Blackpool Transport was founded in 1885 by the town council. The tramway opened on 29 September 1885 using a conduit system to operate the trams using electricity. However, due to difficulties with this method of operation, 550V overhead wiring was installed over the tracks in 1899 to replace the conduit system. In the 1920s, the first bus services were added to transport operations in Blackpool.^[2]

To comply with the Transport Act 1985, in 1986 the assets were transferred to a new legal entity.^[1] Neighbouring operator Fylde Borough Transport, which at the time traded as Blue Buses, was taken over in 1994; it had previously been a council-owned operation itself, but spent five months in private ownership before Blackpool Transport's takeover.^[3]

The company's network was relaunched in April 2001 under the name Metro Coastlines. Along with the new name came a new colour-coded service: each core bus route was operated by vehicles painted in a livery heavily featuring that route's colour. There were twelve such core bus routes, and the historic tramway along the promenade also had its own variation of the livery.

On Monday 26 July 2010, Metro Coastlines branding was discontinued and the company resumed trading as Blackpool Transport. Buses had their Metro Coastlines logos removed and replaced with a new Tower and waves logo, along with a black and yellow colour scheme. The tramway now uses a purple and white colour scheme since 2012, based on Blackpool Council's main colour schemes. The Tower and waves logo does not feature on the Bombardier Flexity 2 trams but is featured at the top of the central doors on the modernised English Electric Balloon trams.

Blackpool Transport have three offices from which daily operations are ran. Rigby Road is the registered headquarters for the company and is where all buses and heritage trams are kept and maintained. The depot contains a bus engineering shed, heritage engineering shed and fitting/paint shops onsite. In late 2022 work began to refurbish one of the older buildings onsite in preparation for the arrival of electric buses.

Blackpool Transport Trams are stored, maintained and operated from the Starr Gate depot on the promenade. This building houses all the "new" fleet Bombardier Flexity2 trams with a dedicate engineering bay.

For a short while Blackpool Transport also opened and operated a store on Market Street in Blackpool. This was designed to house a customer services team although later abandoned through the COVID 19 Pandemic. Blackpool Transport still use this property although it is now closed to the public.

As of March 2024, the Blackpool Transport bus fleet consisted of 117 active vehicles.^[4] The majority of these were double decker services and entirely low floor, with the last step entrance vehicles being replaced in July 2016.^[5][6] Most of the vehicles in the fleet were purchased new by Blackpool Transport, however thirteen vehicles in the current fleet were purchased from other operators. In 2016, a five-year plan to renew the majority of the fleet was announced, with the aim of no vehicle in the fleet being older than five years old in 2020.^[7][8]

On the double deck side of Blackpool Transport's fleet, the Alexander Dennis Enviro400 City is the most common type, with 55 examples in service as of June 2018, 4 more of these arrived in 2020.^[9]

The most common single deck type is the Alexander Dennis Enviro200 MMC, with eighteen examples in service in 2018, this number has since increased. Other types included nine Volvo B7RLEs (Plaxton Centros) and ten Mercedes-Benz Citaro O295s, some of the Citaros have since been sold.

Branding edit

Between 1933 and 2001, the fleet livery on the buses was green and cream, with different arrangements of the two colours decade after decade. From 2010 this livery was replaced with new black and yellow livery which replaced all of the route-specific liveries.^[10] Prior to the livery change each bus stop also featured the line colour and timetables were also colour-coded.

Route branding was discontinued in July 2010 when Blackpool Transport introduced major changes to its bus network, replaced by a new livery of black and yellow. The Line 6 service was axed in July 2010 after 84 years. Line 2 was axed in March 2015, with service 12/13 replacing parts of its route to Poulton via Staining. The 12/13 were axed a year later due to the withdrawal of LCC funding.

Palladium edit

In 2015, Blackpool Transport unveiled a new premium brand, Palladium, on its bus network. All vehicles with Palladium specification are fitted with WiFi, e-leather seating, wood effect flooring and a grey and yellow livery. The first route to be upgraded was the 5, which received a batch of new Mercedes-Benz Citaros.

The 7 and 9/9A were upgraded in 2016, with the latter receiving a batch of new Alexander Dennis Enviro400Citys. Other routes which have been upgraded to Palladium standard are services 6, 9, 11 and 14, with a mix of refurbished and new high specification vehicles.^[11]

By 2019 all Blackpool Transport buses showcase the Palladium branding.

Electrification edit

In Late 2022 It was announced that Blackpool Transport had received funding to create an all electric fleet and start to welcome the first buses by 2024 with the aim of a fully electrified service in 2025. No further details have been released at this time as to how these buses will look or if the Palladium branding will remain.

Blackpool Transport also operates the Blackpool Tramway, which currently has a varied fleet of eighteen modern Bombardier Flexity 2 articulated low floor trams, nine modernised 1930s double-deck English Electric Balloon cars and an assortment of various heritage trams.^[12] Advertising has always been popular on trams, especially on the traditional trams.

Buses edit

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  Preserved East Lancs bodied Leyland Atlantean AN68 No. 353 at Teesside Running Day in April 2012
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  AEC Routemaster No. 528 in Blackpool in April 1994
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  East Lancs bodied Leyland Olympian No. 369 in Fleetwood in June 2010
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  Optare Solo M850 No. 277 in Blackpool in May 2013
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  Mercedes-Benz Citaro B38F in Blackpool in September 2018
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  East Lancs Myllennium Lolyne-bodied Dennis Trident in Blackpool in June 2013
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  A Blackpool Transport Enviro400 City at Pleasure Beach

Trams edit

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  Open-boat tram No. 605 in Blackpool in May 2009
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  Centenary tram No. 642 at the Pleasure Beach in August 1990
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  Brush Railcoach tram No. 630 in Blackpool in October 2005
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  English Electric Balloon tram No. 712 and Millennium tram No. 707 at Sandcastle Water Park in July 1998

• Public transport in the Fylde

• Official website Archived 9 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine
• Flickr gallery trams
• Flickr gallery buses