Find a transport partner

I'm looking for

in

News Category: Bus

Go-Ahead targets career switchers with commitment to hire 1,100 apprentices in 2022

02 February 2022

Go-Ahead targets career switchers with commitment to hire 1,100 apprentices in 2022

  • Bus and rail company seeks applicants from diverse backgrounds
  • Recent joiners include a former professional footballer and bank manager
  • Nearly 30% of Go-Ahead’s apprentices are over 50 years old

Go-Ahead has set a target to hire 1,100 bus and rail apprentices in 2022. It is encouraging applicants from all ages and career backgrounds.

The announcement comes in advance of National Apprenticeship Week (7-13 February), a government-led initiative that highlights the positive impact of apprenticeships across the UK.

The group is the biggest provider of apprentice training in the transport industry, hiring 50 apprentice bus drivers per week in London alone in 2021. Last year, Go-Ahead hired 1,030 apprentices in total.

In addition to school leavers, the group takes on apprentices of all ages, including many career switchers who are seeking a new start in transport.

Applicants from diverse backgrounds have surged during the pandemic as economic conditions have changed, and many people have reassessed their lifestyles.

After 15 years in financial management positions, Mitesh Patel started his train driving apprenticeship in 2020. He wanted a better work-life balance than an office environment, when he never felt he could switch off at the end of the day.

Meanwhile, bus driver apprentice Rachael Ayegba switched from professional football to bus driving in 2021. She is believed to be the first female London bus driver to have played in the World Cup.

This success comes during a time in which apprenticeship starts have been falling nationwide. A 2021 government report indicates that apprenticeship starts are at their lowest levels in ten years. There was a 20% drop in apprenticeship starts between 2018/2019 and 2020/2021.

Susanna Dillon, Head of Apprenticeships at Go-Ahead said: “At Go-Ahead, we’ve invested so much time and energy into our award-winning apprenticeship programme – and for good reason. Apprenticeships are vital for helping the communities we serve and for bringing fresh ideas and viewpoints into the transport sector.”

“We’re also seeing real benefits to the programme. We’ve found that since we launched our in-house apprenticeship scheme in London in 2018, we’ve seen a real increase in good service commendations from the public. The scheme has also helped to halve the amount of driving accidents on the road.”

Resignation rates are reaching record numbers in the UK in a time now dubbed ‘the Great Resignation’. A November 2021 report from Randstand indicates that almost a quarter of employees in the UK plan to move jobs within the next three to six months.

However, Go-Ahead’s apprenticeship programme reveals the success of the programme at recruiting retaining its apprenticeship talent. Go-Ahead London introduced its first in-house training programme in 2018. Since then, the number of people who have left within two years has fallen from 40% to 13%.

Top marks for Go-Ahead’s carbon cutting initiatives

20 January 2022

Top marks for Go-Ahead’s carbon cutting initiatives

The Go-Ahead Group has received an ‘A minus’ rating from CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project) for the second year in a row – the highest score of any UK public transport company.

CDP is an international, expert group that reviewed more than 13,000 companies worldwide for its 2021 rankings.

Go-Ahead has reduced CO2 emissions per vehicle mile by 25% in just under five years (2016/2017 baseline) across its UK, Ireland and Singapore bus operations. The Group is the largest electric bus operator in the UK, and it owns one of the largest electric bus garages in Europe – Northumberland Park, in London – which is set to be the site of innovative ‘Bus2Grid’ technology.

Go-Ahead was the pioneer of ‘geo-fenced’ technology in Brighton with buses that operate in zero emission mode in the city’s clean air zone, and ‘air filtering’ buses in Southampton.  It has also ordered 20 hydrogen-fuelled buses that will come into service in Summer 2022.

The company saw a 5% improvement in Govia Thameslink Railway’s (GTR’s) electric fleet efficiency in 2019/2020 and is committed to improving carbon efficiencies in its rail fleets in the UK, Germany and Norway.

“”
Go-Ahead’s Commercial and Customer Director Mark Anderson said: “Public transport is part of the solution for fighting climate change and poor air quality. We therefore need to ensure we’re doing everything we can to provide green, clean services for our passengers. Our A minus rating shows there’s still more we can, and plan to do, to fighting climate change, but we’re well on our way.”

Go-Ahead’s 2021 climate change initiatives included:

  • The launch of the group’s Climate Change Strategy, where it outlined its goal to be a net zero company by 2045. Its target to reduce emissions by 75% by 2035 was validated by the Science Based Targets Initiative in Summer 2021.
  • Solar panel trials on buses in Southampton and Singapore
  • ‘Rent a roof’ solar panel trials at Denmark Hill railway station and Oxford Bus Company’s Didcot depot
  • Creation of a climate change taskforce involving senior managers from across our companies,
  • A ‘Best Driver’ colleague competition at Go-Ahead London, where colleagues compete on a racetrack to see who can drive a bus the most efficiently
  • Local energy saving initiatives – Manchester’s Go North West depot cut its energy use by 76% by installing LED lighting.
  • Trial of recycling initiative at Brighton station with sustainability start up Green Block – aiming to increase recycling rates from 30% to 95%

Go-Ahead selects Air Products as partner for pioneering hydrogen bus fleet

05 January 2022

Go-Ahead selects Air Products as partner for pioneering hydrogen bus fleet

  • Air Products to supply liquid hydrogen to fuel Metrobus’ new hydrogen vehicles
  • Fleet of 20 buses to be deployed in the Crawley, Horley and Gatwick Airport area

The Go-Ahead Group has agreed a 15-year hydrogen supply deal with Air Products, a world leading industrial gas company, to power a fleet of fuel cell buses for deployment in the Gatwick Airport, Crawley and Horley area.

The single-decker GB Kite Hydroliner buses, manufactured by Wrightbus in Northern Ireland, will be delivered in June 2022. They will be the first hydrogen powered vehicles in Go-Ahead’s fleet of more than 6,000 buses.

It is the intention that the hydrogen to power the buses will meet, or exceed, UK government standards on sustainable fuel for public transport. Hydrogen will be stored at the Metrobus Crawley depot in liquid form, before being converted to gas held in tanks on the roof of vehicles.

The single-decker fuel cell buses are funded in part with money from UK Government and European Union zero-emission bus schemes, plus investment from Gatwick Airport. A further possible order of 34 buses could bring the fleet to 54 vehicles, which would be the largest local fleet of hydrogen buses deployed in Europe to date.

As well as having zero carbon emissions, hydrogen buses have long range capabilities and can be refuelled quickly in depots.

Go-Ahead is already the UK’s largest operator of zero-emission electric buses, with a fleet of nearly 300 nationwide, but this is the group’s first venture into hydrogen. Go-Ahead has set a target of transitioning to a zero-emission bus fleet across the UK by 2035.

Christian Schreyer, Group Chief Executive, The Go-Ahead Group, said: “This is our first hydrogen supply deal, and it represents a milestone in our plans to transition Go-Ahead’s entire fleet of buses to zero emission fuel.

“We’re delighted to be working with Air Products and with Wrightbus. This is an example of what can be achieved through a mixture of public and private funding, and of co-operation between different environmentally responsible partners.”

Manish Patel, Air Products UK Hydrogen for Mobility Director, said: “We’re pleased to be partnering with Go-Ahead and Metrobus on the largest hydrogen supply contract for buses in the UK to date. It’s a huge milestone in the UK’s hydrogen for mobility sector.

“At Air Products, we’ve been involved in more than 13 million hydrogen vehicle fills across the world and have extensive experience over the last 60 years in delivering reliable end-to-end hydrogen solutions, from production to distribution and fuelling stations. Our innovative and unique solutions will provide Metrobus the infrastructure to not only fuel their initial fleet but allow for rapid expansion without additional footprint or cost.”

Ed Wills, Managing Director, Brighton & Hove and Metrobus, said: “We went through a rigorous process before selecting Air Products as our supplier. We were impressed not only with their experience in this field but with the assurance that they would be ready to begin supplying us at volume from day one.”

About Go-Ahead

Go-Ahead is a leading public transport operator, connecting communities through bus and rail services. Our purpose is to be the local partner taking care of journeys that enhance the lives and wellbeing of our communities across the world.

We employ more than 27,000 people across our bus and rail businesses in the UK, Singapore, Ireland, Norway and Germany. In addition to the travelling public, our customers include governments and local authorities. We are committed to tackling climate change, poor air quality and social isolation.

Bus 

Go-Ahead is one of the UK’s largest bus operators. We run a fleet of more than 6,000 buses across England and run a quarter of London’s buses for Transport for London. Outside London, we serve high-density commuter markets in the North East, Greater Manchester, East Yorkshire, Oxfordshire, East Anglia, the South East and the South West of England. We also operate a bus contract in Singapore and two bus contracts in Ireland.

Rail 

We operate rail franchises in the UK, Germany and Norway. In the UK, we run the country’s largest passenger franchise, GTR (Southern, Gatwick Express, Great Northern and Thameslink). This is managed through our 65 per cent owned subsidiary Govia, which is 35 per cent owned by Keolis.  In Germany and Norway, our contracts are run exclusively by Go-Ahead.

About Air Products

Air Products is a world-leading industrial gases company in operation for 80 years. Focused on serving energy, environment and emerging markets, the Company provides essential industrial gases, related equipment and applications expertise to customers in dozens of industries, including refining, chemical, metals, electronics, manufacturing, and food and beverage. Air Products is also the global leader in the supply of liquefied natural gas process technology and equipment. The Company develops, engineers, builds, owns and operates some of the world’s largest industrial gas projects, including: gasification projects that sustainably convert abundant natural resources into syngas for the production of high-value power, fuels and chemicals; carbon capture projects; and world-scale carbon-free hydrogen projects supporting global transportation and the energy transition.