Congratulations to Metroline’s Peter Noyes who celebrated a remarkable 50 years of service to the bus industry on Monday 11th September 2017.

Peter initially joined London Transport on Monday 11th September 1967 as a Trainee Schedule Compiler on a starting salary was £510 p.a, less than £10 per week! He established himself in the department and by 1979 was promoted to Deputy Section Leader for the Watling District Schedules Team which included regular visits to the Divisional Office at Cricklewood Garage. Recognising his experience and expertise, in 1982 he was seconded to London Transport International, spending 12 weeks working at the SBS Head Office on Braddell Road in Singapore. During this time Peter was part of the “Singapore Comprehensive Bus Study” that examined the industry in Singapore and recommended changes to scheduling procedures, he claims to still have the T-shirt from this visit.

When tendering of bus services in London commenced in 1985, the London Transport Schedules Office was de-centralised and Peter was transferred to the new Central Traffic Division at Euston, working for the new MD Peter Hendy. In 1989 when individual bus companies were created, he was promoted to Schedules Manager for London Northern. With the privatisation of bus companies in 1994, London Northern was acquired by MTL and in 1998 this was acquired by Metroline, where he then became Head of Planning and Tendering. When ComfortDelGro acquired Metroline in 2000, Peter was surprised to see acquaintances from his visit to Singapore 18 years previously, who all recognised him immediately.

With all the moving and changing in the industry, Peter notes that as his journey has changed over the years, his commute has increased to over 70 miles each way since 1998, which is approximately 33,000 miles each year, amounting to over 1,000,000 miles travelled to and from work (by train and bus) during the past 50 years!

At a special celebratory lunch held in Peter’s honour at Metroline’s Head Office, CEO Jaspal Singh noted, “Peter has immense experience and knowledge of our industry and has served London’s bus travelling public over the past 50 years with passion, dedication and professionalism. Thank you for your service and congratulations on reaching this milestone Peter.”