SWANSEA REDISCOVERS TWO DECKS
Why students are driving a change in First’s services
SOUTHERN TRANSIT: EVERY MILE MATTERS
New double-deckers with a London look are coming to this fleet that has capital connections
ZAPPING THROUGH LEEDS
We sample Transdev’s fast new offers from Manchester to York by the M62 and the A64
A SENSE OF DIRECTION
Barcelona tears up its route network and starts again
REGULARS
COMMENT
A common cause?
NEWS
Burnham sets out his vision for Greater Manchester; Transdev to buy Rosso; two more Welsh independents close down; First makes cuts in Somerset; Christmas Day services as rare as ever; Reading increases its gas fleet, reinvents Thames Valley and starts Green Line; English independents pull off bus routes; Merseytravel trials paperless information; William Wright is knighted
INSIDE TRACK
Interurban initiatives offer hope for future
GLOBAL NEWS
PolskiBus ties up with Flixbus; double-deck BRT in Sydney; Berlin starts going electric; first BYD bendies for Oslo; New Flyer buys ‘cutaway’ specialist manufacturer; French project aims to develop a driverless 12m single-decker
LOOK IN ON LONDON
RATP sweeps the board with contract wins; no WiFi without sponsorship; London’s one Christmas Day service; Merlins and Greenway honour Red Arrow; TfL’s new surface transport MD is named
MILLAR’S TALES
Cardiff’s rewarding walls; a 70th birthday in the frozen north; a quirky bus shelter, Indian diner and a three-track find on the Isle of Wight
PUBLICITY MATTERS
A lesson from Australia on how to do things well
HALFCABS ETCETERA
A Bristol VRT is discovered among a flock of sheep and a green RT is still working in New Zealand
IDENTITY PARADE
A Kelvin comeback for a Caledonian challenger
VINTAGE FENTON FILE
When a Midlands operator turned to self-assembly
YOU WRITE
The case against driving mirrors; Hampshire, BRT and supported services; TfGM network maps rediscovered; the drawbacks of long-distance minibuses; why Tanzania got Hungarian products; the death of buses in Millom and why it happened
PRESERVATION UPDATE
Quest 80 returns to Merseyside; New Year running days; halfcab Leylands have pre-Christmas outings
FLEET NEWS ENGLAND & WALES
Compiled by John G. Lidstone
FLEET NEWS SCOTLAND
Compiled by Sandy Macdonald
FLEET NEWS IRELAND
Compiled by Paul Savage and Ian Molloy
REVIEWS
Books on Hastings trolleybuses, London in the 1970s and 1980s, The Eden, Bristol Lodekka FSFs, plus the latest Bus Handbooks and a DVD about Imberbus