A Welsh bus company has ceased trading in the same month that another is due to lose its operating licence.
Last year councils were hit by the sudden closure of three Welsh bus companies, including Wrexham-based GHA Coaches. Last weekend, 19-vehicle D Jones & Son, also of Wrexham, withdrew its services. They included routes to Wrexham Industrial Estate, home of Britain’s biggest prison.
Elsewhere in North Wales, 55-vehicle Express Motors will lose its licence on 31 December following a public inquiry in August.
Licence revocation was deferred to allow time for a new company to be formed, with new management, to avoid interrupting services. However, the hearing for the licence application will not be held until 17 January. Other operators will take over Express Motors’ principal routes in the interim.
A spokesman for Welsh traffic commissioner Nick Jones said the licence application remained outstanding because this month the commissioner received a report of unsatisfactory maintenance, including a wheel-loss incident. The existing licence had not been extended, and the orders of revocation would come into effect as directed.
Express Motors, established in 1909, operates many tendered services for Gwynedd council. Its commercial operations include services on the Welsh Government’s TrawsCymru long-distance network.
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