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Preston Bus
Wright StreetLite WF in Poulton-le-Fylde in July 2024
ParentRotala
FoundedJune 1904; 120 years ago (1904-06)
HeadquartersPreston, Lancashire, England
Service areaPreston
Parts of Lancashire
Service typeBus services
Fleet90 (November 2024)
Managing DirectorMatt Rawlinson
WebsiteOfficial website Edit this at Wikidata

Preston Bus is a bus operator running services in the city of Preston and surrounding areas of Lancashire. It is a subsidiary of Rotala, who purchased Preston Bus from the Stagecoach Group on the orders of the Competition Commission in 2011.

History

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Council ownership

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Preston Corporation Crossley bodied Leyland Titan at Preston bus station in May 1971

Preston Corporation began operating electric tram services in the Borough in 1904, although horse-drawn trams had been running since 1879. On 23 January 1922, Preston Corporation began its first bus service, running along Plungington Road using a fleet of Leyland buses.[1] Expansions of these bus services soon followed and eventually replaced Preston's trams, the last of which ran in December 1935.[2][3]

On 12 October 1969, the £1.1 million (equivalent to £22,868,000 in 2023) Preston bus station was opened on Tithebarn Street, the site of a Ribble Motor Services station, after two years of construction. With the station being owned by the Borough Council, bus routes ran by Preston Corporation were rerouted from terminating at points around the city centre to centrally serve the station's 80 departure gates.[4][5]

Preston Borough Council continued to run the bus services until 1986 when, in order to comply with the Transport Act 1985 and ensuing deregulation of bus services from 26 October 1986, the assets of Preston Transport were transferred to a new "arm's length" legal entity, Preston Borough Transport Limited, trading as Preston Bus.[3] The Borough Council resisted offers and central government pressure to sell Preston Bus until 1989,[6] when talks began with the operator's management and staff towards selling Preston Bus in a management buyout.[7] The management buyout of Preston Bus from the Borough Council was eventually concluded with the sale of Preston Bus for £3 million (equivalent to £7,719,000 in 2023) in April 1993.[8]

In late 1999, Preston Bus launched the 'Quality Bus' scheme in partnership with both the Borough Council and Lancashire County Council, which saw improvements to routes 33 and 35, running from Preston bus station to Tanterton, including road realignments, the moving of bus stops, and the issuing of Traffic Regulation Orders enforced by the Lancashire Constabulary, with the aim of reducing delays on the services. Preston Bus launched a fleet of seven East Lancs Lolyne bodied Dennis Trident 2 low-floor buses for use on the revised 33 and 35.[9][10]

Preston bus war

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In 2006, Stagecoach North West introduced various services with a fleet of Optare Solos, Alexander Dennis Enviro400s, and Dennis Dart SLFs, branded as 'Preston Citi', to compete with Preston Bus. This competition escalated into a bus war, with Stagecoach offering lower fares on the busiest routes.[11][12]

The managing director of Preston Bus was concerned Stagecoach could force his company out of business.[13] Both companies accused each other of unprofessional behaviour, with reports of Stagecoach drivers throwing eggs at Preston Bus vehicles. [14]

On 10 June 2008, the two companies agreed to a code of practice by the North West of England Traffic Commissioner.[15] The two companies remained in competition under the restrictions of this code of practice, with Stagecoach beginning to operating routes within Preston while Preston Bus commenced a service between Preston and Penwortham, with a limited service running between Preston and Southport, duplicating existing Stagecoach routes.

Stagecoach in Preston

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Stagecoach in Preston East Lancs Esteem bodied Scania N94UB at Preston bus station in November 2010
The 'Preston citi' branding applied to buses running core Stagecoach in Preston services

On 30 December 2008, Stagecoach approached Preston Bus to negotiate a potential sale. On 23 January 2009, Preston Bus was sold to Stagecoach for £6.4 million (equivalent to £10,843,000 in 2023),[16][17] with the company as Stagecoach in Preston from March 2009 onwards.

On 28 May 2009, the Office of Fair Trading announced that it was referring the purchase of Preston Bus by Stagecoach to the Competition Commission.[18] The provisional findings suggested that the acquisition reduced competition and may potentially harm the interests of passengers. Possible remedies included the sale of part or all of the business and measures to encourage new entry by other operators, as well as controls on fares and requirements to maintain service levels.[19]

On 11 November 2009, the Competition Commission ruled that the takeover by Stagecoach had adversely affected competition in the area and ordered Stagecoach to sell Preston Bus.[20][21] Stagecoach made an appeal to the Competition Appeal Tribunal following this ruling, stating that the Competition Commission's decision was "perverse and irrational" and that the commission had committed an error in law with its use of the counterfactual argument and handling of Stagecoach's responses. Despite the Competition Appeal Tribunal ruling in May 2010 that the Competition Commission had imposed a disproportionate remedy based on inconsistent evidence, agreeing with some of Stagecoach's appeals,[22] Stagecoach began actively looking for a buyer, reinstating the Preston Bus name, livery and logo and operating the company at arm's length from the main Stagecoach business.[23][24]

Rotala ownership

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In January 2011, Preston Bus was sold to Rotala for £3.2 million (equivalent to £4,926,000 in 2023),[25] beating a bid for another management buyout that had received £25,000 of funding from Preston Borough Council.[26] Rotala reorganised Preston Bus as a subsidiary of its nationwide bus operations and remained separate following the formation of Diamond North West in Greater Manchester in March 2015, despite Diamond being based in Preston.[27]

In June 2011, Preston Bus announced it was to surrender its commercial operation of the Preston park and ride services to Lancashire County Council, claiming that services could not continue with Preston Bus due to a lack of financial support from the council.[28] The service resumed with Preston Bus under tender from the council, and following a series of cuts reducing it to one route, was eventually tendered to Stagecoach Merseyside and South Lancashire in July 2019.[29]

Fleet

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As of November 2024, the Preston Bus fleet consisted of around 90 buses.[citation needed]

Until the 1970s, the fleet livery was cream and red; a blue and cream scheme was introduced from the 1970s onwards. Upon the sale of Stagecoach in Preston to Rotala in January 2011, a cream, green and blue livery was introduced,[30] superseded in July 2020 with the introduction of a two-tone blue scheme with a green dividing line on a fleet of four new Wright StreetDecks.[31]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "New buses for Preston". The Commercial Motor. 31 January 1922. p. 5. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  2. ^ "Latest municipal bus results". The Commercial Motor. 2 October 1936. p. 48. Retrieved 16 November 2024. Preston. Increased bus receipts, partly due to the closing of the tramways in December, 1935, are a feature of the report for the year ended March 31, 1936.
  3. ^ a b "The History of Public Transport in Preston". Preston Bus. 11 January 2022. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
  4. ^ "Preston's new bus station". Commercial Motor. Temple Press. 24 October 1969. p. 31. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  5. ^ "Preston's new bus station - Europe's biggest?". Commercial Motor. Temple Press. 12 September 1969. p. 65. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  6. ^ "Municipals urged to sell". Commercial Motor. Temple Press. 2 March 1989. p. 23. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  7. ^ "Two join buyout trend". Commercial Motor. Temple Press. 31 August 1989. p. 20. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  8. ^ Jowett, Alan (21 April 1993). "All together on the buses for staff and managers". Manchester Evening News. p. 63. Retrieved 16 November 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ Hesketh, Peter (August 2000). "Behind the scenes of two quality partnerships". Buses. No. 545. Hersham: Ian Allan Publishing. pp. 18–30. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  10. ^ "New buses hit the road". Lancashire Telegraph. Blackburn. 10 December 1999. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  11. ^ "How Preston's bus wars have been fought". Lancashire Evening Post. Preston. 8 October 2007. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 3 May 2009.
  12. ^ "Bus giant accused of 'dirty tactics'". Lancashire Evening Post. Preston. 19 October 2007. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 3 May 2009.
  13. ^ "Preston's bus war... it won't be over for Christmas". Lancashire Evening Post. Preston. 9 November 2007. Archived from the original on 18 January 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2007.
  14. ^ "Legal loophole delay for egg-throwing drivers". Lancashire Evening Post. Preston. 31 October 2007. Archived from the original on 18 January 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2007.
  15. ^ Parveen, Nazia (11 June 2008). "Code of practice signed to end Preston bus wars". Lancashire Telegraph. Blackburn. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  16. ^ "Stagecoach set to buy Preston Bus". Bus & Coach Professional. 9 January 2009. Archived from the original on 22 October 2013. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
  17. ^ "'We were forced to sell Preston Bus'". Lancashire Evening Post. Preston. 26 January 2009. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 3 May 2009.
  18. ^ "OFT refers Stagecoach's Preston Bus acquisition to Competition Commission" (Press release). Office of Fair Trading. Retrieved 5 June 2009.
  19. ^ "Preston Bus merger has reduced competition" (PDF) (Press release). Competition Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 September 2009. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
  20. ^ "Company must sell 'bus war' rival". BBC News. 11 November 2009. Retrieved 11 November 2009.
  21. ^ "Stagecoach must sell Preston Bus". Lancashire Evening Post. Preston. 11 November 2009. Archived from the original on 20 August 2017. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  22. ^ "Judgment (Non-confidential version): 1145/4/8/09 Stagecoach Group Plc v Competition Commission". Competition Appeal Tribunal. 21 May 2010. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  23. ^ "Stagecoach to push ahead with Preston sell-off". TheBusinessDesk. 20 July 2010. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  24. ^ "Stagecoach considers next move after competition appeal success". TransportXtra. 24 May 2010. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  25. ^ "Rotala buys Preston Bus for £3.2million". Bus & Coach Professional. 25 January 2011. Archived from the original on 8 March 2012. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  26. ^ "Preston bus sold...again". Lancashire Evening Post. Preston. 19 January 2011. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
  27. ^ "Rotala buys South Lancs". Bus & Coach Buyer. 4 March 2015. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  28. ^ "Preston park-and-ride re-tender likely". Bus & Coach Professional. 20 June 2011. Archived from the original on 29 August 2012. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  29. ^ "Stagecoach to run Preston's Park & Ride scheme". Coach & Bus Week. Peterborough. 9 July 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  30. ^ Bounds, Andrew (2 September 2012). "Preston Bus wheels roll again". Financial Times. London. Retrieved 16 November 2024. It has just finished rebranding its fleet, and has painted two double deckers in special livery for the guild.
  31. ^ "Proud Preston going in the Wright direction as new 'deckers are delivered". Coach & Bus Week. Peterborough. 6 July 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
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