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 Wright StreetLite WF inPoulton-le-Fylde in July 2024 | |
| Parent | Rotala |
|---|---|
| Founded | June 1904; 120 years ago (1904-06) |
| Headquarters | Preston,Lancashire, England |
| Service area | Preston Parts ofLancashire |
| Service type | Bus services |
| Fleet | 90 (November 2024) |
| Managing Director | Matt Rawlinson |
| Website | Official website |
Preston Bus is a bus operator running services in the city ofPreston and surrounding areas ofLancashire. It is a subsidiary ofRotala, who purchased Preston Bus from theStagecoach Group on the orders of theCompetition Commission in 2011.
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Preston Corporation began operatingelectric 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 ofLeyland 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 aRibble 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 theTransport Act 1985 and ensuingderegulation 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 amanagement 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 andLancashire County Council, which saw improvements to routes 33 and 35, running from Preston bus station toTanterton, including road realignments, the moving of bus stops, and the issuing of Traffic Regulation Orders enforced by theLancashire Constabulary, with the aim of reducing delays on the services. Preston Bus launched a fleet of sevenEast Lancs Lolyne bodiedDennis Trident 2low-floor buses for use on the revised 33 and 35.[9][10]
In 2006,Stagecoach North West introduced various services with a fleet ofOptare Solos,Alexander Dennis Enviro400s, andDennis Dart SLFs, branded as 'Preston Citi', to compete with Preston Bus. This competition escalated into abus 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 EnglandTraffic 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 andPenwortham, with a limited service running between Preston andSouthport, duplicating existing Stagecoach routes.
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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 asStagecoach in Preston from March 2009 onwards.
On 28 May 2009, theOffice of Fair Trading announced that it was referring the purchase of Preston Bus by Stagecoach to theCompetition 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 theCompetition 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]
In January 2011, Preston Bus was sold toRotala 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 ofDiamond North West inGreater 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 thePreston 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 toStagecoach Merseyside and South Lancashire in July 2019.[29]
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 newWright StreetDecks.[31]
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.
It has just finished rebranding its fleet, and has painted two double deckers in special livery for the guild.
Bus companies operating inNorth West England | ||
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| Greater Manchester | ||
| Lancashire | ||
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