GHA Coaches

GHA Coaches

Irizar Century bodied Scania K94IB in September 2009
Slogan A Service Second To None or Gwasanaeth heb ei ail
Parent Eifion Lloyd Davies
Founded 1990
Ceased operation July 2016
Headquarters Ruabon
Service area Wrexham, Flintshire, Denbighshire, Cheshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Gwynedd, Merseyside
Service type Bus & coach services
Hubs Corwen, Middlewich, Ruthin, Tarvin, Wrexham
Fleet 257 (October 2013)
Website www.ghacoaches.co.uk
Logo used from 2008-15
Marshall bodied Mercedes-Benz 709D in Wrexham in March 2009
Vale Travel Wright Handybus bodied Dennis Dart in Wrexham in March 2009

GHA Coaches[1] was a bus and coach operator serving North East Wales, Cheshire and Shropshire. It also operated bus services extending into Telford & Wrekin, Staffordshire, Gwynedd and Merseyside.

GHA Coaches ceased trading after entering administration on 13 July 2016.[2] Former GHA services are now operated by a variety of operators including Arriva, Stagecoach, High Peak and D&G Bus.

History

GHA Coaches was founded by Eifion Lloyd Davies in 1990 and originally based in Corwen before moving to Ruabon in the mid-1990s. It later expanded with the purchase of a number of other local companies, including:[3]

Despite being founded in north east Wales, only about half of the bus services run by the company at the time of closure were in this area. Services extended as far north as Manchester and Rhyl, to Hanley and Telford in the east, to Shrewsbury in the south and to Barmouth in the west.

Coach operations

Many coaches were inherited with the purchase of Hanmers Coaches, though as with the bus operations, the coach fleet expanded rapidly. Most coaches carried a livery of silver with red and burgundy stripes and the GHA Coaches name; some were in a similar livery with a white base and the Vale Travel name; some carried a plain yellow livery for school work.

The most common use for the coach fleet was school transport, and GHA had a number of high-capacity coaches dedicated to this work. Coaches were also used for private hire and occasional day trip and holiday work.

Depots

GHA's headquarters were at Ruabon. Other depots were at Tarvin, Ruthin, Shrewsbury and Winsford. Vehicles also operated an outstation at Betws Gwerfil Goch.

Fleet

As at June 2015 the fleet consisted of 325 buses and coaches.[4]

GHA Gold

In October 2014 GHA launched a 'GHA Gold' brand on the 88 Knutsford to Wilmslow to Altrincham route. They acquired four new Alexander Dennis Enviro200 buses which have WiFi, leather seats, wood effect flooring, a passenger information system and one table on each bus. These vehicles carry branding for the route.[5][6] They were funded by Waters Corporation as part of a public transport commitment in order for them to get planning permission for building a new large employment site just outside Morley Green. The two buses are now owned and operated by Redline buses of Aylesbury who kept the Gold service branding, using them on their service 21 in and around Milton Keynes.

References

  1. ↑ Companies House extract company no 4214061 GHA Coaches Limited
  2. ↑ "400 Jobs At Risk As GHA Coaches Enter Administration & 'Cease Trading'".
  3. ↑ About Us GHA Coaches
  4. ↑ GHA Coaches
  5. ↑ Wilson, James (27 October 2014). "Bus firm launches new 'gold service' at Tatton Park". Knutsford Guardian. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  6. ↑ Chapman, Jess Amy (29 October 2014). "GHA Coaches launches first premium bus service". Route One. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
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