When I heard that the Secretary of State for Transport, Chris Grayling, was attending the Confederation of Passenger Transport’s (CPT) Annual Dinner, rather than the relevant junior minister as is normally the case, I did half expect that he would pull out at the last minute. After all, Secretaries of State lead busy lives and there is an awful lot on Mr Grayling’s plate right now.
But no, he duly turned up. My sense is, from having read his speech, that in this time of huge uncertainty, he was keen to reassure the industry both about the general importance of the industry, but also, and I suspect principally, about Brexit.
Reassurance
This is a serious issue for the industry – and especially the coach industry. Mr Grayling’s message was clear: He does not expect there to be a “no deal” outcome. But he was also at pains to make clear that if this does end up happening, then the UK will, or wants to, join the Interbus Agreement, and he reassured us that the UK has now deposited its instrument of accession with the Interbus secretariat.
But Mr Grayling went on to make a number of other reassuring noises – about the work being done to find ways of improving bus provision in rural areas, the various grants from the government to support bus provision, and the government’s recognition of the various initiatives a number of operators have introduced to encourage demand-led bus services.
And all in the broader context of a recognition of the important role of the coach and bus industry with an acknowledgement that two thirds of all public transport journeys were made by coach and bus last year. And not a whiff of franchising, or even a recognition that the powers to franchise even exist, anywhere in his remarks.
‘Thoughtful and strong’
Martin Dean stays on as President for another year, as I mentioned last week. I thought his speech was rather thoughtful and strong on content, especially his remarks about the role coach and bus can play in helping revive the high street, and the need to encourage the right environment for investment – especially given the ever-increasing demands from both passengers, who want ever greater levels of service and comfort, and from central and local government who demand greater investment in clean vehicles.
So Mr Dean says the right environment for investment should be supported by a national bus strategy. I’ve mentioned recently that I understood the CPT was working on a new bus strategy and so, it seems, it is with Mr Dean telling us that he soon hopes to be in a position to take it to a wider stakeholder group.
I twitch slightly at talk of “strategies” as they can either be too high-level and therefore broadly meaningless, or so detailed that they soon become out of date. I will withhold judgement, of course, on what the CPT has in mind, and read it with interest when it’s available.
