New luxurious coach service launched in North Wales

The new Shuttle + bus service has just been launched in Flintshire

Bus passengers in North Wales will be celebrating this week following the launch of a brand new luxurious transport service.

The new bus service, Shuttle +, will operate half hourly routes linking Mold, Buckley, Queensferry, Deeside Industrial Park, Cheshire Oaks, and Ellesmere Port.

Passengers will be treated to a relaxing and comfortable ride courtesy of the new fleet of buses which will be used on the routes. The state of the art vehicles feature full leather upholstery, air conditioning, and a spacious “cafe-style” interior.

Speaking at the launch of the new travel service, deputy council leader Tony Sharps described the new top of the range bus operation as “Christmas has arrived early”. As a bonus, the new fleet has been funded by North Wales transport organisation Taith, which means that taxpayers haven’t had to contribute to the new service.

Local coach hire firm, GHA Coaches are operating the new routes in Flintshire with support from the councils.

Local councillors are urging those who wouldn’t normally travel by bus to try the new Shuttle + service as the new buses are far superior to any other vehicles used on public transport routes in the area previously.

It is hoped the introduction of the new service will improve the experience of travelling by bus for frequent bus passengers, and encourage those who normally drive to give public transport a try.

New laws to protect disabled passengers introduced in Northern Ireland

New law launched in Northern Ireland will protect disabled passengers

Northern Ireland will today bring into force a new law which will protect disabled passengers from discrimination. The Disability Transport Regulations will make it illegal for any transport provider, be it a coach, bus, train, car rental, taxi, or breakdown service, to discriminate against a disabled user.

Under the new regulations it will be against the law for a disabled person to be given a lower standard of service, in comparison to an able-bodied person, on any form of transport in Northern Ireland.

The Equality Commission and Northern Ireland’s biggest transport provider, Translink, have both welcome the new regulations. The commission reported that a third of the complaints it took during the course of last year, related to disability discrimination, so it hopes the introduction of the new law will go some may to remedying this.

The chief executive of the Equality Commission, Evelyn Collins, believes the law will have a positive impact upon the lives of many disabled people as it will help them, “realise opportunities for work and leisure” as a result of the improved travel conditions.

A new advertising campaign, masterminded the Equality Commission, will also launch today to coincide with the introduction of the Disability Transport Regulations. The idea is to raise awareness of the new laws and to make people aware of their rights, and allow transport operators the opportunity to get clued up on the regulations to ensure that they are working within the new disability law.

New bus station at White City

A new bus and coach station is to open in West London this weekend.

The White City bus station will be officially unveiled on Saturday (November 29th) and is expected to serve 10,000 passengers a day.

As well as serving the local community, the terminal will also improve access to the recently-opened Westfield centre.

Interchange will be available for passengers heading to the White City Estate, the BBC Television Centre and the new Wood Lane Tube station.

Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “Despite a collective tightening of the nation’s wallets, the capital’s buses are defying the economic downturn as passenger numbers continue to rise.

“This superb new bus station will be a real boon for local people and for shoppers going to Westfield.”

The station will include a supervisor’s office and a rest-room for drivers, as well as baby changing facilities and public toilets.

A total of nine routes will serve the station, with 135 buses due to pass through the terminal each year.

National Express provides Veterans with free coach hire to London for D-Day commemoration

Coach operator lays on complimentray coach travel for war heroes

Coach operator National Express generously laid on free coach travel for 700 World War ll Veterans last Sunday to transport the war heroes to London to partake in the D-Day landings commemoration. They Veterans joined the Prime Minister Gordon Brown and defence secretary Bob Ainsworth for the ceremony held at Westminster Abbey.

Over 700 members of the Normandy Veterans Association were transported using the fleet of specially charted coaches. The majority of the Veterans are over 80 years of age and so the direct and free coach service to London enabled many of them to make the trip, who otherwise may have struggled to attend the service. Coaches were dispatched from 20 different locations across the UK including Birmingham, Liverpool, Leicester and Southport.

It was particularly important that as many of the Veterans as possible made the trip to Westminster for the 65^th Anniversary of the D-Day landings as it was expected to be the last time the men would be able to collect as a group to commemorate the important historical event.

The honorary general secretary of the Normandy Veteran Association, Peter L Hodge said “The special coach services mean members can travel comfortably to Westminster Abbey as a group without worrying about travel expenses or connections. The Association does not receive public funding, so it makes an enormous difference to get travel for free.”

National Express expect to miss profit target

Coach and rail operator to fall short of profit target

Transport giant National Express has announced this week that they expect to miss out on pre-tax profit targets which had been previously estimated. The news comes off the back of a failed take-over bid from one of the company’s biggest share holders, the Spanish Cosmen family.

The official line from National Express is that they will fall “slightly” short of the profit figure expected. The company admitted that the last three months had proved a challenge for them, add to the mix the falling passenger figures which they’ve been experiencing since the beginning of 2009, a debt amounting to £1 billion, and it’s no wonder the coach and rail operator is struggling to meet targets.

National Express has recently initiated talks with Stagecoach with a view to them putting in a take-over bid. One financial analyst, Andrew Fitchie, a Collins Stewart Analyst, said that National Express still has the potential to be a successful transport provider again, it just needs the right guidance, as he explained: “”There is clearly value in National Express, but the question investors have to ask, is who is best to unlock this?” Fitchie said. “Current trading clearly indicates this group needs a firm management hand on the tiller.”

The transport operator become ripe for a take-over after the news broke back in the summer that it could lose its franchise to run a rail service between London and Edinburgh despite being contracted until 2015. National Express also lost £20 million at the beginning of the year as a result of reduced passenger numbers.

National Express coach travel boosted by Pope’s visit

Pope Benedict's UK visit spelled good news for National Express coach travel

Transport provider National Express has reported an increase in revenue last month as a result of Pope Benedict’s visit to the UK.

The coach travel operator provided over 1,000 coach services to Birmingham from all over the country as thousands of people flocked to the city during the Pope’s visit. The Pilgrims had travelled from across the UK to Cofton Park in Birmingham on the last day of the Papal visit to witness the beatification service for Cardinal Newman lead by the pope.  

The surge in coach travel certainly helped boost revenue at National Express with the company reporting a 4% year on year increase in revenue in the last 3 months to the end of September, which is marked improvement from the 2% reported during the first half of the year.

National Express also attributes its recent boost in revenue to its restructuring of its bus and coach network, mainly based in the West Midlands. The transport provider made cut backs to its less popular and infrequently used services, while adding more services to its busiest routes.

However the coach and rail operator may have to brace itself for hard times ahead as it’s possible that local bus subsidies will be reduced as part of the Government’s spending review due to be announced today.