Parent | Transdev Blazefield |
---|---|
Founded | August 1924 |
Headquarters | Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England |
Service area | |
Service type | Bus / Public Trasport |
Stations | Burnley Bus Station |
Depots | 1 |
Fleet | 87 (at April 2024) |
Managing Director | Henri Rohard [1] |
Website | transdevbus |
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. [2] The Burnley, Colne & Nelson Joint Transport Committee was established in April 1933, merging the three municipal tramway and bus operations of the respective towns. [3] [4] 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. The operation was rebranded as 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 . [5]
Deregulation also saw many Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive services contracted out. Burnley & Pendle successfully tendered a number of routes with operations extending to Blackburn, Bury, Manchester, Preston, Rawtenstall, Rochdale and Skipton.
In April 1996, Pendle Borough Council sold their share of the company to Stagecoach. Burnley Council was unhappy with the decision, and stated that they would never consider selling their share. [6] 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.
In March 1997, Burnley Council reversed their decision and sold out to Stagecoach – a deal valued at £2.85 million. [7] 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. [8] Prior to the sale, many of the newer vehicles purchased following earlier investment by Stagecoach were transferred to other subsidiaries, being replaced by older vehicles.
Following the sale, Blazefield Group purchased a total of 15 Volvo B7TL/Plaxton President double-deck and 25 Volvo B10BLE/Wright Renown single-deck vehicles, as part of a fleet renewal program.
In January 2006, French-based operator Transdev acquired the Blazefield Group, along with 305 vehicles. [9] [10] 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. [11] [12]
In August 2007, Accrington Transport and Northern Blue were acquired, along with the transfer of staff and 65 vehicles. [13] [14] 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. [15] [16] [17]
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, [15] [16] [17] one of the vehicles was branded in the new two-tone orange livery. This was followed shortly after by a refurbished fleet of Volvo B10BLE/Wright Renown 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. [15] [16] [17] 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 [18] [19] [20] and replaced the former allocation of Volvo B9TL/Wright Gemini 2 double-deck vehicles, which were 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. [18] [23]
As of April 2022, the company operates from a single depot in Burnley (Queensgate), 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 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.
First York operates local bus services, with a network centring around the cathedral city of York, North Yorkshire, England. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup, which operates bus, rail and tram services across the United Kingdom and Ireland.
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.
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.
The Optare Versa is a low-floor midibus that was manufactured by Optare at its Sherburn-in-Elmet factory. In total 883 were produced between 2007 and 2018.
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.
The East Lancs OmniDekka is a double-decker bus built for sale in the UK market, introduced by East Lancashire Coachbuilders in 2003. Originally built on Scania N94UD chassis at Euro 3, and later Scania N230UD and N270UD at Euro 4 and Euro 5, the bodywork consists of a modified East Lancs Myllennium double decker, but with the standard front end cowl and windscreen replaced with that of Scania's own integral OmniCity. Through takeovers of East Lancs, production of the OmniDekka was latterly carried out by the Darwen Group and finally Optare before ceasing in 2011.
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 & South Lancashire is a major operator of bus services in North West England. It is a subsidiary of the Stagecoach Group, and has its origins in the purchase of Ribble Motor Services in 1988 from the National Bus Company and Glenvale Transport in 2005. The head office of Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire is in Liverpool and was formed in 2011 following the merger of Stagecoach Merseyside and Ribble Motor Services which was the Chorley and Preston operations of Stagecoach North West.
Red Express, X41 is a bus service run by the Blackburn Bus Company which runs between Accrington and Manchester, serving the communities of Haslingden, Ramsbottom, Prestwich and Harpurhey, Collyhurst during peak times. The service uses the M60 and M66 motorways, connecting communities and schools like The Hollins and Haslingden High School. A point of interest in the route is the East Lancashire Railway in Ramsbottom.