I like place names and usually it is best not to go there a usually they are not really special in any way. This Arriva Dest Dart Plaxton Pointer don;t look like it's going anywhere in a hurry as it waits at Bilston Bus Station. Of course now Wednesfield Garage is gone so has Arriva were most of it's services are covered by diamond. At this time it was wasting valuable resources trying to squeeze the incumbent Banga Bus on it's main service off the road. As it turned out the Arriva buses tended to run empty whilst 'friendly and helpful' Banga seats were as full as ever.
In a way it's strange to think of Banga being the incumbent on a route, given that they started out as the attacker against then-incumbent WMT after deregulation, and given the state of their minibuses back then "Banga" was an appropriate name.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure that, once the company had become rather more presentable, the owner was thinking of renaming Banga because he felt the name gave the wrong impression; I assume that in the end he decided not to bother.
Ross, well it is an Indian Gentleman Mr. Banga who runs the business so I doubt if he looks down on his name. They survived many a scirmish with the authorities citing racial harassment should anyone get under their skin. I remember his early buses, bread van was a bit too polite perhaps gas board van might be better.
ReplyDeleteI had a bit of a hunt and found this from the Express & Star back in 2009:-
ReplyDelete(I'll add the link but I don't know if Blogger will delete it)
https://www.expressandstar.com/news/2009/02/26/bus-firm-banga-looks-at-new-name/
"Bus firm Banga looks at new name"
(26 Feb. 2009)
"A bus company in Wolverhampton that won the right to stay on the roads despite reports of maintenance lapses could change its name in a bid to shed its troubled reputation.
...
"The rusty, spluttering beige Banga Travel buses were a familiar site when the company was run by Rajinder Banga's father Parkash Ram Banga, before he lost his licence last March.
...
"Rajinder Banga, 39, said: "It is very important that people realise this company is not the same as the one my father ran."
I didn't realise that there were two Banga Travel operations, and to be honest I'm surprised that the son didn't go for a different name straight away if he felt it had a tarnished reputation. He clearly changed his mind in the end, though, and decided to stick with the family name.