Saturday 2nd December 2023 And so to Z. Z&S Transport is one of several small bus companies in the Buckinghamshire area around Aylesbury which have prospered from gaining bus tenders as well as contracts for school tansport and bus and coach hire. It's typical of a whole genus of bus company that's the backbone of... Continue Reading →
Saturday 18th November 2023 The current use of the York Pullman name began as recently as 2007. That’s when haulage firm K&J Logistics which had a small fleet of buses and coaches resurrected the York Pullman brand, it being unregistered having been abandoned five years earlier by First York which in turn had acquired the... Continue Reading →
Saturday 4th November 2023 The newest of my fortnightly AtoZ of bus and train companies, Xelabus was only formed as recently as November 2010 by Gareth Blair. Based in Eastleigh on an adjacent unit to Bluestar on the Barton Park Industrial Estate, I recall an enjoyable visit there back in 2019 as part of the... Continue Reading →
Saturday 21st October 2023 My fortnightly A to Z of bus and train companies is now in the home straight (just three more after today’s blog) and once again I had a dilemma of what to feature for W. White Bus was my plan but then I heard from Richard Wood, Secretary of the Cambridge... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 10th October 2023 A ride on the historic Volk’s railway along the seafront is a must for every Brighton visitor. The mile long railway is “the world’s oldest working electric railway” having begun in 1883 by the pioneer inventor and electrical wizard Magnus Volk. It’s been running from the Aquarium east of Brighton Pier... Continue Reading →
Saturday 23rd September 2023 This is possibly the most unusual bus company to be featured in this fortnightly AtoZ series in that it’s in the public sector but not a municipal. Owned by the University of Hertfordshire it was originally called UnuversityBus when first established in 1992 when it would be fair to say operations... Continue Reading →
Saturday 9th September 2023 It’s the only former National Bus Company to still be owned by its original management buy-out team. It’s the pioneering and original trend setter of a whole host of marketing ideas in the bus industry that have stood the test of time and been much copied elsewhere including individual route branding... Continue Reading →
Saturday 26th August 2023 Until now I've avoided featuring bus companies owned by large transport groups for this series, preferring to write about some of the smaller ‘unsung hero’ bus companies, and while Stephensons and Safeguard are two obvious candidates for S, I decided to break my own self imposed rule because Southern Vectis is... Continue Reading →
Saturday 12th August 2023 It’s up there with Nottingham City Transport as one of the UK’s top bus companies. Reading Buses has long been admired for offering a high quality bus service with first class marketing with active support from a pro public transport Reading Borough Council, which also owns the business. It’s also benefitted... Continue Reading →
Saturday 29th July 2023 Preston Bus had a consistent pedigree from its initial municipal ownership in 1922, when the Council inherited the fledgling tram operation that had begun in 1904, right through until the management buy-out in 1993. Marking the 100th anniversary of municipal ownership last year with this heritage livery. However in the mid... Continue Reading →
15th July 2023 It's a true 'rags to riches' story. What at one time were run down unloved, and in some cases unknown, obscure railway lines skirting around London's suburbs with ageing, unreliable rolling stock serving uncared for stations susceptible to vandalism and graffiti, have been transformed into an attractive cohesive "joined up" (literally) railway... Continue Reading →
Saturday 1st July 2023 We’re now passed the alphabetical halfway mark so what better way to celebrate than visit Britain’s most capped bus company for industry awards and accolades. And all deservedly so. Nottingham City Transport (NCT) simply exudes quality in every aspect of its operation. Wherever you look you’ll find an excellent exemplar of... Continue Reading →
Thursday 22nd June 2023 We’ve reached the penultimate daily blog reviewing Isle of Man Transport’s operations and I couldn’t finish this series without referring to Bus Vannin’s dalliance with Demand Responsive Transport (DRT). It operates using a Flex branding and provides connections from communities in the far north of the Island to the bus station... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 20th June 2023 Welcome to the Snaefell Mountain Railway. Your ride is almost certain to begin in Laxey, the southern terminus of the railway and where it meets, but doesn't connect on the same tracks with, the Manx Electric Railway as featured in yesterday's blog in this daily series on the Isle of Man... Continue Reading →
Monday 19th June 2023 Continuing this special daily blog series on the variety of modes run by Isle of Man Transport brings us to the Manx Electric Railway. It's the "oldest electric tram line in the world whose original rolling stock is still in service". And it's a double celebration this year as while the... Continue Reading →
Sunday 18th June 2023 Welcome to the second part of this week long daily blog special featuring Isle of Man Transport. Today we take a ride on the Island's Steam Railway. It's celebrating its 150th Anniversary this year. The railway runs 15 and a half miles from Douglas south to Port Erin with a journey... Continue Reading →
Saturday 17th June 2023 The Isle of Man must certainly be the top destination to easily visit from the UK and enjoy a huge variety of public transport. In fact within five hours of landing at Ronaldsway Airport on my long weekend visit last month I'd taken a ride on a bus, a steam train,... Continue Reading →
Saturday 3rd June 2023 It's only been operating in north west Norfolk for eight years but its owner directors have a wealth of bus industry experience, making Lynx one of Britain's top quality independently owned bus companies and always a pleasure to travel with. The company is run by Julian Patterson who, together with Andy... Continue Reading →
Saturday 20th May 2023 It would have been another family owned small bus company on the back of a coach hire business to tell you about as my alphabetical ramblings continue, but the Sutton family who’d owned Kirkby Lonsdale Coach Hire Ltd since it was formed in 1991 sold it on to a company called... Continue Reading →
Saturday 6th May 2023 It may not be among the most well known bus companies in Britain, or even Scotland where it’s based (Wishaw just south of Motherwell) but now in its fifteenth year of operations, JMB Travel has carved out an impressive presence amid the otherwise domination of First Bus across Lanarkshire. JMB Travel... Continue Reading →
Saturday 22nd April 2023 Ipswich Buses is celebrating its 120th anniversary this year. Founded in 1903, it's one of just five municipally owned bus companies left in England (along with Blackpool, Nottingham, Reading and Warrington) with two more in Wales (Cardiff and Newport) and not forgetting Lothian in Scotland. The company's head office and bus... Continue Reading →
Saturday 8th April 2023 It's an Open Access duo for the next two letters in this year's fortnightly A to Z of bus and train companies enabling a 'compare and contrast' of two very similar rail businesses. Grand Central, owned by Arriva, was set up as an independent business in 2000 beginning operations in December... Continue Reading →
Thursday 23rd March 2023 After D for Delainie and E for Ensignbus I'm staying with the independent family owned bus company theme for my next visit in this year's A to Z series of bus and train companies and headed over to Chippenham on Tuesday for a look at the respected bus company based in... Continue Reading →
Thursday 9th March 2023 Sorry, East Midlands Railway you were going to be my E, but as today is a rather special occasion, being the very last day of an independently owned Ensignbus before midnight’s takeover by First Bus, I thought it only appropriate to mark this historic occasion with a special feature. I blogged... Continue Reading →
Saturday 11th February 2023 Chiltern Railways is how rail franchising was always meant to be. Commencing operations in July 1996 it was crucially awarded a lengthy 20 year franchise in 2000 enabling the late and much missed Adrian Shooter and his team to invest significantly in infrastructure improvements over that substantial timeline during which they... Continue Reading →
Saturday 28th January 2023 Blackpool Transport's history can be traced back 138 years to the Town Council's introduction of trams in September 1885. However, my 2023 fortnightly A-to-Z wander through selected bus and train operators is meant to be a contemporary commentary rather than a history lesson, so let's fast forward and see what the... Continue Reading →
Saturday 14th January 2023 Welcome to another year of A to Z fortnightly blogposts which for 2023 are featuring bus and train companies. I’m beginning with the ironically named Avanti West Coast .... bearing in mind recent history, ‘Avanti’ is Italian for ‘Forward’ “reflecting a mission to deliver an innovative railway service that is ready... Continue Reading →
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