Impera

Impera Bus & Coach is a bus company based in Moreton, Wirral, Merseyside. The company operates on the Wirral Peninsula providing public bus services under contact to Merseytravel, Impera also provides school services to many schools on the Wirral too. The company also provides Bus & Coach Hire for many an occasion including Schools, Sports Events, Tours, Day Trips & Excursions and Airport Transfers.

History
The company was formed in 2011 as a Bus & Coach company serving the Wirral area, although with the credit climate at the time of started up many questioned how the company would grow, Impera have recently expanded their network of tendered services which include services mainly based on the north of the Wirral Peninsula.

On 24 April 2011, Impera gained their first tendered service from Merseytravel, which was service 203 which operates from Seacombe to Woodside Bus Station which operates AM journeys on a Sunday Morning. At this time however the company somewhat was still in early days and the company had to borrow two Alexander Dennis Enviro 300s from JPT of Middleton for the service to be run effectively. These were later returned. The following weeks also prompted Impera to loan yet more buses, these were Dennis Dart SPD which were last used with Diamond Bus in Birmingham and where on loan from a leasing company.

On 10 October 2011, Impera gained yet more tendered services from Merseytravel, these were services 107, 207 & 208 which run from New Brighton to Moreton Town Meadow Lane which operates early AM mornings Monday to Saturday, Impera also gained services 164 and 165 which operate from Woodside Bus Station to New Ferry Shorefields which runs of an evening and all day Sundays.

On 13 August 2012 Impera started their second commercial service 30 which ran between Liverpool Sir Thomas Street and Saughall Massie serving Moreton, Leasowe, Wallasey, Liscard and Liverpool. This service ran during the daytime Monday to Saturday with a frequency of every 30 minutes. However on 24 August 2012 it was noted that the service was not showing up, the reason being: Mark Steens from Impera Bus & Coach has said: "The route was never supposed to start, it was planned and registered by a former manager, and I had tried to cancel the registration but without success, thus giving Impera 10 days to find the additional staff to operate this service. We can only try our best but it is a true fact that our tendered operations must take priority over commercial operations. That is why the 30 service is currently disrupted I am doing my upmost to rectify this situation by employing more drivers." Therefore meaning that the service was withdrawn on 10 September 2012, and replaced by Impera's third commercial service - the 39A

Livery
Although not all the fleet is currently painted into Impera's livery, which is white with dark blue skirt which swoops to the top of the vehicle at the rear, there is a good percentage that already is white or in full livery, however, some still retain previous liveries including one bus in Shamrock Buses livery and another bus still retains its Dublin Bus livery.

Fares & Passes
Most routes operated are under contract, awarded to Impera by Merseytravel. Merseytravel is responsible for providing a variety of subsidies to local bus services which are considered socially necessary, but may not be particularly profitable or viable.

On Merseytravel supported services, Impera can only charge fares which are specified by Merseytravel. As of September 2012, a simple flat fare tariff, is in operation; £1.10 - Adult, £0.50 - Child, regardless of how far is actually travelled.

On commercially operated services, Impera are entitled to set and manage their own fares.

Impera accepts Merseytravel managed season tickets on all of their services; TRIO (bus, train, ferry), SOLO, (bus only). The one day "Saveaway" ticket is also accepted, subject to time restrictions. The ITSO smartcard versions of these products, branded as "Walrus" are also accepted.

Plusbus is also accepted, but only on the Merseytravel contract services.

Passes issued under the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme are valid as advertised on all Impera services.

Fleet summary
The Impera fleet primarily consists of Dennis Dart/TransBus Dart SLFs which provide both public service routes and school services. In addition to these the fleet also has four Volvo Olympian double deckers which are mainly used on school services but have been known to cover a low floor bus in breakdowns or other circumstances.

Also in the fleet are two LDV Convoy minibuses.

Services & Service History
On 4 April 2012 Impera Bus & Coach registered their first commercial bus service, starting at New Brighton and running to West Kirby serving Liscard Village, Wallasey Village, Leasowe Merseyrail Station, Moreton Cross, Meols Merseyrail Station and Hoylake to reach West Kirby the service runs at a daytime frequency of every 30 minutes Monday to Sunday.

The evening service between New Brighton and West Kirby was withdrawn and replaced by new service 39A which only operates from New Brighton to Moreton Cross.

As from 17 December 2012, Impera introduced their fourth commercial service, 1A running from New Brighton and Birkenhead Bus Station The service runs Monday - Saturday daytime at a frequency of every 30 minutes

As from 28 January 2013, Impera introduced their fifth Commercial service, 47, Running from Moreton Rail Station - Birkenhead Bus Station, Serving: Moreton Cross, Saughall Massie, Upton, Beechwood, Claughton Village and Birkenhead. The service operates Monday - Saturday daytime at Frequency of every 30 minutes. Alongside with this Impera terminated their service 39A and replaced it with an evening 39 service

As from 29 April 2013 there will be a few new services introduced by Impera and timetable ammendments. First of all Impera will introduce their sixth and seventh Commercial services. These services being: Service 16, Wallasey Harrison Drive - Birkenhead, serving Wallasey Village, Liscard Village, Seacombe Ferry, Woodsie Ferry and Birkenhead Bus Station. The service will run Monday - Saturday daytime at a frequency of every 60 minutes. The next service to be introduced with this is Service 98, Moreton, Town Meadow - Liverpool. This service operates at a frequency of every 30 minutes Monday - Sunday daytime. Service 98 will connect Moreton Cross, Beechwood, Noctorum, Oxton and Birkenhead With Liverpool & Town Meadow Lane. Service 98 will maintain a connection between Beechwood and Moreton due to the current 47 service being shortened to serve only Saughall Massie, as of April 29. Alongsie with this Impera service 1A (New Brighton - Birkenhead) will be extended to serve Liverpool City Centre, as a result the service will no longer serve Woodside Ferry but a new Sunday service is introduced. Also a new evening timetable of current Arriva service "411 New Brighton - Woodside" will be introduced by Impera. As a result as of 2 June 2013, Merseytravel have decided to withdraw their current service 101, which is operated by "A2B travel" which follows the exact same route as service 411. Lastly with the above April Changes, Impera have decided once again to alter their current service "39", the service will no longer serve Town Meadow Lane, and will now serve Moreton, Hoylake road. As a result the timetable will be changed, alongside with its evening timetable as the 39 service will interwork with service "411". Current service "X39" will be re-numbered to "39C"

Impera also have a number of Merseytravel tendered services and also Merseytravel school services.

Impera Route Network
Tendered School Services