 |
|
|---|---|
 A Preston Bus Optare Solo |
|
| Founded | 1904 (Preston District Travel) 1994 (Preston Bus) |
| Defunct | 2009 (Stagecoach in Preston) |
| Headquarters | Preston |
| Service area | Lancashire |
| Service type | Bus services |
| Destinations | Preston, Southport, Blackpool, Wigan |
| Fleet | 127 buses |
| Web site | www.prestonbus.co.uk |
Preston Bus was a bus operator running within the City of Preston and into the surrounding area. In 2009, it was acquired by the Stagecoach Group and was rebranded Stagecoach in Preston, before they were subsequently ordered to sell the company as a result of competition concerns..
Contents |
History
Preston Bus was founded in 1904 as Preston District Travel.
As part of deregulation, in 1993 the company was bought from the local authority by its employees, and became a limited company.
In 2006, Preston Bus was subject to some high profile competition from national operator Stagecoach Group through their Stagecoach North West subsidiary. Competition escalated into a bus war[1] with Stagecoach offering lower fares on the busiest routes.[2]
The managing director of Preston bus was concerned that Stagecoach could force his company out of business.[3]
Both companies have accused each other of unprofessional behaviour.[4] On 10 June 2008, both companies agreed to a code of practice by the traffic commissioner.[5] The competition continued, with Stagecoach operating routes within Preston and Preston Bus operating a route between Preston and Penwortham.
On 30 December 2008 it was reported that Preston Bus had agreed in principle to an acquisition by its rival operator, Stagecoach North West. On 23 January 2009, Preston Bus was sold to Stagecoach in an estimated 10.4 million pound deal,[6] ending 104 years service of Preston Bus to the city.
The routes operated by Preston Bus were rebranded as Stagecoach in Preston from March 2009.
On 11 November 2009 the Competition Commission ruled that the takeover by Stagecoach had adversely affected competition in the area and ordered the sell off of Preston Bus.[7]
Routes
Below is the network of Preston Bus routes before Stagecoach took over the company:
| 3 | Preston - Cop Lane - Kingsfold Penwortham | |
| 7 | Preston - Garstang Road - Brookfield | |
| 8/9 | Preston - Moor Nook | |
| 11 | Preston - Ribbleton | |
| 14 | Preston - Holme Slack | |
| 16 | Preston - Farringdon Park | |
| 19 | Preston - Deepdale Road - Royal Preston Hospital | |
| 22/23 | Preston - Plungington Road - Royal Preston Hospital, 23 continues to Sherwood Way and Asda | |
| 31 | Preston - Savick | |
| 35/44 | Preston - Tanterton / Ingol | |
| 89 | Preston - Larches - Lea | |
| 88A/88C | Preston Orbital |
Preston park and ride
| 1 | Preston - Portway | |
| 2 | Preston - Walton-le-Dale |
School services
Preston Bus provided school bus services to secondary school and college students in Preston and the Wyre. These services went as far north as Cabus, Garstang, west as Blackpool, east as Accrington and south as Chorley.
Fleet
The Preston Bus fleet was originally all double deckers, but latterly the company moved to single deckers and minibuses, with the most common vehicle in 2008 being the Optare Solo midibus.
Before the sale to Stagecoach the company's fleet comprised[8]:
- 28 Leyland Olympian double deckers, one new in 1984, the others bought between 1989 and 1992 (10 examples purchased second hand from Lothian Buses in 2003).
- 4 Leyland Lynx single deckers, bought between 1989 and 1991.
- 6 Optare MetroRider minibuses, bought between 1994 and 1998.
- 18 Dennis Trident/East Lancs Lolyne double deckers, bought between 1999 and 2000.
- 50 Optare Solo midibuses, bought since 2001.
- 2 Scania N94UD OmniDekka, bought in 2006.
- 12 Scania N94UB/East Lancs Esteem single-deckers, bought between 2006 and 2007.
- 8 Optare Solo SR midibuses with leather seats and television screens (for the park and ride services), bought in 2008.
Preston Bus had replaced many of its older vehicles shortly before Stagecoach took over in 2009. These included Leyland Olympians, Leyland Lynxes, Optare MetroRiders and Leyland Atlanteans. Between 2006 and 2009, many of these were sold to in order to purchase new vehicles.
See also
References
- ^ How Preston's bus wars have been fought - Lancashire Evening Post
- ^ Bus giant accused of 'dirty tactics' - Lancashire Evening Post
- ^ Preston's bus war... it won't be over for Christmas - Lancashire Evening Post
- ^ Legal loophole delay for egg-throwing drivers - Lancashire Evening Post
- ^ Preston bus and Stagecoach agree a code of conduct - Preston Bus
- ^ We were forced to sell - Lancashire Evening Post
- ^ Company must sell 'bus war' rival
- ^ Preston Bus fleet fototopic
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Preston Bus |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
