Stagecoach in Hull

Stagecoach in Hull

Alexander ALX400 bodied Dennis Trident 2 painted in retro KHCT livery in 2009
Parent Stagecoach
Headquarters Hull
Service area Cottingham
Hedon
Kingston upon Hull
Wawne
Service type Bus services
Hubs Hull Paragon Interchange
Depots 2
Fleet 137 (February 2012)
Website www.stagecoachbus.com/Hull

Stagecoach in Hull[1] is a bus operator providing services in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is a subsidiary of Stagecoach.

History

East Lancs E Type bodied Dennis Dominator in Hull in May 1995
Fleet in original Stagecoach livery in 2001

Stagecoach in Hull's origins can be traced back to the Hull City Council owned Hull Corporation Transport, which in addition to buses, also operated trams and trolleybuses in the city.

In the late 1970s/early 1980s, Hull Corporation Transport was renamed Kingston-upon-Hull City Transport (KHCT) and, as had been the case for decades, KHCT shared Hull's bus network with National Bus Company subsidiary East Yorkshire Motor Services (EYMS). To comply with the Transport Act 1985, in 1986 the assets of KHCT were transferred to a new legal entity.[2]

At this stage co-ordination/co-operation of the Hull bus network between KHCT and EYMS, which was now owned by its management, was deemed illegal and the two operators became engaged in fierce competition from the late 1980s to the early/mid 1990s.

EYMS began to operate on much of KHCT's network of services and KHCT's position was compounded by smaller-sized competitors entering Hull's bus network, including City Traveller, Connor & Graham, Metro Citybus and Pride of the Road/North Bank Travel. These operators focused on the more profitable corridors of Hull's bus network, with elderly second-hand vehicles and in some, not all, cases a low-fare down-market image.

These operators would eventually fade away, either going bankrupt or being taken over. in particular by EYMS. As a consequence KHCT was making losses and was itself subject to a hostile takeover bid from EYMS. The bid was rejected but, faced with escalating losses and increased competition, in December 1993 Hull City Council sold KHCT to Stockton-on-Tees based Cleveland Transit.[3] This deal saw KHCT's employees a 49% stake in the business. At the time Cleveland Transit was considered one of the emerging 'groups' within the British bus industry, with acquisitions in County Durham, Teesside, Yorkshire.

In November 1994 Cleveland Transit including KHCT was sold to Stagecoach.[3]

KHCT's blue and white livery, a modified version based on Cleveland Transit's green livery, was maintained by Stagecoach. However by December 1995 KHCT been renamed Stagecoach Kingston Upon Hull, later Stagecoach in Hull, with the Stagecoach corporate livery being introduced by spring of 1996.

Until April 2013 Stagecoach in Hull operated services on the Cleveland Transit[4] when they were transferred to the Lincolnshire Road Car[1] licence.[5][6]

Fleet

As at February 2012 the fleet consisted of 137 buses.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 Companies House extract company no 232799 Lincolnshire Road Car Co Limited
  2. ↑ Companies House extract company no 1979370 Kingston upon Hull City Transport Limited
  3. 1 2 Cleveland Transit Ltd 1991 - to date tomorrows-history.com
  4. ↑ Companies House extract company no 2546698 Cleveland Transit Limited
  5. ↑ Stagecoach Licence, Route, and Timetable Changes Humber Transport 7 February 2013
  6. ↑ Notices and Proceedings Traffic Commissioner for the North Eastern Traffic Area 22 February 2013
  7. ↑ Stacecoach in Hull fleet list February 2012 pacerchaser
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