Cumfybus is a bus company based in

Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across ...

History

Cumfybus was founded in 1986 by Marshall and Patricia Vickers As time went on, depots were opened in Aintree, Southport, Kirkby and on the Wirral (initially at Birkenhead before moving to Moreton in 2012). Cumfybus had a short venture outside of Merseyside when it operated services around Blackpool and the Fylde area in 2010. In late 2012, the company moved all operations to a central location at Aintree. The yard at Southport was kept for additional storage and/or maintenance. The Fylde, Kirkby and Wirral depots were closed. In July 2013 Cumfybus opened a depot in

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 ...

following it being awarded tendered routes by

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), ...

in the wake of the collapse of Maytree Travel. In March 2019, following the expiry of, or unsuccessful renewal bids for, some of the tendered contracts, the company closed Bolton depot. The vehicles returned to Merseyside and were allocated to the remaining depots at Aintree and Southport for use on new contracts and to replace older vehicles on existing routes. The remainder of the Greater Manchester operation - 5 routes, all drivers, management and support staff and four Optare Versa hybrid vehicles provided by

) transferred to local firm Tyrers Coaches from 1 April 2019.

Operations

Cumfybus now operate 2 regular bus services and 5 school contracts in Southport. They previously operated services in parts of Liverpool and Lancashire and Greater Manchester. The company also used to operate the Southport 'Park & Ride' service from the Esplanade and Fairways Car Parks into Southport Town Centre on behalf of Sefton Council. As of April 2024, 'Park & Ride' was permanently withdrawn by Sefton Council.

Fleet

As of October 2024, the fleet consisted of 15 buses, predominantly Optare Solos and Optare Versas. A number of these no longer work and have been declared SOR. Some equally old double deck vehicles are based at Southport, with one stored at the former Aintree depot, which closed in April 2024 and is used for the remaining school services in Liverpool.

Hybrid buses

Diesel-Electric Hybrid Buses were introduced for the

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

city centre CityLink C1-C5 routes in May 2012. These came in the form of 13 Hybrid Optare Solos of the original design (not SR). These look very similar to the Yellow Solos that they replace but they have the extra box on the roof which houses all the electrical equipment.

Livery

The standard fleet livery is all-over yellow, with multi-coloured fleet names. A few vehicles carry other liveries, including white, silver, or overall advertisements.

References

External links

Cumfybus website
{{Bus companies in North West England Bus operators in Merseyside Transport companies established in 1986 1986 establishments in England