Metroline Awarded "Bus Operator of the Year 2016"

“I would like to thank all of the more than 5,500 men and women who work extremely hard in our garages and on the roads all year round to keep London moving” - Metroline CEO Jaspal Singh.

Metroline was awarded the title of “Bus Operator of the Year 2016” at the prestigious London Transport Awards held in March this year at the Lancaster Hotel.

Celebrating the very best in public transport, the London Transport Awards are into its 21st year and are supported by Transport for London, London Councils and London Travel Watch. Mr Mike Brown, Transport Commissioner for London, said of the significance of the event, “the London Transport Awards matter because they recognise the achievements of transport professionals who support London -- to be one of the greatest and most successful cities in the world, the engine of the UK economy and just a great place to be’’.

Commenting on why Metroline came out top, the organisers noted that “TfL statistics show Metroline to be consistently very good for reliability and it comfortably beats its target – it was the best of the larger operators for service reliability”. In addition, “Metroline has maintained its performance seamlessly since taking over five garages and associated routes from First Group from June 2013”.

Metroline’s Chief Executive Officer Mr Jaspal Singh welcomed the accolade, saying, “We are absolutely delighted, very honoured and extremely humbled to be awarded Bus Operator of the Year. Credit must go where it is due, and in this regard, I would like to thank all of the more than 5,500 men and women who work extremely hard in our garages and on the roads all year round to keep London moving. I would also like to thank TfL’s Managing Director Mr Leon Daniels and his officers, as well as the Transport Commissioner for their enormous support over the years.”

Mr Singh continued, “Our success would not have been possible without the dedication and commitment of all these people in providing the very best service to all Londoners who depend on us for their daily transport needs.”

To mark this very special achievement, every garage hosted a barbeque for everyone in the Metroline team to celebrate and enjoy.

Jaspal Singh - Metroline Bus Company In Very Safe Hands

One of the great things about my job is that I get to meet some really great people who have huge jobs. So it was that yesterday I met such a man. His name is Jaspal Singh and he is the Chief Executive Officer for UK and Ireland for one of the world's biggest transport groups. Comfordelgro are based in Hong Kong but have operations all over the world. This happens to include Metroline Bus Company in London.

So it was that at three p.m. Chris Ruanne and I arrived on the third floor of the impressive head office and major bus depot situated in the heart of north London on the Edgeware Road. Jaspal greeted us in the boardroom and we got to know each other.

He asked genuine questions about us and our backgrounds and he made the introduction experience a very relaxed one especially for a man who is responsible for over 5,500 employees who each day carry 730,000 passengers and a staggering 250 million passenger journeys a year. Indeed, as I did my research before meeting him I was truly amazed at the huge scale of the operation. With 14 depots and over 100 routes with a fleet of nearly 1,700 buses, this business is colossal.

Jaspal himself is an extremely affable man but quite clearly he is very able. You dont get jobs of this magnitude if you are not. What became very clear as well was that he lives by certain values which are built around how he deals with people and the close supportive nature that he wants his staff to buy into. And it clearly seems to work as I walked around the reception area. The messages were loud and clear.

Make eye contact with your customers and say hello and goodbye, it was really refreshing to hear him describe how they had attempted to overcome the old school bus driver bashing discipline that I have observed in my career (and been guilty off as well). As he said I think it is much better if you sit a man or a woman down look into the whites of their eyes and explain why they should not do what they have done. Not go issuing a get the sack soon voucher, it's better to get the staff on board. And he does.

The actual team of senior directors is really small with only five very committed directors needed to manage this empire, with Jaspal leading by his own philosophy of standing back and allowing his managers and staff to do their job. It is for me really heartening meeting Jaspal we came away inspired by this humble but competent man and it's great to see such a huge Company in such safe hands.

Jaspal Singh

Mr Jaspal Singh is the Chief Executive Officer of the United Kingdom/Ireland Business Unit.

He was a Colombo Plan Scholar and joined the Administrative Service in 1978. Over the years, he held many senior-level appointments, including Deputy Secretary in the Ministries of Finance and Transport. Mr Singh also held various directorships on the boards of Government-linked companies. He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Economics) and a Bachelor of Engineering (Industrial Engineering) (Hons Class One) from the University of Newcastle, Australia, and a Master of Public Administration from the Kennedy School, Harvard University, USA. He has also completed the Advanced Management Programme at the Harvard Business School.