Tara and Dalton clock up 90 years of loyal service

Tara Singh was with us for 55 years and Dalton Cotterell for 35 years. Both were considered exceptional drivers and a real credit to #TeamPB - they will be missed dearly. The Perry Barr team showed them both much respect and gratitude on their last day - for all the years of loyal service they gave to the company.

A little more about Tara’s time with us…

Tara started in 1969 at Hockey garage as a bus conductor before becoming a driver, moving to Perry Barr garage when Hockey closed. His first ever driving duty was late nights on the number 8 (on the bus he’s pictured on here) and his favourite route was the 16. Tara told us he’s worked with many excellent people over the years and has many, many stories - all of whom and all of which are all special to him.

The team describe Tara as having a strong work ethic - he wanted to get things right every time! He’s old school and others respected and looked up to him - he was always willing to go the extra mile and help. Tara plans to spend some well earned time with his family and possibly going to India to work on the family farm, where he drives the tractor!

And what about Dalton…?

Dalton started in 1989 at Lea Hall garage as a driver and moved onto Walsall training centre as a driver training instructor.

It was there that he spent many years teaching and guiding our new and existing drivers before moving to Perry Barr to drive our 7, 65 and 67 services.

The first routes he ever worked on were the 16 and 17. His favourite route was the 7 which was local to him and where he got to know quite a few of the passengers that became like family to him.

Dalton told us it was a privilege to work with what was WMPTE and now NXWM, he’s very proud of his journey and of being able to share many great memories with his colleagues over the years.

The knowledge of teaching that Dalton brought to the garage had helped many drivers since, and he was always there to lend a helping hand whenever he could.

Some say he never really stopped training people and every day is a school day with him! But he always put drivers at ease when they were working with him.

So what next? It’s a good job that Dalton has a few well-deserved holidays planned following his retirement as he already has a list of jobs as long as his arm - including decorating and upgrading the garden at home! We think he’s more than earned some rest.