Stotts Tours (Oldham)

Infobox Bus transit
name = Stotts Tours

logo_size =


image_size =
image_caption =
company_slogan =
founded =
headquarters = 144 Lees Road, Oldham,
Greater Manchester
locale = North West
service_area = Greater Manchester
service_type = School Bus,
Public Bus (2 Services)
hubs = Manchester, Oldham, Tameside, Stockport
stations =
operator =
lounge =
fleet =
ridership =
fuel_type =
ceo =
website = [http://www.stottstours.co.uk/ Official Website]

Stotts Tours (Oldham), or Stotts for short, is one of the bus companies serving the area of Greater Manchester, England. The company, based in Oldham, operates within the area covered by the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive.

History

1986 to 1997

Stotts is a family-owned company, which originally set up to operate in the coach business and has been operating from their depot on Lees Road for a number of years as a hire coach, providing day trips and school trips for people in the Oldham area. When deregulation was introduced in 1986, Stotts decided to have a go at running bus services. They acquired old buses, no longer being used, from other companies around the North of England and the Midlands. The company would run several services, all based in the Oldham area. The services were:
*398 Grotton - Lees - Oldham - Hathershaw - Ashton (to compete with GM Buses services 409 and 427.)
*413 Sholver - Moorside - Oldham - Royton - Thornham (to compete with GM Buses services 170 and 409.)
*414/424 Oldham - Holts Estate - Lees - Waterhead - Oldham "Circulars"
*416/417 Limeside - Oldham - Waterhead - Lees - Oldham - Werneth - Limeside "Circulars"
*422 Oldham - Chamber Road - South Chadderton, Butterworth Lane

The company was popular with passengers, as they offered cheaper fares than GM Buses, who were the main bus operator in Oldham and Greater Manchester. The company would continue to operate buses until 1997 when First Manchester, formerly GM Buses North, made an agreement with Stotts to take over some of their services and that Stotts would not be able to provide services for five years. So, with the exception of school services and the coach services, Stotts buses disappeared off the roads of Oldham and the 413 and 422 services were taken over by First. By 2005, those services were withdrawn by First.

2003 to present

In March 2003, Stotts returned to operate bus services but would not be able to run as many services as they previously did. In fact, they started with just one service, the 427 between Grotton and Hollinwood via Lees, Oldham and Garden Suburb. Stotts' service would go head-to-head with First's 427/429 service, which also ran between Grotton and Hollinwood with First's 427 running to Uppermill and the 429 to Greenfield. First ran a Monday-Saturday daytime service of every 10 minutes, while Stotts' only ran every 20 minutes, with some services during the day not running, so they could run school bus services, which they had been doing for a few years before.

Stotts also ran some contracted services from July 2003, funded by GMPTE in Stockport for a couple of years before losing the contract to Speedwellbus. They were the 307/308 (Stockport - Cheadle - Bramhall - Hazel Grove) "Circulars" services and the 390 (Stockport - Hazel Grove - Poynton - Woodford - Bramhall) service.

After that, they concentrated on running the 427 service plus school services in the Oldham, Rochdale and Tameside areas. One tactic that Stotts used on their 427 service to compete with First was to introduce a maximum fare of 70p. This would help, as First would charge almost double to Stotts. In 2006, Stotts would have to increase that fare, due to increased fuel costs to £1.20, still slightly cheaper than First.

First were obviously concerned by Stotts' presence on the 427 service. In October 2004, they changed their services with the 427 and 429 services replaced by the 180 and 184, continuing to run the 10 minute frequency between Grotton and Hollinwood, with buses continuing to Manchester and Saddleworth or Huddersfield. First also introduced a 20 minute weekday 184 service between Grotton and Hollinwood. The combination of First's 180 and 184 services and Stotts' 427 service saw a bus running every 5 minutes between Grotton and Hollinwood.

After four years, Stotts' 427 service was still running, although the Saturday service was withdrawn in 2007. First's 184 service between Grotton and Hollinwood had changed to run as a 183 running between Grotton and Limeside. In December 2007, it was announced that Stott's will withdrawn operation of the 427 service from the 3rd January 2008. This meant that Stott's would not be running any normal bus services, although they will continue to operate the school bus services. However, in May 2008 Stotts are set to regain a presence in the Stockport area with Speedwellbus losing the contract to run the 390 service to Stottscite web
title = GMPTE - Latest Service Changes
publisher = GMPTE
url = http://www.gmpte.com/content.cfm?subcategory_id=102867
accessdate = 2008-05-04 ] . The company will also take over the operation of the 364 service from Stagecoach Manchester at the end of July 2008 cite web
title = Manchester - Changes to services 309, 310, 313, 317 and 364
publisher = Stagecoach Manchester
url = http://www.stagecoachbus.com/manchester/serviceinfo_4963.html
accessdate = 2008-06-21 ] .

"Services run by Stotts from 2003:"
*307/308 Stockport - Cheadle - Bramhall - Hazel Grove "withdrawn in 2005"
*364 Stockport - Woodbank Park - Bosden Farm - Stockport - Heaton Moor "Circular" "from 27th July 2008"
*390 Stockport - Hazel Grove - Poynton - Bramhall "withdrawn in 2005 - resumed operation from Speedwellbus in May 2008"
*427 Grotton - Lees - Oldham - Garden Suburb - Hollinwood "withdrawn from 3rd January 2008"

ervices

Below is a list of services as of September 2008:

Monday to Saturday Services
* 364: Stockport – Woodbank Park – Bosden Farm – Heaton Moor "Circular"
* 390: Stockport - Offerton - Stepping Hill Hospital - Hazel Grove - Poynton - Woodford - Bramhall

School Services
* 121: Delph - Hulme Hall Grammar School
* 122: Greenfield - Hulme Hall Grammar School
* 123: Hulme Hall Grammar School
* 125: Mottram in Longdendale - Stalybridge - Smallshaw - Abbeyhills - Blue Coat School
* 126: Gee Cross - Hyde - Smallshaw - Abbeyhills - Blue Coat School
* 130: Stalybridge - Ridge Hill - Tameside Hospital - Ashton-under-Lyne - Oldham - Blue Coat School
* 183: Saddleworth School - Delph - Scouthead - Oldham
* 184: Oldham - Lees - Grasscroft - Saddleworth SchoolS
* 236: Longdendale High School - Hollingworth - Stalybridge - Ashton-under-Lyne
* 427: Saddleworth School - Grasscroft - Lees - Oldham
* 435: Crompton House School - High Crompton - Turf Hill - Rochdale
* 557: Blue Coat School - Sholver - Denshaw Junction - Delph - Oldham
* 692: Miles Platting - Levenshulme - Cedar Mount High School
* 707: Dane Bank - Droylsden
* 716: Smallshaw - Ashton-under-Lyne - Audenshaw - Droylesden - Rusholme - Loreto College
* 784: Queen Elizabeth High School - Mills Hill
* 785: Cardinal Langley High School - Langley
* 786: Alkrington - Langley - Queen Elizabeth High School
* 792: Audenshaw - St Thomas More High School
* 793: Alkrington - Middleton - Mills Hill - Royton - Crompton House School
* 794: Rhodes - Middleton - Alkrington - Royton - Crompton House School
* 794: Rhodes - Middleton - Alkrington - Moston - North Chadderton School
* 795: Middleton - Royton - Thornham - Crompton House School
* 796: Werneth - Hollinwood - Failsworth
* 807: Denshaw Junction - Pennine Meadows - Moorside - Oldham
* 810: Two Trees High School - Gee Cross
* 823: North Chadderton School - Royton - Thornham
* 828: Mossley - Friezland - Greenfield - Saddleworth School
* 831: North Chadderton School - Royton - Thornham
* 832: Shaw - High Crompton - Royton - North Chadderton School
* 829: Littleborough - Rochdale - Milnrow - Newhey - Shaw - Blue Coat School
* 839: Abbeyhills - Glodwick - St Annes Primary School
* 870: Ridge Hill - Stalybridge - Copley High School - Mossley - St Damien's Science College
* 893: Alkrington - Moston - Chadderton - Blue Coat School

References

External links

* [http://markamis.fotopic.net/c319653.html Stotts Tours on fotopic]
* [http://www.stottstours.co.uk Stotts Tours Official Website]