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Compass Tours was a UK railtour organiser specialising in excursions with heritage diesel locomotives such as the Class 37, Class 40 and Class 47 and also using Steam Engines such as the LMS Black 5. A pro-rail company, Compass Tours heavily promoted the advantages of rail as a mode of transport, encouraging passengers to leave their cars and take the train. Nearly 300 tours were organised by the company, with many thousands of passenger journeys being taken. The tours were typically very popular, carrying between 400-600 passengers in up to 13 vehicles of Mark 1 or Mark 2F coaching stock. Compass Tours became one of Britain's main rail excursion organisers operating in the North West, West Midlands, North Wales, and Scottish Borders as well as latterly the North East and East Midlands regions, building a loyal customer base. Operating with a regular team of volunteer stewards to operate the Secondary Door Locking system and staff the buffet, Compass Tours had a reputation for friendly operations with focused customer service, efforts recognised with a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence in 2014. The company had a regularly updated website, with PayPal booking system to allow passengers to book their tours online, and a comprehensive guide to each of the tours, information also provided to passengers in an on-board souvenir booklet. ==History== The brand was originally conceived in 2003 by Kevin Melia when he joined with two friends, Shaun and Nick to operate 30th August 2003 "The Tayside Liner" railtour from Crewe and stations in Cheshire and Lancashire to Stirling and Perth. As the company grew, Kevin's older brother John Melia joined the company in 2006 as General Manager. A new company targeting the same customer database and with a similar name involving West Coast Railway Company and a business partner, commenced operations in 2015. A new website was introduced branding forthcoming excursions as ''Compass by West Coast Railways''. The original business ceased to exist, with the founder, Kevin Melia, assisting with the transition of the business into its new ownership before stepping down shortly afterwards. On 3rd April 2015 it emerged that forthcoming ''Compass by West Coast'' excursions were in doubt due to safety concerns by Network Rail regarding the Safety Management System of West Coast Railway Company and subsequently, their operating licence was withdrawn. After a return to operation in May 2015, West Coast Railways reduced the prominence of the Compass brand further, with around half of the original year's programme being cancelled during June. With the reputation of the Compass brand reduced, the new owners dropped the Compass brand entirely, rebranding the tours as West Coast Railway Company operations. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Compass Tours」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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