A2Z Travel was a diversified transportation company operating mainly in the Walsall and Wolverhampton areas of the West Midlands in England. The company also provided some bus services in South Staffordshire and Birmingham. It started in the taxi business in 1998, diversifying into minibus and coach services in 2003, and in 2005 began operating local bus services. It operated buses on numerous commercial and subsidised services as part of Network West Midlands. It ceased operating after 31 March 2009, entering administration following the revocation of its licence by the West MidlandsTransport Commissioner and several failed appeals.
Fleet
A2Z Travel started bus operations using two Dennis Lance step-entrance single deck buses and a Dennis Dart. Over time more Dennis Darts appeared, followed by 15 Leyland Olympiandouble deck buses. These buses were withdrawn in December 2007, and replaced by more Darts and Lances. This fleet continued to be used until the company ceased its operations.
Routes
Below is a list of the bus routes operated by A2Z Travel at the time it ceased operations:
In November 2007, a Vehicle and Operator Services Agency inspection at A2Z Travel found that 11 buses had defects. A2Z immediately took these vehicles off the road and withdrew them from service. However, in January 2008, another VOSA inspection found a further five buses to be unfit for operation. For this matter the company was fined £19,800. In October 2008, it was reported that the company had had its licence revoked with immediate effect by the West Midlands Traffic Commissioner. However, A2Z decided to appeal, and as such the company continued to operate until their appeal process ended on 31 March 2009. The report revealed damning claims about the company including:
A check on the running of its service revealed that of 692 buses checked, 513 were either running early, late or did not turn up at all.
The Company Transport Manager, Shahzad Ali, was criticised for failing to maintain a roadworthy fleet of vehicles despite promises to VOSA.
Despite this, the West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive, Centro, continued to allow the company to win contracts to operate new subsidised services in the area.
Transport Tribunal appeal
On 13 January 2009, A2Z Travel appeared in front of the Transport Tribunal in London to appeal against the revocation of its licence. A2Z Travel were unsuccessful in overturning the decision made by the West Midlands Transport Commissioner and ordered to cease operating all services from 31 March 2009. After a round of emergency tendering for the remaining services was organised by Centro on 30 March 2009, A2Z Travel ceased operations the following day.
In late March 2009, and with closure imminent, A2Z Travel reached a deal with Choice Travel, a similarly sized company based in nearby Wednesfield. The deal saw Choice take on a number of A2Z's routes and fifteen of A2Z's buses.
