Revenue from Tube and bus distribution deal to help fund transport improvements, carbon emissions-cutting projects and to boost paper recycling.

The free morning newspaper has become part of the fabric of city life and something Londoners tell us improves their daily Tube and bus journeys

Transport for London (TfL) today announced that, subject to contract, its subsidiaries London Underground Ltd and London Bus Services Ltd intend to award concessions to distribute a free morning newspaper on the London Underground (LU) and at various London bus stations to the Associated Newspapers Limited title Metro.

Funding improvements

The new concessions allow the holder to distribute free newspapers on weekday mornings, at around 250 Underground stations and at around 14 London bus stations.

Metro’s current distribution contract with London Underground Ltd began in 1999 and comes to an end on 2 April this year.

Richard Parry, Interim Managing Director, LU, said: ‘The free morning newspaper has become part of the fabric of city life and something Londoners tell us improves their daily Tube and bus journeys.

‘The revenue from this lucrative contract will go straight back into funding improvements to public transport in the Capital including the upgrade of the Tube.

Public tender process

‘The new deal will also fund carbon-cutting projects such as making our stations more energy-efficient and will further encourage newspaper recycling with more recycling bins at key stations.’

As well as expanding the existing Metro recycling scheme to more stations, the deal will also include new measures to reduce the number of copies left behind at the end of the distribution period every day.

The contract is the culmination of a competitive public tender process and will begin on 6 April 2010, lasting for seven and a half years.

Steve Auckland, Managing Director, Metro, said: ‘We are delighted that TfL has announced their intention to award the concessions to Metro.

Successful partnership

‘Our teams work extremely well together and we look forward to continuing to give our consumers the very best service during their commute.’

John Leitch, Executive Director of Metro Distribution, said: ‘I’m thrilled we’ve reached this stage in the process.

‘It’s the culmination of an enormous amount of work from our team over the last three years and we hope to build on the successful partnership we’ve had with TfL over the past 10 years.’

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Transport for London to award morning free newspaper contract to Metro

Northern Rail is working with a group of dedicated youngsters to investigate and tackle recycling issues at Manchester Victoria Station.

The children, who are all pupils from Years Five and Six at Temple Primary School in Cheetham Hill, Manchester, have been speaking with commuters at Victoria to find out about people’s attitudes towards litter, newspapers and recycling bins.

Heidi Mottram, Managing Director of Northern, said: “Northern deals with around 120 tonnes of paper across the network and at stations every year and it was an absolute pleasure to be able to work with a group of such passionate young people dedicated to looking at the best way to tackle this issue and make a difference.

“The group of pupils we entertained clearly knew what they were talking about and had a great time talking with passengers and finding out people’s opinions to waste and recycling – we are now waiting to find out what their survey results reveal and what their recommendations are before looking at the best way forward.”

Working under the close supervision of Northern Rail, and Urban Mines – an environmental consultancy and charity – the children spent two hours at Manchester Victoria asking a range of questions.

Questions commuters were asked included:

· Do you read newspapers on the train?

· What do you with the newspaper when you have read it?

· Do you think recycling is a good thing?

· Would you recycle paper if facilities were provided at the station?

· Would you like to see facilities for other types of waste provided?

Temple Primary School has been an Eco School for almost three years and is ranked by Keep Britain Tidy – which runs the international eco award scheme in the UK

A Teacher said: “What we wanted to do was look at real-world issue and then look at the best way to tackle the issue. The children are all hugely passionate about this project and Northern has been really helpful in working so closely with us.

“We will now be looking closely at our survey findings to see what passengers have got to say about recycling issues and then going back to Northern with our findings.”

Prior to the visit to Victoria to quiz commuters, the pupils all took part in a Workshop on Waste organised by Urban Mines – which provides information, expert advice and support to waste, sustainability and climate change problems.

Sharon Clarke of Urban Mines, said: “We are delighted to be working with the children from Temple Primary School. Following an art competition organised by Northern Rail to encourage recycling at the station, it was clear the children had an excellent understanding of the issues involved.”

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NORTHERN WORKS WITH SCHOOLCHILDREN TO TACKLE ENVIRONMENTAL WASTE

Instead of leaving newspapers and magazines on the train, passengers can now deposit them in specially designated recycling bins at Brighton, Horsham, Littlehampton, Caterham and Redhill stations. Once filled, the bins are emptied into larger containers to be taken away for recycling by waste contractor SITA.

This initiative gives passengers an opportunity to dispose of their newspapers and magazines in an environmentally friendly way.

Southern’s Retail Manager, Les Hayden who has been championing the project and said: “Southern has always been aware of its impact on the environment and is constantly looking for ways to reduce its impact. This scheme will contribute considerably towards that goal.”

The bins were first installed in March at Littlehampton station. Since then, bins at a further four stations have proved to be extremely popular with all bins requiring frequent emptying throughout the day.

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Southern and Metro join forces to recycle newspapers