Major General Mungo Melvin, General Officer Commanding UKSC(G), signed a new bus service contract with Chief Executive Officer Hermann Graf von der Schulenburg from Deutsche Bahn in December of last year.  The actual service provider, Busverkehr Ostwestfalen GmbH (BVO), is a small part of the Deutsche Bahn group which everyone who travels on trains will recognise as Germany’s railway provider.  BVO has a number of offices and bus depots across the BFG area including at Bielefeld, Münster and Düsseldorf.

The BVO delegation arrived at JHQ with a brand new Mercedes Benz Integro bus and a Mercedes Benz Sprinter to mark the signing of the contract.  The German firm was awarded a 6-year contract following a formal procurement competition which initially attracted interest from over 25 companies, and said they were proud to be working with the British Army. 

The new services began at the pilot site of Bielefeld School (part of Gütersloh Garrison) at the start of the autumn school term in September 2008, with all other Gütersloh Garrison schools coming on-line during October and November 2008.  The complete range of Scheduled and Non-Scheduled services for Gütersloh came into force from early December 2008, and services for Paderborn , Bergen-Hohne and Rhine Garrison will follow.  The full BFG service will be in place by 31 March 09.

Under the agreement, BVO will provide regular school runs for BFG’s 7,200 schoolchildren, a shuttle service between quarter estates and barracks, occasional airport runs for troops, and transport to and from training areas.  The six-year contract includes an option to extend for a further three years.

During the visit, the GOC took time to emphasise the vital role that bus and coach transport service has in the day-to-day BFG business and went on to stress that BFG customers will demand a very high standard of performance and a provider that can be both reactive and flexible. 

BVO is in the process of purchasing over 125 brand new Mercedes Benz Integro and Sprinter buses specifically for use by BFG customers – a bright, stunning red in colour – and, in addition to all the latest, modern vehicle safety features and eco-friendly engines, the new buses will have stacks of luggage space, including internal overhead luggage racks, BFBS radio, electronic overhead school display signs and perhaps most importantly of all, air conditioning!  General Mungo said he was impressed with the quality of the new vehicles and expected that BFG customers would be too. 

The feedback received so far from users and passengers at Gütersloh Garrison has been very positive, especially in terms of the quality of the new vehicles and the friendliness of the BVO drivers.

Major General Melvin brought the visit to a close by saying that he looked forward to visiting BVO’s principal operating centre for the BFG service – the Transport Co-ordination Centre (or TCC), in Bielefeld during the first half of 2009, and suggested that it would be useful if the Authority and the Provider met for a comprehensive Contract Review meeting in July to assess the first 6 – 8 months of the new service.