Stagecoach in Manchester
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Stagecoach Manchester Limited is a major operator of bus services in the English city of Manchester and in the surrounding area of Greater Manchester. It is a subsidiary of the Stagecoach Group.
The company was formerly known as GM Buses (South) Ltd. which was formed as a management buy out of the southern area of GM Buses (originated from Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive's bus division).
The northern area of GM Buses is now known as First Manchester.
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[edit] History
GM Buses (South) was formed in 1994 in preparation for privatisation of the former PTE bus company in Greater Manchester. It was broken into two to make more money for the Government and also to fill the Government's 'sweet shop' bus company ownership vision. Stagecoach put in a strong bid, and gained clearnce from the Department of Trade & Industry, but the employees bought it for £16million. It faced an uphill struggle. Over 40 competitors had grown over GM Buses routes before the break-up, although most of those attacked GM Buses (North). However, Bee Line and MTL Manchester did go south, and Mayne, Walls and Finglands were established competitors on lucrative South Manchester routes.
Both companies also suffered from elderly fleets, as a stand-alone (nil subsidy) arms' length company, GM Buses had not been able to buy new buses, and thus Atlanteans and Fleetlines - the newest by then 15 years old - had to soldier on. Competitors were expanding and the private company could not meet the investment needed.
Stagecoach set up a Ribble subsidiary, Stagecoach Manchester, to compete on GMB (South)'s prime route, the 192 (Manchester - Hazel Grove) with brand new buses, and soon they became popular, the new Volvo B6s made a lasting impression where GMBS could only present a dowdy, dated image.
GMBS had to fight back, in response to increasing competition by Merseyside Transport (MTL Manchester) GMBS set up Birkenhead & District on the Wirral, running Fleetlines in Birkenhead Corporation livery. Throughout 1994 GMBS bought a large number of secondhand buses, mainly more Atlanteans and Leyland Nationals. Competition with Stagecoach became stronger, with Stagecoach bringing in new buses in the shape of new Volvo B10M-55s with Alexander PS bodies. GMBS used its Charterplan coaching fleet to attack Stagecoach Ribble's X43 to Burnley. By the end of 1994 everything turned peaceful, Stagecoach agreed no further competition on the 192, and financed 20 Volvo B6s for GMBS.
In February 1996 GMBS gave up, and Stagecoach bought the business, it was quickly rebranded Stagecoach Manchester and did well out of Stagecoach new bus orders. The original Stagecoach Manchester was sold to Finglands.
[edit] Depots
Stagecoach Manchester has two depots in Stockport, one at Daw Bank and the other on Charles Street. As well as this there are three depots in Manchester, located on Hyde Road and Princess Road. The third depot is on York Street in Glossop.
[edit] Fleet
As at period three 2006, Stagecoach in Manchester had 690 vehicles in operation. Broken down into:
[edit] Hyde Road depot
- 146 Double-deck buses
- 12 Leyland Olympians (11 in Magic Bus livery)
- 22 Leyland Olympian tri-axle vehicles (all in Magic Bus livery)
- 15 Volvo Olympians
- 16 Scanias (in Magic Bus livery)
- 81 Trident/ALX400
- 74 Single-deck buses
- 42 Volvo B10Ms
- 31 MAN (low floor) vehicles
- 1 Iveco (in Yellow "school bus" livery)
[edit] Glossop depot
- 3 Double-deck buses
- 3 Scanias
- 4 Single-deck buses
- 1 Trident (low floor) vehicles
- 3 Iveco (in yellow "school bus" livery)
- 11 midibuses
- 11 Dart (low floor) vehicles
- 4 minibuses
- 4 Mercedes-Benz 709D
[edit] Princess Road depot
- 141 Double-deck buses
- 10 Dennis Dominator (in Magic Bus livery)
- 19 Dennis Dragon (in Magic Bus livery)
- 11 Leyland Olympian tri-axle vehicles (in Magic Bus livery)
- 33 Volvo Olympian
- 3 Scanias (in Magic Bus livery)
- 65 Trident (low floor) vehicles (10 of which are in Airlink livery)
- 54 single deck buses
- 11 Volvo B10M (6 in Magic Bus livery)
- 42 MAN (low floor) vehicles (4 of which are in Airlink livery)
- 1 Enviro
[edit] Stockport depot
- 76 double deck buses
- 25 Volvo Olympians
- 12 Scanias (3 in Magic Bus livery)
- 39 Trident (low floor)
- 91 single deck buses
- 31 Volvo B10M
- 60 MAN (low floor vehicles) (3 of which are in Airlink livery)
[edit] Charles Street Depot
- 34 midibuses
- 19 Dart (standard)
- 15 Dart (low floor vehicles)
- 30 minibuses
