st November 1969 all Corporations in the area, including Manchester City Transport as it had become known, were grouped together into one local body called SELNEC PTE which stood for "South East Lancashire, North East Cheshire Passenger Transport Executive" and the red and white livery was swapped for sunglow orange and mancunian white. MCT was the largest of the corporations taken over by SELNEC.

This vehicle, no.37289, has been repainted into the last livery used by Manchester City Transport to form part of a new 'Heritage Fleet' aimed at remembering the predecessors of our company and to show new generations the history of our public transport in Greater Manchester.

Salford City Transport

Salford City Transport started life on the 2nd May 1901 as Salford Corporation running horse drawn tram cars and lines purchased from neighbouring Manchester in a red and white livery. By September 1901 the corporations first electric tramcars were delivered and put into service operating from a grand depot and works on Frederick Road. By July 1920 the Corporations first motorbuses started to be delivered and a new depot in Weaste was constructed to house them. The last trams ran in Salford on the 31st March 1947, delayed from 1939 due to the war. In 1946 the Corporation became Salford City Transport and with it, the livery changed to green and cream. On the 1st November 1969 all Corporations and Undertakings in the area, including Salford, were grouped together into one local body called SELNEC PTE which stood for "South East Lancashire, North East Cheshire Passenger Transport Executive" and the green and cream livery was swapped for sunglow orange and mancunian white. Salford City Transport was the second largest of the Corporations taken over by SELNEC.

This vehicle, no.37290, has been repainted into the distinctive 1950s livery used by Salford City Transport to form part of a new 'Heritage Fleet' aimed at remembering the predecessors of our company and to show new generations the history of our public transport in Greater Manchester.

Rochdale Corporation

Rochdale Corporation began operations on the 22nd May 1902 with its first electric tramcar. In 1925 the corporation bought the neighbouring Middleton Electric Tramways Co and its first motorbus began service in March 1926. 12th November 1932 saw the last tram service operate and in 1937 the tramway livery of dark brown and pale yellow gave way to Oxford blue and cream on motorbuses. The corporation's depot was located on Mellor Street and was split across two sites. On one side of the road was the works area and the other was the main parking area and offices. On the 1st November 1969 all Corporations and Undertakings in the area, including Rochdale, were grouped together into one local body called SELNEC PTE which stood for "South East Lancashire, North East Cheshire Passenger Transport Executive" and the blue and cream livery was swapped for sunglow orange and mancunian white.

This vehicle, no.37451, has been repainted into the distinctive 1930s livery used by Rochdale Corporation Transport to form part of a new 'Heritage Fleet' aimed at remembering the predecessors of our company and to show new generations the history of our public transport in Greater Manchester.

Oldham Corporation

Oldham Corporation began operations on the 15th December 1900 with its first electric tramcar. In 1925 the corporation began replacing parts of its tram network with trolleybuses after being requested to do so by Ashton Corporation with whom they ran a joint service. The trolleybuses lasted just over a year when they were replaced by motorbuses. The tram network was slowly wound down and replaced by motorbuses with the last trams running on the 3rd August 1946. The original motorbus livery of dark blue and white was replaced in 1931 by crimson and lake before being modified again in 1966 to pommard and cream. The corporation's depot was located on Wallshaw Street and is still in use today with First GreaterManchester's Head Office being located opposite the depot entrance. On the 1st November 1969 all Corporations and Undertakings in the area, including Oldham, were grouped together into one local body called SELNEC PTE which stood for "South East Lancashire, North East Cheshire Passenger Transport Executive" and the pommard and cream livery was swapped for sunglow orange and mancunian white.

This vehicle, no.66869, has been repainted into the last livery used by Oldham Corporation Transport to form part of a new 'Heritage Fleet' aimed at remembering the predecessors of our company and to show new generations the history of our public transport in Greater Manchester.

However, to date the only one captured by the Focus Transport team is of number 37297 in the Bury Corporation livery.

The near and offside aspects are illustrated as the bus operated over route 471 from Rochdale via Bury to Bolton, the latter town being where the bus was seen recently in October.  

MALTA BUS NEWS

Arriva indicates it could quit

 

The inauguration of the Arriva bus service on July 2, 2011. 

The future of bus service operator Arriva rests on the outcome of deadlocked talks over new bus routes, The Sunday Times of Malta has learnt.

During talks with transport authorities, executives from the company made it known it could pull out of Malta if it continued to face serious losses.

The company has reportedly gone under by €35 million since it started operating in Malta in 2011 and is looking at ending this year with losses comparable to the previous two years.

The talks are deadlocked over the subsidy to be given for the increased mileage of the new routes, and the frequency of some of the services. Another pending problem is the withdrawal of bendy bues from the roads, even though the company says it has found what caused three fires during the summer.

Read comments from the Sunday Times of Malta news link here

Robust Performance from Go-Ahead

Transport operator Go-Ahead has delivered a “robust” performance over the past four months.
The interim management statement released within the last few days, showed the Newcastle-headquartered group experienced underlying revenue growth of 3.5% in its deregulated bus services, 7% in its regulated bus services and around 7.3% across its rail divisions. The figures, which exclude the benefit of delivering transport for the Olympics last year, mean Go-Ahead is on track to reach its target of £100m operating profit in its bus division by 2015/16.
Go-Ahead chief executive David Brown said: “Our bus and rail businesses have delivered a robust performance, in line with expectations. Overall, I am pleased with the group’s performance and remain confident that the full year result will be in line with our expectations.”

BUS

Deregulated:

Trading in the deregulated bus operations has been robust. Underlying revenue growth, which excludes the benefit of delivering transport for the Olympic sailing events at Weymouth last year, was in line with expectations for the quarter, at around 3.5%. Concessionary passenger volumes continue to grow at a slower rate than journeys made by fare paying customers.

First quarter growth rates*:

Revenue		Passenger journeys
Total (including Olympics)	Underlying (excluding Olympics)	Total (including Olympics)	Underlying (excluding Olympics)
c.2%	c.3.5%	c.1%#	c.1%

#The Olympic contract was on a gross cost basis. Passenger journeys were not recorded.

Regulated:

Performance in the London operations has been strong in the quarter, benefiting from one-off rail replacement services and slightly higher QICs bonuses. Underlying full year mileage is still expected to be broadly flat as we expect to retain a consistent level of contracts.

First quarter growth rates*:

Revenue		Mileage
Total (including Olympics)	Underlying (excluding Olympics)	Total (including Olympics)	Underlying (excluding Olympics)
c.3%	c.7%	c.2%	c.4.5%

Rail

The rail division operates the Southern (including Gatwick Express), Southeastern and London Midland franchises through our 65% owned subsidiary Govia.

Underlying revenue performance in our three franchises has been in line with our expectations. As in the fourth quarter of last year, reported passenger journeys across all companies increased significantly due to a change in Department for Transport methodology in Travelcard allocations.

First quarter growth rates*:

	Passenger revenue**		Passenger journeys**
	Total (including Olympics)	Underlying (excluding Olympics)	Total (including Olympics)	Underlying (excluding Olympics)
Southern	c.6%	c.7%	c.5%	c.6%
Southeastern	c.0%	c.6%	c.(2.5)%	c.5%
London Midland	c.6%	c.9%	c.2%	c.4.5%

**Passenger revenue and journeys associated with the Olympic and Paralympic Games are based on estimates.

Whilst trading in our rail division will remain challenging in the short term, we are committed to delivering long term value through operating in the UK rail market. We are working hard to submit strong bids for the Thameslink and Crossrail franchises, for which we are shortlisted.

http://www.go-ahead.com/media/news/2013news/2013-10-24.aspx

MIDLANDS METRO UPDATE

New Birmingham tram unveiled

Centro has held an unveiling ceremony at a depot in Wednesbury to show off the first of Birmingham’s new fleet of CAF trams.

Birmingham is investing £40 million on 20 new low floor trams for the Midlands Metro network.

Following testing and driver training, the new vehicles will go into operation between Birmingham and Wolverhampton, and eventually on the extension from Birmingham Snow Hill station to New Street, becoming the first trams to travel through the city centre in 60 years.

Having completed a four-day journey from CAF’s manufacturing site in Zaragoza, Spain, Birmingham city officials unveiled the new tram on October 16.

It is really an historic day and something we’ve been working for for a very long time. Centro chief executive Geoff Inskip said: “It is really an historic day and something we’ve been working for for a very long time.”

Centro has said the extension, which is part of a billion pound transport investment strategy for Birmingham, is creating 1,300 new jobs and boost the economy by £50 million.

The Urbos 3 light rail vehicle is the latest incarnation in the Urbos family, which are currently in use in Bilbao, Malaga, Vitoria, Seville, Edinburgh and Antalya.

The new trams will increase services to 10 trams in each direction and at nine metres longer than the existing stock, they will increase capacity from 156 passengers to 210.

The Midland Metro Urbos 3 is a standard (1,435mm) gauge, 2.65 metre wide, bi-directional, double-cab ended tram. The vehicle consists of five segments with four articulations. Three of the modules (C1, R and C2) are mounted on bogies and the other two modules (S1 and S2) are suspended.

Morgan Sindall are delivering a £13.8 million extension at the Wednesbury depot to maintain the new fleet of longer trams. 

Above & below, one of the fleet of existing trams at Snow Hill

TRENT - 100 YEARS

Thursday 31st October is a big, big day in trentbarton land … it’s our birthday and the day we officially hit the big 100! And, as ever, we want to celebrate in style – and you’re all invited! Throughout the day, vintage buses of yesteryear will be running for free on the very first routes of the Trent Motor Traction Company – what we now call i4 between Derby and Nottingham and swift between Ashbourne and Derby. Whilst you’re all welcome to enjoy these wonderful relics of times gone by, we will be encouraging you to part with your hard-earned pennies and pounds to help support our charity of the year, The Lewis Mighty Fund. Look out for our own i4 and swift buses, which will also have collection buckets on them too. And that’s not all… several lucky customers throughout the day will get their hands on £100 in cool, hard cash as a special thank you for supporting us throughout the years. You could be surprised anywhere, at any time across trentbarton land throughout the day on board one of our buses – keep watching here and on Facebook and Twitter for more details! Read our 100 year story here. We’re really looking forward to celebrating our 100th birthday with you! unsubscribe from further communications from trent barton.

As shown in the text above vintage buses are scheduled to operate over the i4 and the Swift routes. Below number 728, one of the Trent fleet of Optare Tempos passed through the island roundabout near to the Queens Medical Centre when on way to Derby from Nottingham during October 2013.

The vintage vehicles are also scheduled to run on the Swift-named route between Derby and Ashbourne from where Trent number 737 a Wright bodied Volvo B7RLE in dedicated livery passed by the Council House in Morledge at Derby during 2012, as it headed to the end of the route at the bus station.

Whether the following two interesting preservation pieces will perform remains to be seen.

The single-deck is a 1940 built BMMO SON with Willowbrook bodywork, the double-deck a 1958 Leyland Titan PD3 with bodywork from the same stable. Both were seen several years ago parked up in the Trent bus garage in Belper. And very nice they looked too.

MANSTON AIRPORT (KENT) SOLD FOR £1.00p

The Herald Scotland reports that Stagecoach founder buys airport for £1

STAGECOACH co-founder Ann Gloag has agreed to pay £1 to buy Manston Airport in Kent from Infratil, its New Zealand owners who have also been trying to sell Prestwick Airport.

STAGECOACH co-founder Ann Gloag has agreed to pay £1 to buy Manston Airport in Kent from Infratil, its New Zealand owners who have also been trying to sell Prestwick Airport.

TRANSPORT VETERAN: Ann Gloag says she is well-placed to maximise opportunities at Manston.

The deal comes a week after the Scottish Government stepped in to the Prestwick auction with a promise to take the airport into public ownership, after an unsuccessful 18-month sale process.

Infratil said the value of the two airports had now been written down to zero, which suggests that the taxpayer may be paying just £1 for Prestwick, and that Mrs Gloag was unwilling to do so.

Infratil, the Wellington-based infrastructure investment fund, said it had agreed to sell the Kent airport to Lothian Shelf (710), an entity owned by Mrs Gloag, for the nominal sum, plus a further £350,000 for working capital and cash injected by the owner between now and completion at the end of November.
Mrs Gloag, 70, said: "Having worked in the transport industry for over 30 years, I believe I am very well-placed to help maximise opportunities for both freight and passengers at Manston."
The veteran entrepreneur was unwilling to comment further on her plans for the business, or on her attitude to the opportunity of acquiring Prestwick Airport.
She added: "I am delighted to have purchased Manston Airport from Infratil as I believe there is real potential for growth that has not been fully captured."
Marko Bogoievski, Infratil's chief executive, said: "Infratil Limited is very pleased to have found an acquirer with a vision for Manston Airport's future development."

Stagecoach's experience in the sector has been mixed. It acquired Prestwick Airport in 1998, as part of ambitious plans to diversify which included paying £107m for a stake in a Hong Kong-based toll road builder Road King, which it sold for book value in 2004.
Stagecoach had paid £41m for Prestwick, but sold it three years later to a consortium led by Infratil for £26m, after investing £10m in improvements - a total loss of some £25m. The airport had been particularly hit by the withdrawal of anchor freight customer FedEx.
Mrs Gloag and her brother and Stagecoach co-founder Sir Brian Souter had already moved into airlines, buying a 90% stake in Cambridgeshire-based Suckling Airways for £5m in 1999. The new owners changed its name to ScotAirways, invested £5m, and introduced tartan branding, which disappeared after they sold the stake back to the airline's family founders in 2006 for a reported £10m - breaking even on the venture.
Meanwhile, Infratil had picked up Manston, its second UK airport, in 2005 from the administrator of the Planestation group.
It paid £17m and said the plan was to expand as an operator of regional airports in Europe.
The past two years, however, have seen the two Infratil airports written down to a total value of £11m in the company's accounts, as they racked up losses of £7.2m in 2011 and £6m in 2012. Prestwick is said to have accounted for only £2m of those losses annually.
In January this year, the loss of two Polish routes left Ryanair as the only passenger operator at Prestwick.
Then last week, the Scottish Government said Infratil had reached a stage where it was "clear no private investor is able to commit to a successful purchase" on a timescale acceptable to the owners.
Transport Scotland said the Government would negotiate a purchase price which would "aim to maximise the return for taxpayers' investment".
Mr Bogoievski said: "From Infratil's perspective, while Manston was a very small part of the company's overall asset base, this sale will result in a more focused portfolio and improve our future cash flow position."
The deal for Manston is expected to formally complete on or before November 29.
Mrs Gloag is still a non-executive director at Stagecoach. She has a range of other business and charity interests.