Resurrected Bus Company Names

[Flange Squeal]

Discussion of Go-Ahead’s acquisition of Southdown Buses, who are unrelated to the Southdown Motor Services Ltd of old (but which company name was recently registered by the proprietor of Seven Sisters Bus & Coach following Stagecoach disposing of it) got me thinking…

What other past/historic trading names have been resurrected by operators with no direct relation to the original company? Examples I can think of include:

Crosville original 1906-1990s under PMT/First?, then new independent in Weston-super-Mare 2011-2018

Alder Valley original NBC operator 1972-1992, then new independent operator Alder Valley Travel 2002-2009

Southdown original 1915-1990s under Stagecoach, then independent Southdown PSV 2002-present

 

[Bletchleyite]

The execrable UK North resurrected GM Buses for a short while in the early 2000s, just before they were banned permanently from operation following a fatal accident.

 

[Cambus731]

First Group reinstated the Badgerline fleetname a few years ago.

 

[Gloster]

Southern Vectis used Moss Motors, a company that it took over some years back, for a while as a trading name for one of the Ryde town services. You had people saying how nice it was to have an island company running it, rather than that nasty mainland-owned Southern Vectis.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Busways - Favourite (from 1930s) and Economic
Somerset Passenger Solutions was Southern National
Southern National was itself resurrected in 1983 after disappearing in 1969
Wilts and Dorset reappeared in 1983 after going in 1972
Eastern Counties and Midland Bluebird reappeared as First fleetnames after largely disappearing a la Badgerline
Alexander as a name reappeared in the first Inverness bus war
Eastern Scottish with McGills
McGills after being bought by Arriva
The Eden after being bought by United - name was bought back and used by an indie
Chaserider - reappeared with D&G
Venture - brought back by Go North East for local routes in Consett
County Motors - brought back by Yorkshire Traction for Huddersfield ops
SUT - former coach op that formed National Travel East and brought back for deregulation bus ops
Greenslades - brought back a couple of times, as was Grey Cars
Stratford Blue
Black and White returned for a short lived period as Cheltenham and Gloucester coach ops
Red and White and Rhondda after disappearing into National Welsh
Western Welsh is now a First Cymru brand
SWT, after becoming First Cymru, as an indie

So hardly any….

 

[Simon75]

If you include legal names for subsidiaries

GMB Buses South = Stagecoach Manchester
Midland Red = Stagecoach Midlands
Black and White = Stagecoach South Wales

 

[GusB]

Alexander as a name reappeared in the first Inverness bus war

Not quite true. Alexanders North East (ANE) was set up by a breakaway group of employees from Northern Scottish who ran express services to places north of Aberdeen (and eventually south to Stonehaven).

Alexanders North East acquired Inverness Traction (set up by a breakaway group of employees from Highland Scottish) then got into trouble. The ANE routes were, as far as I recall, acquired by Grampian Regional Transport and Inverness Traction's operations were acquired by Stagecoach, initially being managed from Perth, but eventually being managed by Bluebird Buses (formerly Northern Scottish).

 

[busestrains]

Sussex Bus was a bus company that existed in the 1990s running various rural routes in the Sussex area. I forget what they operated exactly but i think i remember a few routes around, Chichester, Midhurst, Petworth, Storrington, etc. They shut down and the name was gone for over a decade. Then after Countryliner went bust in 2012 a new Sussex Bus was started up although in 2016 they also shut down. So the Sussex Bus name has been used twice.

 

[Leyland Bus]

If you include legal names for subsidiaries

GMB Buses South = Stagecoach Manchester
Midland Red = Stagecoach Midlands
Black and White = Stagecoach South Wales

Greater Manchester Buses South Limited wasn't technically resurrected, it is a continuation, as the company simply trades as Stagecoach Manchester Ltd...

 

[daodao]

The historic North Western Road Car Company (NWRCC), based in Stockport, operated from 1923-1974, with all the stage carriage services passing to other operators in 1972, as a consequence of Greater Manchester's desire to control all the bus services in its area (as it is determined to do once again). The residual operations in what was left of Cheshire post 1974 passed to Crosville, with those in Derbyshire passing to Trent (Buxton/Matlock depots) and SELNEC (Glossop depot).

There was a North Western Road Car Company, based in Liverpool, which operated under this name from 1986-1998, but its initial operating area differed from the previously identically named bus company. However, it did subsequently operate in the Altrincham and Northwich areas, even sometimes with the same route numbers, where the original NWRCC ran, e.g. on route 37 from Altrincham to Warrington via Little Bollington.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Not quite true. Alexanders North East (ANE) was set up by a breakaway group of employees from Northern Scottish who ran express services to places north of Aberdeen (and eventually south to Stonehaven).

I did say it was only a reappearance of the name (and I was keeping it brief rather than the full nine yards) - I do remember that it was applied to some dealer white coaches, and recall the IT connection too.

If you include legal names for subsidiaries

GMB Buses South = Stagecoach Manchester
Midland Red = Stagecoach Midlands
Black and White = Stagecoach South Wales

Except GMB Buses South was not resurrected - it just continued on, as did Midland Red South

It was RED and White (as I put on my post above) and that WAS a resurrection - dropped in 1978 on the creation of National Welsh and then restored in the mid 1980s before being fully restored as a business when NW got into financial difficulties and hived off the Eastern ops

Black and White was the Cheltenham based coach operator who was absorbed into the National Express network and was revived

Another that comes to mind was Bristol Greyhound - coach firm that was restored as a competitive name by an indie against First. Lots of coach firms seem to return!

 

[Titfield]

Shamrock Buses in Bournemouth was a partial name resurrection of Shamrock and Rambler. Shamrock buses used the orange of the old Shamrock and Rambler.

 

[gka472l]

If you include legal names for subsidiaries

GMB Buses South = Stagecoach Manchester
Midland Red = Stagecoach Midlands
Black and White = Stagecoach South Wales

Also Ribble Motor Services has been recently resurrected on the legal lettering for Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire, bringing the Ribble name into former Crosville territory at Rock Ferry and Chester.

 

[DunsBus]

Busways - Favourite (from 1930s) and Economic

The revival of Blue Bus, Economic and Favourite was a shrewd move by Busways. As well as the nostalgia factor, it ensured that no-one else could use them.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

The revival of Blue Bus, Economic and Favourite was a shrewd move by Busways. As well as the nostalgia factor, it ensured that no-one else could use them.

Not certain how much nostalgia there was for Favourite - being from about 60 years beforehand

Tangentially related to Alder Valley... Thames Valley also returned with Reading Buses. Of course, First also brought back BeeLine for a short while.

South Midland was folded into City of Oxford but was reconstituted in a bigger fashion in 1983 as it took all the CoO Oxfordshire services

 

[WibbleWobble]

A lot of the examples of resurrected fleet names don't meet the original poster's criteria. They are supposed to be names with no relation to the original.

So Badgerline doesn't count, as First used to be Badgerline before rebranding as First.

Wilts & Dorset (1983 resurrection) was related to the original as that was merged into Hants and Dorset, before being split back out again (albeit with a slightly different operating area).

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

A lot of the examples of resurrected fleet names don't meet the original poster's criteria. They are supposed to be names with no relation to the original.

So Badgerline doesn't count, as First used to be Badgerline before rebranding as First.

Wilts & Dorset (1983 resurrection) was related to the original as that was merged into Hants and Dorset, before being split back out again (albeit with a slightly different operating area).

W&D has a markedly different operating area having gained all the Bournemouth and Poole area ops, and even Lymington, though still regaining Salisbury/Amesbury

Badgerline and some others are clear resurrections (often by First) so fair comment but others are a bit more nuanced. D&G is a separate firm but the Cannock ops were sold by the original owner to them, yet they adopted a lost name in Chaserider. Is that a direct evolution?

Same as Red and White which was absorbed into National Welsh so it definitely disappeared. It reappeared as part of NW. However, it was then sold as a separate new company to Western Travel so the relationship is slightly convoluted Western Welsh is now a First Cymru brand - even though the actual WW firm was folded into National Welsh, there are parts of First Cymru (Haverfordwest ops) that were WW, passing to SWT, and hence to First Cymru

 

[Andyh82]

Is Lancashire United one. There was no connection between the company the Manchester area company that was merged into GMPTE in the 1970s and the Blackburn based company that Blazefield created in the early 2000s

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Is Lancashire United one. There was no connection between the company the Manchester area company that was merged into GMPTE in the 1970s and the Blackburn based company that Blazefield created in the early 2000s

Yes, in a similar fashion to North Western. Not only did it have no connection, it's geographical sphere moved so instead of Swinton, Atherton and Hindley, it was Bolton, Blackburn and Clitheroe

 

[northrob]

Harrogate Coach Travel once competed some time back with Arriva on the 415 York to Selby service with some buses using the Selby & District name - the same name that Caldaire Holdings used for their West Riding operations post deregulation from there.

 

[Andyh82]

Harrogate Coach Travel once competed some time back with Arriva on the 415 York to Selby service with some buses using the Selby & District name - the same name that Caldaire Holdings used for their West Riding operations post deregulation from there.

On a similar note there is a new operator in Leeds using the name “Yorkshire Buses”, which of course was used by Yorkshire Woollen between deregulation and when they rebranded as Arriva

 

[Cambus731]

Blazefield ressurected the Burnley & Pendle fleetname after aquiring that business from Stagecoach.

 

[NoMorePacers]

If you include legal names for subsidiaries

GMB Buses South = Stagecoach Manchester
Midland Red = Stagecoach Midlands
Black and White = Stagecoach South Wales

Similarly Stagecoach East Midlands trades as Lincolnshire Road Car Company Limited.

If my memory serves at one point (about 10 years ago) their buses had the head office address titled as "Stagecoach East Midlands", nowadays they just carry the Roadcar title.

 

[Statto]

The historic North Western Road Car Company (NWRCC), based in Stockport, operated from 1923-1974, with all the stage carriage services passing to other operators in 1972, as a consequence of Greater Manchester's desire to control all the bus services in its area (as it is determined to do once again). The residual operations in what was left of Cheshire post 1974 passed to Crosville, with those in Derbyshire passing to Trent (Buxton/Matlock depots) and SELNEC (Glossop depot).

There was a North Western Road Car Company, based in Liverpool, which operated under this name from 1986-1998, but its initial operating area differed from the previously identically named bus company. However, it did subsequently operate in the Altrincham and Northwich areas, even sometimes with the same route numbers, where the original NWRCC ran, e.g. on route 37 from Altrincham to Warrington via Little Bollington.

Yep, the second North Western Road Car Company, was formed from Merseyside & South Lancashire depots of Ribble, North Western Road Car Company became Arriva in 1998

 

[317 forever]

When Macquarie bought Stagecoach London operation they revived the names East London and Selkent.

When London United and London Sovereign changed from Transdev to RATP ownership (on separate occasions) these names were revived. However, buses often kept the opposite trading name upon transfer and now they are being phased out in favour of RATP Group.

 

[Eyersey468]

York Pullman has no connection as far as I know to the original York Pullman

 

[M803UYA]

York Pullman has no connection as far as I know to the original York Pullman

It doesn't - began life as K&J Logistics and acquired the rights to the trading name. Think the original company was subsumed into what became First York.

 

[Leyland Bus]

It doesn't - began life as K&J Logistics and acquired the rights to the trading name. Think the original company was subsumed into what became First York.

The history of the company is particularly odd. Having essentially ended up in two parts, the coaching side ended up with Durham City Travel and the bus side became Raynard Pullman. This aspect was taken over by Yorkshire Rider and further on by FirstBus. The coaching side (and the full York Pullman name etc) eventually ended up with Kingston Upon Hull City Transport and the York Pullman name was abandoned and lay dormant following KHCTs takeover by Stagecoach. The YP name, phone number and address was taken up by Tom James when he ran K&J Travel (different to K&J Logistics which was the wagon side). There is a tenuous link between the old and new YP, in that Tom James worked for the original company when they were at Navigation Rd in York.

 

[nw1]

SWT, after becoming First Cymru, as an indie

So hardly any….

That takes me back. Of course SWT is chiefly associated in my mind as a train operator these days, but I do recall seeing the name on buses in Pembrokeshire back in 1988. Green buses I think, and (IIRC) still in NBC livery but with the NBC "arrow" removed.

Yep, the second North Western Road Car Company, was formed from Merseyside & South Lancashire depots of Ribble, North Western Road Car Company became Arriva in 1998

I remember North Western mark 2. Red and blue livery, and recall them operating the 37 and (?)38 Altrincham-Warrington route. This later passed to Warrington Transport, sometime in the mid 90s, IIRC. No idea who operates it now, or indeed whether it's still the 37.

Not certain how much nostalgia there was for Favourite - being from about 60 years beforehand

Tangentially related to Alder Valley... Thames Valley also returned with Reading Buses. Of course, First also brought back BeeLine for a short while.

South Midland was folded into City of Oxford but was reconstituted in a bigger fashion in 1983 as it took all the CoO Oxfordshire services

I remember seeing a South Midland bus one day at the end of December 1984 at Woodstock. NBC was of course dominant still then, so I remember being distinctly puzzled by the maroon (?) livery and the non-NBC font and lack of double arrow.

But then 9 months later (September 1985) I saw Badgerline buses for the first time, and their livery (the yellow and green one still present in the early 90s) was even more radically non-NBC even though deregulation was still more than a year away.

 

[WibbleWobble]

I remember North Western mark 2. Red and blue livery, and recall them operating the 37 and (?)38 Altrincham-Warrington route. This later passed to Warrington Transport, sometime in the mid 90s, IIRC. No idea who operates it now, or indeed whether it's still the 37.

Warrington Borough Transport (or Warrington's Own Buses as they're currently trading as) still run the Altrincham to Warrington buses. The 37 and 38 became Cat 5 and Cat 5A as part of the "Cheshire Cat" branding of buses running southwards of Warrington. However, much tweaking and changing has seen 5 now serve Partington, the 5A disappear and a fast X5 introduced. A lot of this was trying various ways to serve as much as possible of the area around Dunham Massey but avoid the low bridge under the canal.