Bus Lane Stays
City committed to Public Transport

Derby City Council has confirmed that the bus lane on Duffield Road is to be made permanent, despite the efforts of some local motorists to have it scrapped.  In a Cabinet meeting on 2nd September the bus lane was supported by a majority of councillors.  This victory for public transport followed a concerted campaign to protect the lane from those who would have seen it removed. 

There was a wide base of support for keeping the lane from our customers, staff and those interested in the future of public transport.

the sixes Brand Manager Dean Thornhill said:

 “Customers were queuing up to support the bus lane with many writing letters to Councillors and the local paper. Our drivers have also done a fantastic job in supporting the lane on behalf of their customers.”

sixes driver Darren Thorpe even appeared in a Derby Evening Telegraph feature to outline the benefits that the bus lane had brought to his passengers.

And Pete Murnin, Derby branch secretary of Unite wrote in a letter to the newspaper:  

‘Since its introduction, this bus lane has improved the punctuality of buses, which in turn means that bus-users can now count on public transport to get them to their destination on time.’

Support was also received from the Campaign for better Transport, the local chair Jim Froggatt being particularly vocal in support. 
 
Derby to benefit from £1 million in new buses
Bus lane success herald’s brand-new buses for ‘the mickleover’

Commercial Director Ian Morgan said: “We have been most encouraged by the decision by Councillors in Derby to make the bus lane on Duffield Road permanent.

“This kind of commitment to the future of public transport in Derby renews our confidence for continued investment in our Derby Brands.

“We are pleased to confirm that we will be renewing the mickleover fleet early in 2009. These will be the greenest and most comfortable buses that Derby has ever seen.”

The eight buses, similar to those about to enter service between Derby, Long Eaton and Nottingham on our new indigo brand, are air-conditioned and environmentally state-of-the-art in terms of low emissions. As standard, they have double-glazing, and are wheelchair and buggy friendly.

As with all our recent deliveries they come with plush leather seats and wood laminate floors.

And again, top designer Ray Stenning of London-based Best Impressions came up with the new look. Ray said:

“Buses are retail businesses just like shops - so we have tried to incorporate some of the relaxing ambience and atmosphere of a coffee shop,”

27
It’s our cup of tea

Customers travelling into Ilkeston on our 27 brand are enjoying a very special offer, a free cup of tea or coffee.

Over the past few weeks the brand team has been handing out vouchers for the free drinks which can be enjoyed in café moda in the Ilkeston Co-op on the Market Place.  

Brand Manager Stuart Booth said:

 “We are delighted to have teamed up with café moda to reward passengers on 27 for their loyal custom. We we’re looking for an offer that everyone could enjoy - what better than the great British cuppa,”

transpeak after ‘Kickstart’
free travel irony on long-standing brand

After 3 years, the ‘Kickstart’ funding which helped extend our long-running Manchester – Nottingham transpeak brand has now come to an end.  Most of the timetable is set to continue, but the deficit in free travel funding has forced cutbacks.

The aim of Kickstart is to stimulate growth on routes that would be too much of a risk for a commercial bus operator alone. It is a partnership between the operator and local authorities with funding coming from central government.  There are no guarantees, but the hope is always that at the end of Kickstart period the service will be able to continue unsupported. 

Kickstart funding on transpeak paid for extra journeys, the refurbishment of some of the buses and a massive marketing and awareness exercise.

Commercial Manager Mark Greasley said,

“At the end of the three years Kickstart has succeeded in securing an hourly timetable between Nottingham and Buxton for most of the day. In fact some journeys have been so busy that we have worked with our partners at Derbyshire County Council to put on extra buses during the summer months.

“But the sting in the tail is that no-one could have foreseen at the time the enormous impact that the Government’s free travel scheme for over 60’s would have – especially on routes like this.  Growth in this market has exceeded 100% in three years”

“But because the reimbursement we receive is inadequate, this has placed a burden on transpeak which it just cannot cope with financially

“Ironically this means that we will have to make some economies to keep transpeak afloat.  These will be largely at the Manchester end; but we will also no longer be able to serve Derby Rail Station”

The new timetable starts on October 26th - click here

red arrow pulls the crowds
Leather and wi-fi relaunch celebrated

Our Chesterfield-Derby-Nottingham red arrow brand was officially re-launched on Friday 12th of September with Mayor of Derby Barbara Jackson as Guest of Honour to see for herself the fantastic new features on offer.  The launch was followed by a day of promotional activities with balloons, sweets and even face-painting for the children.

Although barely 4 years old, the air-conditioned red arrow coaches have been put through a £70,000 refurbishment and now come with plush leather seating and free wifi. Fresh from our workshops the final coach to be given the makeover was parked in Derby’s St Peters Street for the day.

Mayor Jackson was particularly impressed with the comfort of the leather seats and she wasn’t the only one. Throughout the day the people of Derby were able to inspect the coach and all seemed to like what they saw.

While parents were being given a taste of the luxury on offer, there was face painting for the children with butterflies, fairies and a tiger appearing during the day. Specially designed red arrow balloons were also handed out, and these were so popular that we had to send out for more helium gas.

Brand Manager Adrian Cadd said:

“It’s been a great day. To see the reaction of the people of Derby to the new features has been fantastic.  Many existing customers have come up to me to say how good they think red arrow is; and I think many more have been persuaded to give us a try now they have seen just how good the coaches are.”

“There’s just one criticism we can’t do anything about – the coaches are so good that it’s a shame you’re only on them for half an hour as they whisk you into Nottingham.

“But that’s long enough to check out your emails or browse the web with the free wifi…”

red arrow has its own page on Facebook, the popular social networking site, and currently has 150 ‘fans’ all of whom received a personal invitation to the launch. The free wifi on board red arrow will now allow fans to keep in touch with one another while travelling, and make new friends.

The brand also features in the current edition of Classic Bus magazine as David Bean charts the development of the service over the years.

NEW.  the fast one for Derby
Westfield and Primark generate Alfreton and Ripley interest

It’s a double success – red arrow’s distance-shrinking speed and Derby’s growing popularity have created such demand that we are putting on another direct bus.

The newcomer will be known as F1 - the fast one for travel between Alfreton, Ripley and Derby.

F1 will mirror the red arrow stops between Alfreton and Derby and will fit in with red arrow to give a fast half hourly frequency to Derby throughout the day in addition to the all-stops services between the towns.

Brand Manager Paul Meighan said,

“You only have to look at our nines brand to see how popular Derby has become – firstly because of the Westfield centre and now with the magnetic attraction of the new Primark.

“We are confident that the new F1 brand will encourage even more Derby trade and will help take some of the weight off the nines, which call at all local stops.”

Driver of the Month
Top performers line up for 2009 presentation dinner

We’re now over half way through the line up for the next Really Good Service Awards. In July Terry Cotterill went home with the £100 cheque when he took the coveted Driver of the Month title for Langley Mill. Sean Raynor, Bogumill Krzykwa of Broadmarsh and Michael O’Crowley of Hucknall won commendations.

In August the title stayed at Langley Mill thanks to the good work of Carmen Etherington. There was also another bumper crop of commendation winners. At Broadmarsh Paul Spray, Daniel Mee and John Jepson were all commended; Vittoria Bowring and Caroline Stevens did the honours for Langley Mill and Brian Hutchinson flew the flag for Sutton.

Marketing Manager’s top qualification

Marketing Manager Sarah Taylor is celebrating after achieving the coveted Chartered Marketer Status. The Chartered Marketer award recognises Sarah’s expertise in a wide range of marketing skills and required two years of study.

Sarah is the mastermind behind much of our celebrated marketing effort and has recently been pioneering telemarketing, the use of social networking sites and the launch of our MANGO smartcard. Sarah already possessed the highest Chartered Institute of Marketing qualification, but had to complete a further two years of continual professional development before her the Chartered Marketer status was conferred.

“It’d be nice to raise £1,000”
Namesake still going strong at £70k!

In an unbroken fundraising run of eighteen years, Heather Ward’s record-breaking Namesake Charity Appeal has passed yet another milestone.

A £5,000 cheque presented by Heather to the Derby Breast Scanner Appeal brought the running total to over £70,000 – a staggering achievement.

Regular trent barton traveller Heather hatched her sponsor-a-bus Appeal idea back in 1990 when she was landlady of the Black Swan at Idridgehay, on what is now the 6.1 route.  She has single-handedly run the appeal ever since – with every single penny going directly into the fund.

She recalls:

“Deeply touched by the experience of one of my customers who had suffered Breast Cancer, I remember sitting down with Melvyn Hopwood (then the company’s Marketing Manager) when we chatted through the idea that people could sponsor a bus in the name of a loved one, or any name of their choice, for £100.  Every penny would go straight to the Derby Breast Scanner Appeal.

“Namesake just seemed to come to us – and from then on the dedicated inscriptions have been a familiar fixture in the trent barton fleet.

“I count myself so very lucky to have made so many special friends thanks to Namesake, and their generosity has helped countless others.

“It also sticks in my mind that we said at the time how nice it would be to raise £1,000 for such a worthy cause. Little could I have dreamt that the Appeal would still be going strong almost two decades later?”

PHOTO:  Breaking the £70k barrier – Heather Ward and Melvyn Hopwood present the £5,000 cheque to Derby Breast Unit on September 16th.