D. Jones & Son of Acrefair, Wrexham to close.

Wrexham.com said:

Bus company D Jones & Son has said they will ‘cease trading’ later today.

Wrexham Council had been made aware of the situation prior to today, with arrangements in place to cover school bus service contracts from Monday.

Buses has been the family trade since the late 1960’s, and is most recently known with their familiar blue and white livery. The Acrefair based company runs over 20 vehicles in the Wrexham area.

In a statement this morning Councillor David A Bithell, the Council’s Lead Member for Transport said: “In the last 24 hours Wrexham County Borough Council has received notification that the local bus operator D Jones & Son of Acrefair, Wrexham will cease trading with effect from Sunday 17th December 2017.

“This news has come without any prior warning, and the Council’s immediate priority is to ensure that statutory contracted education transport is provided. Despite the late notice, the Council has been able to secure alternative transport arrangements for entitles students for next week.

“Disruption to local bus services formally operated by D Jones & Son is inevitable. The Council has enacted its contingency plan with a view to securing as many replacement bus services as soon as we possibly can.”

A list of school contracts previously provided by D Jones & Son is listed below along with the new operator.

Ysgol Morgan Llwyd
563W Gwersyllt area – PATS COACHES

St Josephs/ St Marys
567F Brymbo area – UNICORN TRAVEL
567H Gresford area – E JONES & SON / PATS COACHES (It will be covered by one of these operators, to be confirmed)
567Q Coedpoeth area G EDWARDS & SON

Garth CP
195B Trevor area – E JONES & SON

Bro Alun, Plas Coch, Bodhyfryd
440X Llay / Marford area PATS COACHES
440Y Tanyfron area PATS COACHES

A list of those local bus services previously provided by D Jones & Son is listed below.

Service 5, Wrexham – Llangollen
Service 6, Wrexham – Ruabon (Pont Adam)
Service 9, Wrexham – Minera
Service 10, Wrexham – Gwynfryn/Bwlchgwyn
Service 13B, Wrexham – Wrexham Industrial Estate
Service 35, Wrexham – Plas Goulbourne
Service 41/42, Wrexham – Wrexham Industrial Estate
Service 41B/42B, Wrexham – Wrexham Industrial Estate
Service 44, Wrexham – Barkers Lane
Service J50, Wrexham – Acrefair
Service C56, Wrexham – Chester.
Service 146, Wrexham – Whitchurch.

This morning Denbighshire Council also issued a notice informing people of school transport changes, that said: “D Jones & Son, the bus company, has informed us that they will cease trading after last operation on Saturday December 16th, 2017.”

“This affects school and public transport in the Llangollen area. The County Council has made arrangements to cover the school bus from the Chirk & Froncysyllte area to Ysgol Dinas Brân on and from Monday December 18th until the end of term with alternative operator E Jones & Son.”

“Bus services will continue to operate between Llangollen and Wrexham on service 5 (Arriva) and service Traws Cymru T3 (Lloyd’s Coaches).”

“Pupils who catch buses from the Wrexham direction who normally use D Jones service 5/5C are warned that there may be insufficient seats at school times to and from Ysgol Dinas Brân. Arriva services continue to operate every 40 minutes.”

Various routes around Wrexham could be affected including industrial estate and prison routes.

We will update as and when further details emerge…

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turboslug said:

Just read elsewhere that stagecoach looking at taking over c56 as from tomorrow, they had a bus out following a Jones bus with some drivers on board, not sure if d Jones had a cheshire School contract tied in with c56 also, be interesting to see who will end up taking over some of Jones work as arriva already need 15 extra buses at bangor in 2 weeks

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Mr Jones added he was fed up of drivers changing shifts and their rota positions and was finding it increasingly difficult to find drivers to cover shifts.
...
"So I wish everybody good luck and I hope that you go to a company that will treat you all like s***, because if the drivers are treating me like s*** that’s what you are going to get elsewhere.”

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Bletchleyite said:

Wasn’t there another small operator closed recently with a very similar reason given?

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The Guardian said:

The boss of a Somerset bus company who took his fleet off the road without warning and sent staff a brusque and foul-mouthed note explaining he could not bear to work with them “a moment longer” has been criticised by drivers, mechanics and passengers.

Staff at Nippybus said they were out of pocket and desperately searching for new jobs to pay their bills, while hundreds of passengers, from children to pensioners, were left trying to find a way to get to school, work and the shops and to keep medical appointments.

Campaigners said the Nippybus situation highlighted problems faced by under-pressure bus services, especially in very rural areas, across the UK.

In an internal memo to staff, Sydney Hardy, 57, explained in no uncertain terms he was “getting off” after 13 years in charge of Nippybus, which is based in the village of Martock, near Yeovil.

He wrote: “There is a difference between giving up and knowing when you have had enough. I have had enough and realise I cannot work with you, the people I employ, a moment longer.

“There comes a time in any relationship when you just have to say ‘**** it’, say goodbye and move on. This is my time! I am quitting to pursue my dream of not having to work here.”

Hardy added: “The gates are now closed and will not open so you can stay in your scratchers and have a lie in.”

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turboslug said:

Just read elsewhere that stagecoach looking at taking over C56 as from tomorrow, they had a bus out following a Jones bus with some drivers on board, not sure if d Jones had a Cheshire School contract tied in with C56 also, be interesting to see who will end up taking over some of Jones work as Arriva already need 15 extra buses at Bangor in 2 weeks.

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daodao said:

The C56 is the only service for which a replacement operator has stepped in. There are now no bus services for the villages SE of Wrexham on the route to Whitchurch (Salop), which had an hourly service when it was run by GHA. Wrexham CC appear to be lackadaisical in supporting bus services, whereas Gwynedd CC appear to have organised some sort of replacement for most of the routes previously run by Express Motors.

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daodao said:

The C56 is the only service for which a replacement operator has stepped in. There are now no bus services for the villages SE of Wrexham on the route to Whitchurch (Salop), which had an hourly service when it was run by GHA. Wrexham CC appear to be lackadaisical in supporting bus services, whereas Gwynedd CC appear to have organised some sort of replacement for most of the routes previously run by Express Motors.

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turboslug said:

Arriva are covering the 35 route to borras park & most journeys on 41 to the industrial estate. Pats coaches are running the 146 to Whitchurch. routes 5 & 9 were already covered by arriva,, route 10 a couple of villages need serving & I think arriva x51 covers one of them. route 6 will be covered by arriva new 4a route from next week, I'm not sure if 13b or 42 will be covered. I think 44 to barkers lane should be covered but j50 wont need covering as they were only positioning runs to & from the depot

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daodao said:

Other than C56, none of the replacement services are currently publicised, either on the Wrexham CC website or on Traveline Cymru.

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K219UHA said:

You need to look in the right places then, Wrexham BC are always poor when it comes to public transport communication.

Arriva covered services within days on the 35 and 41 and now have had the routes fully approved by the TC. Many of the services do not need cover as cover exists via other routes covering sections or same routes already, the 44 is a loss as it stands, the 146 is now with Pats Coaches but unsure if that has started operation as yet.

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daodao said:

I stand corrected regarding the 35 and 41 services, which are now shown on the Wrexham BC web site, but not on Traveline Cymru nor on Arriva's own web site. However, the other services (other than C56) have not (yet) been replaced. You state that "You need to look in the right places then", but if a bus service is not shown on Traveline, the operator's web site or the local council's web site (if it shows bus timetables, which fewer now do), how is one supposed to know about its existence?

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