Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire
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|---|---|
| Parent | Stagecoach Group plc |
| Founded | 2011 |
| Headquarters | Gillmoss Bus Depot, East Lancashire Road, Liverpool, Merseyside, L11 0BB |
| Service area | North West England |
| Service type | Bus |
| Hubs | Chester, Chorley, Liverpool, Preston, Wirral |
| Stations | Chester, Chorley, Liverpool, Preston, Wirral, Blackburn, Blackpool, Bolton, Southport, St Helens |
| Depots |
Stagecoach in South Lancashire - Chorley & Preston Stagecoach in Merseyside - Gillmoss Stagecoach in Chester & Wirral - Chester, Rock Ferry. |
| Fleet |
Optare Solo Volvo B10M Alexander Dennis Trident Alexander Dennis Pointer Volvo Olympian Leyland Olympian Alexander Dennis Enviro400 Dennis Dart SLF Volvo B10B Optare Versa Optare Esteem . |
| Operator | Stagecoach Group |
| Website | Official website |
Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire is a major operator of bus services in North West England. It is a subsidiary of the Stagecoach Group, and has its origins in the purchase of Ribble in 1988 from the National Bus Company and Glenvale Transport in 2005. The head office of Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire is in Liverpool and was formed in 2011 following the merger of Stagecoach Merseyside and Stagecoach in Lancashire, which was the Chorley and Preston operations of Stagecoach North West.
From January 2013, Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire also includes the Chester and Rock Ferry depots of First Chester & The Wirral following their takeover from First Group.[1]
History
Stagecoach in Lancashire
Stagecoach in Lancashire was the trading name of Ribble Motor Services Ltd, which was purchased by Stagecoach in 1988 and was originally known as Stagecoach Ribble, and operated services around the Central Lancashire area, serving Preston, Chorley, Bolton and Blackburn. The company also operated Network Chorley which provides transport around the local Chorley area.
Stagecoach in Merseyside
Stagecoach in Merseyside was the trading name of Glenvale Transport Ltd, which was purchased by Stagecoach in 2005. The original company was formed in 2001 following Arriva's takeover of MTL Group in 2000 and was ordered by the Competition Commission to sell the Gillmoss depot to avoid Arriva owning a monopoly of services in Merseyside. Stagecoach failed in an original attempt to obtain the depot in 2001, losing out to Glenvale Transport. Stagecoach bought Glenvale Transport in 2005 beating off competition from rivals First Group, Go-Ahead Group and Transdev.
Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire
In August 2011, Stagecoach Group announced plans to re-structure their UK Bus operations in the North West of England with the former Stagecoach North West operations, which consisted of Stagecoach in Cumbria, Stagecoach in Lancashire and Stagecoach in Lancaster. The re-structuring saw Stagecoach North West split up into two halves, with Cumbria and Lancaster operations merging into Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire and Stagecoach in Merseyside merging with Stagecoach in Lancashire.[2] The other Stagecoach operation in the North West of England, Stagecoach Manchester, remained unaffected and continues as a separate operation.
Stagecoach in Chester and Wirral
In November 2012, Stagecoach Group announced they had agreed a deal to purchase the operations of First Chester & The Wirral from First Group for a fee of £4.5 million.[3] The deal included the two main depots in Chester and Rock Ferry, as well as a depot in Wrexham used for school services, plus 110 buses and 290 employees. The purchase was made through Stagecoach's Merseyside subsidiary, Glenvale Transport, bringing the Chester & Wirral operations under Stagecoach Merseyside. It was Stagecoach's second purchase from First Manchester Ltd, following their purchase of First Greater Manchester's Wigan depot in October 2012.
The takeover was confirmed to be completed on 13 January 2013[1] with Stagecoach originally using ex-First buses and ticket machines before re-painting existing buses, bringing in old fleet vehicles from other areas and bringing in new buses and ticket machines.
Depots
- Chester (Liverpool Road)
- Chorley (Eaves Lane)
- Liverpool (East Lancs Road, Gillmoss)
- Preston (Selbourne Street)
- Wirral (Rock Ferry)
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Keeping You In The Loop" (PDF). Stagecoach Bus. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
- ↑ "Stagecoach announces UK Bus Regional Management Appointments". Stagecoach Group. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
- ↑ "£4.5million bus buyout for Stagecoach in region". Chester First. 12 November 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
External links
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