Western Greyhound
 | |
| Founded | January 1998 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Summercourt |
| Service area |
Cornwall Devon |
| Routes | 63 |
| Depots | 1 |
| Fleet |
97 + 6 heritage vehicles (December 2012)[1] |
| Chief executive | Mark Howarth |
| Website | www.westerngreyhound.com |
Western Greyhound[2] is a bus operator based in Summercourt, Cornwall, United Kingdom. It operates many services throughout the county and also into Devon. Established in January 1998, it has been judged the Independent Bus Operator of the Year on several occasions. A fire at the depot in 2013 destroyed about one-third of the fleet.
History
Western Greyhound was established in January 1998 to take over the three vehicles and the contracts of Cornishman Coaches, whose owner was retiring. The new company's managing director was Mark Howarth who had previously managed Western National, the local Badgerline (later FirstGroup) operation, and he was joined by Robin Orwell who had also worked for Badgerline. Within a few weeks R&M Coaches, another local operator, also sold out to Western Greyhound which brought one more vehicle and an office near Newquay bus station.[3] This left one other independent bus operator in the town, Pleasure Travel Minicoaches, but this went out of business and the contracts were also taken on by Western Greyhound.[4]
The company expanded beyond contract and private hire work with their first public timetabled services on 14 December 1998. These two routes (592 and 594) were contracts awarded by Cornwall Council and were operated by three new minibuses. Further contracts were awarded in 2001, and double deck buses were added to the fleet to operate school routes relinquished by First Devon & Cornwall. Since then many more routes have been added to the network including some from Plymouth Citybus and DAC Coaches in the south east, and Hookways in the north. There have also been new routes instigated, such as Newquay to Bodmin, linking the two largest towns in the county hitherto not connected by bus, and a coastal route from Newquay to St Ives.[4]
The expanding fleet needed to operate these additional services saw the company move to a larger depot at nearby Summercourt. Initially it used established facilities there, but in 2004 a new purpose-built depot and offices were constructed. In the same year the old Newquay bus station was closed and replaced by a new facility. This is owned by Cornwall Council but is managed on their behalf by Western Greyhound, and their town centre shop was moved into new premises on the site.[4] The company maintains its bus stops and uses satellite tracking to monitor its fleet.[3]
The company won the Independent Operator of the Year at the UK Bus Awards in 2006, was runner up in 2007, but won it again in both 2008 and 2009.
2013 and 2014 depot fires
On 13 May 2013 a serious fire broke out at the company's Summercourt depot. The alarm was raised at just after 01:00. Strong winds fanned the flames which reached more than 50 feet (15 m) height; the fire was put out by 05:00. The fire service prevented it spreading to the workshops or offices and no one was injured. Investigations suggested it was an arson attack.[5][6] Thirty-four buses (about one-third of the fleet) were destroyed with a value in excess of £1 million.[7] Certain services had to be withdrawn or reduced in frequency for a while but a number of buses were hired in from other companies as short-term replacements.[8][9]
Buses were hired from Anglian Bus, Carmel Coaches, Arriva Midlands, Blackpool Transport, Nottingham City Transport, Norfolk Green, Summercourt Travel, Stagecoach South West and Stagecoach West.[7]
A second fire broke out in January 2014 which destroyed three buses.[10]
Area of operation
Western Greyhound is based at Summercourt in Newquay. It operates throughout Cornwall and into Devon, serving Plymouth, Okehampton and Exeter.[11]
From 2008 until September 2013 Western Greyhound operated the Truro park & ride service under contract to Cornwall Council. This is now operated by First Devon & Cornwall.[12][13]
Fleet
Western Greyhound operates a varied fleet. As at December 2012 (before the depot fire in May 2013) the fleet consisted of 97 buses, including 32 Mercedes-Benz step-entrance and 40 Optare low floor midibuses, most of which have coach seats. In addition, there is a small fleet of heritage vehicles that are used for special services and charters.[1] Western Greyhound roster their heritage fleet on normal route services during the last weekend of June each year.
| No | Type |
|---|---|
| 8 | Mercedes-Benz Citaro single deck |
| 2 | Alexander Dennis Enviro400 double deck |
| 4 | Dennis Trident 2 with Plaxton President double deck body |
| 11 | Volvo Olympian with East Lancs Pyoneer double deck body |
| 32 | Mercedes-Benz O814 Plaxton Beaver 2 body |
| 8 | Optare Solo M710SE |
| 4 | Optare Solo M850SL |
| 6 | Optare Solo M920 |
| 1 | Optare Solo M950SL |
| 13 | Optare Solo M950 |
| 8 | Optare Solo SR M995 |
Heritage fleet
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| Fleet number | Registration | Type | Built | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RM1062 | 62 CLT | AEC Routemaster | 1962 | London Transport red livery |
| RMA11 | NMY 648E | AEC Routemaster | 1967 | |
| RML2737 | SMK 737F | AEC Routemaster | 1967 | London Transport red livery |
| RF141 | MLL 528 | AEC Regal IV | 1952 | Single deck, formerly with Green Line[3] |
| 258 | LFJ 858W | Bristol VRT/SL3 with ECW body |
1980 | |
| 259 | JWV 259W | Bristol VRT/SL3 with ECW body |
1981 | Destroyed by the 2013 fire at the Summercourt depot[7] |
| 282 | LUA 282V | Leyland Leopard PSU5D/4R with Plaxton Supreme body |
1980 | Coach, previously with Cornishman Coaches;[4] not in service |
| 347 | MHJ 347F | Leyland Titan PD3/4 with East Lancs body |
1967 | Formerly with Southend Corporation Transport;[3] not in service |
| 2748 | EOO 590 | Bristol Lodekka FLF6B with ECW body |
1962 | Formerly with Eastern National;[3] not in service |
Liveries
Most service buses are in a bright green livery with a thin yellow strip. A large fleet name and a greyhound logo are applied in white. The Citaros used on the Truro Park & Ride service were painted blue,[1] One Mercedes-Benz/Plaxton Beaver midibus (599) and an Optare Solo carried a silver livery for a while but in 2012 (599) was repainted into a grey livery to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II.[1]
Bright green has not always been the fleet livery. When the services were first introduced the main colour was pink. This was used for several years but when FirstGroup introduced a blue and pink livery to their buses in the area a decision was taken to change the buses to a green livery which was paler than the colour now used.[3]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Fleet list". Western Greyhound. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- ↑ Companies House extract company no 3388055 Western Greyhound Limited
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Millar, Alan (April 2010). "Mr Cornwall". Buses (Ian Allan) 62 (661): 32–35. ISSN 0007-6392.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 A brief history of Western Greyhound
- ↑ Summercourt fire destroys 35 Western Greyhound fleet buses BBC News 13 May 2013
- ↑ Third man arrested over Western Greyhound Summercourt bus depot fire BBC News 24 July 2013
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Lidstone, John G (July 2013). "Fleet News". Buses (Key Publishing) 65 (700): 80. ISSN 0007-6392.
- ↑ Wilkins, Warren (15 May 2013). "Devastated". Newquay Voice. pp. 1–2.
- ↑ "Fire destroys one third of Western Greyhound fleet". Buses (Key Publishing) 65 (700): 80. July 2013. ISSN 0007-6392.
- ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-25875939
- ↑ "Route map". Western Greyhound. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
- ↑ First to run Truro park and ride service from September West Briton 1 August 2013
- ↑ Exciting new future for Truro Park & Ride First Devon & Cornwall 30 August 2013
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Western Greyhound. |
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