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Transdev Blazefield
File:Transdev logo.svg
A Witch Way branded Wright Eclipse Gemini bodied Volvo B7TL, seen in Rawtenstall in 2008.
ParentTransdev
Founded1991 (33 years ago)
HeadquartersProspect Park
Broughton Way
Harrogate
North Yorkshire
HG2 7NY
Service areaGreater Manchester
Lancashire
North Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
Service typeBus and coach
Managing DirectorAlex Hornby
Websitewww.transdevbus.co.uk

Transdev Blazefield is a bus group, serving Lancashire, North & West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester. Formed in 1991, it has been a subsidiary of Transdev since January 2006.[1]

History

Blazefield Travel was formed in 1991, following the sale of Alan Stephenson's AJS Group, along with seven bus operations, 300 vehicles, and 12 depots to former directors, Giles Fearnley and Stuart Wilde, in a management buyout.[2][3][4]

Initially, there were seven operating subsidiaries: Keighley & District, Harrogate & District, Yorkshire Coastliner, Harrogate Independent Travel, Sovereign Bus & Coach, Welwyn Hatfield Line and Sovereign Harrow.[2]

AJS Group had purchased West Yorkshire Road Car and London Country North East from the National Bus Company in 1988.[2] Prior to the sale, the latter was broken in two, Country Bus & Coach and Sovereign Bus & Coach, with only the latter becoming part of Blazefield Travel.

West Yorkshire Road Car operations were divided into six depots: Bradford, Leeds, Harrogate, Keighley, Malton and York.

Leeds and Bradford depots passed to the Rider Group (then owners of Yorkshire Rider) in August 1989. The remaining four depots became Harrogate & District, Keighley & District, York City & District and Yorkshire Coastliner. The York operation was later taken over by the Rider Group in July 1990.[5]

Expansion soon followed, with the purchase of Cambridge Coach Services in November 1991, along with 14 vehicles, and Watford-based Lucketts. Ingfield of Settle was purchased in April 1992, and was merged with Keighley-based Northern Rose to form Ingfield-Northern Rose.

Harrogate Independent Travel was set up as an independent in 1986, following the deregulation of bus services, by a number of West Yorkshire's Harrogate drivers to challenge their employer. This company was purchased in 1993, and absorbed into Harrogate & District.

In 1994, Blazefield purchased Borehamwood Travel Services, along with 43 vehicles (22 of which were AEC Routemasters). The company was renamed London Sovereign. By this time, the Blazefield group owned around 380 vehicles.

In 1994, Ingfield-Northern Rose bought Whaites Coaches of Settle. At the same time, Sovereign was locked in battle with Universitybus. Blazefield was also supposedly behind Petlen Travel, trading as Noddy Bus, using old Sovereign buses.

In 1996, Harrogate & District grew again, following the acquisition of Cowie Group's United operation in Ripon. In 1998, Huntingdon & District was created with the operations of Premier Buses, owned by Julian Peddle, but was sold to Cavalier of Sutton Bridge in 2004. Cambridge Coach Services was sold to National Express-owned Airlinks in 1999.

In April 2001, four garages, along with 230 vehicles were purchased from Stagecoach in Lancashire.[6] Two new subsidiaries were formed, Burnley & Pendle with depots in Burnley and Pendle, and Lancashire United with depots in Blackburn, Bolton and Clitheroe. The depot at Bolton was subsequently sold on to Blue Bus of Horwich.

Between 2002 and 2005, Blazefield withdrew from its operations in the south of England.[7] London Sovereign was sold to Transdev in 2002, with Huntingdon & District sold to Cavalier Travel in 2003, and operations in St. Albans sold to Centrebus in 2004.[7] In early 2005, the Competition Commission cleared Blazefield's deal to sell what was left of Sovereign to Arriva Shires & Essex.[8]

In January 2006, the Blazefield Group was sold to Transdev, along with 305 vehicles.[9][10] In 2007, Transdev Blazefield purchased Accrington Transport, Blackburn Transport and Northern Blue.[11]

In 2008, Transdev Blazefield purchased Top Line Travel,[12][13] and Veolia's York operation, both based at the Fulford depot.

In December 2017, Rosso was purchased from Rossendale Borough Council.[14][15]

Operations and fleet

As of March 2020, Transdev Blazefield has six operating subsidiaries:[16]

Blackburn Bus Company

Main article: Blackburn Bus Company

The Blackburn Bus Company, formerly branded as Lancashire United, operates services in and around the boroughs of Blackburn, Hyndburn and the Ribble Valley.

Burnley Bus Company

Main article: Burnley Bus Company

The Burnley Bus Company, formerly branded as Burnley and Pendle operates services in and around the boroughs of Burnley and Pendle, and into the surrounding areas including Accrington, Keighley and Manchester.

In 2004, the company introduced the flagship Witch Way service which links Burnley and Rawtenstall with Manchester. They also operate Mainline, a group of services linking Burnley with destinations including Colne, Nelson and Padiham. Introduced in 2020 is Pendle Wizz. Pendle Wizz replaces the section of service between Burnley & Skipton, this had previously been part of both the Mainline & Witch Way networks.

Yorkshire Coastliner

Main article: Yorkshire Coastliner

The Coastliner brand encompasses a group of long-distance services linking the cities of Leeds and York with the towns and villages of Malton, Pickering and Thornton-le-Dale in the North York Moors, as well as the coastal resorts of Scarborough and Whitby.[17]

York & County, CityZap, York City Sightseeing, and Flyer also operate under this subsidiary.

Harrogate Bus Company

Main article: Harrogate Bus Company

The Harrogate Bus Company operates local bus services in and around the town of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, with some services operating with fully electric Volvo 7900E vehicles.[18]

The company also operates the flagship Riding Redefined 36 service, using high-specification Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 bodied Volvo B5TL vehicles, providing a frequent service linking Ripon and Harrogate with Leeds.

Keighley Bus Company

Main article: Keighley Bus Company

The Keighley Bus Company operates services in and around the towns and cities of Bradford, Leeds, Hebden Bridge, Ilkley, Keighley and Skipton.

Flagship services include Aireline 60[19] linking Keighley and Shipley with Leeds, Dalesway 66[20] linking Keighley with Skipton, and theSHUTTLE 662,[21] linking Keighley, Bingley and Shipley with Bradford.

Rosso

Main article: Rosso (bus company)

Rosso was acquired by Transdev in December 2017 from Rossendale Borough Council. The company operates services within the Borough of Rossendale, including the towns of Bacup, Haslingden, Rawtenstall and Whitworth, as well as in to surrounding areas, including Accrington, Blackburn, Burnley, Bury, Rochdale and Todmorden.

Former Operations

Cambridge Coach Services

Cambridge Coach Services was an operator of inter-urban and airport coach services based in Cambridge, England.

History

The company began operations on 20 May 1990[22] as a spin off of Premier Travel Services' scheduled coach operations when that firm was sold by its parent, AJS Group, to Cambus Holdings. Cambridge Coach Services were operated by Blazefield Holdings from August 1991[23] and sold to that firm in November 1991.[24]

On 30 October 1999, the operations were taken over by National Express owned Airlinks.[25] Cambridge Coach Services Limited was retained as the name of a subsidiary company until it was renamed National Express Operations (Stansted) Limited on 7 May 2003,[26] but integration with the new parent's network and rebranding of the services occurred in the months following the takeover.[27] The airport services were renumbered in the 7x7 series in early 2000[28] under the Jetlink brand.

The company's vehicles were initially based at a depot in Waterbeach, later moving to King's Hedges Road, Cambridge and finally to Kilmaine Close, Cambridge.[29] National Express continued to use the Kilmaine Close site until 2005, when they applied for it to be converted to other uses[30]

Services

The network changed over time. In autumn 1998, the following services were operating:[31]

There was also a service no.38 from Cambridge to London via Haverhill and Saffron Walden[32] but that passed to Biss Brothers of Stansted Airport on 24 October 1998 and was truncated to start from Linton.[33]

Service no. 70 from Cambridge to Birmingham [34] and seasonal service no. 72 from Cambridge to Bournemouth/Weymouth [35] had ceased before this time.

Additionally, the company operated day tours, short breaks and charters.[36]

References

  1. ^ Companies House extract company no 2605399 Transdev Blazefield Limited formerly Blazefield Holdings Limited
  2. ^ a b c AJS sells remaining bus firms Commercial Motor 8 August 1991 page 16
  3. ^ Jenkinson, Keith A (1999). Small is Beautiful, The Story of the AJS Group and Blazefield Holdings. Autobus Review Publications. ISBN 0907834426.
  4. ^ First for Fearnley in UK Bus move Archived 29 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine Bus & Coach Professional 26 January 2011
  5. ^ Rider takes control Commercial Motor 26 July 1990 page 19
  6. ^ Stagecoach sells some North-West Operations for £13 Million Stagecoach 26 April 2001
  7. ^ a b "Blazefield sells up in the South". Bus & Coach Professional. Plum Publishing Ltd. 9 July 2004. Archived from the original on 16 September 2012. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
  8. ^ The proposed acquisition by Arriva plc of the business of Sovereign Bus & Coach Company Ltd Competition Commission December 2004
  9. ^ "Transdev acquires Blazefield Group". Bus & Coach Professional. Plum Publishing. 7 January 2006. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
  10. ^ A new stop for Blazefield Yorkshire Post 9 January 2006
  11. ^ "Blazefield buys again in Lancashire". Bus & Coach Professional. 9 August 2007. Archived from the original on 13 August 2012. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  12. ^ Briggs, Ian (22 August 2008). "Top deal will keep Top Line driving forward". TheBusinessDesk. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
  13. ^ McCusker, Peter (24 September 2008). "Putting wheels in motion for deal". The Journal. nebusiness.co.uk. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
  14. ^ Rosso set to join the Transdev Blazefield family Route One 15 December 2017
  15. ^ £3 million investment promised for Rossendale bus users as Transdev announces takeover plan for council owned operator Transdev 15 December 2017
  16. ^ "Transdev Blazefield". Transdev Blazefield. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  17. ^ "See all of #CoastlinerCountry". Transdev Coastliner. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  18. ^ "Why Harrogate is blazing a trail for electric buses". Air Quality News. 13 February 2020. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  19. ^ "Aireline 60". The Keighley Bus Company. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  20. ^ "Dalesway 66". The Keighley Bus Company. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  21. ^ "theSHUTTLE". The Keighley Bus Company. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  22. ^ Neale, Jim (2013). Cambridge Coach Services from the Driver's Seat. Burwell: Burbus Publications. p. 20. ISBN 978-0-9575996-0-4.
  23. ^ "Commercial Motor Archive, AJS Sells Remaining Bus Firms, 8th August 1991, Page 16". Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  24. ^ Neale, Jim (2013). Cambridge Coach Services from the Driver's Seat. Burwell: Burbus Publications. p. 32. ISBN 978-0-9575996-0-4.
  25. ^ Neale, Jim (2013). Cambridge Coach Services from the Driver's Seat. Burwell: Burbus Publications. p. 71. ISBN 978-0-9575996-0-4.
  26. ^ "Companies House Overview for Company number 03805708". Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  27. ^ Millar, Alan (December 2000). "Whatever happened to...? ...Cambridge Coach Services". BUSES. No. 549. Glasgow: Ian Allan Publishing.
  28. ^ Bus Routes Map, West & North West Area Timetable, Essex County Council, February 2000 and Bus Routes Map, Central & North Essex Area Timetable, Essex County Council, April 2000.
  29. ^ Neale, Jim (2013). Cambridge Coach Services from the Driver's Seat. Burwell: Burbus Publications. p. 14,31,60. ISBN 978-0-9575996-0-4.
  30. ^ "Greater Cambridge Shared Planning, Application Summary 05/0325/FUL". Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  31. ^ Coach Services Connections from Cambridge 28 September 1998 until further notice, Cambridge Coach Services Limited [1]
  32. ^ Neale, Jim (2013). Cambridge Coach Services from the Driver's Seat. Burwell: Burbus Publications. p. 66. ISBN 978-0-9575996-0-4.
  33. ^ Essex Public Transport Map, Essex County Council, June 1999
  34. ^ Cambridge and Birmingham coach service 70, Cambridge Coach Services Limited [2]
  35. ^ Cambridge and Bournemouth coach service 72, Cambridge Coach Services Limited [3]
  36. ^ Neale, Jim (2013). Cambridge Coach Services from the Driver's Seat. Burwell: Burbus Publications. p. 15. ISBN 978-0-9575996-0-4.
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