 | |
 | |
| Founded | 1934 |
|---|---|
| Ceased operation | 1974 |
| Service area | England |
| Service type | Long distance coach operator |
| Hubs | Cheltenham |
| Operator | Black & White Motorways Crosville Eastern Counties Greyhound Lincolnshire Road Car Midland Red Red & White Royal Blue Southdown United Counties |
Associated Motorways was a consortium of motor coach operators in the south and Midlands of England, which was active from 1934 to 1974.
Associated Motorways was formed as a result of the Road Traffic Act 1930, which encouraged competing coach operators to co-ordinate their services. In 1934, six coach operators came together to form Associated Motorways, to pool their services between the Midlands and the south and west of England and between London and South Wales. The founder members were: Black & White Motorways of Cheltenham, Red & White of Chepstow, Royal Blue, Greyhound (by then owned by Bristol Tramways), Midland Red and United Counties of Northampton.
Associated Motorways did not own or operate any coaches. Each member company committed itself to providing an agreed mileage of coach journeys for Associated Motorways and took an agreed share of the profits. The pool mainly operated the hub and spoke model, the hub being Cheltenham where Black & White had opened a new coach station in 1931.
The consortium had to suspend operations during World War II from 1942 to 1946, but prospered after the war. New members joined: Lincolnshire Road Car and Eastern Counties in 1956, Crosville in 1965 and finally Southdown in 1972. All of the members except Black & White also operated their own coach services outside the consortium.
At a peak summer weekend the consortium could have over 800 coaches on the road. Every day, coaches from all over England and Wales converged on Cheltenham, where most passengers changed coaches to continue their journey. At 14:00 sharp an inspector blew his whistle, and the coaches departed en masse.
Two things killed Associated Motorways. One was the spread of the motorway network. Although motorways were good for coach services generally, they made Associated Motorways' hub and spoke model uncompetitive and obsolete. The other was the government's desire to rebrand and rationalise the coach services under its control.
Although most of the consortium members had been state-owned since 1947, nationalisation did not greatly affect Associated Motorways until the government acquired the remaining members though its acquisition of British Electric Traction in 1968. All of the members became subsidiaries of the state-owned National Bus Company in 1969. In 1973 the National Bus Company formed National Travel (later National Express) to run coach services, and all Associated Motorways' services were transferred to National Express in 1974.
Like Associated Motorways before it, National Express was a marketing operation which relied mostly on coaches supplied by other companies. But unlike Associated Motorways, National Express imposed its own National brand on the operating companies' coaches. The Cheltenham coach station finally closed in 1984.
National Express is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Birmingham, England. It operates bus, coach, train and tram services in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Spain, Portugal, Malta, Germany, Bahrain and Morocco and long-distance coach services across Europe. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
Birmingham is a major transport hub, due in part to its location in central England. Public transport and key highways in the city are overseen by Transport for West Midlands (TfWM).
National Express is an intercity and Inter-regional coach operator providing services throughout Great Britain. It is a subsidiary of National Express. Most services are subcontracted to local coach companies. The company's head office is in offices above Birmingham Coach Station.
Stagecoach Group is a transport group based in Perth, Scotland. It operates buses, express coaches and a tram service in the United Kingdom. It previously had extensive operations in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and Oceania. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
RailAir describes a number of airport bus and coach services designed to connect the National Rail network to airports in the United Kingdom. Services are currently concentrated on Heathrow Airport, with one other from Luton Airport. RailAir services are operated as public transport services by or on behalf of train operators, where the whole journey is paid for as a through ticket which combines the railway and bus journey, although journeys can be made using the bus only. As such, many are operated where the train and bus operator are owned by the same company.
Midland Red was a bus company that operated in The Midlands from 1905 until 1981. It was one of the largest English bus companies, operating over a large area between Gloucester in the south and Derbyshire in the north, and from Northampton to the Welsh border. The company also manufactured buses.
The National Bus Company (NBC) was a nationalised bus company that operated in England and Wales between 1969 and 1988. NBC did not run buses itself, but was the owner of a number of regional subsidiary bus operating companies.
Diamond Bus Ltd., trading as Diamond West Midlands, is a bus operator in the West Midlands. It is a subsidiary of Rotala.
Greyhound Motors, later known as Bristol Greyhound, was an English bus and coach company based in Bristol.
Royal Blue Express Services was a coach operator in the south and west of England from 1880 until 1986.
Travel Your Bus was a bus operator in the West Midlands. It was a subsidiary of West Midlands Travel.
Red & White Services was a bus company operating in south east Wales and Gloucestershire, England between 1929 and 1978.
The Oxford to London coach route is an express coach route between Oxford and London along the M40 motorway. The Oxford Tube, which is operated by Stagecoach in Oxfordshire, runs up to five coaches an hour via Lewknor, Hillingdon and Shepherd's Bush terminates on Buckingham Palace Road, Victoria. The X90, which was operated by the Oxford Bus Company, used to run up to two coaches an hour via Baker Street and terminate on Buckingham Palace Road. The X90 service was withdrawn in January 2020, with the reasons stated due to reducing passenger numbers and traffic congestion.
The United Kingdom has a number of intercity coach services.
United Counties Omnibus was an English bus company, operating in Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, and parts of surrounding counties.
Megabus is a long distance coach operator operated by the Stagecoach Group. It commenced operating in August 2003, initially in the United Kingdom, and later expanding into continental Europe. Some services link with Megatrain services, also operated by Stagecoach. Fares use a yield management model, formerly starting at £1. In June 2016, Stagecoach Group sold all operations in the European mainland, as well as those services linking London with Europe, to German competitor Flixbus. Megabus serves as a contractor, so the sale resulted in no route changes for passengers. Domestic UK operations remain under the control of Stagecoach.
Liverpool in North west England, is a major British city with significant road, rail, and ferry networks, in addition to an international airport and a well-known dock system. As with most other major UK cities, Liverpool's transport infrastructure is centred on its road and rail networks. Public transport services within the city are controlled and run by Merseytravel.
British Coachways was a consortium of independent coach operating companies in the United Kingdom. Formed immediately after the deregulation of coach services in October 1980, it competed with the state-owned National Express and Scottish Bus Group on a range of long-distance routes. Initially composed of six members, it varied in size and composition over its two years of operation to include a range of ten different companies.
The Wellglade Group is a transport group operating bus and tram services in the English Midlands.
