Berrys Coaches is a coach operator based in Taunton, Somerset. It was established in 1920 and is still a family owned business today.
Superfast coach services
Berrys started operating a service between Somerset and London following deregulation of the UK coach industry by the Transport Act 1980, .[1] Today it operates five services under the 'Superfast' brand in each direction to and from Hammersmith bus station in London over three routes:[2]
- Superfast 1 - Wellington, Taunton, North Petherton, Bridgwater
- Superfast 2 - Taunton, Ilminster, South Petherton, Yeovil, Ilchester, RNAS Yeovilton, Wincanton
- Superfast 3 - Taunton, Street, Glastonbury, Wells, Shepton Mallet, Frome, Warminster, Codford, Amesbury
(The order of towns is shown here from Somerset towards London)
Other operations
Berrys Coaches run a programme of tours offering a variety of inclusive and coach-only day trips.[3] They also operate home-to-school transport for Somerset Council and other customers, as of 2021 transporting more than 1,600 students each school day.[4] It began operating services under contract to FlixBus from 2022 between Plymouth and London via Taunton[5][6][7] and between Taunton and Newcastle upon Tyne from 2023.[8]
Its workshop and maintenance facilities were expanded to provide services to external to both other PSV operators and local HGV operators. These include vehicle inspection, repairs and maintenance and an ATF approved testing lane.[9][10]
Berrys operated local services around Taunton in the 1990s under the Beaver Bus brand using Bristol VRT double-deck buses in competition with Southern National.[11]
Fleet
Berrys operated a fleet of buses, coaches and executive minibuses for their own services and private hire work. These range from 16 to 78 seats.[12]
After World War II the company operated a fleet based for a long time on Plaxton bodies and Bedford chassis. In the late 1980s, as they had preferred Volvo chassis, they began purchasing the first Van Hool bodied coaches, which still today form a large part of the Superfast and Executive fleet. The local school and tour fleet is based mainly on VDL Futura coaches.
References
- ^ " Right Place, Right Coach, Right Time" Buses issue 736 July 2016 pages 45-48
- ^ "Coach travel to london". Berrys Coaches. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
- ^ "Day tours". Berrys Coaches. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
- ^ "Students in a coach competition". Facebook. Berrys Coaches. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
- ^ "Berrys Coaches and FlixBus form new partnership". Berrys Coaches. 21 April 2022.
- ^ FlixBus works with Berrys and Roselyn to reach Plymouth Route One 21 April 2022
- ^ FlixBus forges further west Buses issue 807 June 2022 page 16
- ^ "Berrys Coaches grows relationship with FlixBus". Route One.
- ^ "Workshop services". Berrys Coaches. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
- ^ Carter, Christopher (September 2022). "Post pandemic coach competition". Buses. pp. 50–53.
- ^ Billington, Colin (2006). West Country Bristol VRs. Colaton Raleigh: West Country Historic Omnibus & Transport Trust. p. 21.
- ^ "Coach types". Berrys Coaches. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
External links
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