The Harrogate Bus Company operates both local and regional bus services in
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...
and
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...
, England. It is a subsidiary of
Transdev Blazefield
Transdev Blazefield is a bus group, which operates local and regional bus services across Greater Manchester, Lancashire, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire, England. Formed in August 1991, the group has been a subsidiary of French-based operato ...
, which operates bus services across
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...
,
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire.
History
In November 1906, The Harrogate Road Car Company was formed. Initially operating steam-powered buses, the company adopted conventionally-fuelled petrol buses in 1911.
In 1924, the company was absorbed into
Tilling & British Automobile Traction and renamed the Harrogate & District Road Car Company. Following the company's expansion, it was further renamed
West Yorkshire Road Car Company
The West Yorkshire Road Car Company was a major bus operator operating in North Yorkshire, North and West Yorkshire between 1906 and 1987.
History West Yorkshire
The Harrogate Road Car Company was formed in 1906, running at first steam buses in ...
in 1927, to reflect the wider service area provided.
In 1948, along with other companies that were then part of the Tilling Group, West Yorkshire Road Car Company was nationalised.
In 1968, West Yorkshire Road Car Company became a subsidiary of the
National Bus Company.
In 1987, West Yorkshire Road Car Company was sold in a
management buyout
A management buyout (MBO) is a form of acquisition in which a company's existing managers acquire a large part, or all, of the company, whether from a parent company or individual. Management-, and/or leveraged buyout became noted phenomena of 1 ...
to the AJS Group, owned by former
East Yorkshire Motor Services
East Yorkshire operates both local and regional bus services in the East Riding of Yorkshire and North Yorkshire, England. Prior to acquisition by the Go-Ahead Group in June 2018, the company was known as East Yorkshire Motor Services.
History
...
managing director, Alan Stephenson. The business was split into smaller companies in December 1988, one of which became Harrogate & District Transport.
Following the
deregulation of bus services in 1986, Harrogate Independent Travel was set up by a number of West Yorkshire Road Car Company drivers, in a bid to challenge their former employer. The company was subsequently purchased by AJS Group in April 1989.
In August 1991, Harrogate & District Travel was included in the purchase of AJS Group by
Blazefield Group
Transdev Blazefield is a bus group, which operates local and regional bus services across Greater Manchester, Lancashire, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire, England. Formed in August 1991, the group has been a subsidiary of French-based operato ...
, following the sale of seven of the company's eight remaining bus firms at the time – a deal valued at £2.2 million.
In October 1996, the company further expanded, following the transfer of
Cowie Group
Arriva plc is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England.[Ripon
Ripon () is a cathedral city in the Borough of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. The city is located at the confluence of two tributaries of the River Ure, the Laver and Skell. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the city ...]
.
In April 2005, the company was awarded the contract to operate service 767, which ran between Harrogate and
Leeds Bradford Airport
Leeds Bradford Airport is located in Yeadon, in the City of Leeds Metropolitan District in West Yorkshire, England, about northwest of Leeds city centre, and about northeast from Bradford city centre. It serves Leeds and Bradford and th ...
. The contract was subsequently awarded to
Dales & District
Dales & District operates both local and regional bus services in County Durham and North Yorkshire, England. It is a subsidiary of Procters Coaches.
History
The company was founded in 1998, with the original network centring around the marke ...
in April 2010. The route is now served by the Flyer A2 service, operated by
Transdev York & Country. It was introduced in September 2020, as part of a joint partnership between Leeds Bradford Airport,
Transdev Blazefield
Transdev Blazefield is a bus group, which operates local and regional bus services across Greater Manchester, Lancashire, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire, England. Formed in August 1991, the group has been a subsidiary of French-based operato ...
and
West Yorkshire Combined Authority
The West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) is the combined authority for West Yorkshire in England. It was established by statutory instrument under the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 on 1 April 2014. It is a s ...
.
In January 2006, French-based operator
Transdev
Transdev, formerly Veolia Transdev, is a French-based international private-sector company which operates public transport. It has operations in 17 countries and territories as of November 2020.
History
The group was formed by the merger of V ...
acquired the Blazefield Group, along with 305 vehicles. Locally, the company was rebranded under the name Transdev in Harrogate.
In 2011, the company became involved in a
bus war
A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for ...
with local independent operator,
Connexionsbuses
Harrogate Coach Travel operates local and regional bus services in North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire, England.
History
Harrogate Coach Travel was established in February 2002 by Craig and Julie Temple. Initially, the company operated local bu ...
. It concerned bus services operating in and around the
market town
A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...
of
Wetherby
Wetherby () is a market town and civil parish in the City of Leeds district, West Yorkshire, England, close to West Yorkshire county's border with North Yorkshire, and lies approximately from Leeds City Centre, from York and from Harrogat ...
. In the same year, a retendering exercise by
North Yorkshire County Council
North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC) is the county council governing the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire; an area composing most of North Yorkshire in England. The council currently consists of 90 councillors. The council is current ...
saw all of the company's council contracted routes transferred to other operators. An exception was service X59, which operated between
Harrogate
Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor at ...
and
Skipton
Skipton (also known as Skipton-in-Craven) is a market town and civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the East Division of Staincliffe Wapentake in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is on the River Air ...
via
Bolton Abbey
Bolton Abbey in Wharfedale, North Yorkshire, England, takes its name from the ruins of the 12th-century Augustinian monastery now known as Bolton Priory. The priory, closed in the 1539 Dissolution of the Monasteries ordered by King Henry ...
. Initially, the service was operated commercially and at a reduced frequency, prior to its eventual withdrawal in March 2013.
In July 2016, the company was again rebranded, now operating as The Harrogate Bus Company.
In partnership with
DalesBus
DalesBus is a network of bus services, which operate in and around the Yorkshire Dales, England. The network is managed by Dales and Bowland Community Interest Company – a volunteer-run subsidiary of the Yorkshire Dales Society.
History
Dal ...
, the service between Harrogate and Skipton was reintroduced in May 2021 – the first direct service between the two towns for eight years. As of April 2022, four buses per day operate on summer Saturdays.
Services and branding
The Harrogate Bus Company
Following the rebrand of the company in 2016, a two-tone red livery was introduced for local bus services in and around the
spa town
A spa town is a resort town based on a mineral spa (a developed mineral spring). Patrons visit spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits.
Thomas Guidott set up a medical practice in the English town of Bath in 1668. H ...
of Harrogate. As well as serving as a corporate livery, it is also used as a base for other route brands including: Harrogate Electrics, The 1 (
Knaresborough
Knaresborough ( ) is a market and spa town and civil parish in the Borough of Harrogate, in North Yorkshire, England, on the River Nidd. It is east of Harrogate.
History
Knaresborough is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as ''Chenares ...
and Harrogate) and The 7 (
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
,
Wetherby
Wetherby () is a market town and civil parish in the City of Leeds district, West Yorkshire, England, close to West Yorkshire county's border with North Yorkshire, and lies approximately from Leeds City Centre, from York and from Harrogat ...
and Harrogate).
Harrogate Electrics
Local services operating in and around Harrogate are operated by a fleet of eight high-specification, fully-electric
Volvo 7900
The Volvo 7900 is an integrally-constructed single-decker rigid bus and single-decker articulated bus, most commonly available as a hybrid electric bus named Volvo 7900 Hybrid or just Volvo 7900H, but is also available with both diesel and ...
single-deck vehicles in dedicated branding. The vehicles, which were announced in February 2017, were introduced into service in July 2018. The project was funded partly by Transdev (£1.7 million), with a further £2.25 million of funding granted from the Government's Low Emission Bus Scheme.
The 1
The 1 brand encompasses a group of routes (1, 1A, 1B, 1C,1D and ''1N''), which operate between Harrogate and Knaresborough via
Starbeck. Routes operate at a combined ten minute frequency between Harrogate and Knaresborough, with services extending at a reduced frequency to Aspin (1A), Eastfield (1B), Carmires (1C) and The Pastures (1D). Services are operated by a fleet of nine
Volvo B7RLE Eclipse single-deck vehicles, branded in a two-tone red livery. Features include free WiFi, USB charging and audio-visual next-stop information.
The 7
The 7 service operates between Harrogate and Leeds via
Wetherby
Wetherby () is a market town and civil parish in the City of Leeds district, West Yorkshire, England, close to West Yorkshire county's border with North Yorkshire, and lies approximately from Leeds City Centre, from York and from Harrogat ...
. It runs at a half-hourly frequency, and is operated by a fleet of seven
Volvo B7RLE Eclipse single deck vehicles, branded in a two-tone red livery. Features include free WiFi, USB charging and audio-visual next stop announcements.
36
The 36 is one of the group's flagship services, running between Leeds and Harrogate via
Harewood up to every ten minutes, with three buses per hour extending to
Ripon
Ripon () is a cathedral city in the Borough of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. The city is located at the confluence of two tributaries of the River Ure, the Laver and Skell. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the city ...
via
Ripley. The service is operated by a fleet of sixteen high-specification
Volvo B5TL
The Volvo B5TL is a 2-axle low-floor bus, low-floor Double-decker bus, double decker built by Volvo Buses, Volvo. It replaced the Volvo B9TL, B9TL as Volvo's Euro 6 2-axle double decker product for the UK and Irish markets.
Design
The B5TL is po ...
/
Wright Gemini 3
The Wright Eclipse Gemini is a Low-floor bus, low-floor double-decker bus body that was built by Wrightbus since 2001, based on the single-deck Wright Eclipse design. The second-generation Eclipse Gemini 2 was launched in 2009, followed by the ...
double-deck vehicles, branded in a two-tone black and red livery. Features include free Wifi, USB charging and audio-visual next stop announcements.
Fleet and operations
Depots
As of April 2022, the company operates from a single depot at
Starbeck.
Vehicles
As of April 2022, the fleet consists of 59 buses and one spare ticket machine. The fleet consists of diesel-powered single and double-deck buses manufactured by
Volvo
The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...
, as well as eight high specification, fully-electric
Volvo 7900
The Volvo 7900 is an integrally-constructed single-decker rigid bus and single-decker articulated bus, most commonly available as a hybrid electric bus named Volvo 7900 Hybrid or just Volvo 7900H, but is also available with both diesel and ...
single-deck buses.
Notes
1N is a night bus only available on Saturdays
References
External links
*
Transdev Blazefield Limitedon Companies House
The Harrogate Bus Companywebsite
{{Transdev
Bus operators in North Yorkshire
Companies based in Harrogate
Transdev
Transport in Harrogate