The best of the Nation's transport industry were honoured last night at the 19th Annual National Transport Awards at the Westminster Park Plaza in London. Hosted by stand-up comedian, host, and comedy writer Jo Caulfield, the awards attracted over 600 senior transport professionals including Minister of State for Transport Chris Heaton-Harris MP who gave the keynote address.
West Midlands Combined Authority's Transport for West Midlands scooped the top award for City-Region Transport Authority of the year, sponsored by National Express. Transport for West Midlands is striving to deliver a world-class integrated transport system which is clean, safe and affordable. They have created the region's first resilience forum to identify problems and solutions with a common goal of keeping the network moving. A major transport and events board has been established for planning. West Midlands is also the UK's first Future Mobility Zone and the first multi-city 5G test bed.
The Bus operator of the Year category was awarded to Plymouth Citybus who has a year of innovation and growth in 2018. Heavy investment in upgrading the depot, new buses, a new open top service and smarter technology has led to a growth in passenger satisfaction. The Transport Focus 2018 Bus Passenger Survey showed that 93% of Plymouth Citybus passengers are satisfied with their journey.
This year's Rail Operator is MTR Corporation Ltd who operate the TfL Rail line. The category is supported by Transport Focus who used their National Rail Passenger Survey (NRPS) results to determine the shortlist, before the judges jointly decided on the winner. With an eastern branch running from Liverpool Street to Shenfield and a Western branch from Paddington to Heathrow, passenger satisfaction on this line continues to grow. The Public Performance Measure (PPM) on the Liverpool Street route has increased from 91% to 95% since MTR Corporation took over. For the Paddington route it has increased by 11% to 95%.
Celebrating 20 years of operation this year Thames Clippers took away the award for Ferry Operator of the year. It is the biggest commercial passenger fleet operating solely in English waters. Now with a fleet of 19 boats, passenger numbers rose to 4.2 million in 2018 (up 1.3% year-on-year), servicing commuters, domestic and international visitors and running every 20 minutes between key London piers.
As usual the frontline employee award (sponsored by Go-Ahead) proved to be an emotional one on the night. Anthony Kelly, a customer engagement officer at Transport for Greater Manchester went away with the top honour. Anthony has demonstrated regularly goes above and beyond to ensure that customers receive the best possible solution for their needs but one occasion stands out more than most. Three-year-old tram fanatic, Jaydyn Dunning, suffers from the terminal illness, Spinal Muscular Atrophy type one. Anthony rallied together internal and external colleagues to lead on planning an outing for three-year-old tram fanatic Jaydyn. Unfortunately, due to Jaydyn's ill health the outing was cancelled at short notice. Anthony remained focused and determined to make Jaydyn's Christmas hand-delivered a special goody bag to him on Christmas Eve.
There were 3 judges nominated awards on the night. Firstly Transport Journalist of the Year went to Robert Jack. Robert is Managing Editor and Publisher of Passenger Transport. He has worked as a journalist, editor and publisher in the passenger transport sector for two decades. He has shown an in depth understanding of the public transport sector with a particularly insight into policy development. Robert emphasises the key factors which drive public transport use and the importance of car restraint and planning. Few have as good a grasp on technology and how it impacts on public transport.
Former National Transport Awards judge Graham Pendlebury went away with the 'Lifetime Contribution to Transport' award. The day of the awards ceremony (31st October) officially marked Graham's final day in civil service after 35 years. Since joining the civil service in 1984 Graham had several different roles and has been a popular figure in the transport sector. Until May 2019 Graham led the Local Transport Directorate at the Department for Transport and most recently was the UK First Delegate to the World Roads Association (WRA), a position he held since October 2017.
Finally, the 'Campaign of the Year' honour was awarded to The Times Clean Air for All Campaign. Launched in May this year to highlight how in many parts of Britain the air is dangerously dirty, The Times 'Clean Air for All' Campaign propels a bold manifesto containing five specific measures that would save thousands of lives every year. Just this month Prime Minister Boris Johnson has backed the campaign declaring that "The Times has powerfully demanded a successor to the 1956 Clean Act", announcing that "this Conservative government will be the one to deliver it".
Minister of State for Transport Chris Heaton-Harris MP who gave the keynote address said:
The National Transport Awards are now well established as the 'Oscars' of the transport industry. They are the only awards that recognise innovation and excellence right across the sector – from airports and cycling champions to bus, train and ferry operators. So I'm delighted to be able to support this year's event by giving the pre-dinner address
The full list of award winners and those who were highly commended is as follows:
City-Region Authority of the Year
Winner: West Midlands Combined Authority - Transport for West Midlands
Improvements to Bus Services
Winner: LCRCA - Liverpool City Region Bus Alliance: Bucking the trend: delivering growth in partnership
Excellence in Cycling and Walking
Winner: Aberdeenshire Council - Integrated Travel Town Masterplan Project Approach
Highly Commend: Brighton & Hove City Council - BTN Bikeshare
Bus Operator of the Year
Winner: Plymouth Citybus
Ferry Operator of the Year
Winner: Thames Clippers
Road Safety, Traffic Management & Enforcement
Joint Winner: Hackney Council - Hackney School Streets
Joint Winner: Scotland TranServ Strategic Road Safety Team - Saving Lives through Innovation
Airport of the Year
Winner: Heathrow Airport Limited - Heathrow Terminal 5
Transport Supplier of the Year
Winner: CheckedSafe
Highly Commend: JustPark
Construction and Engineering Project of the Year
Winner: Highways England - M1 Junction 19 improvement scheme
Highly Commend: Transport for Greater Manchester - Bolton Interchange
Contribution to Sustainable Transport
Winner: Transport for London - Low Emission Bus Zone
Highly Commend: Nottingham City Council - Transition To An Electric Fleet
Most Innovative Transport Project
Winner: Stagecoach Group and Blink - The First Employee Experience App in UK Transport
Highly Commend: Portsmouth City Council - On Road Charging Scheme (ORCS)
Excellence in Technology
Winner: Jacobs, Scotland TranServ, Transport Scotland & Sibbald – Virtual Reality Roadworker
Transport Team/Partnership of the Year
Winner: Network Rail, Southeastern and GTR - One Team Approach
Travel Information & Marketing
Winner: Network Rail - The Brighton Main Line Improvement Integrated Communications & Marketing Campaign
Apprentice Champion of the Year
Winner: Bombardier UK Apprentice Programme
Frontline Employee of the Year
Winner: Anthony Kelly, Customer Engagement Officer, Transport for Greater Manchester
Highly Commend:
Lynne Cornelius, Crew Member, Caledonian MacBrayne
Paul, Cunningham, Driver, First Scotland East
Tracey Evans, Driver, National Express West Midlands
Ian Graham, Driver, First Scotland East
Charles Keynton, Transport Accessibility Officer, Brighton & Hove City Council,
Helen Mann, Caledonian MacBrayne
Darren McLaren, Operative, Scotland TranServ
Rail Operator
Winner: TfL Rail
Journalist of the Year
Winner: Robert Jack, Managing Editor and Publisher, Passenger Transport
Lifetime Contribution to Transport
Winner: Graham Pendlebury
Campaign of the Year
Winner: The Times Clean Air for All Campaign
Notes to editors:
National Transport Awards 2019 Judging Panel
• Professor David Begg, Chair of the Judging Panel and Chief Executive of Transport Times
• Louise Ellman MP, MP for Liverpool Riverside
• Stephen Fidler, Director of Local Transport Policy, Department for Transport
• Lilian Greenwood MP, Chair, Transport Select Committee
• Claire Haigh, Chief Executive, Greener Journeys
• Anthony Smith, Chief Executive, Transport Focus
For further information contact: Kirsty Walton
Tel: 0207 828 3804 Email: [email protected]
Photographs from the evening can be purchased at www.simply-photography.co.uk
