The best of Scotland’s transport industry were honoured on Thursday18th June at the 13th Annual Scottish Transport Awards, with 300 industry professionals in attendance. Hosted by radio and television presenter Grant Stott, the ceremony was held at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Glasgow. Now in their thirteenth year the Awards recognise excellence, innovation and progress across all areas of transport in Scotland.
The top award of the night, Local Transport Authority of the Year sponsored by Clear Channel, was presented to Glasgow City Council. Glasgow undertook a range of important transport initiatives in 2014, much of it in connection with the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Providing fast, frequent, and accessible transport for spectators, they kept the City moving during the Games and transported over 90% of athletes in 20 minutes or less. Alongside this the council have introduced a range of other initiatives including mass automated cycle hire.
Public Transport Operator of the Year was won by First Glasgow. In what was a hotly contested category First Glasgow impressed the judges by rising to the challenge of the Commonwealth Games. First Glasgow transported a quarter of a million spectators and as a result of their hard work Glasgow 2014 was branded the public transport games. In addition to this First Glasgow has invested £37m in the past three years to put 226 new buses into service and they have recently opened the company’s new £20m headquarters in the south side of the city which incorporates some of the latest advances in eco-friendly design.
The Rail Supplier of the Year category, which is endorsed by Network Rail, was won by BAM Nuttall for the third year running. BAM Nuttall’s commitment to collaborative working is outstanding. The Edinburgh-Glasgow Improvement Project was a recent collaboration which involved the electrification of the main line between Edinburgh and Glasgow; so far it has undertaken 49 possessions without overrun.
Two personal awards were given out on the night, the first for Lifetime Contribution to Transport, which was awarded to Ainslie McLaughlin. Ainslie was the Director of Major Projects in Transport Scotland from its beginning in 2006 until earlier this year. A career road engineer, he cut his teeth on the St James Interchange on the M8 in the 1990s, but more recently has overseen and assisted in a diverse portfolio of major transport projects including: the Clackmannanshire Bridge; the new Forth Crossing; the Borders Railway; and the Edinburgh Tram project.
The second award was for Special Contribution to Transport which was awarded to Iain Black. Iain has spent over 35 years working in a wide variety of roles in transport. He is known outside the industry for his role as the driver of the Pendolino train that derailed at Lambrigg in 2007. He sustained severe life threatening injuries in the accident, however after 18 months recovery he returned to work. In the subsequent years, Iain has given many talks to those working in incident support roles, helping them to understand the experience of those who have been through traumatic events. His colleagues describe him as warm, inspirational and a great team player.
Transport Minister Derek Mackay attended the awards and congratulated the winners:
"It was a tremendous honour to attend the Scottish Transport Awards tonight and meet some of the unsung heroes who have played such a pivotal role in keeping Scotland moving under the global spotlight last year. Winners ranged from those who worked on major projects to smaller, local schemes, but the main point is that without all of their hard work, innovation and joined-up working, then our economy would grind to a halt. I believe that far too often transport is talked about in negative terms, it is therefore fitting that we pay tribute to those individuals, organisations and initiatives that have made such a difference to people's lives, for the better."
Full list of winners and commendations:
Local Transport Authority of the Year Sponsored by Clear Channel
Winner: Glasgow City Council
Best Bus Service
Winner: Stagecoach East Scotland – X7 Coastrider
Most Effective Road Safety, Traffic Management and Enforcement Project Sponsored by FirstGroup Plc
Winner: Glasgow City Council, Transport Scotland, Police Scotland, Glasgow 2014 Ltd – Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games: Traffic Management Plans
Integrated Transport Project of the Year Sponsored by Abellio
Winner: Fife Council – Connecting Kirkcaldy Esplanade
Best Practice in Travel to School and Work Schemes
Winner: Glasgow City Council – Active Travel Plans
Achievements in Cycling
Winner: Strathclyde Partnership for Transport – A Cycling ‘Revolution’ in Strathclyde 2012-15
Public Transport Operator of the Year
Winner: First Glasgow
Contribution to Sustainable Transport
Winner: Aberdeen City Council & Partners – Powering Ahead with Electric Vehicles in Aberdeen
Most Innovative Transport Project of the Year
Winner: AmeySersa / Network Rail – S&C Northern Alliance Craigintenny Renewals
Highly Commended: North Lanarkshire Council – Pupil Power Paths
Excellence in Technology and Innovation Sponsored by BAM Nuttall
Winner: Traveline Scotland, Transport Scotland and SPT – Spectator Journey Planning with a Legacy for Accessing Healthcare
Transport Team / Partnership of the Year Sponsored by Worldline an Atos company
Winner: Transport Scotland, Perth & Kinross Council, Ryder Cup Europe and Police Scotland – 2014 Ryder Cup Transport Planning Partnership
Excellence in Travel Information and Marketing
Winner: Network Rail – Borders Railway
Frontline Employee of the Year
Winner: Craig Duthie, First Aberdeen
Highly Commended:
Crew of MV Finlaggan, Caledonian MacBrayne
Paul Roan, Glasgow Airport
Jean Scott, First Glasgow
Mark Smith, First Scotland East
Airport of the Year
Winner: Glasgow Airport
Rail Supplier of the Year Endorsed by Network Rail
Winner: BAM Nuttall
Lifetime Contribution to Transport
Winner: Ainslie McLaughlin
Special Contribution to Transport
Winner: Iain Black
For further information contact Transport Times Events
Contact name: Grant Poulton
Tel: 0207 828 3804
Email: [email protected]
Notes to editors
- The Scottish Transport Awards organised by Transport Times Events, are supported by the Scottish Government and Transport Scotland.
- The awards were judged by:
- Transport Times Chief Executive and former government advisor Prof David Begg (Chair of the Judging Panel)
- David Middleton, Chief Executive, Transport Scotland
- George Hazel OBE, Director, George Hazel Consultancy
- Prof Iain Docherty, Professor of Public Policy and Governance, Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow
Photos of the event / winners are available via http://www.greatscotphotography.com/ code: ttawards
