United Automobile Services

Last updated

United Automobile Services
NBC United.svg
United bus BG413 Bristol L5G ECW LHN 860 Metrocentre rally 2009 pic 1.JPG
FoundedMay 1912 (1912-05)
Ceased operationDecember 1987 (1987-12)
Headquarters Darlington, England
Service area
Service typeBus and coach

United Automobile Services was a bus company, which operated local and regional bus services in County Durham, Cumbria, Northumberland, North Yorkshire and Tyne & Wear, England. It provided bus services across a wide geographical area, stretching from the border town of Berwick-upon-Tweed in the north, Filey in the south, and Carlisle in the west.

Contents

History

The company was founded in Lowestoft, Suffolk in May 1912, with two routes. One route operated in Suffolk, with the other operating over 200 miles away in County Durham, between Bishop Auckland and Durham.

During the 1920s, the company expanded in Lincolnshire and Norfolk, as well as County Durham, Northumberland and North Yorkshire.

In 1929, control passed to the Tilling Group and the London and North Eastern Railway, [1] and in 1931 the new owners split off the East Anglian operations into a separate company, Eastern Counties Omnibus Company. [2] [3]

United also started East Midland Motor Services. This came about through the desire to expand. One of their managers, W.T. Underwood, was sent to Clowne (near Chesterfield) to set up a bus company in his own name. The Underwoods company later became East Midland.

United was nationalised in 1948, and controlled first by the British Transport Commission, from 1 January 1963 by the Transport Holding Company, and from 1 January 1969 by the National Bus Company.

A preserved Bristol LH in October 2009. Bristol LH Shildon.jpg
A preserved Bristol LH in October 2009.

The company ran vehicles from its head office in Darlington and garages across their area, including Durham, Hartlepool, Whitby and Peterlee amongst others. Most of those vehicles were Bristols with Gardner engines and Eastern Coach Works bodies, the LH and VR being common vehicles. Another vehicle commonly used was the Leyland National. United were one of only three operators (and the only English operator) to buy the Bristol REMH 12-metre (39 ft) coach chassis. [4] These 35 vehicles, which had Plaxton Panorama Elite III 49-seat coach bodywork, were delivered between 1971 and 1975. [4] [5]

In the mid-1980s, following the deregulation of bus services, a number of Dodge and Mercedes-Benz minibuses were purchased by United for use on local services. Some routes replaced existing "big bus" services, with others operating on brand new services, which were highly competitive with existing services operated by the local authority – notably in Darlington and Hartlepool.

Most of these minibuses were branded with names such as Darlington Roadranger, Hartlepool Hoppa, Peterlee Panther, Whitby Clipper amongst others. These new minibus routes ran around housing estates to a Hail and Ride system and after some initial controversy, these services proved successful for United, most notably in Darlington where the minibus network was hugely expanded.

In the lead up to privatisation, the Northumberland and Scarborough areas were separated into two new companies, Northumbria Motor Services [6] and Scarborough & District [7] in 1986, with the latter then being transferred to East Yorkshire Motor Services. [8]

On 2 December 1987, as part of the privatisation of the National Bus Company, United was sold to Caldaire Holdings who had earlier purchased West Riding Automobile Company. [9] [10] [11]

In 1990, operations in Cleveland and Middlesbrough were separated and renamed Tees & District, with the Stockton-on-Tees depot operating under the Teesside Motor Services brand. [12] [13] [14]

In 1992, United was sold to the Westcourt Group. [15] [16] It was sold in 1995 to National Express, and again in 1996 to the Cowie Group. [17] Cowie soon sold the Ripon operations to the Harrogate Bus Company. [18] Most of the remaining operations are today part of Arriva North East.

Former operating areas

In the 1985 official fleet book, United's operations were shown as split into three operating areas; Northumberland, Durham, and Cleveland. [19]

Northumberland

Depots and outstations

  • Allenheads (Outstation) – The Barn
  • Alnwick – Lisburn Street
  • Ashington – Lintonville Terrace
  • Berwick – Marygate
  • Blyth – Bridge Street
  • Hexham – Burn Lane
  • Morpeth – Dark Lane
  • Newcastle (Gallowgate) – Gallowgate
  • Newcastle (Jesmond) – Portland Terrace
  • Rothbury – High Street
  • Seahouses (Outstation) – Public Car Park
  • Whitley Bay – Park Avenue
  • Wooler – South Road

Durham

Depots and outstations

  • Barnard Castle (Outstation) – Thorngate
  • Bishop Auckland – Morland Street
  • Darlington – Bus Station, Feethams
  • Durham – Waddington Street
  • Hawes (Outstation) – Gayle Lane
  • Newton Aycliffe (Outstation) – Ridgeway
  • Northallerton – Brompton Road
  • Peterlee – Davy Drive
  • Richmond – Station Yard
  • Ripon – Park Street
  • Shotton Colliery – Flemming Field (1930s)
  • Sunderland – Toward Road

Cleveland

Depots and outstations

  • Hartlepool – Clarence Road
  • Loftus – Whitby Road
  • Middlesbrough – Union Street
  • Pickering (Outstation) – Thornton Road
  • Redcar – Regent Street
  • Scarborough – Vernon Road
  • Stokesley – North Road
  • Whitby – Upgang Lane

Cumbria

References

  1. ↑ "Control of East Coast Road Services". Commercial Motor . 2 July 1929. p. 50. ISSN   0010-3063 . Retrieved 13 December 2025. United Automobile Services, Ltd., to be Bought Out by Tilling and British Automobile Traction, Ltd., and the London and North-Eastern Railway.
  2. ↑ Companies House extract company no 257815 First Eastern Counties Buses Limited formerly Eastern Counties Omnibus Company Limited Companies House
  3. ↑ Burnside, Patrick. "A brief history of the Eastern Counties Omnibus Company". Eastern Counties Omnibus Company Limited.
  4. 1 2 Curtis, Martin S. (1987). Bus Monographs: 5 - Bristol RE. Shepperton: Ian Allan Publishing. pp. 54, 61, 63, 93, 95. ISBN   0-7110-1683-6.
  5. ↑ Witton, A.M., ed. (March 1976). Fleetbook 8: Buses of North-East England. Manchester: A.M. Witton. pp. 51–52. ISBN   0-86047-008-3.
  6. ↑ Companies House extract company no 237558 Arriva Northumbria Limited formerly Northumbria Motor Services Limited
  7. ↑ Companies House extract company no 2133854
  8. ↑ "WRAC chases United". Commercial Motor . 10 September 1987. p. 25. ISSN   0010-3063 . Retrieved 13 December 2025. ... with all its services north of the Tyne being taken over by Northumbria Motor Services, which has yet to be sold off, while its services in the Scarborough and Pickering areas of Yorkshire were transferred to East Yorks Motor Services.
  9. ↑ Companies House extract company no 2066896 Yorkshire Bus Holdings Limited formerly Caldaire Holdings Limited Companies House
  10. ↑ "Darlington-based United Automobile Services has been bought by Caldaire Holdings". Commercial Motor . 10 December 1987. p. 18. ISSN   0010-3063 . Retrieved 13 December 2025.
  11. ↑ David Mitchell,  Minister of State for Transport (18 April 1988). "National Bus Company". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . United Kingdom: House of Commons. col. 356W. Retrieved 13 December 2025.
  12. ↑ Companies House extract company no 2404351 Arriva Tees & District Limited formerly Tees & District Transport Company Limited Companies House
  13. ↑ "Caldaire's United reorganises". Commercial Motor . 10 August 1989. p. 16. ISSN   0010-3063 . Retrieved 3 December 2025. Caldaire subsidiary United Automobile of Darlington is restructuring its operation with closures and a company split. Tees and District Bus Company takes over the Middlesbrough, Redcar, and Loftus depots, leaving United with Durham and North Yorkshire.
  14. ↑ "United divides this weekend". Commercial Motor . 1 February 1990. p. 16. ISSN   0010-3063 . Retrieved 13 December 2025. Caldaire subsidiary United Automobile of Darlington splits into two operating companies this weekend as part of a streamlining programme. Tees & District will be based at Middlesbrough, covering operations in Cleveland and the Yorkshire coast, and United will be responsible for services in County Durham and North Yorkshire.
  15. ↑ Companies House extract company no 2953095 United Automobile Services Limited formerly Westcourt Bus Group Limited Companies House
  16. ↑ "Caldaire change". Commercial Motor . 20 August 1992. p. 16. ISSN   0010-3063. The Westcourt Group has renamed Caldaire North East — the holding company for United Auto, Tees and District and TMS — as North East Bus. Westcourt, led by former Caldaire Holdings chairman Ken Hodgson, last month bought the north-east businesses from Caldaire, which continues to trade in West Yorkshire.
  17. ↑ "History - North East". Arriva North East. 3 April 2012. Archived from the original on 3 April 2012. Retrieved 13 December 2025.
  18. ↑ Jenkinson, Keith A. (1999). Small is Beautiful: The Story of the AJS Group and Blazefield Holdings. Bradford: Autobus Review. ISBN   0907834426.
  19. ↑ "The official United fleet book" (PDF). North East Buses. 1985. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 13 December 2025.
  20. ↑ "All aboard: when 15 bus firms offered a ticket to ride in Cumbria". The Mail . Kendal: CN Group. 10 May 2018. ISSN   2517-7427 . Retrieved 21 April 2025. One of the bigger operators was United Bus Services which came to Carlisle in January 1931 with the take over of the Emmerson service between Newcastle and Carlisle. The firm built its own garage in Peter Street in 1937 and the following year opened a depot at Scotch Street. United's services were taken over by Ribble in January 1969.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.