Trent Barton
Encyclopedia
Trent Barton is one of the very small number of significant independent bus operators in the United Kingdom. It was formed as the result of merging Derbyshire
's Trent Buses with Nottinghamshire
's Barton Transport
.
It employs 1,000 people in various parts of Derbyshire, Leicestershire
and Nottinghamshire, running a fleet of around 330 modern buses on a network of local routes. trent barton claim every single bus in the fleet is now low floor (not including coach services on the red arrow, transpeak and commuter xprss), although occasionally a bus primarily used at sister company Notts and Derby may stray onto a Trent route, especially during university
vacation periods, when large numbers of buses used on the unibus services are idle however if a bus is not low floor it runs for free. It operates services from Manchester
in the north to Loughborough
in the south as well as Ashbourne
, Burton upon Trent
, Chesterfield
, Derby
, Ilkeston
, Mansfield
, and Nottingham
.
They advertise as 'The really good bus company', offering to create a top-quality service with drivers fixed to one route or brand; this has led to some drivers knowing their regular customers, even to the extent that they know when particular passengers get on and off, even on intense urban routes or night buses. Some drivers even claim to have been to their passengers' weddings.
The company featured in the magazine Coach & Bus Week in a feature about young people joining bus firms.
The less frequent 'connection' services run from Nottingham to some of its smaller suburbs, for example the Ruddington
connection, Keyworth
connection and the Calverton
connection. A few services with conventional numbering still remain on smaller services around local areas, for example the 23 in Ilkeston.
In Derby, trent barton run some urban services, such as the non-stop 'spondon flyer' service, and 'the Mickleover
' and 'the allestree'. There are then a number of longer distance services for example 'swift' to Uttoxeter and 'the sixes' to Belper and Matlock with their unusual numbering system: 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 6.4 and 6.X. the 'villager' services run south to Burton on Trent with another unusual numbering system, V1 V2 V3 V4 and a number of services run north towards Ilkeston and Heanor such as the 'black cat' and 'H1'.
trent barton then operate a number of express services around the East Midlands
, such as the 'red arrow' service that takes customers (the emphasis at Trent Barton being on them not just being passengers) from Nottingham to Derby faster than they could go by car or even train. 'pronto' connects Nottingham, Mansfield and Chesterfield
up to every 15 minutes (operated jointly with Stagecoach
), and the X38 connects Derby and Burton on Trent in just 25 minutes. Now the X38 runs every 15 minutes to comply with Arriva's Town Linx (operated jointly with Arriva Midlands
), and services like the Bingham 'xprss', Long Eaton xprss and commuter xprss run direct from Nottinghams outer suburbs into Nottingham. The transpeak service is trent barton's longest distance service, from Nottingham through Derby, Belper, Matlock, Bakewell, Buxton
and Stockport
to Manchester.
Towards the northern end of the transpeak route, trent barton also operate a small number of services around Buxton town, and the 'skyline 199' service from Buxton to Stockport and Manchester Airport.
Many of the more popular services operate through to 3am on Saturday and Sunday mornings.
From 24 July 2011, Indigo will become the UK's first commercial 24 hour bus route. Operating upto every 30 mins (not all of the route) 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Trent Barton's holding company, Wellglade, also owns a number of other East Midlands bus operators - Kinchbus, Notts & Derby, Midland General, Derby Community Transport and T M Travel. Notts & Derby and Midland General are revivals of old bus operators' names.
Kinchbus is based in Loughborough
and was formerly an independent company established by Gilbert Kinch and better known for coach operations than stage carriage. It operates various local services around Loughborough, Route 2 from Leicester
to Loughborough and Skylink from Derby to Loughborough and Leicester, via East Midlands Airport. It has a fleet of about fifty buses, (although their entry in Leicestershire Bus Web lists 44 vehicles).
Notts & Derby
is a bus operator, operating mainly subsidised services under contract to Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire county councils. It also operates services to the University of Derby
's campuses in Derby and Buxton under the Unibus brand. Notts & Derby uses Trent Barton depots for its vehicles which are mainly former Trent Barton buses e.g. Paladins, Excels and now some Solos. They also operate double deckers from Lothian for school contracts. Up until recently, they operated C723NNN (Leyland Olympian/ECW) which was the last bus bought by Trent when it was part of NBC. This has since been withdrawn and will be sold by auction in July
Derby Community Transport provides specialized transport for disabled passengers and was originally an independent operation based at Trent's Meadow Road depot.
From 7 January 2010 Wellglade took control of TM Travel
, based at Halfway, near Sheffield. This brought over 100 additional vehicles into the Wellglade fleet.
, to form a new company called High Peak
. The new company will run all services previously run by Bowers and the Buxton division of Trent Barton, such as the Skyline 199.
The new operator will operate from Dove Holes
and will have a combined fleet of 50 buses and around 100 employees. All the staff currently employed by the two operators will transfer to the new operation and no jobs will be lost. It is expected that High Peak will start operating in the late summer or early autumn as soon as the necessary Operating Licences have been granted by the Traffic Commissioner.
's Oyster card
scheme.
This allows for exact fare pricing as your price is calculated by the GPS position of the bus and the passenger's choice of disembarkation point. Users of the 'Mango' card are charged 25% less than the normal cash fare for their journey. A number of card types are available: Adult, Child, B_Line, Student and 16-19. The B_Line card offers Derbyshire
students half price fares on bus journeys, the 16-19 year old and student cards both offer a 35% discount and feature different background artwork.
The 'Mango' system was initially tested on the company's Rainbow 4 and Indigo routes. After this proved successful, Trent Barton proceeded to extend the scheme to more of its services.
£3.70 day ticket - Travel on any number of buses or trams in Nottingham.
There are also some different tickets for selected routes, such as Red Arrow and Skylink, and through tickets in city centres.
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
's Trent Buses with Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...
's Barton Transport
Barton Transport
Barton Transport plc was a British bus and coach operator based in Chilwell, Nottinghamshire. It commenced its first service in 1908. Its fleet and operations were sold to Wellglade in 1989, and the combined operations later became Trent Barton...
.
It employs 1,000 people in various parts of Derbyshire, Leicestershire
Leicestershire
Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...
and Nottinghamshire, running a fleet of around 330 modern buses on a network of local routes. trent barton claim every single bus in the fleet is now low floor (not including coach services on the red arrow, transpeak and commuter xprss), although occasionally a bus primarily used at sister company Notts and Derby may stray onto a Trent route, especially during university
University of Derby
The University of Derby is a university in the city of Derby, England. The main site is on Kedleston Road, Allestree in the north-west of Derby close to the A38 opposite Markeaton Park...
vacation periods, when large numbers of buses used on the unibus services are idle however if a bus is not low floor it runs for free. It operates services from Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
in the north to Loughborough
Loughborough
Loughborough is a town within the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England. It is the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and is home to Loughborough University...
in the south as well as Ashbourne
Ashbourne, Derbyshire
Ashbourne is a small market town in the Derbyshire Dales, England. It has a population of 10,302.The town advertises itself as 'The Gateway to Dovedale'.- Local customs :...
, Burton upon Trent
Burton upon Trent
Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a town straddling the River Trent in the east of Staffordshire, England. Its associated adjective is "Burtonian"....
, Chesterfield
Chesterfield
Chesterfield is a market town and a borough of Derbyshire, England. It lies north of Derby, on a confluence of the rivers Rother and Hipper. Its population is 70,260 , making it Derbyshire's largest town...
, Derby
Derby
Derby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...
, Ilkeston
Ilkeston
Ilkeston is a town within the Borough of Erewash, in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the River Erewash, from which the local borough takes its name. Its population at the 2001 census was 37,550...
, Mansfield
Mansfield
Mansfield is a town in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the main town in the Mansfield local government district. Mansfield is a part of the Mansfield Urban Area....
, and Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
.
They advertise as 'The really good bus company', offering to create a top-quality service with drivers fixed to one route or brand; this has led to some drivers knowing their regular customers, even to the extent that they know when particular passengers get on and off, even on intense urban routes or night buses. Some drivers even claim to have been to their passengers' weddings.
The company featured in the magazine Coach & Bus Week in a feature about young people joining bus firms.
Services
Many of the routes are branded with their own bus livery and name, with the route brand name registered as the service number. The 'rainbow' services are a group of frequent, high density services radiating from Nottingham to its outer suburbs from every 6-12 mins:- rainbow 1 - Nottingham - KimberleyKimberley, NottinghamshireKimberley is a town in Nottinghamshire, England, lying 6 miles northwest of Nottingham along the A610. The town grew as a centre for coal mining, brewing and hosiery manufacturing...
, EastwoodEastwood, NottinghamshireEastwood is a former coal mining town in the Broxtowe district of Nottinghamshire, England. With a population of over 18,000, it is northwest of Nottingham, and northeast of Derby, on the border between Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. Mentioned in Domesday Book, it expanded rapidly during the...
, then HeanorHeanorHeanor is a town in the Amber Valley district of Derbyshire in the East Midlands of England. It is northeast of Derby. According to the census of 2001 the town's population was 22,620.-History:...
/RipleyRipley, DerbyshireRipley is a town in the Amber Valley area of Derbyshire in England.- Earliest history :Not much information is available as to when Ripley was founded, but it existed at the time of the Domesday Book, when it was held by a man called Levenot....
or AlfretonAlfretonAlfreton is a town and civil parish in Amber Valley, Derbyshire, England, adjoining the Bolsover and North East Derbyshire districts. It was formerly a Norman Manor and later an Urban District. The population of the Alfreton Ward was 7,928 at the 2001 Census... - the two (previously rainbow 2)- Nottingham - IlkestonIlkestonIlkeston is a town within the Borough of Erewash, in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the River Erewash, from which the local borough takes its name. Its population at the 2001 census was 37,550...
, Cotmanhay Farm every 12 mins - rainbow 3 - Nottingham - HucknallHucknallHucknall, formerly known as Hucknall Torkard, is a town in Greater Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England, in the district of Ashfield. The town was historically a centre for framework knitting and then for mining but is now a focus for other industries as well providing housing for workers in...
, NewsteadNewstead, NottinghamshireNewstead is a small village and civil parish in Nottinghamshire, England, situated between Nottingham and Mansfield in the Borough of Gedling. It is a former coal mining village, and was previously called Newstead Colliery Village. Lord Byron, the poet, lived at nearby Newstead Abbey. The parish...
, Kirkby-in-AshfieldKirkby-in-AshfieldKirkby-in-Ashfield is a market town in Nottinghamshire, England, with a population of 25,265 . It is a part of the Mansfield Urban Area. The Head Offices of Ashfield District Council are located there....
, Sutton-in-AshfieldSutton-in-AshfieldSutton-in-Ashfield is a market town in the Ashfield district of Nottinghamshire, England, with a population of around 43,000. It is situated four miles west of Mansfield, close to the Derbyshire border.-Geography:...
, Mansfield - rainbow 4 soon to be i4 - Nottingham - BramcoteBramcoteBramcote is a settlement in the Broxtowe district of Nottinghamshire, about five miles west of Nottingham. It was a separate village but is now a suburb of Greater Nottingham. Originally one of the main roads between the cities of Nottingham and Derby passed through the village centre...
, StaplefordStapleford, Nottinghamshire-External links:***...
, SandiacreSandiacreSandiacre is a town in the Borough of Erewash in Derbyshire, in the East Midlands region of England adjoining the border with Nottinghamshire....
, SpondonSpondonSpondon is a ward within the city of Derby. Prior to this, Spondon was a separate village which dated from before the Domesday Book of 1086.-Description:The name Spondon is Anglo-Saxon and describes a gravelly hill....
, Derby - "indigo" (previously rainbow 5) - Nottingham - BeestonBeeston, NottinghamshireBeeston is a town in Nottinghamshire, England. It is southwest of Nottingham city centre. Although typically regarded as a suburb of the City of Nottingham, and officially designated as part of the Nottingham Urban Area, for local government purposes it is in the borough of Broxtowe, lying outside...
, Long EatonLong EatonLong Eaton is a town in Derbyshire, England. It lies just north of the River Trent about southwest of Nottingham and is part of the Nottingham Urban Area...
, then DerbyDerbyDerby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...
or SawleySawley, DerbyshireSawley is a village and civil parish within the Borough of Erewash, in southeast Derbyshire, England. Around 6,500 people live in the parish. with a slightly higher than average number of people over 65....
/East Midlands Airport/LoughboroughLoughboroughLoughborough is a town within the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England. It is the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and is home to Loughborough University...
NOW RUNS 24/7 to Long Eaton & airport
The less frequent 'connection' services run from Nottingham to some of its smaller suburbs, for example the Ruddington
Ruddington
Ruddington is an English village situated five miles south of Nottingham in the Borough of Rushcliffe. It had a population of 6,441 at the 2001 UK census....
connection, Keyworth
Keyworth
Keyworth is a village and civil parish in Nottinghamshire, England. It is located about 6 miles southeast of the centre of Nottingham...
connection and the Calverton
Calverton, Nottinghamshire
Calverton is a village in Nottinghamshire, England, situated approximately 8 miles from Nottingham.The inventor of the stocking frame, William Lee, was born here in the 16th century...
connection. A few services with conventional numbering still remain on smaller services around local areas, for example the 23 in Ilkeston.
In Derby, trent barton run some urban services, such as the non-stop 'spondon flyer' service, and 'the Mickleover
Mickleover
Mickleover is a suburb located two miles west of the city centre and is the most westerly suburb of the City of Derby in the United Kingdom.-History:...
' and 'the allestree'. There are then a number of longer distance services for example 'swift' to Uttoxeter and 'the sixes' to Belper and Matlock with their unusual numbering system: 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 6.4 and 6.X. the 'villager' services run south to Burton on Trent with another unusual numbering system, V1 V2 V3 V4 and a number of services run north towards Ilkeston and Heanor such as the 'black cat' and 'H1'.
trent barton then operate a number of express services around the East Midlands
East Midlands
The East Midlands is one of the regions of England, consisting of most of the eastern half of the traditional region of the Midlands. It encompasses the combined area of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Northamptonshire and most of Lincolnshire...
, such as the 'red arrow' service that takes customers (the emphasis at Trent Barton being on them not just being passengers) from Nottingham to Derby faster than they could go by car or even train. 'pronto' connects Nottingham, Mansfield and Chesterfield
Chesterfield Coach Station
Chesterfield coach station opened on 3 May 2005, and is in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England. It was built on the site of the old bus station. It is owned by Stagecoach and is served by Stagecoach Express and National Express coach services.-Facilities :...
up to every 15 minutes (operated jointly with Stagecoach
Stagecoach Group
Stagecoach Group plc is an international transport group operating buses, trains, trams, express coaches and ferries. The group was founded in 1980 by the current chairman, Sir Brian Souter, his sister, Ann Gloag, and her former husband Robin...
), and the X38 connects Derby and Burton on Trent in just 25 minutes. Now the X38 runs every 15 minutes to comply with Arriva's Town Linx (operated jointly with Arriva Midlands
Arriva Midlands
Arriva Midlands is a division of Arriva. It operates bus services around the Midlands area of England and is made up of various previous bus operators.-Arriva Midlands North:...
), and services like the Bingham 'xprss', Long Eaton xprss and commuter xprss run direct from Nottinghams outer suburbs into Nottingham. The transpeak service is trent barton's longest distance service, from Nottingham through Derby, Belper, Matlock, Bakewell, Buxton
Buxton
Buxton is a spa town in Derbyshire, England. It has the highest elevation of any market town in England. Located close to the county boundary with Cheshire to the west and Staffordshire to the south, Buxton is described as "the gateway to the Peak District National Park"...
and Stockport
Stockport
Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on elevated ground southeast of Manchester city centre, at the point where the rivers Goyt and Tame join and create the River Mersey. Stockport is the largest settlement in the metropolitan borough of the same name...
to Manchester.
Towards the northern end of the transpeak route, trent barton also operate a small number of services around Buxton town, and the 'skyline 199' service from Buxton to Stockport and Manchester Airport.
Many of the more popular services operate through to 3am on Saturday and Sunday mornings.
From 24 July 2011, Indigo will become the UK's first commercial 24 hour bus route. Operating upto every 30 mins (not all of the route) 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Associated companies
Kinchbus is based in Loughborough
Loughborough
Loughborough is a town within the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England. It is the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and is home to Loughborough University...
and was formerly an independent company established by Gilbert Kinch and better known for coach operations than stage carriage. It operates various local services around Loughborough, Route 2 from Leicester
Leicester
Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
to Loughborough and Skylink from Derby to Loughborough and Leicester, via East Midlands Airport. It has a fleet of about fifty buses, (although their entry in Leicestershire Bus Web lists 44 vehicles).
Notts & Derby
Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire traction
Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Traction ltd. is part of the Wellglade group and operates school buses, contracts and private hire work in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire...
is a bus operator, operating mainly subsidised services under contract to Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire county councils. It also operates services to the University of Derby
University of Derby
The University of Derby is a university in the city of Derby, England. The main site is on Kedleston Road, Allestree in the north-west of Derby close to the A38 opposite Markeaton Park...
's campuses in Derby and Buxton under the Unibus brand. Notts & Derby uses Trent Barton depots for its vehicles which are mainly former Trent Barton buses e.g. Paladins, Excels and now some Solos. They also operate double deckers from Lothian for school contracts. Up until recently, they operated C723NNN (Leyland Olympian/ECW) which was the last bus bought by Trent when it was part of NBC. This has since been withdrawn and will be sold by auction in July
Derby Community Transport provides specialized transport for disabled passengers and was originally an independent operation based at Trent's Meadow Road depot.
From 7 January 2010 Wellglade took control of TM Travel
TM Travel
TM Travel is a bus operator based in Halfway, Sheffield which operates passenger bus services in South Yorkshire and Derbyshire. Founded in 1995 as a family-owned operation with one bus, by March 2008 it had expanded to become the largest independent operator in Derbyshire...
, based at Halfway, near Sheffield. This brought over 100 additional vehicles into the Wellglade fleet.
High Peak
In summer or autumn 2011, Trent Barton will merge the Buxton division with Bowers CoachesBowers Coaches
Eric W. Bowers Coaches Limited trading as Bowers is a bus operator based in the High Peak district of Derbyshire in the United Kingdom. It is currently a subsidiary of the Centrebus Group, having been so since 2007, and prior to that an independent family business...
, to form a new company called High Peak
High Peak (bus company)
High Peak is a bus company in Derbyshire, England, which is due to be formed in summer or autumn 2011. It will be a merger between Bowers Coaches and the Buxton division of Trent Barton....
. The new company will run all services previously run by Bowers and the Buxton division of Trent Barton, such as the Skyline 199.
The new operator will operate from Dove Holes
Dove Holes
Dove Holes is a village in the High Peak district of Derbyshire, England. It has a population of about 1,200. It straddles the A6 road and it lies three miles from Buxton and three miles from Chapel-en-le-Frith. Trains run from Dove Holes railway station into Manchester.Residents of the village...
and will have a combined fleet of 50 buses and around 100 employees. All the staff currently employed by the two operators will transfer to the new operation and no jobs will be lost. It is expected that High Peak will start operating in the late summer or early autumn as soon as the necessary Operating Licences have been granted by the Traffic Commissioner.
Cashless Smart Card System 'Mango'
'Mango' http://www.trentbarton.co.uk/fares-and-tickets/mango.aspx is a prepay touchless travel card system created by Trent Barton buses. The system works by having a 'Mango' card which the user 'touches on' with at the start of their journey, then 'touches off' at the end. This operates in a very similar way to Transport for LondonTransport for London
Transport for London is the local government body responsible for most aspects of the transport system in Greater London in England. Its role is to implement the transport strategy and to manage transport services across London...
's Oyster card
Oyster card
The Oyster card is a form of electronic ticketing used on public transport services within the Greater London area of the United Kingdom. It is promoted by Transport for London and is valid on a number of different travel systems across London including London Underground, buses, the Docklands...
scheme.
This allows for exact fare pricing as your price is calculated by the GPS position of the bus and the passenger's choice of disembarkation point. Users of the 'Mango' card are charged 25% less than the normal cash fare for their journey. A number of card types are available: Adult, Child, B_Line, Student and 16-19. The B_Line card offers Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
students half price fares on bus journeys, the 16-19 year old and student cards both offer a 35% discount and feature different background artwork.
The 'Mango' system was initially tested on the company's Rainbow 4 and Indigo routes. After this proved successful, Trent Barton proceeded to extend the scheme to more of its services.
Frio
Multi-journey travel ticket. Buy ten single journey tickets between the same two points and get three trips free - 13 journeys for the price of ten. No time or distance travel restrictions.ZigZag
Unlimited one day travel ticket for use on the day of purchase. Valid after 9am on Mondays to Fridays and all day Saturdays and Sundays on all trent barton buses, except pronto and transpeak. Cost: £4.90Kangaroo
Any bus or tram in Nottingham£3.70 day ticket - Travel on any number of buses or trams in Nottingham.
Other
There are the normal single and return tickets which can be used anywhere any time of day.There are also some different tickets for selected routes, such as Red Arrow and Skylink, and through tickets in city centres.