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Stagecoach North West

Stagecoach in Lancashire Alexander ALX400 bodied Dennis Trident 2 at Bolton bus station on route 126
Parent	Stagecoach Group
Founded	2001; 23 years ago (2001)
Defunct	2011; 13 years ago (2011) (became Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire)
Headquarters	Carlisle, Cumbria
Service area	North West England
Service type	Bus
Hubs	Carlisle, Chorley, Morecambe, Kendal, Preston
Depots	7
Website	Official website

Stagecoach North West was a major bus operator in North West England. The company was a subsidiary of the Stagecoach Group, and had its origins in the purchase of Cumberland Motor Services in 1987 and Ribble Motor Services in 1988 from the National Bus Company. The head office of Stagecoach North West was in Carlisle. Although the cities of Liverpool and Manchester are in the North West of England, Stagecoach Manchester and Stagecoach Merseyside were run as separate divisions.

History

Stagecoach North West was formed from the company's Cumberland and Ribble operations in late 2000 with the rebranding of the Stagecoach Group. The company consisted of three different operating areas, which were branded Stagecoach in Cumbria, Stagecoach in Lancashire (for services in Chorley and Preston) and Stagecoach in Lancaster. Stagecoach North West also ran several bus services on contract from Cumbria County Council, Lancashire County Council and the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority.

Stagecoach North West was split in September 2011 into Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire and Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire, with the former incorporating Chorley and Preston depots and the Gillmoss depot of Stagecoach Merseyside, and the latter incorporating Barrow, Carlisle, Kendal and Workington depots. After the split, the company, Stagecoach North West Ltd, continues to exist with the trading name Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire.

Operations

Stagecoach in Cumbria

Stagecoach in Cumbria is a trading name of Stagecoach North West Ltd and operates services around the Cumbria area (formerly known as Stagecoach Cumberland, Stagecoach Ribble and Barrow Borough Transport). Operations were based out of depots in Barrow in Furness, Carlisle, Kendal and Workington.

Cumberland Motor Services was one of the first National Bus Company (NBC) subsidiaries to be privatised: this was almost immediately after gaining the Penrith and Carlisle depots from Ribble. The company was bought from the NBC by Stagecoach in July 1987, who split it into two territories: CMS Carlislebus for services within Carlisle itself and CMS Cumberland for the rest of the services; eventually both territories merged with Ribble's south Cumbria services to become Stagecoach Cumberland.

On 11 January 2005, Stagecoach North West's Carlisle depot on Willowholme Road was severely damaged by flooding after nine inches of rain fell in three days, resulting in the River Petteril bursting its banks. The depot was submerged under 4 feet (1.2 m) of floodwater, destroying most of its engineering equipment and resulting in 85 vehicles stored at the depot, including a stored fleet of AEC Routemasters and all but two of Carlisle's 28 low-floor buses, being written off as total losses, with the overall damage costing Stagecoach in Cumbria a total of £2.9 million (equivalent to £5,469,000 in 2023). The Stagecoach Group loaned buses of varying types and ages to Carlisle from across the country to replace the written-off buses, and the following June, 39 new Plaxton Pointer 2 bodied Dennis Dart SLFs were delivered to Carlisle as permanent replacements for the damaged fleet, featuring colour-coded route branding for the new 'Carlisle Citi' network.

Later in 2005, Stagecoach introduced new double-decker buses on its flagship service X35 route between Barrow-in-Furness, Ulverston, Grange-over-Sands and Kendal.

Stagecoach in Lancashire

Stagecoach in Lancashire was the trading name of Ribble Motor Services Ltd and operated services around the Central Lancashire area, serving Preston and Chorley. The company's previous operations in Blackburn, Hyndburn, Clitheroe and Bolton were sold in April 2001 to the Blazefield Group for £13 million (equivalent to £27,157,000 in 2023), which rebranded them as Lancashire United and Burnley & Pendle. The remainder of operations were mainly based out of Preston at a depot on Selbourne Street.

Stagecoach in Lancashire had many smaller service brands: The Fylde Villager, The Wyre Villager, Network Ribble Valley & Network Chorley. Other services included X2, 125 and 109. In early 2009, Stagecoach lost the contract for some Fylde Villager branded services to Cumfybus and Coastal Coaches, who operate them on behalf of Lancashire County Council.

Stagecoach in Preston

From 2006 to 2009, Preston Bus, the municipally-owned operator of bus services in Preston, Lancashire, experienced a period of heavy competition from Stagecoach North West. Competition escalated into a bus war between the operators, with Stagecoach offering lower fares on the busiest routes.

On 23 January 2009, Preston Bus was to Stagecoach North West, ending over 100 years service of Preston Bus to the city. In March 2009, the company would be rebranded to Stagecoach Preston Bus. The company under Stagecoach operated routes within the City of Preston, its suburbs (e.g., South Ribble, Longridge, Chipping) and the surrounding area, all based from a single depot on Deepdale Road.

On 19 January 2011, Stagecoach in Preston was sold to Rotala Group, who would reinstate the Preston Bus name as a subsidiary operation of the group.

Stagecoach in Lancaster

Stagecoach in Lancaster operates services in Lancaster, Morecambe, and the surrounding area, including the services between Morecambe/Lancaster and Preston/Blackpool. It is a trading name of Stagecoach North West Ltd, and consists of the former Stagecoach Ribble services in the area combined with those formerly operated by Lancaster City Transport, the local municipal bus operator whose assets were acquired by Stagecoach in May 1993.

A majority of Stagecoach in Lancaster services operated mainly from a depot in White Lund, Morecambe; there is also an outstation at Catterall. The former outstation at Ingleton closed when Stagecoach withdrew the 80/81 services to Ingleton and Kirkby Lonsdale.

References

1. Millar, Alan (January 2001). "New image, new targets". Buses. No. 550. Hersham: Ian Allan Publishing. pp. 16–17. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
2. "NBC carve-up is settled". Commercial Motor. Temple Press. 22 March 1986. p. 44. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
3. "Cumberland, Wessex sold". Commercial Motor. Temple Press. 30 July 1987. p. 22. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
4. "Stagecoach swapshop". Commercial Motor. Temple Press. 15 June 1989. p. 19. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
5. "Carlisle's 'amphibious' fleet is written off". Coach & Bus Week. No. 666. Peterborough: Emap. 17 February 2005. p. 8. Retrieved 28 November 2024.
6. Morgan, Mike (7 July 2005). "Carlisle launch". routeone. No. 85. Peterborough: Expo Publishing. pp. 10–11. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
7. "Flood-hit bus firm unveils fleet". BBC News. 30 June 2005. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
8. "No change as depots sold". Lancashire Telegraph. 4 May 2001. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
9. "How Preston's bus wars have been fought". Lancashire Evening Post. 8 October 2007. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 17 January 2008.
10. "Bus giant accused of 'dirty tactics'". Lancashire Evening Post. 19 October 2007. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 17 January 2008.
11. "Preston Bus History". Preston Bus. Retrieved 30 August 2011.
12. "Preston Area Bus Service Changes – 22nd March 2009" (PDF). Stagecoach. Retrieved 30 August 2011.
13. "Stagecoach sells 'rival' Preston Bus Ltd for £3.2m". BBC News. 25 January 2011. Retrieved 30 August 2011.
14. Jarosz, Andrew (22 May 1993). "Stagecoach gets Lancaster assets only in surprise bid". Coach & Bus Week. No. 66. Peterborough: Emap. p. 5.

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