The BusAndTrainUser Awards 2024

Tuesday 24th December 2024

A warm Christmas Eve welcome to the not to be missed Annual BusAndTrainUser Awards. Don’t believe the hype from all those other award ceremonies which dominate the bus and rail industry social calendars at this time of year telling you how they’re the most important. These are THE one-and-only, genuine, life-changing, renowned-for-quality, world-beating, ground breaking, global leading, game changing, glass ceiling smashing, prestigious, landmark Awards everyone wants to win. Our trophies are bigger, our categories the most obscure and the reputational enhancements from winning simply cannot be beaten.

As always we’ve had a bumper crop of entries this year keeping our panel of dedicated expert judges busy for weeks sifting through the extensive submissions. After many painstaking hours of deliberations in smoke free rooms we can at last reveal the coveted winners for 2024. Suffice to say all entrants are in fact winners, simply by being associated with these amazing Awards; even if all that work was for nothing as you haven’t actually won anything.

So, without any further ado let’s begin the ceremony.

Inconsistency of the Year Award

And our first Award is the much sought after trophy recognising complete illogicality coupled with an excess of inconsistency and gobbledygook in News Releases.

In a crowded field of entries the judges have given the Bronze Award to Emily Yates, co-founder of the self styled Association of British Commuters – an “Association” that could win an award in its own inconsistent right as it’s without any membership. Emily lambasted the new Labour Government’s increase in the £2 bus fare cap to £3 announced in October’s Budget demanding the only long-term solution to such preposterous behaviour from Government would be “a bold, nationwide policy to bring buses back into” …. (err, pauses to check I’m copying this quote correctly….) “….public control and ownership”. Yes, that should certainly fix the problem of Government hiking up the fares that Government controls.

Winner of the Silver Award goes to the Department for Transport which claimed earlier this month bringing SWR, Greater Anglia and c2c back under public control next year will “transform our railways into a more reliable, affordable and accessible system”. New Secretary of State for Transport, Heidi Alexander added “a complex system of private train operators has too often failed its users.” Which comes as Government controlled rail fares will increase by an inflation busting 4.6% in March 2025, more and more Open Access applications from privately owned train companies were lodged following the announcement they’d of course be very welcome and long suffering Northern Rail passengers in the North West of England who’ve enjoyed Government ownership since (err, checks notes….) March 2020 regularly receive “DO NOT TRAVEL” advice at weekends. Meanwhile to enhance the inconsistency, and clinch the award win, London’s Labour Mayor, Sadiq Khan, excitedly announced a new Elizabeth Line contract has been awarded to (checks notes again…..) the privatised Go-Ahead Group and Tokyo Metro and Sumitomo Corporation with a new seven year contract from May 2025 (plus up to two additional years extension). Privatised contractors are good for London, but woeful for the rest of Britain (unless they’re Open Access) marking out policy inconsistency at its very best and a well deserved winner in this category.

And this year’s Gold Award winner by a huge margin goes to the multi-award winning LNER for its ‘Simpler Fares’ launch in February when, in all seriousness, it set out to convince passengers its withdrawal of a cheap flexible ticket, able to be used on the vast majority of journeys, and replacing it with a ticket that can only be used on a specified journey or, if paying £20 extra, and a seat is available, and having to use an app or call into a ticket office, passengers can change the time to the preceding or following journey was “making fares better suited to customer needs; creating consumer confidence in buying the best tickets.” The judges particularly liked LNER’s claim “with the removal of outdated Off-Peak/Super Off-Peak fares it will be even simpler for customers to select the best tickets for each part of their journey.” ‘Gobbledygook at its supreme best’ the judges observed. Many congratulations to the LNER team for this well deserved award which brings us to….

Project Delay of the Year Award

A regular and popular feature of our annual Awards and with so many excellent examples of project implementations running excessively late, the judges felt it was time to split the many entries into two categories across both bus and rail with projects running hopelessly late and still not implemented separated from those which were finally introduced in 2024.

So, to begin this four part award we have the Project Delay Finally Introduced (Buses) Award for 2024 and I’m delighted to confirm the well deserved winner is Cardiff Council for finally getting its Bus Station (oops, sorry, checking the entry again…. ) getting its Transport Interchange open at the end of June making for a seven year delay and nine years since the old one closed. Even better, the judges observed, Transport for Wales (which took over the much delayed project) arranged for a step-by-step gradual opening so as not to rush any changes, coupled with the icing on the celebratory award winning cake being, the most useful long distance routes which would provide an excellent transport interchange between rail and bus at the (checks notes…) Transport Interchange, such as TrawsCymru routes, will be staying put at their terminal points on the other side of the city centre and not transferring.

It’s a well deserved Gold Award winner and the judges wanted two Special Commendations be given to Transport for Wales for its delayed introduction of new TrawsCymru route T22 in February with new Yutong E12 electric buses, put back from an original planned introduction of Autumn 2022 and TfL’s joint entry with Go-Ahead London for the similarly delayed ieTram buses on route 358, now also thankfully on the road.

Over on the tracks, the judges have awarded the Gold Award for Project Delay Finally Introduced (Trains) Award for 2024 to South Western Railway for finally getting its Class 701 Arterio trains into service. These are a mere five years late having an original implementation date planned for 2019. The judges noted renowned rail industry journalist, Roger Ford, describing the debacle as these trains “meeting the ultimate standard for lateness” and endorsed that accolade with the well deserved Gold Award. And to top off a month of celebration, at an official launch of the trains a few weeks ago attended by Rail Minister Lord Peter Hendy, SWR’s Interim Managing Director Stuart Meek modestly pronounced SWR’s five year delayed implementation as “a major milestone” and “a monumental achievement”. The judges couldn’t contain their own excitement at what Stuart would have said had the trains actually entered service in 2019, as originally planned.

And so to the Gold award for Project Delay of the Year And Still Not Implemented (Buses). This goes to a joint entry from Liverpool City Region Combined Authority with Arriva and Stagecoach for the 20 Alexander Dennis Enviro400FCEV hydrogen fuel cell-electric double-decker buses purchased with great celebratory ceremony in 2022, and aside from a few of Arriva’s 10 seeing sporadic service for a few weeks in 2023, have otherwise not turned a wheel. There was some concern the award entry would be declared null and void when a report in August 2024 indicated a battery refit on the fleet may see entry into service “within a few weeks” but thankfully problems with the supply of hydrogen have seen that deadline pass and the buses remain out of service making for an excellent Award winner.

And finally in this category, Gold Award for Project Delay of the Year And Still Not Implemented (Railway) goes to the much promised but never implemented recast of the East Coast Main Line timetable following unprecedented expenditure on various improvements including the Kings Cross “throat” and Werrington Dive Under. The creation of an additional ‘path’ for more trains to run resulted in bitter recriminations over which passenger Train Operating Company should have access rights to it and whether freight operators will lose out, but as the year comes to an end it looks like a solution has been agreed for implementation in December 2025 only three and a half years late, so a lucky winner of this Award coming in just in time.

Let’s move on to our next category…

Humble Pie Eating Of The Year Award

There’s only one clear winner for this year’s ultimate in humiliation. It is of course when the Headmistress told the Geography teachers to abandon the idea of beaming over-powering adverts down on the long suffering passengers waiting on Euston concourse…

… and instead provide prominently displayed information that might be useful in a railway station such as details of departures and arrivals.

Team ‘Management of Euston Station’ have certainly earned that extra helping of humble pie this Christmas and well deserving of this Award which everyone else saw coming.

Which brings us nicely to…..

I Could Have Told You That Award

It’s a brand new award for 2024: the I Could Have Told You That Award and I’m delighted to announce the much deserved inaugural winner is Transport Focus for its ‘landmark report’ published just last month ‘Making great bus journeys’ which “looks behind the data explaining why the key factors matter to passengers”. After analysing feedback from passengers on more than 35,000 bus journeys in England the report concluded “timeliness of the bus is the most important driver of overall journey satisfaction and accounts for over half (51 per cent) of what differentiates between a good and a great journey.”

‘Well, you don’t say’, was the unanimous reaction of the judges as their eyes opened wide with amazed incredulity that punctuality is an important driver of journey satisfaction for passengers. Thank goodness we have the benefit of such research and well done on it now becoming an Award winner too.

Silver Award winner in this category goes to Arriva for its announcement just this month ending its DRT Arriva Click operation in Ebbsfleet explaining “ArrivaClick in Ebbsfleet was set up as an additional public transport choice in the area.  It has attracted passengers, but sadly, not at the level needed to ensure it can be cost-effective for us as a business. Unfortunately, we had to take the very difficult decision to close the service on December 31, 2024.” The judges observed it was strange how experience of (checks notes…..) Arriva Click in Sittingbourne, Liverpool, Lubbesthorpe and Watford didn’t register re the “cost effectiveness” of DRT, but hopefully winning the I Could Have Told You That Award will be some compensation.

Which brings us to…

Ginger Haired people working in Transport

We come to a special award recognising the importance of people with ginger hair working in the public transport industry. BusAndTrainUser Awards is delighted to be working in partnership with the recently established People With Ginger Hair in Public Transport organisation and its sub group highlighting the challenges faced, in particular, by People With Ginger Hair working in….DRT. Together we are jointly sponsoring this special award to highlight the excellent work being done to raise the profile of this marginalised group of employees despite many passengers travelling on buses and trains having ginger hair. Sadly, despite heavily promoting this new sub-group including holding a two-day conference last month to discuss issues of People With Ginger Hair in Public Transport and the establishment of an Award to recognise those working with ginger hair in DRT, we’ve not received any entries. We’re sure this doesn’t reflect the situation out in the field where so much unsung work establishing DRT schemes is going on by people with ginger hair, so instead we’ll just highlight the great work that’s being done by DRT schemes all over the country. Right. Done.

And as our Awards ceremony nears its end, a few quick fire Awards…

Worst Map Of The Year Award

Many congratulations to TfL’s Map Making Directorate (Buses) for their superb effort to confuse and baffle passengers about what bus routes in the Woodford area were changing in September. A Gold Star to the whole team.

Turner Prize For Outstanding Head Turning Design

The judges were unanimous this should be awarded to Bridgend County Borough Council for its head turning design of the new Porthcawl Metrolink (aka bus station) opened last month.

Closed More Than Its Open Award

A shout out to the Island Line on the Isle of Wight which wins this year’s perception of something being Closed More Than It’s Open Award (even if it’s not) with another closure of the tracks between Ryde Esplanade and Ryde Pier Head for essential maintenance work. It closed in September 2024 until May 2025 having previously closed between January and November 2021 and between October 2022 and July 2023. Nice one.

Built But Not Open Award

Well done to joint winners of this year’s Built But Not Open Award. The Award is shared by Transport for Wales for its Porth Transport Hub…

… and Oxfordshire County Council for its superb 850 space Park & Ride site constructed in Eynsham with no immediate plans to open it.

Own Goal Advert of the Year

Arriva’s promotion of car ownership on the rear of its buses in Derby made for an obvious winner of the Own Goal Advert of the Year award…

…along with Arriva’s recruitment of amazing people to become drivers in Aylesbury and High Wycombe just as the company quit both towns.

Most Confusing Sign of the Year

The ridiculous campaign to promote Croydon as a place by changing some station signs at Norwood Junction to read “THIS IS CROYDON” won top prize in the Most Confusing SIgn of the Year category

Most Cringeworthy Corporate Video of the Year

It just had to go to Janette Bell and her fearless interrogator, Rachel Hurst telling us all about the new First Bus rebrand in that unforgettable video. Top inquisitor, Mishal Husain, may have left BBC Radio 4’s Today programme but there’s an obvious successor waiting in the wings.

And finally for this year’s Award Ceremony, as it’s Christmas, the judges entered into the festive spirit by taking a tour of London’s rail termini to seek out which has the best Christmas tree display. Liverpool Street may have retained the title of Britain’s Busiest Railway Station in the 2023/24 statistics recently announced by the Office of Rail and Road but does it have the most attractive Christmas Tree? Here’s the judges verdict……

First up in the “we haven’t bothered this year” (or “there’s no budget”) are, rather surprisingly …. London Bridge ….UPDATE – someone in the comments kindly reported there was a Christmas tree – it was by the Tooley Street entrance/exit so many apologies to Team LBG for suggesting you hadn’t bothered. I just didn’t see it!

… and Cannon Street….

…. and Charing Cross….

… although a shout out to Team Charing Cross Underground Station who show what can be done in a quiet corner by the gateline (complete with festive protective barrier)…

… and never to miss an opportunity to make money out of the festive season, St Pancras has got the film Wicked to sponsor its tree like structure….

… complete with viewing windows around the base…

…while over at Victoria a more modest sponsorship deal has allowed an app specialising in “sharing and finding items locally” to land the prime spot by the newly revamped M&S Simply Food and Boots.

After those failures, we come to the Top Seven Festive London Termini Christmas Displays 2024. In seventh place is Fenchurch Street where the judges were impressed with the ingenuity of the team to put on a display despite tight budget constraints (and with minimal Health & Safety protective barriers too) …

…while in sixth place, despite all those hundreds of thousands of passengers passing through, the display is positively measly at Liverpool Street.

In fifth please the judges voted for Euston, noting despite all the issues with overcrowding the team managed to find some space on the mezzanine level for a rather nice display with seating close by for those wanting to show extra appreciation.

In fourth place, a shout out to Team Marylebone especially for its rather nice white picket fence surround…

…. and not to be outdone the adjacent Bicester Village welcome kiosk splashed out too.

In third place we have this rather fine display on the Waterloo concourse…

…which brings us to second and first place for which the judges really struggled over which should take the ultimate accolade. In the event they opted to make it a joint first prize with Kings Cross providing a lovely impressive sparkly display…

… while Paddington has gone for even larger coloured baubles…

… and also impressed the judges by laying on the Salvation Army band to enhance the festive atmosphere with renditions of carols and Christmas music for passengers waiting to travel westwards.

But not to be outdone when the judges returned to Kings Cross the local Methodist Church junior choir had appeared singing carols to enhance the festive spirits of those heading north…

… while on another day a choir from the kidasha charity were in full Wizard mode. Well done to both Kings Cross and Paddington.

And that brings this year’s BusAndTrainUser Awards ceremony to a close, so what better way to play out than with some Christmas music from the Salvation Army Brass Band….

… a carol from the church choir….

… and a song from the Roy Wood Appreciation Choir.

A very Merry Christmas to all blog readers.

Roger French

Blogging is now taking a short festive break but will return in the New Year. In the meantime don’t miss the 100 Bus And Train Events (in just 10 minutes) vlog uploading to YouTube on Boxing Day.