Epsom Coaches was an English bus and coach operator based in the town of

Epsom Epsom is the principal town of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Saxon landowner. The ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

. Formed in 1920, it closed in June 2017 after a corporate restructure.

History

The coach business was established by Herbert Roderick Richmond in 1920History
Epsom CoachesKing, Nicholas, ''London Bus Handbook Part 2: Independents'' (Capital Transport, 1990). and latterly operated a fleet of mostly

Setra Setra is a German bus brand of EvoBus GmbH, itself a wholly owned subsidiary of Daimler Truck AG. The name "Setra" comes from "selbsttragend" (self-supporting). This refers to the integral nature of the construction of the vehicles back in th ...

coaches. In 1986 Epsom Coaches entered the bus market after

deregulation Deregulation is the process of removing or reducing state regulations, typically in the economic sphere. It is the repeal of governmental regulation of the economy. It became common in advanced industrial economies in the 1970s and 1980s, as a ...

. In 2003, Epsom Coaches rebranded its bus division as

Quality Line Quality Line was a bus company based in Epsom, England. A subsidiary of the RATP Group, Quality Line operated bus services throughout the South West (London sub region), South West London and Surrey area, with many under contract to Transport fo ...

and repainted its vehicles from their traditional cream and brown into allover red to comply with Transport for London requirements. It operated a staff shuttle service for the

Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust is an NHS trust covering the London Borough of Sutton and north Surrey. It runs two main hospitals: Epsom Hospital and St Helier Hospital. It also runs a chronic fatigue and pain clinic at Sutton ...

, between

St Helier St Helier (; Jèrriais: ; french: Saint-Hélier) is one of the twelve parishes of Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands in the English Channel. St Helier has a population of 35,822 – over one-third of the total population of Jersey – ...

and Sutton Hospitals. These were in a plain silver livery. It also operated bus services in Surrey, both commercial and for the county council using the silver livery. From March 2012 Epsom Coaches operated a

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Victoria Coach Station Victoria Coach Station is the largest coach station in London, located in the central district of Victoria in the City of Westminster. It serves as a terminus for many medium- and long-distance coach services in the United Kingdom, and is also ...

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...

service under contract to

National Express National Express Group is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Birmingham, England. It operates bus, coach, train and tram services in the United Kingdom, Ireland (National Express operates Eurolines in conjunction ...

. On 19 April 2012 Epsom Coaches was purchased by the

RATP Group RATP may refer to: Transportation: * RATP Group, or ', a public transport operator based in Paris, France * RATP Iași (), a transit operator responsible for public transportation in Iași, Romania * RATP Ploiești (), a transit operator responsi ...

. In June 2017 as part of a restructure of RATP's operations, Epsom Coaches ceased trading with the remaining operations continuing under the

brand.

In popular culture

In 2014, Epsom Coaches appeared in rock band ''

Twin Atlantic Twin Atlantic are a Scottish alternative rock band from Glasgow, Scotland. The group currently consists of Sam McTrusty (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Ross McNae (bass) and Joe Lazarus (drums). Lead guitarist Barry McKenna departed from the b ...

's'' 'Hold On' music video.

References

External links

Official website
{{RATP Group Coach operators in England RATP Group Transport companies established in 1920 Transport companies disestablished in 2017 Former London bus operators Transport in Epsom and Ewell 1920 establishments in England 2017 disestablishments in England British companies established in 1920 British companies disestablished in 2017