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| Parent | Transdev Blazefield |
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| Founded | August 1924 |
| Headquarters | Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England |
| Service area | |
| Service type | Bus |
| Stations | Burnley Bus Station |
| Depots | 1 |
| Fleet | 87 (April 2024) |
| Website | Official website  |
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.
In August 1924, Burnley Corporation Transport operated their first bus service between Rawtenstall and Burnley Summit. [1] The Burnley, Colne & Nelson Joint Transport Committee was established in April 1933, merging the three municipal tramway and bus operations of the respective towns. [2] [3] The tramway network was progressively abandoned, with the last line closing in May 1935.
Following local government reorganisation in April 1974, the boroughs of Colne and Nelson were amalgamated to form the present-day Borough of Pendle. Subsequently, the transport operation became known as the Burnley & Pendle Joint Transport Committee.
In 1986, as part of the deregulation of bus services and to comply with the Transport Act 1985, the company's assets were transferred to a new legal entity named the Burnley & Pendle Transport Company. Deregulation opened Burnley & Pendle's routes to competition from other operators, with Blackburn Transport, Tyrer Tours and Victoria Coaches establishing competing services. To stave off the competition, five AEC Routemaster double-deck vehicles were purchased, with each named after a character from the television series EastEnders . [4] Burnley & Pendle also successfully tendered a number of Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive-contracted bus services, allowing for operations to extend to Blackburn, Bury, Manchester, Preston, Rawtenstall, Rochdale and Skipton.
In April 1996, Pendle Borough Council sold their share of the company to Stagecoach Holdings. Burnley Council was unhappy with the decision, and stated that they would never consider selling their share. [5] In response, Stagecoach proposed up a multi-million pound investment plan for the area, but Burnley Council could not meet their share unless it cut other council-supported services. Burnley Council eventually reversed their decision in March 1997 and sold out to Stagecoach, a deal valued at £2.85 million (equivalent to £6,552,000in 2023). [6] Initially branded Stagecoach Burnley & Pendle, the company was encompassed within Stagecoach Ribble in May 2000.
In April 2001, Stagecoach sold their operations in Blackburn, Bolton and Clitheroe to the Blazefield Group, which rebranded them as Burnley & Pendle and Lancashire United. The sale was valued at £13 million. [7] [8] Following the sale, Blazefield purchased a total of 15 Plaxton President bodied Volvo B7TL double-deck and 25 Wright Renown bodied Volvo B10BLE single-deck vehicles for Burnley & Pendle as part of a fleet renewal programme; prior to the sale of Burnley & Pendle, many of the newer vehicles Stagecoach purchased for the fleet were transferred to other subsidiaries, with Burnley & Pendle receiving older vehicles as replacements. [9]
In January 2006, French-based transport group Transdev acquired the Blazefield Group, along with 305 vehicles. [10] [11] Locally, the company was rebranded under the name Transdev in Burnley & Pendle.
In August 2006, Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council announced that after 125 years of municipal ownership, Blackburn Transport had been sold to Transdev Blazefield. The sale was finalised in January 2007. [12] [13] This was followed in August 2007 by both Accrington Transport and Northern Blue being acquired, with both operators' staff and combined 65 vehicles transferring to Transdev. [14] [15] After initially being maintained as a separate brand, in September 2009, Transdev Northern Blue was integrated into the Transdev Burnley & Pendle business.
In July 2017, the company was again rebranded, now operating as The Burnley Bus Company. [16] [17] [18]
In July 2017, a rebrand of the company commenced. Starting with the introduction of a new fleet of Optare Versa single-deck vehicles for Mainline, [16] [17] [18] one of the vehicles was branded in the new two-tone orange livery. This was followed shortly after by a refurbished fleet of Wright Renown bodied Volvo B10BLE single-deck vehicles being repainted into the new livery.
Local bus services operating in and around the town of Burnley are encompassed within The Burnley Bus Company brand, with buses serving Stoops (1), Higherford, Nelson & Colne (2), Nelson (2A), Pike Hill (3), Worsthorne (4), Harle Syke and Rosegrove (5) and Accrington (9).
The Mainline brand encompasses six services, which operate between Accrington (M1), Clitheroe (M2) and Burnley via Padiham, as well as between Burnley and Trawden (M3), Keighley (M4), Barnoldswick (M5) and Skipton (M6) via Nelson and Colne. In July 2017, the services were rebranded and upgraded to a fleet of Optare Versa single-deck vehicles, branded in a two-tone orange and burgundy livery. [16] [17] [18] Features include free WiFi, USB and wireless charging and audio-visual next stop announcements.
The Witch Way is a flagship service, which operates between Burnley and Manchester via Rawtenstall and M66. The service is operated by a fleet of high-specification Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 MMC double-deck vehicles, which were introduced into service in December 2020, [19] [20] replacing the former allocation of Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 bodied Volvo B9TL double-deck vehicles introduced in October 2013. [21] [22] Vehicles are branded in a two-tone orange and black livery, with features including free WiFi, USB and wireless charging, tables and audio-visual next stop announcements voiced by Coronation Street actress Jennie McAlpine. [23]
In November 2017, a limited-stop express service running directly between Leeds and Manchester via the M62 was introduced, branded as CityZap. Similar to the other CityZap service between York and Leeds operated by sister company Yorkshire Coastliner, the service aimed to attract motorists and provide a competitive alternative to the railway. [24] [25]
The service was notable for its use of sat-nav equipment to choose the quickest route and avoid congestions. [26]
The service operated with a fleet of four Wright Eclipse Urban 2 bodied Volvo B7RLE vehicles, branded for the route in a silver/red livery, and featured free WiFi and USB charging capabilities.
The service was withdrawn in July 2018, owing to low passenger numbers. [27] [28]
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As of April 2022, the company operates from a single depot in Burnley, which it shares with Rosso.
As of March 2024, the fleet consists of 79 buses. The fleet consists of diesel-powered single and double-deck buses manufactured by Wrightbus, Plaxton, Alexander Dennis and Optare, as well as minibuses manufactured by Mellor.
Transdev Blazefield is a bus group, which operates local and regional bus services across Greater Manchester, Lancashire, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire, England. Formed in August 1991, the group has been a subsidiary of French-based operator Transdev since January 2006.
The Plaxton President is a low floor double-decker bus body built by Plaxton at the former Northern Counties factory in Wigan, England. It was first unveiled in 1997 on the longitudinal Volvo B7L chassis and later built between 1999 and 2005 following a body redesign. When it became part of TransBus International, the body was sold under the TransBus name. The President was built on the Dennis/TransBus Trident, the DAF DB250 and the Volvo B7TL chassis.
Stagecoach North West was a major bus operator in North West England. The company was a subsidiary of the Stagecoach Group, and had its origins in the purchase of Cumberland in 1987 and Ribble Motor Services in 1988 from the National Bus Company. The head office of Stagecoach North West was in Carlisle. Although the cities of Liverpool and Manchester are in the North West of England, Stagecoach Manchester and Stagecoach Merseyside were run as separate divisions.
Rosso (Rossendale Transport Limited) is a bus operator providing local services in Greater Manchester, Lancashire and West Yorkshire, England. It is a subsidiary of Transdev Blazefield, which operates bus services across Greater Manchester, Lancashire, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire.
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.
Blackburn Transport was a municipal bus company based in Blackburn from 1881 until 2007.
The Blackburn 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 Keighley Bus Company operates both local and regional bus services in 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.
Transdev Northern Blue was a bus operator operating around Burnley between July 1999 and August 2009.
Ribble Motor Services was a large regional bus operator in North West England based in Preston.
Team Pennine operates both local and regional bus services in West Yorkshire, England. It is a subsidiary of Transdev Blazefield, which operates bus services across Greater Manchester, Lancashire, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire.
Skipton bus station serves the town of Skipton, North Yorkshire, England. It is situated in the town centre, just off Keighley Road, and has eight stands. The main bus operators are Transdev Blazefield, Burnley Bus Company, Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire and Kirkby Lonsdale Coach Hire. Services that are not sustainable on a commercial level are provided by North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC) minibuses.
The Witch Way is the branding for long-standing English bus route X43, which runs between Burnley and Manchester. The service is currently operated by The Burnley Bus Company.
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.
Stagecoach Merseyside and South Lancashire is a major operator of bus services in North West England. It is a subsidiary of the Stagecoach Group and is headquartered in Liverpool.
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.
The Red Express X41 is a bus service run by Blackburn Bus Company. It runs between Accrington and Manchester, serving the communities of Haslingden, Ramsbottom, Prestwich and Harpurhey, Collyhurst during peak times. The service travels the M60 and M66 motorways, connecting communities and schools such as The Hollins, Haslingden High School, and East Lancashire Railway in Ramsbottom.
Media related to Burnley & Pendle (bus company) at Wikimedia Commons Bus companies operating in North West England | ||
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