Flange Squeal
Established Member
- Joined
- 17 Jul 2012
- Messages
- 1,264
Earlier today it was announced today that Rotala's Hallmark Bus division is to be rebranded under the Diamond brand, as Diamond South East. The Hallmark bus division operates a number of different types of service, including several tendered stage carriage routes for Surrey County Council, the Hotel Hoppa network around Heathrow which was acquired from National Express, and three routes for the Royal Holloway University near Egham. There is also an outstation near Bicester for the Bicester to Oxford 250 (they previously operated the Bicester Village outlet service, but this is now in the hands of Oxford Bus Company).
This evening though, reports from London Fire Brigade are that eight fire engines and 60 firefighters are currently fighting a fire at the depot in "a ground floor kitchen". See https://www.london-fire.gov.uk/incidents/2021/february/fire-at-bus-depot-stanwell/
Hallmark website announcement: https://www.hallmarkbus.com/news/hallmark-changes/
This evening though, reports from London Fire Brigade are that eight fire engines and 60 firefighters are currently fighting a fire at the depot in "a ground floor kitchen". See https://www.london-fire.gov.uk/incidents/2021/february/fire-at-bus-depot-stanwell/
Hallmark website announcement: https://www.hallmarkbus.com/news/hallmark-changes/
You will notice a few changes over the next few weeks...
Hallmark Bus is still operating in Surrey and Oxford. However, we are very excited to announce that we will soon be changing our name to Diamond Bus. Over the next few weeks you will notice that some of your buses will become blue as our new branding rolls out.
We are very excited to welcome you as Diamond customers and hope you find the below information about the forthcoming changes helpful.
Your Hallmark Route and Timetables
Your routes and timetables will remain the same.
Your Hallmark Tickets and Passes
Your existing Hallmark Bus tickets and passes will be accepted until their expiry date.
Ticket prices will not change and we will continue to offer the same great value tickets as you are used to on your Hallmark services.
Who are Diamond Bus?
Diamond Bus are part of the Rotala Group, the parent company for Hallmark Bus. We have operated services across the West Midlands and Worcestershire for many years, where we are the second largest operator in the area. We also operate Diamond Bus North West in Greater Manchester where we are also one of the major operators in the area. By bringing our smaller sister company Hallmark Bus into the Diamond family, we will be able to offer Surrey and Oxford services stronger support to enable these networks to grow.
Flexible Diamond Bus tickets
Clean, Sanitised and Safe buses
- Contacless Payment, Apple Pay, Google Pay & Cash purchases are still available onboard.
- M-tickets will also be available on your mobile with the Diamond Bus App.
- You can continue to use your Hallmark m-tickets in the Hallmark Bus App until they expire.
- Diamond South East Tickets and passes will soon be added to the Diamond Bus App, when these are available you can simply download and log into the Diamond Bus App using your Hallmark Account details to purchase your next M-ticket!
- The Hallmark App will continue to be available until 1st April 2021, dont worry if you will not use your ticket before this date get in touch and we can transfer a ticket across to the Diamond App for you.
We understand at this difficult time, some passengers may worry about changes to their buses service provider, but we would like to reassure you that at Diamond Bus, we’ve been working hard throughout the last year to keep our passengers safe.
Newer, Cleaner, Greener buses
- We’ve introduced extra cleaning onboard our buses
- We’ve pioneered daily thermo-fogging disinfectant across all our Diamond Bus fleets
- You will be able to find lots of information on the Diamond website to help you to plan your journey and travel with us confidently.
We have invested millions of pounds in new vehicles for our depots across the country, with many of our buses now being Micro-Hybrid, Low Emission Certified vehicles, which help to contribute to better air quality for our local towns.
Watch this space!
We’ll be keeping you posted regularly about the changes, so keep an eye on our website and social media announcements over the coming weeks.
As we move forward, information for Diamond South East services will also soon be available at www.diamondbuses.com