Travel Express / Lets Go

[4006]

y184 knb back out on 32/33 Ex Munro's Dart W362 ABD on no.3 fordhouses to wolves

Chased this for ages for this poor photo

http://www.flickr.com/photos/retroscania/10987000974/

Tried me best  :P

[John]

Newest purchase, 'Y131 GBO' Dart/ALX200

http://www.flickr.com/photos/granradjd/11233723264/

[Solo1]

anyone looking for the odd caryle dart H802OPT  is is stored found this out while getting their latest bus http://www.flickr.com/photos/stanjack/11256730806/

[mranon]

travel express had their 32/33 service completely low floor friday/saturday, with the usual 2 alx200 darts, and the two recently acquired w/51 reg ex munros darts. the latter looking tatty especially w reg. the 51 plate dart sounds like it has a different engine

[Trident 4609]

travel express had their 32/33 service completely low floor friday/saturday, with the usual 2 alx200 darts, and the two recently acquired w/51 reg ex munros darts. the latter looking tatty especially w reg. the 51 plate dart sounds like it has a different engine

Yes the 51 plate has a Euro 3 engine with the W Reg having a Euro 2 engine

[iamwilljh92]

Stupid as this may sound BUT are any of there vehicles actually legal?

Standing in Wolverhampton bus station on Tuesday night, I saw to my horror vehicles varying in age from around 23/24 to 21/22 years of age (H - J reg) now forgive me for acting daft but surely they are not legal and also shouldn't be in service now surely they should of all been withdrawn years ago and they can't be DDA compliant which means by law Travel Express could be prosecuted for keeping vehicles in service that are non compliant right? I don't know perhaps I'm wrong

[PM]

Stupid as this may sound BUT are any of there vehicles actually legal?

Standing in Wolverhampton bus station on Tuesday night, I saw to my horror vehicles varying in age from around 23/24 to 21/22 years of age (H - J reg) now forgive me for acting daft but surely they are not legal and also shouldn't be in service now surely they should of all been withdrawn years ago and they can't be DDA compliant which means by law Travel Express could be prosecuted for keeping vehicles in service that are non compliant right? I don't know perhaps I'm wrong

Still legal, yes, thank goodness. DDA compliant vehicles are not mandatory until 2017 so providing Travel Express's vehicles are well-maintained then they are absolutely fine.

[mranon]

i wonder how many of their low floors meet the 2017 dda requirements? i reckon they will miss the older buses as to be fair to them, although they look scruffy, they are out there every day. i personally wish he would gain an identity such as choice/midland did, and select. saying that though, id want to remain anonymous with 2 drivers he has on the same route everyday. they even cut themselves up!!!

[PM]

i wonder how many of their low floors meet the 2017 dda requirements? i reckon they will miss the older buses as to be fair to them, although they look scruffy, they are out there every day. i personally wish he would gain an identity such as choice/midland did, and select. saying that though, id want to remain anonymous with 2 drivers he has on the same route everyday. they even cut themselves up!!!

Does a competing operator NEED an identity? I would broadly agree with what you have written above but having used Bristol Road services for many years, we have seen several companies with no real identity-to be fair travel express buses say so-but the BR has seen East West Travel ltd-who were they, bull ring travel, a line, thandi and many just had a red livery. My point is: if a bus arrives at the stop where a cash payer is waiting, stops and has 63 written on the front, the cash payer will more than likely get on. They would not stand there and worry whether it was a diamond bus or NXWM unless they had a pass. Indeed, many of the companies I mentioned seemed to do ok on the BR and keep many people in employment. Shame it all disappeared and I am looking forward to DTS arriving on the route. After all, they will be providing new jobs for drivers, competition etc etc. Good luck, I say.

[mranon]

well, if only you looked more carefully - apart from legal writing - to which its missing on 2 low floors they have, the buses are all in their former operators livery. some passengers think they are catching handyrider, jpt travel, or acl travel, which is on 3 buses (orange ones which acl was a weston super mare based op). yes the ticket out of etm may say travel express, but its amazing how many people comment on them in wolverhampton, and say they waiting for the acl bus etc.

coastal liner have the majority of their vehicles in some kind of livery, new operator select have theirs all liveried up. when you consider that travel express runs twice the services of them, it dont look good. look at banga, yes older vehicles but they have had a clear identity since the word go. this reply is merely reflecting on your original observation of travel express, and is not a dig. i like smaller ops, as they tend to not be bogged down by politics so can do as they please to some extent. they may keep same driver on same bus, on same route which regular passengers then get to know. i used to use the old green bus service a lot instead of travel wm. those old buses were hellfire. they were always smart and clean, and can honestly say the only time one ever missed a trip that i know of, is when another vehicle crashed into it. very rare to see one broken down, and if there was a problem, driver would ring up, and a change bus would be bought out.

[Liverpool Street]

Mr Anon. Its the same as Midland Rider. Excellent punctuality and excellent brand image. -Its as if Travel Express just don't care. (Well, a lot of one man band ones are breaking the rules now!)

[Tony]

i wonder how many of their low floors meet the 2017 dda requirements? i reckon they will miss the older buses as to be fair to them, although they look scruffy, they are out there every day. i personally wish he would gain an identity such as choice/midland did, and select. saying that though, id want to remain anonymous with 2 drivers he has on the same route everyday. they even cut themselves up!!!

Does a competing operator NEED an identity? I would broadly agree with what you have written above but having used Bristol Road services for many years, we have seen several companies with no real identity-to be fair travel express buses say so-but the BR has seen East West Travel ltd-who were they, bull ring travel, a line, thandi and many just had a red livery. My point is: if a bus arrives at the stop where a cash payer is waiting, stops and has 63 written on the front, the cash payer will more than likely get on. They would not stand there and worry whether it was a diamond bus or NXWM unless they had a pass. Indeed, many of the companies I mentioned seemed to do ok on the BR and keep many people in employment. Shame it all disappeared and I am looking forward to DTS arriving on the route. After all, they will be providing new jobs for drivers, competition etc etc. Good luck, I say.

Yes, they all worked really well, that is why they are still there, oh they're not!

Apart from Travel Express, I think every operator you mention had there license revoked, yes that is working well! How many of those passengers you mention realised they were getting on a badly maintained vehicle with drivers not always adhering to driving hours rules.

I am not against competition, I just think it should be of a quality that doesn't attract the attention of VOSA

[mranon]

i agree, travel express really need to sort themselves out. they need to train there drivers, get an image, and look at gaps in services. a good example is  they could link up say an 11 and 32 serving bushbury crem etc, a place where during the daytime is a long walk from any frequent bus service. one bus an hour could work. all they interested in is running on existing routes trying any which way they can to get in front of other services, with no regard to passenger/road users/ other buses safety. today they were even carving one another up on the same route!!!!

[winston]

Acquired from Ensign during Dec

Darts Y244 / 252FJN : T   ravel Express, Wolverhampton.

[NXWM Spectra]

I expect it won't be long now before the 'H' reg Buses will be withdrawn unfortunately. Unless they plan to increase vehicle requirement by increasing frequency on an existing route or registering a new one.