CARS
PERIER
A leading independent operator from the Seine
valley
60 YEARS 1946 - 2006
Now a leading coach operator, this operator's only bus route links the oil
refineries of Port Jérôme
(on the Seine not far upstream from the mouth of the river at Le
Havre), through
Notre Dame de Gravenchon to the hometown of Lillebonne. Some
journeys
were extended further to the market town of Bolbec. Between
Lillebonne and Bolbec the area was known as the Golden Valley, a centre
for the
textile industry. When I
visited
the area in 1963, these services were heavily orientated towards
workers
transport, including shift buses for the round the clock three shift
working at Port
Jerome. The timetable had an interesting reference
to certain
journeys marked as "not available to passengers" .......... (the
journeys marked A and B in the timetable)?
In 2006 the business celebrated its sixtieth anniversary.
Back
in 1946, Henri Périer, owner of a garage at
Gruchet-le-Valasse,
near Bolbec, bought the business of Mr Moro, ten kilometres away to
the south in Lillebonne. Included in the transaction was a garage, a
petrol station and three buses. He bought a fourth, and so operated two
petrol-engined Isoblocs, and two diesel-engined Renaults. The principal
route was Lillebonne-Bolbec-Notre Dame de Gravenchon and this route
flourished as its customers included the employees of the new Esso
refinery built at Port Jérôme in 1933 (construction started in 1931). Timings had to
accommodate
twenty four hour shift working. In this post-war period, day
excursions were popular, including destinations like Etretat and the Mont St. Michel.
Henri passed away in 1959, and the business was continued by
his
wife, Marie-Thérèse, and future son-in-law, Pierre
Brème,
who created the travel agency side of the business in 1964.
Expansion also came through acquisitions – Aubin of
Bolbec
in 1976; Alcover of Le Havre in 1988 and Adrien of Bosc-Roger-en-Roumois near Elbeuf in the Eure in 1992. Although the
head
office remains in Lillebonne, there are now also operating bases at Le Havre
(opened in 1988)
and Grand Quevilly, near Rouen (opened in 1995).
The current Chairman, Dominique Périer, 54 years
old, is the
son of the founder, and the management team includes his son, Thomas,
and general manager Jean-Louis Wahart who joined the firm in 2000. Dominique’s sister, Claudine, has run
the
travel agencies Périer Voyages since 1976.
The present fleet is 120 vehicles, including an 80 seater double deck.
The business activity is divided between coaching (about 40%), factory
contracts for Renault, Total, Areva (another 40%), and scheduled
services and schools contracts (about 15%).
Between my visit in March 1963 and a subsequent visit in
October 2000 the
bus service had been very much reduced - by 2006 only two or three runs a
day - but Cars Périer are now very much the
leading coach operator in Haute-Normandie with
travel agencies and a
substantial fleet of modern luxury vehicles. Currently, there are 8
travel agency offices (Périer Voyages).
The present limited company has a capital of 65,000 euros and dates
from 1976. For a family owned
company it is impressively large,
with 179 staff, two subsidiary companies (Cars
Périer
Voyages and
Société d’Exploitation des Cars
Périer), and a 2005 turnover of 12.5
million euros.
with thanks to Clive D'eath and Jean-Louis Wahart for
the historical information
Here is the timetable that was in operation in 1963 on the
Port Port Jérôme bus route.
 |
|
Périer assure
une seule liaison par autocar entre Lillebonne
et les raffineries de pétrole de Port-Jérome (sur
la
Seine), par Notre-Dame-de-Gravenchon. Quelques circuits
ont été également étendus
jusqu'à Bolbec.
Quand j'ai
visité la région en 1963, les services
étaient
essentiellement orientés vers
le transport des ouvriers, y compris les autobus de relève
pour
assurer les 3 x 8 à Port Jérome. Les horaires
ci-contre
font
référence, de façon
intéressante, à certains services qui stipulent
qu'ils
sont <<non accessibles aux voyageurs>>
(services
notés A et B sur les horaires).
Entre ma première visite en mars
1963 et ma seconde,
en octobre 2000, les services de bus sont beaucoup réduits,
mais les Cars
Périer sont
aujourd'hui devenus l'un des transporteurs de voyageurs les plus en vue
en Haute-Normandie,
avec des agences de
voyages et une flotte importante des véhicules modernes.
NB - les 3 x 8 désignent les postes
en usine qui fonctionnent, sur 24 heures, en 3 équipes de 8
heures chacune.
|
 |
|
Lillebonne, Hotel de Ville, about 1954. Much
as I remember it from 1963!
Lillebonne, Hotel de Ville, vers 1954.
Combien cela
me rappelle 1963!
|
1946 - the Cars Périer fleet and team at the Lillebonne garage -
two Isobloc buses on the left and two Renault 215D on the right.
Henri and Marie-Thérèse Périer at the right.
1946 - la flotte et l'équipe des Cars Périer à
Lillebonne - deux Isobloc à la gauche, deux Renault 215D
à la droite. Henri and Marie-Thérèse
Périer à la droite aussi.
| Update September 2007 - Cars Périer have taken over
the operation of the routes traditionally operated by Cars Gris Arcangioli for many
years between Fécamp and Bolbec; Fécamp and Le Havre via Goderville;
and Fécamp and Le Havre via Etretat. |
I would be pleased to learn more about this operator if any
French readers of
this page have further information!
Si les lecteurs français de cette page pouvaient
m’apporter des informations complémentaires
à propos de cet autocariste, je leur en serais reconnaissant!
