Express Motors was a bus and coach hire company based in

Penygroes, Gwynedd Penygroes () is a village in Gwynedd, Wales. The village is located to the south of Caernarfon, and north of Porthmadog, by the A487 road. Penygroes' population stands at 1,793 at the 2011 census, of which 88% are Welsh-speaking, making it one ...

. The company operated public bus services in the

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Porthmadog Porthmadog (), originally Portmadoc until 1972 and known locally as "Port", is a coastal town and community (Wales), community in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd, Wales, and the historic counties of Wales, historic county of Caernarfonshire. It li ...

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, Bangor and

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areas, as well as long-distance TrawsCambria service T2 between Bangor and

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History

Express Motors was established in 1908. It remained a family-owned business and was owned by Eric Jones. It operated a small number of local bus services alongside its main coach hire work until 1970, when the bus routes were sold to

Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against a ...

. With bus deregulation in October 1986, Express Motors re-entered the local service market. A local route in

was introduced in competition with National Bus Company subsidiary Crosville Cymru May. Contracted work on route 1 (Caernarfon-

) was won at the same time as part of the Bws Gwynedd network. The operations of Maldwyn Jones were acquired in 1989. A competing route between Caernarfon and Bangor was introduced in 1991 but withdrawn after four years. In 2005 the company began a new route linking

and Blaenau Ffestiniog. Two years later the

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granted free rail travel to pensioners on the parallel Conwy Valley Line, causing passenger numbers on the route to be lower than expected. The four bus services operated by Silver Star were taken over by Express Motors along with four buses in November 2010 in a move which reversed the events of 1970. As at September 2012 Express Motors operated 25 buses and 15 coaches.

2016 crash and license revocation

In July 2016, an Express Motors coach carrying 42 children and 6 teachers from a Cheltenham School left the motorway after the driver fell asleep. The coach left the A39 Motorway in France near Lons-le-Saunier and the Swiss border. The bus overturned and came to a stop in a ditch, resulting in fifteen injuries, including one student who was airlifted to hospital with life-threatening injuries. In August 2017, an investigation found that maintenance records had been falsified. The company's licence was revoked with effect from 31 December. Former

, Bangor and

routes were re-tendered and awarded to Arriva Buses Wales and South Gwynedd routes were awarded to Lloyds Coaches. After the end of Express Motors operations, a submission for a new licence under the name Express Motors (Caernarfon) was submitted by former directors of the original company. It emerged during the enquiry that the original company had continued some of its operations into January 2018 without a licence. The submission was rejected in February 2018. In October 2018 the owner, Eric Wyn Jones and his 3 sons also involved with the business, were jailed for fraudulently claiming over £500,000 for 88,000 journeys never taken. The sentences ranged from 6-7.5 years. The men had previously been arrested on suspicion of fraud.

References

External links

Express Motors website
(Archive) {{Defunct British Bus Companies Transport in Gwynedd Former bus operators in Wales British companies established in 1908 Companies based in Gwynedd 1908 establishments in Wales 2017 disestablishments in Wales