Stagecoach Merseyside is a major operator of bus services in the city of

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

and the surrounding

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Mersey Estuary and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral ...

region. It is a sub-division of Stagecoach Merseyside and South Lancashire. Stagecoach Merseyside was formed in July 2005 with the acquisition of Glenvale Transport, which in turn had initially been formed by ex- MTL managers bidding for the company, following a Competition Commission ruling that Arriva Merseyside must sell their newly acquired Gillmoss depot to preserve competition between bus operators within the Merseyside area.

History

Glenvale Transport

The fleet of the newly created Glenvale Transport mostly comprised elderly Leyland Titans and aging Dennis Darts, although efforts were made to update the fleet via an agreement with Essex-based dealer Ensignbus, seeing newer buses arrive regularly from the end of 2003 right up to the Stagecoach takeover in the summer of 2005. Several much newer buses, although in need of repair, were permanently stationed at the depot. Glenvale had an annual turnover of approximately £25 million.

Stagecoach Merseyside

On numerous occasions Stagecoach made bids for some or all of the companies making up the former MTL Trust Holdings. In June 1998 MTL sold off MTL London but Stagecoach were outbid by the then independent Metroline. When MTL went bankrupt in January 2000 Stagecoach were very interested in acquiring the company but was again outbid this time by

Arriva Arriva plc is a British multinational corporation, multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England.Stagecoach Ribble/North West service between

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Iris ...

and

Preston Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to: Places England *Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement **The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement **County Boro ...

and a Sunday only Lancashire County Council contract from

to Preston/

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre rivers, and ...

it seemed unlikely that Stagecoach would ever have significant operations on Merseyside. When rumours of a sale at Glenvale Transport surfaced around 2005 it was

FirstGroup FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.First Chester & The Wirral and First Greater Manchester - which at the time had a school bus division in nearby Kirkby, the Go-Ahead Group and

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 ...

who at the time were bidding for Merseytravel's cancelled

Merseytram Merseytram was a proposed light rail system for Merseyside, England. Originally proposed in 2001, forming part of the Merseyside Local Transport Plan, it was to consist of three lines, connecting the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley with central ...

scheme who seemed like the front runners to buy Glenvale Transport. However, on 13 July 2005, Glenvale Transport accepted a reported £3.4 million cash offer for the company from the

Stagecoach Group Stagecoach Group is a transport group based in Perth, Scotland. It operates buses, express coaches and a tram service in the United Kingdom. History Stagecoach was born out of deregulation of the British express coach market in the early ...

who in turn agreed to absorb Glenvale's debt of approximately £7 million. Rebranded Stagecoach Merseyside, Glenvale Transport Limited was retained as the company's legal name and introduced 75 new

low-floor Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" (i. ...

Plaxton Pointer-bodied Dennis Dart buses to replace elderly step entrance buses. In late January 2013 Stagecoach purchased First Chester & The Wirral bus operations in and these now operate as part of Stagecoach Merseyside.

Industrial Action

Industrial Action was intended to be undertaken in the

area by Stagecoach staff at their Gilmoss depot in July 2022 as a result of the UK cost of living crisis, however staff voted to accept an offer that the company had made.

Fleet

Stagecoach Merseyside MAN Enviro300 PO59 HXV

As of August 2015 the fleet consisted of 148 buses, which are operated from a single depot in

Gillmoss Gillmoss is an area in north Liverpool, Merseyside, England, located between Croxteth, Fazakerley and Kirkby. Description Gillmoss is a predominantly industrial area with little residential housing although pockets exist around the East Lancashir ...

References

External links

Stagecoach Merseyside official website
{{Bus companies in North West England Stagecoach Group bus operators in England Bus operators in Merseyside