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North Western or Crossville livery?

North Western operating in Warrington was very controversial.

(19/01/2022 13:54)knutstransport Wrote: [ -> ]North Western or Crossville livery?

North Western operating in Warrington was very controversial.

North Western as I said about the other two single deck buses.

(19/01/2022 15:08)efanmthomas Wrote: [ -> ]North Western as I said about the other two single deck buses.

I wasn't sure which one was Crosville green without checking.

I notice their website now refers to "Runcorn Busways" and "Omega Busways"

If it's a North Western style livery for "Omega Busways", that would suggest either research in to the history of North Western in Warrington wasn't done or perhaps that MP are being passive aggressive towards Warrington's Own Buses. From what I understand and what's been said on here before, some regular bus users were so annoyed about North Western starting bus wars in Warrington that they refused to use their buses, even if it meant waiting longer or paying more.

Only the second (post 1986/dereg) North Western was controversial in Warrington.
The previous (first) North Western had been a respected operator into Warrington from its depots at Altrincham & Nortwich.

But it's the red, yellow and blue Beeline livery from the post-1986 operator that MP Travel appear to have copied for the Runcorn Busway, rather than the red and cream from the previous North Western.

Beeline: https://www.flickr.com/photos/130375827@...272664091/
MP Travel Busways: https://www.flickr.com/photos/east_lancs/51192247034

Those Leyland Nationals were noisy buses!

Personally I preferred the blue and red without yellow livery: https://www.railwaymedia.co.uk/Trips/199...-f9Ck2vS/A

(19/01/2022 20:49)knutstransport Wrote: [ -> ]But it's the red, yellow and blue Beeline livery from the post-1986 operator that MP Travel appear to have copied for the Runcorn Busway, rather than the red and cream from the previous North Western.

I think you’re getting a bit confused here [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/darren_hal...qC]Runcorn Busways[/url] was separate branding for post deregulation North Western found on Leyland Nationals, East Lancs Darts and Plaxton Verde

It’s not a beeline livery, it’s the last livery of North Western before all Cowie group companies were all rebranded into the Arriva brand

(19/01/2022 21:10)Raawwwrrr! Wrote: [ -> ]I think you’re getting a bit confused here [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/darren_hal...qC]Runcorn Busways[/url] was separate branding for post deregulation North Western found on Leyland Nationals, East Lancs Darts and Plaxton Verde

It’s not a beeline livery, it’s the last livery of North Western before all Cowie group companies were all rebranded into the Arriva brand

I never went to Runcorn during those days but I was aware of a Skelmersdale brand that didn't have two colours used for wording unlike Beeline and also the Busways you've linked to.

There was a reworked livery applied to the ex-Starline Travel vehicles following acquisition in the mid 1990s which saw the yellow around the windows dropped: https://www.railwaymedia.co.uk/keyword/K...-4gVbxdV/A

I can't find any pictures but some ex-Starline Mercedes vehicles got rebranded as North Western Vale Line and retained the base Starline colours so were mainly white. These were then used on Northwich locals (which at the time was in the borough of Vale Royal.) Like this but without the decoration and without the fancy text: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rossendali...363428116/

There is no passive aggressive reason for these heritage liveries. They were put in this livery as a celebration of 50 years of the Runcorn Busway, and there is branding on the buses saying so. There is no competition on the X1 from either Arriva or Warrington's Own Buses.

Omega Busways is a completely different company and is not connected to MP Travel, as a search on the gov.uk website will show.

EX21ONE is in th Crosville green livery, TX21ONE and MP20BUS are in Runcorn Busways livery. Although they occasionally turn up on B52 services, they are primarily used on the X1 between Castlefields and Liverpool One.

(23/01/2022 11:24)quahogbuscompany Wrote: [ -> ]They were put in this livery as a celebration of 50 years of the Runcorn Busway, and there is branding on the buses saying so. There is no competition on the X1 from either Arriva or Warrington's Own Buses.

Another poster reported W10 MPT has gone in to a base post-1986 North Western livery and said that they believe that vehicle can't use used on the X1. That's what I was referring to and why I suggested that could be a controversial choice of livery for a Warrington service. Perhaps you can comment on that rather than talking about 3 unrelated vehicles being in branding for the X1?

Quote:Omega Busways is a completely different company and is not connected to MP Travel, as a search on the gov.uk website will show.

1. There's a company registered called "Howards Travel Group T/a Howards Travel And Omega Busways Limited" but it's been reported before that they were unsuccessful in their application for an operating licence, so far. There's actually no need to put a t/a on a company registration name. You could register a company called Old Buses That Break Down Ltd but use Luxury Modern Buses as your trading name.
2. The Omega Busways page is on the MP Travel site. It shows a photo of 3 MP Travel branded vehicles showing the B52 route number and includes a link to the B52 timetable, it refers to "we" as the operator (meaning not a third party) and has the MP Travel registered details at the bottom of the page.

Here's the direct link: http://www.mptravel.co.uk/OmegaBusways If you think you're correct and the MP Travel site is wrong why not have a word with the owner, instead of telling me to look at companies house.

(23/01/2022 11:49)knutstransport Wrote: [ -> ]Another poster reported W10 MPT has gone in to a base post-1986 North Western livery and said that they believe that vehicle can't use used on the X1. That's what I was referring to and why I suggested that could be a controversial choice of livery for a Warrington service. Perhaps you can comment on that rather than talking about 3 unrelated vehicles being in branding for the X1?


1. There's a company registered called "Howards Travel Group T/a Howards Travel And Omega Busways Limited" but it's been reported before that they were unsuccessful in their application for an operating licence, so far. There's actually no need to put a t/a on a company registration name. You could register a company called Old Buses That Break Down Ltd but use Luxury Modern Buses as your trading name.
2. The Omega Busways page is on the MP Travel site. It shows a photo of 3 MP Travel branded vehicles showing the B52 route number and includes a link to the B52 timetable, it refers to "we" as the operator (meaning not a third party) and has the MP Travel registered details at the bottom of the page.

Here's the direct link: http://www.mptravel.co.uk/OmegaBusways If you think you're correct and the MP Travel site is wrong why not have a word with the owner, instead of telling me to look at companies house.

So is this seperate Omega Busways connected to Howard or MP Travel? I’m a little confused.