GM Buses 3040, Oldham garage
This photo was taken to show the new 'GM Buses' identity that was used by what had been Greater Manchester Transport. This was in preparation for deregulation of bus services outside London from 26 October 1986, when many new competitors began to operate bus services across the whole of Greater Manchester.
GM Buses used four area identities for its operations, colour coded as you can see on the stripe between the wheel arches and the town name. The North area used a pale caramel shade; West used a mint green; South chose a pale blue; and East used a bold yellow, as seen here. These area identities only lasted a couple of years until a single GM Buses identity was used, but even that didn't last long as the company was forced to split into two, which were then sold, in December 1993.
For the record bus number 3040 was a Leyland 'Olympian' bus with Northern Counties bodywork new in September 1984. It passed to First Manchester when GM Buses North was sold and was last recorded working for First Devon & Cornwall in Padstow - a long way from Oldham.
Several of these Olympians are preserved including 3065, kept at the Museum of Transport Greater Manchester. If you'd like to know more about the Museum of Transport and its collection of vintage buses, go to www.gmts.co.uk.
GM Buses 3040, Oldham garage
This photo was taken to show the new 'GM Buses' identity that was used by what had been Greater Manchester Transport. This was in preparation for deregulation of bus services outside London from 26 October 1986, when many new competitors began to operate bus services across the whole of Greater Manchester.
GM Buses used four area identities for its operations, colour coded as you can see on the stripe between the wheel arches and the town name. The North area used a pale caramel shade; West used a mint green; South chose a pale blue; and East used a bold yellow, as seen here. These area identities only lasted a couple of years until a single GM Buses identity was used, but even that didn't last long as the company was forced to split into two, which were then sold, in December 1993.
For the record bus number 3040 was a Leyland 'Olympian' bus with Northern Counties bodywork new in September 1984. It passed to First Manchester when GM Buses North was sold and was last recorded working for First Devon & Cornwall in Padstow - a long way from Oldham.
Several of these Olympians are preserved including 3065, kept at the Museum of Transport Greater Manchester. If you'd like to know more about the Museum of Transport and its collection of vintage buses, go to www.gmts.co.uk.