101379
Bags of History
Yorkshire Traction's Ridings Travel
As part of the privatisation of the National Bus Company in 1986, Caldaire Holdings acquired the West Riding Group. This included the operations of National Travel East at Frost Hill and part of the operations based at Charlotte Road in Sheffield. The remainder of the Sheffield operation passed to ATL holdings who re-named it SUT. Sheffield United Tours had been a constituent part National Travel East (along with Hebble) but legal title to that name had passed to Wallace Arnold of Leeds so ATL were unable to use it.
The West Riding Group re-named their bits of National Travel East as Ridings Travel, the same name as the group used for their travel agency in Batley.
West Riding had to leave the depot at Charlotte Road they opened a new one in Handsworth. At about the same time, they closed the coach depot at Frost Hill and moved the bulk of the rolling stock to Cut End depot (Dewsbury) with the rest being distributed around other depots in Wakefield (Savile Street), Selby and a large allocation at Castleford.
After only a couple of years, West Riding decided to leave the coach market and closed down the entire operation, putting an end to the remains of National Travel East.
They sold off the coaches to various operators up and down the country but the name "Ridings Travel", the order book and the "goodwill" were sold to the Yorkshire Traction Company of Barnsley who integrated it into their Coachlink business.
They did paint a few coaches into full Ridings Travel livery but with the addition of a scripted Yorkshire Traction fleetname above the front wheels.
Coachlink itself would end after the acquisition of The Traction Group by Stagecoach in 2005.
Bags of History
Yorkshire Traction's Ridings Travel
As part of the privatisation of the National Bus Company in 1986, Caldaire Holdings acquired the West Riding Group. This included the operations of National Travel East at Frost Hill and part of the operations based at Charlotte Road in Sheffield. The remainder of the Sheffield operation passed to ATL holdings who re-named it SUT. Sheffield United Tours had been a constituent part National Travel East (along with Hebble) but legal title to that name had passed to Wallace Arnold of Leeds so ATL were unable to use it.
The West Riding Group re-named their bits of National Travel East as Ridings Travel, the same name as the group used for their travel agency in Batley.
West Riding had to leave the depot at Charlotte Road they opened a new one in Handsworth. At about the same time, they closed the coach depot at Frost Hill and moved the bulk of the rolling stock to Cut End depot (Dewsbury) with the rest being distributed around other depots in Wakefield (Savile Street), Selby and a large allocation at Castleford.
After only a couple of years, West Riding decided to leave the coach market and closed down the entire operation, putting an end to the remains of National Travel East.
They sold off the coaches to various operators up and down the country but the name "Ridings Travel", the order book and the "goodwill" were sold to the Yorkshire Traction Company of Barnsley who integrated it into their Coachlink business.
They did paint a few coaches into full Ridings Travel livery but with the addition of a scripted Yorkshire Traction fleetname above the front wheels.
Coachlink itself would end after the acquisition of The Traction Group by Stagecoach in 2005.