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Padarn Bus

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Alzarian16 (talk | contribs) at 16:31, 20 August 2012 (→Routes: 72A not listed on company's route list, presumably withdrawn). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Padarn Bus
Founded1979
HeadquartersLlanberis, Gwynedd
Service areaGwynedd
Service typeBus
Routes19
Websitewww.padarnbus.co.uk

Padarn Bus is a bus company based in Llanberis, Gwynedd, Wales. It operates a fleet of around 40 buses on 18 routes in North Wales. Many of its vehicles and routes were acquired when it merged with larger company KMP.

History

The company was founded as a taxi firm in 1979 by Dafydd and Darren Price, moving into coach hire in 1984.[1] The name is derived from the nearby Llyn Padarn lake. Padarn began operating a tendered route in Bangor in 1989 as part of the Bws Gwynedd scheme.[2] It won work on Anglesey a year later and launched two competing routes in Bangor with new Dennis Darts in 1991.[3] However, in 1995 the loss of contracted work prompted the company to give up local service work, although some school contracts continued.[2]

In 2003 the company returned to local bus operation by winning Conwy Council contracted route 75 (Llandudno - Llanfairfechan), but was forced to give this up in January 2006 due to rising costs. However, in October 2005 it launched its first commercial route, an hourly service 77 linking Bangor and Bethesda, and quickly followed this with a similar hourly route 76. This was reported to be at the request of local councillers unhappy with the parallel service provided by Arriva Buses Wales.[1]

Later in 2006 passengers in the Maesgeirchen area of Bangor asked Padarn to provide a service as an alternative to Arriva's route. A half-hourly service numbered 71 was introduced and is still operated.[4] Padarn now also runs route 79 from Maesgeirchen to Parc Menai, which replaces the old 79 Service which was previously operated by Arriva

Merger with KMP

In 2007 Ken Williams, the manager of 34-vehicle independent KMP of Llanberis, announced that he wished to sell the business. Padarn were interested in buying KMP as Darren Price had previously worked at the company, but were unable to meet the cost required to buy the whole of KMP. However, in August 2008 Arriva bought part of KMP, including seven vehicles and the then service number 10 route from Bangor to Caernarfon.[4]

The remainder of KMP was sold to Padarn in April 2009 in what was technically a merger to create a new limited company, Padarn Bus Ltd. It had been intended that the deal should occur several months earlier, but it had been delayed owing to a lack of funding due to the credit crunch.[5][6] As part of the deal KMP's former Office Manager David Hulme became a director of Padarn.[4]

The acquisition took the combined fleet size to 36 vehicles operating a total of 18 routes and safeguarded 50 jobs.[4] Shortly after the sale was announced a local community council reported that buses were operating at the wrong times on one route (S4).[6] This however turned out to be an error by the county council in not updating bus stop displays.[4] Padarn Bus continues to grow and has recently introduced a local service in Bangor providing a service to the large Tesco Extra store.

Routes

[7]

Fleet

The fleet consists of 40 vehicles, 26 of which came from KMP and ten from the original Padarn fleet. The bus fleet operating regular services consists of fourteen Dennis Darts (with bodies from three builders), two Mercedes-Benz Varios (bearing Derry City Registrations), two Mercedes-Benz 811Ds, four Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Darts, six Optare Solos, an Optare Versa, one Wright StreetLite and two Volvo B6BLEs. The coach fleet consists of four Volvo B10Ms, a Neoplan Cityliner and a Mercedes-Benz Vario (also bearing a Derry City Registration).[8]

Double deck vehicles in the fleet include two Leyland Olympians, three Volvo Olympians with Alexander bodies, three MCW Metrobuses and a Northern Counties Palatine. An elderly open-top Leyland Atlantean (new to Plymouth Citybus) is used on routes S1 and S2 around Llanberis in the summer.[4]

Padarn had bought additional vehicles at a rate of one a year between 2006 and 2008.[4] In late April 2009 the newly enlarged company bought its first new vehicle, an Optare Versa single-decker used on route 77.[9] Three integral Wright StreetLite midibuses entered service in late 2010 for use on contracted routes on Anglesey; these were the first of the type to be delivered to a company other than Bus Vannin.[10] These were withdrawn and returned to a dealer in May 2011 due to reliability issues.[11] They were replaced by three new Alexander Dennis Enviro200s.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b Clark, Rhodri (May 2006). "Independents on a Welsh march". Buses (614): 32.
  2. ^ a b Saxby, Bob (Autumn 1996). "Bws Gwynedd: The end of an era". Buses Focus: 42.
  3. ^ Brown, Stewart J (September 1993). Buses in Britain. Capital Transport. p. 222. ISBN 1-85414-158-9.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Clark, Rhodri (July 2009). "Welsh takeover with a difference". Buses (652): 34–36.
  5. ^ BBC NEWS | Wales | North West Wales | Jobs safe as bus companies merge
  6. ^ a b Daily Post North Wales - News - Gwynedd bus companies merge to keep 50 jobs
  7. ^ Padarn Bus - Timetables
  8. ^ a b Padarn Bus Co. Fleet List
  9. ^ New Versa for Padarn Bus >> Bus Sales and Rentals from Mistral Group
  10. ^ Blakemore, Tim (February 2011). "Reading the signals". Buses Magazine (671): 24–26.
  11. ^ Lidstone, John G. (July 2011). "Fleet News England & Wales". Buses Magazine (676): 68.
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