Tellings-Golden Miller

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Tellings-Golden Miller (TGM) is a bus service and coach operator in the United Kingdom.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Golden Miller

Reputedly, Fred Varney had begun the Golden Miller company with the winnings from a bet made on the horse Golden Miller, which won the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Grand National in 1934[1]. In 1955 his business, then comprising two coaches and a booking office in Twickenham was acquired by F.G. Wilder & Sons Ltd. of Feltham. In 1967 Wilder bought out "Tourist Bus Service" which had one vehicle and a stage carriage licence for the number 601 service between Feltham Station and East Bedfont, which it had operated since 1955. This service was continued under the Golden Miller brand name and, in 1968, routes 602 (from Feltham to Shepperton) and 603 (from Feltham to Hanworth via Elmwood Avenue) were added. In 1970 the route from Walton-on-Thames to Walton-on-Thames station was taken over from Walton-on-Thames Motor Co. Ltd. and extended to Oatlands village as service 604. Route 605 was planned for the Claygate area but did not come into effect, and route 606 began in 1971 from Staines to Stanwell Moor and Stanwell village[2].

[edit] Tellings-Golden Miller

An ofj Connections Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 Dart.
An ofj Connections Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 Dart.
A Wiltax DAF/Northern Counties bus.
A Wiltax DAF/Northern Counties bus.

In June 1985 control of Golden Miller passed from Wilder to Tellings Coaches of Byfleet, a family-run concern. Routes 601 and 603 were transferred to Fountain Coaches of Feltham, from October 1985, these routes being combined as route 600 (East Bedfont to Hanworth via Feltham) in June the following year. The Golden Miller business continued to operate routes 602 and 606[3] until about 1988.

The TGM group was established in 2003. TGM has been operating local bus services since 1995. TGM operates coaches and maintains subsidiaries in Cambridgeshire, Essex, Suffolk, Surrey and the North East of England and owns Classic Coaches, Link Line Coaches, Wiltax, OFJ Connections, Network Colchester and Burton's Coaches. The company previously ran London Bus services in South West London and north west Surrey, inheriting some through acquisition of Capital Logistics, however these services were sold to National Express Group in 2005 and now operate as Travel London or Travel Surrey. As part of the reciprocal deal, Tellings Golden Miller are now an official National Express franchisee, running several coach routes on behalf of National Express Group.

The group recommenced operation of bus services in Surrey with the takeover of Wiltax in June 2007.

In December 2007, it was announced that Arriva were going to buy Tellings-Golden Miller for £10.3 million[4], ironically bringing it back into bus operations in Colchester, which they sold to TGM in 2004.

In April 2008 Arriva acquired Excel Passenger Logistics based at Stansted Airport and its associated companies Excel Gatwick and Flight Delay Services based at Manchester Airport and placed them under TGM control[5].

Later that month, the Wiltax operations at their New Haw depot were scaled down, with most routes passing to different operators. Some routes continued to be run by Wiltax, but from Tellings-Golden Miller's Heathrow depot.

[edit] Subsidiaries

  • Burton's Coaches
  • Classic Coaches
  • Excel Passenger Logistics
    • Excel Gatwick
    • Flight Delay Services
  • Link Line Coaches
  • Network Colchester
  • OFJ Connections
  • Tellings Golden Miller Coaches
  • Wiltax

[edit] Fleet

  • 211 buses
  • 45 coaches
  • 600 staff

[edit] Portsmouth Fleet

  • P702 LCF - Mercedes-Benz Vario Allison 4-speed fully automatic
  • R226 WLX - Vauxhall Astra Estate Turbodiesel 5-speed manual
  • KP51 UEV - Volvo B10M Plaxton Panther/Paragon ZF 5-speed fully automatic
  • KP51 UEW - Volvo B10M Plaxton Panther/Paragon ZF 5-speed fully automatic
  • KP51 UEX - Volvo B10M Plaxton Panther/Paragon ZF 5-speed fully automatic
  • KP51 UEY - Volvo B10M Plaxton Panther/Paragon ZF 5-speed fully automatic
  • KP51 UEZ - Volvo B10M Plaxton Panther/Paragon ZF 5-speed fully automatic
  • KU02 YUF - Volvo B10M Plaxton Panther/Paragon ZF 5-speed fully automatic
  • KU02 YUG - Volvo B10M Plaxton Panther/Paragon ZF 5-speed fully automatic
  • LB52 UYK - Volvo B12M Plaxton Panther/Paragon ZF 5-speed fully automatic
  • KX04 HSJ - Volvo B12M Plaxton Panther/Paragon ZF 5-speed fully automatic
  • RK04 BWU - Volvo B12B Plaxton Panther/Paragon ZF 5-speed fully automatic
  • YN54 WWF - Volvo B12B Plaxton Panther/Paragon ZF 5-speed fully automatic
  • YN54 WWG - Volvo B12B Plaxton Panther/Paragon ZF 5-speed fully automatic
  • LK55 KZZ - ADL Pointer Allison 4-speed fully automatic
  • YN55 WSU - Volvo B12B Plaxton Panther/Paragon Volvo I-Shift 12-speed automated manual
  • YN55 WSV - Volvo B12B Plaxton Panther/Paragon Volvo I-Shift 12-speed automated manual
  • YN55 WSW - Volvo B12B Plaxton Panther/Paragon Volvo I-Shift 12-speed automated manual
  • YN56 SGU - Volvo B12B Plaxton Panther/Paragon Volvo I-Shift 12-speed automated manual

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Wikipedia - Golden Miller
  2. ^ FLEETBOOK - Buses of London by R.L. Telfer and A.M. Witton
  3. ^ London Bus Handbook Volume 2 (1987)
  4. ^ Arriva offer for TGM
  5. ^ Bus and Coach News - TGM expands with airport acquisitions
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