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Garages/outstations that closed and reopened on the same site

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TheGrandWazoo

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Swanley. Was a London Country garage. Then it closed but was reopened when they won the contract for the 51.
Now still in use by Go Coach Hire I think.
Good call.

Think Merseybus closed Speke depot at deregulation (retaining Garston) but subsequently closed the latter and reopening Speke.

Similarly, I think Park Lane in Wolverhampton closed in 1986 with Cleveland Road being used but in 1993, that was closed and Park Lane reopened.

Back in the day, Midland Red closed Cradley Heath depot (1971?) and then reopened it to operate certain services after they transferred Black Country depots to WMPTE in 1973 before closing it when Cannock opened in 1977.
 
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Ken H

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didn't the now defunct Pennine of Gargrave once use the former Ribble depot at Skipton?
Was that on broughton road? Ribble ran the manchester and preston services, and for some reason the bus to Eastby/Embsay.
The old Pennine bus garages in Settle and Ingleton are still there but unused. Kirkby lonsdale Coach hire run everything from Lancaster, so no early buses from Skipton or late buses to Skipton.

West Yorkshire Road Car had a garage in Newmarket St - where the job centre is now
 

Busaholic

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Didn't the current Dartford garage of Arriva K&T spend a period as an outstation until TfL route tendering saw it become a fully-fledged operation again? Not to be confused with LT's old Priory Road premises.
 

TheGrandWazoo

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Was that on broughton road? Ribble ran the manchester and preston services, and for some reason the bus to Eastby/Embsay.
The old Pennine bus garages in Settle and Ingleton are still there but unused. Kirkby lonsdale Coach hire run everything from Lancaster, so no early buses from Skipton or late buses to Skipton.

West Yorkshire Road Car had a garage in Newmarket St - where the job centre is now

Where was the Pennine depot in Settle?

I think the Ribble depot in Bolton closed in the 1980s but was retained and reopened for deregulation era expansion. Similarly, I think the Midland Red depot in Sandacre Street in Leicester (near St Margarets bus station) closed in the mid 80s but was retained and reopened for FoxCub services. Open to correction on both of those!!
 

Caleb2010

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Didn't the Southern/Western National depot in Seaton (Devon) close, only to be used by the local operator - was it 'Axe Valley' or something similar?
 

GCH100

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Didn't they just take the roof off it?
Yes the roof was taken off, its now just a yard, with the wall removed down to just below window height, this despite it being a listed building. Todmorden was never operationally closed at any time, as they also for a time used the yard of an old mill to park full height buses and single-deckers which couldn't fit in the main depot at Millwood.
 

GCH100

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Was the ex First Depot at Barnstaple not re-opened by a coach firm as a coach depot?
 

GCH100

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Good call.

Think Merseybus closed Speke depot at deregulation (retaining Garston) but subsequently closed the latter and reopening Speke.

Not quite, Speke was used as an outstation from 1991 while a roof was added across the yard, 20 vehicles remained based there ex Garston depot, later when completed this replaced Garston which had also been modernised, but at this stage Garston was demolished and became a Supermarket. In a further twist in the last few years or so, Speke depot has been demolished and rebuilt on the same site as an open depot yard with service buildings, so the roof fitted in 1991 appears to have been a waste of money.
 

GCH100

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That at Bude in Cornwall was taken over by Jennings of Bude, for a time and Stagecoach also used it as an outstation but I believe following the collapse of Hookways who owned Jennings this has now gone or at least isn't used for Buses or Coaches.
 

TheGrandWazoo

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That at Bude in Cornwall was taken over by Jennings of Bude, for a time and Stagecoach also used it as an outstation but I believe following the collapse of Hookways who owned Jennings this has now gone or at least isn't used for Buses or Coaches.
Already mentioned in #3 and yes, was a Stagecoach outstation for two vehicles. Don’t know if it’s still standing but they were going for planning permission
 

Simon75

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The former Arriva South Wigston garage, which closed in 2021, is due reopen, under Woods Coaches (part of National Express)
 

Flange Squeal

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London & Country opened a depot in Merstham to replace Reigate in 1996, but it only lasted five years with - by what was now - Arriva closing in 2001.

Buses Excetera later occupied the site, moving in at some point during 2013 and lasting six years until they ceased operations in 2019.
 

Statto

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Not quite, Speke was used as an outstation from 1991 while a roof was added across the yard, 20 vehicles remained based there ex Garston depot, later when completed this replaced Garston which had also been modernised, but at this stage Garston was demolished and became a Supermarket. In a further twist in the last few years or so, Speke depot has been demolished and rebuilt on the same site as an open depot yard with service buildings, so the roof fitted in 1991 appears to have been a waste of money.

Speke depot was the base for Merseyrider, which was MTLs low cost bus company, which sparked industrial disputes across their main company Merseybus, but that's for another thread.
 

Roilshead

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Back in the day, Midland Red closed Cradley Heath depot (1971?) and then reopened it to operate certain services after they transferred Black Country depots to WMPTE in 1973 before closing it when Cannock opened in 1977.
A bit late to the party here, but Bromsgrove depot, also closed as part of the 1971 depot closures, reopened too in 1973, to operate cross-boundary work transferred from Black Country depots.

Hanson Buses/Coaches St John's Road garage in Huddersfield, a former jam factory taken over when the Milnsbridge garage was lost to British Road Services on nationalisation of the haulage fleet, and closed when WYPTE sold off its Hanson coaching operation in 1979, was used by Royston-based Pride of the Road for its post-deregulation Huddersfield-area operations until they were sold to Yorkshire Rider, and now seems to be the base for Streamline.

Eastern National's Old Harlow depot, taken over in the 1960s(?) with the operations of a local independent, survived into the early NBC era and was then occupied by a local coach operator - Old Harlow only ever accommodated two/three of coaches, with a couple more parked on a nearby car park as demand required (and if they were Lodekkas they wouldn't have been able to fit in the garage, which could only accommodate single decks).

Hebble's Park Lane depot in Bradford, closed in 1971, was then occupied by Wallace Arnold for its Bradford-based coaches, including the Feather Bros Tours Ltd fleet.

West Yorkshire's Yeadon depot was closed operationally in 1940 (but used for storage of withdrawn vehicles), following the outbreak of WWII, reopened in 1945, and then closed finally in 1959. The company's original Pateley Bridge depot - a wooden shed in the station yard, constructed in 1930 - was replaced by a new depot in 1955, after which the original depot was leased to local independent Longster Bros.
 

Stephen1001

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Since this thread's first run in 2019, Guildford has become relevant - the long-established depot at Leas Road was closed when Arriva pulled out in December 2021, only to reopen four months later under Stagecoach. Likely to be temporary but still going strong as of now.
 
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RATP Park Royal was used by First/Tower Transit from 2011 to 2017 as an outstation to Westbourne Park while the Crossrail works were taking place and then RATP took the same site a few months later when they won the 18 from Metroline.

Fittingly both Park Royal and Westbourne Park garages are now run by RATP after they took over Westbourne Park from Tower Transit as part of the RATP/Tower Transit partnership in 2021 and also the 266 operated from there both while it was with First/Tower Transit from 2012 to 2017 and with RATP since 2019.
 

busesrusuk

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Two more London garages to add to the list were Battersea and Wandsworth. Both garages closed as operational LT garages to reopen later for use by London Coaches. Initially LC went into Battersea then subsequently moved to Wandsworth.

Nunhead is another one - closed by LT and then reopened for use by Obsolete fleet. Although the main building has now been demolished the clocktower survives I believe as it was locally listed.

I'm sure that one the many bus garages in Beddington Lane have been reused by operators various over time. It was locally referred to as bus garage alley as there were at least three garages there including a Volvo HGV/PSV service centre.

Maybe of interest is that Swanley Garage is now fully operational as Go Coach have refurbished the original shed after being vacated following non PSV use. LCBS and Go Coach had used the yards around the garage (and possibly the separate operating block) in recent times. Now the garage is back as LT/LCBS intended.
 

Simon75

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Stagecoach Biggleswade outstation closed a few years back (not sure when), belive Grant Palmer has taken it over
 

Roger1973

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Special mention should be made, I feel, of Brixton Hill tram depot, purpose designed and built by London County Council in 1923, although operationally I believe it was always an annexe, or outstation if you will, of Telford Avenue a quarter mile or so up the road.

No, not too far away but that was a different depot, used to store new buses after the trams left (Stockwell was the replacement bus garage.)

Quite late to this, but...

Yes, my understanding is that Brixton Hill was (both as LCC / LT tram depot and Arriva garage) an outstation to Telford Avenue - it doesn't have maintenance facilities / pits. It was designed as a depot for trailer cars, but the use of trailer cars was abolished before it was finished.

As for Clapham, it was a bus garage from 1950 - 58 (photo in LT Museum collection here), and closed in the post 1958 strike round of cuts. Stockwell was broadly replacement for Norwood Tram depot.

To add another few to the list -

Purley (former Croydon Corporation) tram depot was closed as an operational depot at some point in the 1930s and re-opened in the late 40s to give more space for rebuilding at Thornton Heath.

Hammersmith trolleybus depot (not the same building as Hammersmith / Riverside bus garage) was re-opened for the 'coaches' which LT ran for BEA to Heathrow.

Acton Tram Depot (closed in the 1930s trolleybus conversion programme) became a bus garage some time in the late 1980s but has since closed and been demolished.

Chiswick Tram Depot (also closed in the 1930s) became operating base for the BEA coaches after Hammersmith, then was later re-opened (and is still in use as) Stamford Brook Garage. Like Acton, LT had found other uses for it in the decades between.

Ilford tram / trolleybus depot was later used by Ilford / Redbridge Council including their in-house bus / coach fleet.

Part of the former Timpsons coach depot / yard at Catford was used by London Country South East / National London in the mid 1980s to run tendered route P4 (I can't remember if the 42 was run from there or if it only moved to LC after they moved out) and I think Black Horse Buses based one or two buses there during their brief operation was in Gravesend.

And a few bus garages were requisitioned for army use during the 1914-18 war, including Camberwell and Catford (which was used briefly by London General, then passed to Tillings when it re-opened.)
 

Ridercross

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Midland Red's Wolverhampton garage in Dudley Road closed in 1971, then after decades not being used as bus garage is now being used by local independent Travel Express (let's Go).
 

Mwanesh

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Stagecoach South Wales closed Brynmawr a few years back. It became an outstation of Cwmbran. Caerphilly became an outstation of Blackwood where the body shop and training school were based. Brynmawr had a few buses up until 2 years back when they cleaned it up and moved the X15 from Blackwood. Blackwood depot will be closed on 5 February with the work going to Cwmbran and Caerphilly. Caerphilly will become a depot again.
 

Roilshead

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Eastern National's Old Harlow depot, taken over in the 1960s(?) with the operations of a local independent, survived into the early NBC era and was then occupied by a local coach operator - Old Harlow only ever accommodated two/three of coaches, with a couple more parked on a nearby car park as demand required (and if they were Lodekkas they wouldn't have been able to fit in the garage, which could only accommodate single decks).
So: Eastern National acquired its Old Harlow depot in 1962 with the take-over of Wright's Coaches, vacated the premises in 1976/7, which were subsequently occupied by coach operator Chris Earl(e) around 1979/80, and have since been demolished and replaced by a house.

And Nottingham City Transport's former Sherwood depot - closed when? - is now the base for community transport operator CT4N.

Are we including trams? The BET's Birmingham & Midland Tramways Joint Committee depot in Bilston was subsequently the home of Don Everall Travel, and then National Travel (Midlands) from 1974, when that company acquired the Don Everall coaching interests, then passing briefly to National Travel (West) in 1977(?) when the renamed National Travel (North West) acquired the western area of National Travel (Midlands), before closing (1977?) when National Travel (West) decided to transfer its operating interests in the West Midlands to Midland Red.

I'm pretty sure West Yorkshire's Edderthorpe Street depot, vacated when they moved to the newly-constructed Hammerton Street depot in 1928(?), was then used by another operator - only Hebble seems to fit, perhaps between moving out of JW North's premises and before construction of Park Lane depot.

And I'm sure there were some changes to Wallace Arnold premises in the Stanningley (Leeds) area. I'm vague on dates here, and currently redecorating, so have temporarily boxed my stuff away. But WA acquired premises in Stanningley with the acquisition of the Farsley Omnibus Co. Larger premises, on Richardshaw Lane (still standing, and in use as a climbing centre), came with the purchase of coach operator JW Kitchin (which was retained as a subsidiary), at which point the Farsley Omnibus operations moved to the Kitchin premises. In 1968 WA disposed of its Leeds-area stage carriage operations to Leeds City Transport and, with the Farsley Omnibus operations gone, the ex-Kitchin premises were felt to be too large and the JW Kitchin coach operations moved into the ex-Farsley Omnibus premises. Eventually, with the declive in local coaching, the Kitchin operations moved to share space in the WA/Feather Bros garage in Bradford.

Which reminds me - Leeds City Transport's first bus garage in Donisthorpe Street, Hunslet, which later became the bus central works until they moved up to the tram central works at Kirkstall Road (was this on closure of the tramways or as they declined?), was used by Wallace Arnold for a short period as their Leeds garage during the construction of their garage/coach station on Gelderd Road. Roughly on the same site, slum clearance and subsequent waves of redevelopment have changed the geography considerably is First Leeds City's Hunslet (formerly Hunslet Park) garage.

Part of the former Timpsons coach depot / yard at Catford was used by London Country South East / National London in the mid 1980s
Isn't that a continuation, rather than a closure and reopening? Timpsons becoming part of National Travel (South East), which was then reconstituted as National Travel (London), which was then put under the control of London Country, and then separated off with London Country (South East) - the premises being used by a continuation of successor operators until closed as part of a redevelopment scheme.
 
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