Burnley & Pendle Joint Transport.

On 1st April 1974, due to the local government reorganisation, Nelson & Colne boroughs were amalgamated to become Pendle borough council. The name of the undertaking was changed to Burnley & Pendle Joint Transport Committee and  was headed by a new General Manager, Roy Marshall.

Two more coaches were acquired in 1974, again Leyland Leopard with Duple bodies. More Leyland Nationals arrived too, a batch of ten plus five Bristol RE's. In 1976 14 Bristol VRT's came, the first rear engine double deckers. Initially these were crewed but subsequently became one man operated. Also in 1976 two more Leopard coaches were bought followed in 1977 by four more Leopards but this time with Alexander dual purpose bodywork.

 
Leyland Leopard/Duple Dominant no.54 (originally no. 4)

  
 Bristol RE/East Lancs. no. 146

  
Bristol VR/East Lancs no. 159

 
No. 14 Leyland Leopard /Alexander Y type 

Second-hand vehicles were purchased for the first time in 1977. Five 1968 Bristol RE's were purchased from Tyne & Wear plus two more in 1979. Tyne & Wear also provided a batch of 10 1975 Leyland National 1's in 1980 and a further 6 1972 Nationals in 1981. The1972 'L' registered  Nationals were in very poor condition and three were scrapped without entering service. In 1982 five 1977 Bristol VRT's with Alexander bodywork arrived from Tayside Regional Council. These had long wheelbase chassis and as such were fitted with centre exit doors. These were removed at Queensgate and these high capacity buses gave sterling service over the next fifteen years. Another Tayside VRT was acquired in 1984 fitted with coach seats for private hire work. Unfortunately this bus was written off following an accident in 1991 after only a relatively short time in service. 

 
 Bristol RE/MCCW no 97 ex Tyne & Wear

  
Leyland National 1 no. 23

 
No. 197 Bristol VR/Alexander

Ten Bristol VRT's were delivered in 1978. these had low height ECW bodies. One of these was later fitted with coach seats for private hire work. Also delivered in between December1978 and April 1979 were the first eight of a total of 14 Leyland Leopard buses with East Lancs. bodies. The remaining six were delivered in September 1980. Two more Duple bodied Leopard coaches arrived in December 1979 and two more Alexander dual purpose bodied Leopards in April 1980. The first Leyland National 2's, a batch of 7, entered service also in April, 1980.

  
Bristol VR/ECW no. 173

  
Leyland Leopard/East Lancs no. 34

  
Leyland National 2 no. 50

 
No. 39 Leopard/East Lancs

The new undertaking was under pressure to be as cost efficient as possible. Falling passenger journeys meant a reduction in the fleet from 149 vehicles in 1956 to 97 in 1983. As an economy measure it was decided to close Colne depot and the Nelson unit from November 1981 and transfer the staff and vehicles to the main depot at Queensgate. From June 1979 crew operation ceased and all services were one man operated except for special journeys.

During 1981 Leyland National 140 (YCW 840N) was repainted as an all over advertisement of the new through ticket from Burnley to Oxenhope, the southern terminus of the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway.


Postcard published by the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway Preservation Society, Haworth, Keighley.

During 1981 in an endeavour to reduce operating costs and provide the sort of services which the Burnley and Pendle public desire, the committee (with the aid of Lancashire County Council) embarked on a major exercise called the Market Analysis project (MAP).

All bus services in the area were surveyed over a period and passengers were asked to complete forms giving various details about their journeys. This enabled the route planners to map out exactly the paths of traffic flows and enabled a redesigned network of services to be planned.

These services were introduced on August 9th 1982 and major alterations to the former services included the extension of the main line service from Colne to Padiham to serve Higham, Hapton and Accrington. This enabled Hapton residents to travel directly to Burnley for the first time for many years.

The service to the Clifton Farm Estate was extended to cover the new housing developments off Lakeland Way and was then continued via Padiham road and Sycamore Avenue to form a circular service into Burnley.

The last major purchase was a Leyland Tiger coach with Plaxton Paramount bodywork in December 1983 for use on the City Flyer service and in July 1986 a Mercedes 608D Minibus was purchased for feeder work associated with the growing coaching business.

No. 1 Tiger/Plaxton Paramount

Following the Transport Act of 1985 municipal bus services were deregulated on 26th October 1986 and Burnley & Pendle J.T.C. became Burnley & Pendle Transport Co. Ltd.

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