Travel Express was founded in 2000 by Kishan Singh Chumber, with the companies incorporation date being 25 September 2001. The current and former routes were commercial with very little services to be contracted services operated under the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA). Currently all services except the 303 and 529 are operated in competition with National Express West Midlands.
History
Travel Express (2001-2015)
Initially, Travel Express ran services in Birmingham before switching operations to Wolverhampton. Services in Birmingham included 9, 16, 63 and 126, the fleet at the time had two Leyland vehicles, a Renault minibus and the others were Carlyle or Alexander/Plaxton bodied with step entrances. At one point, operations then began in Wolverhampton with the current routes today (1, 11, 32, 33, 303 and 529) but a few more were also introduced.
The company came under fire in January 2015 following a public enquiry by Traffic Commissioner Nick Jones, with the investigation finding that buses were unsafe and dirty, basic safety principles were unmet and that the company employed no cleaner, whilst branding manager Kishan Chumber 'incompetent'. Chumber responded, stating that the results of the public enquiry were a "gross vilification of the business" and that Travel Express were being unfairly targeted. The company had its number of allowed buses reduced from 13 to 8, and its routes reduced from 4 to 2. In September 2015, the company's licence was revoked for failing to comply with requirements imposed by the Traffic Commissioner.
Birmingham Bus Services
9 Birmingham to Halesowen
16 Birmingham to Hamstead
63 Wolverhampton to Rubery
126 Birmingham to Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton Bus Services
1 Wolverhampton to Tettenhall Wood
2 Wolverhampton to Bushbury Hill/Fallings Park
3 Wolverhampton to Fordhouses
6 Wolverhampton to Pendeford
11 Wolverhampton to Underhill
32/33 Wolverhampton to Northwood Park Circulars
510 Wolverhampton to Perton
529 Wolverhampton to Willenhall
598 Wolverhampton, Stafford Street to Bushbury Hill
At a point, Travel Express' routes were numbered within the 500s, presumably to avoid confusion with the service operated by National Express
Let's Go! (2016-Present)
In 2016, Travel Express, now trading as ‘Let’s Go’ received a new licence to operate 8 vehicles, under three conditions: (1) the company employ a full-time transport manager, (2) employ a full-time mechanic, and that the owner have no role in vehicle maintenance. The services that were operated are the same but with only routes 1, 2, 11, 32 and 33. The company was still renowned
In 2018, Travel Express' owner, Kishan Singh Chumber, applied to be re-instated as a Transport Manager for the company. At the January 2018 Traffic Commission meeting, he withdrew his application.
In late October 2018, Travel Express won their first TfWM tendered route, the 303 from Bilston to County Bridge that was previously operated by Diamond. The company purchased a former London General Wright Streetlite WF for this, however this has since been sold through to Vectare Essex and the route is operated by either an East Lancs Esteem, or E200.
In 2019, 17 Alexander Dennis Enviro 200s were purchased to replace the elderly Dennis Darts, out of the current 23 vehicles, 5 were Dennis Darts with Plaxton Pointer bodies with one ALX200 while the remaining 17 were Enviros (in which three have Facelift bodies). The livery also included a change in livery from red to all-over white with the yellow 'Let's Go!' logo receiving a black outline.
On 28 March 2020, before lockdown started, all services except the 303 were all suspended.
On 1 May 2020, a single return journey 529 service started and again overruns a National Express service being the Platinum 529 service that continues down to Walsall, this goes as far as County Bridge where the first 303 starts from and by Tracker history now, the bus does the 32/33 circulars then operates a 529 journey before doing the 303 bus for the day then going back to the 529 and 32/33 services. This service it started within Wolverhampton Town Centre until on 4 February 2021, the stopping places were varied with the morning service starting from Wolverhampton, Horseley Fields and the afternoon return journey terminates on Old Hall Street.
The commercial services were reintroduced in stages, route 11 was reintroduced first on 14 June 2020, then route 1 on 3 July 2020, routes 32 and 33 were reintroduced months last on 15 November 2020.
Most of the remaining Dennis Darts were withdrawn leaving SK51AYD and CX03EBJ operational
Services
| Service No. | From | To | Via | Service Level | Frequency |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wolverhampton Police Station | Tettenhall Wood | Chapel Ash, Whitmore Reans | Mondays to Saturdays | Every 15-20 mins |
| 11 | Wolverhampton Bus Station | Underhill | Fallings Park, The Scotlands | Mondays to Sundays | Mon to Sat every 10-15 mins
Sundays every 20 minutes |
| 32/33 | Wolverhampton Bus Station | Northwood Park | Circular Services | Mondays to Saturdays | Mon to Fri every 10-45 mins
Irregular during peak Saturdays every 15-40 mins |
| 303 | County Bridge | Bilston Bus Station | Willenhall, Market Place | Mondays to Saturdays | Every 60 mins
(Shopping hours only) |
| 529 | Wolverhampton | County Bridge | Willenhall, Market Place | Mondays to Saturdays | Two services
(one in both directions) |
| Registration | Vehicle type | Seating capacity |
| SK51 AYD | Dennis Dart MPD / Plaxton Pointer 2 | B29F |
| CX03 EBJ | Dennis Dart MPD / Plaxton Pointer 2 | B29F |
| EU08 FHD | Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart | B28F |
| KX57 FMC | Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart | B29F |
| KX57 FME | Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart | B29F |
| KX08 UXU | Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart | B29F |
| LJ56 LDC | Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart | B29F |
| LJ08 RJY | Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart | B26F |
| MX60 GXH | Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart | B29F |
| MX61 BCU | Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart | B29F |
| PN07 KRZ | Alexander Dennis Enviro200 / East Lancs Esteem | B23F |
| YX09 HZA | Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart | B29F |
| YX10 FEG | Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart | B29D |
| YX10 FEJ | Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart | B29D |
| YX10 FEK | Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart | B29D |
| YX10 FEO | Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart | B29D |
| YX61 BXH | Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart | B29F |
| YX63 ZXM | Alexander Dennis Enviro200 | B29F |
| YX64 VOM | Alexander Dennis Enviro200 | B29F |
| YY15 GEK | Alexander Dennis Enviro200 | B29F |