United Automobile Services was a bus company, which operated local and regional bus services in
County Durham
County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly â€About North East E ...
,
Cumbria
Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...
,
Northumberland
Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey.
It is bordered by land on ...
,
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
Tyne and Wear
Tyne and Wear () is a metropolitan county in North East England, situated around the mouths of the rivers Tyne and Wear. It was created in 1974, by the Local Government Act 1972, along with five metropolitan boroughs of Gateshead, Newcastl ...
, England. It provided bus services across a wide geographical area, stretching from the
border town
A border town is a town or city close to the boundary between two countries, states, or regions. Usually the term implies that the nearness to the border is one of the things the place is most famous for. With close proximities to a different cou ...
of
Berwick-upon-Tweed
Berwick-upon-Tweed (), sometimes known as Berwick-on-Tweed or simply Berwick, is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, and the northernmost town in England. The 2011 United Kingdom census recor ...
in the north,
Filey
Filey () is a seaside town and civil parish in the Borough of Scarborough in North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the East Riding of Yorkshire, it is located between Scarborough and Bridlington on Filey Bay. Although it was a fishing ...
in the south, and
Carlisle
Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...
in the west.
History
The company was founded in
Lowestoft
Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the most easterly UK settlement, it is north-east of London, north-east of Ipswich and sou ...
,
Suffolk
Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...
in May 1912, with two routes. One route operated in Suffolk, with the other operating over 200 miles away in
County Durham
County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly â€About North East E ...
, between
Bishop Auckland
Bishop Auckland () is a market town and civil parish at the confluence of the River Wear and the River Gaunless in County Durham, northern England. It is northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham.
Much of the town's early history surro ...
and
Durham Durham most commonly refers to:
*Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham
*County Durham, an English county
* Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States
*Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...
.
During the 1920s, the company expanded in
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...
and
Norfolk
Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
, as well as County Durham,
Northumberland
Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey.
It is bordered by land on ...
and
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 ...
.
In 1929, control passed to the
Tilling Group
The Tilling Group was one of two conglomerates that controlled almost all of the major bus operators in the United Kingdom between World Wars I and II and until nationalisation in 1948.
Tilling, together with the other conglomerate, British El ...
and the
London and North Eastern Railway
The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after LMS) of the " Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It operated from 1 January 1923 until nationalisation on 1 January 1948. At th ...
, and in 1931 the new owners split off the East Anglian operations into a separate company, Eastern Counties Omnibus Company.
United also started East Midland Motor Services. This came about through the desire to expand. One of their managers, W.T. Underwood, was sent to
Clowne
Clowne is a village and civil parish in the Bolsover district of Derbyshire, England. The population at the 2001 Census was 7,447 increasing to 7,590 (and including Harlesthorpe) at the 2011 Census. It forms part of the Bolsover constituency. ...
(near
Chesterfield
Chesterfield may refer to:
Places Canada
* Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan
* Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom
* Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England
** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...
) to set up a bus company in his own name. The Underwoods company later became East Midland.
United was nationalised in 1948, and controlled first by the
British Transport Commission
The British Transport Commission (BTC) was created by Clement Attlee's post-war Labour government as a part of its nationalisation programme, to oversee railways, canals and road freight transport in Great Britain (Northern Ireland had the se ...
, from 1 January 1963 by the
Transport Holding Company
The Transport Holding Company (THC) was a British Government-owned company created by the Transport Act 1962 to administer a range of state-owned transport, travel and engineering companies that were previously managed by the British Transport C ...
, and from 1 January 1969 by the National Bus Company.
The company ran vehicles from its head office in Darlington and garages across their area, including Durham,
Hartlepool
Hartlepool () is a seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is the largest settlement and administrative centre of the Borough of Hartlepool. With an estimated population of 90,123, it is the second-largest settlement in County ...
,
Whitby
Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...
and
Peterlee
Peterlee is a town in County Durham, England. It lies between Sunderland to the north, Hartlepool to the south, the Durham Coast to the east and Durham to the west. It gained town status in 1948 under the New Towns Act 1946. The act also cre ...
amongst others. Most of those vehicles were
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
bodies, the LH and VR being common vehicles. Another vehicle commonly used was the
Leyland National
The Leyland National is an integrally-constructed United Kingdom, British high-floor, step-floor single-decker bus manufactured in large quantities between 1972 and 1985. It was developed as a joint project between two UK nationalised industri ...
. United were one of only three operators (and the only English operator) to buy the
Bristol REMH
The Bristol RE was a rear-engined single-decker bus or single-decker coach chassis built by Bristol Commercial Vehicles from 1962 until 1982. It is often considered the most successful of the first generation of rear-engined single-decker buse ...
Dodge
Dodge is an American brand of automobiles and a division of Stellantis, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Dodge vehicles have historically included performance cars, and for much of its existence Dodge was Chrysler's mid-priced brand above P ...
and
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...
minibuses were purchased by United for use on local services. Some routes replaced existing "big bus" services, with others operating on brand new services, which were competitive with those already operated by the local authority – notably in
Darlington
Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town.
In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...
and
Hartlepool
Hartlepool () is a seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is the largest settlement and administrative centre of the Borough of Hartlepool. With an estimated population of 90,123, it is the second-largest settlement in County ...
.
Most of these minibuses were branded with names such as Roadranger (Darlington), Hoppa (Hartlepool), Panther (
Peterlee
Peterlee is a town in County Durham, England. It lies between Sunderland to the north, Hartlepool to the south, the Durham Coast to the east and Durham to the west. It gained town status in 1948 under the New Towns Act 1946. The act also cre ...
) and Clipper (
Whitby
Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...
), amongst others. These new minibus routes ran around housing estates to a
Hail and Ride
In public transport in the United Kingdom and Australia, hail and ride is boarding or alighting a mode of public transport by signalling the driver or conductor that one wishes to board or alight, rather than the more conventional system of using ...
system and after some initial controversy, these services proved successful for United, most notably in Darlington where the minibus network was hugely expanded.
In the lead up to
privatisation
Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...
, the Northumberland and Scarborough areas were separated into two new companies, Northumbria Motor Services and Scarborough & District in 1986, with the latter then being transferred to
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
...
.
On 2 December 1987, as part of the privatisation of the National Bus Company, United was sold to Caldaire Holdings who had earlier purchased
West Riding Automobile Company
The West Riding Automobile Company was a bus company that served the Wakefield area of Yorkshire, England from 1922.
Company history
The West Riding Automobile Company was formed as a subsidiary of the Yorkshire (West Riding) Electric Tramways ...
.
In 1990, operations in
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
and
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area.
Until the early 1800s, the a ...
were separated and renamed Tees & District, with the
Stockton-on-Tees
Stockton-on-Tees, often simply referred to as Stockton, is a market town in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham, England. It is on the northern banks of the River Tees, part of the Teesside built-up area. The town had an estimated ...
depot operating under the Teesside Motor Services brand.
In 1992, United was sold to the Westcourt Group. It was sold in 1995 to
National Express
National Express Group is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Birmingham, England. It operates bus, coach, train and tram services in the United Kingdom, Ireland (National Express operates Eurolines in conjunction ...
, and again in 1996 to the
Cowie Group
Arriva plc is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England.History - North East Arriva North East Today it is part of
Arriva North East
Arriva North East operates both local and regional bus services in County Durham, Cumbria, Northumberland, North Yorkshire and Tyne and Wear, England. It is a subsidiary of Arriva UK Bus, which operates bus and coach services across the United K ...
.
Former Operating Areas
In the 1985 official fleet book, United's operations were shown as split into three operating areas; Northumberland, Durham, and Cleveland.The Official UNITED fleet book (1985 edition)
Northumberland
Depots and Outstations
* Allenheads (Outstation) - The Barn
* Alnwick - Lisburn Street
* Ashington - Lintonville Terrace
* Berwick - Marygate
* Blyth - Bridge Street
* Hexham - Burn Lane
* Morpeth - Dark Lane
* Newcastle (Gallowgate) - Gallowgate
* Newcastle (Jesmond) - Portland Terrace
* Rothbury - High Street
* Seahouses (Outstation) - Public Car Park
* Whitley Bay - Park Avenue
* Wooler - South Road
Durham
Depots and Outstations
* Barnard Castle (Outstation) - Thorngate
* Bishop Auckland - Morland Street
* Darlington - Bus Station, Feethams
* Durham - Waddington Street
* Hawes (Outstation) - Gayle Lane
* Newton Aycliffe (Outstation) – Ridgeway
* Northallerton - Brompton Road
* Peterlee - Davey Drive
* Richmond - Station Yard
* Ripon - Park Street
* Shotton Colliery - Flemming Field (1930s)
* Sunderland - Toward Road
Cleveland
Depots and Outstations
* Hartlepool - Clarence Road
* Loftus - Whitby Road
* Middlesbrough - Union Street
* Pickering (Outstation) - Thornton Road
* Redcar - Regent Street
* Scarborough - Vernon Road
* Stokesley - North Road
* Whitby - Upgang Lane
Cumbria
*Carlisle - Lowther Street- routes east of Carlisle towards Newcastle and Carlisle Town Hall to Botcherby estate