Express motors Caernarfon

[turboslug]

Recently this company have been before courts & traffic commissioners over various offences & had their operating licence revoked from jan 1st 2018 but were in the process of getting a new traffic licence until 7 people working for the company are being sent to court over fraud charges, express operate over a wide area of gwynedd in north west wales, so far arriva in bangor have gained at least 7 routes that require at least 14 extra buses plus are advertising for staff, johns coaches have got local blaenau ffestiniog route 37 & lloyds coaches are looking at taking on express part of work on T2 route, express run most of Snowdon sherpa network also, on back of gha going under last year another large independent company is about to vanish

 

[0B00]

Where is this published please ? I heard originally that Gwynedd CC intended to novate all the contracts over - which I suspect is against the rules (used to be de-minimis of £250k allowed without tender). Then I heard it was all out to tender. Anyone know where this is detailed?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Will be good for revenue for the Conwy Valley if the X1 isn’t replaced. Shame for the drivers though.

 

[Anthony ross]

I was on the understanding that new people where taking on the company under a new o license at some point this month

 

[0B00]

Just noticed that Johns Coaches ceased to operate Sunday tendered service 2 Bangor - Barmouth via Porthmadog from 05/11/17 with Gwynfor Coaches taking over from that date.

 

[turboslug]

I was on the understanding that new people where taking on the company under a new o license at some point this month

They were until the fraud charges against 7 people have gone to court, this company has quite a few charges against them, arriva have advertised for drivers & need at least 14 buses for 7 routes they have gained, express have been in daily post over fraud case last month, so far I've read that arriva have gained 1/1b , 82/83, 85/86, 88 & 91 & could have possibly more, heard lloyds are trying to get current express work around dolgellau 33, 35, 38/39 plus express part of T2

 

[A0wen]

Isn't this company one which owns an ex-United Counties Bristol RE that was being restored?

Anyone know what's happening with that?

 

[sjb-2812]

Any ideas when Arriva may be taking over (specifically for the 82/83, 85/86 and 88)? Presumably at the spring change or sooner? Been trying to get hold of Express for a while now regarding through tickets from Bangor to Llanrug via Caernarfon (not on a Red Rover).

 

[Bletchleyite]

Is anyone taking on the X1?

 

[0B00]

Gwynedd CC has today updated the council bus service website with ARRIVA confirmed from Tuesday 02/01/18 on a VERY revised 1B Porthmadog-Blaenau Ffestiniog, and also services 82/83/85/86/88 and 91. I am however confused. Are Express finishing or just retracting to a much smaller operation? The obvious question is the 1 between Bangor, Caernarfon and Porthmadog which is now operated with the 1B as a through service.

 

[turboslug]

Arriva also have the 1 from same date but timetable not updated as yet, a company called taxi gwynedd have registered the Caernarfon town routes from same date, johns travel take over 37 at same time, I'm not sure who will be on other routes as yet

 

[0B00]

Also in todays N&P:

Public Inquiry (75985) to be held at Welshpool Law Courts, 24 Severn Street, Welshpool, SY21 7UX, on 17 January 2018 commencing at 10:00
PG2007139 EXPRESS MOTORS CAERNARFON LIMITED

Director(s): RHIAN WYN DAVIES
THE GARAGE, LLYFNI ROAD, PENYGROES, CAERNARFON, LL54 6ND
S14 - Consideration of new application under Section 14 (The Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981)

 

[0B00]

As mentioned elsewhere Arriva Buses Wales do seem to be on the cards for the 1 from Bangor to Porthmadog but apparently have not yet agreed the timetable with the council. Meanwhile Lloyds of Machynlleth have advertised on Facebook for drivers for the 33/33A Dolgellau Town Service, 35 and the 38/39 services. Gwynfor Coaches have apparently taken the entire Snowdon Sherpa network from 02/01/18 too.

 

[0B00]

Gwynedd CC website updated today with service 92/93 shown as replaced with services 92/92A/93A/93B by Tacsi Gwynedd Limited.

 

[backontrack]

The X1 is the big thing here...

 

[Bletchleyite]

The X1 is the big thing here...

Has it been replaced? May be no bad thing if it hasn't; it'll stop stealing passengers off the Valley.

 

[backontrack]

Has it been replaced? May be no bad thing if it hasn't; it'll stop stealing passengers off the Valley.

Perhaps, but for one thing it'll be harder to reach Castell Dolwyddelan.

 

[6Gman]

Has it been replaced? May be no bad thing if it hasn't; it'll stop stealing passengers off the Valley.

How is it "stealing"?

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

How is it "stealing"?

Anything that runs parallel to a rail service is stealing, irrespective of how frequently the train runs. After all, much better to have a three hourly train service rather than an hourly bus service that serves the centre of Llandudno

Of course, it's all much better in <insert name of European country> with a <insert name of travelcard> in order to create a completely pointless comparator......

 

[Bletchleyite]

Anything that runs parallel to a rail service is stealing, irrespective of how frequently the train runs. After all, much better to have a three hourly train service rather than an hourly bus service that serves the centre of Llandudno

Of course, it's all much better in <insert name of European country> with a <insert name of travelcard> in order to create a completely pointless comparator......

The bus service wasn’t hourly over the full line or anywhere near it. It was about the same frequency as the train, on a suspiciously similar timetable.

In a sensible country the two would be coordinated together on a regular interval timetable with integrated fares, growing the market rather than fighting over it.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

The bus service wasn’t hourly over the full line or anywhere near it. It was about the same frequency as the train, on a suspiciously similar timetable.

In a sensible country the two would be coordinated together on a regular interval timetable with integrated fares, growing the market rather than fighting over it.

Erm - hourly between from Llandudno to Betws! Journeys that extend to Blaenau are 0910, 1310, 1455, 1555 and 1745 - note that the 1455 is for schools and the latter two will need to get back to BF anyway! The train ones run at 0708 (chng at LJ), 1008, 1308, 1620 and 1905.

Also, if you have to travel into Llandudno for work etc, then you have to get the train into LJ at 0624 and change (and still get there for 0741 - nice and early) and then 0835, 1135, 1457 and 1736 whereas the X1 goes at 0745, 0845, 0945, 1145 and 1630 so they generally run AFTER the train.

They are generally complimentary to the train. Stealing.... really?

 

[6Gman]

Erm - hourly between from Llandudno to Betws! Journeys that extend to Blaenau are 0910, 1310, 1455, 1555 and 1745 - note that the 1455 is for schools and the latter two will need to get back to BF anyway! The train ones run at 0708 (chng at LJ), 1008, 1308, 1620 and 1905.

Also, if you have to travel into Llandudno for work etc, then you have to get the train into LJ at 0624 and change (and still get there for 0741 - nice and early) and then 0835, 1135, 1457 and 1736 whereas the X1 goes at 0745, 0845, 0945, 1145 and 1630 so they generally run AFTER the train.

They are generally complimentary to the train. Stealing.... really?

But it's not steel wheel on steel rail, so is therefore EEEVIL !

 

[6Gman]

On a slightly more serious note the 3-hourly rail service really is pretty useless for anything other than leisure travel.

A bus operator saw an opening and (commercially) took it on.

 

[carlberry]

On a slightly more serious note the 3-hourly rail service really is pretty useless for anything other than leisure travel.

A bus operator saw an opening and (commercially) took it on.

It wont be allowed once the local mayor starts Transport for Gwynedd!

 

[Bletchleyite]

But it's not steel wheel on steel rail, so is therefore EEEVIL !

I was actually to some extent taking the mick. Though that said it is a very inefficient way of going about things. There are good ways in which buses and trains could be combined on the Valley - one is truncating most trains to Betws on a 2-hourly frequency with a bus connection to Blaenau and buses to Betws in the other hour, the other is going for 3 hourly clockface on the trains and filling the rest in with buses (to give overall one every 2 hours to Blaenau and one an hour to Betws). It does help that buses can (just about) manage the same timetable as the train.

But I think Snowdonia would be ideal for a truly integrated system that could do well to reduce car dependency particularly in tourists. It's quite an easy area to serve with a simple network as the road network is simple - but to tie in the Valley it needs to be regular interval.

The more I think about it, the more running 2 hourly clockface trains truncated to Betws makes sense to me, with the southern section mostly served by bus, though if there are enough spare units there could perhaps be a daily tourist train all the way.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

I was actually to some extent taking the mick. Though that said it is a very inefficient way of going about things. There are good ways in which buses and trains could be combined on the Valley - one is truncating most trains to Betws on a 2-hourly frequency with a bus connection to Blaenau and buses to Betws in the other hour, the other is going for 3 hourly clockface on the trains and filling the rest in with buses (to give overall one every 2 hours to Blaenau and one an hour to Betws). It does help that buses can (just about) manage the same timetable as the train.

But I think Snowdonia would be ideal for a truly integrated system that could do well to reduce car dependency particularly in tourists. It's quite an easy area to serve with a simple network as the road network is simple - but to tie in the Valley it needs to be regular interval.

The more I think about it, the more running 2 hourly clockface trains truncated to Betws makes sense to me, with the southern section mostly served by bus, though if there are enough spare units there could perhaps be a daily tourist train all the way.

Breathtaking - have you actually been there?

Firstly, there is a lot of leisure travel with interchange between the Ffestiniog and Conwy Valley Line at BF. That’s why BF is the busiest of the stations - remove that and you fundamentally undermine the reason for the line to exist!

Secondly, Snowdonia may seem like a place for integrating transport; it already has rail rovers and multi bus rovers, but the relatively infrequent rail services (Camb Coast at 2 hourly and Conwy Valley at 3 hourly) means that it is difficult for rail to be as attractive.

Because of geography, bus services tend to serve rail stations anyway such as Betws, whilst Pwllheli is located next to the bus station. Bangor is the obvious problem as it is some distance from the town centre and with a challenging road network.

 

[0B00]

Announced yesterday on Huws Coaches Facebook page that they will operate the new 1F Route that between Penygroes, Carmel, Y Fron/Cesarea, Rhosgadfan, Rhostryfan, Bontnewydd & Caernarfon as from 02/01/2018.

The previous day they announced the 92/92A/93A/93B which I mentioned above as with Tacsi Gwynedd Limited, I am unsure if that is a trading name of Huws - someone asked them on the Facebook post that very question but didn't get an answer.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Breathtaking - have you actually been there?

Yes, many times.

Firstly, there is a lot of leisure travel with interchange between the Ffestiniog and Conwy Valley Line at BF. That’s why BF is the busiest of the stations - remove that and you fundamentally undermine the reason for the line to exist!

They've just broken the timetabled connections, they now miss by 5 minutes much of the time

I'm surprised to find Blaenau being busier than Betws - it never looks that way. Does Blaenau perhaps get better all year round usage, whereas Betws peaks in summer?

Secondly, Snowdonia may seem like a place for integrating transport; it already has rail rovers and multi bus rovers, but the relatively infrequent rail services (Camb Coast at 2 hourly and Conwy Valley at 3 hourly) means that it is difficult for rail to be as attractive.

We need to stop thinking "rail is effective" or "bus is effective" and start building networks of both modes.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Yes, many times.



They've just broken the timetabled connections, they now miss by 5 minutes much of the time

I'm surprised to find Blaenau being busier than Betws - it never looks that way. Does Blaenau perhaps get better all year round usage, whereas Betws peaks in summer?



We need to stop thinking "rail is effective" or "bus is effective" and start building networks of both modes.

You've been "many times" yet not noticed the importance of Blaenau on the line? Betws is a close second but is pretty quiet out of season with a much reduced population, and much lower in comparison to BF.

Effectiveness is not a case of thinking that one is automatically preferable to another; nor is it to artificially skew any market (and I'm not talking about free market economics) without recourse to why it actually exists. That's why it's not "stealing".

 

[0B00]

Gwynfor Coaches confirmed on the council website on the S2, S4 and S97 - major changes though to the S97, no longer serving Pen-y-Pass or (in the morning) Penrhyndeudraeth. S4 now goes to Pen-y-Pass instead.