Just over 21 years ago, in October 1988, the then West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Authority took a ground-breaking decision, and became the first of the seven UK urban transport authorities to sell its bus company to the private sector. The company, Yorkshire Rider, was purchased by a management and employee buyout team led by managing [...]

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Metroline, the London bus operator, saw profits fall by over 45% in the year to 31 December 2008, according to its annual accounts. The company, which also has a share in the Scottish express business Scottish Citylink, is owned by the Singapore-based bus and taxi group Comfort Delgro. Anlaysis shows that revenue growth failed to [...]

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Wellglade, the holding company for the Trent and Barton bus companies, recorded another excellent set of results in the year to 31 December 2008, according to their annual accounts. The business achieved a rise of more than a quarter in operating profits, on the back of continuing strong revenue growth. At 12%, the growth in [...]

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There are many things wrong with the bus industry in the UK at the moment. Services are too slow – because they sit in traffic jams. Fares keep rising because costs go up; and demand falls for a whole variety of reasons: increasing car ownership, services that are less attractive becuase they’re slow and held [...]

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Bus operator West Midlands Travel, Britain’s largest regional bus company, saw a further reduction in its operating and pre-tax margins during the year ended 31 December 2008, according to its annual accounts. The National Express Group subsidiary did though improve its cash profits by 4.2%. Income grew at a rate above inflation, but was outstripped [...]

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Major changes in the operation of the DLR, coupled with ongoing project work and the onset of the recession, resulted in an increase in grants from Transport for London to the TfL subsidiary that owns and manages the Docklands Light Railway in the year to 31 March 2009, according to its annual accounts. Operation and [...]

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Plymouth Citybus, the former Council-owned bus company sold to Go-Ahead Group in December 2009, recorded a small increase in operating profit, but a reduction in pretax profit during the year to 31 March 2009, according to its annual accounts. The last full trading period under public ownership before the council’s decision to divest saw revenue [...]

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Chiltern Railways continued in the red in the financial year to 3 January 2009, but reduced operating losses by over 43%, according to its latest annual accounts. The company, now owned by German state rail operator Deutsche Bahn, recorded a loss of £4.4m, against £7.7m the previous year, as the business continued to recover from [...]

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The latest quarterly patronage statistics for bus and light rail services in Great Britain, published by the Department for Transport, show that the onset of the economic recession has driven bus patronage in the major English conurbations down to record lows. As a result, services in these areas have lost all the gains in passenger [...]

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