09 October 2007
Rt Hon Rosie Winterton MP, Minister of State for Transport, welcomed the publication of the Go-Ahead Group's 7th Environmental and Social Report. Keith Ludeman, Go-Ahead's Group Chief Executive, launched the report at a fringe meeting at the Labour Party Conference in Bournemouth.
Ms Winterton said: "It is essential that public transport operators conduct their business in an ethical and accountable manner. I welcome Go-Ahead's continuing commitment to corporate responsibility and audited public reporting, which is made clear in their latest Environmental and Social Report."
Keith Ludeman said: "Go-Ahead has always put corporate and environmental responsibility at the heart of its business and I am delighted to be launching Go-Ahead's 7th Corporate Social Responsibility report. We are proud of our record as an environmental leader in our industry and are committed to continuing to set the pace. Once again, I believe our 2007 report continues to set a new benchmark for our sector."
A series of more detailed reports has also been published for each of Go-Ahead's individual operating companies and, at the end of November, a fully interactive web site will be available to the public.
Go-Ahead's Environmental and Social Report can be viewed and downloaded from the group's web site: www.go-ahead.com.
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For more information, please contact:
The Go-Ahead Group
Stephen Weldon
Group Commercial Manager :0191 2323123
stephen.weldon@go-ahead.com
Note to Editors:
Go-Ahead was the winner of the Contribution to Sustainable Transport category in the 2007 National Transport Awards.
Some of the main highlights within this year's summary report include:
- 81% of the bus fleet is made up of low floor vehicles
- 81% of the bus fleet is fitted with CCTV
- increasing the bus fleet fitted with Euro II engines or above to almost 88%
- operating 5 of the top 10 most environmentally friendly bus fleets in the UK*
- fall in 'per passenger journey' emissions across all bus pollutants
- introduction of the UK's first Euro V buses (not required until 2009)
- 68% of rail carriages fitted with CCTV
- vehicle kilometres travelled increased by 12% to 302 million kilometres.
(*for Carbon Monoxide, Hydrocarbons & Particulates - research supplied by the TAS Partnership)
PDFs of Group PLC and individual Operating Company report front covers are available upon request.
Bus
The group's bus division operates over 3,600 buses, providing over 540 million passenger journeys and covering around 240 million vehicle kilometres each year. Operations fall into four main geographical areas: deregulated services in north east; deregulated services in West Midlands; deregulated services in south east / southern England; and regulated services for Transport for London in the capital.
Rail
The group's rail division operates a fleet of over 620 trains on which over 280 million passenger journeys are undertaken. Concentrated in the south east of England both our franchises, Southern and Southeastern, operate a mix of suburban commuter and mainline routes throughout south London, Kent, Surrey and Sussex. The Southeastern franchise will include the operation of new high speed trains on the domestic Channel Tunnel Rail Link into St Pancras from 2009 while the Southern franchise will include the operations of the Gatwick Express rail services from May 2008. From November 2007 Go-Ahead will also operate the newly formed West Midlands rail franchise, to be named as London Midland.
Aviation Services
The group's aviation services division undertakes a wide range of support services for national and international airlines. Services provided include cargo handling, passenger check-in, baggage handling, information desks, executive lounges, ground handling and customs clearance. In the last year 45 million passengers were handled as well as over half a million aircraft movements. The division includes Meteor Parking which is one of the largest parking companies in the UK, managing around 65,000 parking spaces predominantly at BAA airports, with a range of customers, including BAA, local authorities, retail outlets, NHS trusts, hotels and rail stations. Well known brands include 'Pink Elephant', 'Park 1' and 'eparking'.