 Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMCs at the Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet in August 2024 | |
| Parent | Stagecoach Group |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2011 |
| Headquarters | Gillmoss bus depot Liverpool, Merseyside |
| Service area | |
| Hubs | |
| Depots | 5 |
| Fleet | 380 (August 2024) [1] |
| Chief executive | Matt Davies |
| Website | Official website  |
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.
Stagecoach Merseyside and South Lancashire can trace its origins to the purchase of both Ribble Motor Services in 1988 from the National Bus Company and Glenvale Transport in 2005. The subsidiary was formed in 2011 following the merger of Stagecoach Merseyside and Stagecoach North West's Chorley and Preston operations, [2] the latter of which were registered under Ribble Motor Services Ltd.
Stagecoach Merseyside and South Lancashire predominantly operates services around the Central Lancashire area, serving the communities of Preston, Chorley, Bolton and Blackburn. The company also operated the 'Network Chorley' brand, which provided transport around the local Chorley area until 2012.
Stagecoach closed its Chorley depot on Eaves Lane depot in October 2015, replacing it with by outstation on an industrial estate on the outskirts of the town. Some services and older vehicles based at the depot were transferred to Preston. [3]
Following the collapse of Leyland independent operator John Fishwick & Sons into administration in October 2015, Stagecoach immediately took on the operator's 111 service to Preston to Leyland, later negotiating with Lancashire County Council to run services 115 and 119. [4] This arrangement was maintained until March 2016.
Stagecoach lost funding from Lancashire County Council in 2016 and consequently had to cancel and revise multiple routes across the county that were subsidised by council funding. [5]
As of August 2024, Stagecoach operates Gold-specification buses on services 125 between Bolton and Preston and the 471/472 between Heswall and Liverpool. Buses on these routes are actively being debranded in line with the gradual repainting of the fleet into current livery.
Stagecoach Merseyside and South Lancashire's Gold network was launched in November 2015, following the delivery of eighteen Alexander Dennis Enviro300s for use on services 1 and 2 between Liverpool, Wirral and Chester, as well as a fleet of 24 Alexander Dennis Enviro400-bodied Scania N230UD double-decker buses delivered for service 125 between Bolton and Preston. [6] [7]
Stagecoach's Gold network expanded further in Merseyside with the delivery of Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMCs to upgrade the 471 and 472 services between Heswall and Liverpool to Gold specification. [8] This also coincided with the delivery of ten Enviro400 MMCs built with similarly high-specification interiors on Scania N250UD chassis for the Liverpool-Southport-Preston X2 express service. [9] Further Gold buses were transferred from other Stagecoach divisions in January 2019 in order to upgrade service 38 between Kirkham and Eastham to the specification. [10] [11]
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 by the staff and management of Gillmoss depot, formerly operated by MTL North, after Arriva was ordered in 2000 by the Competition Commission to sell it in order to avoid a public inquiry for operating a monopoly of services in Merseyside. [12] [13]
After having been beaten themselves by Gillmoss' management to acquire the depot in 2001, the Stagecoach Group purchased Glenvale Transport in August 2005 for £3.4 million, beating competition from rivals FirstGroup, Go-Ahead Group and Transdev Blazefield while taking on Glenvale's net debts of £7.8 million. [14] Following the sale, Stagecoach immediately invested £6.5 million in new buses to reduce the age profile of the elderly Glenvale fleet. [15] [16]
In August 2011, the Stagecoach Group announced plans to restructure their 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 restructuring 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. [2] The other Stagecoach operation in the region, Stagecoach Manchester, remained unaffected and continued as a separate operation.
In June 2023, Stagecoach announced it had purchased the operations and majority of the vehicles and employees of Aintree independent operator Peoplesbus. Operations transferred to Stagecoach Merseyside and South Lancashire's Gillmoss depot on 9 July, [17] [18] with a second iteration of Peoplesbus returning to Merseytravel contracts in January 2024.
In November 2012, the Stagecoach Group announced they had agreed a deal to purchase the operations of First Chester & The Wirral from the FirstGroup for £4.5 million. 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. [19] [20] 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, with Stagecoach originally using the buses and ticket machines acquired directly from First. [21] Stagecoach soon integrated the Chester & the Wirral operation into the group by repainting the acquired buses into fleet livery, transferring in old fleet vehicles from other areas and purchasing new buses and ticket machines.
One of the services acquired with First Chester & the Wirral was the Cheshire West and Chester Council contract to operate the Chester Park & Ride network. In September 2015, Stagecoach were awarded by the council to continue running the service from July 2016 until 2021, with branded Wright Eclipse Urban bodied Volvo B7RLEs acquired from First replaced with twelve new Alexander Dennis Enviro200 MMCs following the start of the contract. [22]
From July 2016, Stagecoach's Chester depot was one of numerous regional operators who took on several GHA Coaches services after the firm went into administration. [23]
As of August 2024, Stagecoach Merseyside and South Lancashire operates a fleet of 380 buses from five depots in Chester, Chorley, Gillmoss in Liverpool, Preston and the Wirral Peninsula. [1]
Stagecoach has experimented with fleets of zero-emissions vehicles in co-operation with Merseytravel within the Liverpool City Region. In 2018, a Volvo 7900e battery electric bus equipped with a pantograph charger was trialled on services 82 and 86 between Liverpool One bus station and Liverpool John Lennon Airport, with a charging station manufactured by ABB installed at the former. [24] Stagecoach also has taken delivery of ten Alexander Dennis Enviro400FCEV fuel cell buses for joint operation with Arriva North West of service 10A between Liverpool and St Helens via Knowsley, [25] [26] however Stagecoach's buses remained out of service until mid-2024 due to a hydrogen fuel supply shortage. [27]
The Alexander Dennis Enviro300 is a light-weight full-size single-decker bus that was built by Alexander Dennis and its predecessor TransBus International between 2001 and 2015. The design was the first of the new Enviro range of buses from TransBus and also the first bus to be built as an integral bus by TransBus.
The Alexander Dennis Enviro400 is a twin-axle low-floor double-decker bus that was built by the British bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis between 2005 and 2018. It replaced the Alexander ALX400. In 2014, the Enviro400 was succeeded by the updated Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC and production of the classic Enviro400 ceased in 2018.
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.
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.
Stagecoach West is a bus operator providing services in Gloucestershire, Bristol, Swindon, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, North Somerset and Herefordshire, in the West of England. The company is a subsidiary of the Stagecoach Group.
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.
First Glasgow is the largest bus company serving the Greater Glasgow area in Scotland. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup. The company operates within the area covered by the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, a public body responsible for helping to co-ordinate public transport services in the Greater Glasgow area.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Stagecoach South Wales is a bus operator providing services in South East Wales. It is a subsidiary of the Stagecoach Group.
Stagecoach East is a bus operator providing local and regional services across the East of England, operating in the counties of Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire. The company is a subsidiary of the Stagecoach Group and is headquartered and registered in Cambridge.
Ribble Motor Services was a large regional bus operator in North West England based in Preston.
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.
Glenvale Transport (GTL) was a bus company that operated services in Liverpool between July 2001 and July 2005.
Stagecoach Midlands is a bus operator providing local and regional services across the English Midlands, operating in the counties of Northamptonshire, Warwickshire and the West Midlands. The company is a subsidiary of the Stagecoach Group and is headquartered in Northampton.
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.
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.
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.
Media related to Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire at Wikimedia Commons
Bus companies operating in North West England | ||
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| Cheshire |  | |
| Cumbria | ||
| Greater Manchester | ||
| Lancashire | ||
| Merseyside | ||
| National | ||
