Pictured with the new coaches is Mike de Courcey, managing
director of Travel de Courcey.
The deal with National Express, the UK's number one scheduled
coach company, is the biggest single contract in the history of
Travel de Courcey, the largest privately-owned coach and bus
operator in Warwickshire and the West Midlands.
The contract has resulted in the Coventry-based firm investing
£5 million in new vehicles and assets, and securing
employment for 55 people including the creation of a dozen
jobs.
Mike de Courcey, Managing Director of Travel de Courcey, said:
"We are delighted to have won such an important contract to supply
coaches to National Express for transporting passengers between the
Midlands, Manchester and London.
"In both financial and operational terms, it is the biggest
single contract that Travel de Courcey has been successful in
winning since the company was founded in 1978 and that is down to
our high standards of service.
"It represents a new era for Travel de Courcey and involves us
opening a new depot in Birmingham which we hope to be able to
develop in the future."
Alex Perry, Operations Director, National Express Coach, said:
"We welcome Travel de Courcey to our family of coach operators.
Our partners help us to provide the country's number one
scheduled coach network and we are confident Travel de Courcey will
meet and exceed our very high standards to provide our customers
with the best possible journey."
Travel de Courcey has won the contract to service existing
routes along the busy Birmingham to London corridor with links to
Manchester, Stratford-upon-Avon, Wolverhampton and Coventry.
It has bought 14 new Volvo Caetano Levantes coaches, built to
National Express specifications. The 48-seater coaches are
equipped with leather seats, air-conditioning, a lift for disabled
access, CCTV and state-of-the-art electronics, including vehicle
tracking and fuel consumption.
The coaches recently took to the road for the first time as the
new contract got underway and Travel de Courcey has already
received positive feedback from passengers and drivers.
Travel de Courcey also operates express inter-city coach
services from Coventry to Blackpool and Skegness on behalf of
National Express.