Bus makers and operators must work together, says minister at bus industry event

Tuesday 22 February 2011

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport, Norman Baker MP, told delegates at the Bus and Coach Engineering Conference that he wanted to “encourage even closer co-operation between manufacturers and operators” in order to help the passenger carrying vehicle sector meet its onerous targets and deadlines for compliance.

Speaking at the conference – organised by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), Institute of Road Transport Engineers (IRTE), a professional sector of the SOE (Society of Operations Engineers), and Passengerfta, on 16 February in London – Mr Baker alluded to the challenge faced by operators to meet legislative deadlines and the need for manufacturers to help meet them.

Lawrie Alford, Strategic Business Manager for Passengerfta, said:

“The pressure is on the passenger industry to meet deadlines, whether they are in meeting Euro 6 emissions targets or in providing ‘fully accessible’ vehicles. It is encouraging that this pressure has been acknowledged by government and Passengerfta would certainly concur with the minister that our ‘ingenious’ manufacturers will need to work with our hard working operators to ensure that deadlines are met and not at the expense of the industry. The need for manufacturers to 'think maintenance' when producing new vehicles is clearly a huge concern for operators.

“What also came through very strongly at the conference was how imperative technician licensing is for the industry and how the market leaders are doing a fine job of leading by example.”

Nick Jones, CEO for SOE, was also at the event. He said:

“Within the evolving PCV sector, it is important that bus manufacturers, operators and the entire industry work together in order to meet and exceed public and government expectations.”

The conference looked at the maintenance of vehicles, the design of lighter vehicles and included a presentation about the design of the new bus for London from Wright Bus.
 

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