The latest wrap livery for from Plymouth Citybus has launched this week
Luckily for me it was on the 50’s so I managed to get a few shots in the rain…
09 October 2024
08 October 2024
five hundred new trees for Plymouth
Well it has finally been confirmed by Go Ahead that
Plymouth is to receive 500 new Trees!
The welcome news was published today. Alongside the new trees there will be FIFTY Wright electric double decker buses:
Up to 500 UK manufacturing jobs are set to be supported as bus operator Go Ahead today (8 October 2024) announces a major £500 million investment to decarbonise its fleet, including creating a new dedicated manufacturing line and partnership with Northern Ireland-based bus manufacturer Wrightbus.
The investment is set to fund the manufacturing of up to 1,200 new zero emission buses over the next 3 years. Built for operator Go Ahead, this investment will accelerate the transition to greener buses across the country including in Plymouth, Gloucestershire, East Yorkshire, London and the Isle of Wight.
On top of directly supporting 500 manufacturing jobs, the £500 million investment for Wrightbus will also support an additional 2,000 jobs across the wider UK supply chain by 2026, helping to get us back on track for growth.
The Transport Secretary will also announce plans to create a new UK Bus Manufacturing Expert Panel. This panel will bring together industry experts and local leaders to explore ways to ensure the UK remains a leader in bus manufacturing, help local authorities deliver on their transport ambitions, and begin to seize opportunities to embrace zero emission transport technologies.
The Transport Secretary is expected to meet with key industry leaders today including Wrightbus owner Jo Bamford and CEO Jean-Marc Gales, to reaffirm the government’s commitment to decarbonising local transport and fostering an environment for investment in the UK manufacturing industry, bringing sustained economic growth and supporting jobs.
The announcement comes ahead of the International Investment Summit, which will gather UK leaders, high-profile investors and businesses from across the world to discuss how we can deepen our partnership to drive investment and growth.
The Transport Secretary is expected to hold several bilateral meetings at the summit with international business leaders and make clear the UK is “open for business” so that she can help attract further investment to support the delivery of our transport priorities across the country.
The Prime Minister will also convene the first Council of Nations and Regions later this week, bringing together first ministers, Northern Ireland’s First Minister and Deputy First Minister and regional mayors from across England, as the government forges new partnerships, resets relationships to secure long term investment with the aim of boosting growth and living standards in every part of the UK.
Transport Secretary, Louise Haigh said:
The number one mission of this government is growing the economy. The half a billion pounds Go Ahead is announcing today shows the confidence industry has in investing in the UK.
This announcement will see communities across the country benefit from brand new, state-of-the-art green buses - which will deliver cleaner air and better journeys.
We’re creating the right conditions for businesses to flourish, so we can support jobs and accelerate towards decarbonising the transport sector.
Under this government, Britain is open for business.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves said:
This investment is exactly kind we want to see as we grow the economy. One that creates jobs right across the country.
And that’s what the international investment summit next week is all about too. Showing the world’s biggest businesses and investors why they should bring their jobs – and their money – to the UK.
For every vehicle manufactured, 10 trees will be planted by Go-Ahead and Wrightbus in the towns and cities where the buses are deployed.
Buses, as the most used form of public transport, have been prioritised by this government from the outset. The Transport Secretary has made improving bus services and delivering greener transport 2 of her 5 core priorities.
Last month, the Transport Secretary announced a package of measures to empower local leaders to take back control of their bus services and deliver services based on the needs of communities, to grow passenger numbers and deliver better services for all.
Building on this, the government’s new buses bill is set to be introduced in Parliament by the end of this year and will bring an end to the current postcode lottery by taking steps to improve bus services no matter where you live.
Further details on the UK Bus Manufacturing Expert Panel will be confirmed in due course.
Go-Ahead Bus CEO, Matt Carney said:
This multi-million pound investment and partnership with Wrightbus will accelerate the transition to zero-emission fleet across the UK.
We are proud to be working in partnership with the UK government and local authorities to deliver transformational environmental change for communities, while supporting UK jobs and the growth of the country’s supply chain.
Wrightbus CEO, Jean-Marc Gales said:
The deal with Go-Ahead is hugely significant and represents a huge boost to the UK’s economy. It will support homegrown manufacturing, jobs and skills for the next three years and beyond. We’ve always been proud to support the UK’s supply chain and our Go-Ahead partnership will ensure even more money can be spent securing good green jobs.
We must also not forget that this deal represents a massive step forward in our ambition to help decarbonise the transport sector with our world-leading products. It was heartening today to hear the government reaffirm its commitment to a green transport sector.
The new trees will presumably be split across Plymouth and South East Cornwall alongside the new buses. It is expected that the new trees will be numbered in the planned new Go Ahead Group national fleet numbering system although they probably wont be carried on the actual trees.
An artist impression of a tree has been released although the final trees may differ considerably
07 October 2024
September drags on
The last week has seen more late notices coming through, all for changes that happened at the start of September!
Dealtop Ltd Dartine
| Licence | Route | Start Point | End Point | Effective | Notes |
| PH0005305.092 | COLY3 | Polsloe, St Marks Church | Colyton Grammar School | 05-Sep-2024 | vary route and timetable (V1) |
| PH0005305.091 | COLY4 | Aylesbeare, Nineoaks bus stop | Colyford, The Elms Bus stop | 05-Sep-2024 | vary route and timetable (V1) |
| PH0005305.072 | COLY5 | Exeter, Buckerall Lodge | Colyford, The Elms Bus Stop | 05-Sep-2024 | route and timetable change (V1) |
| PH0005305.082 | COLY7 | EXETER ST DAVID'S TRAIN STATION STOP B | COLYTON - THE ELMS BUS STOP | 05-Sep-2024 | Timetable change (V1) |
| PH0005305.071 | COLY9 | Exeter, Sidwell Street | Colyton Grammar School | 05-Sep-2024 | variation to timetable (V1) |
| PH0005305.086 | COLY11 | Lympstone, Saddlers Arms | Colyford, The Elms Bus Stop | 05-Sep-2024 | timetable change |
| PH0005305.074 | TG003 | A3052, Clyst St Mary | Torquay Grammar School | 03-Sep-2024 | Timetable and route variation |
The only other one was for Go Cornwall, but this was also for a month ago!
Plymouth Citybus Ltd Go Cornwall
| Licence | Route | Start Point | End Point | Effective | Notes |
| PH0000135.277 | 96 | Camelford , Methodist church | Wadebridge | 11-Sep-2024 | Revise timetable to end 1240 ex Bodmin SD journey at Wadebridge school. Replaced by service 11 |
It would be nice to think that we are done with September changes, but just today we have had another batch, all for changes that have already happened. (These will appear here in due course)
Meanwhile
As a follow up to last weeks story
Transport for Cornwall partnership will be reinstating the monthly child bus pass
3 days ago Fri 4th Oct 2024
Transport for Cornwall update: Following feedback from passengers, the Transport for Cornwall partnership will be reinstating the ability to purchase a monthly child bus pass from Sunday 6 October.
The cost of the pass will now be £65 and we hope to be able to keep the cost of the ticket at this price for the rest of the academic year.
Government funding for the bus fares pilot, introduced in April of 2022 , has meant we have been able to heavily subsidise more than 15 million bus journeys in the last 2.5 years and without this funding, passengers would have paid significantly more for their tickets. The funding has allowed us to also try new ticket options and prices, to understand the preference of bus passengers in Cornwall. It was always intended to increase the cost of tickets during the pilot and back to their market value as we near the end of the pilot.
While the decision to remove several ticketing options – including the child monthly pass - was based on data showing extremely low usage, we appreciate that this specific ticket has impacted on children who use bus services to travel to school and college, but are not eligible for home to school transport.
We remain in discussion with Government about the future funding of bus travel in Cornwall and await news of any future bus funding as part of the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement at the end of the month. The Government’s national £2 bus fares scheme for single journeys remains in place until the end of December.
02 October 2024
Cornish Catch Up
Catching up on some transport news for Cornwall:
Its Unfare…
The recent announcement of fare increases has not gone down well:
Cornwall Live readers have voiced their concern following a recent bus fare increase, marking the second such rise in four months. This hike has particularly troubled parents who depend on public transport for their children's journey to school.
Bus fares across Cornwall are set to soar for the second time in just four months, leaving hundreds of passengers, particularly families with children, facing even tougher challenges amidst the cost of living crisis. Go Cornwall Bus, operating under Transport for Cornwall and overseen by Cornwall Council, has declared that from the end of September, ticket prices will rise for both adults and children on most services.
https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/news-opinion/cornwall-bus-fares-rocket-one-9590237
On 1 October, Go Cornwall Bus sent out two emails in quick succession to Geoff Cadwallader, chair of Rame Peninsula Public Transport User Group, with their explanation of the fare increases, although neither email directly addressed the impact on families whose fares for school travel have increased so substantially.
http://www.cornwallbuses.org.uk/bus-fares-increasing-from-29-september.html
National Distress
Users of a coach service between south-west England and London have lost a "lifeline" after the decision to axe it, supporters of it say.
The National Express 503 service used to run from Penzance to the capital - stopping in towns including Camborne, Newquay and Launceston - but has not run since the start of September
North Cornwall MP Ben Maguire has launched a petition, external to argue for the service to be reinstated.
National Express said it recognised local people's disappointment but it had to stop it as it was not financially viable.
Liberal Democrat MP Mr Maguire said he would raise the issue with the transport secretary as soon as he returned to parliament.
He said: "This is going to have a massive impact on my constituents and that is why I have immediately started this campaign to reinstate it.
"It's totally unacceptable. We already have such abysmal transport infrastructure in North Cornwall and now this vital link has been taken away from us."
A spokesperson for National Express said: "This change is part of a comprehensive review of our national network and unfortunately the 503 service is commercially unviable.
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