Parent | Blackpool Borough Council |
---|---|
Founded | 1885 |
Headquarters | Rigby Road, Blackpool |
Service area | The Fylde Coast, Lancashire |
Service type | Tram & bus services |
Destinations | Fleetwood, Lytham St Annes, Kirkham, Knott End, Poulton-le-Fylde, Preston |
Depots | Starr Gate (Flexity 2 Trams) Rigby Road (Bus and Heritage Trams) |
Fleet | 135 buses 25 trams Various heritage trams |
Chief executive | Jane Cole |
Website | www.blackpooltransport.com |
Blackpool Transport Services Limited. [1] is a bus and tram operator running within the boroughs of Blackpool and Fylde and into the surrounding area, including Fleetwood, Lytham St Annes, Poulton-le-Fylde, Cleveleys, Fleetwood and Preston with the introduction of the 74 and 75, (which were previously operated by Preston Bus). Blackpool Transport is owned by Blackpool Council.
Blackpool Transport was founded in 1885 by the town council. The tramway opened on 29 September 1885 using a conduit system to operate the trams using electricity. However, due to difficulties with this method of operation, 550V overhead wiring was installed over the tracks in 1899 to replace the conduit system. In the 1920s, the first bus services were added to transport operations in Blackpool. [2]
To comply with the Transport Act 1985, in 1986 the assets were transferred to a new legal entity. [1] Neighbouring operator Fylde Borough Transport, which at the time traded as Blue Buses, was taken over in 1994; it had previously been a council-owned operation itself, but spent five months in private ownership before Blackpool Transport's takeover. [3]
The company's network was relaunched in April 2001 under the name Metro Coastlines. Along with the new name came a new colour-coded service: each core bus route was operated by vehicles painted in a livery heavily featuring that route's colour. There were twelve such core bus routes, and the historic tramway along the promenade also had its own variation of the livery.
On Monday 26 July 2010, Metro Coastlines branding was discontinued and the company resumed trading as Blackpool Transport. Buses had their Metro Coastlines logos removed and replaced with a new Tower and waves logo, along with a black and yellow colour scheme. The tramway now uses a purple and white colour scheme since 2012, based on Blackpool Council's main colour schemes. The Tower and waves logo does not feature on the Bombardier Flexity 2 trams but is featured at the top of the central doors on the modernised English Electric Balloon trams.
Blackpool Transport have three offices from which daily operations are ran. Rigby Road is the registered headquarters for the company and is where all buses and heritage trams are kept and maintained. The depot contains a bus engineering shed, heritage engineering shed and fitting/paint shops onsite. In late 2022 work began to refurbish one of the older buildings onsite in preparation for the arrival of electric buses.
Blackpool Transport Trams are stored, maintained and operated from the Starr Gate depot on the promenade. This building houses all the "new" fleet Bombardier Flexity2 trams with a dedicate engineering bay.
For a short while Blackpool Transport also opened and operated a store on Market Street in Blackpool. This was designed to house a customer services team although later abandoned through the COVID 19 Pandemic. Blackpool Transport still use this property although it is now closed to the public.
As of March 2024, the Blackpool Transport bus fleet consisted of 117 active vehicles. [4] The majority of these were double decker services and entirely low floor, with the last step entrance vehicles being replaced in July 2016. [5] [6] Most of the vehicles in the fleet were purchased new by Blackpool Transport, however thirteen vehicles in the current fleet were purchased from other operators. In 2016, a five-year plan to renew the majority of the fleet was announced, with the aim of no vehicle in the fleet being older than five years old in 2020. [7] [8]
On the double deck side of Blackpool Transport's fleet, the Alexander Dennis Enviro400 City is the most common type, with 55 examples in service as of June 2018, 4 more of these arrived in 2020. [9]
The most common single deck type is the Alexander Dennis Enviro200 MMC, with eighteen examples in service in 2018, this number has since increased. Other types included nine Volvo B7RLEs (Plaxton Centros) and ten Mercedes-Benz Citaro O295s, some of the Citaros have since been sold.
Between 1933 and 2001, the fleet livery on the buses was green and cream, with different arrangements of the two colours decade after decade. From 2010 this livery was replaced with new black and yellow livery which replaced all of the route-specific liveries. [10] Prior to the livery change each bus stop also featured the line colour and timetables were also colour-coded.
Route branding was discontinued in July 2010 when Blackpool Transport introduced major changes to its bus network, replaced by a new livery of black and yellow. The Line 6 service was axed in July 2010 after 84 years. Line 2 was axed in March 2015, with service 12/13 replacing parts of its route to Poulton via Staining. The 12/13 were axed a year later due to the withdrawal of LCC funding.
In 2015, Blackpool Transport unveiled a new premium brand, Palladium, on its bus network. All vehicles with Palladium specification are fitted with WiFi, e-leather seating, wood effect flooring and a grey and yellow livery. The first route to be upgraded was the 5, which received a batch of new Mercedes-Benz Citaros.
The 7 and 9/9A were upgraded in 2016, with the latter receiving a batch of new Alexander Dennis Enviro400Citys. Other routes which have been upgraded to Palladium standard are services 6, 9, 11 and 14, with a mix of refurbished and new high specification vehicles. [11]
By 2019 all Blackpool Transport buses showcase the Palladium branding.
In Late 2022 It was announced that Blackpool Transport had received funding to create an all electric fleet and start to welcome the first buses by 2024 with the aim of a fully electrified service in 2025. No further details have been released at this time as to how these buses will look or if the Palladium branding will remain.
Blackpool Transport also operates the Blackpool Tramway, which currently has a varied fleet of eighteen modern Bombardier Flexity 2 articulated low floor trams, nine modernised 1930s double-deck English Electric Balloon cars and an assortment of various heritage trams. [12] Advertising has always been popular on trams, especially on the traditional trams.
Reading Transport Limited, trading as Reading Buses, is an English municipal bus operator owned by Reading Borough Council, serving the towns of Reading, Bracknell, Newbury, Slough, Windsor, Maidenhead, Wokingham and the surrounding areas in the counties of Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Surrey and Hampshire, as well as parts of Greater London.
The City of Oxford Motor Services Limited, trading as Oxford Bus Company, is a bus operator serving the city and surrounding area of Oxford, England. It is a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group.
The Blackpool Tramway runs from Blackpool to Fleetwood on The Fylde in Lancashire, England. The line dates back to 1885 and is one of the oldest electric tramways in the world. It is operated by Blackpool Transport Services (BTS) and runs for 18 km. It carried 4.9 million passengers in 2022/23.
Cardiff Bus is the dominant operator of bus services in Cardiff, Wales and the surrounding area, including Barry and Penarth. The company is wholly owned by Cardiff Council and is one of the few municipal bus companies to remain in council ownership.
The Alexander Dennis Enviro400 is a twin-axle low-floor double-decker bus that was built by the British bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis between 2005 and 2018. It replaced the Alexander ALX400, Dennis Trident and Plaxton President. In 2014, the Enviro400 was succeeded by the updated Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC and production of the classic Enviro400 ceased in 2018.
Warrington's Own Buses is a municipal bus company which operates a network of services within the Borough of Warrington and the surrounding area, including Altrincham, Leigh, Earlestown, Wigan, Halton, Bolton and Northwich.
Xplore Dundee is a bus operator based in Dundee, Scotland, operating services mainly within the city. The operator also runs a service to Edinburgh Airport. It is a subsidiary of McGill's Bus Services.
Lothian Buses Limited is a major bus operator based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is the largest municipal bus company in the United Kingdom: the City of Edinburgh Council owns 91%, Midlothian Council 5%, East Lothian Council 3% and West Lothian Council 1%.
Nottingham City Transport (NCT) is the major bus operator of the city of Nottingham, England. NCT operates extensively within Nottingham as well beyond the city boundaries into Nottinghamshire county. Publicly-owned, it is today the second largest municipal bus company in the United Kingdom after Lothian Buses in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Plymouth Citybus is a bus operator in Plymouth. It is a subsidiary of the Go South West sector of the Go-Ahead Group.
Blackburn Transport was a municipal bus company based in Blackburn from 1881 until 2007.
The Burnley Bus Company operates both local and regional bus services in Greater Manchester and Lancashire, England. It is a subsidiary of Transdev Blazefield, which operates bus services across Greater Manchester, Lancashire, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire.
Yorkshire Coastliner is a bus company that operates both local and regional bus services in North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire, England. It is a subsidiary of Transdev Blazefield.
The Harrogate Bus Company operates both local and regional bus services in North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire, England. It is a subsidiary of Transdev Blazefield.
First Aberdeen is the main bus company operator in Aberdeen, Scotland. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup.
National Express West Midlands (NXWM), also operating under the West Midlands Bus brand identity, is an English bus operator in the West Midlands, a subsidiary of Mobico Group. It is the largest bus operator in the region and one of the single largest in Britain.
Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire operates both local and regional bus services in Cumbria, Lancashire, Northumberland and Tyne and Wear, England, as well as Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is a subsidiary of the Stagecoach Group, which operates bus, coach, rail and tram services across the United Kingdom.
The English Electric Balloon is a type of double-decker tram that is operated on the Blackpool Tramway. Initially brought into service in 1934, the Balloon formed the backbone of the Blackpool tram fleet until the tramway's conversion to a modern light rail network in 2012. Following the network's re-opening, nine Balloons were converted to meet the disability regulations to serve as a supplement to the modern Flexity 2 vehicles. Some of the Balloons have been retained for use within the heritage fleet.
The Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC is a low-floor double-decker bus produced by the British bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis since 2014, replacing the Alexander Dennis Enviro400. The Enviro400 MMC is produced at Alexander Dennis' Falkirk and Scarborough factories in the United Kingdom.
Blackpool Heritage Trams are a mixed fleet of restored vehicles that run on the Blackpool Tramway, which runs from Blackpool to Fleetwood on the Fylde Coast in Lancashire, England. The line dates back to 1885 and is one of the oldest electric tramways in the world. It is operated by Blackpool Transport (BT) and is the last surviving first-generation tramway in the United Kingdom. Excluding museums, it is one of only a few tramways in the world to still use double-decker trams.