Express Motors
Parent | Eric Jones |
---|---|
Founded | 1908 |
Defunct | December 2017 |
Headquarters | Penygroes |
Service area | Gwynedd |
Service type | Bus services |
Fleet | 40 (September 2012) |
Website | www.expressmotors.co.uk |
Express Motors was a bus and coach hire company based in Penygroes, Gwynedd. The company operated public bus services in the Caernarfon, Porthmadog, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Bangor and Llandudno areas, as well as long-distance TrawsCambria service T2 between Bangor and Aberystwyth.
History
Express Motors was established in 1908.[1] It remained a family-owned business and was owned by Eric Jones.[2] It operated a small number of local bus services alongside its main coach hire work until 1970, when the bus routes were sold to Silver Star.[3]
With
In 2005 the company began a new route linking
The four bus services operated by Silver Star were taken over by Express Motors along with four buses in November 2010 in a move which reversed the events of 1970.[3]
As at September 2012 Express Motors operated 25 buses and 15 coaches.[5][6]
2016 crash and license revocation
In July 2016, an Express Motors coach carrying 42 children and 6 teachers from a Cheltenham School left the motorway after the driver fell asleep.[7] The coach left the A39 Motorway in France near Lons-le-Saunier and the Swiss border.[8] The bus overturned and came to a stop in a ditch, resulting in fifteen injuries, including one student who was airlifted to hospital with life-threatening injuries.[8]
In August 2017, an investigation found that maintenance records had been falsified. The company's licence was revoked with effect from 31 December.[9][10] Former Caernarfon, Bangor and Blaenau Ffestiniog routes were re-tendered and awarded to Arriva Buses Wales[11][12] and South Gwynedd routes were awarded to Lloyds Coaches.[12]
After the end of Express Motors operations, a submission for a new licence under the name Express Motors (Caernarfon) was submitted by former directors of the original company.[13] It emerged during the enquiry that the original company had continued some of its operations into January 2018 without a licence.[14] The submission was rejected in February 2018.[15]
In October 2018 the owner, Eric Wyn Jones and his 3 sons also involved with the business, were jailed for fraudulently claiming over £500,000 for 88,000 journeys never taken. The sentences ranged from 6-7.5 years.[16] The men had previously been arrested on suspicion of fraud.[17]
References
- ^ About Us Express Motors
- ^ Wales Online. 8 March 2011.
- ^ Buses Magazine (668). Ian Allan Publishing: 8.
- ^ Saxby, Bob (Autumn 1996). "Bws Gwynedd: The end of an era". Buses Focus: 36–42.
- ^ Our Fleet - Buses Express Motors
- ^ Our Fleet - Coaches Express Motors
- ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
- ^ a b "Cheltenham school pupils injured in France coach crash". BBC News. 23 July 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
- ^ "France crash bus firm Express Motors to lose licence". BBC News. 22 August 2017. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
- ^ Gedge, Antony (24 August 2017). "Two family-run companies have bus licences revoked". Cambrian News. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
- ^ "Express Motors Cease Trading". Arriva. 20 December 2017. Archived from the original on 21 December 2017. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
- ^ a b Crump, Eryl (19 December 2017). "Passengers fear impact of service cuts as new operators take over Gwynedd routes". DailyPost. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
- ^ Crump, Eryl (17 January 2018). "New Express Motors to bid for licence to operate Gwynedd bus services". North Wales Live. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
- ^ Crump, Eryl (17 January 2018). "Bus firm 'operating without licence' when it took schoolchildren, tribunal hears". North Wales Live. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
- ^ Crump, Eryl (26 February 2018). "Bid to set-up 'new' Express Motors thrown out by Traffic Commissioner". North Wales Live. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
- ^ "Express Motors: Bus owner and sons jailed after fraud". BBC News. 31 October 2018. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
- ^ Crump, Eryl (2 October 2018). "How Express Motors' proud 100-year history was brought to a shameful end". North Wales Live. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
External links
- Express Motors website (Archive)