The Bus Is On Fire

This is the remains of a Go-Ahead bus, stolen out of a Sunderland depot in the early hours one night in June. It is becoming a less rare sight. Take the riots at Tottenham - a double decker bus was set on fire and the picture of the remains are remarkably similar to the above photo. One burnt out bus looks like another.

Why do I mention this?

Well, it was something I came up against in many conversations with other drivers in the coach parks. There were tales of drivers being without a job when their bus depots mysteriously caught fire in the early hours of a particular morning. The buses which were destroyed in the fire always seemed to be the old buses. The new ones were either parked outside or out on another job. How convenient it all was. The insurance would cover the cost of some new buses.

One driver said that his bus company had been targeted by another company. Some shady characters had stood outside the depot gate and had stopped the drivers, who were on their way home and asked them if they would come and drive for their company, as they were short of drivers. They warned the drivers that if they refused, they would have to face the consequences.

Sure enough, the drivers who did refuse, returned from a long shift to find that their cars had been burnt to a cinder. The Godfather occasionally ventures into the bus world.