South Yorkshire Transport
Encyclopedia
South Yorkshire Transport (SYT) was formed in 1986, as a result of deregulation of bus services
in the UK. The South Yorkshire PTE
was no longer allowed to operate buses itself, so an arms length operating company was created.
SYT operated buses in and around Doncaster
, Rotherham
and Sheffield
with some services extending to Chesterfield, Leeds and Barnsley. Known locally as 'one man buses', the company had by now dispensed with conductors and become driver operated vehicles.
SYT was eventually privatised, being sold to its employees in 1993, and it became Mainline Group Limited.
Whilst SYT operated in most of South Yorkshire, Yorkshire Traction
, a rival operator dominated Barnsley and half of Doncaster, which effectively split the county in two when considering bus transport.
Competition for routes and passengers grew fiercely from the mid-1980s and many new operators challenged SYT. A notable number were simply bought out and wiped off the road by SYT however one or two hung around to become a significant dent in the company's profits.
in Lancashire who moved a fleet of aging double-deck Leyland Atlantean
s onto cross city services in Sheffield, matching SYT's fares and also operating later than SYT until midnight. The services proved an instant hit especially as the livery was similar to the old Sheffield Transport one from pre 1974 and the vehicles were the same core model as SYPTE had in the mid 1970s.
Arch competitor Yorkshire Traction bought Sheffield Onmibus along with smaller Leyland National
operating company Yorkshire Terrier and South Riding buses which gave it a major foothold in Sheffield services for the first time.
s again, set its sights on duplicating the SYT route map. With some success, the company operated until the mid 1990s and were seen at the time as a possible real challenger to the SYT dominance.
As SYT had inherited the PTE owned vehicles, it did continue a solid reputation for comfortable seats and for the remainder of the 1980s held impressive regularity on most routes.
Fares in South Yorkshire were the lowest in the UK. At just 2p per mile until 1986, services were very popular and there were over 200 routes plus works, schools and limited stop express services.
However, fares rose rapidly with the introduction of the monthly unlimited 'SYT Savercard' priced at £15. This was however just the beginning with fares that are now over £3 per day under First.
Not only that but services eroded significantly and past press releases from the company have quoted 'use them or lose them'. As fares rose, passengers declined at a similar rate. A trend that still continues today.
The main depot was the former Doncaster Corporation garage on Leicester Avenue, close to Doncaster Racecourse
. In the 1980s, a new workshop building was erected at the rear of the yard behind the garage. In the early 1990s, the main depot building was demolished and the land sold. This made way for a new Wickes
DIY store. The new workshop, yard and small section of the old garage building, which contained a bus-wash facility, remained. The only access to the smaller depot was now on Leger Way.
The second garage, which was much smaller, was on Bootham Lane in Dunscroft.
. The standard double-decker bus was the Alexander
-bodied Dennis Dominator
, with some Leyland Atlantean
s, Volvo Ailsas, Leyland Bendibus and Daimler Fleetline
s some of which came from smaller companies taken over by SYT, such as Rossie Motors and Blue Ensign; the predominant single-decker being Leyland National
and later the Volvo B10M
. Other fleets bought by SYT were Renault/Reeve Burgess minibuses and Dennis Domino
s.
As at the end of 2007, SYT is fondly remembered as from a time when fares were low, services were widespread, regular and vehicles had comfortable seating. There is an active SYT preservation society maintaining and rallying various vehicles from the SYPTE, SYT and Mainline plus an annual gathering each year at the Meadowhall Shopping Centre in Sheffield, usually the first Sunday in September.
South Yorkshire Transport Bus Museum also houses a number of examples of transport in the county.
It is worth noting that only four of the above operators exist in their original format today and even the great Yorkshire Traction group are now part of Stagecoach - a company who through strategic acquisition are now operating head to head with First South Yorkshire in most of the county.
Bus deregulation
Bus deregulation in Great Britain came into force on 26 October 1986, as part of the Transport Act 1985.The 'Buses' White Paper was the basis of the Transport Act 1985, which provided for the deregulation of local bus services in the whole of the United Kingdom except for Northern Ireland and...
in the UK. The South Yorkshire PTE
South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive
The South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive is the Passenger Transport Executive for South Yorkshire in England. It is supervised by the South Yorkshire Integrated Transport Authority, which consists of representatives from the metropolitan boroughs of Sheffield, Rotherham, Doncaster, and...
was no longer allowed to operate buses itself, so an arms length operating company was created.
SYT operated buses in and around Doncaster
Doncaster
Doncaster is a town in South Yorkshire, England, and the principal settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster. The town is about from Sheffield and is popularly referred to as "Donny"...
, Rotherham
Rotherham
Rotherham is a town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Don, at its confluence with the River Rother, between Sheffield and Doncaster. Rotherham, at from Sheffield City Centre, is surrounded by several smaller settlements, which together form the wider Metropolitan Borough of...
and Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
with some services extending to Chesterfield, Leeds and Barnsley. Known locally as 'one man buses', the company had by now dispensed with conductors and become driver operated vehicles.
SYT was eventually privatised, being sold to its employees in 1993, and it became Mainline Group Limited.
Competition
SYT worked hard to maintain a dominant position for bus operations in most of South Yorkshire and were known to have bought out a number of smaller operators including Dearneways, Groves and earlier during PTE days Booth and Fisher.Whilst SYT operated in most of South Yorkshire, Yorkshire Traction
Yorkshire Traction
Yorkshire Traction was a bus operator in South Yorkshire. Between 1986 and 2005 it was a key part of the Traction Group. In December 2005 it was sold to the Stagecoach Group.-History:...
, a rival operator dominated Barnsley and half of Doncaster, which effectively split the county in two when considering bus transport.
Competition for routes and passengers grew fiercely from the mid-1980s and many new operators challenged SYT. A notable number were simply bought out and wiped off the road by SYT however one or two hung around to become a significant dent in the company's profits.
West Riding
One such project was when SYT began to expand and operate in West Yorkshire under the name COMPASS BUS. Allegedly in retaliation, West Riding buses returned the move by creating Sheffield and District bus Co duplicating a number of routes in the north of Sheffield directly against SYT. In a dramatic move, the two companies withdrew from each others main areas of operation dissolving both the S&D and Compass names.Sheffield Omnibus
Other competitors who survived temporarily included Sheffield Omnibus. This was a move by employees from Preston BusPreston Bus
Preston Bus is a bus operator running within the city of Preston, England and into the surrounding area. In 2009, it was acquired by the Stagecoach Group and was rebranded Stagecoach in Preston, before they were subsequently ordered to sell the company as a result of competition concerns...
in Lancashire who moved a fleet of aging double-deck Leyland Atlantean
Leyland Atlantean
The Leyland Atlantean is a model of double-decker bus built by Leyland in the United Kingdom from 1958 to 1986....
s onto cross city services in Sheffield, matching SYT's fares and also operating later than SYT until midnight. The services proved an instant hit especially as the livery was similar to the old Sheffield Transport one from pre 1974 and the vehicles were the same core model as SYPTE had in the mid 1970s.
Arch competitor Yorkshire Traction bought Sheffield Onmibus along with smaller Leyland National
Leyland National
The Leyland National is a British single-deck bus built in large quantities between 1972 and 1985. It was developed as a joint project between two UK nationalised industries - the National Bus Company and British Leyland. Buses were constructed at a specially built factory at the Lillyhall...
operating company Yorkshire Terrier and South Riding buses which gave it a major foothold in Sheffield services for the first time.
Sheafline
SYT saw significant staff redundancies and on more than one occasion, staff losing their jobs set up in direct competition to SYT. One such venture was Sheafline. Their advantage was that the drivers already knew the routes, fares, timetables and just needed the buses to drive. So, pre-owned Leyland Fleetlines were bought and Sheafline was launched. It took SYT a number of years to buy out the business at which point the Sheafline buses were scrapped and drivers integrated back into SYT, the very company where they had previously worked.Sheffield United Tours (SUT)
To complicate matters further, a company which had ceased operating 20 years earlier, SUT (Sheffield United Tours) was relaunched operating from the neighbouring garage to SYT's East Bank Rd centre, and with early 1970s Daimler FleetlineDaimler Fleetline
The Daimler Fleetline is a rear-engined double-decker bus chassis built between 1960 and 1973 in Coventry, Warwickshire, England, and from 1973 until 1980 in Farington, Lancashire, England. However, the last complete vehicle did not enter service until 1983...
s again, set its sights on duplicating the SYT route map. With some success, the company operated until the mid 1990s and were seen at the time as a possible real challenger to the SYT dominance.
Andrews Buses
This scenario repeated itself in a different format with Andrews buses. They were originally a well known PSV training unit in the city and bought a number of withdrawn PTE buses which were promptly repainted and pressed into service often on their old routes. Daimler Fleetlines were the preferred vehicles and the company after many years of service were merged into the aforementioned Sheffield Omnibus operation.Impact on SYT
There were however many advantages to using SYT...As SYT had inherited the PTE owned vehicles, it did continue a solid reputation for comfortable seats and for the remainder of the 1980s held impressive regularity on most routes.
Fares in South Yorkshire were the lowest in the UK. At just 2p per mile until 1986, services were very popular and there were over 200 routes plus works, schools and limited stop express services.
However, fares rose rapidly with the introduction of the monthly unlimited 'SYT Savercard' priced at £15. This was however just the beginning with fares that are now over £3 per day under First.
Not only that but services eroded significantly and past press releases from the company have quoted 'use them or lose them'. As fares rose, passengers declined at a similar rate. A trend that still continues today.
Doncaster
Buses in Doncaster were based at two garages in the borough.The main depot was the former Doncaster Corporation garage on Leicester Avenue, close to Doncaster Racecourse
Doncaster Racecourse
Doncaster Racecourse is a racecourse in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. It hosts two of Great Britain's 31 Group 1 flat races, the St Leger Stakes and the Racing Post Trophy.- History :...
. In the 1980s, a new workshop building was erected at the rear of the yard behind the garage. In the early 1990s, the main depot building was demolished and the land sold. This made way for a new Wickes
Wickes
Wickes is a do-it-yourself retailer based in the United Kingdom and owned by Travis Perkins, with more than 190 stores throughout the country. It focuses on supplies and materials for homeowners and the building trade...
DIY store. The new workshop, yard and small section of the old garage building, which contained a bus-wash facility, remained. The only access to the smaller depot was now on Leger Way.
The second garage, which was much smaller, was on Bootham Lane in Dunscroft.
Rotherham
Buses in Rotherham were based at a large garage on Midland Road, the present HQ and also the location for the refurbishment of the complete remaining fleet of London Routemasters (which is why they sported SYT branded number plates).Sheffield
Buses in Sheffield were operated from five garages; East Bank, Greenland Road, Halfway, Herries Road and Leadmill.Fleet
The initial fleet was inherited from South Yorkshire PTESouth Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive
The South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive is the Passenger Transport Executive for South Yorkshire in England. It is supervised by the South Yorkshire Integrated Transport Authority, which consists of representatives from the metropolitan boroughs of Sheffield, Rotherham, Doncaster, and...
. The standard double-decker bus was the Alexander
Walter Alexander Coachbuilders
Walter Alexander Coachbuilders was a Scottish bus coachbuilder and operater based in Falkirk.-History:Walter Alexander, notice a lack expasion by the Falkirk and District Tramways Company's especially in to Grangemouth which never hdd a tram line. In 1913 Alexander's Motor Service was created to...
-bodied Dennis Dominator
Dennis Dominator
The Dennis Dominator was Dennis's first rear-engined double-decker bus chassis, it was launched in 1977. Dennis had been absent from the bus manufacturing market since the last Lolines were produced in 1967. The Dominator was described as bespoke, with numerous options...
, with some Leyland Atlantean
Leyland Atlantean
The Leyland Atlantean is a model of double-decker bus built by Leyland in the United Kingdom from 1958 to 1986....
s, Volvo Ailsas, Leyland Bendibus and Daimler Fleetline
Daimler Fleetline
The Daimler Fleetline is a rear-engined double-decker bus chassis built between 1960 and 1973 in Coventry, Warwickshire, England, and from 1973 until 1980 in Farington, Lancashire, England. However, the last complete vehicle did not enter service until 1983...
s some of which came from smaller companies taken over by SYT, such as Rossie Motors and Blue Ensign; the predominant single-decker being Leyland National
Leyland National
The Leyland National is a British single-deck bus built in large quantities between 1972 and 1985. It was developed as a joint project between two UK nationalised industries - the National Bus Company and British Leyland. Buses were constructed at a specially built factory at the Lillyhall...
and later the Volvo B10M
Volvo B10M
The Volvo B10M is a popular mid-engined bus and coach chassis built by Volvo between 1978 and 2001. It was built as the successor of the B58 and was equipped with a 9.6-litre horizontally-mounted Volvo THD100/THD101/THD102/THD103/THD104/DH10A diesel engine mounted under the floor, near the middle...
. Other fleets bought by SYT were Renault/Reeve Burgess minibuses and Dennis Domino
Dennis Domino
The Dennis Domino is a midibus built by Hestair Dennis in Guildford, England between 1984 and 1985. It is, in essence, a scaled down Dominator. Developed for intensive urban work, the Domino was fitted with Perkins T6.354.4 turbocharged engine, Maxwell automatic transmission, front radiator, full...
s.
As at the end of 2007, SYT is fondly remembered as from a time when fares were low, services were widespread, regular and vehicles had comfortable seating. There is an active SYT preservation society maintaining and rallying various vehicles from the SYPTE, SYT and Mainline plus an annual gathering each year at the Meadowhall Shopping Centre in Sheffield, usually the first Sunday in September.
South Yorkshire Transport Bus Museum also houses a number of examples of transport in the county.
Competitors over the years
- Yorkshire Traction
- Yorkshire Terrier
- Sheffield Omnibus
- Sheffield and District
- Rotherham and District
- Mike Groves
- Andrews
- South Riding
- Sheafline
- Leon of Doncaster
- Aston Express
- Headlight of Barnsley
- MASS Transport
- A&C Wigmore
- Northern Bus
- East Midland Motor Services
- PMT
- Silver Service Bakewell
- Powells
- Wilfreda Beehive
- Rossie Motors
- Dearneways
- Booth and Fisher
- Countybus
- Sheffield Community Transport
- Sheffield United Tours
It is worth noting that only four of the above operators exist in their original format today and even the great Yorkshire Traction group are now part of Stagecoach - a company who through strategic acquisition are now operating head to head with First South Yorkshire in most of the county.