Burnley & Pendle

Infobox Bus transit
name = Burnley & Pendle Travel Ltd

logo_size = 220

---

image_caption = One of the Starship branded Optare Versas
founded = 2001
headquarters = Queensgate Bus Depot, Colne Road, Burnley (Head office: Prospect Park, Harrogate)
service_area = UK
service_type = Bus services
destinations = Burnley, Colne, Nelson, Padiham, Clitheroe, Rawtenstall, Manchester, Blackburn, Accrington, Keighley,
fleet = Approx. 70 buses
operator = Blazefield Group
ceo = Russell Revill, Managing Director
website = [http://www.burnleyandpendle.co.uk/ www.burnleyandpendle.co.uk]

Transdev Burnley & Pendle is a bus operator running within the boroughs of Burnley and Pendle, and into the surrounding areas including Accrington, Keighley and the high profile express service to Manchester, the X43/X44, branded as "The Witch Way", using specially branded double deckers with leather seats. Burnley & Pendle is a subsidiary of the Transdev Group, but has its roots as a former municipal bus company.

History

The Burnley, Colne & Nelson Joint Board was set up in 1933 to merge the three municipals of those towns, comprising at that time of both tramway and bus operations. But the thirties were the twilight years for tramway operation, and the tramways were progressively abandoned, closing completely in 1935. "Burnley buses" continued to operate the old tramway routes, however, including penetration of the nearby towns of Padiham, Nelson and Colne. The undertaking provided a brisk and reliable service on these and other routes throughout the war years and the following decades. In 1974, upon Local Government Reorganisation, the surviving bus operation was renamed Burnley & Pendle, jointly owned by Burnley Council and Pendle Borough Council. In 1986 Keith Ludeman became managing director of what was then the bus company with the worst service record and industrial relations, but after turning a £1million loss to a £1million profit he returned to London to join London Regional Transport. [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/11/04/ccprof104.xml&page=2 Railway man behind 'bullet' trains - Page2] Sunday Telegraph - 3 November, 2007]

In 1988 Stagecoach bought Ribble, and soon started buying up companies in Ribble territory. In 1996 Pendle Council put its share up for sale after much fighting. GM Buses (North) and Preston Bus both put in strong bids, but Stagecoach beat them both. The deal was finished by the end of January. Burnley Council was livid, and stated strongly it would never sell its share.

Stagecoach put up a multi-million pound investment plan for Burnley & Pendle, but Burnley Council could not meet its share unless it cut other council services. It eventually took a massive U-turn and sold its share to Stagecoach. Although most buses were rebranded as Stagecoach Ribble, many buses had Stagecoach Burnley & Pendle logos.

In November 2001 Stagecoach sold its failing East Lancashire operations to the Blazefield Group. Soon two companies were formed. What was Burnley & Pendle once again became Burnley & Pendle while the former Ribble services became Lancashire United. Blazefield has made a number of improvements, including replacing many of the Stagecoach buses - which were relatively old - with new Blazefield-standard buses. These originally being in the shape of wright bodied single deckers.

On 4 January 2006 Blazefield was sold to Transdev. Transdev has since added Blackburn Transport and Northern Blue (also based in Burnley) to its portfolio of East Lancashire companies.

Acquisition of Northern Blue

On 5 August 2007, Blazefield acquired the businesses of Northern Blue of Burnley and Accrington Transport, the company inherited a further batch of 65 buses to their fleet ["http://www.busandcoach.com/newsStory.aspx?id=1509] .

Services and Operations

The company operates bus services towards Padiham, Clitheroe, Manchester, Nelson, Colne, Rawtenstall, Accrington and Keighley from its Burnley base. In 2004 the company introduced the high quality route “The Witch Way”, which is separately marketed.

Since Blazefield's acquisition of Blackburn Transport, Northern Blue and Accrington Transport, some routes formerly run by these companies have been taken over by Burnley & Pendle Travel. These include several Blackburn Transport school services and all of Northern Blue's operations. Several Burnley & Pendle's buses which were due to be sold have been seen operating on these routes.

tarship Routes

[http://www.starshipbus.co.uk Starship home page]

[http://www.starshipbus.co.uk/gfx/maps/starshiproutemap.gifStarship Route Map]

Fares

The company sell a wide range of tickets besides single and return fares, from day, 7 day and annual travel tickets, which can be purchased on the bus. [" [http://www.burnleyandpendle.co.uk/ "Burnley & Pendle fares"] ]

Ticket Types

Fleet

Current fleet

[" [http://webzoom.freewebs.com/nwbus/Website%20Transdev%20East%20Lancashire.xls fleet list] ]

Liveries

"Burnley & Pendle's" buses were originally recognised by the distinctive red and cream livery although this is now mainly confined to The Mainline, more recently Burnley & Pendle's buses can be seen in a "wide variety of liveries."

These include:

* Starship - Since February 10th 2008 most of the Burnley local services are operated by new Optare Versas, with orange and yellow Starship branding. [http://www.starshipbus.co.uk/news/starshiplanded.asp Your Starship has landed Starshipbus - 6 February, 2008]

* The Witch Way - buses on routes to and from Manchester are in a special black, red and silver colour-scheme with a distinctive silhouette of a Pendle Witch on each side. Each bus running The Witch Way is named after one of the Pendle Witches, with the 15th bus being named after the judge who sent many of them to the gallows

* The Mainline - Most other buses in the fleet retain the red and cream livery, with many carrying route branding for B&P's flagship (The Mainline) services.

* Eclipse Driver Training - Training vehicles wear a white, blue and yellow livery for Blazefields Eclipse Driver Training.

Awards

* In 2003 Burnley & Pendle was joint runner up of the BIA Bus Operator of the Year Award in 2003 with sister company Lancashire United.
* In 2006 Burnley and Pendle won the Viacom Outdoor Marketing Campaign of the Year award at the UK Bus Awards in recognition of the work done in 2005 to relaunch the X43 service, where they introduced luxury twin deck vehicles, fitted throughout with leather seats, under the new brand The Witch Way.
* Marketing Manchester recently held their Manchester Tourism Awards 2007 at the prestigious Hilton Deansgate Hotel. Burnley & Pendle entered the Witch Way into the category for the “Tourism Transport Provider of the Year” at this annual event.

Miscellanea

* In 2006 The Witch Way ran a special service to the Houses of Parliament in order for the town's MP, Kitty Ussher, and many of her constituents to fight the decision to downgrade the Accident and Emergency department of Burnley's hospital

See also

* Lancashire United
* Harrogate & District
* Keighley & District
* Transdev York
* Yorkshire Coastliner
* Blazefield Group
* Transdev
* List of bus companies

References

External links

* [http://www.burnleyandpendle.co.uk/ Official Burnley & Pendle website]
* [http://www.thewitchway.co.uk/ The Witch Way website]
* [http://www.transdevplc.co.uk/ Transdev website]
* [http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/bcnsociety/index.htm BCN Society Website - History of transport in Burnley, Nelson & Colne]
* [http://www.northernblue.co.uk Northern Blue Website]
* [http://www.yourqueensgate.com/ Burnley and Pendle Employees Sports and Social Club Website]