Service area Yorkshire Headquarters Barnsley, United Kingdom Ceased operations 2005 Hubs Barnsley, Rotherham | Service type Bus operator Founded March 1902 Fleet 66 | |
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Yorkshire traction s doncaster depot
Yorkshire Traction was a bus operator in Yorkshire that operated from 1902 until 2005.
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History
In March 1902 the Barnsley & District Electric Traction Company Limited was formed. It operated trams around the Barnsley area until around 1930. In 1928, prior to the trams being withdrawn, the company was renamed from the Barnsley & District Traction Company Limited (the 'electric' part of the name being dropped some years earlier). The company was affectionately referred to as 'Tracky'.
In October 1968, Yorkshire Traction purchased Mexborough & Swinton Traction Company and County Motors.
As part of the privatisation of the National Bus Company, Yorkshire Transit was sold in January 1987 to a management buyout. The business subsequently expanded through purchasing other operators including:
In December 2005, Yorkshire Traction was sold to Stagecoach Yorkshire. In May 2008, Stagecoach sold its Huddersfield operations to Centrebus Holdings and is now operated by Arriva Yorkshire as Yorkshire Tiger, while the part of the business remaining with Stagecoach was renamed Stagecoach Sheffield.
Operations
The company operated services across Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and into Leeds, Huddersfield and eventually, Sheffield. From the 1974 merger of Sheffield, Rotherham and Doncaster municipal bus companies until the mid-1990s, the operating area of South Yorkshire was split between South Yorkshire Transport and Yorkshire Traction with the former dominating Sheffield and Rotherham. Through the acquisitions of Sheffield Omnibus, South Riding, Andrews and Yorkshire Terrier in the early 1990s, the company gained a significant foothold in Sheffield.
Yorkshire Traction had for decades been a major regional operator of National Express services covering nationwide routes in addition to its regular and long established services in and out of London to Yorkshire towns and cities. It had also operated alongside National Travel, the short break holiday arm of National Bus Company. Upon privatisation, YTC launched Ridings Travel and became a popular choice for the short break coach holidaymaker within the region.