Warrington's Own Buses is a municipal bus company which operates a network of services within the Borough of

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

and the surrounding area, including

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population o ...

Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staf ...

, Earlestown,

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

, Halton, Bolton and

Northwich {{Infobox UK place , static_image_name = Northwich - Town Bridge.jpg , static_image_caption = Town Bridge, the River Weaver and the spire of Holy Trinity Church , official_name = Northwich , country ...

. The company previously traded as Warrington Borough Transport up until 2006 and as Network Warrington between 2006 and 2018. With the launch of the 'Cheshire Cats' brand in 2018 the company rebranded as Warrington's Own Buses.

History

Warrington Corporation Tramways started operating a network of five radial tramways from the town centre in 1902, with the first motor bus service starting in 1913. Buses replaced trams on routes starting in 1931, with the infrastructure starting to require major renewal which could not be justified economically. The last tram operated in 1935. Services expanded rapidly after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

as new housing estates grew in areas such as Orford and

Great Sankey Great Sankey is a civil parish in the Borough of Warrington, Cheshire, England. It is west of Warrington town centre and had a population of 24,211 in 2001 Census.conductors into one-man operated services began in 1965.

was designated as a

new town New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

in 1968, which led to new housing estates planned in the

Birchwood Birchwood is a town in the Borough of Warrington, Cheshire, England with a population of 11,395 (as at the 2001 census). Although physically and administratively part of Warrington, the civil parish council has named itself a town council. Hi ...

and Westbrook areas of town. As such, Warrington Borough Council Transport Department started operating new services to these new developments as they started to grow in the 1970s and beyond. The department also began operating new services jointly with Crosville upon the split of the old

Stockport Stockport is a town and borough in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt and Tame merge to create the River Mersey here. Most of the town is within ...

based North Western Road Car Company in 1972. To comply with the Transport Act 1985, Warrington Borough Transport was incorporated in 1986. The company's mission was that if money could be made by operating services deemed uneconomic by other operators, then it should assume operation. This policy led to an increase in services operated as other bus companies who ran into the area decided to concentrate on their own core areas. Warrington Marshall Dart 1

Competition from other operators flared up in 1995, with Warrington Goldlines, part of the North Western bus company, duplicating the vast majority of the existing bus network and to a lesser extent MTL's Lancashire Travel subsidiary who focused on a core of 4-5 routes in the Callands and Westbrook areas near its St Helens depot in the South West of the town. In retaliation to MTL & North Western, Warrington Borough Transport commenced operating services to places such as

, St Helens,

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census had a population of 61,464. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it is on t ...

, Runcorn,

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

and

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, as well as commencing a local minibus service in

. This level of competition reduced by the Autumn of 1996 when MTL had withdrawn its Warrington services, North Western's Warrington operations scaled back and Warrington's competing services pretty much withdrawn. After eighteen months of intense competition, both companies agreed a truce. Warrington Borough Transport kept routes to Prescot and St Helens, whilst giving up operations in the Birchwood area of town, which were operated by North Western. North Western was rebranded as Arriva North West in 1997. In February 2002, Arriva North West decided to close its depot in Warrington and transferred the interurban routes to depots in

and St Helens. Warrington Borough Transport resumed operation of town routes to Birchwood, Cinnamon Brow and Woolston, but transferred the St Helens route back to Arriva. Further withdrawals by Arriva led to the takeover of routes to Leigh in 2005 and Altrincham in 2006. In 2006, the company was rebranded and became known as Network Warrington, with a new livery designed by Samantha Beeley. However, this did lead to a streamlining of other routes, both long distance and in the town centre, which were operated with increased frequencies to shorten journey times. Budget cuts by Warrington Borough Council resulted in evening services being reduced and Sunday evening services being completely withdrawn from 27 June 2010, as these services no longer received any subsidy from the council. In April 2018, the company was rebranded as Warrington's Own Buses.

Routes

Warrington's Own Buses operate 96 routes across the Warrington borough, Cheshire and Greater Manchester. With 50 of them being school/college contract routes.

Ticket types

Warrington's Own Buses offer a wide range of ticket options for passengers, including singles, returns and all day tickets. Smartcard ticketing is also available for periods up to one year.

Offices and depot

The main depot and offices for Warrington's Own Buses are located on Wilderspool Causeway at the junction with Chester Road The two main sheds to the rear of the site were originally built in 1943 for Fairey Aviation and used to assemble wings for their Fulmar bomber until they were purchased by Warrington Corporation in 1947. This site eventually became the main operational centre, with the frontage of the depot dating from 1964. The ground floor consists of a reception area and vehicle inspection bays, with the company's offices on the upper floor. The Travel Centre on the main concourse at Warrington Bus Interchange provides for season ticket sales and information. This was known locally as “Fiona’s Travel Shop until 2021”. Other facilities are located here for driving and supervisory staff maintaining the daily operational procedures of the buses and route operations.

Former

The original tram system was operated from an eight-track depot at the junction of Mersey Street and Lower Bank Street. A purpose built bus garage was constructed on Lower Bank Street in 1930, although buses were also housed in the old tram sheds following the withdrawal of trams. Despite the move to the new Wilderspool garage, the old staff canteen on Lower Bank Street remained in use until the opening of the new bus station in 1979. The building was demolished in 1981 and is today the site of a DW Sports Fitness Club.

Future

Plans have been approved for a new state of the art depot to replace the current Wilderspool Causeway depot. It will be located on Dallam Lane, bringing the depot closer to the main Warrington Interchange. In July 2021 Warrington Borough Council Cabinet approved the complex land exchanges and financing for the project.

Fleet

Network Warrington 189 BD51YCS (8738897632)

As at July 2022, Warrington's Own Buses' fleet consists of 110 vehicles.Network Warrington Fleet List
Network Warrington March 2017 The fleet is entirely low floor and the majority of vehicles in the fleet are single deck, with the oldest single decker vehicle type being the Daf SB120 Wright Cadet midibus, of which there are 20 examples. The majority of single decker buses are the newest buses in the fleet date from 2018. Other single deck types in service are the integral

Alexander Dennis Enviro200 The Alexander Dennis Enviro200 (previously known as the TransBus Enviro200) is a midibus that was manufactured by TransBus International and later Alexander Dennis between 2003 and 2018. The original TransBus Enviro200 design was innovative but ...

(25 of these vehicles in the fleet, 13 of them being Enviro200 MMC’s) Optare Versa (10 of these vehicles in the fleet, 6 being Versa Hybrid’s) the

Wright Eclipse 2 The Wright Eclipse is a low-floor single-deck bus body that was built by Wrightbus between 1999 and 2019. The second-generation Eclipse 2 was launched in 2008, followed by the third-generation Eclipse 3 in 2015. The Eclipse, and its sister desig ...

-bodied Volvo B7RLE (19 of these vehicles in the fleet) with the latter being the company's largest single deckers. On the double deck side of the fleet, Warrington's Own Buses operate ten

Volvo B7TL The Volvo B7TL is a Low-floor bus, low-floor double-decker bus chassis which was launched in 1999 and replaced the 2-axle version of the Volvo Olympian (its 3-axle version was replaced by the Volvo Super Olympian). It was built as the United King ...

s (three of these being dual door which are used on school routes) and eight DAF/VDL DB250s. The company also has thirteen Alexander Dennis Enviro 400s. All three types feature bodywork from either Alexander Dennis,

East Lancs East Lancashire Coachbuilders Limited was a manufacturer of bus bodies and carriages founded in 1934 in Blackburn, Lancashire, England. The company went into administration for a short while in August 2007, before being bought by Darwen Group a ...

Wrightbus Wrightbus is a Northern Ireland based bus manufacturer and a pioneer of the low-floor bus. The company was established in 1946 by Robert Wright and was later run by his son William Wright, until it was acquired in 2019 by British businessman ...

. Additionally, the company also maintains a heritage vehicle, a Leyland PD2/40 from 1965, used for special occasions and also available for private hire.. On the 24th of December 2019, the company obtained 2 Alexander Dennis Enviro 400City which have been in service since January 2020. The company has also recently bought a variety of other buses from companies near to Warrington, primarily for school contract services.

Branding

Including the standard fleet livery, which updated in 2018, Warrington's Own Buses has a wide range of branding, which include route specific and advertising liveries. Dedicated route liveries include: * Connect17 – routes 17/17A. * The Cheshire Cat – routes CAT5, CAT6, CAT7, CAT8 and CAT9 (including variants). * The Pops – routes 20/21. * Blueline - route 32 There is also a wide range of historical branding and liveries, which include the town's traditional dark red and ivory two-tone livery dating from 1945, with the dark red continuing to feature after the company's 2006 and 2018 re-brands. Some of company's former brands include ''Super Midi'', ''Super Mini'', ''MidiLines'' and ''Centrelink''. 187 - Volvo B7TL Duel Door On a WVR5 to Northwich

187 - Volvo B7TL Duel Door On a WVR5 to Northwich

Gallery

File:Warrington Dominator 199.jpg, A Dennis Dominator in the Warrington Borough Transport livery introduced in 1986 File:Warrington Marshall Dart 1.jpg, A Dennis Dart in the MidiLines livery introduced in 1995 File:Warrington Borough Transport 112 S112GUB (9127274288).jpg, An Optare MetroRider in the Network Warrington livery introduced in 2006 File:Network Warrington Optare Versa Hybrid 105.jpg, An Optare Versa in the "Hybrid" livery introduced in 2012

References

Bibliography

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External links

Warrington's Own Buses official website
{{authority control Bus operators in Cheshire Bus operators in Greater Manchester Bus operators in Merseyside Companies based in Warrington Transport companies established in 1902 Transport in Warrington Companies owned by municipalities of England 1902 establishments in England