Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire

Last updated

Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire
Vehicles in the United Kingdom 221.jpg
Parent Stagecoach
Founded2011;13 years ago (2011)
HeadquartersRibble Motor Services Ltd, Gillmoss Bus Depot, East Lancashire Road, Liverpool, Merseyside, L11 0BB
Service area North West England
Service type Bus
Hubs Chester, Chorley, Liverpool, Preston, Birkenhead
Stations Chester, Chorley, Liverpool, Preston, Wirral, Blackburn, Blackpool, Bolton, Southport, St Helens, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn and Mold
Depots5
Fleet380 (April 2023) [1]
Fuel typeBiodiesel & Diesel
Chief executiveElizabeth Tasker
Website https://www.stagecoachbus.com/about/merseyside-and-south-lancashire

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.

Contents

From January 2013, not long after Wigan takeover, Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire also includes the Chester and Rock Ferry depots of First Chester & The Wirral following their takeover from FirstGroup. [2]

From July 2016 Stagecoach Chester took over several former GHA Coaches routes after the firm went into Administration.

History

Stagecoach in Lancashire

Stagecoach is the trading name of Ribble Motor Services Ltd, which was purchased by Stagecoach in 1988 and was originally known as Stagecoach Ribble (until 1997), and operated services around the Central Lancashire area, serving Preston, Chorley, Bolton and Blackburn. The company also operated Network Chorley which provided transport around the local Chorley area until 2012.

In 2015, after Stagecoach re branded their Liverpool services as Stagecoach Merseyside, Stagecoach in Lancashire was re branded as Stagecoach in Chorley, Stagecoach in Preston and simply Stagecoach.

In September 2015, Stagecoach announced the purchase of 24 Alexander Dennis Enviro400 buses, in the 'Stagecoach Gold Specification' for the Route 125 between Bolton and Preston. The new vehicles will replace the old fleet of Dennis Trident 2s and Alexander Dennis Enviro 400s that the company inherited when it was formed.

Stagecoach closed the Eaves Lane depot in Chorley in October 2015, it was replaced by an outstation on an industrial estate on the outskirts of Chorley to house the modern fleet of Alexander Dennis Enviro400s operated. The other vehicles were transferred to Stagecoach in Preston.

In October 2015, Stagecoach took over John Fishwick & Sons services 111, 115 and 119 until 8 April 2016.

Stagecoach trail ran a Stagecoach Gold service on Route 125 on 17 October 2015, the full fleet entered service on 16 November 2015.

Stagecoach lost funding from Lancashire County Council in 2016 and consequently had to cancel and revise many routes in the Chorley area. The college services 109, 109A and 115 were withdrawn and have since been operated by Tyrers of Adlington.

Stagecoach in Chorley's business was heavily affected by Lancashire County Council funding cuts and many routes have been withdrawn.

Stagecoach shortened the Route 109A that ran to Preston from Chorley in December 2018, the route now terminates in Leyland.

In June 2019 Stagecoach announced that they were ceasing to operate the 109A service after losing funding from Lancashire County Council.

Following the removal of the service 109A Stagecoach begin running two new services, the 118 and 119 between Chorley, Collingwood Road and Astley Village. These services are now operated by Tyrers Coaches, though Stagecoach continue to operate the route on evenings and Sundays.

Stagecoach replaced the ‘Gold’ fleet of Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 buses serving the 125 Route in Chorley in 2023. The newer, Enviro400MMC vehicles removed the Stagecoach Gold interiors and returned the 125 Service to a standard Stagecoach bus route.

Stagecoach in Merseyside

Stagecoach in Merseyside was the trading name of Glenvale Transport Ltd, which was purchased by Stagecoach in 2005. The original company was formed in 2001 following Arriva's takeover of MTL Group in 2000 and was ordered by the Competition Commission to sell the Gillmoss depot to avoid Arriva owning a monopoly of services in Merseyside. Stagecoach failed in an original attempt to obtain the depot in 2001, losing out to Glenvale Transport. Stagecoach bought Glenvale Transport in 2005 beating off competition from rivals FirstGroup, Go-Ahead Group and Transdev Blazefield.

Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire

In August 2011, Stagecoach Group announced plans to re-structure their UK Bus operations in the North West of England with the former Stagecoach North West operations, which consisted of Stagecoach in Cumbria, Stagecoach in Lancashire and Stagecoach in Lancaster. The re-structuring saw Stagecoach North West split up into two halves, with Cumbria and Lancaster operations merging into Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire and Stagecoach in Merseyside merging with Stagecoach in Lancashire. [3] The other Stagecoach operation in the North West of England, Stagecoach Manchester, remained unaffected and continues as a separate operation.

Stagecoach in Chester and Wirral

In November 2012, Stagecoach Group announced they had agreed a deal to purchase the operations of First Chester & The Wirral from FirstGroup for £4.5 million. [4] The deal included the two main depots in Chester and Rock Ferry, as well as a depot in Wrexham used for school services, plus 110 buses and 290 employees. The purchase was made through Stagecoach's Merseyside subsidiary, Glenvale Transport, bringing the Chester & Wirral operations under Stagecoach Merseyside. It was Stagecoach's second purchase from FirstGroup, following the purchase of First Greater Manchester's Wigan depot in October 2012.

The takeover was confirmed to be completed on 13 January 2013 [2] with Stagecoach originally using ex-First buses and ticket machines before re-painting existing buses, bringing in old fleet vehicles from other areas and bringing in new buses and ticket machines. All ex-first routes are now run by Stagecoach buses, carrying their own livery.

Depots

Related Research Articles

Merseytravel is the passenger transport executive, responsible for the coordination of public transport in the Liverpool City Region in North West England. Merseytravel was established on 1 December 1969 as the Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive. From 1 April 2014, with the creation of the Liverpool City Region, Merseytravel expanded its area of operation from the metropolitan county of Merseyside to also include the Borough of Halton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Potteries</span> Bus company based in Stoke-on-Trent operating services in North Staffordshire, England

First Potteries is a bus company based in Stoke-on-Trent operating services in North Staffordshire, England. It is a part of First Midlands and a subsidiary of FirstGroup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MTL (transport company)</span> 1992–2000 British transport operator

MTL Trust Holdings was an English bus, coach and train operator based in Liverpool, Merseyside. MTL was originally part of the MPTE. To comply with the Transport Act 1985, the bus operations were divested into a new independent company, Merseyside Transport Limited (MTL). Merseyside PTA retained shareholding, but the company was purchased by its management and staff in a £5.9 million Employee Share Ownership Plan in 1993. On 17 February 2000, MTL was purchased by Arriva for £85 million, with MTL's shareholding workers each receiving £13,500 in windfall gains from the sale.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stagecoach North West</span>

Stagecoach North West was a major operator of bus services in North West England. It 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arriva North West and Wales</span>

Arriva North West and Wales was a division of Arriva that operated bus services around North West England and Wales. It was made up from several previous bus operators, including North Western, most of MTL North, the Bee Line Buzz Company, and most of what was once Crosville Motor Services.

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

Stagecoach Manchester is a major bus operator in Greater Manchester. 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 operator is to commence operating franchised Bee Network bus services from three depots on contract to Transport for Greater Manchester from 24 March 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burnley Bus Company</span> Transdev-owned bus operator in England

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blackburn Bus Company</span> Transdev-owned bus operator

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stagecoach Merseyside</span> Bus operator in Merseyside, part of the Stagecoach group

Stagecoach Merseyside is a major operator of bus services in the city of Liverpool and the surrounding Merseyside region. It is a sub-division of Stagecoach Merseyside and South Lancashire.

Chorley Interchange is a bus station in Chorley, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Chester & The Wirral</span>

First Chester & Wirral was a British bus operator operating in the Cheshire and Merseyside regions between February 1990 and January 2013. It was a subsidiary of FirstGroup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ribble Motor Services</span> Former bus company in North West England

Ribble Motor Services was a large regional bus operator in North West England based in Preston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arriva North West</span> Bus operator in North West England

Arriva North West is a major bus operator running services in North West England in the Merseyside area. It is a subsidiary of Arriva UK Bus.

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

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">Glenvale Transport</span> Liverpool bus operator

Glenvale Transport (GTL) was a bus company that operated services in Liverpool between July 2001 and July 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stagecoach in Preston</span>

Stagecoach in Preston was a network of bus routes running within the city of Preston, Lancashire and into the surrounding area. It was founded in 2009 after Stagecoach Group acquired Preston Bus that was founded in 1904. The company operated from the main depot on Deepdale Road and their other depot on Selbourne Street. In January 2011, the company was sold to Rotala, which now operates the services under the Preston Bus brand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cumfybus</span> English bus company

Cumfybus is a bus company based in Southport, Merseyside. Its operations were small scale throughout the 1990s, but it has expanded significantly since its incorporation as a limited company in 2002, and in 2010 had a fleet of nearly 100 buses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire</span> Bus operator

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Merseybus</span> Former major bus operator in Merseyside, England

Merseybus was a bus operator running bus and coach services predominantly in and around Merseyside, England. Based at Edge Lane, Liverpool, Merseybus was formed as an "arm's length" operation of the Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive out of its bus operations following bus deregulation in Great Britain, and would be sold to Merseybus management and staff in a £5.9 million Employee Share Ownership Plan in 1993, forming the core of MTL's bus operations. Merseybus would later be sold along with all MTL operations to Arriva on 17 February 2000, and operations today trade under Arriva North West.

References

  1. "About Stagecoach Merseyside and South Lancashire". Stagecoach Merseyside and South Lancashire. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
  2. 1 2 "Keeping You In The Loop" (PDF). Stagecoach Bus. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 January 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
  3. "Stagecoach announces UK Bus Regional Management Appointments". Stagecoach Group. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
  4. "£4.5million bus buyout for Stagecoach in region". Chester First. 12 November 2012. Archived from the original on 11 November 2013. Retrieved 12 January 2013.