Supertravel absorbed by Home James

[Deleted]

Possibly old news to some but Speke Hall Road based bus and coach operator Supertravel has been absorbed by Home James. Formed in 1975 it was until recently the largest operator of Merseytravel contracts in the south end of Liverpool but sadly nolonger. Many visiting the airport will have been familiar with its distinctive white body and purple skirt livery. Although still operating Merseytravel contracts it's routes are now mainly on the Wirral. Home James, which was established in 1929, have indicated that both companies will continue trading in their own colours and markings for the time being.

Other long established casualties this week are 57 year old Northampton based Geoff Amos Coaches which ceased trading on the 5th August with the loss of 25 jobs and 82 year old Exeter based Hookways which, if a buy cannot be found, will enter liquidation on the 23rd August with the loss of 70 jobs. A total of 75 vehicles were operated between them.

[Biggles]

I presume these purple and white are the vehicles I see collecting from schools near me in Wallasey. All I can say is they look like they should be scrapped most are filthy dirty, lack ownership decals and as for conforming to PSV drivers and conductors Regulations if they still exist, drivers sit and drive and allow numerous children to stand and not sit and also congregate around the platform near to and chat with the driver. All of which I thought was prohibited ?

[Deleted]

Aug 11, 2011 22:34:49 GMT 1 Biggles said:

I presume these purple and white are the vehicles I see collecting from schools near me in Wallasey. All I can say is they look like they should be scrapped most are filthy dirty,

Possibly not, unless it's an old coach you observed. With being one of the better of the small operators they didn't have old buses. Many were brand new. In fact the parent company have just placed 22 of Supertravels vehicles up for sale, 16 of which are buses with the oldest being a 2002 Plaxton Pointer and the newest, a 2010 Plaxton Centro. A further five coaches for sale range from a 1995 Plaxton Beaver to a 2004 Optare Solera. As for cleanliness, it's possible the parent company may not be as keen on that as Supertravel was as their also selling a 3.5 ton road sweeper built in 1997.

As for PSV regs - yes, they still exist - though you would sometimes wonder.

[groundhugger]

Always thought there had to be a superviser/chaperone to 'ride herd' on schoolbus service or is that just school trips , you cant expect a driver to maintain discipline , it aint his job !
The last working days of old buses seems to be the 'School run' about 3 hours work a day , although there was the introduction of modern yellow [US style] school buses introduced by the last Labour lot.
but I suspect a lot of school run bus's were 'sub contract' one man band/bus operations

[Deleted]

Not sure about that as it's many years since I've driven a school but but when I did it depended on the type of school if you had an assistant or not. The yellow school buses were an industry initiative and the likes of the big groups imported the initial examples in from the USA before opting for home made versions. It's unusual to subcontract these as companies tent to put extremely low tenders in for them and therefore would only do it as an emergency e.g. if one broke down or staff shortages. The 'First Bus' group introduced the yellow buses to Liverpool from a base in Knowsley a few years back but soon withdrew from the market as there just wasn't enough money in it to make it worth their while.

[Deleted]

It's ironic that just two weeks after mentioning the yellow school buses the largest supplier in the UK - BMC plc has been petitioned with a windup order from HMRC.

I've also been reading the head of the Passenger Transport Executive Group (PTEG) of which Merseytravel is a member insisting bus companies are making huge profits. Obviously, their not looking in their own back yard. The amount of companies going bust at the moment should be ringing alarm bells within the PTEG but obviously not. Knowing the percentage one of the largest groups in Europe is making I can think of a lot more profitable businesses to be in.