Grand Prix Coaches
Based in Brough, Cumbria, Grand Prix Coaches offer a wide range of services, including coach and garage services, private hire and an overnight truck stop.
The company used to run the 563 bus service which provided a vital link from Kirkby Stephen at the top of the Eden Valley through to Penrith, linking towns and villages across the Eden district. The 563 finally stopped running at the end of 2016. The bus was more than just a transport service as it took children to school, people to medical appointments, young mothers shopping, teenagers to see friends, tourists to destinations, disabled people and older folk to towns to see friends, for appointments and shopping.
For the last 18 years the service has been run by Grand Prix Services, Brough – for the first three years Grand Prix only ran the evening service but then took over all the service providing work for many drivers and an almost irreplaceable community asset. Over the years the bus service, started by former Grand Prix racing driver, the late Mr Cliff Allison, has been run by his sons, Frank, Gillie and Mick. The 563 bus has transported well over a million passengers - at a rough guess 1,080,000 or 60,000 people a year.
Cumbria County Council withdrew subsidies for the service in November 2014 from which time Grand Prix tried to run the buses fully commercially but have not been able to operate at a profit and eventually made the difficult decision to withdraw the service. No replacement has been proposed as yet but a local transport group is looking into providing a community transport solution.