New singles for West Bridgford

I am fearful that after the General Election, should the Conservatives win and do a trade deal with America, they will see Nottingham City Transport as a prime municipal asset they can take away from the people of Nottingham and sell off, for that it was a free trade agreement with the Americans means.

However that's a thought for the future. Right now I'd like to celebrate NCT's purchase of 10 brand new Alexander Dennis E200MMC low emission midi-buses, which will allow NCT to complete its upgrade to a fully Euro VI fleet and meet Nottingham City Council’s Clean Air Plan to improve air quality.

Click on the bus to enlarge.

These light, spacious buses feature on-board Wi-Fi, USB chargers, comfortable seating and double passenger information screens which NCT are currently trialling.

The new buses are primarily operating on Bridgford Bus routes 5, 7, 8 and 9 which link Gamston, Wilford Hill, Compton Acres and West Bridgford to Trent Bridge, the Railway Station and City Centre. 

West Bridgford section of NCT Bus Map, Sept. 2019 Click on the map to enlarge.

Between West Bridgford Town Centre and the City Centre, Bridgford Bus operates up to every 5 minutes on Monday to Saturday daytimes and every 15 minutes in the evenings and on Sundays.

David Astill, NCT Commercial and Operations Director, said, “We are delighted to introduce these brand new buses to our customers in West Bridgford. With almost 40% of Bridgford Bus customers telling us that they have a car they could use for their journey, but they proactively choose to use the bus, we expect the modern design and features of the new buses will attract more motorists on board.”

From 1914 until 1968, the then West Bridgford Urban District Council had its own fleet of municipal buses. In 1968 the Council transferred its buses to Nottingham City Transport and some reading this might remember the celebrations which took place in 2014 to mark the centenary of municipal bus services in West Bridgford. Here is a link to a BBC News feature and a photograph of a West Bridgford UDC single decker from 1954. It is a pity that the modern buses, with all there wonderful gizmos, have lost the soft, elegant line of earlier buses.

Click on the bus to enlarge.

As a result of the 10 new buses entering service, the ten oldest NCT buses in the fleet (two dating back to 2001) are being withdrawn. This sees NCT’s average bus age fall to just 4.5 years old (UK average 8.5 years) and the oldest bus drop by half from 18 years to just 9 years.

Other routes and areas to receive new buses in 2019 include Brown 17 and Yellow 68, 69 to Bulwell; Lilac 27 to Carlton; Pink 28 to Bilborough, Lime 58 to Arnold; Turquoise 77 to Strelley and Purple 89 to Rise Park.

2019 General Election party offerings when it comes to buses and HS2

One thing jumps out when looking at the transport policies of the main parties. There is no mention of light rail/trams by any party and is it all hot air when it comes to buses? The devil is always in the detail.

Below is a BBC News list of what the manifestos of the main political parties are offering us in the forthcoming 2019 general election when it comes to transport.

HS2 will do nothing for the East Midlands or most of the Derby-Nottingham conurbation. It will not lower journey times door-to-door because of the time people will spend getting to Toton (e.g. 34 minutes by tram from the Nottingham city centre plus more minutes to get to the HS2 station) and I am one of those, should I still be alive when its completed, who will benefit, living in Beeston as I do. However, I am still against HS2.

The Greens want to upgrade the capacity of the existing railway network and electrify all railway lines and, quite simply, want to give local authorities control of local bus services. All too often good policies get lost in the detail and the Greens seem to understand this better than the other three main parties.

The Conservatives promise hardly any money for buses, only £220m over 5 years and a ‘superbus network’ (this link might help explain the aim). What we need are regular daily services operated by good quality buses serving neighbourhoods and local town centres, not just inter-urban main roads, if more car users are to be persuaded to use buses.

Labour will extend free bus travel to all under-25s ‘where routes are run by councils’ and 'restore 3,000 bus routes' and promise 'more local control'. How much more they don't say?  Nottingham City Council own Nottingham City Transport, an ‘arms length’ company, so will they qualify to provide free bus travel to all under-25s and will it just be within the Nottingham City Council boundary? Then there is what happens to Trent-Barton bus services? Surely, it is not Labour's intention to penalise a well loved excellent private bus company? You see what I mean about a seemingly good policy getting lost in the detail and, perhaps most important of all, the policy will not be fair to all under-25s.

And the Liberals are vague. The problems buses face in England cannot be solved with money alone. Government money means Government control. The Greens understand that. It’s about local control at the end of the day. What’s right for Nottingham and Beeston in a conurbation will be different in rural areas and small towns.

The choice between the main parties is stark. If the Conservatives win things will stay much the same in Greater Nottingham (we already have bus lanes and inter-urban 'superbuses' in the form of the Red Arrow and a few others), and whilst Labour and the Liberals promise lots of money, the Greens promise unambiguous local control.

On Thursday 12 December 2019 you get to choose.

Click on the lists below to enlarge:

We're so lucky – Nottingham City Transport does it again!

THIS IS SO OLD HAT… 

NOW FOR THE 5TH TIME IT'S
UK BUS OPERATOR OF THE YEAR!

It is so easy to forget how good the buses are in Nottingham and it's a pity that the national and regional media, with all the talk right now about transport, us being as we are in the middle of a general election campaign, ignores the annual UK Bus Awards. It's the same every year, so here is my attempt at sharing the good news with you, thanks to a press release I received from Nottingham City Transport.

Nottingham City Transport have won five of the top gongs at the 2019 UK Bus Awards in London on Tuesday, including the highly contested ‘best in show’ category, UK Bus Operator of the Year (which NCT has now won for a record breaking five times).

Jatinder Kumar took the Top National Bus Driver title sponsored by Volvo Bus. This is the second year in a row a bus driver from the Nottingham bus company has won the coveted award, following Aaron Johnson’s win last year.

HR Admin Manager, Sheila Swift won the Unsung Hero accolade sponsored by Backhouse Jones, recognising her 37 years of dedicated service at the company and NCT’s Managing Director Mark Fowles was presented with the Services to the Bus Industry honour sponsored by Buses Magazine.

 No one could knock NCT off the top spot either, as Nottingham City Transport took the gold once again in the Top City Operator category, sponsored by INIT Innovations, which saw them through to the grand final where they went on to win the UK Bus Operator of the Year, sponsored by Gallagher & QBE Insurance.

NCT previously won UK Bus Operator of the Year in 2004, 2012, 2014 and 2016.

Newly crowned, Top National Bus Driver Jatinder, fought off competition from tens of thousands of bus drivers nationwide. The award recognises outstanding achievements in delivering exceptional customer service and always going above and beyond to exceed passengers’ expectations.

Jatinder is described by Nottingham City Transport as ‘one of the most compassionate and caring people you could ever meet.’ Jatinder grew up in a rural Indian village, he moved to the UK so he could pay for his sisters' education, and putting other people first comes second nature to him. A recent mystery traveller assessment read: "He is a perfectionist, doing his job to the maximum with no fuss and a pleasure to travel with. A fantastic asset to the company."

Unsung Hero winner Sheila's love, commitment and dedication to NCT over nearly 4 decades is unquestionable. Joining City of Nottingham Transport in 1981 as a short-hand typist, Sheila has progressed to be Nottingham City Transport’s HR Admin Manager, where she has responsibility for recruitment, making sure NCT's rules, policies and procedures are followed, delivering many HR projects and GDPR compliance.

Mark Yexley, Chairman of the UK Bus Awards, said: “A massive congratulations to Nottingham City Transport! To win five awards, including Top National Driver and Bus Operator of the Year, is an outstanding achievement. The judges were really impressed with the investment the business is making in its fleet and infrastructure too. The company has seen fleet emissions fall by 90% and 8000 tonnes of CO2 and 70 tonnes of NOX emissions were avoided in the last 12 months. They also commended the company’s substantial investment in gas buses and its achievement in encouraging and attracting more young people on to its services.”

Mark added: “Jatinder’s dedication shone through, and Sheila’s outstanding contribution over the past 37 years to the business has been remarkable, just as Mark Fowles commitment has to the industry where he has become synonymous with high standards, innovation and a clear intent to put customers at the heart of everything it does.”

“The whole city should be immensely proud of the company and its employees!”

Nottingham City Transport’s Jack Moore was also a finalist in the Engineer of the Year category.

Anthony Carver-Smith, NCT Marketing Manager commented, “Wow! 2019 has been the best year yet for Nottingham City Transport at the UK Bus Awards and we are over the moon to have been crowned UK Bus Operator of the Year for a record breaking fifth time! A massive thank you to everyone throughout NCT who work so tirelessly to deliver the best bus service in the country! It is without a doubt the people within NCT that make it so successful, as demonstrated by Sheila, Jatinder and Mark winning awards today”.

The last 36 to Chilwell. One of my favourite photographs, taken close to midnight at the Beeston Interchange. If I was fitter I would take more such photographs of Nottingham buses late at night. In so many other towns, the last bus would have been in the garage by 9 or 10 o'clock. You can see why I've headlined this post 'We're so lucky'.