South Lancs Travel - History

History

Green Triangle Buses was established as a limited company in April 1998 by business partners Martin Bott and David Stewart, operating from Printshop Lane, Atherton (close to the boundary with Tyldesley). The new business began with two new Mercedes Varios which were used on a GMPTE tender. These were joined by three single deckers for use on school services, ironically used by the old South Lancashire Transport (also owned by the two partners) which was bought by Arriva during the previous year.

Further Varios were quickly added to the fleet, which were used on Green Triangle's first commercial service. This service, the 675, provided a half-hourly service between Leigh and Shakerley via Astley and Tyldesley.

Less than a year later, the 675 was withdrawn and repalaced with the 670/680 circular services. This essentially provided an extension to the existing service, running back to Leigh via Atherton. This was supplemented through the introduction of service 652 (Leigh - Hindley - Wigan). All three services directly competed against the incumbent operator, Bellairs and Dootson (B&D Coaches).

An opportunity for expansion came in 1998 with the opening of the Trafford Centre. Green Triangle introduced two new daytime services to the centre in the form of the 674 from Leigh and the 673 from Atherton. The 673 only lasted a short time, although the link was later reinstated as the 132; the 674 continues to this day, although it is now numbered 126.

In 1999, Green Triangle acquired its main local rival, Bellairs and Dootson (B&D Coaches). An ironic decision was made to rebrand the combined operation as South Lancs Travel.

However, the merger resulted in a combined fleet that would prove be too large for the Printshop Lane site. So in 2000, the company relocated to its current premises, a 1.5-acre (6,100 m2) Commercial Garage site 0.5 miles away on Chanters Industrial Estate.

Since then, the company has steadily expanded its network, primarily through tender gains. This expansion took the company deeper into both Wigan and Bolton, with the most significant gain being the award of the GMPTE 'Easylink' network of services.

Commercial work was also added, with SLT taking over the 592 (between Shakerley and Bolton) in 2002, acquiring the service from the one-man Atherton Bus Company following the retirement of the owner. This was linked up with an existing service to form a through service from Leigh to Bolton.

The company also added a network of services in western Wigan in 2005, when it acquired the Appley Bridge outstation from Blue Bus of Bolton. This included a small network of services to Shevington, Standish, Orrell and New Springs. The Appley Bridge outstation was eventually closed in May 2007 as the leased site was sold for redevelopment.

In 2006 entrepreneur Julian Peddle bought a 30% stake in the company.

SLT has more recently expanded its network of services in Bolton, introducing the 514 (in 2009) and 574 (in 2011) services to Middlebrook, as well as taking over service 515 to Ladbybridge in 2011 when Arriva decided to withdraw the route. It also introduced service 516/517 to Horwich, replacing a similar First Manchester service but on an improved frequency. However, this was soon followed by the withdrawal of the 652.

South Lancs Travel have also been involved in head-to-head competition with First Manchester on a number of occasions. The most notable of these took place in 2002, when, following competitive registrations by First, SLT offered "return tickets for the price of a single fare" - First responded with a £2.00 (later £2.50 then £3.00) weekly ticket for travel within the Leigh area.

First also introduced a short-lived competing 652 service, albeit operating from Hindley Green to Shakerley via Leigh. More recently, First introduced a competing 635 service - SLT retaliated by introducing journeys on the 600 between Wigan and Ashton-in-Makerfield, and offering a £1.00 flat fare. Following the withdrawal of First Greater Manchester services to Shevington, the SLT 600 was withdrawn in May 2008 and SLT is now the sole operator of services to Shevington and Appley Bridge.

The vast majority of the 60 strong fleet is now low floor, mainly Dart MPDs, Optare Solos and Scania L94UBs. Recent new acquisitions are 4 MAN A22s with Wright Meridian bodies, used on the 635 service. The B&D Coaches O Licence was finally surrendered in February 2009 when the Green Triangle Licence was expanded to 48 vehicles.

On 30 September 2011, South Lancs Travel was bought in a joint deal with shareholder Julian Peddle and Crewe-based operator D&G Bus with previous owners Martin Bott and David Stewart remaining with the company as consultants. In January 2012, Strawberry merged with South Lancs Travel and moved its operations to SLT's depot in Atherton. Strawberry's founder Oliver Howarth became joint operations director of the enlarged company. However, he left soon after with Strawberry being acquired by D&G and Julian Peddle and merged into the main company and the name and livery being dropped in favour of the SLT brand.

In 2012, SLT won the Bolton Metroshuttle (service 500) from current operators Maytree Travel, with a January 2013 start date. This service will operate with two Optare Versa hybrid buses, ironically previously operated by Maytree on the now withdrawn Salford Quays Link service.