Halton TransportCompanies House extract company no 1994122
Halton Borough Transport Limited was a bus operator running within the

Borough of Halton The Borough of Halton () is a local authority district with borough status in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, North West England. It is administered by Halton Borough Council, a unitary authority since 1998. The borough contains the towns ...

(including the towns of

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, ...

and

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 ...

) and into the surrounding area, including

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 ...

, St Helens,

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 ...

, Whiston,

Huyton Huyton ( ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, Merseyside, England. Part of the Liverpool Urban Area, Liverpool Built-up Area, it borders the Liverpool suburbs of Dovecot, Merseyside, Dovecot, Knotty Ash and Netherley, Liverpool, ...

, and

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 ...

. It ceased trading in January 2020.

History

Halton Transport's origins can be traced back to April 1909 when Widnes Corporation Motor Omnibus Department commenced operating a bus service. Over the next few decades the network expanded to most parts of Widnes and in 1961 following the opening of the Runcorn Bridge extended to

. As part of local government organisation in 1974 control passed to the Halton Council.History of Halton Borough Transport Limited
Halton Borough TransportHalton Transport 100 Years 1909–2009
Halton Transport 2009 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 ...

, the operation was transferred into a separate legal entity. Unlike many other municipal operators it was not privatised and remained owned by Halton Borough Council.

Bus deregulation Bus deregulation in Great Britain involved the abolition of Road Service Licensing for bus services outside of Greater London. It began in 1980 with long-distance bus services and was extended to local bus services in 1986 under the Transport ...

saw Halton Transport expand its sphere of operation to other areas including

. The company was placed in liquidation in January 2020, after accumulating losses for several years.

Fleet

The fleet consisted of 64 buses in January 2014. Halton Transport were a long-time

Leyland National The Leyland National is an integrally constructed British step-floor single-decker bus manufactured in large quantities between 1972 and 1985. It was developed as a joint project between two UK nationalised industries – the National Bus Com ...

operator, purchasing 20 new vehicles between 1972 and 1985, including the last one built. A further 27 were purchased second hand between 1986 and 1989. It then purchased 36

Leyland Lynx The Leyland Lynx was a High-floor, step-entrance integral single-deck bus manufactured by Leyland Bus, Leyland in Workington, England between 1986 and 1992. After the takeover by Volvo Buses, Volvo, it was succeeded by the Volvo B10B. Backgrou ...

es between 1986 and 1992 including the last one built.Halton Transport No 57
North West Bus Museum Between 1994 and 2005, Halton standardised on the

Dennis Dart The Dennis Dart is a Rear-engine design, rear-engined single-decker bus, single-decker midibus chassis that was introduced by Dennis Specialist Vehicles, Dennis of Guildford, England, in 1989, replacing the Dennis Domino. Initially built as a ...

, purchasing a total of 80 new and three secondhand. Bodywork for the majority was supplied by

Marshall Bus Marshall Bus was an English builder of bus and coach bodies based in Cambridge. It was owned by the Marshall Group until sold in a management buyout in 2001. History Marshall Bus was established in the 1940s by David Marshall. In 1958 it bo ...

, but the final 21, delivered between late 2002 and spring 2005, received

East Lancs Myllennium The East Lancs Myllennium was a type of single-decker bus body manufactured by East Lancashire Coachbuilders on DAF SB220, Dennis Dart SLF, MAN 14.220 and Scania N94UB chassis. It was superseded by the East Lancs Esteem in 2006. Operato ...

bodywork. From 2007 to 2010 sixteen examples of the Dart's successor, the

Alexander Dennis Enviro200 The Alexander Dennis Enviro200 (previously known as the TransBus Enviro200) is a midibus that was manufactured by TransBus International and later Alexander Dennis between 2003 and 2018. The original TransBus Enviro200 design was innovative but ...

, were purchased, the first twelve having

MCV Evolution The MCV Evolution (stylised as ''eVolution''; internal designation: MCV C102) is a low floor and low entry single-decker bus body built by Manufacturing Commercial Vehicles. It was unveiled in 2003 as the successor to the MCV Stirling. The M ...

bodywork. Between 2013 and 2015 Halton purchased a number of secondhand vehicles from various operators. These included six

Optare Solo The Switch Solo (formerly sold as the Optare Solo) is a low-floor minibus/midibus with one or two doors manufactured by Switch Mobility in the United Kingdom since 1998. The Solo name is a play on its low-floor status, the manufacturer marketin ...

minibuses in 2013 and then 14 Scania Omnicities in 2014 from

Metrobus Metrobus may refer to: Transport services Bus Rapid Transit *MetroBus (Bristol), a bus rapid transit system in Bristol, England, United Kingdom *Metrobus (Buenos Aires), a bus rapid transit system in Buenos Aires, Argentina *Metrobus (Istanbul), a ...

, followed by three

Plaxton Pointer The Plaxton Pointer (originally known as the Reeve Burgess Pointer, and later as the TransBus Pointer and Alexander Dennis Pointer) is a single-deck midibus body that was manufactured between 1991 and 2006, predominantly on the Dennis Dart chas ...

SLFs in 2015 from

Abellio Surrey Abellio Surrey was a bus company operating services in Surrey, England from 2009 to 2018. It was a subsidiary of Abellio. History In 2005, National Express purchased the Tellings-Golden Miller operations in Surrey with a garage in Byfleet and v ...

References

External links

{{authority control Companies owned by municipalities of England Transport companies established in 1909 Transport companies disestablished in 2020 Transport in the Borough of Halton 1909 establishments in England 2020 disestablishments in England Former bus operators in Cheshire Former bus operators in Merseyside

History

Fleet

See also

References

External links