Acquisition of MTL Trust Holdings Ltd
On 18 February 2000 Arriva plc acquired Merseyside's largest bus operator MTL Trust Holdings Ltd. The former Merseybus operation and the many companies which were acquired or created by MTL were amalgamated by Arriva North West into a 'new' Arriva Merseyside Ltd with the former Arriva Merseyside Ltd (Liverline) becoming Arriva Liverpool Ltd. As a consequence of Arriva's acquisition of MTL the management of the Arriva North West depot at Winsford was transferred to Arriva Midlands North Ltd.
Arriva's acquisition of MTL significantly increased its presence within Merseyside's bus market with the effect that Aintree based CMT Buses remained its only meaningful competitor. This concerned the Competition Commission who ordered Arriva North West to sell one of its depots in order to avoid a public inquiry over its purchase of MTL. Gillmoss depot in north Liverpool was the depot chosen to be sold although its sale became a rather protracted affair. In early 2001 the Go-Ahead Group plc seemed ready to purchase Gillmoss considering it to have similar characteristics to its Go North East operation. However at the 11th hour this deal broke down and Go Ahead instead acquired Arriva Croydon & North Surrey Ltd merging it into its established Metrobus operation. Arriva North West put a proposal to the Competition Commission of substantial investment for Gillmoss if they withdrew their stipulation to sell the depot. However the Competition Commission refused this proposal and a buyer for Gillmoss had to be found.
Gillmoss was eventually purchased on 15 July 2001 by two former MTL managers - Dominic Brady and Ian Campbell who formed Glenvale Transport Limited (GTL). Furthermore the Competition Commission stipulated Arriva North West couldn't compete with GTL's core service network in North Liverpool and Kirkby for three years. GTL began expanding its service network against Arriva North West and in June 2003 acquired CMT Buses further strengthening its position, in Liverpool in particular. By 2004 the Competition Commission ban against Arriva North West competing with GTL was over and gradually copycat services were introduced on most of their routes. GTL, £7m in debt and with an aging bus fleet, was taken over on 11 July 2005 by the Stagecoach Group who renamed it Stagecoach Merseyside.
Relations between Arriva and Stagecoach on Merseyside seem reasonably cordial and from 2005 onwards both operators have gradually withdrawn most of the competing services against each other leaving Stagecoach to become the main operator in North Liverpool and Kirkby and Arriva North West & Wales the dominant operator in most of the rest of Merseyside.
Read more about this topic: Arriva North West And Wales
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