Speedwellbus

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Has anyone heard of the outcome of their latest transgression?

 

[martinsh]

What do you mean "Latest" ? How many have they had ?

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

They are notorious for being a very unprofessional organisation with many operational and maintenance problems. The latest matter concerned the withdrawal of the S50 service by the company and they were accused of not operating a registered service after they had been refused "short notice cancellation".

 

[Jonfun]

It really was a shame about the S50. Despite the problems of those running it it was a very reliable (well, in comparison to FirstBus... mind you, a wingless aircraft would be too.) service. Faster (it avoided Tameside Hospital), cheaper and ran on time...

 

[radamfi]

According to the GM Buses Yahoo Group:

From N&Ps dated 6th Jan
Section 5.2 – Decisions Taken at Public Inquiries
Public Inquiry (42159) held at Hillcrest House, Hillcrest House, 386 Harehills Lane, Leeds, LS9 6NF on 27 September 2011 at 11:00(Previous Publication2582)
PC1061974 SN
SPEEDWELLBUS LTD
Director(s): JACK HAMPSON.
C/O JOHN G WINTERBOTTOM, RAGLAN STREET , HYDE SK14 2DX, GB
PSV – S17 – Licence revoked with effect from 23:59 on 31 March 2012

Previously the company was given a penalty of £5,600 for not operating a registered service (S50) after having been refused a “short notice cancellation”. The Deputy Traffiic Commissioner was not satisfied that Speedwell had shown a reasonable excuse for the cancellation; that to find “reasonable excuse” would be unfair to bus operators who operated within the rules; and that she did not want to risk setting a precedent which would allow any operator who had lost money to cancel services at short notice without appropriate arrangements being made.were fined for not running S50 til the end of the nmotice period (around Easter time last year?)

So perhaps they didn't pay their fine??

Time for TfGM to replace the tenders which I believe are:
188
202
341 342
343 344
394
395 396

--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
More discussion here:

http://manchestertransport.wordpress.com/2011/12/08/speedwell-fined-over-suspension-of-s50/

including comments from Paul Sidorczuk.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Thank you for this information.

 

[jnrsnr]

since September they have been extremely unreliable in running the 343 service from Oldham to Hyde, strangely only at 1550

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

This news may well explain the fact that on 6th January 2012, an application was made for the registration of a company called Speedwell Travel Services, which has exactly the same address details as Speedwellbus. One particular point to note that is common to both of these two companies is the name of Jack Hampson....need I say more?

 

[johnnychips]

Have they any commercial services left? The S48 and S50 have been withdrawn as well as the 397 and 239 subsidised ones.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

The word is out on both "Manchester Transport" and "East of the M60" that today will be the company's last day of operation and emergency tender replacement is being attended to by TfGM.

Not at all surprised by anything that concerns this company.

 

[northernrail]

Looks as though SpeedWell Buses have ceased trading.

 

[radamfi]

Confirmed on their Facebook page.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Many of the emergency tendered services have been already let to replacement operators.

 

[johnnychips]

Many of the emergency tendered services have been already let to replacement operators.

Stotts have taken over 202/341 and Bowers 394.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Stotts have taken over 202/341 and Bowers 394.

With Bowers taking over the 394 service from Stepping Hill Hospital, this should see a much better quality of vehicles on that particular route.

 

[trentside]

With Bowers taking over the 394 service from Stepping Hill Hospital, this should see a much better quality of vehicles on that particular route.

With the Centrebus group that isn't always guaranteed.

 

[Nym]

Supprised Maytree didn't bid for it, although they don't have much going spare at the moment, same as SLT, taking on new buses from Strawberry...

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

With the Centrebus group that isn't always guaranteed.

I have never been on any bus provided by Bowers that have been remotely as bad as what Speedwellbus had been using on the 394 service from Stepping Hill Hospital.

Have you seen what Speedwellbus have been providing on that route?

 

[Nym]

I've seen what they used to run round me near Ancoats, and I'm surprised they kept their O Licence...

 

[gnolife]

Back in the days when Speedwell ran evening trips on the 369 (Thats Airport-Stockport via Cheadle Hulme), I found that they tended to run better buses than Stagecoach (the main operator on the route) did. Clearly something changed with them for the worse.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Back in the days when Speedwell ran evening trips on the 369 (Thats Airport-Stockport via Cheadle Hulme), I found that they tended to run better buses than Stagecoach (the main operator on the route) did. Clearly something changed with them for the worse.

Indeed this is the case that the quality of their fleet and the standard of the maintenance really "plummeted" over the last few years.

 

[trentside]

I have never been on any bus provided by Bowers that have been remotely as bad as what Speedwellbus had been using on the 394 service from Stepping Hill Hospital.

Have you seen what Speedwellbus have been providing on that route?

If it's anything like this, then Bowers will no doubt be a huge step up.

To be fair, my earlier comment about Centrebus is based on past experiences. It seems their fleet has improved a great deal in the last few years.

 

[martinsh]

With Bowers taking over the 394 service from Stepping Hill Hospital, this should see a much better quality of vehicles on that particular route.

last time I rode on route 394 (some years ago) it was operated by Bowers !

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

If it's anything like this, then Bowers will no doubt be a huge step up.

This would have been the creme de la creme of the Speedwellbus recent offerings to their long-suffering passengers.