Warrington Borough Transport

Volvo B7RLE bus at Warrington Interchange
Slogan	making warrington move
Founded	Warrington Corporation Tramways in 1902; Warrington Corporation Transport Department in 1935; Warrington Borough Council Transport Department in 1972; Warrington Borough Transport Ltd in 1986
Headquarters	Wilderspool Causeway, Warrington
Locale	Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside
Service area	England
Service type	Urban and interurban bus services, school bus, bus charter
Destinations	Warrington Borough, Altrincham, Earlestown, Leigh, Northwich
Fleet	Around 120 buses
Operator	Warrington Borough Transport Ltd
Managing director	David Squire
Web site	Official Website

Warrington Borough Transport (WBT) is a bus operator running a network of services within the Borough of Warrington, England and into the surrounding area, including Altrincham, Leigh, Earlestown and Northwich. The network of services is marketed under the Network Warrington name, with both names appearing on vehicles and publicity. The limited company "Warrington Borough Transport Ltd" is wholly owned by Warrington Borough Council, which makes WBT one of the few remaining municipal bus companies in the United Kingdom today.

The company was named UK Bus Operator of the Year at the 2008 UK Bus Awards, in part due to their success in increasing ridership by 20% over the past two years and attaining up to 98% satisfaction in customer surveys.^[1]

History

Warrington Corporation Tramways started operating a network of five radial tramways from the town centre in 1902, with the first motor bus service starting in 1913. Buses replaced trams on routes starting in 1931, with the infrastructure starting to require major renewal which could not be justified economically. The last tram operated in 1935.

Services expanded rapidly after the Second World War as new housing estates grew in areas such as Orford and Great Sankey. The conversion of bus routes with conductors into one-man operated services began in 1965 as changes in society such as home entertainment and the increasing availability of cars forced cost savings on all bus operators in the country.

Warrington was designated as a new town in 1968, which led to new housing estates planned in the Birchwood and Westbrook areas of town. As such, Warrington Borough Council Transport Department (as the transport department was then called) started operating new services to these new developments as they started to grow in the 1970s and beyond. The department also began operating new services jointly with Crosville upon the split of the old Stockport-based North Western Road Car Company in 1972.

Following the deregulation of bus services in the UK, Warrington Borough Transport Ltd took over operations as a limited company, albeit owned 100% by the council. The company's mission was that if money could be made by operating services deemed uneconomic by other operators, then WBT should assume operation. This policy led to an increase in services operated as other bus companies who ran into the area decided to concentrate on their own core areas.

Competition from other operators flared up in 1995, with the new North Western company (operating as "Warrington Goldlines") duplicating the vast majority of the existing bus network with their own services, taking over from another new competitor MTL (operating as "Lancashire Travel") when they decided to stop competing after a few months. In retaliation, WBT began operating new services in competition with North Western, to places such as Wigan, St Helens, Widnes, Runcorn, Chester and Liverpool – even starting a local minibus service in Northwich. After 18 months of intense competition, both companies decided to scale-back. WBT kept routes to Prescot and St Helens, whilst giving up operations to the Birchwood area of town in favour of North Western,^[2] who later rebranded as Arriva.

In February 2002, Arriva decided to close its depot in Warrington and transfer interurban routes to depots in neighbouring towns.^[3] WBT resumed operation of town routes to Birchwood, Cinnamon Brow and Woolston, but transferred the St Helens route back to Arriva. Further withdrawals by Arriva led to the takeover of routes to Leigh in 2005^[4] and Altrincham in 2006.^[5] The latest new route for the company began in July 2008 and serves the new Chapelford Urban Village housing development, with initial funding provided by the developers.^[6]

Large investments have been made in more recent times to replace the fleet with new low-floor single deck buses that are wheelchair accessible and more friendly to people with pushchairs, and marketing efforts have seen the introduction of the Metro Map, to highlight the relatively straight-forward nature of the network operated (in an Underground-style format).

When managing director Nigel Featham took up a similar role at Arriva Yorkshire in May 2008, John Bannister—finance director at WBT since its formation as a limited company in 1986—was promoted to take his place.^[7] Bannister was suspended from his post in April 2009^[8] and sacked a month later, the reason reported to have involved "inappropriate behaviour with a female colleague".^[9] Operations director Charlie Shannon performed the role in the interim until a new managing director, David Squire, was appointed in August 2010.^[10]

Budget cuts by Warrington Borough Council have resulted in the network of Sunday evening services operated by Warrington Borough Transport being completely withdrawn from Sunday 27 June 2010, as these socially necessary services no longer receive any subsidy from the council. The company continues to operate a service during daytime shopping hours on a commercial basis.^[11]

Routes

Main services

The table below shows the main service routes operated by WBT, correct as of 6 June 2011 (2011 -06-06)^[update].^[12] All services operate from Warrington Bus Interchange. Colours in the table appear on publicity but not on vehicles.

	Number	Warrington to	Via	Notes
	1, 2	Westy	Latchford (Circular)
	3	Martinscroft	Bruche, Woolston
	4, 4A	Woolston	Padgate, Bruche
	5	Altrincham	Stockton Heath, Thelwall, Lymm, Warburton, Dunham Massey, Bowdon
	6	Lymm	Stockton Heath, Cobbs Estate, Grappenhall, Thelwall, Statham
	7, 7A	Grappenhall	Stockton Heath, Cobbs Estate (7)
	8, 9	Hatton	Stockton Heath, Cobbs Estate (8), Appleton Thorn (8), Stretton
	10, 10X	Hatton	Gainsborough Rd, Stockton Heath, Cobbs Estate, Appleton Thorn, Stretton	Evening service only, 10X terminates at Appleton Thorn
	11, 11A, 12, 12A	Loushers Lane	Latchford (11A, 12A), Gainsborough Rd (Circular)
	13	Westbrook	Whittle Brook, Whittle Hall, Kingswood
	14, 15	Great Sankey	Whittle Brook, Lingley Green, Penketh (Circular)
	16, 16A	Dallam	General Hospital, Bewsey
	17	Gemini	Chapelford, Westbrook	"Chapelford Connector"
	18, 18A	Callands	Old Hall, Westbrook, Gemini (18A)
	19	Leigh	Winwick, Croft, Culcheth, Glazebury
	20, 21	Longford	Orford (Circular)
	20A, 21A	Longford	Orford, Dallam, Bewsey, General Hospital (Circular)	Early morning and Sunday service only
	22	Vulcan	Winwick, Newton-le-Willows, Earlestown	Evening and Sunday service terminates at Earlestown
	23, 23A	Cinnamon Brow	Padgate, Blackbrook, Orange Grove (23A)
	24, 24A	Oakwood	Padgate, Blackbrook, Fearnhead, Birchwood (24), Birchwood Park (24A)
	25, 25C	Gorse Covert	Orford, Locking Stumps, Birchwood, Oakwood
	25B	Ryefields	Retirement Village shoppers' service	1 return journey only
	26	Gorse Covert	Orford, Cinnamon Brow, Locking Stumps, Birchwood, Oakwood	Evening and Sunday service only
	27	Gorse Covert	Orford, Blackbrook, Locking Stumps, Birchwood, Oakwood	Evening and Sunday service only
	28, 28A	Leigh	Padgate, Longbarn, Birchwood (28), Locking Stumps, Risley, Culcheth, Glazebury
	29	Collins Green	Sankey Bridges, Great Sankey, Lingley Green, Whittle Hall, Westbrook, Gemini, Kingswood, Burtonwood	Short journeys terminate at Lingley Green or Westbrook
	30	Penketh	Sankey Bridges
	31	Penketh	Sankey Bridges
	32, 32A	Penketh	Sankey Bridges
	37A	Altrincham	Latchford, Thelwall, Statham, Lymm, Broomedge, Little Bollington, Bowdon	Sunday service only
	38	Altrincham	Latchford, Thelwall, Statham, Lymm, Warbuton, Dunham Massey, Bowdon	Sunday service only
	45	Northwich	Stockton Heath, Stretton, Antrobus, Great Budworth, Higher Wincham, Lostock Gralam
	46	Northwich	Stockton Heath, Stretton, Comberbach, Anderton, Barnton
	48	Dudlows Green	Latchford, Stockton Heath, Cobbs Estate, Appleton
	101	Centre Park	Town Centre Shuttle (Circular)	"Centrelink"

Night services

There are no year-round night bus services operated, although WBT has in the past operated a seasonal night bus network centered on Warrington town centre over the Christmas and New Year period.^[13] The services ran between 2004 and 2008 with the support of Warrington Borough Council, several parish councils, town centre licensees and Cheshire Police, but sufficient funding was not forthcoming for 2009 due to a decline in passenger numbers the previous year.^[14] At its peak six separate services were operated serving most suburbs as well as Birchwood and Burtonwood.^[15]

Park & ride services

There are currently no dedicated year-round park and ride services, although WBT operated a seasonal Saturdays-only scheme to Warrington town centre to cater for Christmas shopping. This began in 2005 with a single service from the Northwest Regional Development Agency offices at Centre Park business park,^[16] but was expanded in 2007 to operate from two separate sites: car parking available at the Warrington Collegiate campus to the north of the town centre, and at the Bruntwood Wilderspool Park business park to the south (next to Morrisons), both locations just off the A49.^[17] The service is not operating in 2011.^{[citation needed]}

As a condition of planning consent for the B&Q superstore next to the M62 at Winwick, a section of the car park was designated as "Park & Ride" albeit using the existing bus services and fares provided by WBT and Arriva. There were up to seven buses an hour during Monday to Saturday daytimes provided by the two operators, however the success of this scheme was questionable due to the lack of a dedicated express bus service to the town centre, tickets which were not interchangeable between the two operators, and a lack of publicity for the facility. B&Q withdrew from the scheme in 2006, claiming that the facility "was being abused".^[18]

Contract services

WBT operate a variety of works and contract services.^[19] Work services generally operate in conjunction with large employers or business parks, operate at peak times for pass-holding employees, and are not available to the general public. Services operated include:

• Birchwood Park shuttle: Birchwood – Birchwood Park business park^[20]
• O2 works service: Warrington – O2 call centre (Preston Brook)
• Olympic Park shuttle: Birchwood – Olympic Park business park
• United Utilities works service: Warrington – United Utilities offices (Dawson House and Lingley Mere)^[21]

There are also a number of routes which operate in conjunction with special events, and thus only operate on certain days of the year. Some routes are free, others have a flat fare, whilst a few require pre-booking. Recent shuttle services operated include:

• Creamfields: Warrington / Manchester – Creamfields (Daresbury)
• Warrington Disability Awareness Day: Warrington – Disability Awareness Day (Walton Gardens)

School services

WBT operate a number of school services in addition to their main network. These include services to Lymm High School, Newman High School, St Gregory's Catholic High School, Great Sankey High School and Priestley Sixth Form College.^[12]

Ticket types

WBT offers a selection of tickets that can be bought with cash from the driver.^[22] Single journey tickets vary in price depending on the length of journey, as do day return tickets which allow a return journey to be made on the same day. Neither of these ticket types allow a transfer to another route, but there is a special add-on "throughfare" for journeys to Warrington Hospital. Day Rover tickets allow a whole day's travel on all WBT services, costing a little more than the maximum day return fare. Change is available from the driver, but customers are asked to provide the exact change if possible.

Up to two children under 5 can travel for free when accompanied by an adult. Other children under 16 can travel for around half price, with teenagers recommended to carry proof of age in the form of an Under 16 Permit. Free concessionary travel is available to senior citizens and the disabled on display of a valid pass, after 0930 on Mondays to Fridays and all day on Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays.

Season tickets for all WBT services can be purchased from the inspectors' office at Warrington Interchange. These passes are only valid with a photocard, and can be purchased for either the Warrington town area or the whole network, including routes to neighbouring towns. Weekly, monthly and annual versions are available.

The Transport for Greater Manchester System One range of tickets is accepted for journeys within Greater Manchester, but is also valid outside the county as far as Lymm Church and Culcheth Library on routes from Altrincham and Leigh respectively. The Merseytravel range of tickets is accepted for journeys within Merseyside only. WBT also participates in the PLUSBUS scheme for add-ons to rail tickets.

Offices and depot

The frontage of the bus depot on Wilderspool Causeway

The main depot and offices for WBT are located on Wilderspool Causeway (A49) at the junction with Chester Road (A5060), on the southern periphery of the town centre close to the crossing of the Mersey at Bridge Foot (53°23′02″N 2°35′26″W / 53.38389°N 2.59056°W / 53.38389; -2.59056). The two main sheds to the rear of the site were originally built in 1943 for Fairey Aviation and used to assemble wings for their Fulmar bomber, before being bought by Warrington Corporation in 1947 as a place to park buses.^[23] The site eventually became the main operational centre, with the frontage of the depot dating from 1964 and consisting of a reception area and vehicle inspection bays at ground level with offices above.^[24] The maintenance facilities are licensed to perform MOT tests for HGVs and PSVs.^[25]

The original tram system was operated from an eight-track depot at the junction of Mersey Street and Lower Bank Street.^[26] A purpose built bus garage was constructed on Lower Bank Street in 1930, although buses were also housed in the old tram sheds following the withdrawal of trams.^[27] Despite the move to the new Wilderspool garage, the old staff canteen on Lower Bank Street remained in use until the opening of the new bus station in 1979. The building was demolished in 1981^[28] and is today the site of a DW Sports Fitness Club.

The current depot's location next to the old Wilderspool Stadium and close to the town centre led to interest from developers in redeveloping the site of the depot and the stadium during 2006. As part of this, a new depot would have been constructed at the nearby Centre Park business park on the other side of the Mersey but still close to the town centre.^[29] Whilst WBT were reported to be seriously considering the proposed move, the scheme never moved beyond the drawing board and foundered around the end of the year having failed to gain favour with council planning officers.^[30]

The inspectors' office on the main concourse at Warrington Interchange provides for season ticket sales and information.

Fleet

WBT has a fleet of 112 active buses, consisting of 94 single-deck buses (including 6 minibuses) and 18 double-decker buses as of 7 September 2011 (2011 -09-07)^[update].^[31] The single deck fleet is 100% low-floor and—along with three low-floor double-deckers—operates all of the company's scheduled bus network. The remaining step-entrance double-deckers operate on school and contract services.

There is a small reserve fleet consisting of vehicles that are stored pending further use or awaiting disposal, but these are not included in the list below. Additionally, the company also maintains an East Lancs bodied Leyland PD2/40 (Special) dating from 1965, which is a heritage vehicle used on special occasions and available for private hire.

Current fleet

Chassis	Bodywork	Image	Number	Seating Capacity	Built	Notes
Single deck
Dennis Dart SLF	Marshall Capital MCV Capital		28	40 or 41	1999–2003	Low-floor
VDL SB120	Wright Merit Wright Cadet		48	39	2003–2008	Low-floor Five vehicles from Arriva Bus & Coach dealer stock
Volvo B7RLE	Wright Eclipse 2		12	45	2009	Low-floor
Optare Solo	Optare Solo		6	25	2011	Low-floor
Total (single deck)			94
Double deck
Volvo B7TL	Alexander ALX400		3	47 (upper) 25 (lower) 72 (total)	1999	Low-floor Formerly London Central, arrived 2011
Leyland Olympian	Northern Counties Palatine		2	47 (upper) 30 (lower) 77 (total)	1990	Formerly Harrogate & District, arrived 2004
Leyland Olympian	Alexander		2	47 (upper) 32 (lower) 79 (total)	1992	Formerly Huntingdon & District, arrived 2003
Volvo Olympian	Alexander (Belfast)		11	47 (upper) 31 (lower) 78 (total)	1996	Formerly Dublin Bus, arrived 2008–9
Total (double deck)			18
Total (all vehicles)			112

Future fleet

More ALX400 vehicles and some Wright Gemini vehicles are currently on order, with further double-deck buses potentially to follow.

Past fleet

Previous types of buses in use with the company include:

Leyland Titan Crossley Mancunian Bristol K6G Foden PVD6 Daimler Fleetline Leyland Panther Cub Bristol RE

Leyland Atlantean Dennis Dominator Leyland Olympian Dodge S56 Dennis Dart Optare Metrorider

Dennis Dominators featured in the fleet from 1982 until their final withdrawal in 2009

Preserved vehicles

Main article: List of preserved Warrington buses

There are examples of several former vehicles that used to operate for the company that are now preserved or undergoing restoration. Some of these are located at transport museums, whilst others can be seen at rallies and historic running days around the country. Many of the earlier examples feature the traditional Warrington licence plate area letter code "ED".

Branding

WBT has used a number of different brands and liveries in its history, as follows:

• Warrington Corporation Tramways

The original livery adopted on trams and early motorbuses was a deep crimson and light yellow, with ornate gold lettering and lining.

• Warrington Corporation

In 1945 a new livery was introduced of maroon with ivory bands, three bands on double deckers and one on single deck vehicles.

• Warrington Borough Council

Following the local government reorganisation of 1974, vehicles started appearing in a mainly light red livery with a large white band around the windows. The new logo of Warrington Borough Council was applied, consisting of a large stylised "W" encompassing the Cheshire sheaf of wheat and the Lancashire rose. This would be replaced with the borough's revised coat of arms in the early 1980s.

• Advertising liveries

The first all-over advertising bus appeared in 1977 when a Daimler Fleetline was painted in a mainly white livery with graphics advertising Baldwins, the local Leyland car dealership. Other all-over advertisements have appeared for Vladivar Vodka and Warrington Wolves amongst others.

Warrington Borough Transport logo, introduced in 1986

• Warrington Borough Transport

Upon the establishment of the arms-length company WBT Ltd in 1986, a new logo appeared incorporating the borough coat of arms. The primary colours of red and white remained generally the same until the white was replaced with ivory in the late 1990s, although vehicles started to appear with a "Welcome aboard" legend in the front windscreen and forward near-side window.

• CoachLines of Warrington

Set up as a subsidiary company in 1987 offering coach hire and a programme of tours and excursions, the coach fleet built up to 14 vehicles before being downsized around 1995. The subsidiary ceased trading a few years later. The livery used was Aircraft Blue and Canary Yellow diagonal stripes on a Naples Blue livery.

• MiniLines

Mini bus services to Penketh and Dudlows Green were started in 1987 and used a primrose and blue livery, the colours used by the local rugby league club. The MiniLines fleet was repainted into the standard red and white livery around 1995.

• Mid-Cheshire Bus Lines

Four vehicles bought in 1988 to operate newly acquired services to Northwich retained the blue and cream livery of their previous owner, Eastbourne Buses. Crosville were said to be unhappy at the introduction of this brand due to the fact that they had used it as a local branding scheme for vehicles in the Northwich area in the early part of the 1980s, the original Mid Cheshire Bus Co Ltd having sold out to North Western in 1924.^[32] A new service to Warburton saw the arrival of four additional vehicles from Preston Bus in 1990 wearing a similar blue and cream livery. The fleetname would be phased out of use by 1995, with the vehicles receiving standard WBT red and white livery.^[33]

• MidiLines

New deliveries of Dennis Darts up until 1995 received the CoachLines livery but with MidiLines fleetnames. New deliveries and repaints from 1995 onwards retained the MidiLines branding as secondary to the main WBT logo on the standard red and white/ivory livery.

• Route branding

This has been attempted on some high-profile services since 1995, albeit mainly taking the form of white lettering on the front windscreen and forward-most side windows. Such route branding includes Chester CitySprint (30X Warrington - Chester), Runcorn CitySprint (X1 Runcorn - Liverpool), The Runcorn Link (T11 Warrington - Murdishaw), The Northwich Link (45A/46A Warrington - Northwich Sunday services) and The Trafford Link (5 Warrington - Trafford Centre). In 1999, new low floor buses were delivered with extra yellow logos for the 20•21 circular services, and in 2001 two buses featured purple and blue branding for the 16•16A service. Both of these brands have been lost in recent years as a common pool of low-floor buses has been established.

• Super Mini and Super Midi

The fleet renewal started in 1998 saw new mini and (low-floor) midi buses appearing with this branding instead of the ones previously used (i.e. MiniLines and MidiLines).

• network warrington

To co-incide with the 2006 opening of the new bus interchange in Warrington town centre, the front-line fleet has been rebranded in a new red livery with cream and orange circular detailing, designed by Samantha Beeley. The fleetname "network warrington" is used, with "warrington borough transport" appearing underneath in small letters. The original design contained the strapline "connecting warrington" but this was soon replaced by "making warrington move". The borough coat of arms was deliberately left off the sample vehicle, but was added after 92% of respondents to feedback questionnaires felt it should.^[34]

• Centrelink

A special purple and yellow livery and brand was introduced in 2002 for the minibus that originally operated the town centre circular service, with publicity and timetable leaflets designed by Best Impressions. This was replaced in 2008 with a new low-floor bus featuring a scheme based on the standard livery, with route branding using the established purple and yellow colours.

Awards and accreditations

The company gained Investors in People accreditation in 2004, and attained the Charter Mark award for customer service in 2005.^[35] Accreditation in Health & Safety management in the work place was achieved in 2008 with the award of the OHSAS 18001 certificate, a first for a UK bus operator.^[36]

WBT gained national recognition after being named UK Bus Operator of the Year at the 2008 UK Bus Awards,^[1] after having been runners-up in the Shire Operator of the Year category in 2007 behind the highly-regarded Stagecoach Cambridge.^[37] The driving team were also shortlisted for Industry People of the Year in 2007,^[38] with the company's marketing efforts being shortlisted for Marketing Campaign of the Year in 2008.^[39]

“	Network Warrington has certainly transformed the quality of bus travel in the town, backed up by customer satisfaction surveys showing ratings of 98%. Understandably, all this impressed the judges but, even more importantly, the evidence on the ground certainly impressed our intrepid mystery traveller and his findings confirm that Warrington Borough Transport is the truly deserving bus operator of the year 2008.	”
—Judging panel, 2008 UK Bus Awards[1]

Locally, the company has won several awards at the Warrington Business Awards, winning the Social Responsibility Award in 2001 and 2007 and the Business Survivor Award in 2003.^{[citation needed]} They were also awarded overall winner at The Mayor's Sustainable Business Awards in 2007.^[40]

The company's Manchester based advertising agency And Partners have won several awards for their "Good Signs" campaign: gold award in the Regional Newspaper Campaign category at the 2007 Fresh Creative Awards;^[41] named Best Regional Press Ad of 2007 in Campaign magazine's end of year review;^[42] gold award for Best Press Campaign and silver award for Best Advertisement on a Mobile Medium at the Roses Advertising Awards 2008.^[43] The campaign consisted of a series of adverts featuring bus signage promoting recent achievements in humorous fashion, including "Please mind the step, it's brand spanking new" highlighting investment in new vehicles and "Please do not hug the driver while bus is in motion" referring to high levels of customer satisfaction in surveys.^[44]

See also

• Warrington Corporation Tramways
• Transport in Warrington
• List of bus operators of the United Kingdom

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "2008 UK Bus Operator of the Year". UK Bus Awards. http://www.ukbusawards.org.uk/content/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=145&Itemid=27. Retrieved 2008-11-18. 
2. ^ "Peace deal ends bus war". Warrington Guardian. 1996-06-14. http://www.warringtonguardian.co.uk/news/5327473.Peace_deal_ends_bus_war/. Retrieved 2011-06-05. 
3. ^ "Bus company set to bid Arriva-derci". Warrington Guardian. 2002-01-10. http://www.warringtonguardian.co.uk/news/5276068.Bus_company_set_to_bid_Arriva_derci/. Retrieved 2011-06-05. 
4. ^ "Thumbs up to pram friendly transport". Warrington Guardian. 2006-01-23. http://www.warringtonguardian.co.uk/news/5337346.Thumbs_up_to_pram_friendly_transport/. Retrieved 2011-06-05. 
5. ^ "Lifeline for bus link". Warrington Worldwide. 2006-08-09. http://www.warrington-worldwide.co.uk/articles/1034/1/Wednesday-9th-August-2006/Page1.html. Retrieved 2011-06-05. 
6. ^ "The future for new developments". Easierproperty. 2008-07-24. http://www.easier.com/39679-the-future-for-new-developments.html. Retrieved 2011-06-05. 
7. ^ "John's in the driving seat". Warrington Worldwide. 2008-05-28. http://www.warrington-worldwide.co.uk/articles/2682/1/Johns-in-the-driving-seat/Page1.html. Retrieved 2009-06-08. 
8. ^ "Bus chief suspended". Warrington Worldwide. 2009-05-14. http://www.warrington-worldwide.co.uk/articles/5357/1/Bus-chief-suspended/Page1.html. Retrieved 2009-06-08. 
9. ^ "Bus boss sacked". Warrington Worldwide. 2009-06-05. http://www.warrington-worldwide.co.uk/articles/5515/1/Bus-boss-sacked/Page1.html. Retrieved 2009-06-08. 
10. ^ "New boss for bus company". Warrington Worldwide. 2010-07-08. http://www.warrington-worldwide.co.uk/articles/8427/1/New-boss-for-bus-company/Page1.html. Retrieved 2010-08-13. 
11. ^ "Services on Warrington Borough Transport to be cut". Warrington Guardian. 2010-06-03. http://www.warringtonguardian.co.uk/news/8199870.Sunday_night_bus_services_slashed/. Retrieved 2010-06-14. 
12. ^ ^{a b} "Timetables". Warrington Borough Transport. http://www.warringtonboroughtransport.co.uk/timetables.htm. Retrieved 2011-06-04. 
13. ^ "Unanimous verdict to make night bus a permanent fixture". Warrington Guardian. http://archive.warringtonguardian.co.uk/2006/1/23/264143.html. Retrieved 2007-11-03. 
14. ^ "October 2009 Minutes". Stockton Heath Parish Council. http://parish.cheshire.gov.uk/stocktonheathpc/Council/Oct%202009.pdf. Retrieved 2009-11-18. 
15. ^ "All aboard night bus to Burtonwood". Warrington Guardian. http://www.warringtonguardian.co.uk/search/display.var.1918949.0.all_aboard_night_bus_to_burtonwood.php. Retrieved 2008-01-11. 
16. ^ "On the buses". Warrington Guardian. http://archive.warringtonguardian.co.uk/2006/1/23/264166.html. Retrieved 2007-11-03. 
17. ^ "Park and Ride Pride". Warrington Guardian. http://www.warringtonguardian.co.uk/news/warrnews/display.var.1804851.0.park_and_ride_pride.php. Retrieved 2007-11-05. 
18. ^ "Park and ride scheme from B&Q withdrawn". Warrington Guardian. http://archive.warringtonguardian.co.uk/2006/10/4/278304.html. Retrieved 2007-11-03. 
19. ^ "Contract Services". Network Warrington. http://www.networkwarrington.co.uk/contract.html. Retrieved 2011-11-02. 
20. ^ "Shuttle Bus". Parklife, MEPC Birchwood Park. http://www.mepc.com/parklife/birchwoodpark/Travel/ShuttleBus.aspx. Retrieved 2011-11-02. 
21. ^ "Travel by shuttle bus". Muse Developments, Lingley Mere. http://www.musedevelopments.com/projects/our-projects/lingley-mere/travel_1/travel-by-shuttle-bus.html. Retrieved 2011-11-02. 
22. ^ "Ticket Guide". Warrington Borough Transport. http://www.warringtonboroughtransport.co.uk/ticket.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-22. 
23. ^ Robinson 1987, p.13
24. ^ Robinson 1987, p.15
25. ^ "VOSA Test Station Locations". Vehicle and Operator Services Agency. http://www.transportoffice.gov.uk/crt/doitonline/bl/vosateststationlocations/Liverpool%2858%29.htm. Retrieved 2010-11-18. 
26. ^ Robinson 1987, p.5
27. ^ Robinson 1987, p.9
28. ^ Robinson 1987, p.16
29. ^ "Can our town take any more?". Warrington Guardian. http://archive.warringtonguardian.co.uk/2006/7/13/273848.html. Retrieved 2007-11-03. 
30. ^ "Brakes on bus depot's Slutchers Lane move". Warrington Guardian. http://archive.warringtonguardian.co.uk/2007/1/11/283032.html. Retrieved 2007-11-03. 
31. ^ "Fleet list". Warrington Borough Transport. http://www.warringtonboroughtransport.co.uk/fleet.htm. Retrieved 2011-09-07. 
32. ^ Robinson 1990, p.44
33. ^ Hesketh 1998, p.25
34. ^ Hesketh 2006, p.28
35. ^ "Top marks as town's bus company scoops award". Warrington Guardian. http://archive.warringtonguardian.co.uk/2005/7/5/126669.html. Retrieved 2007-11-03. 
36. ^ "WBT is first UK bus operator to win international best practice accreditation for Health and Safety" (Press release). http://www.warringtonboroughtransport.co.uk/news2008.htm. Retrieved 2008-11-18. 
37. ^ "2007 Shire Operator of the Year". UK Bus Awards. http://www.ukbusawards.org.uk/content/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=17&Itemid=27. Retrieved 2008-11-18. 
38. ^ "2007 Industry People of the Year". UK Bus Awards. http://www.ukbusawards.org.uk/content/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=62&Itemid=27. Retrieved 2008-11-18. 
39. ^ "2008 Marketing Campaign of the Year". UK Bus Awards. http://www.ukbusawards.org.uk/content/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=150&Itemid=27. Retrieved 2008-11-18. 
40. ^ "The Mayor's Sustainable Environment Business Awards". Warrington Borough Council. http://www.warrington.gov.uk/Councilanddemocracy/Councillorsdemocracyandelections/mayor/presentation/seapres.aspx. Retrieved 2007-11-03. ^{[dead link]}
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Bibliography

• 75 Years of Municipal Transport in Warrington 1902–1977, Warrington Transport Department.
• Hesketh, Peter (1998) "After the War is Over". Buses 50 (523). ISSN 00076392
• Hesketh, Peter (2005) "A Model of a Modern Municipal". Buses 57 (601). ISSN 00076392
• Hesketh, Peter (2006) "A Merseyside Makeover". Buses 57 (616). ISSN 00076392
• Morris, Stephen (2004) "Warrington - Heading for a Golden Future". Buses Focus 32. ISSN 13553011
• Phillips, Ron. (2002) Warrington Borough Transport, 1902–2002: 100 Years of Service to the Community, DTS Publishing. ISBN 1-900515-50-4
• Robinson, John P. (1987) Warrington Trams & Buses: A History of Municipal Transport in Warrington, Cheshire Libraries & Museums. ISBN 0-904532-24-0
• Robinson, John P. (1990) "Warrington Borough Transport Since Deregulation". Buses Extra 66. ISSN 01419927

External links

• Warrington Borough Transport official website
• Transport section on Warrington Borough Council's website
• Yahoo Group mailing list for news, pictures and information on bus operations in Warrington area
• Warrington buses in Czech Museum
• Collection of photographs of Warrington Borough Transport and its predecessors
• Restoration project for Warrington tram no. 2
• Pole to Pole - short documentary about a Polish rock star turned bus driver