BUSES (UK)
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> | Neil Barker |
| Acting Chief Executive, Bus Division |
Revenue for the year was £300.8m (2005: £268.6m) and normalised operating profit was £40.7m (2005: £41.5m). We are particularly pleased with this result given the £9m year-on-year increase in fuel costs.
In Dundee we have relaunched a number of radial routes around the city as part of our partnership agreement with Dundee City Council. This included the provision of new bus shelters and customer information as well as investment in new liveries to promote the services. A national concessionary fares scheme was introduced in Dundee in April 2006 and we have seen increases in both concessionary and commercial patronage.
In the West Midlands we are starting to see the benefits of the launch of the national concessionary fare scheme. In partnership with Coventry City Council, an improved network was introduced following the findings of a joint network study.
We continue to invest in our fleet. 80% of the West Midlands fleet is low-floor, easy-access, the highest percentage of any major fleet outside London. Automatic vehicle technology has been fitted to over 20% of the TWM fleet and real-time journey information is available across half of the network. In addition SMS timetable and real-time information is available via SMS codes published at over 1,200 bus stops.
This service regularly receives over 3,000 hits a month. We believe the provision of accurate, timely information is key to making our services attractive and accessible to customers.
Travel London continued to extend its operations with new contract awards and extensions to existing contracts. The redevelopment of the Battersea depot is planned which will give an additional capacity for 100 buses. In partnership with Surrey County Council and BAA, we are providing key services to support the construction of Heathrow Terminal 5.
A Group priority for 2007 is to re-energise our relationships with our key stakeholders in our heartland bus operation in the West Midlands. This will ensure that we develop new quality partnerships in the coming year which will enable us to deliver marketing, customer care, investment in new buses and innovation. Looking to the future we are working with Centro and Birmingham City Council to put in place an overarching partnership agreement to deliver improvements on selected key routes in the region.
