The West Yorkshire Road Car Company was a major bus operator operating in
North
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.
Etymology
The word ''north ...
and
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...
between 1906 and 1987.
History
West Yorkshire
The Harrogate Road Car Company was formed in 1906, running at first
steam bus
A steam bus is a bus powered by a steam engine. Early steam-powered vehicles designed for carrying passengers were more usually known as steam carriages, although this term was sometimes used to describe other early experimental vehicles too.
...
es in
Harrogate
Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor attractions include its spa ...
, then petrol buses which were introduced in 1911. In 1924, the company was absorbed into the
Tilling & British Automobile Traction group, and its name changed to Harrogate & District Road Car Company. With the company's expansion during the following years, its name was changed to West Yorkshire Road Car Company in 1927, to reflect its wider geographical spread.
In the 1930s joint arrangements with Keighley Corporation and
York City Council resulted in the formation of
Keighley-West Yorkshire and
York-West Yorkshire.
In 1948, the Tilling Group sold its bus interests to the government. West Yorkshire therefore became a state-owned company, under the control of the
British Transport Commission
The British Transport Commission (BTC) was created by Clement Attlee's post-war Labour government as a part of its nationalisation programme, to oversee railways, canals and road freight transport in Great Britain (Northern Ireland had the se ...
.
On 1 January 1963, West Yorkshire was included in the transfer of the British Transport Commission's transport assets to the state-owned
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 ...
. In 1967. the
Samuel Ledgard
Samuel Ledgard (1874–1952) was a Leeds entrepreneur who became a major West Yorkshire Independent bus operator. Following his death in 1952, his executors continued to operate the Samuel Ledgard bus company until 1967, when it was acquired by t ...
bus company was purchased. On 1 January 1969, West Yorkshire was included in the transfer of the Transport Holding Company to the
National Bus Company.
On 3 May 1970, services that had been operated by
Hebble Motor Services out of their Park Lane garage, were taken over by the West Yorkshire. The Hebble personnel from this takeover were also offered positions with the West Yorkshire in Bradford.
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 Yorkshire 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 ...
to the AJS Group in 1987. In December 1988, West Yorkshire was split into smaller companies:
York City & District,
Harrogate & District,
Keighley & District and
Yorkshire Coastliner
Transdev York & Country (also known as Yorkshire Coastliner) operates both local and regional bus services in North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire, England. It is a subsidiary of Transdev Blazefield, which operates bus services across Greater Man ...
. York City & District was sold to
Yorkshire Rider
Yorkshire Rider was a bus company in West Yorkshire, England.
History
To comply with the Transport Act 1985, the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive transferred its bus operations to an arms length company named Yorkshire Rider on 26 ...
in July 1990 and the remainder of AJS was sold to
Blazefield Holdings in July 1991. Blazefield were subsequently bought by Transdev in January 2006.
Keighley-West Yorkshire
In 1932, negotiations between Keighley Corporation and West Yorkshire led to a joint company being formed called Keighley-West Yorkshire Services. This new company absorbed all the local services in and around Keighley, but West Yorkshire Road Car Co kept its longer distance routes.
The
1974 Local Government reorganisation led to Keighley Corporation's interest in the joint company passing to West Yorkshire Road Car Co, with 'Keighley' disappearing as part of the fleet name on local buses for the first time.
York-West Yorkshire
In 1934, the York-West Yorkshire Joint Committee was formed as a joint venture with
York City Council. When the National Bus Company was formed in January 1969, it was operating three services in York: National Bus, West Yorkshire Road Car Co (rural areas, Leeds and the East coast), and the York-West Yorkshire joint service.
The
1980
Events January
* January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission.
* January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC.
* January 9 ...
,
1981
Events January
* January 1
** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union.
** Palau becomes a self-governing territory.
* January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...
and
1985
The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** The Internet's Domain Name System is created.
** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...
Transport Acts, gradually deregulated the bus companies. The joint service with York and the City Council could no longer operate and York City Council's interest was sold to West Yorkshire.
History
First York
Services
A 1966 timetable can be viewed online at https://timetableworld.com/ttw-viewer?token=b28f6373-a8ce-4d9b-9064-d30eaec23244
Fleet numbering
Up to 1954, fleet identification was purely numerical. In April 1954 the fleet was renumbered using type identification letters in addition to sequence numbering.[Jenkinson K.A (1987). ''Northern Rose – The history of West Yorkshire Road Car Co Ltd.'' Bradford: Autobus review Publications ]
The first letter denoted the body type: D ( double decker), S ( single decker), E (express, or dual purpose), C (coach
Coach may refer to:
Guidance/instruction
* Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities
* Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process
** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers
Transportation
* Coac ...
)
The second letter generally denoted engine type: B (Bristol
Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Glouces ...
), G ( Gardner), A, ( AEC or Albion
Albion is an alternative name for Great Britain. The oldest attestation of the toponym comes from the Greek language. It is sometimes used poetically and generally to refer to the island, but is less common than 'Britain' today. The name for Scot ...
), F (Ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
), P (Petrol
Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organic c ...
)
The third letter (if present) was L ( long) or W ( wide)
So, for example, Bristol KSW6B reg no. KWU 361 was given a fleet number of ''DBW5''.
In addition to the rules above, Keighley- and York-West Yorkshire bus fleet numbers were prefixed with K or Y as appropriate so, for example, Keighley-West Yorkshire Bristol K6B reg no. GWX 125 was given a fleet number of ''KDB30''.
Over the years, several exceptions to these rules evolved, including DX (Double deck eXperimental), used to denote Bristol Lodekka
The Bristol Lodekka was a half-cab low-height step-free double-decker bus built by Bristol Commercial Vehicles in England. It was the first production bus design to have no step up from the passenger entrance throughout the lower deck; alth ...
buses, SUG/EUG/CUG (Single-decker/Express/Coach Underfloor-engined Gardner), SMA/SMG (Single-decker Mid-engined Albion/Gardner), SRG (Single-decker Rear-engined Gardner), VR (Vertical Rear-engined – Bristol VR type)
In October 1971 the fleet was again renumbered and the class identification letters disappeared as the fleet identifiers once again reverted to purely numerical system.
Garages
West Yorkshire had a number of garages during its existence. In April 1958, vehicles were fitted with small coloured discs next to their fleet number to identify their main garage.
References
External links
*
Flickr galleryWest Yorkshire Information ServiceWest Yorkshire Road Car Online Reunion Website
{{Defunct British Bus Companies
Companies based in Harrogate
Defunct companies based in Yorkshire
1906 establishments in England
1987 disestablishments in England
Former bus operators in West Yorkshire
Former bus operators in North Yorkshire
British companies disestablished in 1987
British companies established in 1906