tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39019688758046344082012-01-27T11:56:44.722ZLeon DanielsLeon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.comBlogger1781100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-57366206590803471482012-01-15T09:22:00.000Z2012-01-15T09:22:09.574ZA last look at LT1 before it enters service.
In this photo LT1 shows the other destination panel on the 'launch' set
which featured on Wrightbus' Christmas Card in 2011
Exclusively here for my readers is a unique photograph of the first prototype New Bus for London LT1 after its London launch alongside its predecessor the Engineering Test Vehicle. The latter has been at Millbrook for testing since the Spring and has now been joined by Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-85548454776019058182011-12-24T23:05:00.000Z2011-12-24T23:05:37.820ZHappy ChristmasIt does seem like a time to set the record straight.
After a tremendous launch of the New Bus for London, the media and some enthusiasts got themselves really excited about the sight of LT1 on the hard shoulder of the M1 last Monday.
Yes it was there - it was on it way to Millbrook for completion of handover testing and pre-delivery preparations.
The truth is that we had already learned from Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-74046720494988478742011-12-16T22:53:00.001Z2011-12-16T22:54:06.843ZLT1
The media pursues Boris Johnson as he takes a short walk
as LT1 pauses on Westminster Bridge for a special photo
Today was the day that LT1, the first passenger-ready prototype New Bus for London, was launched in Trafalgar Square.
LT1 was delivered from Wrights' Ballymena factory on Tuesday. It ventured out for some radio testing earlier this week but at 0630 this morning it was parked, in theLeon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-22968868842897866212011-12-01T00:18:00.001Z2011-12-02T22:55:56.243ZUK Bus Awards
Photo from Mark Howarth of
Western Greyhound.
I know since he posted it on Facebook
he won't mind me using it here!
Yesterday was the UK Bus Awards - its 16th year and I have been to all of them. How it has grown since it was a small event in the City of London to now a full house in the Ballroom of the Hilton Hotel in Park Lane.
For the first time in many years Stephanie Flanders (daughter ofLeon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-47757334301966668772011-11-04T22:41:00.001Z2011-11-05T07:37:53.693ZNew Bus for London
Mayor Boris Johnson drives the first NBfL prototype
bus out of the factory
Today in Ballymena, Co Antrim, the Mayor of London Boris Johnson drove the first finished prototype of the New Bus for London off the production line and showed it off to the assembled media.
Work on this vehicle had been at full speed to achieve completion. The finished article was well worth the effort and everyone Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-83672702316992396842011-10-29T17:25:00.000+01:002011-10-29T17:25:56.069+01:00Piccadilly two-wayThe return of two way traffic to Piccadilly after over 40 years marks the end of an extraordinary effort by Westminster City Council, Crown Estates and Transport for London to return the 1960s one-way systems to proper streets for people to use.
The dramatic increase in private vehicles in what is now Greater London gave rise to the Road Traffic and Road Improvements Act 1960. Parking Meters andLeon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-47262891923339080362011-10-16T20:48:00.000+01:002011-10-16T20:48:49.180+01:00Countdown IIOn Monday 17th October we launch to the public the full real time information service for bus users. This has been under test for several weeks and the test site address has already spread.
But from Monday it will work from http://www.tfl.gov.uk/buses. Much more usefully smartphone users will be taken directly to the new mobile site which is configured for easy reading on such devices.
The new Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-5525996969905117152011-10-15T18:35:00.000+01:002011-10-15T18:35:21.706+01:00East London line phase 2I am still catching up so here is another story from last weekend.
On Friday 7th October I did a whistlestop tour around various railway developments and amongst them the progress being made to connect the East London Line south of Surrey Quays so it can connect to Clapham Junction and thus create an orbital railway around London.
This link will be ready in Spring 2012 and follows an old Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-52550308249598394602011-10-08T07:30:00.002+01:002011-10-08T07:31:49.938+01:00Show TimeThis is the start of some catch-ups - sorry for so little activity recently.
It is show season with the American Passenger Transportation Association event in New Orleans and Coach & Bus Live at NEC Birmingham both this week and only 12 days before Busworld at Kortrijt.
These events very much demonstrate the temperature of the industry's economy and in the case of the UK Show the first thing Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-83108804974913196572011-09-25T23:43:00.001+01:002011-09-25T23:44:59.097+01:00Thanksgiving Service
A First London VNW in the courtyard of
St Clement Dane's Church in London at the
Public Transport Workers' Service
of Thanksgiving
Events have, in the past week or so, come past so quickly I am afraid I have been slow to post them on my blog.
How to start - last weekend we had the Tour of Britain Cycle Race London stage and time trial taking place in the centre of town. During this week we Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-12397559270425251852011-09-11T10:24:00.000+01:002011-09-11T10:24:52.773+01:00News from the BBCPassengers tell us that London's bus network is one of the best in the world - frequent, clean, reliable and safe. But, as with most things in life, it isn't perfect.
The BBC's transport expert, Tom Edwards, illustrated this last week with some interesting reflections on the volume and nature of the complaints we receive about buses.
Complaints are really important feedback for us. We use Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-53184880737488562532011-09-04T16:48:00.002+01:002011-09-04T17:23:15.798+01:00Return to Imber
Heeding the severe warning of the sign on the left, the first wave of
Routemasters venture onto the military road
The third annual pilgrimage to liberate the abandoned village of Imber, on Salisbury Plain, evacuated in 1943 and never returned, took place yesterday.
This village, like several others, was commandeered during the war. In this case it provided a training facility for US troopsLeon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-89414072911239857712011-09-01T00:29:00.000+01:002011-09-01T00:29:46.945+01:00Notting Hill CarnivalThis year's Notting Hill Carnival passed without major incident thanks to the hard work of the Police, organisers and many others.
Although I have worked at this event on many occasions this was my first one for TfL. Once again I am hugely impressed by all the work that goes on the prepare for this event. The road closures, diversions, bus service alterations and the supply of information to Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-76280151345101279302011-08-28T20:31:00.000+01:002011-08-28T20:31:31.543+01:00Cycling updateOne of my correspondents stated recently that there is no provision for cyclists at the Olympic Games.
This is not true! Here is the real situaion!
Cycling Spaces:
There are enough spaces for 7,000 bicycles to be parked across three sites around the Olympic Park. This can be broken down to the following: 4,000 spaces at Victoria Park, 2,000 at the Northern Spectator Transport Mall and a Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-43421515862741923452011-08-21T21:45:00.003+01:002011-08-21T21:52:34.562+01:00Westfield Stratford CityOnly some three weeks away is the opening of Westfield's development at Stratford.
This week I had a really good look 'behind the scenes' at this huge project. With 1.9m sq ft of retail space it will be Europe's largest urban shopping centre. All the major retailers are there flanked by John Lewis at one end and Marks and Spencer at the other. There is a 17-screen Vue cinema too. There is also Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-56173525505975877092011-08-14T20:59:00.001+01:002011-08-14T21:13:34.162+01:00London-Surrey Cycle RaceToday's story has to be about the London-Surrey Cycle Race which was a test event for the Olympic Games next year and which took place today.
This was really big - the largest barriered event in the UK - some 140km long. From The Mall it left London via Brompton Road, Fulham Road, Putney Bridge, Richmond Park and Kingston out to Dorking. A couple of circuits of Box Hill (the women's Olympic Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-26315448888627054842011-08-11T21:47:00.000+01:002011-08-11T21:47:02.402+01:00Serving our cityYou will only get one message from me this week as we appear to have resumed some kind of normality after several days of frightening attacks on people, property and the communities which make up our London.
The commitment of our staff in 'carrying on' under these circumstances has been extraordinary. Whilst we obviously had to curtail some services and take our staff out of harm's way the vast Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-74371586496082294772011-07-29T22:37:00.001+01:002011-07-29T22:47:57.735+01:00A year of cyclingOn Thursday we celebrated a year of the Barclays Cycle Hire scheme and our announcement of the extension eastwards to near the Olympic Park and also westwards to Westfield at White City.
In a year we have had over 6m hires and there are over 128,000 members. Every day the bikes are a familiar sight across London, emit zero emissions, and are regularly used by people from all walks of life acrossLeon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-55520300195802246572011-07-27T22:49:00.001+01:002011-07-27T22:51:10.142+01:00One year to go
Crowds from tonight's Aquatic Centre event are ferried on
fleets of buses back to Pudding Mill Lane and Stratford
Well you heard it from the Mayor himself. With one year to go tonight he said that London will most certainly be ready for the London 2012 Olympic Games in 366 days' time.
There were two events tonight - at Trafalgar Square and at the new Aquatic Centre in the Olympic Park - Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-65064269514831269192011-07-19T21:46:00.001+01:002011-07-19T21:53:31.557+01:00Aboard the Woolwich Free Ferry
Once a year the Woolwich Ferry ventures to Tower Bridge
for charity. Here is John Burns passing my Wapping
home and vantage point in July 2006
An often taken for granted part of the London transport system is the Woolwich Free Ferry which has been providing a link between Woolwich and North Woolwich across the River Thames since 1889.
Today I was given a very good insight and briefing into theLeon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-42500401951787237942011-07-10T22:04:00.000+01:002011-07-10T22:04:34.074+01:00Pedibus
There are some forms of transport in London you can try which are out of the ordinary and I am hoping to highlight a few of these over the next few weeks.
They are of course nothing to do with Transport for London!
So how about the Pedibus, which carries 12 passengers - eight of them sat sideways and each with pedals and a chain connected to the drive mechanism, and four in a 'VIP area'. It isLeon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-4715443663119938802011-07-07T22:56:00.002+01:002011-07-07T22:58:18.361+01:007th JulyWell there can only be one blog today and it is about the events of six years ago.
On that day I had been in Edinburgh for the G8 summit. At First we had a significant number of double-deckers on good rates parked at the summit as waiting rooms for the Police. Huge revenue and no miles.
On the morning of 7th July I flew back to London arriving soon after the troubles had started. I was faced Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-64261439964138814352011-07-01T00:29:00.001+01:002011-07-01T00:31:45.912+01:00Another end of an era
The 1967 tube stock mock up at Acton Works
The days are streaming past so quickly I am sorry not to have posted a new blog for over a week.
It has been really busy but tonight there was chance to take a short break and ride on the last 1967 stock train on the Victoria Line.
The set, with 3079 at the north end and with appropriate headboards, left Northumberland Park depot just after 1400 Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-43300406274220406752011-06-21T21:29:00.003+01:002011-07-02T00:41:19.045+01:00Longest day
Thank you everyone for so many messages wishing me a Happy Birthday today using one or more of the social networking services. Amazing!
So a bedtime story. One which I have to say helped get me interested in the subject of transport and left an indelible memory.
I was entranced by the story of Silver Star Motor Services originally of Dorset which was formed in September 1923. There were twoLeon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-84936647984842836292011-06-19T15:21:00.000+01:002011-06-19T15:21:53.634+01:00Polite transportationI have been doing some careful customer service research (in my own time of course!) in Atlantic City which has a number of major casinos.
The big question is of course, especially for someone like me who does not gamble, what is it that these establishments do to keep people satisfied when there is a competitor next door?
Casinos do have sone special attributes - no windows, no clocks so it isLeon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-59170256728164826632011-06-14T11:13:00.000+01:002011-06-14T11:13:30.798+01:00Aboard the GreyhoundWell it certainly is a first as I write my blog on a Greyhound bus travelling across New Jersey.
Although I have frequently seen 'behind the scenes' at this operation this is my first experience as a passenger. So with my 'customer service' hat on, how was it?
Very good! Booking on line was simple enough although on the day the system clearly had got out of sync with the day of the week and it Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-32958426997552547202011-06-05T12:30:00.000+01:002011-06-05T12:30:11.004+01:00418 days to goToday's blog is one which really is designed for you to spread to everyone you know who might be interested or affected.
It's about the Olympics and whilst it's a bit about people getting around the city it is mostly about getting supplies and goods to and from premises in London during the summer of 2012.
Dealing with people is slightly easier as they think for themselves and can respond to Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-62191938285734892132011-05-27T17:43:00.010+01:002011-05-29T10:53:24.372+01:00Silver dream machine
The New Bus for London Engineering Test Vehicle
at Millbrook today for the press launch with the Mayor
......is how the Evening Standard described the first showing of the New Bus for London Engineering Test Vehicle at Millbrook Proving Ground today.
The bus is structurally complete but is full of test equipment. It is also unpainted which makes it a bit of a patchwork quilt of silver panels Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-5092240000763868372011-05-26T22:15:00.000+01:002011-05-26T22:15:22.780+01:00Source LondonToday has been the day of electric vehicles and this morning we had a range of them, including a sports car and a van, parked as Asda Kingston for the launch of Source London. This brings another wave of electric charging points (some 150) to the streets of London as well as in car parks, supermarkets and elsewhere.
There are already over 2000 electric vehicles registered inside London. They areLeon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-63834753747903938442011-05-25T23:00:00.002+01:002011-05-25T23:01:55.365+01:00The roundelNow I hope you have noticed we are bringing the famous roundel back to London’s buses after long absence.
Of course for decades the famous London Transport fleetname adorned our red (and green) buses and in turn it gave way to the roundel which symbolised the organisation. It disappeared as privatisation progressed and by an accident of history has been missing from this hugely important mode Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-32448732658216327002011-05-23T22:12:00.000+01:002011-05-23T22:12:51.535+01:00Private preservation
RML2323 back on familiar territory 45 years later at
Langley Village Harrow on 22nd May. (Photo: Jeff Lloyd)
Well this weekend you had a huge range of activities to choose from, the 1938 tube stock and Sarah Siddons at work on the Underground to Amersham and Rickmansworth, the Slough Running Day, and several others so there was no shortage of interesting events.
So what is the future of these Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-18525947117887974932011-05-15T22:17:00.010+01:002011-05-18T07:29:35.411+01:00Heritage Running Day routes 9 and 15
Peter Hendy and me with RM1005 -and a recently-repatriated
Canadian RTL in the background
Well you would expect a blog tonight after our highly-successful Heritage Running Day on routes 9 and 15.
About a dozen special vehicles in service, perhaps the largest number of Leyland engined vehicles (RMs and RTLs) in London service for a very long time. And it was fine enough for two Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-1635282676696075012011-05-14T20:47:00.001+01:002011-05-14T20:48:56.271+01:0014th May 1966
RTW467 back in 1979 celebrating
that year's Shilibeer anniversary
This is just a reminder of the anniversary this weekend which is significant in London bus terms for a number of reasons but specifically the last day of operation of London's first 8' wide motorbuses, the RTWs, which occurred on this date and which was, of course, also a Saturday.
This class of 500 had been progressively Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-84040326173354475132011-05-07T17:20:00.002+01:002011-05-07T17:26:41.494+01:00A new bus for LondonYou will I am sure periodically click the link on this page and read RouteONE Magazine which is featured here. If you did this week you will get a bit of deja-vu as half of page 7 is devoted to the content of my blog from a couple of weeks ago. Well you read it here first but it is now being read by the entire circulation of that noted trade journal which has found an important place in our Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-73618928939441318792011-04-30T20:51:00.001+01:002011-05-01T07:45:53.424+01:00Wedding DayWell the media is full of the success Royal Wedding but a critical part of it was as a result of the excellent planning by all of the agencies involved and then its equally superb delivery by their teams.
I was able to witness first hand the work done by TfL. The closures of the streets, diversions for the bus routes, provision of information were all planned months in advance and in Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-28710131252248800642011-04-29T01:49:00.004+01:002011-04-30T07:14:46.255+01:00On our bikes
TV Presenter Grant Stott and Kulveer Ranger flank the
TfL Barclays CycleHire Scheme team at the awards presentation
It is the night before the Royal Wedding and we are assembled at the Novotel in Hammersmith for the London Transport Awards 2011 presented in association with the Transport Times.
In something of a contrast Vice Chair of TfL Daniel Moylan opened the proceedings and former Mayor Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-14783058609824059642011-04-27T00:06:00.001+01:002011-04-27T00:32:10.363+01:00Harlem Globetrotters
About the last thing I did at First was to agree our UK sponsorship of the 9-day tour of the Harlem Globetrotters. In the USA they are transported by Greyhound so we thought similarly so they should be here in UK.
They are doing a nine-city tour which started on Sunday in Manchester and I was glad to be there with my boys. Also with us on this tour are families from the local operating Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-70316487012740785872011-04-21T21:32:00.004+01:002011-04-22T18:36:12.755+01:00Under the SurfaceSo, back in UK and two days into the new job of Managing Director, Surface Transport at Transport for London.
Well I see on my return that items from this blog and from TfL's own "Upfront" Magazine are already in the trade press so my news and intentions are already in wide circulation.
So perhaps this is a good place, having left the private sector, to make some observations on the non-London Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-57240839235094009772011-04-15T15:21:00.000+01:002011-04-15T15:21:36.442+01:00Still on holidayYes am still on holiday but will be back on Tuesday 19th so should drop back into some twice weekly updates depending on what is going on.
Still not cracked remote uploading of images from my iPad but there are one or two across on Facebook.
Meantime yes it is still hot and sunny so enjoying every minute. Thanks for all your good wishes and for my next message I will be back in Lomdon...!
....Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-27012173251415138772011-04-07T23:17:00.000+01:002011-04-07T23:17:47.501+01:00Holiday bulletinWell as you probably know I am on holiday.
Currently at St Pete's Beach is on the west coast of Florida and where it is generally in the mid 80s. Everything so far provided by British Airways, Avis and everyone else has been great.
Gulf sunsets are magic every night as the colours change with the weather and cloud formations so are popular with everyone. And our hotel was hosting an advanced Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-46875204148585715272011-04-01T23:43:00.000+01:002011-04-01T23:43:42.693+01:00A good FridaySo my last proper day at First after a really busy week.
Mary Grant held her leaving party the night after mine so there was another round of people and goodbyes, and then I was in Aberdeen on Thursday. By a happy coincidence I was on the plane with Sir Moir Lockhead who was, of course, enjoying HIS very last day on the books of First and heading home.
But another surprise this morning as Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-74365981150690156502011-03-30T08:04:00.002+01:002011-03-31T06:16:15.317+01:00A short nightSo Wednesday morning dawns and the survivors of my official farewell party last night at the LT Museum awake to face another day.
There seem to be numerous photos and even an official video so for posterity the tremendous speeches by Giles Fearnley, Nick Vane, Sam Mullins (and me) are there for all time.
The team had put together a series of embarrassing photos from the years gone by which Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-59884525044547990392011-03-26T20:39:00.000Z2011-03-26T20:39:17.029ZGreat night, shame about the cabaretOn Friday night it was the Exclusive Preview and Fundraising Dinner for the new Scottish Riverside Museum in Glasgow.
This is an amazing building on the banks of the Clyde (where it meets the Kelvin) and inside slowly being unwrapped is the replacement for the old Transport Museum. Although many exhibits are still in their protective material the new street scene is laid out and most exhibits Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-61000977145488071252011-03-23T11:47:00.001Z2011-03-23T11:51:31.637ZOver the Irish Sea
On Tuesday I was in Dublin which I have been commuting to and from since 2003 when I acquired Aircoach for FirstGroup.
Maybe it was the nice weather bit there seem to be some signs of improvement in the economy with busier shops, more tourists and certainly more activity on the industrial park where we are based.
In my eight years of regular visits I have witnessed how this economy has Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-64956895485530889232011-03-16T10:18:00.000Z2011-03-16T10:18:28.436ZTwo jobs
Well it seems right now like having two jobs as I am working to hand over my responsibilities at FirstGroup whilst at the same time gradually picking up more information and briefings from TfL.
As is now generally known my last day at First will be 1st April which is in two and a half weeks' time. I then have two weeks holiday and start at TfL on 20th April - just in time for Easter, the Royal Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-53588433695147608512011-03-08T22:31:00.001Z2011-03-08T22:32:02.341ZLeeds hybridsVery soon we are launching the first of our fleet of hybrid buses in Leeds.
With the Government's Green Bus funding we have placed orders for hybrid buses in two batches for Leeds and the first will enter service soon.
Today we have been making some decisions regarding the finer details of the vehicles including livery and other features. We did this working with the first vehicle, 39201 which Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-44950354131531038772011-03-01T13:06:00.001Z2011-03-01T13:07:26.792ZA catch upAfter all this week’s news you deserve an update.
So firstly let me say thanks for the huge number of messages wishing me well which have come in by email, text, and all other forms of media from the UK and overseas. On Thursday evening it was the Annual First Dinner/Dance in Aberdeen and I was inevitably surrounded by over 250 of my colleagues and received many more good wishes. And in responseLeon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-88531842371224192492011-02-23T11:33:00.000Z2011-02-23T11:33:54.900ZNew jobOK now I know the gossip is out there because hits on my blog have picked up a bit in the past few days.
However I am able to confirm that it is announced today that I am leaving First after over 12 years to become Managing Director Surface Transport at Transport for London, succeeding David Brown who is, in turn, becoming the Group Chief Executive of Go-Ahead plc.
I am leaving First having Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-73111499109897242232011-02-20T19:57:00.001Z2011-02-20T19:59:24.955ZA day out of service
Thanks to Bruce Swain for the photo from his archive!
There has been some chatter in the trade press recently about the value of the Driver CPC training which is now a couple of years old. More importantly we are approaching the deadline in 2013 when all staff who were employed in the industry at the start of this process have been trained and have 35 hours of it under their belt.
Well yes, itLeon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-858563641428699762011-02-14T06:30:00.002Z2011-02-14T21:26:41.135ZGuided hybrids in LeedsThere are still relatively few hybrid buses outside London. Nearly all are being ordered under the Government's Green Bus Fund which seeks to 'top up' the additional costs which these vehicles attract.
What will bring the costs down is more volume. At present they are being built in small numbers so unit costs are high. The finance companies are taking a cautious view so they are expensive to Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-92193692110384366312011-02-06T19:22:00.004Z2011-02-07T21:47:55.039ZA return to February 1956
Today we celebrated 55 years since the first Routemaster RM1 entered service on route 2 from Golders Green to Crystal Palace.
After well over a year of testing it made its first tentative steps in service in the snow of February 1956.
So, over half a century later, there are still some Routemasters in service in London and over 2800 examples have been built. Quite a few are now in one form of Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-20611979243488913062011-02-01T22:17:00.001Z2011-02-01T22:21:20.993ZThe next generation
It seems only yesterday that the fledgling Cobham Bus Museum was installed in an old World War II Vickers building on an unlikely site in Surrey.
Closer to Weybridge than Cobham (some early supporters, like Ted Brakell, never stopped calling it "Weybridge"), at first it was hard to find enough owners and vehicles to occupy the building.
In those days many preserved London Transport buses were Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-23364050179854792322011-01-28T19:45:00.000Z2011-01-28T19:45:34.705ZA search for optimismSomething of a busy week as you might imagine and Thursday night was the annual Confederation of Passenger Transport dinner.
Guest of honour was Norman Baker, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport who admitted to having gone rather pale when earlier his officers had told him there had been a reshuffle. Of course it wasn't a Ministerial reshuffle but the appointment of Giles Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-36630055188346702932011-01-26T23:49:00.001Z2011-01-26T23:51:11.778ZNew MD for First UK BusWe have announced today the appointment of Giles Fearnley as Managing Director Bus (UK, Ireland and Germany).
Giles has considerable experience in the passenger transport industry in both bus and rail.
In 1991 he led the management buy-out of Blazefield Holdings which operated bus networks principally across Yorkshire and Lancashire. He remained as Chief Executive for two years following the Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-73826989940575464342011-01-19T19:05:00.000Z2011-01-19T19:05:01.991ZHST125
Tim O'Toole, me, Sir Moir Lockhead and Peter Hendy pose
with the newly-named power car at Paddington
I am writing this aboard a First Great Western HST125 which was this morning named "Sir Moir Lockhead OBE" after our founder and former Chief Executive.
In a carefully guarded secret plan, Sir Moir and Lady Audrey Lockhead were brought to London's Paddington Station this morning where we had Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-16216648135758392342011-01-12T22:48:00.001Z2011-01-12T22:55:05.618ZA small place in history
A nice airport - loads of space and almost no people!
I think I inadvertently took a small place in a history book yesterday.
I was on the panel at the Local Government Association conference yesterday "The Future for Buses". It was a dangerous place to be. Nearly 100 local government planners, officers and politicians with just me as the operator plus also the Chairman and Operations DirectorLeon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-52821805718344433942011-01-07T18:58:00.000Z2011-01-07T18:58:30.986ZTelling where we go
Capital Citybus 238 demonstrating its full rear blind display
Comments back from my last blog have highlighted the use of printed destination blinds on our latest addition to the Green Line fleet against the electronic ones fitted to just about all of the new buses supplied nationally outside London, including to First.
This always produces much controversy but at the risk of repeating what I Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-72471088619001554052010-12-29T18:02:00.002Z2010-12-30T08:46:02.633Z"Nunhead Garage.....put your money in...."
In my last blog on Monday I mentioned our resident Obsolete Fleet conductor, Harry Cook.
A former Croydon Corporation tram driver he converted to motorbuses and in due course, as a senior and permanently affable man ended up one of the high quality staff chosen as a driver to be in charge of London's first minibuses - Ford Transits - in 1972, in his case from Stockwell.
At retirement age, Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-58701253228781024102010-12-27T19:29:00.001Z2010-12-28T08:07:38.075ZThe Birmingham Routemaster
This is another nostalgic holiday blog and is about the Midland Red D9 - a vehicle which I came across professionally at Prince Marshall's Obsolete Fleet.
Seven D9s had been purchased and converted to open top for operation on the Round London Sightseeing Tour. Initially this was done by basing them at Stockwell Garage, but in due course they were replaced by convertible open top Daimler Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-82882922297301925302010-12-20T14:00:00.000Z2010-12-20T14:00:40.910ZThis weather reminds me of a trip over 30 years agoLooking back exactly a year I see there was a snow story then as well so no surprise that we are back into the bad weather. Once again well done to all the staff who have braved the elements to keep services going. As it happens the media has been very focussed on the effect on air travellers especially with the Christmas getaway being so badly affected. There are, however, lots of good local Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-22709686027975000422010-12-14T08:43:00.000Z2010-12-14T08:43:01.619ZNew engineering training unit .
I was in Aberdeen on Monday for the launch of our new mobile engineering training unit.
The bus is the unique East Lancs Vyking bodied Volvo B7 which worked for us in London for some years. It is now transformed into a state-of-the-art facility on both decks with computers, teaching aids and some bus components all wired/plumbed into a test rig. It is powered by a marine generator which runs Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-22008402821024840202010-12-10T18:33:00.002Z2010-12-10T18:36:13.717ZNew Hydrogen
Deputy Mayor Kit Malthouse performs
the official fuelling ceremony on WSH62991
Is it so many years since we first embarked on the Europe-wide trial of Hydrogen Fuel Cell buses using specially-built Citaros from Mercedes Benz? These vehicles made their debut on route 25 before moving to the RV1. They were so successful that the two year trial lasted three.
Today at our Lea Interchange depot onLeon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-81329727210124863632010-12-07T21:42:00.005Z2010-12-11T09:47:51.105ZNearly ChristmasDespite several long journeys last week I lost only 45 minutes on all of them together which was remarkable given the dreadful weather which I came back to in England.
The bad weather once again reminds us that the public is desperate for information whenever there are problems and all the major transport companies were recording record numbers of 'hits' to their websites as people searched for Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-33502062245547568402010-12-01T21:33:00.000Z2010-12-01T21:33:11.089ZNot done this before
No this is not Photoshop! Peter Tork, me and Dean Friedman
in Bordentown NJ this weekend
Now this is an entirely transport-free story. If you aren't interested, look away now.
Whilst I was in New York at the weekend I went to a concert some 65 miles south west down I-95 to see my good friend and famous chart-topper Dean Friedman.
He still tours UK every year and produces new CDs - in fact Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-47857954016002399522010-11-29T09:35:00.002Z2010-11-30T09:57:25.107ZExperience THE RIDENow you do have to see this.
New York's latest sightseeing offering is a fleet of coaches all specified (at what is quoted as $1.3m each) for a brand new visitor experience.
The coaches have glass roofs and deep side windows on the offside (that's facing the road not the pavement). The whole interior is like a cinema or theatre and the three rows of seats are arranged longditudinally so the Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-30646627305352572982010-11-27T12:30:00.002Z2010-11-27T12:34:05.526ZNew York, New York
Dawn over Manhattan
Well I'm sorry there has been such a long gap since the last blog but thanks for all the hugely positive comments about the Safe Journey Card all of which are being fed back internally for the future.
Passenger Safety Month ends this week and has been a great success.
I am in New York so thought I would start this message with a picture of dawn over Manhattan this Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-83611238606837354412010-11-18T22:12:00.000Z2010-11-18T22:12:21.375ZPassenger Safety MonthYes it is PASSENGER SAFETY MONTH here at First and our companies all over the UK are doing it.
No, this is not about hard hats or high-vis jackets, it's about reinforcing the message in these wintry months of rain, snow and darkness that we don't want out staff or passengers hurt in any way at all.
So what are our companies doing? Well we are working with schools, senior citizens, and other Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-36830794817959078482010-11-15T16:17:00.002Z2010-11-15T23:46:35.064ZAnother five yearsYes I am going to say it again. About five years ago there were those people who said that once the huge excitement about the ending of 'proper' Routemaster operation was over the 'Heritage' part of routes 9 and 15 would be quietly dropped. Well here we are half a decade further on and those two routes start their second 5-year contract. Yes - they were serious!
In the case of route 9 the long Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-13913380764184723022010-11-11T23:57:00.001Z2010-11-12T00:08:14.630ZWell, what did you expect?
Today was indeed the launch of the mock-up of the New Bus for London. It is now residing in the London Transport Museum Depot at Acton where it will be used for stakeholder visits to further refine the design features for the first prototypes which are being built.
The Mayor of London, TfL officials and the Directors of Wrightbus all warmly welcomed this new product - the first dedicated bus Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-67851779511865463512010-11-09T22:19:00.002Z2010-11-09T22:23:45.687ZEuro Bus Expo 3Well, some photos from others are filtering their way into the system and I am delighted to include this shot. CPT President Steve Whiteway (left) and I are declaring open the Omnibus Systems stand at Euro Bus Expo last week.
We are on the platform of RM1152 just a few days earlier despatched from BusWorks at Blackpool after an expert restoration. It formed the centrepiece of the Omnibus SystemsLeon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-41686873113203567882010-11-06T17:06:00.004Z2010-11-06T20:27:46.568ZEuro Bus Expo 2I wrote last time about the number of KMB vehicles at the Show demonstrating another fashion of single-deckers for Hong Kong.
There was however a double-decker on the Wrights stand built on Volvo B9 chassis.
Here we can see two quite different but equally senior representatives of the manufacturers – Hakan Karlsson, President and CEO of Volvo Bus Corporation (second left) and William Wright, now Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-79999688074235564402010-11-04T22:17:00.002Z2010-11-04T22:20:05.839ZEuro Bus Expo 1Now I do have some rather good pictures from Euro Bus Expo but they are all taken by others so I am afraid they will have to follow. Until the photographers are home and connected to their systems I don't have them to use!
Meantime however the end of a great show, hugely tiring but very rewarding. In the middle of it the RouteONE awards just to make sure everyone was on the go until well past Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-71386875015139563012010-10-31T18:36:00.002Z2010-10-31T18:40:37.139ZVERY nostalgic day
Cobham Bus Museum's Open Days have had their fair share of extreme weather events. I think it was 1977 when it was so wet we had no power. In 2008 it snowed even though it was April, and today, at the "Farewell Redhill Road" event, it rained reasonably steadily all day.
Nevertheless several hundred people came to see the inside (and outside!) of this famous building for the last time and Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-86217547313302825302010-10-29T19:30:00.000+01:002010-10-29T19:30:06.129+01:00Last week of OctoberA long week this week and so much news!
Firstly on Monday we learn of Keith Ludeman's retirement as Chief Executive of Go Ahead; we've had business announcements from Arriva and Go Ahead (our own interim results are next week), and then today Friday we recognised the last day of Sir Moir Lockhead as Chief Executive of FirstGroup plc.
In a surprise event in Aberdeen our new Corporate HQ was Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-6022508258390902152010-10-22T10:15:00.001+01:002010-10-22T10:24:27.163+01:00Success in the east of LondonThe news that London bus routes 26 and 30 are following route 25 from East London to First marks a change in direction for bus route contracts over the past couple of years.
Route 26 (Hackney Wick - Waterloo) is the direct descendant of the eastern end of route 6 - the creation of the 1992 scheme to sever cross-London trunk routes for reliability reasons and to concentrate them in areas from Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-36024909190953890022010-10-17T22:38:00.005+01:002010-10-17T23:06:48.316+01:00A pair of fives on the nines
Firstly what an amazing flood of visitors to this blog since Friday's news about East London - several records broken and lots of discussions about the future of the company stimulated. And I know the readership is growing - however one of my good correspondents (and respected industry journalist) wonders if there will be anything new left for my book!!
A different sort of day - one to blow Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-85174243421414806802010-10-15T08:01:00.001+01:002010-10-16T15:40:39.385+01:00East LondonThe announcement of the sale of East London Bus Group back to Stagecoach today is remarkable for the industry.
Stagecoach successfully targeted the strong East London at privatisation, taking the weaker Selkent business in the same process. MacQuarie Bank acquired this business from Stagecoach in 2006 for £263m. At the time it was the high-watermark for the value of bus businesses in London Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-59676203946513369972010-10-06T21:50:00.010+01:002010-10-08T22:04:56.487+01:00Lessons from our pastWell this week we've had an Underground strike so here is a story from nearly 20 years ago with a moral. I would welcome your comments.
In 1984 when I started London Pride Sightseeing we used to employ a crew of two - a driver and a guide.
London Transport's Sightseeing Tour had been completely unguided but you did get a helpful map. Cityrama ran in opposition with multilingual commentaries fedLeon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-79699883447176831302010-10-02T22:06:00.001+01:002010-10-02T22:22:13.156+01:00A new lookI had 5 minutes so decided to give the blog a facelift. Hope you like it!Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-52092016147057991642010-09-29T23:13:00.002+01:002010-09-29T23:33:44.805+01:00Into our second year togetherWell since we are a year in we are getting into events which I also wrote about in 2009. Last night was one of them - the annual London Transport Museum fundraising dinner and auction at the Royal Opera House.
Again we were lucky to have Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, as guest speaker and once again he impressed the audience with his sparkling wit. He reminded us that with the final vestiges ofLeon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-90644623609418305282010-09-25T20:57:00.001+01:002010-09-25T20:58:36.208+01:00On a train at Aldwych againDid you know it is a year since I started this blog? Looking back over the stories we’ve covered lots of ground together – literally in terms of distance but also in time. Sometimes very up-to-the-minute stories – literally as the events unfolded – and also the occasional historical or anniversary one.
So now we have our own anniversary – one year of blogs and some very nice comments from peopleLeon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-29412912828961285342010-09-22T08:41:00.003+01:002010-09-22T10:58:50.602+01:00Sir Moir to retire
Today we have announced the retirement of our Chief Executive Sir Moir Lockhead.
Moir has been the ‘father of the industry’ for some considerable time having led the organisation to be the largest international surface public transport operator in the world.
He left school at 15 to become an apprentice mechanic in Darlington. He spent a short time with Tamac before rejoining the bus industry,Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-25100641812802377742010-09-18T18:43:00.003+01:002010-09-18T18:45:01.865+01:00By bus to Imber
Well I might be the first person to get their Imber story on the internet but given the familiar faces in Wiltshire today there will be plenty more very soon.
Imber is a Wiltshire village with a difference: at its height no more than 500 people worked the land and look their goods to the local market town. By 1931 only 152 people were resident in the village.
However in 1943 it was evacuated andLeon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-52416509823318260062010-09-12T21:56:00.003+01:002010-09-12T22:00:19.297+01:00Birthday celebrations on the Epping-Ongar Railway
For the third decade in a row I have been spending this day in the year celebrating a major birthday of my great friend Nick Agnew who has spent, I think, his entire adult working life with TfL and its predecessors.
For his 40th we were on a barge, for his 50th we were somewhere in Essex, and today for his 60th we were (all fifty of us!) at a lunch which melted into a visit to the Epping-OngarLeon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-40342207653263823202010-09-08T12:13:00.006+01:002010-09-22T10:46:18.217+01:00Another anniversary
Over at the Omnibuses blog there is a good story today about critical dates for bus route changes. I was so focused on writing about the Blitz I nearly forgot another important anniversary - namely 42 years since the start of the Reshaping of London's Bus Services which commenced on 7th September 1968.
On that date the first single-manned flat fare routes in Wood Green and Walthamstow, the newLeon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-86078747793265964772010-09-06T23:21:00.000+01:002010-09-06T23:21:33.807+01:00The Blitz
It is exactly 70 years since the first bombs fell on London in the Blitz.
So tonight we were at the London Transport Museum for the Mayor Boris Johnson to formally open the new Blitz exhibition, along with the German Ambassador and the Mayor of Dresden.
The exhibition has been developed in partnership with Coventry Transport Museum and the Verkehrsmuseum Dresden. It also commemorates the 65th Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-58615839359900866042010-09-04T18:49:00.000+01:002010-09-04T18:49:57.980+01:00Crowd control
This week I've been at the UK School Games - an event bringing 1800 junior athletes to Gateshead for a four day event run on 'Olympic' lines with the competitors, trainers and marshalls all in an athletes village and events like swimming, volleyball and cycling taking place at various locations in the Newcastle area.
First is of course the exclusive transport provider for the UK School GamesLeon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-77719804755127645412010-08-31T21:15:00.005+01:002010-09-01T20:56:01.671+01:00Bath hybrid launch
Today we launched the Bath Hybrid vehicle 39000 - it is one of only a very few hybrid buses outside London.
This one is part of the EU CIVITAS Renaissance Project which brings hybrids to a range of European cities reliant on heritage and tourism - namely Szczecinek, Perugia, Skopje, Gorna Oriahovitsa and Bath.
This is a former London demonstration vehicle is now refurbished and converted to Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-29275959420837326692010-08-28T18:23:00.006+01:002010-08-29T08:31:11.309+01:00Derek GilesWell I have been off this week so no new travels to tell you about.
However Friday was the funeral for Derek Giles, the former Traffic Superintendent (now you would say "Commercial Director") for Southend Transport who led it into the deregulated 1980s. Initially launching a joint service with Reading Transport between Southend and Reading in later years the London-Southend service grew to some Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-92195945619816037432010-08-21T17:27:00.001+01:002010-08-21T17:29:30.121+01:00Dallas
Have now moved on to Dallas – the HQ of our Greyhound business – and where it is over 100degF.
Here Greyhound is facing its last big busy weekend of the summer and all efforts are concentrated on delivering a high level of service with duplicates to carry the huge numbers of passengers booked and expected to travel.
Over many corridors Greyhound competes very effectively against domestic air Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-34560701198513732252010-08-17T23:52:00.005+01:002010-08-18T04:23:32.676+01:00My friend LeonI've just met up with my friend whose Mother had great taste when she named him.
He's Leon Batchelor - a 30 year serving (and collision-free) Greyhound driver here in New York City where I am at present. Leon was the uniformed Greyhound driver who launched Greyhound in the UK for us a year ago and we caught up today down at the Greyhound facility facing the Hudson River.
Greyhound and sister Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-76834028302435188852010-08-15T14:10:00.000+01:002010-08-15T14:10:36.050+01:00Something I saw today triggered a storyToday's Brislington vehicle get-together was of course full of green buses from the former Bristol Omnibus and other Tilling companies of the area.
One surprise for me was former Citybus Hong Kong 105 which represented the huge challenge mounted by Citybus to deliver high-quality, air-conditioned buses into Hong Kong whilst the resident franchised operator China Motor Bus continued to rely on Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-6542971516777844042010-08-08T08:24:00.001+01:002010-08-08T19:24:46.071+01:00End of an era
I have thought carefully at which juncture I should tell this story and have decided with a week to go now would be right.
Next Friday, 13th August, I say goodbye to my long-serving and indeed long-suffering Personal Assistant Michele Walker after 16 years of continuous and loyal service.
She joined us in the old Capital Citybus days when we were owned by CNT Group in Hong Kong. That was 1994Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-4646228194952864702010-07-30T22:14:00.004+01:002010-07-30T22:27:08.479+01:00An American Werewolf in London
Well you won't be surprised that THE event of the year was today's launch of fully-restored pre-war RT8.
This early member of the RT family last carried passengers in London 55 years ago.
It was exported to the US for promotional work, and after use in Chicago ended up in a Transport Museum in St Louis where it was to stay for 40 years. Eventually it was to fall outside their collections Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-41316927891464325062010-07-24T09:21:00.001+01:002010-07-24T09:22:25.400+01:00Where technology is taking us
Two good trips this week - Friday was Farnborough Air Show courtesy BAe Systems and some really good discussions about how the continued technology developments are being made ready to spin off into other forms of transport and communication.
BAE Systems, as you may know, makes the clever part of the hybrid drive on ADL products. ADL now has two dedicated production lines for hybrid vehicles. Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-6233605998364931262010-07-17T20:55:00.000+01:002010-07-17T20:55:32.563+01:00Green Line 80
Now I know you all have your Green Line 80th photos so I have to come, as usual perhaps, from a different side.
Unless you've been here (home that is) you won't have seen my framed 1962 Green Line poster - one of a series - announcing the arrival of Routemaster coaches. It's in my hall.
Well Matt Wool - our talented Marketing Manager in Berkshire - sent me this really great re-rendering Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-87476243621394500682010-07-16T19:58:00.000+01:002010-07-16T19:58:26.571+01:00World HQ
This was a special week as HRH Princess Anne formally opened our sparkling new Aberdeen Headquarters in which we have been resident for the past few weeks.
It was originally built in 1862 as the home for the Royal Aberdeen Highlanders. In 1912 the War Office released it for use as a bus and tram overhaul facility but when war was declared in 1914 it resumed its role as a barracks. Once the Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-45972636065975657842010-07-12T16:40:00.000+01:002010-07-12T16:40:01.130+01:00Gold ArrowWe are delighted today to announce the reaward on tendering of routes 28, 31 and 328 to First London.
These Westbourne Park routes are famous (as 28 and 31) having been held back from mainstream conversion to opo in the 1980s so they could take part in the trial to convert routes to very high frequency midibus operation.
The experiment was a huge success and the two routes are now three, Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-79537066386131918412010-07-11T09:38:00.000+01:002010-07-11T09:38:24.005+01:00Hot staff
There's been some comment across at the Omnibuses blog about whether bus drivers should be allowed to wear shorts in hot weather. It's timely as again we are enjoying some hot weather in UK. And I know you can put forward a case by asking staff and passengers on a hot day what they think. (They'll give you the obvious answer).
I am against drivers wearing shorts because, as I have said Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901968875804634408.post-87486384279571563712010-07-09T19:38:00.002+01:002010-07-09T21:44:55.362+01:00Green buses
First a thank you to all those people who persuaded me to buy an iMAc rather than other Windows PC. It is just sensational and I am now using my computer rather than spending 50% of the time persuading it to work.
There is some internet chatter going on about our Citaros used on route RV1 in London. Just to clarify what is going on the existing vehicles are nearly eight years old and are Leon Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12204869899460566340noreply@blogger.com1