‘Scene’ in Barnsley

I was born and brought up in South Yorkshire and having a father who played cricket to a high standard, the towns and villages of what were then the South Yorkshire coalfield were well known to me through dads sporting activities. 

 

The local bus company was ‘The Tracky’ (Yorkshire Traction) and my memories were of Barnsley being a dark gloomy place.

 

All that has gone (including ‘’The Tracky’ that I knew). Barnsley today is a bright busy little town with a good market which was my main reason for being there.

 

Barnsley also has a recently built ‘Transport Interchange’ which is the genuine article. Trains, buses and coaches all in one place and one of my favourite spots for watching the (transport) world go by.

 

As the successors to ‘The Tracky’, ‘Stagecoach Yorkshire’ are the major operator so I will start with them. There are the usual standard types but there are some buses that date back to before the takeover in evidence.

 

YT03 AYJ

A MAN 14.220LF with East Lancs Myllenium bodywork that was delivered to ‘Yorkshire Traction’ (YT) and came into the ‘Stagecoach’ fold when ‘YT’ was taken over in 2005

 

YN03 ZXJ

An Optare Solo that again originated with ‘YT’.

 

S919 CFC

A MAN 18.220 with Alexander ALX 300 bodywork which at one time worked in Oxfordshire for ‘Stagecoach’.

 

YN62 BJU

An Alexander Dennis Ltd (ADL) Dart SLF with ‘ADL’s Enviro 200 bodywork branded for ‘Town lines’ service 1.

 

‘Tates Travel’ (TT) are based in Barnsley. ‘TT’ operates over 50 vehicles covering Barnsley, Rotherham and a much wider area of South Yorkshire. 

 

EG02 NZA

A Dennis Dart SLF with Plaxton Pointer 2 bodywork that came from Southern Ireland where it was 02-C-16548 with ‘Bus Eireann’. ‘TT’ also bought its mate  02-C-16550 which became EG02 NZB. 

 

The Irish system of registration shows that the buses were originally registered in County Cork in 2002.

 

MX60 GWO

A Wright ‘Streetlite’ D/F which previously operated with ‘BakerBus’ in the Hanley area and was new to ‘Goodwin’, Eccles.

 

KX04 HPN

 

An Optare Solo which previously worked for ‘Stagecoach’ in Exeter on park and ride duties. It was new to ‘Landylines’ of Wellington, had a spell with ‘Dawson Rentals’ and also worked for ‘De Courcey’ in the West Midlands. A much travelled bus...!

 

YX09 HZJ

An ‘ADL’ Enviro 200 that has seen previous service with ‘Aston’s in the Worcester area and ‘Veolia Transport’ in South Yorkshire.

 

SF55 UBC

A Volvo B7RLE with Wright Eclipse Urban bodywork working for ‘First South Yorkshire’ and carrying branding for the companies operations in Rotherham. Earlier in its career it worked in Glasgow for ‘First’.

 

Finally, a few images of the fleet of ‘REDLINE’ a local operator who ceased operating on the 9th. of May 2014

 

V331 KMY

 

This Dennis Dart SLF with Plaxton Pointer 2 bodywork. It used to operate in dual door configuration in the Epsom area for ‘Metro Bus’.

 

 

KX04 HRK

An Optare Solo which was a member of the ‘Premiere’ of Nottingham fleet. Premiere went out of business in early 2013.

It does not seem to have much luck with its choice of owners !!

 

 

SN51 TBZ

Another Dennis Dart SLF with Plaxton Pointer 2 bodywork that has London connections. Having been with ‘Transdev London United’ as its DPS 584.

 

It seems to have been ‘Redline’s policy to buy buses where the previous operator had painted them red. It saved them the cost of a re-paint but seemingly that was not enough.

 

As always, it is sad to see them go.