BakerBus Enviro200 Dart, at Stockport Bus station on route 391. |
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| Founded | 1998 |
| Headquarters | Biddulph |
| Service area | Staffordshire Cheshire Greater Manchester Shropshire |
| Service type | Buses, Coaches |
| Web site | bakerbus.com |
BakerBus is the trading name used by the bus fleet of Bakers Coaches, a bus and coach operator based in Biddulph, Staffordshire, England. They operate a fleet of around 50 vehicles on local bus services and coach hire work.
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Bakers Coaches was founded in 1936, operating chauffeured car services, then a small fleet of coaches. It moved into bus operation in 1990 with the launch of the "China Link" service connecting major pottery factories in Stoke-on-Trent for visitors to the area. This was withdrawn after three years.[1] The company then launched an off-peak service between Leek and Buxton which was later withdrawn.[1]
Bakers' next local bus route began in 1998, with a Council contracted route 27 between Macclesfield and Knutsford. The route was initially operated every two hours with one bus, but was doubled in frequency in 1999. Contracted journeys on route 99 (Biddulph - Congleton) were also taken over in 1998. The company joined Julian Peddle's newly-formed Status Group in 1999, and the trading name BakerBus was adopted for local services. The company left Status Group in 2002.[1]
In 2001 two new routes were started, both to the AstraZeneca factory near Alderley Edge. Both were withdrawn in 2007 as passenger numbers had fallen and AstraZeneca withdrew funding.[1] However the company's route 99 was made fully commercial in 2006 and extended to operate to Macclesfield and continues to serve the AstraZeneca site at nearby Hurdsfield.[2]
First Potteries had its operator license cut, and abandoned several routes in September 2004. BakerBus took over three routes in the Newcastle-under-Lyme area, losing one after three years but retaining the other two routes, 33 & 33A(Newcastle-under-Lyme - Westlands) on a long-term basis. They have since been registered commercially. It also gained route 77 between Hanley and Congleton, which it has also now registered commercially. In the following February a new limited stop route, X1, was launched between Hanley, Stoke station and Stafford. It was funded by Staffordshire University, whose campus it served.[1]
The X1 was used from 2006 to cover for the suspended train service between Stafford and Stone, Barlaston and Wedgwood, with funding from Central Trains; Stone station had its services restored in 2008, but the others are still served only by the bus. At the same time the X1 service ceased to operate into Stafford Town Centre, and now terminates at the Staffordshire University campus at Beaconside.[3] This brought an increase of 60% in revenue.[4] The section between Stafford town centre and Stafford station was cancelled in 2009 when payment was withdrawn by Central Trains' successor London Midland.[5]
Bakers took over the operations of Niddrie Coaches of Middlewich in autumn 2007.[6] In the same year the contract to operate route 27 on Monday to Saturday was lost, but Sunday operations on the route were retained, and extended to serve Tatton Park. Bakers also gained tendered route 108, between Leek and Stockport, on a Sunday.[1] A new network of town services in Congleton, branded as Beartown Bus with a new green livery, was awarded by the council to BakerBus from August 2007.[1][7] Three brand new Plaxton Primo single-deckers were acquired for the routes, and all were later named after bears to highlight charity work to end bile farming.[8]
In January 2009 the company won a Council contract to operate the 392 and 393 routes, which were rebranded as "The Shuttle" in recognition of the areas silk mills, a shuttle being used in the manufacturing process.[9] This was followed in April by the takeover of the former 191 service which was renumbered to 391 and became part of "The Shuttle" family of services. The launch of the new service improved frequencies, but the direct service between Poynton and Manchester on former route 191 was withdrawn.[10] Further expansion followed in July with the award of the 372 Bramhall Circular contract by GMPTE.[11] In March 2011, the company gained operation of service 11 between Macclesfield and Kerridge, applying "The Shuttle" branding to this route.[12]
In October 2009 the company took over "The Harrier" route between Crewe and Sandbach from Harrier Travel, and purchased another Plaxton Primo to operate it with.[13]
In March 2010 BakerBus won the ACES award for services to public transport in North Staffordshire.[14]
BakerBus operate a network of routes in Staffordshire, Cheshire and parts of Greater Manchester and Shropshire. The following services are currently operated.[12]
A number of school buses are also operated.[12]
BakerBus and Bakers Coaches have modern fleets, with a combined fleet of 70 vehicles.[15] The fleet livery is blue and yellow for BakerBus and green and white for Bakers Coaches.[1]
BakerBus' fleet was originally dominated by Mercedes-Benz minibuses, with the first full-size vehicle, a Volvo B10B, arriving in 1993. Recent deliveries for BakerBus have been five Alexander Dennis Enviro200 and five Plaxton Primo single-deckers.[16][17] Other types operated include Mercedes-Benz Vario minibuses, Volvo B6LEs, DAF SB120s and Optare Solos. In December 2008, following a partnership with Cheshire County Council, BakerBus became one of the first operators to introduce ticket machines with Smartcard readers for the pensioner's free travel scheme.[18]
Bakers Coaches operate a small fleet of people carriers and coaches.[1] The most recent arrivals were Scania coaches with Berkhof bodywork.[19]
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