Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive

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Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive Logo.
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Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive Logo.

The Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMPTE) is the public body (Passenger Transport Executive) responsible for co-ordinating public transport services throughout Greater Manchester in England.

The GMPTE is the executive arm of the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority (GMPTA) which funds and makes policies for the GMPTE. The authority is made up of 33 councilors appointed from each of the ten Greater Manchester districts (Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan)

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[edit] Functions

The GMPTE does not actually run passenger services, but is responsible for:

  • Subsidising some bus services which are considered socially necessary but would not otherwise be viable, and providing bus stops and shelters.
  • Managing the funding and administration of concessionary fares for the elderly and disabled etc. GMPTE also runs "Ring-and-Ride" services for the disabled.
  • The GMPTE is responsible for specifying fares and service levels of local train services operating from the county.
  • GMPTE owns the Manchester Metrolink light-rail system, although it is operated by a private company called Serco.
  • It funds, promotes and manages major county-wide public transport initiatives such as transport interchanges and the Metrolink.
  • GMPTE is also responsible for providing information about public transport services, and operates multi-modal ticketing schemes.

[edit] History

[edit] SELNEC PTE

What became the GMPTE was originally created in 1969 by the Transport Act 1968. At the time the conurbation surrounding Manchester was divided between the two counties of Lancashire and Cheshire. Because of this, the executive was originally known as the SELNEC Passenger Transport Executive (SELNEC standing for 'South East Lancashire North East Cheshire') a joint authority of the various local councils was created to administer it.

The South East Lancashire and North East Cheshire Passenger Transport Area was defined as:

(a) the county boroughs of the Cities of Manchester and Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale and Stockport;
(b) so much of the administrative county of the County Palatine of Chester as is comprised in the following county districts or parts of such districts, that is to say
(i) the boroughs of Altrincham, Dukinfield, Hyde, Sale and Stalybridge;
(ii) the urban districts of Alderley Edge, Bowdon, Bredbury and Romiley, Cheadle and Gatley, Hale, Hazel Grove and Bramhall, Longdendale, Marple and Wilmslow;
(iii) the rural districts of Disley and Tintwistle;
(iv) so much of the rural district of Bucklow as is comprised in the following parishes: Carrington, Partington and Ringway;
(v) so much of the rural district of Macclesfield as is comprised in the of parish of Poynton-with-Worth;
(c) so much of the administrative county of Derby as is comprised in the borough of Glossop;
(d) so much of the administrative county of the County Palatine of Lancaster as is comprised in the following county districts, that is to say
(i) the boroughs of Ashton-under-Lyne, Eccles, Farnworth, Heywood, Leigh, Middleton, Mossley, Prestwich, Radcliffe, Stretford and Swinton and Pendlebury;
(ii) the urban districts of Atherton, Audenshaw, Chadderton, Crompton, Denton, Droylsden, Failsworth, Horwich, Irlam, Kearsley, Lees, Little-borough, Little Lever, Milnrow, Ramsbottom, Royton, Tottington, Turton, Tyldesley, Urmston, Wardle, Westhoughton, Whitefield, Whitworth and Worsley;
(e) so much of the administrative county of the West Riding of Yorkshire as is comprised in the urban district of Saddleworth.[1]

From November 1, 1969 the PTE took over the bus fleets of eleven municipalities:

On January 1, 1972, SELNEC PTE acquired depots in Altrincham, Glossop, Oldham, Stockport and Urmston along with buses and services, from the National Bus Company subsidiary North Western Road Car Company.[3]

[edit] Greater Manchester PTE

A GMPTE Bus Flag.
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A GMPTE Bus Flag.

When the new Metropolitan county of Greater Manchester was created on April 1, 1974 the executive was renamed to its present title, with the county council replacing the joint transport authority. The PTE also acquired the bus operations of Wigan Corporation with 130 vehicles. Further expansion of saw the acquisition of Warburton's Coaches in November 1975; and Lancashire United Transport and Godfrey Abbot in January 1976. The double 'M' logo was first seen around 1976 and still survives to this day. It wsa used on the side of busses next to the words "Greater Manchester Transport" displayed in upper and lower case helvetica letters.

Following the abolition of the Greater Manchester County Council in 1986. A new Passenger Transport Authority was created to administer the GMPTE, made up of councillors from the Greater Manchester district councils. Apart from printed material and logos etched in glass on the side of bus shelters, GMPTE began a program of adding their logo to 101 train station nameboards in the area in the 1990's. This idea was later extended to a re-design of the bus stop flag in 2000 resulting in a unified corporate appearance containing the double M logo.

[edit] Deregulation and Privatisation of Bus Services

In order to prepare for bus deregulation the PTE's bus operations passed to Greater Manchester Buses Limited (trading as GM Buses) in October 1986. The company was owned at "arm's length" by the PTE, and had to compete in the deregulated market. In preparation for privatisation, the company was split into GM Buses North and GM Buses South on December 13, 1993. Both companies were sold to their management on March 31, 1994. Both companies were sold to major groups in 1996: GM Buses South to Stagecoach in February, GM Buses North to First Group in March.


Passenger Transport Executives in the United Kingdom
PTE Brand Name
Greater Manchester GMPTE
Merseyside Merseytravel
South Yorkshire Travel South Yorkshire
Tyne & Wear Nexus
West Midlands Centro / Network West Midlands*
West Yorkshire Metro
*- in process of rebranding
See also:
Transport for London - Strathclyde Partnership for Transport

[edit] References

  1. ^ The South East Lancashire and North East Cheshire Passenger Transport Area (Designation) Order 1969 (1969 No. 95)
  2. ^ The Bus Book, G Booth & S J Brown, London, 1984
  3. ^ A National Bus Company Album, R Stenning, Wiveliscombe, 1979

[edit] External links

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