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NE Voyager in Yorkshire
Page 19
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• National Express, which has already established two semi-autonomous subsidiary units in County Durham and Bournemouth, is planning to establish a third in Yorkshire next month.
Yorkshire Voyager, a jointventure company backed by National Express, is being established in Leeds to take over express service operations out of the county.
Three managers recruited by National Express will run and own the company on similar lines to Durham Travel Services, set up last October, and Dorset Travel Services, which started this month.
While the exact size and scope of the new operation is not yet known, the AJS group of companies intends to surrender all of its express and Rapide long-distance coach work to the new company.
Ten double-deck coaches and 18 single-deckers operated by West Yorkshire Road Car and York City & District will be taken over by Yorkshire Voyager as part of the new set-up.
There are also a number of short-term express contracts operating out of Leeds on the National Express network, and Commercial Motor understand that these are also likely to be signed over to the new company.
AJS Holdings is giving all of its drivers the opportunity to apply for new jobs or stay as bus drivers with their existing company.
"There is no possibility of redundancy: every driver has a job if he stays with us," says AJS.
National Express's long-term operating policy appears to centre on the establishment of new units where existing bus operators no longer wish to continue coach operation.
The opening of the first two units was a result of United Automobile of Darlington backing out, and Shamrock and Rambler closing down in Bournemouth.
Further developments are in the pipeline — a unit on Merseyside is National Express's next target.