Service area North Yorkshire Routes 13 (October 2013) Website www.harrogatebus.co.uk Parent organization Transdev Blazefield Fleet 70 (October 2013) | Service type Bus services Depots 1 Headquarters Harrogate, United Kingdom Founded 1906 Hubs Harrogate, Leeds | |
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The harrogate bus company s 110th birthday party
The Harrogate Bus Company is a bus operator based in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. It is a subsidiary of Transdev Blazefield. Commencing in July 2016, the business is progressively being rebranded from Transdev in Harrogate.
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History
In 1906 The Harrogate Road Car Company was formed, initially operating steam buses in Harrogate, and from 1911 petrol buses. In 1924 it was absorbed into Tilling & British Automobile Traction and renamed Harrogate & District Road Car Company. With the company's expansion during the following years, in 1927 it was renamed West Yorkshire Road Car Company, to reflect its wider geographical spread.
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 part of the National Bus Company.
In 1987 West Yorkshire Road Car Company was sold in a management buyout to former East Yorkshire Motor Services managing director Alan Stephenson's AJS Group and in December 1988 split into smaller companies, one of which was Harrogate & District Transport Limited. In April 1989 Harrogate Independent Travel, which had been set up as an independent operator in January 1987 by 10 former Harrogate drivers to challenge their former employer, was purchased by AJS Group.
In 1991 Harrogate & District Travel was one of a number of AJS Group subsidiaries sold to Blazefield Travel. In 1996 Cowie's United Automobile Services operation in Ripon was purchased.
In January 2006 Harrogate & District Travel was included in the sale of Blazefield Holdings to Transdev. Harrogate & District was rebranded as Transdev in Harrogate. Starting from July 2016, Transdev in Harrogate was again rebranded to the Harrogate Bus Company.
Services
As at June 2016, the Harrogate Bus Company operates 13 bus routes. The key marketed route is 36, a high frequency service between Ripon, Harrogate and Leeds.
Another significant route was the airport Xpress route 767 service between Harrogate and Leeds Bradford Airport, which Harrogate & District operated from its inception in April 2005 until the contract was awarded to Dales & District in April 2010. Retendering by North Yorkshire County Council in 2011 saw all the routes that had been operated for the council pass to other operators with except route X59 to Skipton on which a reduced commercially operated service was retained for a short period until withdrawn completely.
In 2011, the Harrogate Bus Company, then trading as Transdev in Harrogate, became involved in a bus war with Connexionsbuses.