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 Yorkshire Traction Leyland Olympian outside Rawmarsh bus depot in June 2005 | |
| Founded | March 1902 |
|---|---|
| Defunct | 14 December 2005 |
| Headquarters | Barnsley |
| Service area | South Yorkshire |
| Service type | Bus and coach |
| Hubs | Barnsley and Rotherham |
| Fleet | 66 |
| Fuel type | Diesel |
Yorkshire Traction [1] was a bus operator in Yorkshire that operated from 1902 until 2005.
In March 1902 the Barnsley & District Electric Traction Company Limited was formed. It operated trams around the Barnsley area until around 1930. In 1928, prior to the trams being withdrawn, the company was renamed from the Barnsley & District Traction Company Limited (the 'electric' part of the name being dropped some years earlier). The company was affectionately referred to as 'Tracky'.
In October 1968, Yorkshire Traction purchased Mexborough & Swinton Traction Company [2] and County Motors. [3] [4]
As part of the privatisation of the National Bus Company, Yorkshire Traction was sold in January 1987 to a management buyout. [5] [6] The business subsequently expanded through purchasing other operators including:
In December 2005, Yorkshire Traction was sold to the Stagecoach Group, with operations in South Yorkshire subsequently rebranded to Stagecoach Yorkshire. [12] In May 2008, Stagecoach sold its Huddersfield operations to Centrebus, with the part of the business remaining with Stagecoach renamed Stagecoach Sheffield; [13] the company then subsequently passed to Arriva Yorkshire as Yorkshire Tiger, [14] [15] later passing to Transdev Blazefield in June 2021 as Team Pennine. [16]
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The company operated services across Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and into Leeds, Huddersfield and eventually, Sheffield. From the 1974 merger of Sheffield, Rotherham and Doncaster municipal bus companies until the mid-1990s, the operating area of South Yorkshire was split between South Yorkshire Transport and Yorkshire Traction with the former dominating Sheffield and Rotherham. Through the acquisitions of Sheffield Omnibus, South Riding, Andrews and Yorkshire Terrier in the early 1990s, the company gained a significant foothold in Sheffield.
Yorkshire Traction had for decades been a major regional operator of National Express services covering nationwide routes in addition to its regular and long established services in and out of London to Yorkshire towns and cities. It had also operated alongside National Travel, the short break holiday arm of National Bus Company. Upon privatisation, YTC launched "Yorkshire Traction's Coachlink" which became a popular choice for the short break coach holidaymaker within the region. In 1989, neighbouring operator West Riding Automobile Company left the coaching industry and sold the name "Ridings Travel", the order book and the goodwill, but no vehicles, to YTC. They merged this operation into their existing coaching unit and painted several coaches in full Ridings Travel livery.
The Scottish Bus Group (SBG) was a state-owned group of bus operators covering the whole of mainland Scotland.
Strathtay Scottish was a bus operator running services in Dundee, Angus and parts of Grampian in eastern Scotland. Formed in 1985 ahead of bus deregulation as a subsidiary of the Scottish Transport Group from parts of Walter Alexander & Sons (Midland) Ltd and Walter Alexander & Sons (Northern) Ltd., Strathtay was purchased by the Traction Group in 1991 and operated as a subsidiary of the company until 2005, when parent company Yorkshire Traction was purchased by the Stagecoach Group. The company today trades as part of Stagecoach East Scotland.
The National Bus Company (NBC) was a nationalised bus company that operated in England and Wales between 1969 and 1988. NBC did not run buses itself, but was the owner of a number of regional subsidiary bus operating companies.
Transport in Sheffield, England is developed around the city's unusual topography and medieval street plan. Once an isolated town, the transport infrastructure changed dramatically in the 19th and 20th centuries. The city now has road and rail links with the rest of the country, and road, bus and trams for local transport.
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.
Stagecoach Yorkshire is an operating division of Stagecoach Group.
The Barnsley and District Electric Traction Co was an electric tramway network serving the town of Barnsley, South Yorkshire.
Crosville Motor Services was a bus operator based in the north-west of England and north and mid-Wales.
The Mexborough and Swinton Traction Company was the name adopted by the Mexborough & Swinton Tramways Company in 1929 following the introduction of trolleybuses on all its routes. It operated in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England, over routes serving Manvers Main Colliery, Wath upon Dearne and the towns of Rotherham, Rawmarsh, Swinton, Mexborough, Conisbrough and the estate at Conanby.
South Yorkshire Transport (SYT) was a bus operator that provided services around South Yorkshire and outlying areas. The company was formed as an 'arms-length' successor of the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE) in 1986, which was broken up as a result of the deregulation of bus services. South Yorkshire Transport operated buses in and around Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield with some services extending to Chesterfield, Leeds and Barnsley.
Centrebus Limited, trading as Centrebus, is a bus company based in Leicester operating services in Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland.
BrightBus was a bus operator in South Yorkshire that traded from 1998 until 2017.
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.
North Western Road Car Company was a bus operator based in Liverpool, England. The company operated between 1986 and 1998.
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.
London Country North East was a bus operator in South East England and London. It was formed from the split of London Country Bus Services in 1986 and operated a fleet of around 350 buses from six garages, with its headquarters located in Hatfield.
Julian Peddle is an entrepreneur who has worked in the bus industry since the early 1980s, having owned or part-owned numerous bus companies. He spent 11 years as co-owner of Stevensons of Uttoxeter between 1983 and 1994, having previously been its traffic manager. During the late 1990s and early 2000s he ran Status Group, a group of small bus companies spread across England which included BakerBus, Choice Travel and MK Metro. He was a major shareholder in Tellings-Golden Miller and Centrebus Holdings before their sale to Arriva.
Centrebus Group, is a public transport company based in Leicester with bus services in the Midlands, North West and South East of England.
Public transport in South Yorkshire mainly consists of three modes: bus, tram and train.
