Transport UK London Bus is a subsidiary of the Transport UK Group, a UK-owned, industry-leading transport company that operates some of the largest and most important railway networks in the country, as well as over 10% of the London bus network on behalf of Transport for London (TfL).
“We proudly serve communities across the capital with a red bus fleet of over 850 vehicles operating some 32 million miles per annum from six depots in Central, South and West London, with a team of around 2,800 staff,” says Jon Eardley, Managing Director Transport UK London Bus, previously known as Abellio London.
He explains that being UK-owned means that the Transport UK Group has the ability to respond to market trends in a much more agile way and to develop meaningful relationships with its clients and customers, to be a reliable partner for them in delivering safe and sustainable transport solutions.
Transport UK London Bus is currently transitioning from its previous name of Abellio London. That process will be completed by the end of the year.
Solid foundations
Although Transport UK Group only took over the company’s operations in February 2023 when it purchased the British assets of Abellio, a Dutch public transport company, via a management buyout, Jon Eardley affirms that the company leverages decades of experience in transport which is now being reflected in steep business growth.
Jon Eardley himself has worked in the bus industry for 27 years. Starting as a school-leaver apprentice mechanic in his hometown of Stoke-on-Trent, he has worked for a variety of transport companies and groups across the UK in various frontline, management, and executive positions, leading to his current role of Managing Director of Transport UK London Bus.
“I’ve been fortunate that good people have taken a chance on me in the companies I’ve worked for, and have invested in me, including a mature student graduate programme, for which I’m extremely grateful. Transport UK Group has the same approach to its workforce – it recognises talent from across its vast portfolio of businesses and invests in them so they too can personally achieve a better, brighter future for themselves.”
He reflects that Transport UK London Bus is proud of the diversity of its human resources. “Our teams fully represent the rich diversity of the communities they serve, with over 60% of our people being non-white and proudly representing countries and cultures from across the globe. We have also seen growth in our gender diversity, making our workplace more attractive for women in what has traditionally been a male-dominated industry.”
Adopter of new technologies
Transport UK sees itself as a valued partner of TfL. “Our London Bus division is a purely franchise bus operation for TfL, allowing us to fully align to the long-term strategy of the Mayor of London, to make the capital’s transport networks the ‘strong green heartbeat for London’,” Eardley points out.
“This has created a true partnership with TfL and has led to the introduction of significant benefits for Londoners with high customer-specification electric buses being introduced route by route onto our networks and the construction of two brand-new state-of-the-art bus depots in West London to increase our operational capacity to meet the demands of the capital as its population grows.”
Transport UK has been the one of the early adopters of some of the new technologies that TfL is looking to deploy. The company is proud of the introduction of its new high customer-specification buses in partnership with TfL on route 63, a catalyst for a step change in the improved customer specification of buses across London, which will be replicated and developed further across the entire TfL fleet of some 9,000 buses over the coming decade. This should help to make the bus the preferred modal choice.
Sustainable transport
Eardley affirms that sustainability is at the heart of what the company does. “We aim to be net carbon-neutral by 2038 and our London Bus business is fully aligned to the Mayor of London and TfL’s vision of a zero-emission transport network in the capital by 2034 or sooner.”
The company’s London bus fleet is one of the greenest bus fleets in the UK, with over 30% of the fleet set to be fully zero-emission during 2024, over 80% either EV or hybrid and the remaining diesel fleet being to the highest emissions standard (Euro VI).
“The majority of our fleet is manufactured in the UK and the company remains committed to a sustainable supply chain for our fleet from our tyres right up to our roof panels. Our new depots are also built in a sustainable way, are EV ready and in some cases are fitted with solar PV capabilities. We reclaim the water from our bus washes and recycle thousands of tonnes of litter and waste from our bus operations.”
He further says that the company already operates over 4 million zero-emission miles per annum, and this is set to double over the next two years as its remaining depots energise and investment continues into more zero-emission buses. “Along with our supply partners we are also continuing to investigate other zero emission options, including hydrogen powered vehicles, which will be vital to unlocking some zero-emission bus and coach operations across the UK.”
Region ready
Transport UK’s London bus business has seen significant market growth in recent years and remains the fastest growing operator in the capital. This growth has allowed further significant investment in the company’s networks, including the ongoing introduction of over 250 electric buses in London.
This will mean that by Q2 2024 over 30% of the company’s London bus fleet will be fully zero-emission and, when combined with its existing large hybrid fleet, that over 80% of its fleet will either be hybrid or fully zero-emission.
Reflecting on future development, Eardley notes that new opportunities are emerging, as other cities and combined authorities, begin to make major changes to their public transport networks. “As an established and award-winning franchise bus operator we believe that we can bring our experience and high-quality services to other cities and regions across the UK.”
“Our London Bus business will continue to grow, but we also expect to be actively bidding for franchise bus contracts for those cities and combined authorities that have moved to bus franchising and hope to be successful in bringing our ‘Region Ready’ model of safe, reliable and sustainable bus operations to new clients and partners,” he concludes.
