Compass Tours

Compass Tours by Rail

Compass Tours' logo, used as of 2007.
Former type	Charter train operator
Industry	Railway
Fate	ceased trading
Founded	2003
Founder	Kevin Melia
Defunct	2014
Headquarters	Liverpool, later Frodsham railway station
Area served	United Kingdom
Services	Operation of charter trains

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.

The brand was originally conceived in 2003 by Kevin Melia when he joined with two friends, Shaun and Nick to operate 30 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. On the 19th December 2014 the final indepent Compass Tours charter train ran. It was their 264th trip, although 276 in total had been intended to run - the other 12 having made it through the advertising stages. Only two were ever cancelled because of a shortage of bookings, quite a remarkable achievement. Nine that didn't run were down to planning issues and the remaining one was cancelled on the morning of the tour itself because of multiple issues with the coaching stock which was being provided by Cotswold Railways.