A town that moves people
Loughborough carries a lot of passengers for a market town. Four bus companies run services in and around it, and since the old bus station near Fennel Street made way for The Rushes shopping centre, those buses work from on-street stops around the centre. The university has more than eighteen thousand students and a sporting reputation few places can match, with the ECB National Cricket Academy on campus and a 3,000-capacity stadium for its rugby and football teams. Loughborough College adds over 12,000 full and part-time students of its own. Teams, students and visitors on the move mean minibuses and coaches coming and going.
When passengers are on board
A broken-down coach or minibus is a problem for every person sitting in it, and that shapes what we do. If a vehicle stops on the M1 near junction 23, on the A6 or anywhere in town, ring 01332 916028 straight away and tell us where it is and how many passengers are with it. We will talk the driver through keeping everyone safe: hazards on, the vehicle as far from moving traffic as it can get, and on a motorway the passengers out on the side away from traffic and behind the barrier unless staying aboard is safer. Let your office know too, in case onward travel needs arranging. Where it is safe and possible, our technician repairs the vehicle at the roadside; otherwise we recover it.
In the workshop
Coaches, double-deckers and minibuses go up on the same lifts as the trucks at our workshop at Calke Mill Farm, Melbourne. They are serviced to the manufacturer's schedule, with attention on the systems passenger work depends on: air and brakes, steering and suspension, lighting and electrics, heating and cooling, and the drivetrain. Safety inspections and preparation for the annual test follow the same standard as for goods vehicles, with brake performance checked every time and defects fixed and recorded before sign-off.
Clear windows in winter
On a passenger vehicle, a heater or demister that isn't working is a safety issue as well as a comfort one, because a windscreen that won't clear is a hazard. Have heating and ventilation checked in the autumn, alongside batteries and lights.
Planning around the busy weeks
Every coach and minibus operator has periods when every seat is earning. Tell us your quieter weeks and we will plan servicing and inspections around them, so vehicles are ready when the work is. If you also run vans or trucks, a fleet maintenance contract can put the whole lot under one schedule and one team.
Planned work is booked by phone on 01332 916028, and the workshop is open Monday to Friday, 07:30 to 17:00.
