Target Travel

Target Travel[1] was a bus operator and coach hire company which served South West Devon & Plymouth for 22 years, until its closure in 2020.

Target Travel
ParentDealtop Ltd
Founded1998
Defunct15 February 2020
HeadquartersWestern Wood Way, Langage, PL7 5BG
LocalePlymouth & South West Devon
Service typeBus & Coach Hire
Destinations
Chief executiveRobert Risk
Websitewww.targettravel.co.uk

History
The Plymouth Argyle F.C. team coach on the Hoe in 2014

Target Travel started as a coach and minibus hire company, before moving on to running commuter routes in and around the Plymouth area.

Target ran a number of commuter routes in and around Plymouth, often covering the neighbourhoods and small villages that Stagecoach South West and Plymouth Citybus didn't, meaning the majority of their customers were elderly or disabled people using bus passes who weren't able to walk to the nearest road served by one of the other companies. It is because of this, Plymouth City Council financially supported the upkeep of a number of these routes.[2]

Target also ran a summer-only service to Bovisand and a P&R service between Derriford Hospital and the George Junction Park and ride,[3] as well as 'shopper' bus routes to the Tesco extras at Roborough and Lee Mill, and school buses to Tor Bridge High, Notre Dame Catholic School, Eggbuckland Community College and Coombe Dean School.

Target Travel were partnered with Plymouth Argyle, serving four Football special routes every home matchday between stadium Home Park and the George Junction Park and ride, Plympton, Plymstock and Stoke Village.[4] They were also the provider of the official team coach, which the first team squad used to travel to away games.[5]

Incidents

On 18 May 2016, two women, Maria-Helene Giebelen and Victoria Hodge, were fatally injured in a car crash just moments after alighting from a Target Travel 39 service on Torr Lane in Hartley. The driver of the car involved, a Ford B-Max, was sentenced to 4 years in prison for careless and dangerous driving.[6]

Closure

On 6 September 2018, it was reported that Target Travel had lost its operating license, which led to many Plymouth-based services being transferred over to Stagecoach South West, with one Park and ride service transferring over to Plymouth Citybus on 28 October 2018.[7] Target continued to operate under a new license in South West Devon and Dartmoor, as well as retaining a small number of Plymouth routes.[8]

In early 2020, Target Travel, and its operating company Dealtop Ltd, were again stripped of their operating licence after an inquiry lead by Kevin Rooney, traffic commissioner for the West of England.[9] The company had reportedly failed several vehicle inspections, and had failed to develop a "mandatory cash reserve" as agreed in their previous licence hearing.[10][11]

They ceased operations on 15 February 2020, with Plymouth Argyle taking over the running of supporters' coach services for the following home match on 22 February, but not taking them on for any further matches.[12][13] South Hams-based company Tally-Ho! took over supporters' away travel arrangements for the remainder of the 19-20 season.[14]

Another South Hams-based company Oakley's Coaches took over Target's old routes on Dartmoor, serving the settlements of Bickleigh, Dousland, Hordon, Princetown, Mary Tavy, Milton Abbot, Milton Combe, Sparkwell, Yelverton, as well as Dartmoor Zoo and The George Junction Park & Ride.

Fleet

Target had a varied fleet of coaches and minibuses with Neoplan, VDL Bova, Iveco, MAN SE, Volvo (Plaxton Panther) and Mercedes made vehicles, as well as Optare Solo, Enviro 200 and Dennis Dart buses.[15]

Liveries and brands

The primary colours of Target Travel were majority white with a green trim, however the special decals dedicated to some bus routes have seen other colours used, with an all purple livery seen before, and a green and yellow livery on the 223 'Budo Nipper', a shuttle bus serving St Budeaux in the North West of the city.[16]

References
  1. "Home". Target Travel.
  2. "Board the beach bus to Bovisand". Plymouth Newsroom.
  3. "Why the George Park and Ride was closed today leaving passengers unable to buy tickets". The Herald (Plymouth). 2 October 2017. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  4. "Target Travel". Argyle Community Trust.
  5. "Team Coach on Team Coach". Plymouth Argyle F.C. official site. 5 April 2017. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  6. "Gran who killed two friends is jailed for four years". The Herald (Plymouth). 21 August 2017. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  7. "Plymouth bus firm has its licence revoked". The Herald (Plymouth). 6 September 2018. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
  8. "Bus Times".
  9. "Dealtop (PLYMOUTH) Ltd T/A Target Travel, Tristan Kelly, and William Ashley Taylor". gov.uk. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  10. "Target Travel to cease trading after licence is revoked". The Herald (Plymouth). 10 January 2020. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  11. O'Leary, Miles (18 February 2020). "End of an era as Target Travel bids farewell to Plymouth". The Herald (Plymouth). Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  12. "Cambridge Bus Service". pafc.co.uk. 22 February 2020. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  13. "Football Service Not Running - Bus Routes Cease". pafc.co.uk. 2 March 2020. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  14. "Tally Ho! - New Coach Partners". pafc.co.uk. 16 February 2020. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  15. "Our Fleet". Target Travel.
  16. Telford, William. "Watch video from today's vintage bus rally on Plymouth Hoe". The Herald (Plymouth). Retrieved 9 November 2017.
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