84-621: Merseybus was a bus operator running bus and coach services predominantly in and around Merseyside , England. Based at Edge Lane, Liverpool , Merseybus was formed as an "arm's length" operation of the Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive (Merseyside PTE) out of its bus operations following bus deregulation in Great Britain and was later sold to Merseybus management and staff in a £5.9 million Employee Share Ownership Plan in 1993, forming
168-669: A "Special Review" area in the Local Government Act 1958 , and the Local Government Commission for England started a review of this area in 1962, based around the core county boroughs of Liverpool , Bootle , Birkenhead and Wallasey . Further areas, including Widnes and Runcorn , were added to the Special Review Area by Order in 1965. Draft proposals were published in 1965, but the commission never completed its final proposals as it
252-607: A Merseytravel park and ride service in Southport; the CNG tanks were later removed and the buses converted to diesel power when they were withdrawn from the service. These were followed by 75 Marshall Capital bodied Dennis Dart SLFs in 1999, nine of which were delivered to Southport to replace an aging fleet of Leyland Nationals . [REDACTED] Media related to Merseybus at Wikimedia Commons Merseyside Merseyside ( / ˈ m ɜːr z i s aɪ d / MUR -zee-syde )
336-775: A coach holiday business and had a full ABTA travel agency, "The TravelShop", in Williamson Square , Liverpool and in Eastbank Street, Southport . MTL Services employed many cleaning, maintenance and security staff in London and on Merseyside whilst MTL Engineering refurbished many hundreds of vehicles at the Edge Lane plant in Liverpool . The principal branding for the former Merseyside Transport (PTE) bus operation from 26 October 1986, Merseybus encompassed
420-590: A day later when it was ruled that the magistrates' court had exceeded its powers, however it was reinstated two weeks later. MTL maintained the Lancashire Travel branding for the St Helens depot until its services were brought under the unified MTL North brand from spring 1998. Merseymaid and Silver Service were brand names for cross-river double-deck Merseybus services between Liverpool and the Wirral via
504-480: A fleet of 1,207 buses and coaches based out of five depots across Merseyside, predominantly dominated by the largest Leyland Atlantean fleet for any bus operator. The increasing age profile of the Merseybus fleet, some approaching 20 years old or more by 1992, became a major issue for the company up to its acquisition by Arriva in 2000, resulting in heavy investment in new and second-hand buses and coaches throughout
588-520: A fleet of Alexander and Northern Counties bodied Dodge S56s , including some bought secondhand from GM Buses , and its most notable routes were two Merseytravel contracts and two commercial services. Other services between Huyton, Old Swan and Belle Vale were quickly dropped and the Merseymini name quietly vanished around 1992, when the low-cost MerseyRider unit became more involved with minibus operation. Upon its creation in 1986, Merseybus inherited
672-569: A large scale by beginning extensive Monday - Saturday daytime operations on two routes between Garston and Liverpool, which proved popular with students at the University of Liverpool . A new depot in Evans Road in Speke was used to house a fleet which by the end of 1997, had grown to around 60 vehicles. Village was acquired by MTL in the spring of 1998, with the Evans Road depot retained by
756-645: A million people travel these Irish Sea ferry services. The Mersey Ferry has operated since the 1200s, currently between Wirral and Liverpool City Centre at Seacombe, Woodside and Liverpool Pier Head. In 2009–2010 it had 684,000 passengers using the service. The Port of Liverpool handles most commercial shipping, but the Birkenhead Docks complex in Great Float on the Wirral peninsula still handles some freight. The Port of Liverpool
840-771: A new company named Merseybus, operated at arm's length with a majority shareholding by Merseyside PTE's replacement, the Merseyside Passenger Transport Authority . Merseybus encompassed the following depots and divisions of Merseyside Transport: Liverpool's Prince Alfred Road ( Penny Lane ), Litherland and Wallasey's Seaview Road depots were not transferred to Merseybus and remained with Merseyside PTE, ultimately being sold for redevelopment. Prior to this, Merseyside PTE used these depots to store 'non-standard' vehicles Merseybus did not take on. When deregulation took effect and Merseybus commenced operations on 26 October 1986, some services across
924-585: A population of 1.42 million. After Liverpool (552,267), the largest settlements are Birkenhead (143,968), St Helens (102,629), and Southport (94,421). For local government purposes the county comprises five metropolitan boroughs : Knowsley , St Helens , Sefton , Wirral , and Liverpool. The borough councils (and Halton in Cheshire) collaborate through the Liverpool City Region combined authority , chaired by an elected mayor . What
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#17327833117351008-487: A series of company investments. By early 1989, however, this profit had turned into a £40 million (equivalent to £125,699,000 in 2023) loss as a result of Merseybus losing out on subsidised Merseytravel services to independent bus operators. To save £3 million (equivalent to £9,427,000 in 2023) in costs, 350 job losses were undertaken, while it was proposed to merge the North and South Liverpool divisions through
1092-532: A substantial trimming from the White Paper, excluding the northern and southern fringes of the area, excluding Chester, Ellesmere Port, and, for the first time, including Southport, whose council had requested to be included. Further alterations took place in Parliament, with Skelmersdale being removed from the area, and a proposed district including St Helens and Huyton being subdivided into what are now
1176-432: A weekly ticket lower than four days' tunnel toll fees. At the end of 1995, this operation was augmented with a batch of 30 similar specification Northern Counties Palatine II bodied Volvo Olympians , which were also used on other cross-river services. Silver Service branding was dropped with the rebranding to MTL North in 1998. Merseymini was a branding exercise for Merseybus's attempt at minibus operation. Merseymini used
1260-492: Is Merseyside's primary intercity railway station, being used by 10.46 million passengers in 2021–22. Train services are provided by Avanti West Coast , London Northwestern Railway , TransPennine Express , West Midlands Trains , Transport for Wales and Northern , and serve destinations across the UK. Merseyrail is the county's urban rail system and is operated by Merseytravel , the combined passenger transport executive for
1344-647: Is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England . It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Welsh county of Flintshire across the Dee Estuary to the southwest, and the Irish Sea to the west. The largest settlement is the city of Liverpool . The county is highly urbanised, with an area of 249 square miles (645 km ) and
1428-693: Is a container port that handles over 33 million tonnes of freight cargo per year, making it the fourth busiest port in the United Kingdom as of 2022 . It serves more than 100 global destinations including Africa, Australia, China, India, the Middle East and South America . Imports include grain and animal feed , timber , steel, coal, cocoa, crude oil, edible oils and liquid chemicals; there are exports of scrap metal for recycling. A second container terminal, Liverpool2 at Seaforth , can handle Post-Panamax vessels and doubled
1512-636: Is chaired by a Metro Mayor , Steve Rotheram , who was elected in 2017 and re-elected in 2021 and in 2024 . The planning and commissioning of care within Merseyside is the responsibility of NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Service (ICS), which covers NHS and other care services within the Cheshire and Merseyside area. NHS Cheshire and Merseyside serves a combined population of 2.7 million people, with some 17 NHS trusts, 349 GP practices, and 590 pharmacies under its control. Merseyside
1596-454: Is designed to improve transport links between Widnes and Runcorn and other key locations in the vicinity. National Cycle Route 56 and National Cycle Route 62 pass through the region, the former along the Wirral and the latter from Southport to Runcorn. Major bus companies are Stagecoach Merseyside and Arriva North West . Liverpool One bus station serves as a terminus for national coach travel. Liverpool Lime Street mainline station
1680-516: Is found at The Oval (Wirral) . MTL (transport company) MTL Trust Holdings was an English bus, coach and train operator based in Liverpool , Merseyside . MTL was originally part of the MPTE . To comply with the Transport Act 1985 , the bus operations were divested into a new independent company, Merseyside Transport Limited (MTL). Merseyside PTA retained shareholding, but the company
1764-616: Is now Merseyside was a largely rural area until the Industrial Revolution , when Liverpool and Birkenhead's positions on the Mersey Estuary enabled them to expand. Liverpool became a major port, heavily involved in the Atlantic slave trade and in supplying cotton to the mills of Lancashire, and Birkenhead developed into a centre for shipbuilding. Innovations during this period included the first inter-city railway ,
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#17327833117351848-575: Is planning substantial expansion, and is forecast to handle more than 12 million passengers by 2030, as well as targeting permanent direct long haul flights and significantly larger terminal facilities. Merseyside is host to several football league football clubs including Everton , Liverpool and Tranmere Rovers and several non-league football clubs including Marine A.F.C. and Southport F.C. Golf courses include Royal Liverpool Golf Club , Royal Birkdale Golf Club , Hillside Golf Club and Southport and Ainsdale Golf Club . Cricket clubs include
1932-604: Is served by six motorways : the M58 to the north, M56 to the south, M6 & M62 to the east and M53 to the west. The M57 acts as an outer ring road and bypass for the city of Liverpool itself. The River Mersey is crossed by Queensway Tunnel and Kingsway Tunnel , which link Liverpool to Birkenhead and Wallasey respectively, and by the Silver Jubilee Bridge and Mersey Gateway Bridge , which link Runcorn and Widnes. The Mersey Gateway Bridge opened in 2017 and
2016-703: The Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DiPTAC) and being painted into standard Merseybus livery before re-entering service in Liverpool. In February 1994, Merseybus' Green Lane depot took delivery of 12 new Neoplan N4016 integral low-floor single-deck buses . These were branded in yellow, black and white Merseytravel livery for use on a series of circular and north-south Liverpool bus services, bought as part of Merseytravel's £4 million (equivalent to £10,049,000 in 2023) SMART project, intended to improve
2100-668: The F1 service, the first such commercial service to operate on Merseyside following deregulation; the F1 ran between Fareway's Hornhouse Lane depot on the Kirkby Industrial Estate to Liverpool's Pier Head and charged significantly lower fares than Merseybus, who had withdrawn services in North Liverpool and Kirkby. The F1 quickly gained 30-minute evening and Sunday operation as a result of high passenger demand, and over
2184-610: The Mersey Tunnels . Initially, a Willowbrook bodied Leyland Atlantean and five Alexander R-Type Leyland Olympians were refurbished at the Edge Lane works with soft trim, internal address systems and coach seats in November 1992, before then operating on routes 410 and 411 from Eastham to Liverpool. To attract passengers, the drivers of 'Silver Service' buses were given special customer care training, while MTL advertised
2268-585: The Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive (which operates today under the Merseytravel brand) was set up, covering Liverpool, Sefton, Wirral and Knowsley, but excluding Southport and St Helens. The Redcliffe-Maud Report was rejected by the incoming Conservative government, but the concept of a two-tier metropolitan area based on the Mersey area was retained. A White Paper was published in 1971. The Local Government Bill presented to Parliament involved
2352-674: The National Bus Company as the Drawlane Group. Drawlane later purchased Crosville Motor Services in February 1989, making it the biggest bus operating group in the UK by owning five former National Bus Company subsidiaries and a combined fleet of over 1,600 vehicles, as well as other smaller operators in Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Lancashire under British Bus , prior to British Bus being purchased by
2436-656: The Stagecoach Group in August 2005. Between 1988 and 1993, Merseybus began expanding the network of services operated by its St Helens depot. At first, these were to nearby Wigan but gradually, a network of Merseybus services began to appear in Bolton , Salford and Manchester . Local former PTE operator GM Buses was already competing with a number of independent operators in Greater Manchester, and
2520-515: The metropolitan boroughs of Liverpool , Knowsley , Sefton , St Helens and Wirral . Following the abolition of the county council, some local services are run by joint-boards of the five metropolitan boroughs; these include the: The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority , which includes the five boroughs of Merseyside and the Borough of Halton in Cheshire, oversees transport, economic development and regeneration. The combined authority
2604-622: The privatisation of London bus services . Rebranded MTL London, the company operated services from four bus garages in Chalk Farm , Finchley , Holloway and Potters Bar . In April 1996, MTL purchased London Suburban, based at a single garage in Edmonton , from Gemsam Holdings. Both companies would be sold to management and employee-owned former LBL subsidiary Metroline for £41.9 million, of which £8.8 million included taking on debt accrued by MTL, in August 1998. Heysham Travel
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2688-549: The 1990s in an effort to update the fleet. Between 1992 and 1994, Merseybus entered into a deal with London Buses to purchase approximately 250 mid-life Leyland Titan double deckers for use by Gillmoss depot. These Titans, following mechanical assessment by MTL Engineering and an initial period of running in London configuration, were extensively refurbished to have centre exit doors removed, seats retrimmed into standard MTL moquette, fitted with accessibility features recommended by
2772-637: The Beatles . The county contains several football clubs, with Everton and Liverpool playing in the Premier League . The Royal Liverpool and Royal Birkdale golf clubs have hosted The Open Championship 22 times between them, and the Grand National is the most valuable jump race in Europe. National Museums Liverpool comprises nine museums and art galleries. Merseyside was designated as
2856-620: The Birkenhead & District name using buses painted in a light blue and cream livery, and isolated incidents of stonings of rival buses being reported. The rates of competition between the MTL and GM Buses companies in Greater Manchester and Merseyside did not prove commercially viable for the companies involved. As a result, a controversial agreement in April 1995 saw MTL close its Miles Platting depot and pull out of much of Greater Manchester, with
2940-664: The Cowie Group in 1996. These operations were subsequently grouped under Arriva North West following the Cowie Group's rebranding to Arriva in 1997. The purchase of MTL Trust Holdings left Arriva as the dominant bus operator in a large portion of the North West of England. This caused Arriva to be referred to the Competition Commission in March 2000, resulting in a recommendation being made for Arriva to sell
3024-715: The GM Buses North network of both local and interurban services in Bolton, Wigan, Leigh , Salford and North Manchester. MTL sought to bolster the Lancashire Travel fleet with second-hand MCW Metrobuses mainly acquired from London, as well as with 13 new Wright Endurance bodied Volvo B10Bs in Spring 1994. These moves provoked the GM Buses companies to set up competing companies in Liverpool and begin new services across Merseyside, with GM Buses South notably operating reviving
3108-555: The Heysham Travel fleet was managed at an arms' length and had few opportunities for expansion. After the acquisition of MTL by Arriva in 2000, the operation was sold to Stagecoach Lancaster in April of that year. Village Group Tours was a long-established coach operator based in the Garston Village area of south Liverpool, from which the 'Village' name was derived. Around 1992, Village entered Liverpool's 'bus war' on
3192-764: The Liverpool City Region. The network has 66 stations on two lines; the Northern Line covers the centre of the county, and the Wirral Line covers the eponymous peninsula. The two lines meet in Liverpool City Centre , and Liverpool Central is the county's most-used station, with 10.75 million passengers in 2021–22. The network extends to Ormskirk in Lancashire, and Ellesmere Port and Chester in Cheshire. Merseytravel brands
3276-601: The MTL Trust Holdings logo above the entrance door. Regional sub-brands were introduced to the Southport and Wirral divisions in summer 1994, which became Southport & District and Wirral Peninsula Buses respectively. The Merseybus brand was among all MTL bus operations later rebranded under the unified 'MTL North' branding from spring 1998. By July 1998, MTL Trust Holdings had accumulated over £10 million (equivalent to £26,139,000 in 2023) of debt from new bus leasing following major investments in modernising
3360-428: The Merseyside area saw reduced bus frequencies as a result of the introduction of new timetables, as well as fare rises ranging from between 55% and 150%. Buses initially maintained the 'green and cream' livery of Merseyside Transport, albeit with new Merseybus logos applied over Merseyside PTE logos, later replaced by a new Merseybus livery scheme of maroon and cream in 1988, following a public trial of livery proposals in
3444-610: The River Mersey). The two parts are linked by the two Mersey Tunnels , the Wirral line of Merseyrail , and the Mersey Ferry . Merseyside contains green belt interspersed throughout the county, surrounding the Liverpool urban area, as well as across the Mersey in the Wirral area, with further pockets extending towards and surrounding Southport, as part of the western edge of the North West Green Belt. It
Merseybus - Misplaced Pages Continue
3528-735: The Southport Division. In the first years of deregulation, Merseybus invested in minibuses through its Merseymini arm and reduced fares on certain services in attempts to compete with new independent bus operators within their operating area, including Fareway Passenger Services, Topway and Liverline, who threatened to report Merseybus to the Office of Fair Trading for unfair competition . Despite this sustained competition, Merseybus turned its first operating profit of £300,000 (equivalent to £1,016,000 in 2023) in December 1988 following
3612-641: The Transport Act 1985 to enable their sale. Despite Merseytravel's resistance, negotiations between the authority and a collective of 1,200 Merseybus employees and management towards an Employee Share Ownership Plan (ESOP) commenced around this time. In what was viewed by bidding employees as an attempt to derail a deal for the ESOP, Merseytravel introduced the £9.70 (equivalent to £25 in 2023) Solo all-week ticket in March 1992 in partnership with 29 other independent bus operators on Merseyside. The Solo ticket
3696-430: The advice of trade unions. MTL reconsidered its position, with revised pay offers across the company resulting in one-day strikes and overtime bans at other MTL divisions, and eventually brought MerseyRider's terms and conditions in line with those of Merseybus. This soon compromised the profitability of the operation and subsequently, MerseyRider was closed in August 1996. Originally owned by Gemsam Holdings, Liverbus
3780-516: The arrival of Merseybus in their established territory started a major bus war between the two companies from 1993 until the summer of 1995. MTL launched a two-pronged attack on the Greater Manchester bus market. The first phase of this consisted of the creation of a new company, MTL Manchester, who opened a depot in the Miles Platting area of Manchester in early 1994. From 1993, MTL Manchester mainly focused on competing with GM Buses, which
3864-408: The autumn of 1992 as a low-cost operation set up by Merseybus a few months prior to the sale to privatisation. MerseyRider initially operated out of Liverline's former Blackstock Street depot near Liverpool City Centre before later moving to a formerly-mothballed depot in Speke, running many Merseytravel contracts on behalf of Merseybus as well as commercial services originally operated by Liverline. and
3948-419: The bus fleet included Merseybus's remaining Willowbrook bodied Leyland Atlanteans and a number of hired minibuses, which were painted in a cream and green livery. In May 1994, MTL acquired former Merseyside Transport driver David Forrest's independent operator Blue Triangle, merging it into the MerseyRider operation. MerseyRider, however, was creating conflict between MTL's management, who were keen to expand
4032-421: The bus fleet, as well as having a planned floatation on the London Stock Exchange cancelled amid an Office of Fair Trading investigation into price fixing . Efforts were initially mounted to sell to other bus operating groups in the UK, however bids by the FirstGroup , the Stagecoach Group and the Go-Ahead Group ultimately failed due to both a high asking price and the ongoing OFT investigation. Merseybus
4116-547: The closure of Walton (North) and Garston (South) depots; Garston depot, however, did not close as a result of these spending cuts. Following deregulation, majority shareholder Merseyside PTA, later rebranded to Merseytravel , did not immediately sell Merseybus into privatisation . Merseybus was therefore one of four former PTE and several former municipal operators in 1989 to be ordered to submit privatisation plans to Secretary of State for Transport Paul Channon , who would determine if companies should be split under section 61 of
4200-398: The company to operate ex-Merseybus and MerseyRider services. When MTL was acquired by Arriva, the Evans Road garage was quickly vacated and many of the services rationalised when they revised the MTL service network in April 2000. MTL was awarded two railway franchises in 1997, during the Privatisation of British Rail . Both franchises were taken over by Arriva in 2000. Northern Spirit
4284-438: The company was rebranded MTL Fareway, with MTL's red and cream corporate livery adopted across the fleet. Despite an investment in a batch of 10 new Wright Endurance bodied Volvo B10Bs branded for the F3 service, the next few years would see MTL gradually close down the MTL Fareway operation, with the operations eventually transferred to Merseybus and operated by their Gillmoss depot by spring 1997. MerseyRider began life in
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#17327833117354368-448: The core of MTL 's bus operations. Merseybus was subsequently sold alongside all MTL operations to Arriva on 17 February 2000, and operations today trade under Arriva North West . In advance of the deregulation of local bus and coach services on 26 October 1986, which ordered the break-up of the passenger transport executives of the United Kingdom, Merseyside PTE's bus operations, branded as 'Merseyside Transport', were transferred to
4452-414: The county had a two-tier system of local government with the five boroughs sharing power with the Merseyside County Council . In 1986 the government of Margaret Thatcher abolished the county council along with all other metropolitan county councils, and so its boroughs are now effectively unitary authorities . Merseyside is divided into two parts by the Mersey estuary; the Wirral is on the west side of
4536-433: The estuary, upon the Wirral Peninsula , and the rest of the county lies on the east side. The eastern part of Merseyside borders onto Lancashire to the north and Greater Manchester to the east, with both parts of the county bordering Cheshire to the south. The territory comprising the county of Merseyside previously formed part of the administrative counties of Lancashire (east of the River Mersey) and Cheshire (west of
4620-556: The exception of services in Wigan and Leigh near to Lancashire Travel's St Helens depot, while the GM Buses companies pulled out from all of Merseyside, with GM Buses North closing its depot in Bootle and GM Buses South closing the Birkenhead & District operation. This agreement was subject to a study by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission which found MTL, the GM Buses companies, North Western and other Merseyside bus operators working in collusion and in breach of fair trade regulations, resulting in fines for all concerned. Following
4704-456: The first publicly-funded civic park , advances in dock technology , and a pioneering elevated electrical railway . The county was established in 1974, before which the entirety of the Wirral was in Cheshire and the remainder of the county was in Lancashire. Merseyside is notable for its sport, music, and cultural institutions. The Merseybeat genre developed in what is now the county, which has also produced many artists and bands , including
4788-787: The flagship 26/27 service. These were later followed by 20 Wright Axcess-Ultralows on Scania L113 chassis during 1996. 36 new long-wheelbase Northern Counties Palatine II bodied Volvo Olympians were delivered to Merseybus between 1995 and 1996, most for use by Wirral Peninsula Buses on the cross-river 'Silver Service', with a smaller amount delivered for use in Southport. A further 22 Palatine II bodied Volvo Olympians were introduced in 1998 for operations based at Gillmoss depot in North Liverpool, branded as The Millennium Fleet . As part of MTL North, Merseybus' final new buses before being purchased by Arriva included four Plaxton Pointer 2 bodied Dennis Dart SLFs equipped with roof-mounted compressed natural gas tanks for use as gas-powered buses on
4872-399: The following depots and divisions: Fareway Passenger Services was Merseyside's first major newcomer to bus operation in the post-deregulation period. The company was established by four former Merseyside Transport bus drivers who remortgaged their homes and used the redundancy payments they received when laid off from their former employer. Fareway commenced operations on 16 February 1987 with
4956-443: The former Merseybus depot in Gillmoss , consisting of over 200 buses, in order to avoid a public inquiry into the sale. Arriva was also required not to run services in competition with the independent Gillmoss depot for a total of 18 months. As a result, Glenvale Transport was formed by former Gillmoss depot management in July 2001, acquiring CMT Buses two years later and continuing as an independent operator until being purchased by
5040-436: The historic Aigburth Cricket Ground . Aintree Motor Racing Circuit hosted the British Grand Prix biennially between 1955 and 1961, and finally in 1962. Aintree Racecourse hosts the Grand National and there is also Haydock Park Racecourse . Totally Wicked Stadium hosts Rugby League and Hoylake hosts sailing (such as the Southport 24 Hour Race ) and is Britain's premier location for sand yachting. A ski slope facility
5124-412: The management and employees' ESOP buyout of Merseybus worth nearly £5.9 million (equivalent to £15,422,000 in 2023) was approved. All Merseybus vehicles and property were transferred to a new company named MTL Trust Holdings Limited , owned by 2,600 shareholding members of staff. Merseybus was rebranded following the MTL takeover, with buses repainted into a cream, red and silver livery featuring
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#17327833117355208-399: The metropolitan boroughs of St Helens and Knowsley . Merseyside was created on 1 April 1974 from areas previously part of the administrative counties of Lancashire and Cheshire , along with the county boroughs of Birkenhead, Wallasey, Liverpool, Bootle, and St Helens. Following the creation of Merseyside, Merseytravel expanded to take in St Helens and Southport. Between 1974 and 1986
5292-427: The network in the east of the county as the ' City Line ', but the services on it are not operated by Merseyrail. The Borderlands line connects the west of the Wirral to Wales , and is operated by Transport for Wales Rail . Liverpool Cruise Terminal provides facilities for long-distance passenger cruises. Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines MS Black Watch and Cruise & Maritime Voyages MS Magellan use
5376-554: The next 18 months, Fareway's operations expanded rapidly; by the end of 1989, Fareway had become the biggest independent bus operator on Merseyside, operating a core network of seven high-frequency F-prefixed commercial services on the major bus corridors linking Kirkby and North Liverpool to Liverpool city centre, as well as ten Merseytravel contracts. Despite sustained competition from other operators such as Merseybus, North Western and Liverline, Fareway would successfully maintain its network of services in Kirkby and North Liverpool for
5460-489: The next few years while also establishing a coach excursion and private hire division, gaining a public reputation for a clean bus fleet, low fares and efficiently-run services. Fareway's first new vehicles that entered service in January 1989, these being ten Northern Counties Palatine bodied Leyland Olympians , were the first new double-decker buses for an independent operator in North West of England since deregulation. However, by 1992, rumours began circulating that Fareway
5544-475: The only sign of MTL ownership of Fareway were stickers for the SuperSaver season ticket that Merseybus had introduced in 1990, now also valid on Fareway services. From late 1993, however, MTL began to exert more influence over the Fareway operation, replacing time-expired Fareway buses with newer second-hand buses from the MTL fleet and beginning to operate Fareway as a low-cost subsidiary of their core bus network in competition with other operators. In summer 1995,
5628-444: The operation further, and its employees and the unions, who were concerned about new drivers being on lower pay rates compared to those within the core Merseybus operation. After the transfer of Merseybus' Halewood service 72 to MerseyRider, employees at all MTL divisions, with the exception of MTL Fareway, London and MerseyRider, held a series of strikes between 1994 and 1995, including a two-day wildcat strike in April 1995 against
5712-425: The port's capacity when it opened in 2016. Liverpool John Lennon Airport is the county's international airport. It is in Speke , 6.5 miles (10.5 km) southeast of Liverpool city centre, with 5 million departures in 2020. Flights are primarily operated by easyJet and Ryanair , and over 70 destinations are served by the airport, including regular flights to the Near East and North Africa . The airport
5796-414: The quality of Liverpool's bus services through investment in low-floor buses, traffic priority measures and improved infrastructure. Soon after, Merseybus increasingly standardised on new single-deck buses manufactured by Wrightbus in the mid-1990s, taking the majority of MTL's 120 Wright Endurance bodied Volvo B10Bs from 1994 to 1996, the first 13 for use in the ongoing bus war against GM Buses North on
5880-416: The retreat, MTL was fined £15,000 (equivalent to £36,000 in 2023) on 13 July 1995 by the Manchester City Magistrates' court for ten offences of having operated dangerously faulty buses in and around Greater Manchester, some of which were found in Department of Transport examinations to be emitting excessive black smoke and having loose wheel nuts, body panels or window panes. This fine was briefly annulled
5964-461: The summer of 1990. By 1993, Liverbus had become involved in three long-term Merseytravel contracts, had invested in numerous new single and double-decker vehicles mainly bodied by Northern Counties, and had established a London operation, London Suburban Bus. Initially Merseybus did not operate services in competition with Liverbus, however in 1995, the company began competing with Liverbus by completely duplicating its entire network. By April 1995, it
6048-606: The terminal to depart to Iceland , France , Spain and Norway . Peel Ports have also planned a second cruise terminal as part of the Liverpool Waters project. Prince's Landing Stage on Liverpool's Pier Head serves Isle of Man Steam Packet Company summer service to the Isle of Man (and Mersey Ferries). The Twelve Quays ferry port in Birkenhead serves winter Isle of Man ferry service and Stena Line services to Belfast , Northern Ireland . Almost three quarters of
6132-514: Was a large franchise operating services across the whole of Yorkshire , including the Settle & Carlisle line and much of the North East. The franchise also included TransPennine Express trains from Liverpool and Blackpool to Scarborough , Hull and Newcastle . The franchise was rebranded as Arriva Trains Northern in April 2001. Merseyrail Electrics was responsible for running
6216-615: Was abolished in 1966. Instead, a Royal Commission was set up to review English local government entirely, and its report (known as the Redcliffe-Maud Report ) proposed a much wider Merseyside metropolitan area covering southwest Lancashire and northwest Cheshire, extending as far south as Chester and as far north as the River Ribble . This would have included four districts: Southport / Crosby , Liverpool / Bootle , St Helens / Widnes and Wirral / Chester . In 1970
6300-584: Was an independent coach operator that was operating commercial bus services in and around Heysham , Lancaster and Morecambe in North Lancashire. After privatisation, MTL attempted to expand into Lancaster in competition with council-owned Lancaster City Transport, and as a result, took over Heysham Travel in September 1993 in order to position themselves in the area. Being located at least 40–50 miles away from MTL's core operations on Merseyside,
6384-516: Was an independent operator set up by former Merseybus employees in January 1990. Initially founded with a small fleet of former Greater Manchester Leyland Atlanteans, Liverbus built up a network of services between its Huyton base and Liverpool city centre competing with Merseybus services from the Gillmoss and Green Lane depots. A private hire/coach excursion operation, Coach 2000, was established in
6468-455: Was announced that MTL had acquired Gemsam Holdings in an over £2 million deal, which included the operations of Liverbus and Coach 2000. Initially the Liverbus white, red and brown livery was maintained, but an announced investment of new buses did not materialise, and by 1996, the MTL fleet livery along with a new fleetname, MTL Liverbus, was adopted. The Huyton depot and route network
6552-430: Was eventually sold with MTL Trust Holdings to Arriva on 17 February 2000 for £85 million, with shareholding workers each receiving £13,500 in windfall gains from the sale. Arriva had already built up a substantial portfolio of bus operations in both the North West of England and parts of Wales, with origins in the region traceable back to the purchase of North Western , formerly part of Ribble Motor Services , from
6636-422: Was first drawn up from the 1950s. All the county's districts contain some portion of belt. Ipsos MORI polls in the boroughs of Sefton and Wirral in the 2000s showed that in general, residents of these boroughs identified slightly more strongly to Merseyside than to Lancashire or Cheshire respectively, but their affinity to Merseyside was more likely to be "fairly strong" than "very strong". Merseyside comprises
6720-487: Was in financial trouble and the once generally clean, well-maintained fleet was starting to look tired and dirty. With rival Merseybus now part of MTL Trust Holdings and engaged in a programme of consolidation and expansion, in April 1993, Fareway would be acquired by MTL. Initially, MTL kept Fareway as a separate entity from the core Merseybus division, maintaining the Fareway route network and its yellow and blue livery;
6804-527: Was maintained until the acquisition of MTL by Arriva in 2000, who after a route revision in the spring of 2000, withdrew many of the former Liverbus routes. Arriva closed down Huyton depot in June 2006 as it was too small and transferred operations to Green Lane depot in Old Swan. On 26 October 1994, MTL purchased London Northern from London Regional Transport , the seventh of ten LBL subsidiaries to be sold amid
6888-422: Was not accepted on commercially operated Merseybus services, despite it being conditional to pursue the ESOP, as it directly competed with the company's £7.95 (equivalent to £21 in 2023) SuperSaver all-week ticket launched a year prior. This conflict between Merseytravel and Merseybus was eventually resolved in December 1992 when, on the agreed condition that Solo tickets were accepted on all Merseybus services,
6972-508: Was purchased by its management and staff in a £5.9 million Employee Share Ownership Plan in 1993. On 17 February 2000, MTL was purchased by Arriva for £85 million, with MTL's shareholding workers each receiving £13,500 in windfall gains from the sale. The original bus division, Merseybus, introduced several new brand names, many outside of Merseyside , expanding into Manchester , North London , Lancaster , Warrington and South Lancashire . The company also owned Sightseers,
7056-473: Was sold and split into two North and South companies by Greater Manchester PTE in 1994, on city corridors in Manchester and satellite towns such as Altrincham , Bury , Sale and Stockport . The second phase of MTL's move into Greater Manchester was to rebrand the Merseybus and St Helens Rider services operated by the St Helens depot as Lancashire Travel in the autumn of 1993, expanding onto much of
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