It’s a busy time of year for those operating coaches, and as well as the day-to-day challenges of running the business, there are always new issues, problems and opportunities to think about.
This came to my mind when I noticed three successive headlines in a recent edition of the Confederation of Passenger Transport’s (CPT) The Daily Brief which neatly illustrated typical new problems, trends and CPT efforts on behalf of the industry.
They concerned coaches not being allocated bays in Swindon’s new Transport Hub, a 50-year-old family-run coach firm being put up for sale, and an excellent Coach Pilot Scheme for Newcastle Christmas Market which provides reserved city-centre drop-off points, secure parking, and welcome packs with discounts for passengers and drivers.
Of course, help is always at hand from CPT, not just for the detailed and technical issues each operator must grapple with but also addressing the bigger picture for the whole industry.
A good example of this is the imminent set of changes around the phased introduction of the Schengen-area Entry/Exit System, or EES – the new digital border system set to begin its phased introduction on 12 October. CPT has been instrumental in representing the interests of operators and mitigating the practicalities for them and their passengers of this big change.
As EES will register non-EU nationals (including UK passport holders) each time they cross into or out of the Schengen area, it will highlight their length of stay and, therefore, whether they comply with the 90 in 180-day limit that non-EU citizens can stay inside the EU. The government believes that coach drivers and coach couriers are subject to this rule and so CPT is interested to hear from any members who believe this will affect them.
At a policy level, I’ve highlighted before the importance of getting coaches and associated infrastructure into local transport plans, and there are signs that this is gaining momentum – aided by the successful launch of CPT’s report The Economic Impact of Coach Services this time last year.
The next stage of this is to see coaches as an important part of the government’s Integrated National Transport Strategy that is due out later this year. It remains to be seen how impactful this document actually is when it emerges.
Nonetheless, CPT took the opportunity of the call for evidence to explain why the strategy should put coach services at the centre of its ambitions and recommended it brought an end to the long-standing failure to integrate coach services within local and national transport planning.
The coach sector, after all, is a highly flexible and resilient part of the transport network, offering excellent value for money both for passengers and the government – and it doesn’t require large-scale public subsidy or major infrastructure investment to run or expand.
So much is going on in the sector, whether sorting out the continuation of coach visits in the Cotswolds, adding to the successful Coach Friendly scheme for destinations and attractions, or continuing to press the Department for Transport on how it will manage PSVAR access regulations once the scheme that offers medium-term exemptions for operators that are still not fully compliant ends on 31 July 2026.
So, it is very timely to hold a CPT Coach Conference this year. This will take place in the West Midlands on 27 November and will address a broad range of issues, including the zero-emission transition, accessibility in integrated networks, workforce challenges, and global perspectives – all reinforcing that operators aren’t just adapting to change, they’re leading it.
It is an opportunity to hear from a range of experts on the issues that matter right now – and it’s free. More details are being shared across CPT’s social media and Newsline.
