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N E News 31st December 2019

Pats Coaches, Southsea, Wrexham
The team coach has arrived - it is YT11LPX a Scania K400EB6 / Irizar I5 - C35Ft and it was new in August 2011 to The Kings Ferry Limited, Gillingham. It has not yet received vinyls and these should appear soon probably in a revised version of the firm's twirls. The coach will be having its first job on 1st January 2020 taking the Wrexham team to an away game in Chorley.
<PHOTO YT11LPX> <PHOTO YT11LPX lounge area> <PHOTO YT11LPX inside> <PHOTO YT11LPX cab>.
The former team coach V11PPC (FC07MCF) and OOC884 (Scania K114EB6 / Irizar) are both for sale.


M and H Coaches, Trefnant, Denbigh
The Versa purchased to work the new 29 Mold to Wrexham via Penyffordd service starting on 20th January is the former D Jones and Son YJ13HJO

D Jones and Son, Acrefair, Wrexham
As indicated above the Versa YJ13HJO has been sold to M and H Coaches. This now leaves three vehicles from the fleet when the firm ceased trading two years ago. (AE07DZB/C ADL Darts SLF / MCV and YX05AVK Mercedes-Benz Vario O814D / Autobus Classique.)

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N E Wales News 6th January 2020

George Edwards, Bwlchgwyn, Wrexham
Now with the fleet is a Tourismo which currently has the registration number PO11OYD but this is likely to change fairly soon. The coach has come from P & O Lloyd, Bagillt, Holywell. It was new in 3/2011 as BN11UGB to Clarkes of London, Lower Sydenham. It transferred to P & O in December 2018. It has a wheelchair lift and has been purchased due to that fact. <PHOTO PO11OYD>

Strafford's Coaches, Minera, Wrexham
Just arrived are DX53LFB/O two Iveco Irisbus Scolabus 150E24 / Vehixel [B63FL]. They were new to Staffordshire CC in January 2004 and then they passed to Belle Vue, Heaton Chapel from where they came. <PHOTO 2 x Scolabus>

Price Coaches, New Broughton, Wrexham
A decision has been taken not to add to the fleet at this moment mainly due to the extension granted in respect of PSVAR compliance for coaches used for schools.

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N E Wales News - 9th January 2020

P and O Lloyd, Bagillt, Holywell
3 brand new Mercedes Benz Tourismos have now been delivered to the depot this week. They are in P and O livery and ready for use but will not be registered and operated until March 2020. <PHOTO3> and <INSIDE>
Two Tourismos BG64UZU and BG64UZV have this week gone to Evobus, Coventry in part exchange. Tourismo PO11OYD has left the feet and is now with George Edwards, Bwlchgwyn, Wrexham.
A loan vehilce from the Flintshire County Council fleet is operated by P and O Lloyd for use on the LT1/2/3 services (RhesyCae, Caerwys, Greenfield). From January 2019 this was MX18 AVR a Peugeot Boxer 440. This has now changed to FP18FEV a Mercedes Benz 516CDI / Minibus Options - M16. It is in the latest Flintshire CC livery <PHOTO FP18FEV>

Voel Coaches, Dyserth, Rhyl
Optare Solo MW52PZC which was withdrawn in March 2018 has been sold to a person in the Caernarfon area for the engine and other spares.
R792PAO (Volvo B10M / Plaxton Premier 320) is being sold to Go Goodwins, Manchester and is seen <HERE> having had its vinyls removed and its last wash.

Chevron Training, Flint
In September 2019 the firm took delivery of IIG8309 (Scania K114EB4 / Irizar Century) which has since been fitted for driver training and given a Chevron livery. It is now in use and is <SEEN HERE>. The Dennis Dart KU02YTW has finally been withdrawn and will be scrapped after nearly 5 years service.

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N E Wales News 13th January 2020

Today was the first day of a number of services in this part of the world.

Arriva - 3 Chester to Broughton Shops via Broughton Park.
This is Arriva's substitute for their short lived 13 Chester to Mold via Handbridge, Sandy Lane Saltney, Penyffordd and Nant Mawr Road Buckley. The new service's main stop in Chester is at Foregate Street and it does not visit the Bus Interchange. It then goes to Broughton Park via High Street Saltney and then to Broughton Shops. There is a short waiting time at Broughton before it proceeds to run around the former route in Broughton village before heading back to Broughton Park and Chester. It is a 30 minute service and it runs from about 0530 until 1830. The PVR is 2 - a reduction of one from the former 13 service. Today Solo 675 <photo 675> and Cadet 2503 were utilised.
The areas no longer served by Arriva are presumably being picked up by Stagecoach as far as Handbridge and Sandy Lane Saltney is concerned and the services below are picking up the other areas within North Wales.

M and H Coaches - 29 Mold to Wrexham
Until April of 2019 Townlynx operated a '28' service which ran from Wrexham to Mold, Flint and Holywell that also visited Buckley, Penyffordd and Wrexham Maelor Hospital. Whilst the service was partially subsided apparently Townlynx decided to withdraw the service as being uneconomical to run. This created a vacuum especially for those in Buckley that needed to visit the Wrexham hospital and also those in Penyffordd wishing to travel to Wrexham. M and H Coaches were successful in obtaining the contract for the service which is now given the route number 29. The service, of course did not operate for some 9 months. There are now six journeys each way including a couple of school runs and the service runs Monday to Saturday. (Timetable at <LINK>). Whilst M & H have purchased a Versa (YJ13HJO) from the former D Jones and Son fleet it was not available to run on the first day due as the engineer from 'Ticketer' had not been able to visit north Wales to install the new ticket machine. However another former D Jones and Son vehicle was used - Solo BU53DJS. The second journey of the day was sampled and patronage was encouraging - most of whom were apparently regulars on the former Townlynx service. <Photo BU53DJS>.

LT8 - Caergwrle to Broughton Park via Penyffordd and Higher Kinnerton.
This new service is being operated by R Williams Services Limited and today they were using a Mercedes Sprinter owned by Flintshire County Council which carries a full wrapped 'Council' livery. <PHOTO FP18FFN>. This new service has replaced former CT services operated by R Williams together with the extension to the former Buckley town service operated by Hutchinson which was LT5 and LT6. The Buckley Town service still operates but only on Mondays, Wednesdays and Friday with only three journeys into Buckley and two from the town.
The second LT8 journey was sampled today on the first day and I was the only passenger for the whole run. Another journey was observed and the patronage was also very poor.

Demand Responsive Transport - by Flintshire County Council
Today is apparently the official first day of operation of this new provision. This is not yet widely advertised or made known (not even appearing on their website) and therefore its initial use will clearly be quite limited. To use the service potential passengers are required to register with the Council and pay an annual fee of £10. Each journey will cost £1.70 (concessionary passes are usable). To begin with the service will only be available in a limited area in the southern portion of the County. One of the Council's minibuses will be used for this service and the initial operator of the service is Hutchinson of Buckley. The service will initially only operate on limited days. However there are plans to expand the provision in the future.

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Oare's of Holywell
New here is D5NCB a Volvo B12M / Jonckheere - C55F. It was new in March 2003 to Park, Hamilton (as 1RWM but before it left became SGO3ZBK); in 3/2006 it went to NCB, Edstaston, Shropshire and acquired its current number. It transferred in 3/2019 to Lakeside, Ellesmere. It was originally C53Ft but converted to C55F at unknown date probably when with NCB. <PHOTO 1> and <PHOTO 2>

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N E Wales News 6th February 2020

Service 64 - Llangollen to Glyn Ceiriog and Llanarmon
From 1st April 2020 Tanat Valley will no longer be the operator on this service - the new contract has been won by Llew Jones, Llanrwst whom I believe will operate the service from their out-station at Whitehurst near Froncysysllte. Tanat Valley took back the service in September 2018 after they lost out to easyCoach who to say the least were poor operators of this service. Tanat also ran the service from December 2016 to March 2017 having taken it over from R.J's of Wem who had to relinquish the service when they lost their licence.

Rail Replacement Gobowen to Chester
An unusual working of a bus replacing a train occurs now daily (Monday to Friday) between Gobowen and Chester (0915-1040). The reasons for this bus replacement appears to be part of a complex story involving changes made by the new franchisee which involves an express train not stopping at some of the smaller stations.The bus operator of the service is Lakeside of Ellesmere and they are using one of their brand new Mercedes Tourismos which arrived in December 2019 and are fitted with a lift to ensure they are PSVAR complaint. <PHOTO BV69LPK-Ruabon> and <PHOTO BV69LPK Wrexham>.

Wrexham & Prestige Taxis
The latest arrival here for use on the 17 Wrexham and Moss and the 34 Wrexham Trevalyn is FE60XOG a Merecedes Sprint which was new in November 2011 to Monmouth Council. It is low floor with a ramp for a wheelchair but there are currently teething problems with the outward opening doors and some of the higher kerbs. <PHOTO FE60XOG>

Eagles and Crawford, Gwernymynydd, Mold
T185AUA (DAF DE33WSSB3000 / Van Hool Alizee) has left and been purchased by Llew Jones, Llanrwst

D Jones and Son, Acrefair, Wrexham
It is now over two years since the demise of this firm and three buses remain for sale - AE07DZB/C ADL Darts SLF / MCV and YX05AVK Mercedes-Benz Vario O814D / Autobus Classique. <PHOTO YARD - Feb2020>

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Eagles and Crawford, Gwernymynydd, Mold
The firm have recently acquired YM03EOU a Dennis Javelin / TBS Plaxton Profile - C57F. It was new in August 2003 to Borders College, Hawick; in October 2010 it was with Prentice Coaches, Haddington; February 2014 with MacLennan, Stornoway; and in February 2019 with Lakeside, Ellesmere from where it was purchased in early January of this year. <PHOTO>

The rail replacement buses (there is one starting at Shrewsbury and a second from gobowen) will presumably finish shortly, if they haven't already, as the train is now calling again.

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N E Wales News 18th February 2020

Davies, Leeswood.
Newly arrived is WA08AOZ a Volvo B12BT / Van Hool - C53Ft. It was new in March 2008 to Berry, Taunton and joined the fleet of Young's Coaches of Haddenham, Cambridge in March 2017.
<PHOTO> - the coach will receive the firm's vinyls later this week

Voel Coaches, Dyserth, Rhyl
The additional depot at Bodelwyddan used to store withdrawn vehicles is now no longer used. Four Volvo B10M-61 / Van Hool T8 Alizees are currently withdrawn from regular service and will be disposed of soon These are F168RJF and F674TFH which were new to Clarke's of London in 1989 then joined Voel in 1997 and A604GAP and A605GAP which were new to Voel in March 1984 and these two latter examples have seen nearly 36 years service each with the company.
The 25 seater Iveco Daily 65C18 / NuTrack SF59DTX has now left the fleet being sold to Castle Garage Ltd., Market Street, Llandovery in January. It joined the fleet in November 2017 to fulfil a specific contract but the number of passengers involved in the contract has now risen and it is therefore no longer required.

Hutchinson's of Buckley
The former depot at Mount Pleasant Road, Buckley is about to close as the land has been sold for development. The new depot for the much reduced fleet will be in Station Road, Buckley.
The Optare Solo M920 YE52FHB was sold last month to a local auto-electrician in Padeswood for breaking.

Unicorn Coaches, Llay, Wrexham
The Scania K360IB4 / Higer Touring has been re-registered to RW19UTW from YT19EBP

Ronsbusesandcoaches.com website
I have been carrying out some changes to the website and fleet lists are now presented in a different way due to issues with some users reporting that have not been able to scroll to see the complete information. I hope the improvements will be of benefit to visitors to my site. If anyone experiences any problems I would appreciate that they contact me.

I now maintain a list of those who wish to receive an e-mail when I post a news bulletin or make a significant change to my website. If you wish to be included please contact me - this can be done through the contact point on my website

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N E Wales News 25th February 2020

Voel Coaches, Dyserth, Rhyl
Arrived this week is YN10AAY a Volvo B12B / Plaxton Panther - C53F. It was new in March 2010 to Minsterley Motors, Shropshire and in August 2018 it was with Golden Travel, Hayes. It will stay in its original livery for a number of weeks until an opportunity arises for it to be re-painted.

I was a bit premature indicating that both the 36 year old Volvo B10M-61 / Van Hool Alizees were withdrawn and about to leave. A604GAP is still in use albeit a spare coach and will do so until its MoT runs out on 9th March. It will then join the other three similar models which are currently available for sale.

Pats Coaches, Southsea, Wrexham
Arriving next week will be a new Temsa MD9 Executive 34 seater Coach which will carry the registration PC20PAT.
Vinyls have now been applied to the new team coach which has also now received the registration of the former Volvo team coach V11PPC which has reverted to its original number FC07MCF (it once was the Manchester City team coach). As can be seen from the two photographs <team coach ns> <team coach os> the new vinyls are somewhat subtle and only show clearly in strong light. The photographs were taken just before the new registration plates were applied.
The Mercedes Benz Atego 1018L / UNVI Cimo that was carrying the registration KEZ8765 has now reverted back to S888STS and may be offered for sale soon. The KEZ8765 registration has now been applied to the Mercedes Benz Vario O816D / Ferqui Toro that was formerly YX57BZM. <PHOTO KEZ>
The Versa YJ13HHX was not available for the 146 Wrexham to Whitchurch service yesterday and the substitute on the route was YR13PNX - Scania K360EB4 - Irizar I4 <PHOTO YR13PNX-146>

Davies, Leeswood, Mold
The Volvo B12BT / Van Hool - WA08AOZ which arrived last week has had vinyls applied <WA08AOZ>. It is hoped the coach will receive the normal white livery a little later in the year.
SUI6773 (Dennis Javelin / Marcopolo Explorer) has been sold to Davies Motors, Ruthin - but to date it has not been collected.

George Edwards and Son, Bwlchgwyn, Wrexham
The Tourismo that was acquired from P and O Lloyd in December last year has lost its cherished number PO11OYD and has reverted to its original number of BN11UGB. <Photo BN11UGB>
YJ04HHT (DAF DE40XSSB4000 / Van Hool T9 Alizee) which was obtained new by the firm in June 2004 has been sold to Bibby's of Ingleton


Routemasters 4 Hire, Llay
Whilst not being owned by the firm Routemasters 4 Hire the former Stagecoach East London TA601 (LV52HHL) has arrived at their premises. It is privately owned and is being preserved in the traditional red livery. The Dennis Trident / Plaxton ALX 400 was new in December 2002 and left London in July 2010 to join the Peoplesbus of Liverpool fleet. It still wears that livery. <photo LV52HHL>. Whilst the firm will be assisting with the preservation it is not clear at this stage whether it will be used by the firm as is the case with RM2213 (CUV213C).

Former GHA Coaches Dart
SF04ZXC a Transbus Dart SLF joined the GHA Coaches fleet in September 2011. Shortly after the demise of the firm in 2016 it was recovered on behalf of a finance company and an unsuccessful attempt was made to sell it. In November 2017 it eventually went to an auction in Whitchurch and was bought by Davies Motors of Ruthin. (The two former Directors of GHA). It has been stored at their premises in Ruthin but has just been given a white livery at the premises of the former easyCoach business in Rhosymedre. It is assumed that it will be offered for sale shortly.