As year-end approaches, members of the coach and bus industry might spare a second between mince pies, turkey sandwiches and ceremonial sherry to look back on what has happened in 2025 and what could follow in 2026.
For coach, it has been a period – another – of adapting to change. The Schengen area Entry/Exit System arrived after much delay and preparation. But the real test will come next year when cross-channel numbers spike in April. There can be few involved in such work who will not enter that period without trepidation.
Elsewhere, the rise of Chinese-built coaches has continued. But the next steps for PSVAR remain in a forgotten postbag somewhere for the second Christmas, assuming they do not slip out quietly on 23 December.
Regardless of when clarity (or otherwise) on PSVAR comes, it will need to sit with an extension to the medium-term exemption regime if school absences are not to increase come the 2026/27 academic year.
Perhaps ministers could save on postage by bundling that with an outcome of similarly delayed work on young drivers and lifting of the 50km local service restriction.
There will be challenges and surprises in 2026. Even so, coach and bus can look ahead with positivity. Some operators will celebrate big anniversaries next year; reaching 50, 60 or even 100 years is no small thing in an industry that demands an ‘all in’ approach.
Resilience has always been a strong point of the sector. Despite inevitable grumbles, that will remain. New people will join; others will hang up their keys or tachograph card. The ongoing introduction of new ideas will continue. Some will work, others will not. Who knows: a minister may even acknowledge the coach industry’s existence.
A bright spot for 2026 is set to be the return of UK coach manufacturing via planned debut of the Wrightbus hydrogen fuel cell-electric model.
Hydrogen is presently a tough ask at best for buyers of coaches (and every other vehicle type, it seems), but diesel products from the same line are due to follow. With a bit of luck and a fair wind, by this time next year the UK should once again have a domestic coach builder. That is something to celebrate.
Meanwhile, some parts of the bus industry will see things continue to settle. Others – including Wales as a whole – will witness ongoing upheaval as regulatory models continue to shift.
How structural that evolution is for the areas in which it occurs must not be forgotten, including how it impacts the passenger. People often do not like change. While the long-term aspiration for franchised networks is clear, a few eggs are broken along the way, something that will no doubt continue in 2026.
Longer-term funding allocations are welcome, and in 2026 the bus industry outside London, and Greater Manchester to a lesser extent, needs to start to leave behind what will soon be a six-year period of almost constant flux. It is already doing so where decisions are made quickly and followed with action. Perhaps there is a lesson there.
Outside the operating field, it should be hoped that the thus far rather subdued UK Bus Manufacturing Panel comes good and develops its promised pipeline of orders. The peak-and-trough approach does not work. That is clear. It inflates prices and does nothing for certainty on investment decisions.
It also nearly put 400 bus builders in Scotland out of work this year, and policy from the Panel needs to come forth quickly in 2026 if it is to do as intended, notwithstanding the likelihood of some deals for good numbers being done as franchising and other work, such as ScotZEB3, gain steam.
Another eventful year is thus in store. When was it anything but? That is among the beauty of coach and bus; something is always going on. For 50 weeks of the year, at least. For the other two – which are nearly here – put those thoughts to the back of your mind and enjoy what it is really all about: time with family and friends.
The routeone weekly news digest will return on Wednesday 7 January 2026. Best festive wishes to all website readers, magazine subscribers, commercial partners, and competitors.
