Cover picture:Reading Transport 843 (YN57 FXC), one of the latest delivery of East Lancs Olympus-bodied Scania N230UDs, photographed at Pierce's Hill in blue livery for routes 15/16. MARK LYONS

Contents

NEWS
Stagecoach buys Cavalier and Rennies; Darwen chairman buys Optare; upgraded links for Heathrow T5; top designer calls for new approach

BUS PEOPLE
Warrington MD joins Arriva; changes at Newbury Buses and Woottens; franchise champion to head SYPTE; death of Britbus's Don Craggs

INSIDE TRACK
Has the time come for Britain to go all-out and invest in trolleybuses?

GLOBAL NEWS
First and Stagecoach do battle in New York; Veolia sells Spanish buses to UK investors; end of the line for Germany's duobuses

IN LONDON
The mayoral contest catches a few buses; Blue Triangle wins hybrid contract; East London Line routes are changed to suit demand

BUS STOP THOUGHTS FROM A LONDON VOTER
Graham Donaldson highlights areas where the next mayor needs to act

MILLAR'S TALES
Remembering the 1958 London bus strike, Midland Travel and Sgt Wilson

COLOURFUL BRANDS THAT AIM TO MAKE A LEGEND
Reading Transport aims for growth in a stable political environment

FALTERING START FOR NEW TROLLEYBUS LINE
Stewart J. Brown samples a showpiece project in Venezuela

RIDING THE BUS ROADS OF BRITAIN
Nick Harding's thoughts on bus rides from to Caithness and Cornwall

PICTUREVIEW
Optare exports: Some British-built buses at work in far-off lands

PUBLICITY MATTERS
Is the bus a holiday alternative to the car on Anglesey?