Burnley Bus Company

The Burnley Bus Company operates both local and regional bus services in Greater Manchester and Lancashire, England. It is a subsidiary of Transdev Blazefield, which operates bus services across Greater Manchester, Lancashire, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire.

History

In August 1924, the Burnley Corporation Transport operated their first bus service between Rawtenstall and Burnley Summit. The Burnley, Colne & Nelson Joint Transport Committee was established in April 1933, merging the three municipal tramway and bus operations of the respective towns. The tramway network was progressively abandoned, with the last closing in May 1935.

Following local government reorganisation in April 1974, the boroughs of Colne and Nelson were amalgamated to form the present-day Borough of Pendle. Subsequently, transport operation became known as the Burnley & Pendle Joint Transport Committee.

In 1986, as part of the deregulation of bus services and to comply with the Transport Act 1985, the company's assets were transferred to a new legal entity. The operation was rebranded as the Burnley & Pendle Transport Company.

Deregulation opened Burnley & Pendle's routes to competition from other operators, with Blackburn Transport, Tyrer Tours and Victoria Coaches establishing competing services. To stave off the competition, five AEC Routemaster double-deck vehicles were purchased, with each named after a character from the television series ''EastEnders''.

Deregulation also saw many Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive services contracted out. Burnley & Pendle successfully tendered a number of routes with operations extending to Blackburn, Bury, Manchester, Preston, Rawtenstall, Rochdale and Skipton.

In April 1996, Pendle Borough Council sold their share of the company to Stagecoach. Burnley Council was unhappy with the decision, and stated that they would never consider selling their share. In response, Stagecoach proposed up a multi-million pound investment plan for the area, but Burnley Council could not meet their share unless it cut other council-supported services.

In March 1997, Burnley Council reversed their decision and sold out to Stagecoach – a deal valued at £2.85 million. Initially branded Stagecoach Burnley & Pendle, the company was encompassed within Stagecoach Ribble in May 2000.

In April 2001, Stagecoach sold their operations in Blackburn, Bolton and Clitheroe to the Blazefield Group, which rebranded them as Burnley & Pendle and Lancashire United. The sale was valued at £13 million. Prior to the sale, many of the newer vehicles purchased following earlier investment by Stagecoach were transferred to other subsidiaries, being replaced by older vehicles.

Following the sale, Blazefield Group purchased a total of 15 Volvo B7TL/Plaxton President double-deck and 25 Volvo B10BLE/Wright Renown single-deck vehicles, as part of a fleet renewal program.

In January 2006, French-based operator Transdev acquired the Blazefield Group, along with 305 vehicles. Locally, the company was rebranded under the name Transdev in Burnley & Pendle.

In August 2006, Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council announced that after 125 years of municipal ownership, Blackburn Transport had been sold to Transdev Blazefield. The sale was finalised in January 2007.

In August 2007, Accrington Transport and Northern Blue were acquired, along with the transfer of staff and 65 vehicles. In September 2009, Transdev Northern Blue was integrated into the Transdev Burnley & Pendle business.

In July 2017, the company was again rebranded, now operating as The Burnley Bus Company.

Services and branding

The Burnley Bus Company

In July 2017, a rebrand of the company commenced. Starting with the introduction of a new fleet of Optare Versa