Profits slump for Tayside transport provider

Reduction in turnover for company which runs the Xplore Dundee service

The company which runs the Xplore Dundee bus operation saw its profits slow last year.

Tayside Public Transport Company, a subsidiary of National Express, saw its pre-tax profits fall from £1.2 million to £406,000 for the year ending December 31 2016.

Turnover in the transport provider, based at the city’s East Dock Street, fell by 2.6% to £15.7m.

Director Thomas Bonham said he expected the company’s performance to improve this year as it “continued to focus on revenue growth and improving cost efficiencies”.

The company’s number of employees fell by 11 during the year to 341 – 276 vehicle operators, 30 maintenance staff and 35 other operational staff.

Employee costs for the year were £9.3m.

Last year an inter-operator smart ticket that can be used throughout Dundee and the immediate surrounding area was introduced.

The company put a focus on enhancing security on their buses, with all vehicles carrying CCTV.

In partnership with Angus and Dundee City councils, all the company’s vehicles have been fitted with location equipment so that real-time journey information is available at bus shelters.

The firm has purchased fuel derivatives in order to hedge against fuel cost changes.

The pension surplus decreased from £15.2m to £12.8m during the year.

Parent company National Express saw its pre-tax profits increase from £15m to £17.5m last year. Turnover rose by 3.3% to £256.2m. The origins of the Dundee operation can be traced back to the 19th Century and horse tram operations run by the Dundee and District Tramways Company.

The company was compulsory acquired by the local municipality to become Dundee City Tramways, which was electrified between 1900 and 1902.

From 1922 buses were added and by 1956 the trams had been fully replaced by buses and the company renamed Dundee Corporation Transport.

The bus operation passed to Tayside Regional Council in 1975 and was sold in a management buy-out in 1991.

In 1997 it was sold to National Express and rebranded Travel Dundee.

The company was rebranded again to National Express Dundee in 2008 and then to Xplore Dundee in 2015, with a green livery resembling Dundee Corporation Transport introduced.

Xplore Dundee is introducing changes to its timetables on October 22 after months of consultation.

An Xplore Dundee bus travelling through the city. Picture: Kris Miller.