Transpora Group

Not to be confused with Transport UK Group.
Transpora Group
IndustryPublic Transport
Founded30 August 2021
HeadquartersLondon, England
Area served
England
Key people
Philip Higgs
(CEO)
ServicesBus
SubsidiariesTranspora North West
Websitewww.transporagroup.co.uk

Transpora Group[1] is a British public transport company, based in London, England. It primarily operates a mix of bus and coach services.

History

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Wright Eclipse Urban bodied Volvo B7RLE on park & ride duty in Weymouth in August 2023

Founded in August 2021, Transpora Group purchased Altonian Coaches of Eastleigh in February 2022.[2] The company begun contracted work in September 2022 to cover for the services formerly ran by HCT Group in Bristol when it entered into administration.[3] A month later in October, it announced at Showbus it was to begin running a heritage bus service in London using acquired AEC Routemasters on its new Route A between London Waterloo station and Piccadilly Circus under the Londoner Buses brand.[4][5]

In December 2022, Transpora Group began running service 72 on behalf of the Lancashire County Council.[6] It was originally run as service 20 under Blackpool Transport but was withdrawn citing low passenger numbers and financial losses.[7] In March 2023, the company was awarded four school routes to a number of schools in Poole and Bournemouth, which commenced on 20 March 2023.[8] Two months later, a tour service was launched in Bournemouth using a range of open and closed top buses (the latter of which were originally from the defunct Yellow Buses) under the Bournemouth Coaster brand. This tour service ran between Boscombe Pier and Hengistbury Head via Bournemouth Pier.[9] These five services were cancelled with effect 23 August 2023.[10]

In June 2023, Transpora Group announced they were running a new service connecting Newport, Wales and Bristol, England starting from 3 July 2023.[11] The company was also awarded a park & ride contract in Weymouth to run between July and September 2023 where customers of the P&R site do not pay for parking and only pay for the bus fare.[12]

Network withdrawals and Traffic Commissioner rulings

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In July 2024, Transpora abruptly ceased its operations in Bristol and Gloucestershire. The Big Lemon and Stagecoach West stepped in to take over some services.[13][14][15]

On July 8, 2024, Phillip Higgs became the sole director of the company after Rhys Hand, the company's founder was removed from his position. The Traffic Commissioner held a public inquiry into the company and asked the company's directors to attend. They found one of the company's buses stranded on an unlit A road, more buses in its depot in Poole than were supposed to be, with one of the buses not having the correct operating licences, as well as the sudden cessation of services in Bristol and Gloucestershire which meant bus operators having to scramble to keep them served with buses. The verdict from the traffic commisioner was that Altonian Coaches, who held the operating licence for Transpora's operations in Bristol was to be revoked and fined £8250, and Rhys Hand is disqualified from holding or applying for an operating licence in any area until August 2029.[16][17]

Operations

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Transpora Group operates bus services in London and Blackpool.[18][19] It had started to run services in Bristol in 2022 as Transpora South West,[20] but these ceased in 2024 following a breakdown in the relationship between one of its former regional operations managers, Rhys Hand, and the firm's owner Phillip Higgs.[21]

Transpora North West

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Transpora North West
A Transpora North West Alexander Dennis Enviro200 MMC in Fleetwood in May 2023
FormerlyNuttall's Coaches Ltd.
Coastliner
ParentTranspora Group
Founded2007 (17 years ago) (2007)
HeadquartersMereside, Blackpool, Lancashire
LocaleLancashire
Service area
Service typeBus
Fleet32 (August 2023)

As Transpora North West, the group operates buses in west Lancashire, England,[22][23] with eleven bus routes in Blackpool, the Borough of Fylde and the Borough of Wyre. Transpora North West was founded in 2007 as Nuttall's Coaches Ltd., and operated under this name until 2019, when the company was renamed Coastliner Buses.[23] In 2022, Coastliner became part of Transpora Group and was subsequently rebranded to Transpora North West.[citation needed] As of August 2023, Transpora North West had a fleet of 32 buses.[24]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "TRANSPORA GROUP LIMITED". Companies House. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
  2. ^ "Altonian Coaches". transporagroup.co.uk. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  3. ^ Hilson, Aaron (20 September 2022). "Replacements for Bristol Community Transport services commence; The Big Lemon to arrive in October". Coach & Bus Week. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  4. ^ Hilson, Aaron (4 October 2022). "Londoner Buses announces launch date at Showbus". Coach & Bus Week. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  5. ^ team, London SE1 website. "Routemaster buses return to South Bank on new daily service". London SE1. Retrieved 11 August 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ "Council steps in to save vital Wyre bus link". Lancashire County Council News. 22 November 2022. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  7. ^ "Changes to your Services 1 and 20. - Enjoyable Travel Along the Fylde Coast". Blackpool Transport. 22 March 2023. Archived from the original on 22 March 2023. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  8. ^ "Goodbye yellow, hello white: New bus operator servicing schools comes to BCP". Bournemouth Echo. 3 March 2023. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  9. ^ "New coastal bus route launches (and you might recognise one of the vehicles)". Bournemouth Echo. 14 May 2023. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  10. ^ "Bus variations west of England". data.gov.uk. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  11. ^ "New direct Newport to Bristol bus service announced - starting soon". South Wales Argus. 25 June 2023. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  12. ^ "New park and ride service to launch in Weymouth". Dorset Echo. 18 July 2023. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  13. ^ Hacker, Simon (16 July 2024). "Bus routes in danger as operator goes to the wall". Punchline. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
  14. ^ Cork, Tristan (16 July 2024). "Mystery as bus firm halts services suddenly leaving routes at risk". Somerset Live. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
  15. ^ Limbu, Dawn (17 July 2024). "Transpora pulls out of Bristol and Gloucestershire routes". BBC News. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
  16. ^ Cork, Tristan (23 August 2024). "Director of bus firm banned after Bristol services suddenly stopped". Bristol Live. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  17. ^ "Transpora Bus fined after collapse hit routes in Bristol". BBC News. 28 August 2024. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  18. ^ "Routes & Times". transporabus.co.uk. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  19. ^ Sinclair, Ashleigh (13 December 2022). "Council steps in to save Wyre bus link". Coach & Bus Week. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  20. ^ "Transpora pulls out of Bristol and Gloucestershire routes". BBC News. 17 July 2024.
  21. ^ "Transpora Bus fined after collapse hit routes in Bristol". BBC News. 28 August 2024.
  22. ^ "COASTLINER BUSES LTD - BLACKPOOL". www.checkcompany.co.uk. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  23. ^ a b "COASTLINER BUSES LTD overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  24. ^ "Fleet list for Transpora North West". Transpora North West. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
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