Bus and travel firm National Express yesterday hailed the impact of a Dundee-based pilot scheme as it seeks to introduce pre-paid smartcard technology on its local bus services.
The group used a trading update to reveal the “successful” launch of its commercial smartcard in the city, and hailed a like-for-like rise in revenues despite the disruption caused by wintry weather.
National Express which also runs local buses in the West Midlands, UK coaches and rail contracts in East Anglia and Germany said trading across its portfolio was “in line with management expectations”, with commercial revenue rising 3% in the year to date.
Weather was the biggest blow to bus revenues as fewer mobile customers stayed at home during the extended cold snap, while the loss of Government support through the Bus Service Operators’ Grant also hurt performance.
“Poor weather has impacted overall passenger volume, especially in concessionary travel, and profit has also been constrained by last year’s reduction in the BSOG duty rebate,” the company said.
“Nevertheless, April has seen encouraging signs of growth, coupled with an increase in concession revenue.
“With the BSOG cut now lapping prior year, fleet investment continuing to exceed depreciation and the roll-out of network enhancements within the West Midlands, the outlook for UK Bus remains encouraging.”
Managing director of National Express Dundee Phil Smith said his firm was not immune from the poor trading conditions hitting the high street.
“We didn’t have as bad a winter as some of our colleagues down in England. The prolonged cold spell did impact on concessionary travel, but that is starting to come back,” he said.
“Given how things are, I’m satisfied that, while it’s not fantastic, our trading has held its own.”
The Tayside bus operator has also been the testing ground for the wider group’s new smartcard technology.
Students at Dundee College have had their national entitlement cards used as fare-paying smartcards, in the same way as passengers use pre-paid Oyster cards for travel in London, during a “very successful” trial period.
The scheme is expected to be extended to all passengers later this year, with incentives to encourage adults to take on the cards.
Mr Smith said the plan was one of a string of “interesting things” to be expected of the bus company’s portfolio over the year. The firm is poised to launch new hybrid buses on Dundee routes in the coming days.
“We have the best part of 100 participants in the pilot project with Dundee College,” Mr Smith said.
“It has been very popular and there has been a lot of interest expressed by students.
“The plan is to make it available to everyone at the college in time for next year, and during the course of this year you will see it rolled out to our commercial adult packages.”