First it was Manchester, then Cornwall and now also Sheffield: two English city regions and a shire county where chancellor George Osborne is offering a devolution package with powers to control and franchise their bus networks. Doubtless there will be more, adding to the uncertainty hanging like a malign vapour across the bus industry - operators large, medium and small; manufacturers and their partners in the supply chain - as it awaits the first detail of the long promised Buses Bill that is supposed to make some of this possible. That uncertainty was palpable in Halls 17, 18 and 19 of the National Exhibition Centre as September turned into October and we all oohed and aahed at the gleaming new hardware on show at Coach & Bus Live. The gleaming and glittering vehicles were good to see, but there also was talk of orders being put on ice or reduced to half-year intakes until there is a lot more clarity about what the new legislation might really mean for the currently deregulated networks in England beyond London.
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