Yorkshire Traction was a bus operator in

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 ...

that operated from 1902 until 2005.

History

Yorkshire_Traction_706_D706_NKY_MCW_Metrobus_-_Flickr_-_bowlagoogly

In March 1902 the Barnsley & District Electric Traction Company Limited was formed. It operated trams around the

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

area until around 1930. In 1928, prior to the trams being withdrawn, the company was renamed from the Barnsley & District Traction Company Limited (the 'electric' part of the name being dropped some years earlier). The company was affectionately referred to as 'Tracky'. In October 1968, Yorkshire Traction purchased Mexborough & Swinton Traction Company and County Motors. 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, Yorkshire Traction was sold in January 1987 to 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 ...

.YTC set to win Strathtay
''Commercial Motor'' 16 May 1991 page 20 The business subsequently expanded through purchasing other operators including: *Ridings Travel *Barnsley & District formed in July 1990 when Yorkshire Traction bought the bus business of Tom Jowitt Travel,

Wombwell Wombwell () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. The town in the 2011 census was split between a ward called Wombwell, as well as small parts that fell under two other wards called Darfield (specifically ...

* Lincolnshire RoadCar Company * Lincoln City Transport *

Yorkshire Terrier The Yorkshire Terrier (often shortened as Yorkie) is one of the smallest dog breeds of the terrier type and indeed of any dog breed. The breed developed during the 19th century in Yorkshire, England.Andrews (merged with Yorkshire Terrier in 1998) * Sheffield Omnibus (merged with Andrews in 1996) * South Riding (merged with Andrews in 1995) * Strathtay Scottish in May 1991 *Meffans Coaches (a subsidiary of Strathtay) *

London Traveller London Traveller was a bus operator in London in the late 1990s and early 2000s. It was partially owned by Yorkshire Traction, and was sold to Thorpes in October 2001. History London Traveller was formed in 1998 and initially operated local r ...

35% shareholding, sold in to

Thorpes Thorpes was an English bus operator. It operated services under contract to Transport for London. History Thorpes was a coach operator that diversified into operating bus services under contract to Transport for London in the 1990s. Their St ...

in October 2001 In December 2005, Yorkshire Traction was sold to

Stagecoach Yorkshire Stagecoach Yorkshire is an operating division of Stagecoach Group. It was formed in 2005 to take over the former Traction Group fleets in Yorkshire by Stagecoach Group, which took over Traction from Frank Carter on 14 December 2005; Yorkshi ...

. In May 2008, Stagecoach sold its

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

operations to Centrebus Holdings, it was then subsequently passed to

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 ...

Yorkshire Tiger Team Pennine operates both local and regional bus services in West Yorkshire, England. It is a subsidiary of Transdev Blazefield, which operates bus services across Greater Manchester, Lancashire, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire. History St ...

, and then to

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 ...

in 2021, who operate as

Team Pennine Team Pennine operates both local and regional bus services in West Yorkshire, England. It is a subsidiary of Transdev Blazefield, which operates bus services across Greater Manchester, Lancashire, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire. History Sta ...

. The part of the business remaining with Stagecoach was renamed Stagecoach Sheffield.Arriva unleashes its Yorkshire Tiger
''Bus & Coach Professional'' 9 October 2013

Operations

The company operated services across

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

Rotherham Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...

and into

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 ...

and eventually,

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

. From the 1974 merger of Sheffield, Rotherham and Doncaster municipal bus companies until the mid-1990s, the operating area of South Yorkshire was split between

South Yorkshire Transport South Yorkshire Transport (SYT) was a bus operator that provided services around South Yorkshire and outlying areas. The company was formed as an 'arms-length' successor of the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE) in 1986, whic ...

and Yorkshire Traction with the former dominating Sheffield and Rotherham. Through the acquisitions of Sheffield Omnibus, South Riding, Andrews and

Yorkshire Terrier The Yorkshire Terrier (often shortened as Yorkie) is one of the smallest dog breeds of the terrier type and indeed of any dog breed. The breed developed during the 19th century in Yorkshire, England.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 ...

services covering nationwide routes in addition to its regular and long established services in and out of

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to Yorkshire towns and cities. It had also operated alongside ''National Travel'', the short break holiday arm of National Bus Company. Upon privatisation, YTC launched "Yorkshire Traction's Coachlink" which became a popular choice for the short break coach holidaymaker within the region. In 1989, neighbouring operator West Riding Automobile Company left the coaching industry and sold the name "Ridings Travel", the order book and the goodwill, but no vehicles, to YTC. They merged this operation into their existing coaching unit and painted several coaches in full Ridings Travel livery.

References

*John Banks ''Prestige Series No.36 Yorkshire Traction 2''
Venture Publications
*John Banks ''Prestige Series No.5 Yorkshire Traction '

External links

Flickr galleryStagecoach YorkshireCompanies House extract company no 02065401
{{Defunct British Bus Companies 1902 establishments in England 2005 disestablishments in England Companies based in Barnsley Former bus operators in South Yorkshire

History

Operations

See also

References

External links