South Yorkshire Transport
| Founded | 1986 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Doncaster |
| Service area | South Yorkshire |
| Service type | Bus operator |
South Yorkshire Transport (SYT) was formed in 1986, as a result of deregulation of bus services. The South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE) was no longer allowed to operate buses itself, so an arms length operating company was created.
SYT operated buses in and around Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield with some services extending to Chesterfield, Leeds and Barnsley. Known locally as 'one man buses', the company had by now dispensed with conductors and become driver operated vehicles.
In November 1993 South Yorkshire Transport was sold in a management buyout and rebranded Mainline. Shortly after Stagecoach purchased a 20% stake in the company, however this was sold in 1995 to FirstBus.
SYT worked hard to maintain a dominant position for bus operations in most of South Yorkshire and were known to have bought out a number of smaller operators including Dearneways, Groves and earlier during SYPTE days Booth and Fisher.
Whilst SYT operated in most of South Yorkshire, Yorkshire Traction, a rival operator dominated Barnsley and half of Doncaster, which effectively split the county in two when considering bus transport.
Competition for routes and passengers grew fiercely from the mid-1980s and many new operators challenged SYT. A notable number were simply bought out and wiped off the road by SYT however one or two hung around to become a significant dent in the company's profits.
One such project was when SYT began to expand and operate in West Yorkshire under the name Compass Bus. Allegedly in retaliation, West Riding buses returned the move by creating Sheffield and District Bus Co duplicating a number of routes in the north of Sheffield directly against SYT. In a dramatic move, the two companies withdrew from each other's main areas of operation dissolving both the S&D and Compass names.
Other competitors who survived temporarily included Sheffield Omnibus. This was a move by employees from Preston Bus in Lancashire who moved a fleet of aging double-deck Leyland Atlanteans onto cross city services in Sheffield, matching SYT's fares and also operating later than SYT until midnight. The services proved an instant hit especially as the livery was similar to the old Sheffield Transport one from pre 1974 and the vehicles were the same core model as SYPTE had in the mid-1970s.
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