ORI ENT EXPR SS
Page 59
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Thandi Coaches is one of a new breed of small, efficient operations spawned by deregulation. It is expanding fast by exploiting new specialist markets.
• While London North-East is typical of the strong, independent bus companies being created by the privatisation aspects of the 1985 Transport Act (page 42), deregulation is something it could well do without For deregulation has been designed to let small operators blossom and the public gain from the value for money they should be able to offer.
One of this new breed of small, independent operators is Thandi Coaches, based at Southall in West London.
Thandi Coaches was set up just over 19 months ago by Mibbo Singh Thandi to operate an express coach service between Southall, Birmingham and Waiverhapmton, initially from a base in the West Midlands.
Thandi's ability to launch the operation was a direct result of the 1980 Transport Act which deregulated express coach operations.
The business filled a hole in the market and grew fast. Thandi acquired an old dairy distribution depot in Southall which has since become his main base — and his Southall coach station. By last sununer his fleet has grown to seven vehicles including an ex-Stagecoach of Perth Neoplan, a Skyliner double-decker, a Neoplan Cityliner single-decker and five Plaxton-bodied Volvo BlOMs. All 11 were bought secondhand but are in good condition.
When local bus service deregulation was announced Thandi Coaches looked for opportunities in its area. As its main base in Southall is in the still-regulated Greater London area, opportunities for bus operation are restricted to tendering for London Regional Transport routes as and when LRT decides to offer them up.
Most of these would in any case require a large number of vehicles and would probably prove too much for Thandi Coaches to cope with at this stage in its development.
Instead it looked to neighbouring Surrey where tenders had been invited for a number of routes not registered as commercial, but deemed to be socially justifiable under the terms of the 1985 Act.
It submitted tenders for a number of routes operating from Heathrow Airport (only eight kilometres from the Thandi Coach Station) to Surrey towns including Weybridge, Chertsey, Ashford and Sunbury.
Thandi won contracts to take over the operation of routes previously run by NBC subsidiary London Country SouthWest and had only a few weeks to secure vehicles and train staff for the operation. When he won the contracts Mibbo Singh Thandi had no local buses and drivers trained for local bus operation — just a desire to offer to give the people on these particular Surrey routes a good bus service and to make a good profit in the process.
By D-day he managed to find three secondhand Leyland Nationals which he bought from the Kirkby Group in Sheffield. They arrived the day before D-day (October 26) and were due for their annual Freedom from Defects examination. As a stop-gap measure Thandi bought some ten-year-old Duple Dominant Volvo B58 coaches with express-type doors.
These were ready for the operation and, with suitable route number and destination boards, they duly entered service. At first there were some timekeeping problems as the drivers got used to the routes, but these were quickly overcome and the services are now running smoothly, although some adjustments to the Surrey County Councilcompiled timetable are being made.
The contracts are on a minimum subsidy basis with Thandi paid by the County at monthly intervals.
Now two of Thandi's three Nationals are in service, leaving the B58s free to back up both the bus and express coach operations. Thandi reports that his mechanics have had some problems getting used to the ex-Manchester Nationals — he is happy with the vehicles but they are completely different from anything else in the fleet and electrics are proving a particular problem.
Meanwhile the express service continues to grow.
It now offers four departures a day and links Southall with Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Bradford. The company has taken advantage of the M25 and now serves Gravesend and East London in response to requests from passenger demand.
At weekends in particular each departure involves duplicate vehicles with Thandi Coaches hiring extra vehicles to meet demand.
Thandi Coaches is growing by identifying a demand for express services for specific communities in specific areas.
It is not taking on National Express or the other established operators by aiming for the London market. It is meeting a need and stimulating a demand from the Asian communities which is not catered for by the big operators.
Mibbo Singh Thandi says that the company, which has some local competition in the express market, is successful because its services are reliable. He is keen to build on his success, but is aware of the very real dangers of the whole business growing at such a rate that it becomes difficult to control. [7] by Noel Millier