Stagecoach in Hull

Stagecoach in Hull

Alexander ALX400 bodied Dennis Trident 2 painted in retro KHCT livery in 2009
Parent	Stagecoach
Headquarters	Hull
Service area	Cottingham Hedon Kingston upon Hull Wawne
Service type	Bus services
Hubs	Hull Paragon Interchange
Depots	2
Fleet	137 (February 2012)
Website	www.stagecoachbus.com/Hull

Stagecoach in Hull is a bus operator providing services in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is a subsidiary of Stagecoach.

Stagecoach in Hull's origins can be traced back to the Hull City Council owned Hull Corporation Transport, which in addition to buses, also operated trams and trolleybuses in the city.

In the late 1970s/early 1980s, Hull Corporation Transport was renamed Kingston-upon-Hull City Transport (KHCT) and, as had been the case for decades, KHCT shared Hull's bus network with National Bus Company subsidiary East Yorkshire Motor Services (EYMS). To comply with the Transport Act 1985, in 1986 the assets of KHCT were transferred to a new legal entity.

At this stage co-ordination/co-operation of the Hull bus network between KHCT and EYMS, which was now owned by its management, was deemed illegal and the two operators became engaged in fierce competition from the late 1980s to the early/mid 1990s.

EYMS began to operate on much of KHCT's network of services and KHCT's position was compounded by smaller-sized competitors entering Hull's bus network, including City Traveller, Connor & Graham, Metro Citybus and Pride of the Road/North Bank Travel. These operators focused on the more profitable corridors of Hull's bus network, with elderly second-hand vehicles and in some, not all, cases a low-fare down-market image.

These operators would eventually fade away, either going bankrupt or being taken over. in particular by EYMS. As a consequence KHCT was making losses and was itself subject to a hostile takeover bid from EYMS. The bid was rejected but, faced with escalating losses and increased competition, in December 1993 Hull City Council sold KHCT to based Cleveland Transit. This deal saw KHCT's employees a 49% stake in the business. At the time Cleveland Transit was considered one of the emerging 'groups' within the British bus industry, with acquisitions in County Durham, Teesside, Yorkshire.

In November 1994 Cleveland Transit including KHCT was sold to Stagecoach.