GM Buses

GM Buses

Company type	Public sector bus operator
Industry	Public transport
Predecessor	Greater Manchester Transport
Founded	February 1986
Defunct	December 1993
Successor	GM Buses North and GM Buses South
Headquarters	Greater Manchester , England, United Kingdom
Area served	Greater Manchester metropolitan boroughs
Products	Bus services

GM Buses was a prominent bus service provider operating across the ten metropolitan boroughs of Greater Manchester in North West England. Established in February 1986 by the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive in anticipation of the deregulation that took effect on 26 October, it was divided in December 1993 into GM Buses North and GM Buses South to encourage competitive practices. These two entities were subsequently acquired by FirstGroup and Stagecoach, respectively.

SELNEC and Greater Manchester Transport

The Transport Act 1968 consolidated multiple local government bus services within the Greater Manchester region into a unified body covering areas such as Ashton-under-Lyne, Bolton, Bury, Leigh, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, the SHMD Joint Board (Stalybridge-Hyde-Mossley-Dukinfield), Stockport, and Wigan.

This organisation, known as the South East Lancashire North East Cheshire Passenger Transport Executive (SELNEC), commenced operations on 1 October 1969. It introduced an orange and white colour scheme for its fleet and structured its operations into Northern, Central, and Southern divisions.

Following the establishment of Greater Manchester county under the Local Government Act 1972, SELNEC was rebranded as Greater Manchester Transport on 1 April 1974. In 1981, a new livery featuring orange, brown, and white hues was adopted. That same year saw the integration of Lancashire United Transport from Atherton into its operations.

Deregulation

With the introduction of deregulation on 26 October 1986, Greater Manchester Transport was separated into two distinct units. The Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMPTE) retained responsibility for service information, tendering processes, bus stations, and stops, while the operational bus service was renamed Greater Manchester Buses (GM Buses). Initially organized into North, East, South, and West sectors, it was restructured by March 1987 into South, East, and West divisions. Deregulation led to increased competition on numerous routes; by March 1988, GM Buses operated a fleet of 361 'Little Gem' minibuses competing with various other operators throughout Greater Manchester.

Rival operators included Bee Line Buzz Company, which ran significant routes across the area; Wall's and Finglands Coachways, which served the Wilmslow Road corridor; alongside Bluebird Bus & Coach and Citibus Tours, which launched services in North Manchester. Many of these competitors either ceased trading or were absorbed by larger firms; for example, Citibus Tours was taken over by GM Buses or its successors.

On 11 December 1993, to address monopoly concerns and stimulate competition, GM Buses was divided into GM Buses North and GM Buses South. GM Buses North operated a fleet exceeding 900 buses with a turnover of £60 million; GM Buses South managed over 700 buses with a £50 million turnover. Both companies were sold through separate employee buyouts in early 1994.

Although the division intended to promote rivalry between these two companies, they largely continued to serve their original geographic territories.

Rivalry with MTL

Prior to the division into North and South GM Buses entities, Merseyside’s principal operator, MTL, pursued an assertive expansion strategy into Greater Manchester. In the summer of 1993, MTL Manchester commenced services from a depot in Miles Platting, launching numerous new or overlapping routes within an already highly competitive environment.

By October 1993, the Merseybus St Helens facility was rebranded as Lancashire Travel; this change was accompanied by the introduction of additional or duplicated routes across Wigan, Leigh, Bolton, Salford, and North Manchester—regions where Merseybus and MTL had been steadily expanding since the late 1980s. Around 1993/94, MTL acquired Bolton Coachways, utilizing their extensive minibus network to strengthen its competitive stance against GM Buses North.

MTL’s incursion into Greater Manchester ignited a bus war with GM Buses, which responded by initiating services on Merseyside. A notable example was GM Buses’ high-frequency operation of route 79 from Croxteth to Liverpool City Centre starting in September 1993, aimed at curbing further MTL growth.

In spring 1994, GM Buses South established Birkenhead & District from a Cleveland Street depot located in Birkenhead docklands. Featuring a light blue and cream livery reminiscent of Birkenhead Transport’s darker blue colors, it directly competed with MTL on lucrative Wirral routes. Simultaneously, GM Buses North expanded its footprint in Liverpool, Kirkby, Formby, and Southport, inaugurating a Bootle depot to support operations at Atherton and Wigan depots. It also reacquired Leyland Atlantean and Daimler Fleetline buses previously sold to Yorkshire Rider for deployment at Bootle.

By mid-1995, escalating financial losses compelled MTL and the GM Buses companies to reach a contentious agreement. In June 1995, MTL retreated from most of Greater Manchester except for routes connecting St Helens with Leigh and Wigan. Both GM Buses entities withdrew entirely from Merseyside, relinquishing longstanding routes such as the Liverpool-Manchester route 34 via St Helens and Leigh and route 320 from Liverpool to Wigan via St Helens—routes historically linked to Lancashire United.

Closure

In early 1996, employee shareholders sold both GM Buses South and North. On 25 February, Stagecoach Holdings acquired GM Buses South for £40.7 million despite protests from the Labour Party and pensioner demonstrations outside the Free Trade Hall. Shortly after acquisition, it was rebranded as Stagecoach Manchester, contradicting Stagecoach’s initial promise to maintain the GM Buses South name. In March, GM Buses North was purchased by FirstBus for £47 million and renamed Greater Manchester FirstBus, adopting a dark orange livery accented with a blue stripe. By 1997, it had fully transitioned into First Manchester, embracing FirstGroup’s corporate branding.

At the point of sale, GM Buses South had procured only 36 new Alexander-bodied Mercedes-Benz 811D minibuses and leased 20 Volvo B6 Alexander Dash vehicles from Stagecoach. Conversely, GM Buses North had invested in 55 'Superbus'-branded Volvo B10B Wright Endurance buses followed by five Volvo B10L Wright Liberator models delivered shortly after FirstBus assumed control.

In 2005, the GM Buses brand saw a brief revival through UK North in Manchester. Engaged in fierce competition with Stagecoach Manchester on route 192, their rivalry caused significant congestion around Manchester Piccadilly Gardens bus station. Following several incidents including a fatal crash involving a UK North vehicle, the operator was banned from operating bus services in Manchester in December 2006. Subsequently, UK North’s directors received prison sentences of fifteen months after investigations uncovered issues such as overworked and inadequately trained drivers—many possessing limited English proficiency—highlighting critical operational failings.

External links

• Official website of the Museum of Transport, Greater Manchester