In the second part of a two-part feature, Maxson Goh continues his report from the 2025 Association of Local Bus Managers (ALBUM) conference in Nottingham
Welcome back readers. You join me at the 2025 ALBUM conference on the second day (or third, if you count the golf day). We pick up immediately from where we left off in last week’s issue, but for the benefit of those who missed it, here’s a quick recap: This year’s ALBUM conference was hosted by six-time UK Bus Operator of the Year winner Nottingham City Transport (NCT), and took place between 12 and 14 May at the East Midlands Conference Centre on Nottingham’s University Park Campus. Today’s schedule includes several presentations by industry leaders alongside an exhibition area showcasing products from various companies, followed by a visit to NCT’s Trent Bridge depot.
What’s on display?
One of the first exhibitors that delegates will come across is Allison Transmission, located to the right of the hallway that leads visitors to the main exhibition hall. Allison Transmission UK & ROI Account Manager Jumel Choudhury was happy to discuss the company’s long history alongside a new product it was offering. “Allison Transmission is a company that’s been in business since 1915, we have over 100 years of history.” he shared. “Following the war, we started developing commercial transmissions for the global market. Our primary products are diesel transmissions which can be found primarily in fire engines, mining vehicles, military vehicles and of course buses and coaches.
“We’ve recently started working on EV products as well, like this R100S two-speed transmission axle and driveline,” said Jumel as he pointed to a miniature scale model on the table. “It gets rid of the engine, prop shaft, axles and combines them all into one. It weighs about 780 kilos once it’s filled up, and it produces 26,000Nm of torque. The inverter is externally mounted; it doesn’t sit within the infrastructure, it sits chassis mounted, which we think provides advantages for the customers. We’re moving from a transmission company to a driveline specialist company.”
Into the main exhibition hall, I was immediately greeted by the prominent stand of Backhouse Jones, a law firm in the transport sector, strategically positioned at the entrance. The firm runs a series of no less than four podcasts, from addressing compliance issues to celebrating the achievements of women in transport, as well as hosting its own training academy. This year, the stand featured three members of the Backhouse Jones team, namely Head & Legal Director James Backhouse, Brand Manager Julia Davies and Business Development Coordinator Louise Brown. Julia commented: “We attend this conference every year and are very happy to meet our clients. It’s also a great opportunity to sort out any issues that they may be experiencing.”
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