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All across the Great Western territory / Buses and other ways to travel / WebberBus under criminal investigation
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on: June 02, 2016, 13:05:45
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Oh dear. Another snap in the face for the former employees and customers of WebberBus. Collapse of Webberbus being investigated by police after 'allegation of financial irregularity'
By Laura Linham, Central Somerset Gazette
Posted: May 31, 2016
A CRIMINAL investigation has been launched by Somerset police over 'financial irregularities' involving the collapse of Somerset's second biggest bus operator.
The probe centres on Webberbus, which collapsed at short notice in May this year, citing 'financial difficulties'. The company, which had been operating for more than 50 years, was believed to have been almost ^1.5m in debt.
A police spokesman said it was "very early days" in the investigation and no arrests had been made.
"An allegation of financial irregularity involving a transport company has been reported to our economic crime team, who are looking into the matter," he confirmed.
The irregularities are believed to centre on the amount of money the company was claiming for concessionary fare passenger numbers, although council chiefs are remaining tight-lipped about the focus of the investigation.
Councillor David Fothergill, Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, said: "We cannot give any detail, but I can say that following Webberbus ceasing to operate we have referred a case to the Police. I can also confirm that no member of county council staff has been investigated or implicated in this case.
"We cannot comment any further but will help with the investigation as required."
After Webberbus collapsed, 120 staff including drivers, workshop and admin workers lost their jobs, and other bus companies were drafted in to help plug the gaps in the transport network.
The company held contracts to run transport for six schools, four colleges and more than a dozen public routes including services in Bridgwater, Street, Glastonbury, Wells, Cheddar, Minehead and Taunton. It also operated a coach hire business.
Business recovery firm Begbies Traynor has been appointed to manage the affairs.
Partner Neil Vinnicombe: "We are working with the directors to maximise the recovery for creditors and assist employees through the redundancy process."
First has taken up all the routes where it was not providing buses, many of which it had previously abandoned due to low patronage, and has been honouring all Webberbus tickets until their expiry dates.
Calls and emails to Webberbus were not returned. TLM |
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All across the Great Western territory / Buses and other ways to travel / Re: WebberBus ceases trading
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on: May 12, 2016, 18:43:11
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Obviously really bad news for the drivers and staff of WebberBus. Best wishes to every affected and hopefully Buses of Somerset will step in and offer jobs to a lot of those affected, much as First Kernow did with Western Greyhound last year.
However the plus other side, I understand from another forum that most of Webberbus' commercial services were simply duplications of existing First & Buses of Somerset routes which should be replaced fairly easily and everything else will be taken care of by the council.
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All across the Great Western territory / Buses and other ways to travel / WebberBus ceases trading
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on: May 12, 2016, 18:29:28
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WebberBus, the second largest bus operator in Somerset, has ceased operating as of today. Rumor on twitter that their bankers got a winding up order form the courts this morning. Somerset County Council are working to replace services operated by WebberBus, including school transport, with other operators. Important bus service information12 May 2016 by Mark Ford in Latest information, Uncategorized Please be aware that we have been informed that one of the main bus companies in Somerset has ceased to operate today (Thursday 12 May), affecting a number of services. We have responded immediately to this difficult situation and our staff are working hard to arrange for other operators to pick up these services where possible. We are confident that all services taking students to schools and colleges will be covered by replacement services from tomorrow morning. There should also be cover for the public routes where there are no other reasonable alternatives. On routes already covered by other operators, they will be doing their best to fill the gaps. Below is a list of the affected Webberbus services, and replacements where they have been arranged. We will keep this page updated as replacement services are added or changed. We apologise for the disruption that this has caused. Public Service Routes | 10 | Minehead – Porlock | First are providing a replacement service. | | 12/15 | Wellington – Taunton – Bridgwater | Use First services 21/21A/22/22A, extra capacity will be provided where necessary | | 16/24 | Minehead – Bridgwater | Please see First service 15 for Minehead/Carhampton/Williton/Watchet/Nether Stowey to Bridgwater College. First service 14 and X14 operates between Bridgwater and Cannington. | | 18 | Minehead – Taunton | Use First service 28, extra capacity will be provided where necessary | | 19 | Bridgwater – Street | First will replace journeys previously operated by WebberBus | | 26 | Wells – Weston-super-Mare | Use First service 126, additional capacity will be provided for Easton to Wells Blue School journeys | | 27 | Creech – Taunton | Use First service 29 | | 34 | Yeovil – Bridgwater | Hatch Green service 16 is available | | 37 / 375 | Bridgwater – Street – Wells | First will reinstate service 375 and provide additional capacity where necessary | | 38 | Taunton – Street – Wells | Use First service 55 | | 62/66 | Weston/Axbridge – Bridgwater College | First will provide these services | | 67 | Wells – Burnham-on-Sea | First will provide replacement service | | 75 | Weston – Burnham – Bridgwater | Use First routes 20/21/21A, additional capacity provided where necessary | | 76 | Weston – Burnham | Use First service 20 | | 101 | Minehead Town Service | First will provide this service | | 623 | Wellington – Bridgwater College | First will provide replacement service | | -- | Bridgwater Town Services | First will provide replacement services | | -- | Taunton Town Services | Use existing First Taunton Town services |
School Routes | Route Number | School | Replacement operator or route number | | C559D | Haygrove | Bakers Dolphin | | C510A | Robert Blake Science College | First | | C511J | Robert Blake Science College | Bakers Dolphin | | C567D | Chilton Trinity | Coombs | | C524A | Chilton Trinity | Crosville | | C504A | Bridgwater College Academy and Kingsmoor | First | | C015B | Catcott Primary | Fairview | | C535G | Haygrove | Bakers Dolphin | | WB26 | The Blue School | First | | WB16 (pm only) | Danesfield | A number of solutions have been put in place for individual pupils – parents are being informed. The morning services are all unaffected. |
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All across the Great Western territory / Across the West / Re: First Great Western - industrial action in 2015 - merged topic
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on: August 03, 2015, 17:47:33
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Feels like games being played to be honest, with the main losers being customers.
As I understood it, no compulsory redundancies had already been guaranteed?
All the guff about "solidarity" is a bit of a joke, LTV▸ 's service was pretty good during the recent strike, with customer service being noticeably better!
The last I heard (and that was during the last strike) was that it was guaranteed no on-train job losses. There was no such guarantee on the engineering side as Hitachi will be doing all maintenance on the IEPs▸ . This was one of the three reasons the RMT▸ sighted for the strike. Don't know if anything further has been offered in negotiations since then. TLM |
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All across the Great Western territory / Across the West / Re: First Great Western - industrial action in 2015 - merged topic
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on: July 09, 2015, 19:32:43
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I'm a little confused... On the FGW▸ Website there is the following:
But according to RTT» the 08:02 service this morning did infact run as scheduled. With the times listed under Real Time I am reasonably comfortable in saying this train did infact run as planned.
So if the FGW website is to be believed, trains ran on routes they claimed there would be no service...
I've mixed opinions on this personally. Was it sensible to say, no trains just in case we really can't run any trains. Or did they know these trains would run, just didn't want people to find out?
My guess is that FGW planned for not having any conductors reporting for work at Weymouth this morning. In the event, someone did report for work so the train ran. I would think it's best to probably err on the side of caution and not create false hope that a service would be running when FGW didn't know if it would, especially in such a rural area where trying to find alternatives at short notice may be quite difficult. I am rather disappointed however that FGW are upholding peak time validity on tickets however. The only way back to Frome from London today was on a peak time train, when ordinarily there would be many options available with a change of trains. So not only do you get one train, you pay full price for the privilege and that's just tough... Just wow...    FGW tweeted at 13:02 that ticket restrictions were lifted for the rest of the day. First Great Western @FGW 6h hours ago
Time restrictions on tickets have been lifted from now until the end of service today. Passengers can use tickets for any time train. TLM |
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Journey by Journey / Bristol (WECA) Commuters / Overrunning engineering work Mon 5/1/14 WSM-BRI
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on: January 04, 2015, 23:10:25
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This weekend's engineering work between Bristol and Weston-super-Mare are confirmed to be overrunning. At present, the line is expected to be handed back before 0700. FGW▸ on twitter state they will have 4 coaches available to cover the very early morning departures. Updated on 4th January at 21:57hrs
Network Rail has informed us that their planned engineering work between Weston-Super-Mare and Bristol Temple Meads is expected to overrun tomorrow morning, Monday 5th January.
We have been assured that the railway line will be handed back for our use by 0700hrs.
However, services that normally run between Taunton and Bristol Temple Meads, and all calling points between, will be affected until that time.
Alternative road transport has been sourced to run between Weston-Super-Mare and Bristol Temple Meads and vice-versa, also calling at Weston Milton, Worle, Yatton, Nailsea and Backwell, Parson Street and Bedminster.
First Bus will also convey rail customers on the following routes: 81/82, X5, X8N/X8C/X8P, 21, 102 and 126.
Customers in possession of ^advance^ tickets travelling between Taunton and Bristol Temple Meads, and beyond, on First Great Western services, may use any service available during this disruption. |
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Journey by Journey / Bristol (WECA) Commuters / Re: Station at Ashton, Bristol
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on: December 17, 2014, 17:01:25
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You can rationally see how this would be the case. However, Bristol's problem comes with the urgency bourne of years of delay and missed opportunities resulting in chronic traffic problems that need stations like that at Ashton Gate rather sooner than is currently being offically proposed. It will be interesting to see how influencial this Ashton Gate station team will be. I wish them well.
While a station at Ashton Gate would obviously be a "good thing", other than match days at Ashton Gate, I'm struggling to see where all the passengers would come from? At a rough guess, as it would be located right on the edge of town, at least half of the catchment area is either fields, parkland or light industrial estate. Of the catchment area that is residential, a good portion of it is already served by Parson Street. |
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Journey by Journey / Bristol (WECA) Commuters / Re: Person struck by a train, near Nailsea & Backwell Station - 9 August 2014
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on: December 04, 2014, 21:10:44
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The coroner's inquest into the sad incident back in August has concluded that it was indeed suicide.
Pensioner killed by train
A 71-YEAR-OLD man from Nailsea died after stepping in front of a train.
An inquest into the death of Donald Tomlinson was held at Flax Bourton Coroner^s Court on November 26.
Donald, who worked as an Environment Agency officer before retiring, died on August 9 after he was hit by a train near Nailsea.
The incident was reported to the police by the train driver just after 4pm but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Assistant deputy coroner Peter Harrowing concluded suicide was the cause of death.
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Journey by Journey / Bristol (WECA) Commuters / Re: Bristol Temple Meads Station redevelopment
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on: November 27, 2014, 22:55:05
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Was the report about the conveyor bridge in "The 9"? I set my Sky box to record "The 6" programme, and for some technical reason, the second part of the program went AWOL▸ and wasn't shown so no idea if it featured.
To answer my own question, I've heard that the report has been pushed to tomorrow's (Friday's) program as it's been a busy news day in Bristol. |
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Journey by Journey / Bristol (WECA) Commuters / Re: Bristol Temple Meads Station redevelopment
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on: November 27, 2014, 22:27:26
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Thanks for the heads up - I have set my BT box to record the 2100 report. I have a DVD recorder, and if it's a good piece, I might be able to do a rather tortuous link up, followed by a rip to Youtube or similar, and post here.
Was the report about the conveyor bridge in "The 9"? I set my Sky box to record "The 6" programme, and for some technical reason, the second part of the program went Absent Without Leave ( AWOL▸ ) and wasn't shown so no idea if it featured. Edit: VickiS - Clarifying abbreviation |
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Journey by Journey / Bristol (WECA) Commuters / Re: Bristol Temple Meads Station redevelopment
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on: November 27, 2014, 18:00:38
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Sorry it's a bit short notice, but the demolition will be featured on TV shortly if you're in the Bristol area (or know how to manually turn a Sky or Freesat box).... Bristol Temple Meads @networkrailBRI 34 minutes ago
Tune into @madeinbristoltv at 1800 and 2100 tonight to find out about the Conveyor Bridge Demolition. Freeview 8, Virgin 159, Sky 117 |
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Journey by Journey / Bristol (WECA) Commuters / Re: Campaign for disabled access ramp to platform 1 at Nailsea & Backwell Station
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on: June 20, 2014, 16:48:59
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So after the press story at the start of the week saying everything was fine, it's back to square 1 as the DfT» have withdrawn funding after all. From the Bristol Post: Bid for disabled ramp at Nailsea and Backwell station goes off the rails
by The Bristol Post | Posted: June 20, 2014
FUNDING for a new ramp at Nailsea and Backwell railway station has been withdrawn, leaving wheelchair users unable to access the platforms.
Members of disability campaign groups were left disappointed by the announcement.
First Great Western (FGW▸ ) was given ^1.23m to build two ramps in 2011, but building work never started.
Plans for the ramps have now been withdrawn after a series of delays and a missed deadline.
FGW was given money to fix the problem by the Department for Transport (DfT), as part of their Access For All scheme, but it had to be used by March 2014.
The money has now been distributed elsewhere.
A spokesperson for First Great Western said in November last year that the embankments needed shoring up before the ramps could be built, but this could not be done while North Somerset Council was carrying out work to extend the car park.
Any more contractors on site would mean nobody would be able to access the station.
David Redgewell, a campaigner for disabled people and a wheelchair user from Bristol, said: "I feel this ramp has been stolen from us by the government. This is not just FGW's fault. The Department for Transport withdrew that money without consulting any public bodies in the area. ^1 million was put aside, and we have lost that now.
"FGW couldn't do the work last year, but no one was asked about it before the money went. As a wheelchair user, I can get a train at Keynsham or Clifton Down, but I can't get off it at Nailsea.
"Disabled people have the same rights as everyone else."
The platforms can be accessed via steps, or an old ramp that is too steep for wheelchairs.
Dan Panes, from FGW, said a fresh bid for money had failed.
He said: "We were pretty sure it would happen. But there were other schemes that got the nod before this one. Other work came up around the station that meant we couldn't do the work. We had no option but to postpone it."
Mr Panes said FGW was looking to secure funding from another source. |
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