Darlington Bus War

Last updated May 16, 2024

The Darlington Bus War was a series of events between 1986 and 1995 in the UK bus industry in the town of Darlington, northern England, culminating in the wholesale entry of Stagecoach Group onto the Darlington bus scene, and the collapse of Darlington Corporation Transport.

Timeline

Deregulation

As a result of bus deregulation in 1986, the National Bus Company (NBC) as the largest regional bus operator was split into pieces and sold off, and municipal bus companies were being put into stand-alone companies, with many being privatised. In March 1986 the bus operations of Darlington Borough Council (DBC) were incorporated as the Darlington Transport Company Ltd (DTC), although not initially sold.

In August 1986, NBC subsidiary United Automobile Services introduced a small number of new hail and ride town services in Darlington using Mercedes–Benz minibuses under the 'Roadranger' livery in competition with Darlington Transport. These services (covering Firth Moor and the Whinbush areas initially) proved successful, so shortly afterwards United purchased more Mercedes, and some Dodge S56, minibuses and hugely expanded the minibus network which resulted in a doubling of services across the whole town and intense competition with Darlington Transport. From 1988 to 1992 many requests and attempts were made to sell DTC, all coming to nothing. Your Bus, another operator set up by ex-United employees, entered into Darlington in May 1993, prompting a response from United with further registrations, later described as predatory and anti-competitive by the Competition Commission. By 1993, with 3 competing operators, concerns had been raised over 'over-bussing' and congestion in the town centre. By 1994 all three operators were making financial losses.

Due to its financial state, DTC was put up for sale in July 1994. In response to the sale announcement, United registered additional services on DTC's routes.

Busways interest

In early 1994 independent Busways had explored the possibility of entering into the Darlington market, as a possible option for expansion. This was shelved as bids from major groups for the Busways company were considered. Busways were sold to Stagecoach Group in July 1994. After a meeting with Stagecoach executives, the decision was made to enter Darlington, either through a bid for DTC, or as a new operator. Accordingly, Busways as a subsidiary company set up Stagecoach Darlington, and registered a small network in Darlington in September 1994, due to start in December, as a result of concerns over availability of drivers. Exclusive bids for DTC by Stagecoach had been previously declined.^[2]

Bidding process

According to government rules, DBC were obliged to sell DTC by competitive tender. After initial enquiries, from 11 initial interested parties, 3 were short listed as preferred bidders for DTC on 14 October 1994:

Yorkshire Traction: £1.5m
Busways: £1.0 million
Badgerline: £0.8 million

As United were already a competitor in the town, they were barred from the bid process on competition grounds. Accordingly, on 24 October 1994 DBC selected Yorkshire Traction as the preferred bidder.

Collapse of Darlington Transport Company

On learning of the successful bid by Yorkshire Traction, the drivers union of DTC made representations to Busways that Yorkshire Traction were not their preferred bidder, and the majority of drivers would probably be interested in joining Busways' new operation. Accordingly, with worries over recruitment and training now reduced, Busways registered all of DTC's commercial routes, and commenced a recruitment drive.

Busways quickly recruited over 60% of DTC's drivers by 7 November. Amid concerns that DTC would not be able to fulfil its services due to driver shortage, and with concerns over United having a free hand in Darlington if DTC collapsed, Busways requested an advance on their registration date. This was refused. Busways exploited a loophole in the regulations, and began operating free buses on their Darlington network. Busways called in several vehicles from its other subsidiaries, and repainted several of its surplus Leyland Atlanteans into Stagecoach livery.

In response to Busways initial route network, and on commencement of driver recruitment, Yorkshire Traction withdrew their bid for DTC on 2 November. DBC were unable to reach a sale with any other buyer, and Busways declined a new approach. With no other buyers, difficulty running their services due to driver shortage, and ongoing concern at the financial viability of DTC in the long term, DTC was placed into receivership on 9 November 1994, with all services withdrawn by 11 November.^[3]^[2] Due to DTC's collapse, Busways was then granted permission to start running revenue collecting services from 28 November.

Aftermath and inquiry conclusions

Your Bus ceased operations on 16 December, selling its vehicles to West Midlands Travel. This left just Busways and United operating in Darlington. On the instigation of DBC, still concerned at over-bussing and congestion, both companies agreed to reduce service levels by March 1995.

In the summary of the competition inquiry into the larger issues in bus services in the north east, concerning the collapse of DTC, the commission stated:

It was the combination of Busways' actions in recruiting so many of DTC's drivers so quickly, registering services on all its routes and running free services which caused DTC's final collapse. We find these actions to be predatory, deplorable and against the public interest.
— Monopolies and Mergers Commission^[1]

It stated that while registration of routes and recruitment of competitors drivers was not against the spirit of deregulation, it commented that the scale of Busways actions were unprecedented, and were attributable to Busways considerable dominance in the region, and ability to absorb losses due to free services.

Busways response

In response to the inquiry report, Busways defended its actions in launching free services as being intended to prevent United gaining a monopoly in Darlington after the collapse of DTC, and only expected to run free buses until the traffic commissioner could bring forward its registrations. It denied poaching DTC's drivers highlighting that the drivers had instigated contact with Busways first, when it became clear Busways would not be purchasing DTC. It contended it had always intended to enter the Darlington market through purchase of DTC if an appropriate price was agreed, to preserve goodwill and prevent a driver shortage of their already intended entrance. It also contended that Yorkshire Traction's bid was unrealistic given the market, and contended that its price indicated that Yorkshire Traction anticipated being the only eventual operator in Darlington, thereby possibly acting as an agent for United. It contended that Yorkshire Traction's attempts to reduce its bid while still only aware of Stagecoach's initial small registration, supported this belief.

Stagecoach management broadly agreed with the actions of Busways as being fair in the environment of deregulated bus services and within the confines of the rules governing registration of services and the instruction of compulsory tender sale of municipal bus companies. It did concede that possibly the free bus services had not been necessary and it could have achieved market entry by waiting for the traffic commissioner to advance its registrations once evidence of DTC's impending failure came to light.

Stagecoach saved approximately £100,000 in the cost of market entry in not purchasing DTC, even after 2 weeks of free operation and paying bonuses to DTC drivers for joining Busways. In November 1994, Stagecoach completed the purchase of Cleveland Transit, and in December the purchase of Hartlepool Transport. Stagecoach Darlington was later transferred to Transit under the umbrella of Stagecoach North East.

Present day

Yorkshire Traction eventually came under Stagecoach ownership. United Automobile Services eventually came under the ownership of Arriva. Stagecoach later sold its Darlington operation to Arriva, leaving Darlington bus services solely in the hands of Arriva apart from a very few council supported routes which were left to smaller operators. However, in 2023, after Arriva decided to axe the Number 12 Bus to Hurworth, Darlington Borough Council put the route out to commercial tender which Stagecoach won, marking the return of Stagecoach to the Darlington bus scene.^[4] Stagecoach chairman Brian Souter later went on record to say the negative impact of Stagecoach's actions had outweighed any financial gain it had made from operating in Darlington. ^[5]

Since the bus wars, bus use in Darlington has declined from over 10 million journeys a year (in 2001) to 6.6 million (in 2014).

Related Research Articles

Stagecoach Group is a transport group based in Perth, Scotland. It operates buses and express coaches in the United Kingdom.

The MCW Metrobus is a two and three-axle double-decker bus manufactured by Metro Cammell Weymann (MCW) between 1977 and 1989, with over 4,000 built. The original MkI was superseded by the MkII which had a symmetrical windscreen with an arched top in 1981, although production of the original MkI continued for the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive and London Regional Transport until 1983 and 1985 respectively. The Metrobus was conceived as an integral product manufactured completely by MCW, but Alexander and Northern Counties also bodied some examples.

Bus deregulation in Great Britain involved the abolition of Road Service Licensing for bus services outside of Greater London. It began in 1980 with long-distance bus services and was extended to local bus services in 1986 under the Transport Act 1985. The abolition of Road Service Licensing removed the public sector's role in fare-setting, routes, and bus frequencies and returned those powers to bus operators.

The Plaxton President was a low floor double-decker bus body built by Plaxton at the former Northern Counties factory in Wigan, England. It was first unveiled in 1997 on the longitudinal Volvo B7L chassis and later built between 1998 and 2005 following a body redesign. When it became part of TransBus International, the body was sold under the TransBus name. The President was built on the Dennis/TransBus Trident, the DAF DB250 and the Volvo B7TL chassis.

Stagecoach North East operates both local and regional bus services in County Durham, Cumbria, Northumberland, North Yorkshire and Tyne and Wear, England. It is a subsidiary of the Stagecoach Group, which operates bus, coach, rail and tram services across the United Kingdom.

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, Dennis Trident and Plaxton President. In 2014, the Enviro400 was succeeded by the updated Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC and production of the classic Enviro400 ceased in 2018.

Arriva Yorkshire is a major bus operator providing services primarily within and across West Yorkshire, although it also provides service in some parts of South Yorkshire, East Riding of Yorkshire and southern areas of North Yorkshire. It is a subsidiary of Arriva UK Bus.

Arriva North East operates both local and regional bus services in County Durham, Northumberland, North Yorkshire and Tyne and Wear, England. It is a subsidiary of Arriva UK Bus, which operates bus and coach services across the United Kingdom.

Stagecoach Yorkshire is an operating division of Stagecoach Group.

Yorkshire Traction was a bus operator in Yorkshire that operated from 1902 until 2005.

Dart Buses was an independent bus operator in the Paisley and Renfrewshire area in the 1990s. The company is attributed with starting a bus war with the main operator of the area, Clydeside Scottish. Bus wars were common following bus deregulation, and the Paisley area was no stranger to fierce competition; however Dart Buses predominantly operated along routes of large operators and were more successful and subsequently grew much larger than other independents. The company collapsed in 2001.

Busways Travel Services was a bus company, which operated local and regional bus services in Tyne and Wear, England. The company was purchased by the Stagecoach Group in July 1994.

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.

Team Pennine operates both local and regional bus services in West Yorkshire, England. It is a subsidiary of Transdev Blazefield, which operates bus services across Greater Manchester, Lancashire, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire.

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

Buses in Milton Keynes are run by a mixture of operators on a network of urban and rural routes in and around the Milton Keynes urban area. These services have a varied history involving five different companies. At the foundation of the 'New City' in 1967 and for some years afterwards, Milton Keynes was served by a rural bus service between and to the pre-existing towns. Apart from a small-scale experimental service, urban buses arrived on the scene with deregulation in 1986. Since April 2010 the core local services have been provided by Arriva Shires & Essex. Long-distance coach services also serve MK, often via the Milton Keynes Coachway located near junction 14 of the M1 motorway.

Tates Travel was a local bus operator based in Barnsley in England, operating services in South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire.

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.

References

1 2 "The supply of bus services in the north-east of England". Monopolies & Mergers Commission. 1995. Archived from the original on 20 January 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2007– via National Archives.
1 2 Lloyd, Chris (11 November 2014). "Bus war went over the top". The Northern Echo . Retrieved 31 May 2016.
↑ "Darlington Transport in administrative receivership". Bus & Coach Buyer. No. 282. Spalding. 18 November 1994. p. 5. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
↑ "New operator for vital bus service". www.darlington.gov.uk. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
↑ "13 years on: Arriva poised to take over in Darlington". Buses . No. 628. Hersham: Ian Allan Publishing. July 2007. p. 7. Retrieved 15 May 2024.

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.

[MMC1995-1] 1 2 "The supply of bus services in the north-east of England". Monopolies & Mergers Commission. 1995. Archived from the original on 20 January 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2007– via National Archives.

[Echo2014-2] 1 2 Lloyd, Chris (11 November 2014). "Bus war went over the top". The Northern Echo . Retrieved 31 May 2016.

[3] "Darlington Transport in administrative receivership". Bus & Coach Buyer. No. 282. Spalding. 18 November 1994. p. 5. Retrieved 15 May 2024.

[4] "New operator for vital bus service". www.darlington.gov.uk. Retrieved 14 September 2023.

[5] "13 years on: Arriva poised to take over in Darlington". Buses . No. 628. Hersham: Ian Allan Publishing. July 2007. p. 7. Retrieved 15 May 2024.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]