Service type Tram & bus services Headquarters Blackpool | Chief executive Jane Cole Founded 1885 | |
Parent Blackpool Borough Council Service area The Fylde Coast, Lancashire Website www.blackpooltransport.com Destinations Fleetwood, Lytham St Annes, Kirkham, Knott End-on-Sea, Poulton-le-Fylde Profiles | ||
Blackpool Transport Services Ltd. (BTS) is a bus and tram operator running within the boroughs of Blackpool and Fylde and into the surrounding area, including Fleetwood, Lytham St Annes, Poulton-le-Fylde and Cleveleys. It is owned by Blackpool Borough Council.
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History
Blackpool Transport was founded in 1885 by the town council. The tramway opened on 29 September 1885 using a conduit system to operate the trams using electricity. However, due to difficulties with this method of operation, 550V overhead wiring was installed over the tracks in 1899 to replace the conduit system. In the 1920s, the first bus services were added to transport operations in Blackpool.
To comply with the Transport Act 1985, in 1986 the assets were transferred to a new legal entity. Neighbouring operator Fylde Borough Transport, which at the time traded as Blue Buses, was taken over in 1994; it had previously been a council-owned operation itself, but spent five months in private ownership before Blackpool Transport's takeover.
The company's network was relaunched in April 2001 under the name Metro Coastlines. Along with the new name came a new colour-coded service: each core bus route was operated by vehicles painted in a livery heavily featuring that route's colour. There were twelve such core bus routes, and the historic tramway along the promenade also had its own variation of the livery.
On Monday 26 July 2010, Metro Coastlines branding was discontinued and the company went back to the older name of Blackpool Transport. Buses had their Metro Coastlines logos removed and replaced with a new Tower and waves logo, along with a black and yellow colour scheme. The tramway now uses a purple and white colour scheme since 2012, based on Blackpool Council's main colour schemes. The Tower and waves logo does not feature on the Flexity 2 trams but is featured at the top of the central doors on the modernised Balloon trams.
Bus fleet
Blackpool Transport has a fleet of 135 active vehicles as of November 2016. It is majority double deck and entirely low floor, with the last step entrance vehicles being replaced in July 2016. Most of the vehicles in the fleet were purchased new by Blackpool Transport, however 45 vehicles were purchased from other operators.
On the double deck side of the fleet, the Dennis/TransBus/Alexander Dennis Trident II is the most common vehicle type, with 48 examples currently in active service. Other types include nineteen East Lancs-bodied DAF DB250LFs and ten high specification Alexander Dennis Enviro400Citys. Further examples of the latter are due for delivery in 2017.
The most common single deck type is the Optare Solo (the M850 and M950 variants), with 33 examples in service. Other types include fourteen Volvo B7RLEs (nine Plaxton Centros and five Wright Eclipses) and ten high specification Mercedes-Benz Citaros.
In 2016, a five-year plan to renew the majority of the fleet was announced.
Branding
Between 1933 and 2001, the fleet livery on the buses was green and cream, with different arrangements of the two colours decade after decade. From 2010 this livery was replaced with new black and yellow livery which replaced all of the route-specific liveries. Prior to the livery change each bus stop also featured the line colour and timetables were also colour-coded.
Route branding was discontinued in July 2010 when Blackpool Transport introduced major changes to its bus network, replaced by a new livery of black and yellow. The Line 6 service was axed in July 2010 after 84 years. Line 2 was axed in March 2015, with service 12/13 replacing parts of its route to Poulton via Staining. The 12/13 were axed a year later due to the withdrawal of LCC funding.
Palladium
In 2015 Blackpool Transport unveiled a new premium brand, Palladium, on its bus network. All vehicles with Palladium specification are fitted with WiFi, e-leather seating, wood effect flooring and a grey and yellow livery. The first route to be upgraded was the 5, which received a batch of brand new Mercedes-Benz Citaros.
The 7 and 9/9A were upgraded in 2016, with the latter receiving a batch of brand new Alexander Dennis Enviro400Citys.
Routes
Since 2002 local bus services have not used the 1960s bus station located on Talbot Road, however bus stops north and southbound are located just out side of it, where the majority of the bus network serve here. The town centre Blackpool Transport offices were relocated to Market Street. With the new service changes, many services now serve different town centre stops.
Blackpool Transport currently operate fifteen routes on its network.
Tram fleet
Blackpool Transport operates the Blackpool tramway with a fleet of 16 modern Flexity 2 trams, 9 modernised 'Balloon' trams and various assorted heritage trams. Advertising has always been popular on trams, especially on the traditional trams.