Rosso (bus company)

Rosso

Wright Eclipse 2 bodied Volvo B7RLE in Haslingden in May 2011
Parent	Rossendale Borough Council
Founded	1907
Headquarters	Haslingden
Service area	Greater Manchester Lancashire West Yorkshire
Service type	Bus services
Fleet	109 (May 2014)
Chief executive	Phil Smith
Website	www.rossobus.com

Rosso is the trading name of Rossendale Transport Ltd, a bus operator providing services in Greater Manchester, Lancashire and West Yorkshire. It is owned by Rossendale Borough Council.

Rosso can trace its history back to 1907 when both Rawtenstall and Haslingden Corporations (both independently) ran a motor bus within their boroughs. Both undertakings merged in 1968 to form Rossendale Joint Transport Committee and later in 1974 with the local government reorganisation the boroughs were merged, along with Bacup (which was already served by Rossendale buses; Bacup Borough not having its own bus company) and Whitworth to form the present Borough of Rossendale.

To comply with the Transport Act 1985, in 1986 the assets were transferred to a new legal entity.

It expanded over the following 20 years and now operates buses throughout Rossendale, Bury and Rochdale as well as operating into Burnley, Blackburn, Bolton and Todmorden.

In August 2013, the Rossendale Transport bus network was rebranded (with a new livery design of red, orange, yellow and white) as Rosso.

Rosso operates services within the Borough of Rossendale (including the towns of Rawtenstall, Bacup, Whitworth and Haslingden) and into surrounding areas, including Rochdale, Bury, Burnley, Accrington, Blackburn and Todmorden. In recent times, it has also extended operations into Middleton and Oldham. The network of services is branded as Rosso with vehicles and publicity carrying this name.