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![]() Optare Solo in January 2008 | |
Founded | 2002 |
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Defunct | 2012 |
Headquarters | Raglan Street, Hyde, Greater Manchester, England |
Locale | North West |
Service area | Greater Manchester, Derbyshire |
Service type | Bus |
Hubs | Manchester, Ashton-under-Lyne, Glossop, Hyde, Stalybridge, Oldham |
Fleet | 25 vehicles including Optare Solo Optare Excel Alexander Dennis Enviro 300 Dennis Dart Plaxton Beaver 2 Marshall Capital |
Operator | Speedwellbus Ltd |
Website | Official Website – Web Archive |
Speedwellbus (formerly Speedwell Private Hire) was a bus operator based in Hyde, Greater Manchester, England. It operated a fleet of 25 buses on commercial and contracted services. Formed in 2002, it ceased operating rather abruptly and unexpectedly in January 2012 due to financial problems and nearly having had its licence revoked. [1]
Operations commenced in 2002 with a service between Glossop and Tintwistle, and were expanded with the addition of contracts from Derbyshire County Council and Transport for Greater Manchester. Being a collaboration between Jack Hampson and David Whyatt, it can in some ways be viewed as a continuation of the Glossopdale Bus Company project. The company was originally based in Glossop until they moved to a base in Hyde. They also ran a number of school buses in the Glossop area. Speedwellbus also formerly operated a "No frills" bus service in Greater Manchester, entitled Speedwellvalue. [2] [3]
In 2009 the company was subject to a public enquiry following the issuing of 13 prohibition notices by the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency relating to vehicle defects. [4]
On 18 January 2012, Speedwellbus announced that they had ceased trading with immediate effect. [5] [6] It was made clear that all the previously operated services would be taken over by a number of different operators, [7] including Stotts of Oldham, High Peak Buses and Stagecoach Manchester. [1]
On 3 August 2009 Speedwellbus launched a new "no-frills" concept service entitled SpeedwellValue, a low-cost and frequent alternative against other services in Greater Manchester offering flat single fares at £1.20 and 60p for concessionary users, daysavers at £2 and weekly tickets at £9.60 and £4.80, respectively. Branded low-floor buses were normally used, although Speedwell occasionally drafted in other vehicles. The services were designed to compete against the more expensive routes in Greater Manchester, offering a duplicate service that was up to 50% cheaper in comparison.
The first established route was the S50, travelling from Hey Farm to Ashton under Lyne. The service originally continued beyond Ashton into Manchester Shudehill Interchange via Mossley, Ashton-under-Lyne, Droylsden and Sport City. However, a month after launch in September 2009 the route was scaled down between Hey Farm and Ashton-under-Lyne only, due to the heavy delays by the Manchester Metrolink upgrade and other essential roadworks in Droylsden. [8] This was also the last route, being withdrawn in June 2011, but technically disappeared earlier due to a sudden change in Transport for Greater Manchester's change in concessionary subsidiaries, resulting in a large drop in revenue. Works to the retaining wall on the A670 near the Billy Goat Pub in Mossley had caused delays to the route making the service less reliable during the height of peak travel hours.
Shortly afterwards a second route, the S48, was launched. The S48 travelled from Carrbrook to Ashton-under-Lyne via the Brushes estate and Stalybridge, effectively competing with route 348. Not long after its established presence, a full evening and Sunday service was introduced. However, the route was withdrawn in March 2011. A third route numbered S49, designed to compete with First's popular route 409 between Oldham and Ashton, was also briefly operated but was withdrawn in April 2011.
In 2011, Speedwellbus, along with supporters within the Derbyshire region including the Deputy Mayor of High Peak Borough Council [9] voiced their concern to Derbyshire County Council over the decision to potentially axe the 397, leaving transport users in Hadfield and Tintwistle without a bus service to Hyde. A website was created to gather signatures and comments to the council. The route was however withdrawn in October 2011, with all of the Glossopdale school buses following in April 2012 after the council decided to impose the full range of proposed cuts. [10]
Glossop is a market town in the borough of High Peak, in the county of Derbyshire, England. It is located 15 miles (24 km) east of Manchester, 24 miles (39 km) north-west of Sheffield and 32 miles (51 km) north of the county town, Matlock. Glossop lies near Derbyshire's borders with Cheshire, Greater Manchester, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire. It is between 150 and 300 metres above sea level and is bounded by the Peak District National Park to the south, east and north. In 2021 it had a population of 33,340.
Tameside is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England, named after the River Tame, which flows through it, and includes the towns of Ashton-under-Lyne, Audenshaw, Denton, Droylsden, Dukinfield, Hyde, Mossley and Stalybridge. Tameside is bordered by the metropolitan boroughs of Stockport to the south, Oldham to the north and northeast, Manchester to the west, and to the east by the Borough of High Peak in Derbyshire. As of 2021, the population of Tameside was 231,199, making it the 8th-most populous borough of Greater Manchester by population.
The River Etherow is a river in northern England, and a tributary of the River Goyt. Although now passing through South Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Greater Manchester, it historically formed the ancient county boundary between Cheshire and Derbyshire. The upper valley is known as Longdendale. The river has a watershed of approximately 30 square miles (78 km2), and the area an annual rainfall of 52.5 inches (1,330 mm).
Hyde is a town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, which had a population of 35,890 in 2021.
Mossley (/ˈmɒzli/) is a town and civil parish in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. It is located in the upper Tame Valley and the foothills of the Pennines, 3 miles (4.8 km) south-east of Oldham and 8.9 miles (14.3 km) east of Manchester.
Droylsden is a town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, 4.1 miles (6.6 km) east of Manchester city centre and 2.2 miles (3.5 km) west of Ashton-under-Lyne, with a population at the 2011 Census of 22,689.
Hadfield is a town in the High Peak of Derbyshire, England, with a population at the 2021 Census of 6,763. It lies on the south side of the River Etherow, near to the border with Greater Manchester, at the western edge of the Peak District close to Glossop.
Glossop railway station serves the Peak District town of Glossop in Derbyshire, England. Glossop is the third busiest railway station in the county of Derbyshire after Derby and Chesterfield. It is located just north of Norfolk Square in the centre of Glossop.
Pennine Blue, later known as First Pennine, was a bus company serving the Tameside area of Greater Manchester, England. It was an independent bus company running services to/from Ashton-under-Lyne in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Its depot was initially based at Britannia Street in Ashton-Under-Lyne, before moving to the Globe Industrial Estate in Dukinfield, and finally to the current location on Broadway in Dukinfield where it now operates as first pioneer.
Edge Lane is a tram stop on the East Manchester Line (EML) of Greater Manchester's light-rail Metrolink system. It opened on 11 February 2013, after a three-day free trial for local residents. The station was constructed as part of Phase 3a of the Metrolink's expansion, and is located at the junction of Manchester Road and Edge Lane, in Droylsden, Tameside, England.
Droylsden is a tram stop on the East Manchester Line (EML) of Greater Manchester's light-rail Metrolink system. It opened on 11 February 2013, after a three-day free trial for local residents. The stop was constructed as part of Phase 3a of the Metrolink's expansion, and is located in Droylsden town centre, a part of Tameside, England.
Ashton-under-Lyne is a tram stop serving Ashton-under-Lyne on Greater Manchester's light rail Metrolink system, it is the terminus of the system's East Manchester Line (EML). It is located beside Ashton-under-Lyne bus station, and a few minutes walk away from Ashton-under-Lyne railway station, forming an Ashton travel hub.
Cemetery Road is a tram stop on the East Manchester Line (EML) of Greater Manchester's light-rail Metrolink system. It opened on 11 February 2013, after a three-day free trial for local residents. The station was constructed as part of Phase 3a of the Metrolink's expansion, and is located in Droylsden at the junction of Manchester Road and Cemetery Road, a part of Tameside, England.
Limehurst was, from 1894 to 1954, a rural district in the administrative county of Lancashire, England.
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.
Ashton-under-Lyne bus station is a bus station that is located in the town of Ashton-under-Lyne in Greater Manchester, run by Transport for Greater Manchester. The bus station is situated on Wellington Road and adjoins the Arcades Shopping Centre. The bus station was opened in 2020 and replaced the previous bus station that was built on the current site.
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.
This timeline of Manchester Metrolink lists significant events in the history of Greater Manchester's light rail network.
The East Manchester Line (EML) is a tram line of the Manchester Metrolink in Greater Manchester, England, running from Manchester to Ashton-under-Lyne via Droylsden and Audenshaw. The line opened in 2013 as part of phase three of the system's expansion.
Tameside General Hospital is an acute general hospital in Ashton-under-Lyne, England, managed by Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust. It serves the surrounding area of Tameside in Greater Manchester, and the town of Glossop in Derbyshire. Employing just under 2,500 staff, the hospital provides Accident and Emergency services, and full consultant-led obstetric and paediatric hospital services for women, children and babies.
Pat is an avid campaigner and is currently campaigning to keep the 397 Speedwell Bus subsidy in place, to retain this important transport link through the local villages between Glossop and Hyde