Deeside bus services scrapped as GHA coaches enter administration
Update 4pm Thursday 14 July:
Provision for Friday morning school buses in Flintshire:
Cheshire West and Chester Council revised DB1 Service timetable in collaboration with Arriva
DB1 Service Arriva (opens in new window)
DB2 timetable Arriva (opens in new window)
11 – 11A Service Arriva (opens in new window)
GHA Coaches the Wrexham-based coach and bus firm has entered administration.
Reports say drivers have been told they will not be working Thursday.
GHA operates many key routes in Flintshire, Cheshire as well as contracted services such as schools and colleges.
Around 500 Flintshire secondary school pupils are affected however Flintshire County Council worked late into the night arranging alternative transport for the councils pupils.
Flintshire County Council issued a statement saying.
“Flintshire County Council has received notification that GHA Coaches will cease trading with effect from 13th July 2016 and will not operate any transport services from tomorrow (14th July)
The Council has given priority to school transport services in the first instance and is working with a number of different bus operators to put temporary arrangements in place; however some services may operate later than usual.
No public services will be covered immediately, but the Council is working on contingency plans to cover local bus services as soon as possible.
Further details will be published on the Flintshire website as up-to-date information becomes available and the following arrangements are now confirmed for 14th July 2016.”
| School Route | Picking up at: | School Served | Bus Operator |
| 517BB | Buckley – Bryn-y-Baal – Northop – Connah’s Quay | St Richard Gwyn H.S. Flint | Jones Motors |
| 525BC1 | Pontybodkin – Leeswood – Coed Talon – Pontblyddyn | Castell Alun H.S. Hope | P&O Lloyd |
| 525BE | Penyffordd (Millstone) | Castell Alun H.S. Hope | P&O Lloyd |
| 525BF | Padeswood – Penymynydd – Penyffordd | Castell Alun H.S. Hope | P&O Lloyd |
| 525BG | Penyffordd – Castell Alun H.S. | Castell Alun H.S. Hope | P&O Lloyd |
| ZP02 | Broughton – Bretton – Saltney | Chester Catholic H.S. | Townlynx |
| ZP04 | Saltney – Broughton – Hawarden – Drury – Buckley – Mynydd Isa – New Brighton | Mold Alun H.S. / Ysgol Maes Garmon | Townlynx |
| ZP171 | Broughton | St David’s High School, Saltney | Townlynx |
| ZP08 | Hawarden – Sandycroft – Mancot – Pentre. | John Summers H.S. Queensferry | Arriva |
| ZSP1/2 | Garden City – Sealand – Queensferry – Aston – Ewloe – Buckley – Mynydd Isa – New Brighton | Mold Alun H.S. / Ysgol Maes Garmon | Arriva |
| ZP99 | Sandycroft – Mancot – Queensferry – Shotton – Connah’s Quay – Northop – Sychdyn | Mold Alun H.S. / Ysgol Maes Garmon | Arriva |
| Z109 | Shotton – Connah’s Quay – Northop – Sychdyn | Mold Alun H.S. / Ysgol Maes Garmon | Stagecoach |
| ZD14M | Denbigh – Bodfari – Afonwen – Caerwys – Nannerch – Rhydymwyn – Mold Bus Station | Mold Alun H.S. / Ysgol Maes Garmon | Llew Jones |
These are the public services in Flintshire likely to be badly affected today:
Cheshire West and Chester Council said:
“The Council has been working with other local bus operators. School children have been prioritised and every effort has been made to provide as much cover as possible.”
School routes information
- Replacement buses have been organised for our three school contracts to Helsby and Christleton High Schools
- Service 82 will run as normal
- Service 36 is to be confirmed but cover has been arranged to pick up school children on the route
- Information about GHA 604,GHA 605, GHA 100 and GHA 451 will be updated in the morning
The Council is aware of some routes commissioned directly by schools. It is expected that schools will confirm the status of these services in the morning.
Deeside industrial estate
- Service DB4 will operate as normal
One person who works for another bus company told our sister site on Wrexham.com: “We are in the process of organising some emergency cover, hopefully we’ll have things in place by tomorrow morning, I should imagine we’ll be working until late tonight (Wednesday)
GHA Coaches Ltd is one of the largest independently owned bus & coach operators in the UK operating 230 vehicles from 6 depots and employing nearly 400 people with routes across the Wrexham area, out to Flintshire, Denbighshire, Conwy, Gwynedd and across into England for Cheshire, Shropshire and Manchester.
GHA’s head office and central repair facility is located in Ruabon with depots in Ruthin, Tarvin, Winsford, Macclesfield and Shrewsbury.
Company fined £90,000 for safety failings
GHA was recently fined £90,000 after it repeatedly failed to comply with legal notices to get its lifting equipment examined.
Mold Magistrates’ Court heard that, between 4 April 2014 and 28 August 2015, GHA Coaches Limited failed to have its lifting equipment thoroughly examined within the required timescales to ensure that health and safety conditions were maintained and that any deterioration could be detected and remedied in good time.
In 2015, an inspection revealed overdue Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations (LOLER) examinations on at least 14 items. An improvement notice was served, and extended twice, and still resulted in a failure to comply.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that a previous improvement notice was served in 2011.
GHA Coaches Limited, of Vauxhall Industrial Estate, Ruabon, Wrexham, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 9(3)(a)(ii) of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER),and failing to comply with an Improvement Notice, and was fined a total of £90,000 and ordered to pay costs of £3,068.
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