The West Riding Automobile Company was a bus company that served the

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...

area of

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, England from 1922.

Company history

The West Riding Automobile Company was formed as a subsidiary of the Yorkshire (West Riding) Electric Tramways Company, which was founded in 1904 to operate electric

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

way services in the area.Arriva Yorkshire
Arriva However, by the 1920s, there was a decline in the use of tramways, and the West Riding Automobile Company was formed to operate bus services from its bases in

and

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the town centre the River Calder joins the ...

. Twenty-two

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 ...

4-ton vehicles were purchased at a cost of £30,000, and services began in April 1922. The speed of changeover was rapid, with the Castleford tramway system being abandoned just three years later. The company purchased its rival J Bullock & Sons of

Featherstone Featherstone is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, two miles south-west of Pontefract. Historic counties of England, Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, in 2011 ...

in 1950, doubling the size of its fleet. In 1952, West Riding funded the construction of

Wakefield bus station Wakefield Bus Station serves the city of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. The bus station is owned and operated by Arriva Yorkshire. It is situated at next to Marsh Way A61 and the city's new market and can be accessed from both Marsh Way a ...

close to the Bull Ring at a cost of £60,000. By the mid-1950s, the company was the largest British operator to be in private hands. In 1967 it was acquired 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 became part of the National Bus Company on 1 January 1969. After local government reorganisation in 1974, the company worked with the

West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive Metro is the passenger information brand used by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority in England. It was formed on 1 April 1974 as the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (WYPTE) at the same time as the metropolitan county of West Yor ...

which organised services in the area. As part of the

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 ...

of the National Bus Company, West Riding was sold to Caldaire Holdings. In 1995, it was sold to

British Bus British Bus was a bus group in the United Kingdom. It was sold to the Cowie Group in August 1996. History British Bus was founded in November 1992 when the Drawlane Transport Group split its bus interests from its National Express in the lead u ...

, which in turn passed to the

Cowie Group Arriva plc is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England.Cowie buys British Bus for £282m
''Herald Scotland'' 1 August 1996 West Riding was later rebranded as

Arriva Yorkshire Arriva Yorkshire is a major bus operator providing services primarily within and across West Yorkshire, although it also provides service in some parts of South Yorkshire, East Riding of Yorkshire and southern areas of North Yorkshire. It is a ...

. During its period of operation, West Riding has also had financial interests in a variety of other local operators, including Compass Bus, South Yorkshire Road Transport Company and Yorkshire Woollen.

Vehicles

The West Riding Company used a variety of vehicles, including those produced by Guy,

, AEC and Daimler, although in later years it tended to prefer those produced by Leyland. The company was involved in the development of the Guy Wulfrunian from 1959 onwards, and purchased 126 of the 137 vehicles produced and acquired a further 6 second hand.

References

External links

Flickr gallery
{{Defunct British Bus Companies Companies based in Wakefield Defunct companies based in Yorkshire 1922 establishments in England Former bus operators in West Yorkshire