Contents

NEWS
Pressure builds to protect BSOG; Optare ties up with Ashok Leyland; Stagecoach
orders exclude MAN; Alexander Dennis announces Europe ambition; NatEx launches
latest Levante; Volvo may import complete bus; end of West Midlands Metrobuses

BUS PEOPLE
More management changes at First, Stagecoach and Arriva; Warrington names its
new MD; reshuffles at Scania and MAN

INSIDE TRACK
Steer clear of politicians’ whims

GLOBAL NEWS
Arriva named preferred bidder for Malta; French to invest billions in public transport

IN LONDON
West Ham depot opens; more tendered service awards; routes named for next hybrids

MILLAR’S TALES
The Ikarus DAF bus 20 years on; buses on Maltese towels
BEYOND THE BUS
How bus stops and stations are being improved

TITAN — LEYLAND’S LAST LONDONER
A look at these bespoke buses’ successful ‘provincial’ afterlife

BRT IN ISTANBUL
Rapid transit buses shift crowds on segregated routes
FLEET NEWS ENGLAND & WALES
Compiled by John G. Lidstone

REGISTRATION NOTES
Latest observations from Northern Ireland

FLEET NEWS SCOTLAND
Compiled by Sandy Macdonald

FLEET NEWS IRELAND
Compiled by G. Irvine Millar and Ian Molloy

SPEEDING FROM COVENTRY
The second phases of Midland Red’s 1960s motorway coaches

REVIEWS
Bygone Glasgow and London horsebuses

PRESERVATION UPDATE
Scenes from recent rallies and running days