44-515: Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive was the public body responsible for public transport in Greater Manchester between 1974 and 2011, when it became part of Transport for Greater Manchester . Until 1969, the conurbation surrounding Manchester was divided between the two administrative counties of Lancashire and Cheshire and a number of county boroughs , such as Manchester, Salford, Stockport or Bolton. To comply with
88-402: A bus war with GM Buses and predictably they retaliated with new services on Merseyside. At first, route 79 from Croxteth to Liverpool City Centre, one of Merseybus's most profitable routes, saw high-frequency GM Buses operation from September 1993 as a means to discourage further MTL expansion in Greater Manchester. In the spring of 1994, GM Buses South formed Birkenhead & District from
132-597: A bid for monies from the Transport Innovation Fund . Within the bid were proposals to introduce Congestion charging in Greater Manchester . They claimed the Greater Manchester Transport Innovation Fund would have significantly improve public transport in the area funded by charging motorists entering the city at peak times. A consultation document was sent out to residents during July 2008. In December 2008,
176-553: A central organisation. It consisted of companies operating in the following areas: The new central organisation was named SELNEC , the South East Lancashire North East Cheshire Passenger Transport Executive, and commenced operations on 1 October 1969. SELNEC introduced a standard fleet livery of orange and white, with the company split into three zones: Northern, Central and Southern. From 1 April 1974,
220-614: A depot at Cleveland Street in Birkenhead 's docklands. The vehicles used a light blue and cream livery, that had slight echoes to a darker blue version used by Birkenhead Transport , and many of MTL's profitable services on the Wirral saw competition from Birkenhead & District. GM Buses North, almost besieged by MTL's Lancashire Travel operation, began further operations in Liverpool, Kirkby , Formby and Southport ; it also opened
264-559: A local referendum voted no to the proposals. In February 2011, the Daily Telegraph reported that David Leather, chief executive of the Passenger Transport Executive, was being paid £45,000 a month, and Bob Morris, interim chief operating officer, was getting a six-figure salary. Because they were seconded staff, rather than being employees, they were supposedly not covered by the government demand that
308-528: A new depot, this time in Bootle , to assist its Atherton and Wigan depots in the operation of these new services on Merseyside. Furthermore, some standard GMPTE Leyland Atlanteans and Daimler Fleetlines , originally sold by GM Buses to Yorkshire Rider in 1987/88, were re-acquired by GM Buses North for use at the new depot at Bootle. However by the summer of 1995, both MTL and the split GM Buses companies were making substantial losses. A controversial agreement
352-671: A number of specialist task groups which bring together professionals from across the pteg network to focus on specific policy areas and to share expertise and good practice. The PTEG Support Unit, based in Leeds , co-ordinated PTEG's activities and acted as a central point of contact. PTEG became Urban Transport Group in 2018. In Scotland, the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport , formerly Greater Glasgow Passenger Transport Executive, Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive, and Strathclyde Passenger Transport Authority, covers
396-737: A separate legal entity; in these areas the combined authority itself is the executive. In recent years the PTEs and ITAs have campaigned to be given more powers to regulate local bus services, as is the case in London (see London Buses ). The Passenger Transport Executive Group (PTEG) was a federated body based in Leeds to bring together and promote the interests of the six PTEs in England, plus associate members Strathclyde Partnership for Transport; Transport for London ; Nottingham City Council; and Bristol and
440-421: Is being gradually replaced on the former across Greater Manchester by rebranded bus stop flags displaying the new Transport for Greater Manchester logo. To add to printed material and logos etched in glass on the side of bus shelters, GMPTE began a programme of adding their 'double M' logo to 101 railway station nameboards, train rolling stock livery, bus sides and some 'totem' pole signs outside rail stations in
484-561: Is worth bearing in mind that PTEs do not, strictly speaking, own anything - their role is a statutory one to provide services using the resources provided to them by the ITAs. There are currently six passenger transport executives in England , covering areas which correspond - though are not limited - to metropolitan counties . When a combined authority is created the integrated transport area and integrated transport authority are replaced with
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#1732773225474528-595: The Local Government Act 1972 changed many of the UK's administrative areas and the county of Greater Manchester was created. As a result, SELNEC was renamed Greater Manchester Transport . In 1981, a new fleet livery of orange, brown and white was adopted. Also in the same year, Lancashire United Transport , based in Atherton , was absorbed into Greater Manchester Transport. On 26 October 1986, deregulation
572-675: The Transport Act 1968 , on 1 April 1969, the SELNEC Passenger Transport Executive was formed. SELNEC stood for South East Lancashire North East Cheshire , a joint authority of the various local councils. From 1 November 1969, the PTE took over the bus fleets of 11 municipalities, and operationally, the organisation was split into three divisional areas, Northern, Central, and Southern: SELNEC branded its fleet with its corporate orange and white livery and
616-420: The metropolitan boroughs , or in the case of Strathclyde by the twelve unitary authority councils in the area. The ITAs are not "precepting authorities", so they have to negotiate a "levy" every year that is applied to council tax collected by the local authorities in the areas that they serve. The executive usually requests a budget and the council representatives on the ITAs negotiate from this position. It
660-483: The 'S' logo. The 'S' logo was coloured differently in each division: magenta for Northern, blue for Central and green for Southern. For corporate operations, the parcel operations (inherited from Manchester), and the coaching fleet, the 'S' logo was in orange In the early 1970s, SELNEC began to promote a project to construct an underground railway beneath central Manchester, the Picc-Vic tunnel . The scheme aimed to link
704-565: The North Manchester area. Many of the companies that tried to compete with GM Buses failed, with most going out of business and some, such as Citibus Tours, being taken over by GM Buses or its immediate successors. On 11 December 1993, GM Buses was split for sale as two separate companies, as the Government felt that they had a monopoly of bus services in the Greater Manchester area and wanted to increase competition. GM Buses
748-670: The PTE, and had to compete in the deregulated market. In preparation for privatisation, the company was split into GM Buses North and GM Buses South on 31 December 1993. Both companies were sold to their managements on 31 March 1994, and sold on to major groups in 1996: GM Buses South to Stagecoach in February, GM Buses North to FirstBus in March. GMPTE and the GMPTA worked with the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities to produce
792-584: The Transport Act 1985 forced them to separate their bus operations into new arms lengths companies. These were called PTC's which were all sold off by the mid 1990s. The PTE's were also stripped of their powers to regulate the fares and timetables of private bus operators. A number of changes to PTE/As were made under the Local Transport Act 2008 . The main changes made were: The integrated transport authorities (ITAs) from 2008 onwards are
836-527: The West of England. PTEG's main tasks were facilitating the exchange of knowledge and good practice within the PTE network, and raising awareness nationally about the key transport challenges which face the city regions, and the public transport solutions which PTEs are implementing. PTEG's strategy and policy was determined by the Directors General of the PTEs, who met every quarter. It administered
880-618: The abolition of the Greater Manchester County Council in 1986, a new Passenger Transport Authority was created to administer the GMPTE, made up of councillors from the Greater Manchester district councils. In the same year, in order to prepare for bus deregulation , the PTE's bus operations passed to Greater Manchester Buses Limited (trading as GM Buses ) in October 1986. The company was owned at "arm's length" by
924-543: The acquisition of Warburton's Coaches in November 1975 and Lancashire United Transport and Godfrey Abbot in January 1976. The public branding applied to buses and signage used the shorter name Greater Manchester Transport , displayed in upper and lower case Helvetica next to a distinctive orange double 'M' logo. The logo, first seen around 1974, is still in use today on bus stops and transport information literature, but
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#1732773225474968-452: The area during the 1990s. This idea was later extended to a full re-design of the bus stop flag in 2000, (used first on primary bus routes, now extended to the entire GMPTE area) resulting in a unified corporate appearance containing the 'double M' logo on bus, train and tram stops. The PTE sponsored several new railway stations on existing lines in the 1970s and 1980s including Flowery Field , Godley , Hag Fold and Ryder Brow . Following
1012-485: The bodies which administer the executives; they are made up of councillors representing the areas served by the PTEs. They are responsible for funding the PTEs, and making the policies which the PTEs carry out on their behalf. PTEs secure services on behalf of the ITA but it is the ITA that pays for them. In the six metropolitan counties, councillors are appointed to the ITAs or the transport committees of combined authorities by
1056-406: The combined area and combined authority. This happened in Greater Manchester on 1 April 2011 and happened in three other integrated transport areas from 1 April 2014: to become the larger Liverpool City Region, as well as Sheffield City Region, and West Yorkshire combined areas. In South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and West Midlands, the PTE has been absorbed into the combined authority, and is no longer
1100-482: The company had been taken over by FirstBus. In 2005, the GM Buses name was revived by UK North for use in its Manchester operations. The operator engaged in a bus war with Stagecoach Manchester on route 192 , with excessive numbers of competing UK North and Stagecoach buses causing major congestion around Piccadilly Gardens bus station . Following several incidents, culminating in a UK North bus being involved in
1144-444: The corporate FirstGroup livery soon being adopted. While GM Buses South had only purchased 36 new Alexander -bodied Mercedes-Benz 811D minibuses and were leasing 20 Volvo B6 Alexander Dashes from Stagecoach at the time of their purchase, by comparison, GM Buses North had invested in 55 'Superbus'-branded Volvo B10B Wright Endurances , subsequently followed by five Volvo B10L Wright Liberators , delivered shortly after
1188-677: The formation of the North/South GM Buses companies, Merseyside 's dominant bus company MTL was in a phase of expansion and turned its attention to Greater Manchester. In the summer of 1993, MTL Manchester began operations from a depot in Miles Platting and added an extensive network of new or duplicated services to Manchester's already hotly contested bus market. In October 1993, the Merseybus depot in St Helens
1232-590: The former region of Strathclyde , which includes the urban area around Glasgow . All of Scotland is now divided into partnership areas for Transport. A similar body, Transport for London , exists in Greater London . In shire county areas, similar functions are carried out by county councils . GM Buses GM Buses was a major bus operator serving the ten metropolitan districts of Greater Manchester in North West England . The company
1276-602: The latter of which had existed for decades and had origins with the Lancashire United operation. In the first quarter of 1996, both GM Buses companies were sold by their employee shareholders. GM Buses South was purchased by Stagecoach Holdings for £40.7 million on 25 February, despite criticism from the Labour Party and protests from pensioners outside the Free Trade Hall . GM Buses South
1320-557: The name "Cheshire". (Most of the NWRCC operations bought by SELNEC were in the old county of Cheshire ). When the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester was created on 1 April 1974 the executive was replaced by GMPTE, with the Greater Manchester County Council replacing the joint transport authority. The PTE also acquired the bus operations of Wigan Corporation with 130 vehicles. Further expansion saw
1364-461: The ones covered by integrated transport authorities today. Local government in England was re-organised in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 . The re-organisation created the six metropolitan counties , and the existing four English PTEs were named after, and made to match the borders of the new counties (for example West Midlands PTE was expanded to take on Coventry and Tyneside PTE expanded to include Sunderland becoming Tyne and Wear PTE in
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1408-532: The pay of any public-sector employee earning more than the Prime Minister should be disclosed. Passenger transport executive In the United Kingdom , passenger transport executives ( PTEs ) are local government bodies which are responsible for public transport within large urban areas. They are accountable to combined authorities , which were created between 2011 and 2016 and took
1452-633: The process). In addition to this, two new PTEs were created for the newly established metropolitan counties of South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire . The 1974 reorganisation also abolished the PTAs, and their role was taken over by the Metropolitan county councils (MCCs). However, when the MCCs were abolished in 1986, the PTAs were re-created. Local government re-organisation in Scotland in 1975 created
1496-490: The region of Strathclyde , and the existing Greater Glasgow PTE was named after, and made to cover the new region. PTAs were recreated by the Local Government Act 1985 when the metropolitan county councils were abolished. The Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 had the same effect in the Strathclyde Region. Until the mid-1980s the PTEs operated bus services in their areas, but bus deregulation by
1540-524: The role of integrated transport authorities (ITAs). The PTEs have joined together to form the Urban Transport Group (Passenger Transport Executive Group (PTEG) until 2016), in which Transport for London and Strathclyde Partnership for Transport also participate. The first PTEs and Passenger Transport Authorities (PTAs) were established in the late 1960s by the Transport Act 1968 as transport authorities serving large conurbations , by
1584-399: The then transport minister Barbara Castle . Prior to this, public transport was run by individual local authorities and private companies, with little co-ordination. The PTEs took over municipal bus operations from individual councils, and became responsible for managing local rail networks. The 1968 Act created five PTE/As. These were: Initially they covered slightly different areas from
1628-477: The two main railway stations, Piccadilly and Victoria with a tunnel. The project was eventually cancelled on grounds of cost. On 1 January 1972, SELNEC PTE acquired most of National Bus Company 's North Western Road Car subsidiary with buses, services and depots in Altrincham , Glossop , Oldham , Stockport and Urmston . The corporate orange and white livery was applied, with the 'S' logo in brown and
1672-624: Was formed in February 1986 by the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive prior to deregulation on 26 October. In December 1993, it was split into GM Buses North and GM Buses South in order to increase competition for services in the area, before they were sold to the FirstGroup and Stagecoach respectively. The Transport Act 1968 resulted in several bus companies run by local authorities around Greater Manchester merging to create
1716-589: Was introduced to bus services and Greater Manchester Transport was split into two. The management of service information and tendering, bus stations and stops would be run by the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMPTE). The bus operation would be named Greater Manchester Buses or GM Buses as it is commonly known, initially being split into North, East, South and West operational areas before these were merged into South, East and West areas in March 1987. Deregulation also saw competition introduced on several routes run by GM Buses; by March 1988, GM Buses
1760-531: Was rebranded Lancashire Travel ; a further series of new or duplicate services were introduced in the Wigan, Leigh, Bolton, Salford and North Manchester areas that Merseybus/MTL had been gradually increasing its profile in since the late 1980s. Finally, around 1993/94, MTL purchased Bolton Coachways and used their fairly substantial minibus network to further strengthen their position in the town against GM Buses North. MTL's incursions into Greater Manchester sparked
1804-488: Was rebranded as Stagecoach Manchester shortly after the sale, despite Stagecoach claiming that the GM Buses South brand would be retained. GM Buses North was then purchased in March by FirstBus for £47 million, later being rebranded as Greater Manchester FirstBus, with buses repainted into a deep orange livery featuring a blue stripe. By 1997, the company would be rebranded again as First Manchester , with
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1848-500: Was running 361 'Little Gem' minibuses in competition with other operators across Greater Manchester. The competing operators included Bee Line Buzz Company , which ran several services along major routes across the Greater Manchester area; Wall's and Finglands Coachways , which introduced several services along the Wilmslow Road corridor ; and Bluebird Bus & Coach and Citibus Tours , which launched several routes in
1892-405: Was split into GM Buses North and GM Buses South. Both companies were purchased by their employees in separate employee buyouts in early 1994. It had been hoped by splitting the companies up, GM Buses North and GM Buses South would compete against each other. However, as their names would suggest, the two companies would continue to operate mainly in their respective operating areas. Prior to
1936-451: Was therefore signed between the three companies in June 1995. This saw MTL pull out of much of Greater Manchester, with the exception of services linking St Helens with Leigh and Wigan. Both GM Buses companies withdrew completely from Merseyside, including the long-established route 34 between Liverpool and Manchester via St Helens and Leigh, and route 320 from Liverpool to Wigan via St Helens,
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