Buses chief threatening to take vehicles off road over contracts

PUBLIC transport bosses in South Yorkshire were told to "stop harking back to the past" by the man in charge of one of Britain's biggest bus companies.

Brian Souter, who heads the Stagecoach group, visited Sheffield yesterday to host an event promoting his ambitious plans for the future of bus travel in the city over the next decade.

But Mr Souter, whose firm also operates Supertram, said his plans would only work with the support of officials – who were currently not "singing from the same hymn sheet".

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At present, Sheffield Council says it plans to impose Quality Bus Contracts on private transport operators, forcing them into standards of service laid down by councillors.

Other councils in South Yorkshire have also considered the move, but Mr Souter said he "would not participate" in contracts and would take his buses off the road if forced.

Speaking to the Yorkshire Post after making a presentation to officials, he said: "Doing a contract is like emptying the bins, and they can get a garbage firm in to do it.

"We sold a London business because of a contract and I would pull out here in the same way. We would remove our buses from the road, or sell out to someone else."

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Mr Souter asked his audience whether they wanted to base the future of bus travel on "ideology or ideas" and said he and his firm had ideas which could make bus travel "cool".

He revealed a three-phase plan for Stagecoach in South Yorkshire which included the introduction of "guided buses" which would be able to run on routes also used by trams.

According to Stagecoach figures, passenger numbers on the firm's Sheffield buses have almost doubled in the last five years from 6.2m in 2005/06 to 12.3m in 2006/07.

Increases have also been posted on services in Barnsley, where the firm runs almost all buses, and on Supertram, with numbers going up from 9.1m to 15m since 1998.

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Mr Souter claimed the figures proved his company could run services without regulation imposed by local authorities and could deliver more success without intervention.

Earlier this year, the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Authority criticised private operators such as Stagecoach and its rival First, saying their services were not good enough.

Coun Mick Jameson, the chairman of the authority which oversees public transport delivery in the county, called for more public control over the firms to force them to do better.

Yesterday, Ian Auckland, Sheffield's transport spokesman, told Mr Souter his administration was reluctant to abandon contracts and called deregulation an "unmitigated disaster".

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But Mr Souter said the way forward was partnership between councils, the transport authority and operators and urged officials not to go "head to head" with his firm.

First South Yorkshire, which operates a large number of vehicles in Sheffield, Doncaster and Rotherham, earlier this week published its own plans for the future of bus services.

The firm also opposes contracts with councils but in 2007 entered into a groundbreaking Quality Bus Agreement with Sheffield Council which was the first of its kind in the country.

Deputy managing director Brandon Jones said he and his staff were prepared to continue with the partnership, which would "provide stability" and build on work already carried out.

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He added: "Quality contracts are not the answer. The costs are disproportionate. Customers tell us that punctuality is the key and we believe the most effective way to deliver improvement is to work with partners in a voluntary agreement."