Preston BusCompanies House extract company no 2004022
Preston Bus Limited formerly Preston Borough Transport Limited is a bus operator running in the city of Preston, England, and surrounding areas. It is a subsidiary of

Rotala Rotala plcCompanies House extract company no 5338907
Rot ...

. It gained some notoriety in 2009 when the

Competition Commission The Competition Commission was a non-departmental public body responsible for investigating mergers, markets and other enquiries related to regulated industries under competition law in the United Kingdom. It was a competition regulator under t ...

ordered

Stagecoach A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are dra ...

to sell it.

History

Preston Bus bus 133 (A33 MRN), MMT Rear Engined 50 event

Preston Bus was founded in June 1904 as Preston District Travel and operated a number of services in the Preston area. To comply with the

Transport Act 1985 The Transport Act 1985 was an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom. It introduced privatised and deregulated bus services throughout Great Britain and came into effect in October of 1986. The Act was created as a response to growing concern ...

, in 1986 the assets were transferred to a new legal entity, Preston Borough Transport Limited. In 1993, it was sold in 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 o ...

. In 2006, Preston Bus was subject to some high-profile competition from

Stagecoach North West Stagecoach North West was a major operator of bus services in North West England. It was a subsidiary of the Stagecoach Group, and had its origins in the purchase of Cumberland in 1987 and Ribble Motor Services in 1988 from the National Bus C ...

. Competition escalated into a

bus war A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for char ...

with Stagecoach offering lower fares on the busiest routes. The managing director of Preston Bus was concerned Stagecoach could force his company out of business. Both companies accused each other of unprofessional behaviour. On 10 June 2008, the two companies agreed to a code of practice by the traffic commissioner. The competition continued, with Stagecoach operating routes within Preston and Preston Bus commencing a service between Preston and

Penwortham Penwortham () is a town in South Ribble, Lancashire, England, on the south bank of the River Ribble facing the city of Preston. The town is at the most westerly crossing point of the river, with major road and rail links crossing it here. T ...

, and a limited service between Preston and

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 ...

, duplicating existing Stagecoach routes. On 23 January 2009, Preston Bus was sold to Stagecoach. The routes operated by Preston Bus were rebranded as

Stagecoach in Preston Stagecoach in Preston was a network of bus routes running within the city of Preston, Lancashire and into the surrounding area. It was founded in 2009 after Stagecoach Group acquired Preston Bus that was founded in 1904. The company operated fro ...

from March 2009. In November 2009 the

ruled that the takeover by Stagecoach had adversely affected competition in the area and ordered Stagecoach sell Preston Bus. Following this ruling, the Preston Bus name and logo was reinstated and the company was operated at arm's length from the main Stagecoach business. In January 2011 Preston Bus was sold to

Rotala Rotala plcCompanies House extract company no 5338907
Rot ...

Fleet

The Preston Bus fleet was originally all double deckers, but latterly the company moved to single deckers and minibuses, with the most common vehicle in 2008 being the

Optare Solo The Optare Solo is a low-floor minibus/midibus with one or two doors manufactured by Optare in the United Kingdom since 1998. The Solo name is a play on its low-floor status, the manufacturer marketing its vehicle as having an entrance that is ...

midibus A midibus is a classification of single-decker minibuses which are generally larger than a traditional minibus but smaller than a full-size single decker and can be anywhere between and long. While used in many parts of the world, the mi ...

. As at February 2014, the fleet consisted of 102 buses.Preston Bus
North West Buses Until the 1970s, fleet livery was cream and red when a blue and cream scheme was introduced. Upon the sale to Rotala, a cream, green and blue livery was introduced in 2011.

References

External links

Preston Bus website
{{City of Preston culture Bus operators in Lancashire Companies based in Preston Rotala Bus wars Transport companies established in 1904 Transport in the City of Preston 1904 establishments in England