Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive

Last updated

Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive
AbbreviationGMPTE
PredecessorSELNEC, Greater Manchester Transport
Successor Transport for Greater Manchester
Dissolved2011
Type Passenger transport executive
Legal statusDefunct
PurposeTransport authority
Region served
Greater Manchester
Website gmpte.com

Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive was the public body responsible for public transport in Greater Manchester between 1974 and 2011, when it became part of Transport for Greater Manchester.

Contents

SELNEC PTE

GMPTE was originally formed in 1969 as SELNEC PTE SELNEC.png
GMPTE was originally formed in 1969 as SELNEC PTE
A preserved SELNEC-branded Leyland Atlantean bus at the Manchester Museum of Transport in October 2008 SELNEC bus EX1 (PNF 941J), MMT Atlantean 50 event (6).jpg
A preserved SELNEC-branded Leyland Atlantean bus at the Manchester Museum of Transport in October 2008

Until 1969, the conurbation surrounding Manchester was divided between the two administrative counties of Lancashire and Cheshire and a number of county boroughs, such as Manchester, Salford, Stockport or Bolton. To comply with the Transport Act 1968, on 1 April 1969, the SELNEC Passenger Transport Executive was formed. SELNEC stood for South East Lancashire North East Cheshire, a joint authority of the various local councils. [1]

Selnec cent logo.gif
Selnec north logo.gif
Selnec south logo.gif
Selnec ches logo.gif
SELNEC divisional logos

From 1 November 1969, the PTE took over the bus fleets of 11 municipalities, and operationally, the organisation was split into three divisional areas, Northern, Central, and Southern:

Northern

Central

Southern

SELNEC branded its fleet with its corporate orange and white livery and the 'S' logo. The 'S' logo was coloured differently in each division: magenta for Northern, blue for Central and green for Southern. For corporate operations, the parcel operations (inherited from Manchester), and the coaching fleet, the 'S' logo was in orange

In the early 1970s, SELNEC began to promote a project to construct an underground railway beneath central Manchester, the Picc-Vic tunnel. The scheme aimed to link the two main railway stations, Piccadilly and Victoria with a tunnel. [3] The project was eventually cancelled on grounds of cost.

On 1 January 1972, SELNEC PTE acquired most of National Bus Company's North Western Road Car subsidiary with buses, services and depots in Altrincham, Glossop, Oldham, Stockport and Urmston. [4] [5] [6] The corporate orange and white livery was applied, with the 'S' logo in brown and the name "Cheshire". (Most of the NWRCC operations bought by SELNEC were in the old county of Cheshire).

1974: Replacement by Greater Manchester PTE

The original Greater Manchester Transport double 'M' logo from 1974 Greater Manchester Transport.svg
The original Greater Manchester Transport double 'M' logo from 1974
A GMPTE bus stop in 2006 displaying the double 'M' logo GMPTE Manchester Bus Flag June 2006.jpg
A GMPTE bus stop in 2006 displaying the double 'M' logo
A GMPTE branded signpost at Mauldeth Road railway station in 2013 Mauldeth Road railway station (25).JPG
A GMPTE branded signpost at Mauldeth Road railway station in 2013

When the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester was created on 1 April 1974 the executive was replaced by GMPTE, with the Greater Manchester County Council replacing the joint transport authority. The PTE also acquired the bus operations of Wigan Corporation with 130 vehicles. Further expansion saw the acquisition of Warburton's Coaches in November 1975 and Lancashire United Transport and Godfrey Abbot in January 1976.

The public branding applied to buses and signage used the shorter name Greater Manchester Transport, displayed in upper and lower case Helvetica next to a distinctive orange double 'M' logo. The logo, first seen around 1974, is still in use today on bus stops and transport information literature, but is being gradually replaced on the former across Greater Manchester by rebranded bus stop flags displaying the new Transport for Greater Manchester logo.

To add to printed material and logos etched in glass on the side of bus shelters, GMPTE began a programme of adding their 'double M' logo to 101 railway station nameboards, train rolling stock livery, bus sides and some 'totem' pole signs outside rail stations in the area during the 1990s. This idea was later extended to a full re-design of the bus stop flag in 2000, (used first on primary bus routes, now extended to the entire GMPTE area) resulting in a unified corporate appearance containing the 'double M' logo on bus, train and tram stops.

The PTE sponsored several new railway stations on existing lines in the 1970s and 1980s including Flowery Field, Godley, Hag Fold and Ryder Brow.

1980s: Deregulation and privatisation of bus services

Following the abolition of the Greater Manchester County Council in 1986, a new Passenger Transport Authority was created to administer the GMPTE, made up of councillors from the Greater Manchester district councils.

In the same year, in order to prepare for bus deregulation, the PTE's bus operations passed to Greater Manchester Buses Limited (trading as GM Buses) in October 1986. The company was owned at "arm's length" by the PTE, and had to compete in the deregulated market. In preparation for privatisation, the company was split into GM Buses North and GM Buses South on 31 December 1993. Both companies were sold to their managements on 31 March 1994, and sold on to major groups in 1996: GM Buses South to Stagecoach in February, GM Buses North to FirstBus in March.

21st century

Transport Innovation Fund

GMPTE and the GMPTA worked with the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities to produce a bid for monies from the Transport Innovation Fund. Within the bid were proposals to introduce Congestion charging in Greater Manchester. They claimed the Greater Manchester Transport Innovation Fund would have significantly improve public transport in the area funded by charging motorists entering the city at peak times. A consultation document was sent out to residents during July 2008. In December 2008, a local referendum voted no to the proposals.

Executive pay

In February 2011, the Daily Telegraph reported that David Leather, chief executive of the Passenger Transport Executive, was being paid £45,000 a month, and Bob Morris, interim chief operating officer, was getting a six-figure salary. Because they were seconded staff, rather than being employees, they were supposedly not covered by the government demand that the pay of any public-sector employee earning more than the Prime Minister should be disclosed. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greater Manchester</span> Ceremonial county in North West England

Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transport for Greater Manchester</span> Public transport organisation in Greater Manchester in North West England

Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) is a local government body responsible for co-ordinating transport services throughout Greater Manchester in North West England. It is an executive arm of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), the city region's administrative authority. The strategies and policies of Transport for Greater Manchester are set by the GMCA and its Greater Manchester Transport Committee (GMTC). The committee is made up of 33 councillors appointed from the ten Greater Manchester boroughs, as well as the Mayor of Greater Manchester.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Counties (bus manufacturer)</span> Bus and coach bodywork company

The Northern Counties Motor & Engineering Company was an English builder of bus and coach bodywork based in Wigan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Free buses in Greater Manchester</span>

Free bus is a zero-fare bus system that operates in Greater Manchester. The system was first introduced in Manchester city centre in 2002, with three routes linking the city's major thoroughfares and stations with its main commercial, financial and cultural districts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stagecoach Manchester</span> Bus operator in Greater Manchester, England

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Picc-Vic tunnel</span> Proposed underground railway in Manchester, England

Picc-Vic was a proposed, and later cancelled, underground railway designed in the early 1970s with the purpose of connecting two major mainline railway termini in Manchester city centre, England. The name Picc-Vic was a contraction of the two key station names, Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Victoria. The proposal envisaged the construction of an underground rail tunnel across Manchester city centre. The scheme was abandoned in 1977 during its proposal stages due to Westminster's lack of willingness to invest in Manchester. The view was that the scheme still retained two large and expensive-to-maintain terminal stations in Manchester while other similarly sized cities had reduced their terminals to one.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">County Borough of Stockport</span> Former municipal borough in present-day town of Stockport

Stockport County Borough was a county-level local authority between 1889 and 1974.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dennis Domino</span> Motor vehicle

The Dennis Domino was a step-entrance midibus chassis manufactured by Dennis in Guildford, England in 1984 and 1985. It was in essence, a scaled down single-decker version of the Dennis Dominator. Developed for intensive urban work, the Domino was fitted with Perkins T6.354.4 turbocharged engine, Maxwell automatic transmission, front radiator, full air suspension and power steering. It can be regarded as a predecessor of the successful Dennis Dart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GM Buses</span> Former major bus operator in Greater Manchester

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.

The Passenger Transport Executive (PTE) bus operations were the bus operating divisions of the passenger transport executives in the United Kingdom. In 1986 they underwent a process of deregulation and privatisation, forming some of the largest private bus companies in the UK outside London, with all being sold to their employees or management. Despite their relative size and lucrative operating areas, none of the companies survived beyond the late 1990s, with all falling into the hands of the major bus groups, who had their origins in privatised regional subsidiaries of the former National Bus Company and the Scottish Bus Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Western Road Car Company (1923)</span>

The North Western Road Car Company was a bus company in Stockport, England, formed in 1923 from the existing bus services of the British Automobile Traction Company Limited in Macclesfield. The company operated bus services in five counties through a combination of growth and the acquisition of other bus companies, such as the takeover in 1924 of the Mid-Cheshire Motor Bus Company Limited, which brought new operations in Northwich and Flixton. The company also operated express coach services to London, North Wales and Yorkshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Western Road Car Company (1986)</span> Bus operator in North West England

North Western Road Car Company was a bus operator based in Liverpool, England. The company operated between 1986 and 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greater Manchester bus route 192</span> Bus route in Manchester, England

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manchester Corporation Tramways</span> Municipal operator of electric tram services in Manchester (1901-1949)

Between 1901 and 1949 Manchester Corporation Tramways was the municipal operator of electric tram services in Manchester, England. At its peak in 1928, the organisation carried 328 million passengers on 953 trams, via 46 routes, along 292 miles (470 km) of track.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Manchester Metrolink</span>

The history of Manchester Metrolink begins with its conception as Greater Manchester's light rail system in 1982 by the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive, and spans its inauguration in 1992 and the successive phases of expansion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of public transport authorities in Manchester</span>

The history of public transport authorities in Manchester details the various organisations that have been responsible for the public transport network in and around Manchester, England, since 1824.

This timeline lists significant events in the history of Greater Manchester's light rail network called the Manchester Metrolink.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British Rail Class 316 (Picc-Vic)</span>

The British Rail Class 316 was a proposed type of electric multiple unit intended for use on planned urban rail services in Greater Manchester. Intended as part of the family of EMUs descended from the prototype "PEP" stock, the class was never proceeded with as the planned services for which it was to be built were cancelled.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Proposed developments of Manchester Metrolink</span> Development of Manchester Metrolink light rail system

This is a list of confirmed or proposed future developments of the Manchester Metrolink light rail system in Greater Manchester, England.

References

  1. The South East Lancashire and North East Cheshire Passenger Transport Area (Designation) Order 1969 (1969 No. 95); The South East Lancashire and North East Cheshire Passenger Transport Area was defined as:
    (a) the county boroughs of the Cities of Manchester and Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale and Stockport;
    (b) so much of the administrative county of the County Palatine of Chester as is comprised in the following county districts or parts of such districts, that is to say
    (i) the boroughs of Altrincham, Dukinfield, Hyde, Sale and Stalybridge;
    (ii) the urban districts of Alderley Edge, Bowdon, Bredbury and Romiley, Cheadle and Gatley, Hale, Hazel Grove and Bramhall, Longdendale, Marple and Wilmslow;
    (iii) the rural districts of Disley and Tintwistle;
    (iv) so much of the rural district of Bucklow as is comprised in the following parishes: Carrington, Partington and Ringway;
    (v) so much of the rural district of Macclesfield as is comprised in the parish of Poynton-with-Worth;
    (c) so much of the administrative county of Derby as is comprised in the borough of Glossop;
    (d) so much of the administrative county of the County Palatine of Lancaster as is comprised in the following county districts, that is to say
    (i) the boroughs of Ashton-under-Lyne, Eccles, Farnworth, Heywood, Leigh, Middleton, Mossley, Prestwich, Radcliffe, Stretford and Swinton and Pendlebury;
    (ii) the urban districts of Atherton, Audenshaw, Chadderton, Crompton, Denton, Droylsden, Failsworth, Horwich, Irlam, Kearsley, Lees, Littleborough, Little Lever, Milnrow, Ramsbottom, Royton, Tottington, Turton, Tyldesley, Urmston, Wardle, Westhoughton, Whitefield, Whitworth and Worsley;
    (e) so much of the administrative county of the West Riding of Yorkshire as is comprised in the urban district of Saddleworth.
  2. Booth, Gavin; Stewart J Brown (1984). The bus book: (everything you wanted to know about buses but were afraid to ask). London: Ian Allan. ISBN   0-7110-1440-X.
  3. SELNEC PTE (October 1971). "SELNEC Picc-Vic Line" (Document). SELNEC PTE. publicity brochure
  4. Stenning, Ray (1979). A National Bus Company album. Wiveliscombe: Viewfinder. ISBN   0-906051-03-7.
  5. SELNEC bid foe reluctant North Western's bus services Commercial Motor 3 December 1971
  6. SELNEC's price Commercial Motor 17 March 1972
  7. Watt, Holly (28 February 2011). "The city transport chief earning £540,000 a year". The Telegraph. London: Telegraph Media Group.