ChesterBus
 | |
 | |
| Parent | Chester City Council |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1930 |
| Ceased operation | June 2007 |
| Headquarters | Chester |
| Service area | Cheshire |
| Service type | Bus operator |
| Depots | 1 |
| Fleet | 84 (June 2007) |
ChesterBus[1] was an English municipal bus company operating services in the city of Chester and across the county of Cheshire. It was owned by the Chester City Council.
History
Chester City Transport commenced operating bus services in Chester in 1930.[2] It was operated as part of Chester City Council. To comply with the Transport Act 1985, the bus operation was transferred to a separate company in 1986.[1] It continued to trade as Chester City Transport until rebranded as ChesterBus in April 2005.
In July 2006, Chester City Council placed the business up for sale.[3]
In October 2006, Arriva North West & Wales registered a network of services to commence in January 2007, which duplicated a number of ChesterBus's routes.[4][5] On 11 October 2006, Chester City Council commenced an action in the High Court against Arriva, claiming that the registrations were anti-competitive under the Competition Act 1998, and asking for an injunction requiring Arriva to de-register them.[6][7] In December, the registrations were cancelled[8] though revised registrations for the 1/1A and 15 were made in January 2007.
The claim centred on the allegation that Arriva were abusing a dominant position, but in a judgement dated 15 June 2007, it was held that Arriva had not been demonstrated to hold a dominant position, and the claim was therefore dismissed.[9]
On 19 June 2007, ChesterBus was sold to First Chester & The Wirral with 84 buses.[10][11][12]
References
- ^ a b Companies House extract company no 2004962 Chester City Transport Limited
- ^ A Decade of Municipal Bus Operation in an historic city Commercial Motor 20 April 1940 pages 236/237
- ^ Chester Bus sale attracts potential buyers Archived 26 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine Bus & Coach Professional 30 August 2006
- ^ Arriva plans Chester assault Archived 12 August 2014 at the Wayback Machine Bus & Coach Professional 25 September 2006
- ^ Notices & Proceedings Traffic Commissioner for the North Western Traffic Area 6 October 2006
- ^ Chester council takes Arriva to court Archived 12 August 2014 at the Wayback Machine Bus & Coach Professional 14 October 2006
- ^ Chester cries foul as bus firm muscles in on existing routes Local Government Chronicle 18 October 2006
- ^ Notices & Proceedings Traffic Commissioner for the North Western Traffic Area 15 December 2006
- ^ Chester City Council & Anor vs Arriva plc & Ors Judgement Royal Courts of Justice 15 June 2007
- ^ FirstGroup agree purchase of Chester City Transport First Chester & Wirral 19 June 2007
- ^ FirstGroup agree purchase of Chester City Transport Archived 3 August 2014 at archive.today FirstGroup 19 June 2007
- ^ First trumps Arriva with Chester Bus purchase Archived 12 August 2014 at the Wayback Machine Bus & Coach Professional 20 June 2007
