Transdev Blazefield
Transdev Blazefield is a bus group, serving Lancashire, North & West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester. Formed in 1991, it has been a subsidiary of Transdev since January 2006.
History
Blazefield Travel was formed in 1991, following the sale of Alan Stephenson's AJS Group, along with seven bus operations, 300 vehicles, and 12 depots to former directors, Giles Fearnley and Stuart Wilde, in a management buyout.Initially, there were seven operating subsidiaries: Keighley & District, Harrogate & District, Yorkshire Coastliner, Harrogate Independent Travel, Sovereign Bus & Coach, Welwyn Hatfield Line and Sovereign Harrow.
AJS Group had purchased West Yorkshire Road Car and London Country North East from the National Bus Company in 1988. Prior to the sale, the latter was broken in two, Country Bus & Coach and Sovereign Bus & Coach, with only the latter becoming part of Blazefield Travel.
West Yorkshire Road Car operations were divided into six depots: Bradford, Leeds, Harrogate, Keighley, Malton and York.
Leeds and Bradford depots passed to the Rider Group in August 1989. The remaining four depots became Harrogate & District, Keighley & District, York City & District and Yorkshire Coastliner. The York operation was later taken over by the Rider Group in July 1990.
Expansion soon followed, with the purchase of Cambridge Coach Services in November 1991, along with 14 vehicles, and Watford-based Lucketts. Ingfield of Settle was purchased in April 1992, and was merged with Keighley-based Northern Rose to form Ingfield-Northern Rose.
Harrogate Independent Travel was set up as an independent in 1986, following the deregulation of bus services, by a number of West Yorkshire's Harrogate drivers to challenge their employer. This company was purchased in 1993, and absorbed into Harrogate & District.
In 1994, Blazefield purchased Borehamwood Travel Services, along with 43 vehicles. The company was renamed London Sovereign. By this time, the Blazefield group owned around 380 vehicles.
In 1994, Ingfield-Northern Rose bought Whaites Coaches of Settle. At the same time, Sovereign was locked in battle with Universitybus. Blazefield was also supposedly behind Petlen Travel, trading as Noddy Bus, using old Sovereign buses.
In 1996, Harrogate & District grew again, following the acquisition of Cowie Group's United operation in Ripon. In 1998, Huntingdon & District was created with the operations of Premier Buses, owned by Julian Peddle, but was sold to Cavalier of Sutton Bridge in 2004. Cambridge Coach Services was sold to National Express-owned Airlinks in 1999.
In April 2001, four garages, along with 230 vehicles were purchased from Stagecoach in Lancashire. Two new subsidiaries were formed, Burnley & Pendle with depots in Burnley and Pendle, and Lancashire United with depots in Blackburn, Bolton and Clitheroe. The depot at Bolton was subsequently sold on to Blue Bus of Horwich.
Between 2002 and 2005, Blazefield withdrew from its operations in the south of England. London Sovereign was sold to Transdev in 2002, with Huntingdon & District sold to Cavalier Travel in 2003, and operations in St. Albans sold to Centrebus in 2004. In early 2005, the Competition Commission cleared Blazefield's deal to sell what was left of Sovereign to Arriva Shires & Essex.
In January 2006, the Blazefield Group was sold to Transdev, along with 305 vehicles. In 2007, Transdev Blazefield purchased Accrington Transport, Blackburn Transport and Northern Blue.
In 2008, Transdev Blazefield purchased Top Line Travel, and Veolia's York operation, both based at the Fulford depot.
In December 2017, Rosso was purchased from Rossendale Borough Council.
Operations and fleet
As of March 2020, Transdev Blazefield has six operating subsidiaries:- Blackburn Bus Company
- Burnley Bus Company
- Coastliner
- Harrogate Bus Company
- Keighley Bus Company
- Rosso
Blackburn Bus Company
Burnley Bus Company
The Burnley Bus Company, formerly branded as Burnley and Pendle operates services in and around the boroughs of Burnley and Pendle, and into the surrounding areas including Accrington, Keighley and Manchester.In 2004, the company introduced the flagship Witch Way service which links Burnley and Rawtenstall with Manchester. They also operate Mainline, a group of services linking Burnley with destinations including Colne, Nelson and Padiham. Introduced in 2020 is Pendle Wizz. Pendle Wizz replaces the section of service between Burnley & Skipton, this had previously been part of both the Mainline & Witch Way networks.
Coastliner
Cityzap
In 2016, Transdev Harrogate introduced a new fleet of buses for the Riding Redefined 36 service, linking Ripon and Harrogate with Leeds.The vehicles used on the service were transferred to Transdev York for a new direct service between Leeds and York. The Cityzap service commenced in March 2016.
In November 2017, a second Cityzap service was launched, this time running direct from Leeds to Manchester, and operated by Burnley Bus Company. This route, however, was withdrawn in July 2018.
Coastliner
The Coastliner brand encompasses a group of long-distance services linking the cities of Leeds and York with the towns and villages of Malton, Pickering and Thornton-le-Dale in the North York Moors, as well as the coastal resorts of Scarborough and Whitby.Services commenced in January 1990, with the routes now operated by a fleet of high-specification double-deck vehicles, featuring free WiFi, audio-visual next stop announcements, leather seats, tables and charging points.
bodied Volvo B9TL, seen in the former Coastliner livery.
The Coastliner operation runs mainly from the depot in Malton, with the fleet consisting mainly of vehicles manufactured by Wrightbus.
In 2018, the route of the Coastliner 840 service between Leeds and Whitby was voted as the "most scenic bus route in Britain" in an online poll. Particular mention was made about the section across the North York Moors, between Pickering, Goathland and Whitby.
York & Country
Top Line Travel was established in May 2000, by former York Pullman manager, Peter Dew.In October 2000, Top Line Travel began to operate their first local bus services. The circular services were operated on behalf of the University of York, and provided links with the east of the city, including Heworth, Monks Cross, Tang Hall and York Hospital.
As well as operating the City Sightseeing franchise in York, the company went on to take over Guide Friday's York operations in 2002. Expansion saw the company move from two smaller depots, to a larger depot based at Fulford, in December 2002.
In 2006, Veolia successfully tendered contracts, to operate a number of local bus services in York. It agreed a deal with Top Line Travel, to share their depot in Fulford.
In June 2008, Top Line Travel was purchased by Transdev, along with the depot at Fulford, and ten open-top buses, as well as a small fleet of buses used on local and contracted services.
In August 2008, Transdev purchased Veolia's York operations, and in October 2008, both were combined under the Transdev York name.
In February 2012, Transdev York purchased the Unibus service, and open top bus services from York Pullman, further expanding the fleet.
In early 2018, Transdev York began re-branding their local bus services in the York area. Vehicles have since been painted in to a new two-tone blue livery, separated by a vertical stripe, with an orange stripe along the length of the vehicle. Vehicles also feature the new York & Country logo.
York & Country now operate a number of local bus services in and around York, as well as CastleLine, and routes 22 and 23.
The company also operates the York City Sightseeing tour, with frequent, fully electric, open-top buses running from 20 stops across the city.
The York & Country operation runs from the depot in Fulford, with the fleet consisting mainly of single-deck vehicles manufactured by Alexander Dennis and Optare – both of which are built in Yorkshire.
Long-distance services from Leeds and York to Malton, Pickering, Thornton-le-Dale, Scarborough and Whitby still operate under the Coastliner brand, with double-deck vehicles branded in a two-tone blue livery.
Harrogate Bus Company
The Harrogate Bus Company operates local bus services in and around the town of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, with some services operating with fully electric Volvo 7900E vehicles.The company also operates the flagship Riding Redefined 36 service, using high-specification Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 bodied Volvo B5TL vehicles, providing a frequent service linking Ripon and Harrogate with Leeds.
Keighley Bus Company
The Keighley Bus Company operates services in and around the towns and cities of Bradford, Leeds, Hebden Bridge, Ilkley, Keighley and Skipton.Flagship services include Aireline 60 linking Keighley and Shipley with Leeds, Dalesway 66 linking Keighley with Skipton, and theSHUTTLE 662, linking Keighley, Bingley and Shipley with Bradford.