Stagecoach Merseyside
 | This article may rely excessively on sources too closely associated with the subject, potentially preventing the article from being verifiable and neutral. (May 2022) |
 A Stagecoach Merseyside Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC and Enviro200 at Liverpool One bus station in January 2020 | |
| Parent | Stagecoach Group |
|---|---|
| Founded | Glenvale Transport (2001) Stagecoach in Merseyside (2005) Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire (2011) |
| Headquarters | Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire, Gillmoss Depot, East Lancashire Road, Liverpool |
| Service area | Merseyside, Lancashire, Cheshire, North Wales, Wirral |
| Service type | Local bus services |
| Destinations | Liverpool, Knowsley, Sefton, St Helens, West Lancashire |
| Fleet | Approximately 200 |
| Operator | Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire |
| Website | http://www.stagecoachbus.com/merseyside |
Stagecoach Merseyside is a major operator of bus services in the city of Liverpool and the surrounding Merseyside region. It is a sub-division of Stagecoach Merseyside and South Lancashire.
Stagecoach Merseyside was formed in July 2005 with the acquisition of Glenvale Transport, which in turn had initially been formed by ex-MTL managers bidding for the company, following a Competition Commission ruling that Arriva Merseyside must sell their newly acquired Gillmoss depot to preserve competition between bus operators within the Merseyside area.
History
Glenvale Transport
The fleet of the newly created Glenvale Transport mostly comprised elderly Leyland Titans and aging Dennis Darts, although efforts were made to update the fleet via an agreement with Essex-based dealer Ensignbus, seeing newer buses arrive regularly from the end of 2003 right up to the Stagecoach takeover in the summer of 2005. Several much newer buses, although in need of repair, were permanently stationed at the depot.[1] Glenvale had an annual turnover of approximately £25 million.[2]
Stagecoach Merseyside
On numerous occasions Stagecoach made bids for some or all of the companies making up the former MTL Trust Holdings. In June 1998 MTL sold off MTL London but Stagecoach were outbid by the then independent Metroline. When MTL went bankrupt in January 2000 Stagecoach were very interested in acquiring the company but was again outbid this time by Arriva.
Apart from a Stagecoach Ribble/North West service between Southport and Preston and a Sunday only Lancashire County Council contract from Liverpool to Preston/Blackpool it seemed unlikely that Stagecoach would ever have significant operations on Merseyside. When rumours of a sale at Glenvale Transport surfaced around 2005 it was FirstGroup with its nearby operations First Chester & The Wirral and First Greater Manchester - which at the time had a school bus division in nearby Kirkby, the Go-Ahead Group and Transdev who at the time were bidding for Merseytravel's cancelled Merseytram scheme who seemed like the front runners to buy Glenvale Transport. However, on 13 July 2005, Glenvale Transport accepted a reported £3.4 million cash offer[3] for the company from the Stagecoach Group who in turn agreed to absorb Glenvale's debt of approximately £7 million.[2] Rebranded Stagecoach Merseyside, Glenvale Transport Limited was retained as the company's legal name and introduced 75 new low-floor Plaxton Pointer-bodied Dennis Dart buses to replace elderly step entrance buses.[4] The management of Stagecoach Merseyside as GTL had become - although Glenvale Transport Ltd is still the company's legal lettering, was passed to Stagecoach UK Bus MD Les Warneford, and Tom Wileman, Regional Director, Stephen Riggans, formerly of Arriva UK Bus, would later become Managing Director.
In late January 2013 Stagecoach purchased First Chester & The Wirral bus operations in and these now operate as part of Stagecoach Merseyside.[5]
Fleet
As of August 2015 the fleet consisted of 148 buses, which are operated from a single depot in Gillmoss.[6][needs update]
References
- ^ "Merseyside Dennis Dart - Archive 26". Merseyside Dennis Dart. Archived from the original on 21 October 2008. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
- ^ a b "Glenvale goes to Stagecoach". Bus & Coach Professional. 15 August 2005. Archived from the original on 15 December 2007. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
- ^ "Merseyside Dennis Dart - Archive 19". Merseyside Dennis Dart. Archived from the original on 20 October 2008. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
- ^ "Stagecoach invests in Glenvale fleet". Bus & Coach Professional. 15 August 2005. Archived from the original on 26 October 2007. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
- ^ "About Stagecoach | Stagecoach".
- ^ "Stagecoach Merseyside". Merseyside Dennis Dart Website. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
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