GM Buses Liverpool

[Brickmill]

RE: GM Buses Liverpool

(16/02/2019 17:13)gilesbus1 Wrote:  Thanks for all this feedback on this as someone who again travelled to both cities I seem to remember it well.

I didn't at the time, travel to Southport so can't speak about what was there.

I think the battle really started a long time before,in 1989 as Alan Johnson was then depot manager at St Helens depot and decided to try to win school contracts in the Lowton, Leigh and Wigan area's indead my local school contract at the time was operated by Merseybus using a variety of fleet from that depot from brand new 1989 NCME bodied Olympians to Leyland National 2's to Alexander AL bodied Atlanteans from both L plate and A plate examples, later the older Atlanteans went and newer vehicles from other depots came in. From that school contracts were eventually lost, so the next move was to go and register the 10 and 510 services from Liverpool to Bolton duplicating over several routes. In turn from that the fact GMPTE had been ordered to sell GM Buses appealed to MTL directors as they wanted to force GM Buses into collapse as there financial position wasn't very secure so they registered Lancashire Travel and then MTL Manchester which Alan Johnson Managed MTL Manchester as he knew Manchester reasonably well. GM Buses doubled the frequency of there 34 service and brought in MCW Metrobuses with Northern Counties bodies from the Manchester garages to Atherton to operate on it in competition.

Then GM Buses North and South were sold to MEBO (Management Employee Buyouts) so cash was available to respond in some way then, so Alan Westwell who was from Liverpool originally managed GMN and bought a collection of former GMPTE standards from Yorkshire Rider which had been sold by GM Buses between 1986 (Fleetlines) and 1992 (Atlanteans), and also several batches of MCW Metrorider Minibuses from Yorkshire Rider, South Wales Transport and Cardiff Bus, some of these were used to strengthen Greater Manchester area services while others were sent onto Merseyside.

MTL bought Bolton Coachways in Bolton out and was able to keep vehicles there from the St Helens fleet besides gaining local Bolton area work.

GM Buses South's response was to open a depot in Birkenhead and introduce the former Birkenhead Corporation livery onto them as Birkenhead & District and bring in all 17 NCME bodied Fleetlines it had that had come from GM Buses as they were in effect none standard in its main fleet. Later on in registered the 26 and 27 Shield Road Circulars using Y and A plate Atlanteans from Princess Road depot on them which would drive over using the M63 (now M60) and M62 to Liverpool.

I think really what was happening is both operators were losing money in there own area's because the incomers were offering lower fares, so a deal was reached were MTL not to lose face was given routes by GMN that linked Merseyside with Wigan area towns that had been operated by Atherton depot and Wigan depot, while MTL closed there operation in Manchester, sold the Bolton operations and selected vehicles to GMN in recompense. GMS closed Birkenhead and district and GMN its Liverpool and Southport opps, GMS stopped operating the 26 and 27. Off course in the longer term later under First Manchester it bacame possible to close Atherton depot as its mileage and vehicle output had reduced somewhat, as the 34 used significant numbers of buses, also MTL was able to reduce its Liverpool fleet and close sub operations like Fareway and the former Liverbus base at Huyton in the years to come.

I doubt anything like this will happen again, because of the state of play proposed at the moment.

I doubt GMS were losing money in their own area as by then they had nothing much more than money spinning HE ST and PS depots. One memory lapse I have is what date MTL ceased Gtr M'cr ops, and for that matter Continue taken over by GMN. I'm sure, both were at or immediately before the City Centre Bus Strategy was introduced around May 1995.