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Tricentrol: the saviour on M1
Page 46
Page 47
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Noel Millier reports on a 24-hour recovery service which answers the prayers of operators, passengers and drivers alike, Dick Ross took the pictures
)URING every holiday iundreds of coaches use the M 1 lay and night. Many are taking passengers to air or sea ports as, he first step in their vacation ir are returning with tired fassengers desperate to get iome to rest before starting vork again.
For all concerned, a breaktown or accident can spell disister. Tricentrol Coaches at )unstable understands the ieeds of passengers and operaors and uses its base at Duristble to provide a psv-only 24our recovery and coach eplacement service.
With over 40 modern °aches operating from the )unstable depot, Tricentrol can inly justify the expense of a ireakdown lorry if it is used to he maximum.
With most of the country's oaches using the M1 at some me during the year, the breakown lorry does indeed achieve ill utilisation and can pay for self many times over.
When a coach breaks. down ,n the M1 on the stretches poced by the Thames Valley, ledfordshire and Hertfordshire onstabularies near Dunstable, ie Tricentrol Coaches service is ften called into action.
If possible, the Tricentrol enmoor will carry out running apairs to send the coach back n its way; but if this proves -npossible Tricentrol Coaches an supply a coach and driver to nable the party to continue to s destination.
The disabled coach will then e towed to the Dunstable base there it can be collected by its perator or repairer by arrangelent with Tricentrol.
Tricentrol has a ruling that ihen a replacement coach is rovided it is only to be driven y Tricentrol men, although ften the original driver is able ) return home with the vehicle. I was told that the rule came -Ito force after Tricentrol :oaches had lent a vehicle as a ,reakdown replacement to a Irge national company and had ot been able to get it back for uite a while. It had apparently eon absorbed into the perator's fleet after it had cornleted the emergency journey. Another unfortunate fact of fe concerning the coach inustry is the credit worthiness of ome operators. Previous exerience has Meant that TricenT)1 has had to look carefully at xtended credit before proding its service to operators. No credit agreement is made nless the operator is a funded -fember of the Coach and Indeiendent Bus Sector of the Con
federation of British Road Passenger Transport (CIBS).
Tricentrol Coaches at Dunstable provides the breakdown service for National Bus Company coaches and Scottish Bus Group coaches on the M1 between London and Newport Pagnell and on the Al (M) between Alconbury and Mill Hill, but does on occasion go further.
Tricentrol's service to coach operators also includes assistance for bodywork problems such as windows, windscreens, 'and windscreen wipers. A full range of Plaxton and Duple screens are stocked at Dunstable and this service can be supplied when necessary.
A fixed scale of charges exists for the service, and by agreement Tricentrol can also assist at psv breakdowns for BRS rescue. As a matter of course, Tricentrol sends two fitters to 'the scene of all breakdowns. Charges incorporate call-out and mileage. The call-out charge increases when the breakdown 'occurs outside normal working hours.
For breakdowns where it is definitely known that towing is not required, a Ford Transit service van is used. When the need for towing is likely, Tricentrol uses its recovery vehicle — a short-wheelbase Bedford KM.
The KM has proved adequate for most routine coach recovery .jobs. It has a hydraulic crane, but it is unusual for this to be used as normally coaches are towed using a fixed bar with an air line connecting. the disabled vehicle brakes to those on the KM.
All precautions are taken to avoid the possibility of accidents when attending breakdowns, and both the service van and the breakdown lorry are fitted with amber beacons and hazard and fog lights, and fitters wear . reflective jackets.
The fitters I spoke to were well aware of the dangers of working on the motorway. Minor breakdowns, such as coaches running out of fuel, were particularly dangerous as the fitter is normally on the offside filling the vehicle with • petrol and so very vulnerable. The fitters felt that motorway hard shoulders were built with cars in mind and are not wide enough to cater for coac breakdowns, particularly whe many running repairs involv work at the side of vehicles.
The priority is usually to gE passengers away from th motorway itself and this i where the coach replacemer service comes into its owr Coach passengers can and ofte do get restless when waiting fc assistance and often want t leave the coach to stretch the legs — a pastime not encoL raged on the M1..
A coach breakdown is not b definition a mechanical failurE It can cover tyre faults, drivE problems, body difficulties lack of fuel, and all these ever tualities have been encountere -by the Tricentrol fitters.
Tricentrol can supply a tyr .service and stock spar ''mileage contract' tyres fc NBC and other coaches thE operate in its area on this basis
A wide variety of operator have been rescued by th Tricentrol service. In addition t coaches in its area, the Tricer trol men have been out to looE buses, and on at least one occE sion have helped to keep locE services running.
During one recent fuel crisiE Tricentrol Coaches were able t assist by supplying sufficier fuel to keel) NBC subsidiar United Counties buses runnin until more fuel was delivered that company's nearby garagi Under Nobby Hoar, Tricer trol's fitters have developed th expertise necessary to cope wit. breakdowns as various as thos to Bristol VRL double-decker and French Berliet coaches.
Tricentrol's fleet of over 41 modern Bedford and For coaches were called into erne gency action on more than 26 occasions last year an passengers found themselve unexpectedly completing the journey in comfort, after havin perhaps resigned themselves t the prospect of being strande for long hours at the roadside i a broken down vehicle.
The assistance offered is e> clusively a psv service by a ps operator. Tricentrol prides itsel on being able to cover mos eventualities from mina accidents to major mechanica problems; but it does admit tha at present it is not equipped ti de& with major accidents, sucl as roll-over incidents.
The men at Dunstable havi built up a good reputation witl the many operators who regu larly use the motorway, and thE motorway police and they pridE themselves on providing rescuE and recovery whenever it ir humanly possible.