Wardle Transport
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Wardle Transport was a bus operator based in
Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...
,
Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...
,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. Formed in 1963 as Jack's of Norton, it expanded from 2001 to operate a network of local bus routes using over 60 vehicles.
Arriva Arriva plc is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England.Arriva Midlands Arriva Midlands is a bus operator providing services in the East Midlands and West Midlands areas of England. It is a subsidiary of Arriva UK Bus. Arriva Midlands North Operations In September 1981 Midland Red North was formed with 230 bu ...
subsidiary. Arriva stated that Wardle's identity would be retained. At the time of the takeover, Wardle employed 105 staff and operated a fleet of 64 buses and ran 18 scheduled services. A new livery of two-tone red and white applied in Arriva's corporate style was introduced in June 2011. In 2015, Arriva announced that
D&G Bus D&G Bus is a local bus operator owned by Centrebus Group and is based in Adderley Green, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. History D&G Bus was formed by David Reeves and Gerald Henderson in April 1998 initially operating four buses on two routes ...
had purchased the operations of Wardle Transport with them taking over from 9th May 2015.


History

Wardle Transport was founded in 1963 by Doug Wardle. It initially traded as Jack's of Norton, and was run alongside travel agent Wardle Travel. For its first 38 years of existence, the company operated a small fleet of minibuses on school services. In 2002 contracts to operate two routes in
Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...
were won; these were operated with three
Optare Alero The Optare Alero is a low-floor GRP monocoque minibus that was built by Optare between 2001 and 2008. It was built as an alternative to van-derived buses such as the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter. Around 300 were built in the first five years of pro ...
minibuses hired from Stoke-on-Trent City Council. One of these routes was withdrawn in 2004. Following First Potteries maximum allowable vehicles being cut, Wardle gained three school services, acquiring its first double-decker vehicles to operate the routes. A new route linking Hanley, Haywood Hospital and
Burslem Burslem ( ) is one of the six towns that along with Hanley, Tunstall, Fenton, Longton and Stoke-upon-Trent form part of the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. It is often referred to as the "mother town" of Stoke on Trent. T ...
was launched in early 2006. The route, supported by the city council, replaced a route withdrawn by another operator, but was initially found not to be commercially viable. In 2007, the company won a contract to operate services to Stoke City Football Club home matches, initially using four double-deck buses. The services proved popular and the following season saw eight buses used. Four new commercial routes were also introduced in 2008. A new direct service linking
Blurton Blurton is a district in the south of Stoke on Trent, in the English county of Staffordshire. Hollybush, Old Blurton, Blurton Farm and Newstead are the names of the areas in which make up the town known as Blurton. Education Sutherland Prim ...
to Hanley, branded as Plumline, was introduced in 2008. An
Optare Versa The Optare Versa is a low-floor midibus that was manufactured by Optare at its Sherburn-in-Elmet factory. In total 883 were produced between 2007 and 2018.Arriva Midlands Arriva Midlands is a bus operator providing services in the East Midlands and West Midlands areas of England. It is a subsidiary of Arriva UK Bus. Arriva Midlands North Operations In September 1981 Midland Red North was formed with 230 bu ...
purchased the
Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...
routes of
D&G Bus D&G Bus is a local bus operator owned by Centrebus Group and is based in Adderley Green, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. History D&G Bus was formed by David Reeves and Gerald Henderson in April 1998 initially operating four buses on two routes ...
with 46 routes and 30 buses and these were integrated into Wardle Transport. In April 2012, Wardle Transport commenced operating route X50 to
Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...
.


Services

As of October 2013 Wardle Transport operated 39 bus routes.Timetables
Wardle Transport


References


External links

*
Company website
{{Bus companies in West Midlands, state=collapsed Bus operators in Derbyshire Bus operators in Staffordshire Companies based in Stoke-on-Trent