Warrington's Own Buses
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Warrington's Own Buses is a
municipal bus company A municipal bus company is an operator of bus services owned by the local government authority. This article lists all current municipal bus companies in the United Kingdom. Most municipal bus companies disappeared between 1968 and 1974 before (o ...
which operates a network of services within the Borough of
Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...
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, southwest of Sale, Greater Manchester, Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2021 United Kingdom ce ...
,
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, Staffor ...
,
Earlestown Earlestown ( ) is a town contiguous with Newton-le-Willows in the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, Merseyside, England. At the 2011 Census the town had a population of 10,830. The towns named is derived from one of its early settlers, Hard ...
,
Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...
, Halton and
Northwich Northwich is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire West and Chester borough of Cheshire, England. It lies on the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers Weaver and Dane, east of Chester, south of Warrington and south of Ma ...
. 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 Warrington Corporation Tramways was the owner and operator of an electric tramway system in the early 20th century serving the town of Warrington, at the time a county borough of Lancashire, England. History Construction The town of Warringto ...
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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
as new housing estates grew in areas such as Orford and
Great Sankey Great Sankey is a civil parish in the Borough of Warrington in Cheshire, England. It is west of Warrington town centre and has a population of 31,600 according to the 2021 census. History The township of Great Sankey was originally a chapelry ...
. The conversion of bus routes with conductors into one-man operated services began in 1965.
Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...
was designated as a
new town New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz (South Korean band), The Boyz * New (album), ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** New (Paul McCartney song), "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * New (EP), ''New'' (EP), ...
in 1968, which led to new housing estates planned in the Birchwood 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 Crosville Motor Services was a bus operator based in the north-west of England and north and mid-Wales. History On 27 October 1906, Crosville Motor Company was formed in Chester by George Crosland Taylor and his French business associate Ge ...
upon the split of the old
Stockport Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt, Rivers Goyt and River Tame, Greater Manchester, Tame merge to create the River Mersey he ...
based North Western Road Car Company in 1972.


Warrington Bus War

To comply with the
Transport Act 1985 The Transport Act 1985 (c. 67) 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 1986. The act was created as a response to growing ...
and the ensuing deregulation of bus services, 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. 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.
Merseybus Merseybus was a bus operator running bus and coach services predominantly in and around Merseyside, England. Based at Edge Lane, Liverpool, Merseybus was formed as an "arm's length" operation of the Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive (Mers ...
' Lancashire Travel subsidiary competed with Warrington to a lesser extent, focusing 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
Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...
, St Helens,
Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2021–2022 United Kingdom censuses, 2021 census had a population of 62,400. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, ...
,
Runcorn Runcorn is an industrial town and Runcorn Docks, cargo port in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England. Runcorn is on the south bank of the River Mersey, where the estuary narrows to form the Runcorn Gap. It is upstream from the port of Live ...
,
Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...
and Liverpool, as well as commencing a local minibus service in
Northwich Northwich is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire West and Chester borough of Cheshire, England. It lies on the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers Weaver and Dane, east of Chester, south of Warrington and south of Ma ...
, receiving support from neighbouring fellow municipal . This level of competition reduced by autumn 1996: after MTL withdrew its Warrington services, North Western's Warrington operations were also scaled back, removing the source of most of Warrington Borough Transport's competition. After eighteen months of intense competition, both companies agreed a truce. Warrington Borough Transport kept routes to
Prescot Prescot is a town and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley in Merseyside, England. It lies about to the east of Liverpool city centre. At the 2001 Census, the civil parish population was 11,184 (5,265 males, 5,919 femal ...
and St Helens, whilst giving up operations in the Birchwood area of town, which were operated by North Western. North Western was rebranded as in 1997. In February 2002, Arriva North West decided to close its depot in Warrington and transferred the interurban routes to depots in Liverpool 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.


Rebranding

In 2006, the company was rebranded and became known as Network Warrington, with a new livery designed by Samantha Beeley introduced onto the operator's bus fleet. This rebrand coincided with 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, with buses adopting a stylised
wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, includin ...
logo and a livery of both bright and deep shades of red and blue. Coinciding with the introduction of 105 new
battery electric bus A battery electric bus is an electric bus that is driven by an electric motor and obtains energy from on-board batteries. Many trolleybuses use batteries as an auxiliary or emergency power source. Battery electric buses offer the potential for z ...
es to the fleet in 2024, Warrington's Own Buses replaced its livery with a yellow and black scheme intended to harmonise with the yellow and black buses of
Transport for Greater Manchester Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) is a local government body responsible for co-ordinating transport services throughout Greater Manchester in North West England. It is an executive arm of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), ...
's
Bee Network The Bee Network is an integrated transport network for Greater Manchester, comprising bus, tram, cycling and walking routes. Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) is expected to have commuter rail services joining the network in 2028. Initial ...
and
Merseytravel Merseytravel is a public transport body and the passenger transport executive of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority responsible for delivering Public transport and other transport functions in the Liverpool City Region. It was origin ...
's upcoming Metro network, giving the effect of a harmonised bus network serving
North West England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of 7,4 ...
.


Depot

The main depot and offices for Warrington's Own Buses are located in a new depot opposite the
Halliwell Jones Stadium Halliwell Jones Stadium is a rugby league stadium in Warrington, England, which is the home ground of the Warrington Wolves. It has also staged Challenge Cup semi-finals, the European Nations Final, the National League Grand Finals' Day, two g ...
on Dallam Lane, which opened in April 2023. Constructed as the second of seven Town Deal projects with central government 'levelling-up' funding, the depot is equipped with chargers to support the fleet of 105 electric buses soon to replace the operator's diesel buses, and the site is partially powered by
solar panel A solar panel is a device that converts sunlight into electricity by using photovoltaic (PV) cells. PV cells are made of materials that produce excited electrons when exposed to light. These electrons flow through a circuit and produce direct ...
s at a Warrington Borough Council
solar farm A photovoltaic power station, also known as a solar park, solar farm, or solar power plant, is a large-scale grid-connected photovoltaic power system (PV system) designed for the supply of merchant power. They are different from most building ...
in
Cirencester Cirencester ( , ; see #Pronunciation, below for more variations) is a market town and civil parish in the Cotswold District of Gloucestershire, England. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames. It is the List of ...
. The Travel Centre on the main concourse at
Warrington Bus Interchange Warrington () is an industrial town in the borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was historically part of Lancashire. It is east of Liverpool and the same distance west of Manchester ...
provides for season ticket sales and information. Other facilities are located here for driving and supervisory staff maintaining the daily operational procedures of the buses and route operations.


Former

The old bus depot was Wilderspool Causeway. The two main sheds to the rear of the site were originally built in 1943 for
Fairey Aviation The Fairey Aviation Company Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer of the first half of the 20th century based in Hayes, Hillingdon, Hayes in Middlesex and Heaton Chapel and RAF Ringway in Cheshire that designed important military aircraft ...
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 consisted of a reception area and vehicle inspection bays, with the company's offices located on the upper floor. The depot's location next to the old
Wilderspool Stadium Wilderspool Stadium was a rugby league stadium in Warrington, England. The ground was Warrington RLFC's old ground before moving to the Halliwell Jones Stadium. History In 1898, Warrington RLFC moved to the Wilderspool Stadium. A 10-year l ...
and close to the town centre led to interest from developers in redeveloping the site of the depot and the stadium during 2006. As part of this, a new depot would have been constructed at the nearby Centre Park business park, located on the other side of the Mersey but still close to Warrington town centre. Whilst Warrington Borough Transport were reported to be seriously considering the proposed move, the scheme never moved beyond the drawing board and foundered around the end of the year having failed to gain favour with council planning officers. Wilderspool Causeway depot closed with the opening of the new Dallam Lane depot in April 2023, with demolition of the site commencing in September to allow development on the site. Warrington's 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 DW Sports Fitness was a British retailing and fitness business, founded as a result of Dave Whelan's purchase of 50 JJB Sports fitness clubs with attached retail stores for £83.4 million in March 2009. The business would later encompass more t ...
club.


Fleet

As of August 2024, the Warrington's Own Buses fleet consists of 118 vehicles. The fleet is entirely low-floor and the majority of vehicles in the fleet are
single-deck bus A single-decker bus or rigid is a bus that has a single deck for passengers. Normally the use of the term ''single-decker'' refers to a standard two-axled rigid bus, in direct contrast to the use of the term double-decker bus, which is essent ...
es, with the oldest single decker vehicle type being the
Wright Cadet The Wright Cadet was a low floor midibus body built on the DAF/VDL SB120 chassis by Wrightbus between 2000 and 2008. It was sold via VDL dealer Arriva Bus & Coach. Of the 681 produced, 366 were for Arriva subsidiaries, including eight for i ...
bodied DAF SB120
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 ...
, of which there are 7 in service. Warrington Borough Council secured £21.5 million of funding from the central government's Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) scheme to replace the entire Warrington's Own Buses fleet with 105
Volvo BZL The Volvo BZL is a full-size zero tailpipe emissions battery electric bus chassis for both single-deck buses and double-deck buses, manufactured by Volvo AB since 2021. First launched in 2021 for the United Kingdom and Ireland markets, fea ...
single and double-decker
battery electric bus A battery electric bus is an electric bus that is driven by an electric motor and obtains energy from on-board batteries. Many trolleybuses use batteries as an auxiliary or emergency power source. Battery electric buses offer the potential for z ...
es bodied by
MCV Bus and Coach MCV Bus and Coach is an Egyptian manufacturer of bus bodies founded in 2002 when Manufacturing Commercial Vehicles bought some of the design rights of defunct English bus builder Marshall Bus."A Capital idea, the evolution of MCV" ''Buses Magazi ...
. Following a launch event held by council leaders in March 2024, the first of these buses began to enter service from July 2024 onwards.


Route brands

After the Warrington's Own Buses identity was introduced in 2018, the company introduced a range of dedicated route liveries. These 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


See also

*
Transport in Warrington There are various modes of transport available in Warrington. Rail Warrington has seven railway stations within its boundaries. The town has two main railway stations, Bank Quay on the London to Glasgow and Chester – Warrington – Newton-le-Wi ...
*
List of preserved Warrington buses Warrington's Own Buses, formerly Warrington Borough Transport, is a municipal bus company operating in the borough of Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, Englan ...


References


Further reading

* * * *


External links

* * {{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