Preston Bus

Preston Bus is a bus operator running within the city of Preston, England and into the surrounding area. In 2009, it was acquired by the Stagecoach Group and was rebranded Stagecoach in Preston, before they were subsequently ordered to sell the company as a result of competition concerns. As part of the Competition Commission findings into the takeover, Preston Bus was managed separately from the main Stagecoach business, pending possible divestment to a third party company later in the year. On 25 January 2011, it was revealed that Stagecoach had sold Preston Bus to Midlands based company Rotala.^[1] The takeover sees the company moving into North West England operations for the first time.

History

Preston Bus was founded in 1904 as Preston District Travel and operated a number of services in the Preston area until 1993, when the company was bought from the local authority by its employees, and became a limited company.

In 2006, Preston Bus was subject to some high profile competition from national operator Stagecoach Group through their Stagecoach North West subsidiary. Competition escalated into a bus war^[2] with Stagecoach offering lower fares on the busiest routes.^[3]

The managing director of Preston bus was concerned that Stagecoach could force his company out of business.^[4]

Both companies have accused each other of unprofessional behaviour.^[5] On 10 June 2008, both companies agreed to a code of practice by the traffic commissioner.^[6] The competition continued, with Stagecoach operating routes within Preston and Preston Bus commencing a frequest service between Preston and Penwortham, and a limited service between Preston and Southport, duplicating existing Stagecoach routes.

On 30 December 2008 it was reported that Preston Bus had agreed in principle to an acquisition by its rival operator, Stagecoach North West. On 23 January 2009, Preston Bus was sold to Stagecoach in an estimated 10.4 million pound deal,^[7] ending 104 years service of Preston Bus to the city.

The routes operated by Preston Bus were rebranded as Stagecoach in Preston from March 2009.

On 11 November 2009 the Competition Commission ruled that the takeover by Stagecoach had adversely affected competition in the area and ordered the sell off of Preston Bus.^[8] Since this ruling, the Preston Bus name and logo has been reinstated and the company has operated at 'arms length' from the main Stagecoach business. Vehicles which were painted in Stagecoach livery following the takeover are in the process of being repainted in a new blue and cream livery, similar to that used by Preston Bus prior to the takeover. In January 2011, the Rotala Group announced they had agreed a deal to take over the Preston Bus operations from Stagecoach, operating most of the services Preston Bus had ran before the Stagecoach takeover.

Routes

This is the network of Preston Bus routes:

Park & Ride services

School services

Preston Bus provide school bus services to secondary school and college students in Preston, Central Lancashire and Wyre. These services went as far north as Cabus, Garstang, west as Blackpool, east as Accrington and south as Chorley.

Fleet

The Preston Bus fleet was originally all double deckers, but latterly the company moved to single deckers and minibuses, with the most common vehicle in 2008 being the Optare Solo midibus.

Before the sale to Stagecoach the company's fleet comprised^[9]:

• 28 Leyland Olympian double deckers, one new in 1984, the others bought between 1989 and 1992 (10 examples purchased second hand from Lothian Buses in 2003).
• 4 Leyland Lynx single deckers, bought between 1989 and 1991.
• 6 Optare MetroRider minibuses, bought between 1994 and 1998.
• 18 Dennis Trident/East Lancs Lolyne double deckers, bought between 1999 and 2000.
• 50 Optare Solo midibuses, bought since 2001.
• 2 Scania N94UD OmniDekka, bought in 2006.
• 12 Scania N94UB/East Lancs Esteem single-deckers, bought between 2006 and 2007.
• 8 Optare Solo SR midibuses with leather seats and television screens (for the park and ride services), bought in 2008.

Preston Bus had replaced many of its older vehicles shortly before Stagecoach took over in 2009. These included Leyland Olympians, Leyland Lynxes, Optare MetroRiders and Leyland Atlanteans. Between 2006 and 2009, many of these were sold to in order to purchase new vehicles.

See also

• List of bus operators of the United Kingdom

References

External links

• Preston Bus website