The Go-Ahead Group

From across the Go-Ahead Group, we would like to share our festive best wishes to all our customers, communities, and stakeholders.   We are grateful to our teams across the world who will continue to connect communities over the festive period, whether it’s by bus, coach or rail, they will help our customers visit their families or to travel to their place of work.   We look forward to 2025 as we continue grow our business, including bus services for Tranche 3 of Greater Manchester’s Bee Network, the start of our operations on the Elizabeth line in partnership with Transport for London and our 11-year contract to operate the Stockholm metro. GTR (Govia Thameslink Railway) | Go South West | Go South Coast Ltd | Brighton & Hove Buses and Metrobus | Go Ahead London | Go East Anglia | Oxford Bus Company | East Yorkshire Buses | Go North East | Go North West | Go-Ahead Ireland | Go-Ahead Singapore | Go-Ahead Sweden | Go-Ahead Nordic | U-Go Mobility

We're pleased to announce the appointment of Isobel Hedley-Jones as the Head of Fastrack Operations, responsible for leading the delivery of the Fastrack contract which Go-Ahead started to operate last month. Isobel first joined Go-Ahead in 2021 as a graduate and has since worked in operations and business development. Her diverse experience means she is well placed to take on this important role overseeing Fastrack, a 15-year contract, in partnership with Kent County Council. Commenting on her appointment to the role, Isobel said: “I’m proud to be taking on this role for Go-Ahead and to continue to build on our positive relationship with Kent County Council, our client for the Fastrack contract. I’m looking forward to leading our brilliant team to ensure we deliver the highest standard of service possible for the communities we serve across Kent”. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/d2pEcwSF

At Go-Ahead, one of our values is "Care for our community" and recently the Morebus team, part of Go South Coast Ltd, gifted festive assistance to a local charity through its community fund.    Morebus gave financial support to The Brendoncare Foundation, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. The charity provides in person and online community clubs, digital and telephone support for older people living in the Dorset area.     Our local bus services provide our customers with vital transport, so people can go about their daily lives. We are also proud of the positive impact we have on the communities through our involvement in many great community initiatives. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/eBaG3tgJ

We were pleased to welcome Minister for Local Transport, Simon Lightwood to Brighton & Hove Buses and Metrobus and GTR (Govia Thameslink Railway) this afternoon.   Together we marked the International Day of Disabled People reflecting on the success of the many accessibility initiatives delivered in the city by our operator Brighton & Hove Buses and Metrobus that have benefited the customers and communities that we serve.   We are proud that Brighton & Hove Buses are the leading operator for journeys per head outside of London and our award-winning work in accessibility in the city is seen as the gold standard for the industry. The Minister also met with Carl Martin, Accessibility Lead GTR (Govia Thameslink Railway) to learn more about the roll out of the Aira App which guides blind and partially sighted customers around rail stations.   We look forward to continuing our partnership with Brighton & Hove City Council and charity partners, as well as the Department for Transport (DfT), United Kingdom to ensure we continue to operate an accessible and safe public transport network for all. Picture left to right (Councillor Leslie Pumm, Victoria Garcia MBE, Minister Simon Lightwood MP, Dave Smith, Ed Wills, Martin Dean and Councillor Trevor Muten FGS CGeol CSci CEnv MCIWEM C.Wem EurGeol)

To mark the first year of our operations of Greater Manchester’s Bee Network, we hosted a reception in Manchester last week with Go North West and our shareholders, Kinetic and GLOBALVIA, alongside Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), suppliers and stakeholders.   We are proud of what our team at Go North West have achieved over the last 12 months, completing the largest overnight mobilisation of bus services seen in the UK and subsequently launching various network improvements on behalf of TfGM, such as deploying 50 zero-emission buses and launching night buses to provide 24-hour connectivity to communities in the city-region.   It was great to see some of our Go North West apprentices at the event, representing the more than 150 drivers that have graduated from our Elite Driver Training academy since we launched our Bee Network operations.   We look forward to mobilising our operations for Tranche 3 of the Bee Network in January 2025 and continuing to connect communities in Greater Manchester.

We are excited to announce that we have expanded our operations in the West of England with the acquisition of Swanbrook Transport. Our coach operations are now one of the largest in the UK, with over 400 coaches from the South West to the North East. Commenting on the acquisition, Matthew Carney, CEO of Go-Ahead Bus said "We’re delighted to welcome Swanbrook to the Go-Ahead Group, and to grow our presence in the UK coach market. As a company, we’re committed to connecting communities, so providing coach services across the country for schools, groups, small business and local authority partners is important to us. This is an exciting expansion of our coach operation to provide for more customers in the West of England.” Read more here: https://lnkd.in/eKVwjJS5

In partnership with Transport for London, the capital's leading bus operator Go Ahead London launched its fleet of 'tram-like' zero-emission buses today in Crystal Palace. The fleet will be powered by pantograph technology, enabling fast, high-power charging at either end of the route where they operate, contributing to more reliable and punctual journeys for our customers. This latest investment demonstrates our commitment to transitioning to zero-emission operations across the capital and in regions across the UK, improving the environment for all communities that we serve. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/eYuJqBXr

We're proud to announce that we have won the contract to operate the prestigious Elizabeth Line, in a consortium with Toyko Metro and the Sumitomo Corporation. In collaboration with our partners Tokyo Metro and Sumitomo Corporation, we will operate the contract from May 2025, which will run for 7 years. Commenting on the successful contract win, Miguel Ángel Parras, Group CEO of the Go-Ahead Group said: "We’re proud to have been chosen to be Transport for London's partner, together with Sumitomo Corporation and Tokyo Metro, for the operation of the iconic Elizabeth line. We look forward to bringing our collective expertise across UK and international rail operations to London. Our objectives are aligned with TfL - to connect communities across London through safe, reliable, and sustainable public transport services, delivered to the highest level of customer satisfaction.” Photo credit: Transport for London Read more here: https://lnkd.in/e-EAu_KK

We are excited to share that Victoria Garcia MBE won the Special Award at the routeone Magazine awards this week. The Special Award is a unique accolade determined solely by the judges and awarded to an individual who has made an exceptional contribution to the industry, deserving of special recognition. Victoria's exemplary leadership in accessibility has been the catalyst for positive change at Brighton & Hove Buses and Metrobus, but also across The Go-Ahead Group - we are proud that is she part of our team, leading the way in making a tangible difference for the customers and communities we serve. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/ewhSFRt8

We're pleased to share that we have successfully mobilised our Fastrack contract in partnership with Kent County Council. The Fastrack network provides customers with a frequent 'turn up and go' service, connecting people to jobs, education, healthcare and shopping in an area of rapid economic growth, with more than 2.5 million journeys annually. By Spring 2025, the network will benefit from 28 zero-emission 'tram-like' buses, with on-street charging infrastructure to provide power to the buses. We are committed to decarbonisation and looking forward to continuing our journey on the road to net-zero in partnership with Kent County Council. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/e-pqWPdG