Contents

NEWS
Kick-Start chopped in first spending cuts; Citylink Gold challenges rail; Optare deal imminent; McGill’s judgment
answers ‘innuendo’; tourist services; poster auction

BUS PEOPLE
Major management changes at First UK Bus; new Centro chairman; honours for Stagecoach and Go-Ahead chief execs

INSIDE TRACK
You couldn’t make it up

GLOBAL NEWS
Arriva offers cheapest deal for Malta; DB says Arriva takeover fends off French; Romanians buy troubled Swiss trolleybuses; farewell for TEC Van Hools

IN LONDON
Macquarie exit highlights tougher times for operators; tender results prompt cascades and engine upgrades;
Epsom Group opens new depot

MILLAR’S TALES
Konectbus makes a fuss of its National treasure; the Neighbours bus stop; Israeli Lion on postcard; Northern
Coach Builders memory kept alive

STREETLITE
Latest bus from Ballymena completes transformation to complete vehicle manufacturer

MID-LIFE REFRESHMENT
Why operators refurbish their buses at regular intervals

SERVICE EXTRA
When drivers use discretion

METRO: 30 YEARS OF INTEGRATION
Eric Hutchinson reflects on a Tyneside transport landmark

D&G: A TALE OF MIDLAND EXPANSION
How one company has gone from four to 120 buses in 12 years

LYNX DOWN UNDER           
Few Leyland Lynx were exported and most went to Australia

BRIGHTON & HOVE’S BIRTHDAY BASH  
Scenes from the seafront rally held in bright June sunshine