Harrogate Bus Company

The Harrogate Bus Company 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 Manchester, Lancashire, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire.

History

In November 1906, The Harrogate Road Car Company was formed. Initially operating steam-powered buses, the company adopted conventionally-fuelled petrol buses in 1911.

In 1924, the company was absorbed into Tilling & British Automobile Traction and renamed the Harrogate & District Road Car Company. Following the company's expansion, it was further renamed West Yorkshire Road Car Company in 1927, to reflect the wider service area provided.

In 1948, along with other companies that were then part of the Tilling Group, West Yorkshire Road Car Company was nationalised.

In 1968, West Yorkshire Road Car Company became a subsidiary of the National Bus Company.

In 1987, West Yorkshire Road Car Company was sold in a management buyout to the AJS Group, owned by former East Yorkshire Motor Services managing director, Alan Stephenson. The business was split into smaller companies in December 1988, one of which became Harrogate & District Transport.

Following the deregulation of bus services in 1986, Harrogate Independent Travel was set up by a number of West Yorkshire Road Car Company drivers, in a bid to challenge their former employer. The company was subsequently purchased by AJS Group in April 1989.

In August 1991, Harrogate & District Travel was included in the purchase of AJS Group by Blazefield Group, following the sale of seven of the company's eight remaining bus firms at the time – a deal valued at £2.2 million.

In October 1996, the company further expanded, following the transfer of Cowie Group.

In April 2005, the company was awarded the contract to operate service 767, which ran between Harrogate and Leeds Bradford Airport. The contract was subsequently awarded to Dales & District in April 2010. The route is now served by the Flyer A2 service, operated by Transdev York & Country. It was introduced in September 2020, as part of a joint partnership between Leeds Bradford Airport, Transdev Blazefield and West Yorkshire Combined Authority.

In January 2006, French-based operator Transdev acquired the Blazefield Group, along with 305 vehicles. Locally, the company was rebranded under the name Transdev in Harrogate.

In 2011, the company became involved in a bus war with local independent operator, Connexionsbuses. It concerned bus services operating in and around the market town of Wetherby. In the same year, a retendering exercise by North Yorkshire County Council saw all of the company's council contracted routes transferred to other operators. An exception was service X59, which operated between Harrogate and Skipton via Bolton Abbey. Initially, the service was operated commercially and at a reduced frequency, prior to its eventual withdrawal in March 2013.

In July 2016, the company was again rebranded, now operating as The Harrogate Bus Company.

In partnership with DalesBus, the service between Harrogate and Skipton was reintroduced in May 2021 – the first direct service between the two towns for eight years. As of April 2022, four buses per day operate on summer Saturdays.

Services and branding

The Harrogate Bus Company

Following the rebrand of the company in 2016, a two-tone red livery was introduced for local bus services in and around the spa town of Harrogate. As well as serving as a corporate livery, it is also used as a base for other route brands including: Harrogate Electrics, The 1 (Knaresborough and Harrogate) and The 7 (Leeds, Wetherby and Harrogate).

Harrogate Electrics

Local services operating in and around Harrogate are operated by a fleet of eight high-specification, fully-electric Volvo 7900 single-deck vehicles in dedicated branding. The vehicles, which were announced in February 2017, were introduced into service in July 2018. The project was funded partly by Transdev (£1.7 million), with a further £2.25 million of funding granted from the Government's Low Emission Bus Scheme.

The 1

The 1 brand encompasses a group of routes (1, 1A, 1B, 1C,1D and ''1N''), which operate between Harrogate and Knaresborough via Starbeck. Routes operate at a combined ten minute frequency between Harrogate and Knaresborough, with services extending at a reduced frequency to Aspin (1A), Eastfield (1B), Carmires (1C) and The Pastures (1D). Services are operated by a fleet of nine Volvo B7RLE Eclipse single-deck vehicles, branded in a two-tone red livery. Features include free WiFi, USB charging and audio-visual next-stop information.

The 7

The 7 service operates between Harrogate and Leeds via Wetherby. It runs at a half-hourly frequency, and is operated by a fleet of seven Volvo B7RLE Eclipse single deck vehicles, branded in a two-tone red livery. Features include free WiFi, USB charging and audio-visual next stop announcements.

36

The 36 is one of the group's flagship services, running between Leeds and Harrogate via Harewood up to every ten minutes, with three buses per hour extending to Ripon via Ripley. The service is operated by a fleet of sixteen high-specification Volvo B5TL/ Wright Gemini 3 double-deck vehicles, branded in a two-tone black and red livery. Features include free Wifi, USB charging and audio-visual next stop announcements.

Fleet and operations

Depots

As of April 2022, the company operates from a single depot at Starbeck.

Vehicles

As of April 2022, the fleet consists of 59 buses and one spare ticket machine. The fleet consists of diesel-powered single and double-deck buses manufactured by Volvo, as well as eight high specification, fully-electric Volvo 7900 single-deck buses.

Notes

1N is a night bus only available on Saturdays

References

External links

*

Transdev Blazefield Limited
on Companies House

The Harrogate Bus Company
website

{{Transdev

Bus operators in North Yorkshire
Companies based in Harrogate
Transdev
Transport in Harrogate