Coach UK body’s arrival will maintain expectations of progress

Developments that cause a double-take come not too often in an industry where the unexpected is often a default. But news of amalgamation of the UK Coach Operators Association (UKCOA) with Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT) representation of coach operators to create a Coach UK body is one of those.

Trade association politics in the coach sector since 2020 have been well covered and discussed. The upshot of those changes saw three such capable bodies cement their positions in the field. That confounded some commentators who had suggested that space for such a number would be lacking.

Coexistence has been relatively convivial ever since. National Coach Week, founded by RHA and shortly to commence its fifth edition, has garnered support from others. When employees of all three associations came together, friendly conversation was the norm. As it should be, most would agree.

UKCOA’s name in full left no room to doubt its purpose. Heart was worn on sleeve: it concerned itself with coach operators’ interests, and nothing else. A team skilled in playing the engagement game coupled to some heavy-duty experience on the service delivery side made a strong ticket.

Perhaps the amalgamation to create Coach UK is emblematic of the industry’s recent trend of consolidation. That has no sign of slowing. First Bus added two operators in as many days recently, and others in a similar position have not hidden their interest in completing further purchases.

With Coach UK’s coming, national trade body representation for the coach industry is formed of a pair of big names. It claims 500 members capturing 10,000 coaches. RHA has a large reach across the wider road transport field when its HGV and van activities are counted alongside a coach umbrella.

RHA has argued many times that coach operation shares much with the HGV sector, something that the trials of decarbonisation and the difficult nut to crack of public charging infrastructure emphasise.

Representing an industry that is navigating a period of change around items such as accessibility and decarbonisation, coupled to in-the-now challenges anchored by out-of-control diesel costs, is a big responsibility.

But headway has come this decade. Recognition of coach in Better Connected, the integrated transport strategy for England, was a big achievement. For coach even to be mentioned in that document would have once been unthinkable. A specific note that local authorities will be expected to properly consider the mode is thus progress indeed.

National Coach Week’s longevity is something else to be proud of, while collaborative work by the coach industry in Scotland to qualify for grant funding via the second round of the Scottish Zero Emission Bus challenge fund was highly notable. It was a textbook example of how making the right case to the right people can deliver.

Under the new trade body landscape for the sector, there will be expectation that such wins continue. Through combination with CPT, the UKCOA identity may be going away – but its spirit is not. That will live on.