National Express has arranged a special birthday surprise for Phil Bateman on Tuesday, to mark the 60th birthday of Birmingham’s bus maestro.
Unbeknown to Phil he will feature on a 22 foot bus advert proclaiming “happy birthday – now you can ride the bus for free!” The advert has been designed in secret by National Express and will be unveiled to Phil on 2 March.
Phil is famed for being the face of the Birmingham’s bus industry for over 20 years. He helped to launch the concessionary fare scheme across the region and on Tuesday he’ll receive his pass from Centro.
Neil Barker, Managing Director of National Express bus, said: “Phil has been a life long champion of public transport and helped build one of the most successful bus and tram networks in Britain.
For many years he has been the respected voice of our bus company and it seems fitting we celebrate his 60th by creating the official Bateman Bus. We can’t wait to see his reaction and we look forward to presenting Phil with a well deserved concessionary bus pass.”
Phil’s career in transport began at British Rail in 1965. He moved through several organisations before joining Travel West Midlands in 1991 as their PR guru. Phil has been making headlines for over twenty years and his famous
‘hamster bus pass’ story was named one of
News at Tens’ best “and finally” moments of all time.
Aside from the news, Phil has played a massive part in politics in the West Midlands. In 2004 he was awarded an MBE for his service to public transport in the region. He spent almost 20 years as a Councillor for Wolverhampton and was appointed City Mayor in 2005. Phil was also been penned the “grandfather” of the Midland Metro after lobbying for its construction.
Phil joins another well known West Midlands personality in getting his concessionary pass this month. Birmingham born Julie Walters turned 60 last week and was overjoyed at being given the key to free public transport. Julie is quoted as saying: “I’ve paid my tax every year so I’m quite looking forward to collecting my pension and travelling on the bus for nothing.
Phil Bateman currently works as a consultant for National Express and is regional Chair of the Confederation for Passenger Transport.
