Thamesdown Transport

Thamesdown Transport

Parent Swindon Borough Council
Founded September 1904
Headquarters Swindon
Service area Swindon
Service type Bus services
Fleet 85 (October 2013)
Website www.thamesdown-transport.co.uk

Thamesdown Transport[1] is a bus operator serving the town of Swindon and the surrounding area in the Borough of Swindon and county of Wiltshire.

History

East Lancs bodied Dennis Dominator in December 1997
Wright Solar bodied Scania K230UB in July 2009
Yellow school buses in October 2005

Thamesdown Transport has its origins in 1904, when Swindon Corporation started to operate electric trams. Bus operation started in 1927 and two years later all the trams were replaced.[2]

On local government re-organisation in April 1974, the functions of the corporation were transferred to the new Thamesdown district, and the name of the bus operation was changed to Thamesdown Transport. To comply with the Transport Act 1985, the operation was transferred into a separate legal entity.[1] Swindon Borough Council retains ownership, which makes it one of the few remaining municipal bus companies.

During the 1980s, operations were expanded to rural areas around Swindon, to replace services withdrawn by Alder Valley and Bristol Omnibus Company.

Fares

Thamesdown implemented a fastFare system on 1 August 2005 in which passengers must pay the exact fare as change will not be given by the driver.[3] This has generated some criticism as its implementation often results in passengers paying more than the necessary fare.[4] This can be due to not having the correct change or, more commonly, tourists and visitors being unaware of the policy until after they have deposited money. The reasoning behind the policy is that if the driver does not have to deal with giving change, passenger loading times are shortened, resulting in a faster and more reliable service. It also reduces the risk of attacks on drivers.

Swindon's other main bus company Stagecoach in Swindon does not participate in the scheme.[5] Tickets are valid on both companies services for the majority of destinations in the Swindon Urban Area and beyond, with Stagecoach providing Sunday services to the region.

Thamesdown have also implemented a Text and Go service, where passengers can send an SMS message containing a seven digit bus stop identifier to a premium number to receive information about the next three buses due to arrive at that stop.[6]

Fleet

As at October 2013 the fleet consisted of 85 buses.[7]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Companies House extract company no 1997617 Thamesdown Transport Limited
  2. ↑ About Us Thamesdown Transport
  3. ↑ Lyndsay Scanlan. "Just the exact change please". Swindon Advertiser. Retrieved 9 January 2007.
  4. ↑ S Watson. "Expensive and inconvenient as well". thisiswiltshire.co.uk. Retrieved 9 January 2007.
  5. ↑ "No change in bus company's policy". Swindon Advertiser. Retrieved 9 January 2007.
  6. ↑ "Text and Go". Thamesdown Transport. Archived from the original on 4 May 2007. Retrieved 9 January 2007.
  7. ↑ Bus Fleet Thamesdown
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