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 A Bullocks Scania K410EB6, at the firm's depot | |
| Parent | Bullock family |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1928 |
| Headquarters | Cheadle |
| Service area | Greater Manchester |
| Service type | Bus & coach services |
| Fleet | 39 (September 2013) |
| Website | www.bullockscoaches.com |
Bullocks Coaches [1] is a bus and coach operator in Cheadle, Greater Manchester.
The company was founded in 1928 by Ralph Bullock, initially as a haulage firm, with milk deliveries being the early focus. On weekends, the trucks turned into cloth-top charabancs for trips to the seaside. By the mid-1930s, the fleet included trucks and proper coaches, but the trucks were nationalised under the Transport Act 1947 by the Clement Attlee government, leaving only the coaches. Ralph was fond of Foden coaches and the majority of the fleet throughout the 1940s to 1960s were Fodens, of which two still survive to this day. The oldest, dating from 1949, is still roadworthy and is currently on loan to the Museum of Transport in Manchester.
The firm remained small with around 20 vehicles, until 1986, when deregulation of the bus market allowed Bullocks to diversify. The fleet grew to around 75-80 vehicles in total with Bullocks acquiring many bus routes, and introducing new ones, including route 42 from Stockport to Manchester via Wilmslow Road. Over the years, the number of services declined having been lost to other operators. By 2008, it was operating seven routes and several school services, all except one of the commercial routes were sold off, most to Stagecoach Manchester and a couple to Arriva North West.
In August 2008, Stagecoach Manchester purchased all of the commercial bus operations of Bullocks except route 147. [2] Bullocks continue to operate several school bus services, as well as coaches.
In October 2013, Bullocks purchased the Finglands Coachways coach charter business from East Yorkshire Motor Services. [3]
Until 2018, Bullocks Coaches operated one route, the 147 Oxford Road Link that linked Manchester Piccadilly station with Manchester's main hospitals on Oxford Road. [4] However, in September 2018, the contract for this route passed to Stagecoach, [5] who now operate the route under their Magic Bus brand. [6]
At the present time, the only regular bus routes operated by Bullock's are school services. [7] Bullocks also operate the Trafford General and Wythenshawe Hospital shuttles from the Manchester Royal Infirmary. [8] [9] [10]
As well as coaches, Bullocks formerly operated four Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 bodied Volvo B5Ls on route 147, [11] In 2018 these passed to Lothian Buses [12] in exchange for several Scania Omnicities, which will be used on school services.
As at September 2013, the fleet consisted of 39 buses and coaches. [13]
Stagecoach West Scotland is an operating region of Stagecoach UK Bus, comprising Western Buses Ltd based in Ayr, Scotland.
Magic Bus is a brand of the Stagecoach Group for local bus operations in the United Kingdom, usually operated on routes with strong competition from other operators. The brand is currently used in Manchester and in the past has been used in Glasgow, Newcastle, Liverpool, and Rotherham. A similar brand Magic Mini was also used in Corby, Ayrshire and the Scottish Highlands.
East Yorkshire operates both local and regional bus services in the East Riding of Yorkshire and North Yorkshire, England. Prior to acquisition by the Go-Ahead Group in June 2018, the company was known as East Yorkshire Motor Services.
The Alexander ALX400 is a 2-axle double-decker bus body built by Walter Alexander Coachbuilders. It was one of the ALX-series bodywork, all of which featured the same designs on the front and rear panels that were originally designed for the new generation of mainly low-floor bus chassis produced since the late 1990s.
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. In 2014, the Enviro400 was succeeded by the updated Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC and production of the classic Enviro400 ceased in 2018.
The Wright Eclipse Gemini is a low-floor double-decker bus body that was built by Wrightbus since 2001, based on the single-decker Wright Eclipse design. The second-generation Eclipse Gemini 2 was launched in 2009, followed by the third-generation Gemini 3 in 2013. Additionally, the body was available on Volvo Super Olympian chassis in Hong Kong between 2003 and 2005, marketed as the Wright Explorer.
Universitybus Limited, trading as Uno, is a bus operator owned and operated by the University of Hertfordshire, serving members of the general public, and also its own students and staff. The service was set up in 1992, growing out of a shuttle service previously operated for students at Wall Hall College located near Watford connecting them to the other campuses of the university and the Polytechnic (Hatfield) before that.
First Greater Manchester is a bus operator in Greater Manchester. It is a subsidiary of the FirstGroup, operating franchised Bee Network bus services on contract to Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM). The operator was once dominant in the northern areas of Greater Manchester, competing against Stagecoach Manchester, which was dominant in southern areas of the county; however in recent years it has scaled back its operations, now primarily serving the metropolitan boroughs of Oldham and Rochdale.
Stagecoach Manchester is a major bus operator in Greater Manchester, operating franchised Bee Network bus services on contract to Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM). It is the largest UK bus subsidiary of Stagecoach Group outside of Greater London, as well as the largest within the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester by passenger numbers, carrying up to 96.2 million passengers in 2019/20.
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.
Stagecoach South West is a bus operator providing services in Devon and East Cornwall along with coach services to Bristol. It is a subsidiary of Stagecoach.
JPT Bus Company, was a bus company based at Middleton, Greater Manchester, England. Operations ceased on 25 April 2014, with the business taken over by Stagecoach Manchester.
Finglands Coachways was a bus and coach operator in Rusholme, Manchester.
The Northern Counties Palatine was a step-entrance 2-axle and 3-axle double-decker bus body built by Northern Counties from 1988 to 1999 in Wigan, England.
GM Buses was a major bus operator serving the ten metropolitan districts of Greater Manchester in North West England. The company was formed in February 1986 by the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive prior to deregulation on 26 October. In December 1993, it was split into GM Buses North and GM Buses South in order to increase competition for services in the area, before they were sold to the FirstGroup and Stagecoach respectively.
Stagecoach East is a bus operator providing local and regional services across the East of England, operating in the counties of Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire. The company is a subsidiary of the Stagecoach Group and is headquartered and registered in Cambridge.
The Wilmslow Road bus corridor is a 5.5-mile-long section of road in Manchester that is served by a large number of bus services. The corridor runs from Parrs Wood to Manchester city centre along Wilmslow and Oxford Roads, serving Didsbury, Withington, Fallowfield and Rusholme.
Greater Manchester bus route 192 is a high frequency bus route runs between Hazel Grove in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport and Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester city centre. It is operated by Stagecoach Manchester.
BakerBus was the trading name used by the bus fleet of Bakers Coaches, a bus and coach operator based in Biddulph, Staffordshire, England. Formed as a coach operator in 1936, they grew to operate a fleet of around 50 vehicles on local bus services and coach hire work, but after several changes of ownership, ceased operation in 2018.
The MCV Evora is a single-decker bus bodywork produced by Manufacturing Commercial Vehicles (MCV) since 2018, as the successor to the MCV Evolution. The Evora is currently available on Volvo B8RLE and Volvo B5LH chassis.
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