TRENT BUSES 2

Trent Barton has become the UK's first to feature free onboard wireless internet. The company's Red Arrow service, which runs between Derby, Nottingham and Chesterfield, has undergone a £70,000 refurbishment, upgrading eight buses with full wi-fi, leather seats and two four-seater work tables. Adrian Cadd, manager for Trent Barton, said, "We are the first service to feature a wireless service and we fully expect other companies across the country to follow our lead. We are proud to be launching the buses here in Derby.

Along with the wireless service, the seats and the tables, we've also got air conditioning, meaning people can surf or work on their journey in a comfortable and luxurious environment." Mr Cadd said that expansion of the ideas could spread to other Trent Barton routes and the cost of the refit had been absorbed by the company and would not result in any fare rises. He added, "If the refurbishment is as successful as we hope, we will definitely consider the other services. Last year, we had around 900,000 people travel on Trent Barton buses. We're hoping we'll break the million mark this year." (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, Sep/08)

Following the closure of the bus station, Trent is to hand out free umbrellas to people waiting at city bus stops when it rains. The company ordered 250 brollies because they were concerned that customers could be put off catching buses in the winter months.

Trent Barton spokesman Melvyn Hopwood said, "We hope people will use them while they're waiting for their bus and then leave them on board for someone else to use, but we know it's not an exact science and that won't always happen. We don't want people to travel by bus any less because the weather has turned bad and we think the umbrellas will really help."

One passenger said, "I think it's a very good idea. The new bus shelters aren't big enough to keep the people queuing dry. What they should have done is installed bigger, longer bus shelters that stretch right up the road instead of these little ones." A Derby City Council spokeswoman said there were no plans to install more bus shelters. (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph)

Electronic bus information boards that tell passengers when the next bus is expected to come along have been introduced in Allestree. The facility, called Star Trak, uses global positioning technology to enable 16 bus stops on Trent Barton's Allestree bus routes to display how many minutes people can expect to wait until the next bus arrives.

The information also feeds through to a visual display and electronic voice inside the bus informing passengers of the next stop. The scheme, a partnership between Trent Barton and Derby City Council that was introduced a month ago, was made possible by a £260,000 Government grant and £100,000 of city council money.

Chris Niblock, public transport co-ordinator at the city council, said, "It's been installed in various stages since November and it's been running under a test mode for about a month now. It provides information at bus stops of the precise arrival time of each vehicle using global positioning."

Each bus stop between the Jonty Farmer pub, in Kedleston Road, and Park Farm shopping centre, in Allestree, features a pole with an information board displaying the time until the next Allestree Red or Allestree Blue service is expected. Mr Niblock said, "This allows passengers at the stop to know exactly when the next bus is coming and the vehicle also knows where it is, so there's a display on board which says what the next stop is."

"For visually-impaired people there is also a voice that announces the stop. We're very pleased with it and it's proved extremely reliable. I've travelled on the service a couple of times and listening to people on the bus they seem to be pretty pleased." The city council is now introducing a system which allows passengers to find out via text messages when the next bus is due to arrive at their stop.

The text-message scheme has already been introduced by Trent Barton on its Rainbow Five service between Derby, Long Eaton and Nottingham. The city council is in the process of installing displays in Nottingham Road which say how many minutes away the bus is. It is also in talks with Arriva about the possibility of extending the scheme further. Can you imagine Arriva trying to get their heads round this one? About as much chance as knitting fog!

Well, Arriva is now attempting to knit fog. The company has announced that Star Trak is available on Chaddesden and Oakwood bus routes 22, 24 and 26. To use the service all you need to do is type the 8 letter text message code (displayed on the bus stop) into your phone and send to: 84268. You will then get up-to-the-minute information on your mobile. For more information visit: Star Trak or call 08701 20 10 88. And the best of luck!

<<< Prev