Thames Travel

Thames Travel is a bus operator based in Wallingford, Oxfordshire, in England. It is the third largest bus company in the county It operates a fleet of around 34 vehicles, and employs 75 staff. Running services across the Thames region, the company carries approximately 1.25 million passengers a year. Founded in 1998 as an independent operator, it was taken over by the Go-Ahead Group in May 2011.

History
Thames Travel was founded on 14 April 1998 with a fleet of four vehicles. Since then it has expanded by winning new contracts in Oxfordshire and Berkshire, and taking over work from operators that have ceased trading such as Chiltern Queens of Woodcote. It now runs 50 (47 buses 3 Ancillary Vehicles) vehicles and 31 services. Many services were taken on in Reading after the collapse of Tillingbourne Bus Company on 19 March 2001. Thames Travel has also benefited from operators such as Stagecoach in Oxfordshire, Reading Buses and First Berkshire & The Thames Valley, giving up a lot of commercial work. However in recent years smaller competitors including RH Transport, Heyfordian, Whites Coaches and Weavaway Travel have won work that Thames Travel had operated.

On 26th May 2011, Thames Travel announced that they had been purchased by Go-Ahead Group for an undisclosed fee.

Services
Thames Travel operate a numerous services across a number of areas, varying from local routes to long distance express buses

Fleet


Thames Travel operate a number of unusual vehicle types in their fleet of 34 buses. Vehicles are also numbered in an unusual scheme, using the date the vehicle was registered and the registration plate mark. For example (as pictured above), buses new in the first half of 2006 would be 106 onwards, and from the second half of 2007 157 onwards.

As of February 2012 Vehicles have been re-numbered into the Oxford Bus Company series due to being managed by them.

Some of the vehicle types operated include:
 * Dennis Dart SLF/MCV Evolution
 * Dennis Trident 2/ East Lancs/ALX400
 * Optare Solo
 * Dennis Dart/Plaxton Pointer
 * Scania OmniDekka
 * MAN 14.220/MCV Evolution
 * Scania N94UB/East Lancs OmniTown (with East Lancs Esteem fronts)
 * Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart
 * Scania OmniCity double decker
 * Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 Hybrid double decker

Some vehicles of the same type are at various ages, having been purchased at different times. The Thames Travel livery is currently blue and green, but a number of vehicles are still in the old allover white livery, as well as some vehicles on loan. Two buses run in a special livery promoting the Oxford Science Park, which are mainly run on route 105/106 which serve the park.

Vehicles are based at the head office in Hithercroft Industrial Estate in Wallingford, in Arborfield and, from 2010, at Bilton Industrial Estate, Lovelace Road in Bracknell.

Fares
As well as standard bus-type fares, Thames Travel also offers 10 Trippers which are 10 single tickets for the price of 4.5 returns, monthly tickets for £70 available from bus drivers, and 13 week tickets for £180 from the company offices (prices correct from 1st April 2012). Each of these can be used on any Thames Travel service.

Notable incidents
Thames Travel vehicles have been involved in two major accidents, widely reported in the local media. Both happened on the A4074 road, locally known as the "13 bends of death".

In the first accident, on July 21 2006, a 26 year old woman was killed after colliding head on with a Thames Travel MCV Evolution. It was found that she did this to avoid a collision with two cars coming towards her, who had been recklessly overtaking numerous other cars before the accident. As a result of the collision, both vehicles caught fire and were completely destroyed. The bus was replaced with the next intake of new vehicles. The two brothers arrested after the incident were charged and jailed for a total of 15 years for the accident.

The second accident, on 28 January 2008, involved another MCV Evolution. It collided in fog with a Land Rover that was turning off the road across the bus's path. The Land Rover landed on its side; the bus in a ditch. The accident happened on the A4074 at its junction with the B4526 road. Five people were injured.