About a week or so ago I was visiting a couple of operators in Kent when I chanced upon Brian Jones Coaches in Gravesend. I had some time to spare so I called in and introduced myself and explained about what we do here at Odyssey. Almost two weeks later they were driving out of Tyrers yard in Chorley with their latest purchase, this 2000 ex Lothian Dennis Trident Plaxton President 75 Seat Belted Double Deck Bus. Seen here is Terry Mee one of the new owners of Brian Jones Coaches prior to setting off from Lancashire on the long slow journey back to Kent. Before setting off Team Tyrer ensured the bus was full of fuel, was fully checked, and even provided some supplies for the journey. Thanks to Terry and Brian [...]
Today we handed this Volvo B12B Plaxton Panther 70 Seater over to Fishers Tours of Dundee. This vehicle was turned round quite quickly as Fishers lost a vehicle last week due to severe damage caused by a falling tree. The Volvo is fitted with a ZF Automatic Gearbox, 70 Lusso Seats, LED Destination Display, and is wired for CCTV. Once again the team at Odyssey in conjunction with GB Coaches have pulled out all the stops to help an Operator out of a sticky spot.
A recent sale has been this former Dublin Volvo B7TL Alexander ALX400 Double Decker to Keane Travel of Grays, Essex. It was collected from previous owner Bryan’s Coaches from Denny, Stirlingshire by proprietor Kevin Mortlock and bravely driven back to Essex in time for the new school term with the help of one of his team of drivers. Kevin openly admits that his business is heading down the road of being predominantly a transport provider to local schools and finds the Volvo B7TL a reliable workhorse so has taken the decision to standardise on them. This vehicle is one of two B7TLs added to the fleet over the summer break. I took the opportunity to pop in earlier today to catch up with Kevin and grabbed a quick photo opportunity whilst I was there.
This weekend we handed over this 2015 Neoplan P22 Tourliner to Mitul Kerai of MIT Luxury Travel of Watford, Hertfordshire. Having previously been a one vehicle operation recent contract gains have allowed Mitul to double his fleet whilst also getting ahead of the forthcoming Central London Ultra Low Emission Zone. Following an early train journey Mitul collected the 59 seat 13.8m beast from Weardale Motor Services premises in Crook Co. Durham on Saturday morning and took it home where it joins a Euro 5 49 Seat Tourliner. The coach was presented in exactly the condition you’d expect from this old established North East operator having been power polished and serviced by the local MAN dealer. Thanks to Anthony and Ian and all the team at Weardale for ensuring we have another satisfied [...]
Today I had the pleasure of delivering an Optare Solo to a new business venture. The Treat Truck is the brainchild of partners in business, and partners in life, Luke Fripp and Hayley Cooper of Lichfield, Staffordshire. The plan is to convert the former service bus into a mobile dessert parlour for use at various events such as food festivals, carnivals, and shows. The Treat Truck will also be available for hire for Corporate Events. After researching and viewing various buses Luke and Hayley decided that the M920 Solo is the perfect size for what they need and hopefully once this first one is a success many other Solos can enjoy retirement as Treat Trucks. To help their project the Solo was supplied as an empty shell with a Class V MOT [...]
On Friday Afternoon I received a call from our friend Darren Ieronimo at Kettlewells of Retford. He had issues with loadings on their school contracts following the summer break and found that they needed a seat belted double decker by Monday morning. Kettlewell’s had recently purchased a former Tyrer’s Scania decker from us over the summer so when I offered them a Trident from the same stable with a full 12 months MOT at under £10k they literally snatched my hand off. A few calls were made and the Trident was inspected and cleaned by Tyrer’s on Friday Afternoon and on Saturday morning Darren and his colleagues made the trip over the Pennines to Lancashire to collect the bus. It was back in Retford by teatime and will be out taking it’s first bunch of scholars to school tomorrow morning. This just goes to show that [...]
This Euro 6 Mercedes Tourismo 49 Seat Executive Coach was collected by Matt Watson of Essex Operator John James Luxury Travel at Norton Caines Services on the M6 Toll Road earlier this week. The coach was originally new to Belle Vue Coaches in Manchester and has since been operated by S O Coaches also of Manchester whom we sold the coach on behalf of. Matt recognises that being based in Romford with it’s close proximity to Central London, the importance of future proofing the fleet and business by upgrading the fleet to Euro 6 compliance, especially with the impending introduction of the ULEZ looming. The coach is quite a high specification including 49 Luxline Half Leather Seats with 3 Point Belts, Climate Controlled Air Conditioning, and CCTV amongst many other features. Don’t [...]
This ex National Holidays Setra S415 GT-HD is heading for a new life in Malta after serving it’s time with Hatton’s Travel of St. Helens, Merseyside. It has been bought by Silver Star Transport Ltd and left St. Helens on Thursday morning for Dover then onwards through France and Italy to Genoa prior to sailing to Sicily then onto Malta. It will then settle down to a life of airport transfers and excursions for incoming tourists. Seen collecting the coach are three generations of Silver Star Transport, sons Edward and Matthias, father Rennie, and grandfather Paul sporting his new Odyssey Coach Sales hat. Fiona was too shy to have her photo taken so did the job of David Bailey instead! We wish them a safe journey back to Malta and hopefully they’ll get good service out of their [...]
This weekend saw collection of this long serving member of the Applegates Coaches fleet of Berkeley, Glos. This 12 year old 13.8m Euroliner has been with Applegates from new and has reluctantly been let go after faultless service, Ceri Taylor of Applegates said he was sad to see her go as she had become part of the family and has been a brilliant back up for their more modern 61 seat Tourliners, even heading to the South of France on a rescue mission earlier this year. Her new home is with Steve Barnett Coaches of Maidenhead, Berkshire for a more relaxed life on school contracts and private hire. She replaces a 14 year old 61 Seat Iveco Beulas which has found a new home via Paramount Coach Sales. As Steve was a [...]
