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Cleveland Transit

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For the transit company in Cleveland, Ohio, see Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority.

Cleveland Transit was a municipal bus operator based in the former county of Cleveland in northern England, operating from 1974 until its purchase by the Stagecoach Group in 1994.

Cleveland Transit
Green, yellow and white double-decker bus leaving a bus station
Cleveland Transit Northern Counties bodied Dennis Dominator at Middlesbrough bus station, 1993
FoundedApril 1, 1974; 50 years ago (1974-04-01)
DefunctNovember 1994; 30 years ago (1994-11)
HeadquartersStockton-on-Tees
LocaleCleveland, England
Service areaMiddlesbrough
Langbaurgh-on-Tees
Stockton-on-Tees
Service typeBus and coach
AllianceHartlepool Borough Transport

History

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Preserved Cleveland Transit Bristol VRT at the South Yorkshire Transport Museum, 2019

The non-metropolitan county of Cleveland was formed by the Local Government Act 1972, incorporating the County Borough of Teesside districts of Hartlepool, Stockton-on-Tees, Middlesbrough and Langbaurgh-on-Tees as its non-metropolitan districts, with Middlesbrough becoming Cleveland's county town. Upon Cleveland's inauguration as a county in April 1974, the six-year-old Teesside Municipal Transport's operations were brought together with bus operators in the other three boroughs, with the exception of Hartlepool Borough Transport, and a joint council committee named Cleveland Transit was formed.[1][2]

The municipally-owned company operated bus and coach services across the new county for the next twelve years, adopting a green and primrose livery for its fleet.[1] Cleveland Transit standardised on a fleet of Northern Counties-bodied Leyland Fleetlines, which were rebodied in the 1980s,[3] Bristol VRs and Dennis Dominator double-decker buses and Leyland Leopard single-decks in this period,[2] also experimentally operating a Rolls Royce-engined Leyland Fleetline converted to run on liquid petroleum gas, the first LPG-powered double-decker in the United Kingdom, in the mid-1970s.[4]

Deregulation in 1986 saw Cleveland Transit take on a new green, white and yellow corporate identity and be reincorporated as an 'arm's length' company by Cleveland County Council.[5] After a protracted period of negotiation between Cleveland Transit staff and the councils involved in the joint committee,[6] during which the company became engaged in a bus war with rival Trimdon Motor Services in Stockton-on-Tees,[7][8] the company was purchased by its employees in 1991 in an employee share ownership plan, with the company adopting the slogan 'Employee Owners Working for You'.[9]

In 1992, Cleveland Transit's coaching arm Cleveland Coaches was reorganised, becoming a National Express contractor as well as offering coach holidays to various destinations.[10] Cleveland Transit purchased Kingston upon Hull City Transport (KHCT), a former municipal bus operator located in the non-metropolitan county of Humberside that was losing £100,000 a month, from the city council for over £2 million in December 1993. Employees at KHCT retained 49% ownership of the company and the livery of KHCT was changed to one similar to Cleveland Transit.[11][12]

In November 1994, Cleveland Transit and KHCT were both purchased by Stagecoach Holdings for £8.3 million.[13] The Cleveland Transit identity was originally retained by Stagecoach for a short period, with new Northern Counties Palatine bodied Volvo Olympians being delivered with 'Part of the Stagecoach Group' slogans on the Cleveland Transit logos,[14][15] however full Stagecoach identity began to be adopted for the Cleveland Transit fleet from 1995 onwards.[16] The operations of Cleveland Transit are today part of Stagecoach North East.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Transit tees up". Buses. Stamford: Key Publishing. 20 April 2017. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  2. ^ a b Millier, Noel (25 May 1979). "Municipal buses with a difference". Commercial Motor. Temple Press. pp. 35–37. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  3. ^ "Newsbrief". Commercial Motor. Temple Press. 31 May 1986. p. 37. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  4. ^ Hayes, Martin (14 March 1975). "Cleveland's Rolls-powered Fleetline is a gas". Commercial Motor. Temple Press. pp. 37–40. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  5. ^ "Cleveland invests £60,000 for deregulation". Commercial Motor. Temple Press. 10 August 1985. p. 15. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  6. ^ "Cleveland staff bid for buyout". Commercial Motor. Temple Press. 19 January 1989. p. 15. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  7. ^ "Dereg 'causing driver fights'". Commercial Motor. Temple Press. 17 March 1988. p. 19. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  8. ^ "No halt in Stockton bus war". Commercial Motor. Temple Press. 17 March 1988. p. 24. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  9. ^ "ESOP's able at Cleveland". Commercial Motor. Temple Press. 9 May 1991. p. 24. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  10. ^ "Cleveland in coaches re-jig". Coach & Bus Week. No. 6. Peterborough: Emap. 28 March 1992. p. 13.
  11. ^ "Hull completion due". Coach & Bus Week. Peterborough: Emap. 11 December 1993. p. 5.
  12. ^ Jarosz, Andrew (18 December 1993). "Transit sews up the sale of KHCT and wields axe". Coach & Bus Week. Peterborough: Emap. p. 3.
  13. ^ Smithers, Rebecca (7 December 1994). "Stagecoach profits gallop ahead". The Guardian. London. ProQuest 294858806.
  14. ^ "Important role for CT's deckers". Coach & Bus Week. Peterborough: Emap. 15 July 1995. p. 6.
  15. ^ "Olympian goes back to original". Coach & Bus Week. Peterborough: Emap. 31 March 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  16. ^ "History of Teesside's buses". Evening Gazette. Middlesbrough. 11 May 2012. ProQuest 1012466301.
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