Warrington Borough Transport

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A Warrington Borough Transport VDL SB120 bus
Slogan	making warrington move
Founded	Warrington Corporation Tramways in 1902; Warrington Corporation Transport Department in 1935; Warrington Borough Council Transport Department in 1972; Warrington Borough Transport Ltd in 1986
Headquarters	Wilderspool Causeway, Warrington
Locale	Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside
Service area	England
Service type	Urban and interurban bus services, school bus, bus charter
Destinations	Warrington Borough, Altrincham, Earlestown, Leigh, Northwich
Fleet	126 buses
Operator	Warrington Borough Transport Ltd
Managing director	John Bannister
Web site	Official Website

Warrington Borough Transport (WBT) is a bus operator running a network of services within the Borough of Warrington, England and into the surrounding area, including Altrincham, Leigh, Earlestown and Northwich. The network of services is marketed under the network warrington name, with both names appearing on vehicles and publicity. The limited company "Warrington Borough Transport Ltd" is wholly owned by Warrington Borough Council, which makes WBT one of the few remaining municipal bus companies in the United Kingdom today.

Contents 1 History 2 Routes 2.1 Main services 2.1.1 Key 2.2 Night services 2.3 Park & ride services 2.4 Contract services 2.5 School services 3 Tickets 4 Offices and depot 5 Fleet 5.1 Current fleet 5.2 Future fleet 5.3 Fleet history 5.4 Preserved vehicles 6 Branding 7 Awards and accreditations 8 References 9 Bibliography 10 See also 11 External links

[edit] History

Warrington Corporation Tramways started operating a network of five radial tramways from the town centre in 1902, with the first motor bus service starting in 1913. Buses replaced trams on routes starting in 1931, with the infrastructure starting to require major renewal which could not be justified economically. The last tram operated in 1935.

Services expanded rapidly after the Second World War as new housing estates grew in areas such as Orford and Great Sankey. The conversion of bus routes with conductors into one-man operated services began in 1965 as changes in society such as home entertainment and the increasing availability of cars forced cost savings on all bus operators in the country.

Warrington was designated as a new town in 1968, which led to new housing estates planned in the Birchwood and Westbrook areas of town. As such, Warrington Borough Council Transport Department (as the transport department was then called) started operating new services to these new developments as they started to grow in the 1970s and beyond. The department also began operating new services jointly with Crosville upon the split of the old Stockport-based North Western Road Car Company in 1972.

Following the deregulation of bus services in the UK, Warrington Borough Transport Ltd took over operations as a limited company, albeit owned 100% by the council. The company's mission was that if money could be made by operating services deemed uneconomic by other operators, then WBT should assume operation. This policy led to an increase in services operated as other bus companies who ran into the area decided to concentrate on their own core areas.

Competition from other operators flared up in 1995, with the new North Western company (operating as "Warrington Goldlines") duplicating the vast majority of the existing bus network with their own services, taking over from another new competitor MTL (operating as "Lancashire Travel") when they decided to stop competing after a few months. In retaliation, WBT began operating new services in competition with North Western, to places such as Wigan, St Helens, Widnes, Runcorn, Chester and Liverpool - even starting a local minibus service in Northwich.

After 18 months of intense competition, both companies decided to scale-back. WBT kept routes to Prescot and St Helens, whilst giving up operations to the Birchwood area of town in favour of North Western, who later rebranded as Arriva. In 2002, Arriva decided to close its depot in Warrington, with the effect that WBT took back operation of services to Birchwood whilst Arriva took control of the St Helens route once again.

Large investments have been made in more recent times to replace the fleet with new low-floor single deck buses that are wheelchair accessible and more friendly to people with pushchairs, and marketing efforts have seen the introduction of the Metro Map, to highlight the relatively straight-forward nature of the network operated (in an Underground-style format).

[edit] Routes

[edit] Main services

• The table below shows the main service routes operated by WBT, correct as of February 11 2008, along with a rough frequency guide.^[1]
• Please note that colours shown in the table are derived from the new Network Map but do not appear on the vehicles themselves.^[2]
• Always check the timetable before travelling - the details below are only intended as a summary of operations.
• All services to Warrington town centre operate from Warrington Bus Interchange.

Route				Frequency
Number	Start	Terminus	Via	Mon to Sat Daytime*	Mon to Sat Evening**	Sunday & Bank Holidays***
1, 2	Warrington	Westy	Latchford (Circular)	5 or 10 mins	30 mins	60 mins (a.m.) 30 mins (p.m.)
3	Warrington	Martinscroft	Bruche, Woolston	15 mins	30 mins	30 mins
4, 4A	Warrington	Woolston	Padgate, Bruche	15 mins	-	-
5	Warrington	Altrincham	Stockton Heath, Thelwall, Lymm, Warburton, Dunham Massey, Bowdon	30 mins	-	-
6, 7, 7A	Warrington	Grappenhall	Stockton Heath, Cobbs Estate (6, 7)	15 mins	60 mins	60 mins
6	Warrington	Lymm	Stockton Heath, Cobbs Estate, Grappenhall, Thelwall, Statham	30 mins	-	-
8, 9	Warrington	Hatton	Stockton Heath, Cobbs Estate (8), Appleton Thorn (8), Stretton	60 mins	120 mins (Fri & Sat only)	-
11, 11A, 12, 12A	Warrington	Loushers Lane	Latchford (11A, 12A), Gainsborough Rd (Circular)	30 mins	60 mins	-
13	Warrington	Westbrook	Whittle Brook, Whittle Hall, Kingswood	30 mins	-	-
14, 15	Warrington	Great Sankey	Whittle Brook, Lingley Green, Penketh (Circular)	15 mins	60 mins (Mon to Thurs) 30 mins (Fri & Sat only)	60 mins
16, 16A	Warrington	Dallam	General Hospital, Bewsey	6 mins (Mon to Fri) 10 mins (Sat only)	30 mins	60 mins (See also service 20A/21A)
18, 18A	Warrington	Callands	Old Hall, Westbrook	10 mins	30 mins (Mon to Thurs) 60 mins (Fri & Sat only)	60 mins
18A	Warrington	Gemini	Old Hall, Westbrook, Callands	20 mins	30 mins (Mon to Thurs) 60 mins (Fri & Sat only)	-
19	Warrington	Leigh	Winwick, Croft, Culcheth, Glazebury	30 mins	60 mins	60 mins
20, 20A, 21, 21A	Warrington	Longford	Orford (Circular)	5 mins	15 mins	15 mins
20A, 21A	Warrington	Longford	Orford, Dallam, Bewsey, General Hospital (Circular)	6 trips (early services)	-	2 per hour
23, 23A	Warrington	Cinnamon Brow	Padgate, Blackbrook, Orange Grove (23A)	15 mins	-	-
24, 24A	Warrington	Oakwood	Padgate, Blackbrook, Fearnhead, Birchwood (24), Birchwood Park (24A)	30 mins	-	-
25, 25C	Warrington	Gorse Covert	Orford, Locking Stumps, Birchwood, Oakwood	15 mins	-	-
25A	Wilderspool	Cinnamon Brow	Orford	2 return services	-	-
25B	Warrington	Ryefields	Retirement Village Shoppers' Service	1 return journey (Mon to Fri only)	-	-
26	Warrington	Gorse Covert	Orford, Cinnamon Brow, Locking Stumps, Birchwood, Oakwood	-	120 mins	120 mins
27	Warrington	Gorse Covert	Orford, Blackbrook, Locking Stumps, Birchwood, Oakwood	-	120 mins	120 mins
28	Warrington	Leigh	Padgate, Longbarn, Birchwood, Locking Stumps, Risley, Culcheth, Glazebury	60 mins	-	-
28, 28A	Warrington	Leigh	Padgate, Longbarn, Locking Stumps, Risley, Culcheth, Glazebury	30 mins	60 mins	60 mins
29	Warrington	Lingley Green	Sankey Bridges, Great Sankey	15 mins	-	-
	Warrington	Westbrook	Sankey Bridges, Great Sankey, Lingley Green, Whittle Hall	2 per hour	-	-
	Warrington	Collins Green	Sankey Bridges, Great Sankey, Lingley Green, Whittle Hall, Westbrook, Gemini, Kingswood, Burtonwood	60 mins	-	-
30	Warrington	Penketh	Sankey Bridges	30 mins	60 mins	120 mins (a.m.) 60 mins (p.m.)
31	Warrington	Penketh	Sankey Bridges	30 mins	-	-
32	Warrington	Penketh	Sankey Bridges	30 mins	60 mins	-
37A	Warrington	Altrincham	Latchford, Thelwall, Statham, Lymm, Broomedge, Little Bollington, Bowdon	-	-	120 mins
38	Warrington	Altrincham	Latchford, Thelwall, Statham, Lymm, Warbuton, Dunham Massey, Bowdon	-	-	120 mins
45	Warrington	Northwich	Stockton Heath, Stretton, Antrobus, Great Budworth, Higher Wincham, Lostock Gralam	120 mins	-	-
46	Warrington	Northwich	Stockton Heath, Stretton, Comberbach, Anderton, Barnton	120 mins	-	-
48	Warrington	Dudlows Green	Latchford, Stockton Heath, Cobbs Estate, Appleton	60 mins	-	-
101 (Centrelink)	Warrington	Centre Park	Town Centre Shuttle (Circular)	20 mins (Mon to Fri only)	-	-
420	Warrington	Earlestown	Winwick, Newton-le-Willows	60 mins	60 mins	60 mins
	Warrington	Vulcan	Winwick, Newton-le-Willows, Earlestown	60 mins	-	-

[edit] Key

*    There may be variations in frequency at peak times and early mornings.
**   Evening frequency generally refers to regular services after 1800hrs.
***  A normal service runs on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve until around 2000hrs.
     No services operate on Christmas Day, Boxing Day or New Year's Day.
     Some services are subject to change between Christmas and New Year.

[edit] Night services

There are currently no year-round night bus services operated, however WBT has operated a series of night bus services over the Christmas and New Year period from 2004 onwards. Services generally operate on Friday and Saturday nights in the latter half of December, and additionally operate on Christmas Eve and New Years Eve if these do not fall on a Friday or Saturday night. A flat fare is charged with a slight premium on Christmas Eve and New Years Eve. Four routes from Warrington town centre were operated for the first two years, serving the inner suburbs of Warrington, with support from Warrington Borough Council, town centre licensees and Cheshire Police. Two additional services were introduced in 2006: a route to Padgate and Birchwood (with support from Birchwood Town Council); and a shuttle service operating from the cluster of popular pubs and bars in Stockton Heath to the night clubs in Warrington town centre (with support from Stockton Heath Parish Council). In 2007, these six routes were augmented by a seventh route serving Old Hall, Callands, Burtonwood and Winwick, with support from Burtonwood and Westbrook Parish Council,^[3] although the go ahead for this service came too late for it to be included in official publicity material.

Service	Areas served	Frequency	Year introduced
A	Penketh, Great Sankey	Half-hourly	2004
B	Orford, Longford, Dallam, Bewsey
C	Woolston, Westy, Latchford
D	Stockton Heath, Cobbs Estate, Grappenhall
E	Padgate, Cinnamon Brow, Locking Stumps, Birchwood, Oakwood	Hourly	2006
F	Stockton Heath shuttle bus	Half-hourly (up to 0100)	2006
G	Old Hall, Callands, Burtonwood, Winwick	Hourly	2007

A 2005 bid for the DfT's Kickstart funding to operate the original four routes on weekends throughout the year was unsuccessful, but attempts continue to find a way to achieve this goal.^[4] 165 passengers a night used the service in 2004, with 253 passengers a night in 2005.^[5] In 2006, overall patronage grew again with 1,510 passengers over the eight nights of operation,^[6] although average loads per night were slightly down due to the dilution of trade caused by Christmas Eve and New Years Eve not co-inciding with a Friday or Saturday night. The service has been criticised by taxi drivers in the town due to the effect on their trade and potential health and safety concerns. They also question whether public funding is being used inappropriately, however the rising number of passengers year on year suggests that the general public see the service as being a useful additional option for getting home safely after a night out.^[7]

The original four routes also operated on the August Bank Holiday weekend in 2006 in connection with the Creamfields festival located in nearby Daresbury, for which a shuttle service operated between the festival site and the town centre. Whilst the shuttle service was repeated for the 2007 event, the night bus service was not operated.

[edit] Park & ride services

There are currently no dedicated year-round park and ride services, however WBT has operated a series of weekend services in the run-up to the Christmas period from 2005 onwards. In 2005, a weekend Park & Ride scheme was operated by WBT from the Northwest Development Agency offices at Centre Park business park to the town centre. Buses ran every 7 or 8 minutes on Saturdays and every ten minutes on Sundays, with 2,767 passengers using the service over the period.^[8] This scheme also operated on Saturdays only in the run-up to Christmas 2006.^[9]

The scheme was expanded to operate from two separate sites for the 2007 festive period. Car parks were available at the Warrington Collegiate campus to the north of the town centre, and at the Bruntwood Wilderspool Park business park to the south (next to Morrisons), both locations just off the A49. The scheme operated on the Saturdays leading up to Christmas in November and December, but its early success led to the service being extended to run additionally on the first Saturday after Christmas.^[10] Buses operated on both routes every 7 or 8 minutes between 0930 and 1800, with both parking and the bus service free of charge at the signposted car parks.^[11]

As a condition of planning consent for the B&Q superstore next to the M62 at Winwick, a section of the car park was designated as "Park & Ride" albeit using the existing bus services and fares provided by WBT and Arriva. There were up to seven buses an hour during Monday to Saturday daytimes provided by the two operators, however the success of this scheme was questionable due to the lack of a dedicated express bus service to the town centre, tickets which were not interchangeable between the two operators, and a lack of publicity for the facility. B&Q withdrew from the scheme in 2006, claiming that the facility "was being abused".^[12]

[edit] Contract services

WBT operate a variety of works and contract services. Work services generally operate in conjunction with large employers or business parks, operate at peak times for pass-holding employees, and are not available to the general public. Services operated include:

• Birchwood Park express: Warrington – Birchwood Park business park^[13]
• Birchwood Park shuttle: Birchwood – Birchwood Park business park
• O2 works service: Warrington – O2 call centre (Preston Brook)
• United Utilities works service: Warrington – United Utilities offices (Lingley Mere) – Vertex call centre (Gemini)

The Centrelink town centre shuttle service 101 operates in conjunction with both a large employer (Northwest Development Agency) and a business park (Centre Park), but this is not classified as a works service due to it being available to all members of the public as well as operating outside peak hours.

There are also a number of routes which operate in conjunction with special events, and thus only operate on certain days of the year. Some routes are free, others have a flat fare, whilst a few require pre-booking. Recent shuttle services operated include:

• Cheshire Show: Knutsford / Hartford / Northwich – Cheshire Showground (Tabley)
• Creamfields: Warrington / Manchester – Creamfields (Daresbury)
• Knowsley Hall Music Festival: Warrington / Manchester – Knowsley Hall
• Warrington Disability Awareness Day: Warrington – Disability Awareness Day (Walton Gardens)

[edit] School services

WBT also operate a number of schools services, including services to Lymm High School, Newman High School, St Aelred's High School and Priestley Sixth Form College. Colours shown refer to the school's colours. They don't appear anywhere on the buses.

Service	Route
14B	Sankey High School - Hood Manor - Old Hall (AM only)
39	Lymm High School - Thelwall - Grappenhall
40	Lymm High School - Thelwall - Grappenhall - Stockton Heath - Stretton
41	Lymm High School - Thelwall - Grappenhall - Stockton Heath - Walton
42	Lymm High School - Thelwall - Grappenhall Heys
42A	Lymm High School - Thelwall - Grappenhall - Warrington
253	St. Gregory's High School - Sankey - Lingley Green - Penketh
267	Sankey High School - Sankey - St. Gregory's High School (PM only)
283	Newman High School - Latchford - Padgate - Padgate Campus - Locking Stumps - Oakwood - Gorse Covert
284	Newman High School - Latchford - Bruche - Manchester Road - Woolston - Padgate - Longbarn
285	Newman High School - Padgate - Longford - Winwick Road (limited service) - Dallam(limited service)
286	Newman High School - Padgate - Longford - Winwick Road - Dallam
293	St. Aelred's High School - Newton - Winwick - Winwick Road - Greenwood Estate - Cinnamon Brow - Padgate - Woolston - Bruche - Fairfields
295	St. Aelred's High School - Newton - Winwick - Croft - Culcheth - Risley - Locking Stumps - Oakwood - Gorse Covert

[edit] Tickets

WBT offers single journey tickets, day returns, day rovers (valid for all WBT services on the day of sale), weekly, monthly and annual tickets (with a choice of town-only and all-network tickets), and thoroughfares to Warrington Hospital.

WBT accepts the Greater Manchester System One for services between Altrincham and Warburton and Lymm Church, as well as between Culcheth Library and Glazebury Greyhound Hotel.

• Ticket details on the official website

[edit] Offices and depot

The main depot and offices for WBT are located on Wilderspool Causeway (A49) at the junction with Chester Road (A5060), on the southern periphery of the town centre close to the crossing of the Mersey at Bridge Foot (53°23′02″N 2°35′26″W / 53.38389, -2.59056). The two main sheds to the rear of the site were originally built in 1943 for Fairey Aviation and used to assemble wings for their Fulmar bomber, before being bought by Warrington Corporation in 1947 as a place to park buses.^[14] The site eventually became the main operational centre, with the frontage of the depot dating from 1964 and consisting of a reception area and vehicle inspection bays at ground level with offices above.^[15]

The original tram system was operated from an eight-track depot at the junction of Mersey Street and Lower Bank Street.^[16] A purpose built bus garage was constructed on Lower Bank Street in 1930, although buses were also housed in the old tram sheds following the withdrawal of trams.^[17] Despite the move to the new Wilderspool garage, the old staff canteen on Lower Bank Street remained in use until the opening of the new bus station in 1979. The building was demolished in 1981^[18] and is today the site of a JJB Sports superstore and fitness club.

The current depot's location next to the old Wilderspool Stadium and close to the town centre led to interest from developers in redeveloping the site of the depot and the stadium during 2006. As part of this, a new depot would have been constructed at the nearby Centre Park business park on the other side of the Mersey but still close to the town centre.^[19] Whilst WBT were reported to be seriously considering the proposed move, the scheme never moved beyond the drawing board and foundered around the end of the year having failed to gain favour with council planning officers.^[20]

The inspectors' office on the main concourse at Warrington Interchange provides for season ticket sales and information.

[edit] Fleet

WBT has a fleet of 126 active buses made up of 98 single deck buses (82 with low floor, 4 conventional midibuses and 12 minibuses) and 28 double deck buses.^[21] The single deck fleet provides the bulk of the company's scheduled bus network, and the company attempts to operate an all low-floor service on Sundays and in the evenings. The majority of the double deck fleet operates on school and contract services, although there are some Monday to Friday daytime scheduled services which see double deck operation. One of the double deck vehicles is a heritage bus used on special occasions.

[edit] Current fleet

Chassis	Bodywork	Image	Number	Fleet numbers	Seating Capacity	Built	Notes
Single deck
Dennis Dart SLF	Marshall Capital MCV Capital		34	1-34	40-41	1999-2003	Low-floor
VDL SB120	Wright Merit Wright Cadet		48	35-82	39	2003-2008	Low-floor 78-82 formerly Arriva Bus & Coach dealer stock
Optare MetroRider	Optare MetroRider		12	112-23	25	1998-1999
Dennis Dart	Plaxton Pointer		2	245-246	40	1994-1995	245 formerly Plaxton demonstrator, arrived 1995
Dennis Dart	Marshall		2	247-248	39	1995
Total (single deck)			98
Double deck
Leyland PD2/40 (Special)	East Lancs		1	148	34 (upper) 30 (lower) 64 (total)	1965	Heritage vehicle
Dennis Dominator	East Lancs (1984 style)		15	150-153, 181-182, 191-199	46-51 (upper) 31-37 (lower) 79-88 (total)	1986-1989	150-153 formerly Leicester CityBus, arrived 1989
Leyland Olympian	Alexander (Belfast)		4	159-162	47 (upper) 33 (lower) 80 (total)	1991	Formerly Dublin Bus, arrived 2004
Leyland Olympian	Northern Counties Palatine		6	163-164, 167-170	47 (upper) 30 (lower) 77 (total)	1990	163-164, 167 and 169 formerly Harrogate & District, arrived 2003-2004 168 and 170 formerly Keighley & District, arrived 2004
Leyland Olympian	Alexander		2	165-166	47 (upper) 32 (lower) 79 (total)	1992	Formerly Huntingdon & District, arrived 2003
Total (double deck)			28
Total (all vehicles)			126

[edit] Future fleet

Nine Volvo Olympian double deck vehicles are being acquired second hand. These have Alexander (Belfast) bodies and started their lives with Dublin Bus. These vehicles are expected to replace Dennis Dominators.

[edit] Fleet history

The original tramway system opened in 1902 with 21 double-deck trams. Six further trams entered service in 1920 to help increase frequencies. The first Corporation bus service started in 1913, but the reliability of early buses was not great and the trams were still very much the "Senior Service". Tilling Stevens and Leyland SG7 and Leviathans were amongst the first motor vehicles operated. The demise of the tramway saw the first buses subject to the Road Traffic Act 1930 brought into the fleet. Large numbers of front-engined double-deck buses were purchased prior to the Second World War, mainly consisting of Crossley Mancunians and Leyland Titans, with a variety of bodywork including bodies from the chassis makers themselves but also from MCCW, English Electric, Brush and Charles Roberts amongst others.

Post-war, more Titans with bodywork by Leyland, Alexander and Bruce Coachworks were ordered, along with Bristol K6Gs. The latter was an unusual vehicle to be operated by a municipal fleet due to the newly-nationalised Bristol only supplying vehicles to the nationalised Tilling Group, but the Corporation had a prior order placed. Another unusual vehicle type in use post-war was the Foden PVD6 as there were only 61 examples built. Warrington was the largest customer with a total of 15. Delays in bodywork production also led to several new chassis receiving the bodywork from withdrawn pre-war vehicles, in contrast to other operators who were putting new bodywork on old chassis.

Rear-engined vehicles suitable for one person operation started entering the fleet in 1963, with Daimler Fleetlines becoming the standard double-decker bus. Most new vehicles in this era were bodied by East Lancs: from 1954 to 1987, almost all new service buses featured bodywork from East Lancs, the only exceptions being a batch of Bristol REs delivered in 1970. These featured bodywork by Pennine due to production delays caused by a fire at the East Lancs factory. Single-deck vehicles consisted of Leyland Panther Cubs and Bristol REs, with Bristol now allowed to sell to the open market again. These appeared on less patronised routes, especially those in rural Cheshire. The last Bristol RE was withdrawn in 1999 after 23 years of service in Warrington.

New vehicles due to be delivered in the mid-1970s were subject to production delays, so many buses from other operators were used on loan until the first of a large batch of Leyland Atlanteans arrived in 1977. Dennis Dominators and Leyland Olympians entered the fleet from 1983 onwards. Second-hand vehicles were not common until the 1980s when expansion required an influx of additional vehicles. Prior to that, six ex-London Transport DMS with MCW bodywork formed the largest batch of buses that started their lives elsewhere. Post deregulation in 1987, further second-hand vehicles were acquired from a variety of different sources: Fleetlines from Greater Manchester Transport; Atlanteans from Eastbourne, Preston and Blackburn; Dominators from Leicester; and Olympians from Derby and Arriva.

Moves were also made towards the procurement of smaller, lightweight single-deck vehicles, with the first minibuses in the fleet appearing in 1987 in the form of Dodge S56s, later replaced by Optare MetroRiders. The Dennis Dart midibus was first introduced in 1991, with a mixture of bodywork supplied by Carlyle, Northern Counties, Marshall and Plaxton, and these vehicles began to appear on previously double-deck operated routes. The last new double-decker delivered to the company was in 1989, with elderly double-deckers required for school services being progressively replaced by second-hand, mid-life examples from Blazefield and Dublin. The latest generation of single-deck low floor buses consists of Dennis Dart SLFs and VDL SB120s dating from 1999 onwards, which have displaced both double-deckers and earlier step-entrance Darts.

[edit] Preserved vehicles

There are examples of several former vehicles that used to operate for the company that are now preserved or undergoing restoration. Some of these are located at transport museums, whilst others can be seen at rallies and historic running days around the country. Many of the earlier examples feature the traditional Warrington licence plate area letter code "ED".

Chassis	Bodywork	Registration	Fleetnumber	Built	Notes
Peckham P22	Milnes	-	2	1902	Tram currently undergoing restoration at the Wirral Transport Museum[22]
Leyland Titan PD1	Alexander	DED 797	18	1946	Privately owned, at North West Museum of Road Transport[23]
Leyland Titan PD1	Alexander	EED 5	27	1946	Preserved[24]
Foden PVD6	East Lancs	OED 217	112	1956	Last Foden PVD6 built, at British Commercial Vehicle Museum[25]
Leyland Titan PD2/40	East Lancs	AED 31B	16	1964	Preserved in Czech Republic[26]
Leyland Titan PD2/40 (Special)	East Lancs	BED 729C	148	1965	Preserved by the company[21]
Leyland Titan PD2/40 (Special)	East Lancs	BED 731C	50	1965	Preserved at North West Museum of Road Transport[23]
Leyland Panther Cub PSRC1/1	East Lancs	KED 546F	92	1968	Preserved[27]
Bristol RESL6G	East Lancs	LED 70P	70	1975	Preserved in Wigan[28]
Bristol RESL6G	East Lancs	LED 71P	71	1975	Privately owned, at North West Museum of Road Transport[23]
Bristol RESL6G	East Lancs	LED 72P	72	1975	Preserved, stored near Uckfield[28]
Bristol RESL6G	East Lancs	LED 73P	73	1975	Preserved in St Helens[28]
Leyland Atlantean AN68A/1R	East Lancs	GEK 14V	14	1980	Privately owned, currently undergoing restoration at North West Museum of Road Transport[23]
Leyland Atlantean AN68C/1R	East Lancs	OTB 26W	26	1981	Preserved in Czech Republic[26]
Dodge S56	Northern Counties	D101 TTJ	201	1987	Awaiting restoration, stored in Warrington[29]
Dennis Dart	Carlyle Dartline	H842 NOC	214	1991	Preserved[30]

[edit] Branding

WBT has used a number of different brands and liveries in its history, as follows:

• Warrington Corporation Tramways

The original livery adopted on trams and early motorbuses was a deep crimson and light yellow, with ornate gold lettering and lining.

• Warrington Corporation

In 1945 a new livery was introduced of maroon with ivory bands, three bands on double deckers and one on single deck vehicles.

• Warrington Borough Council

Following the local government reorganisation of 1974, vehicles started appearing in a mainly light red livery with a large white band around the windows. The new logo of Warrington Borough Council was applied, consisting of a large stylised "W" encompassing the Cheshire sheaf of wheat and the Lancashire rose. This would be replaced with the borough's revised coat of arms in the early 1980s.

• Advertising liveries

The first all-over advertising bus appeared in 1977 when a Daimler Fleetline was painted in a mainly white livery with graphics advertising Baldwins, the local Leyland car dealership. Other all-over advertisements have appeared for Vladivar Vodka and Warrington Wolves amongst others.

• Warrington Borough Transport

Upon the establishment of the arms-length company WBT Ltd in 1986, a new logo appeared incorporating the borough coat of arms. The primary colours of red and white remained generally the same until the white was replaced with ivory in the late 1990s, although vehicles started to appear with a "Welcome aboard" legend in the front windscreen and forward near-side window.

• CoachLines of Warrington

Set up as a subsidiary company in 1987 offering coach hire and a programme of tours and excursions, the coach fleet built up to 14 vehicles before being downsized around 1995. The subsidiary ceased trading a few years later. The livery used was Aircraft Blue and Canary Yellow diagonal stripes on a Naples Blue livery.

• MiniLines

Mini bus services to Penketh and Dudlows Green were started in 1987 and used a primrose and blue livery, the colours used by the local rugby league club. The MiniLines fleet was repainted into the standard red and white livery around 1995.

• Mid-Cheshire Bus Lines

Four vehicles bought in 1988 to operate newly acquired services to Northwich retained the blue and cream livery of their previous owner, Eastbourne Buses. Crosville were said to be unhappy at the introduction of this brand due to the fact that they had used it as a local branding scheme for vehicles in the Northwich area in the early part of the 1980s, the original Mid Cheshire Bus Co Ltd having sold out to North Western in 1924.^[31] A new service to Warburton saw the arrival of four additional vehicles from Preston Bus in 1990 wearing a similar blue and cream livery. The fleetname would be phased out of use by 1995, with the vehicles receiving standard WBT red and white livery.^[32]

• MidiLines

New deliveries of Dennis Darts up until 1995 received the CoachLines livery but with MidiLines fleetnames. New deliveries and repaints from 1995 onwards retained the MidiLines branding as secondary to the main WBT logo on the standard red and white/ivory livery.

• Route branding

This has been attempted on some high-profile services since 1995, albeit mainly taking the form of white lettering on the front windscreen and forward-most side windows. Such route branding includes Chester CitySprint (30X Warrington - Chester), Runcorn CitySprint (X1 Runcorn - Liverpool), The Runcorn Link (T11 Warrington - Murdishaw), The Northwich Link (45A/46A Warrington - Northwich Sunday services) and The Trafford Link (5 Warrington - Trafford Centre). In 1999, new low floor buses were delivered with extra yellow and blue logos for the 20•21 circular services, and in 2001 two buses featured purple and blue branding for the 16•16A service. Both of these brands have been lost in recent years as a common pool of low-floor buses has been established.

• Super Mini and Super Midi

The fleet renewal started in 1998 saw new mini and (low-floor) midi buses appearing with this branding instead of the ones previously used (i.e. MiniLines and MidiLines).

• network warrington

To co-incide with the 2006 opening of the new bus interchange in Warrington town centre, the front-line fleet has been rebranded in a new red livery with cream and orange circular detailing, designed by Samantha Beeley. The fleetname "network warrington" is used, with "warrington borough transport" appearing underneath in small letters. The original design contained the strapline "connecting warrington" but this was soon replaced by "making warrington move". The borough coat of arms was deliberately left off the sample vehicle, but was added after 92% of respondants to feedback questionaires felt it should.^[33]

• Centrelink

A special purple and yellow livery and brand was introduced in 2002 for the minibus that originally operated the town centre circular service, with publicity and timetable leaflets designed by Best Impressions. This was replaced in 2008 with a new low-floor bus featuring a scheme based on the standard livery, with route branding using the established purple and yellow colours.

[edit] Awards and accreditations

The company gained Investors in People accreditation in 2004, and attained the Charter Mark award for customer service in 2005.^[34]

WBT were awarded overall winner at The Mayor's Sustainable Business Awards in 2007 thanks to increasing bus usage by 13.2% in twelve months, with an extra million journeys being made.^[35] This large rise in patronage and 98% customer satisfaction ratings also helped the company be shortlisted for Shire Operator of the Year at the 2007 UK Bus Awards, whilst the drivers were shortlisted for the Industry People of the Year. The company were runners-up in the Shire Operator of the Year category, behind the highly-regarded Stagecoach Cambridge. The overall winner was Lothian Buses.^[36]

“	The judges were impressed with how much this operator had achieved in a short time. With extremely high customer satisfaction ratings, Warrington Borough Transport has transformed the quality of bus travel in the town through excellent customer service based on strong commitment, staff development and partnership working. There is evidence of strong modal shift, not least through a reduction of 15% in morning peak congestion in the town. The company's work with young people, and on climate change and environmental issues were also praised.	”
—Judging panel, UK Bus Awards[37]

The company has also won several awards at the Warrington Business Awards, winning the Social Responsibility Award in 2001 and 2007 and the Business Survivor Award in 2003.^{[citation needed]}

The company's advertising agency And Partners won the gold award in the Regional Newspaper Campaign category at the 2007 Fresh Creative Awards for their work on the Good Signs campaign.^[38] The campaign consisted of a series of adverts featuring bus signage promoting recent achievements, such as "Please mind the step, it's brand spanking new" highlighting recent investment in new vehicles.^[39]

[edit] References

[edit] Bibliography

• 75 Years of Municipal Transport in Warrington 1902-1977, Warrington Transport Department.
• Hesketh, Peter (1998) "After the War is Over". Buses 50 (523). ISSN 00076392
• Hesketh, Peter (2005) "A Model of a Modern Municipal". Buses 57 (601). ISSN 00076392
• Hesketh, Peter (2006) "A Merseyside Makeover". Buses 57 (616). ISSN 00076392
• Morris, Stephen (2004) "Warrington - Heading for a Golden Future". Buses Focus 32. ISSN 13553011
• Phillips, Ron. (2002) Warrington Borough Transport, 1902-2002: 100 Years of Service to the Community, DTS Publishing. ISBN 1-900515-50-4
• Robinson, John P. (1987) Warrington Trams & Buses: A History of Municipal Transport in Warrington, Cheshire Libraries & Museums. ISBN 0-904532-24-0
• Robinson, John P. (1990) "Warrington Borough Transport Since Deregulation". Buses Extra 66. ISSN 01419927

[edit] See also

• Warrington Corporation Tramways
• Transport in Warrington
• List of bus companies

[edit] External links

• Warrington Borough Transport official website
• Transport section on Warrington Borough Council's website
• Yahoo Group mailing list for news, pictures and information on bus operations in Warrington area
• Collection of photographs of Warrington Borough Transport and its predecessors
• Restoration project for Warrington tram no. 2

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