Transdev Northern Blue was a bus operator operating around

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

between July 1999 and August 2009.

History

Northern Blue was formed by two former employees of Blackburn Transport. It began operating on 15 November 1999, in competition with Blackburn Transport (BBT) from a base in

Oswaldtwistle Oswaldtwistle ( "ozwel twizzel") is a town in the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England, southeast of Blackburn, contiguous with Accrington. The town has a rich industrial heritage, being home to James Hargreaves, inventor of the spinning j ...

. After two months fierce competition on BBT's mainline, service 346 (now spot on route 1) operating between

Accrington Accrington is a town in the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England. It lies about east of Blackburn, west of Burnley, east of Preston, north of Manchester and is situated on the culverted River Hyndburn. Commonly abbreviated by locals to ...

and

Darwen Darwen is a market town and civil parish in the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The residents of the town are known as "Darreners". The A666 road, A666 road passes through Darwen towards Blackburn to the north, Bolton to ...

via

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the River Ribble, Ribble Valley, east of Preston ...

, Northern Blue sold out their initial business to BBT, and began to concentrate on school contracts and some coaching work. In August 2000, the Status Group, which traded in the Lancashire area as Border Buses, decided to pull out of the area. It operated from a base in Burnley. Having already won some contracted service work in the Burnley area, Northern Blue acquired the Border Buses and Viscount Central businesses from the Stratus Group and took over its base at Dean Mill. Northern Blue dropped the Border Buses name, but kept the Viscount Central name going for a number of years. The bus side of the business continued to trade as Northern Blue and was expanded greatly. A number of local bus services and school contracts have been operated, mainly on behalf of

Lancashire County Council Lancashire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire, England. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashire is smaller than the ceremonial county, which additionally includes Blackburn with Dar ...

. The coaching unit and the Viscount Central name were sold in September 2005 to the Coach Centre, Accrington. Northern Blue operated a large number of school contracts for Lancashire County Council as well as some commercial and non-commercial service work and through associated company Lancashire County Transport trading as Accrington Transport, operated a network of routes in the

Hyndburn Hyndburn is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district with borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Lancashire, England. Its council is based in Accrington, the largest town, and the borough also covers the outlying ...

Clitheroe Clitheroe () is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Ribble Valley, Borough of Ribble Valley, Lancashire, England; it is located north-west of Manchester. It is near the Forest of Bowland and is often used as a base for to ...

, Burnley,

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

and

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

areas. On 5 August 2007, Northern Blue Buses and Accrington Transport were purchased by

Transdev Blazefield Transdev Blazefield is a bus group, which operates local and regional bus services across Greater Manchester, Lancashire, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire, England. Formed in August 1991, the group has been a subsidiary of French-based operato ...

and rebranded Transdev Northern Blue. On 1 September 2009, Transdev Northern Blue was integrated into Transdev in Burnley & Pendle.Transdev Burnley & Pendle
BCN Society

References

External links

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Flickr gallery
{{Transdev Former bus operators in Lancashire Transdev Transport in Burnley Transport companies established in 1999 1999 establishments in England 2009 disestablishments in England History of Hyndburn History of Burnley Borough