Stagecoach Grimsby-Cleethorpes


Stagecoach Grimsby-Cleethorpes is the sector of the Stagecoach Group that operates buses in and around North East Lincolnshire, serving a population of over 150,000.
It runs town services in its main hubs of Grimsby and Cleethorpes, as well as services to Immingham and nearby villages. Buses operate via the Riverhead bus station, opened in 1989, which is situated next to the Freshney Place Shopping Centre in Grimsby town centre.
In 2006 Stagecoach Grimsby-Cleethorpes was amalgamated with Stagecoach in Lincolnshire, following the acquisition of Lincolnshire RoadCar by Stagecoach Group the previous year. MegaRider, DayRider and Family Rider tickets can now be used on former RoadCar services in the Grimsby and Cleethorpes area.
Following the takeover buses and staff based at the former RoadCar's Grimsby depot, in Garden Street, were transferred to the Stagecoach Grimsby-Cleethorpes depot in Victoria Street, although they remain part of the Stagecoach in Lincolnshire section. The Garden Street premises are now used only for the storage of old buses. In 2008 Stagecoach closed its Louth depot and some of the Louth area routes now operate from Grimsby.
In October 2002 arsonists set fire to the bus depot and a number of vehicles were destroyed. Stagecoach brought in buses from other depots to maintain services in the area. For a while local people observed Stagecoach buses, in London red livery, operating on Grimsby-Cleethorpes routes.

History, pre-Stagecoach

Grimsby and Cleethorpes Corporations

In 1881 the London-based Provincial Tramways Company established a system in Grimsby and Cleethorpes under the management of the Great Grimsby Street Tramways Company. Provincial also operated tramways in Cardiff, Portsmouth, Gosport and Plymouth.
In 1925 Grimsby Corporation bought the tramway system running within its borough. In 1926 the new company acquired single deck Garrett trolleybuses and later double deck AEC trolleys. This started the gradual process of replacing the ageing trams with the Grimsby trolleybus system.
In 1927 Grimsby Corporation Transport bought its first motor buses, these being centre entrance single deck Albions. The first double deck motor bus, an AEC Regent with a centre entrance, was purchased in 1930. About this time other local bus companies were being formed.
Grimsby Corporation introduced motor bus routes to outlying areas of the town and in 1934 bought routes from the Ada bus company and Provincial, thereby extending services to New Waltham/Humberston and Waltham. Following World War Two, routes were further extended to the new housing estates.
Cleethorpes Council introduced motor buses in 1930, operating routes within the town and also to Humberston. A joint service with Grimsby ran from Grimsby town centre, along Bargate, Weelsby Road and Clee Road to Cleethorpes Bathing Pool.
In 1936 Cleethorpes took over the tramways within its area and in 1937 tram services run by the two boroughs finally ended, when a second joint service was established along the main road between Grimsby Old Market Place and Cleethorpes Bathing Pool using trolley buses.

Grimsby-Cleethorpes Joint Transport Company

In 1956 the Grimsby company introduced the first one-person operated service on its Corporation Road route 1, using new twin entrance single deckers. In 1957 both councils merged their bus companies to form Grimsby-Cleethorpes Transport, run by a joint committee. The crimson/cream livery of Grimsby and the blue/grey colours of Cleethorpes were replaced with the blue and cream of the new company. The Cleethorpes depot at Pelham Road was closed down, the buses and staff moving to the Grimsby depot in Victoria Street.
In 1959 GCT set up its first joint service with Lincolnshire RoadCar from Cleethorpes to Immingham Dock, via Grimsby. After many years of operation RoadCar withdrew from this route. When building began on the Willows Estate in 1968 a second joint service was established on a new route linking the estate with Grimsby town centre.
The last trolleybuses were taken out of service in 1960. During the 1960s the first Fleetline double deckers arrived. These had the driver inside, with automatic doors opposite where he sat. Later twin door Fleetlines were acquired and these were used to gradually extend the one-person operated bus system to the double deck routes. In 1982 the job of conductor was abolished and GCT went over entirely to driver-only services.
1981 saw GCT change its livery to caramel and cream. In 1986 bus services were deregulated, which resulted in some competition between RoadCar and GCT. RoadCar began running buses from Grimsby town centre to the Grange, Nunsthorpe and Bradley Park estates, areas previously served only by GCT. In 1987 the fleet colours were changed again, to orange and white.
Resulting from government policy that municipal transport undertakings should be privatised, Grimsby and Cleethorpes councils decided to sell off GCT. Bids submitted included offers from Stagecoach, Yorkshire Rider and a management/worker team. The Stagecoach bid was accepted and in November 1993 Stagecoach Group bought the company, which was renamed Stagecoach Grimsby-Cleethorpes, part of the East Midlands division.
A number of former GCT buses have been preserved in the company's differing liveries. While none operate in passenger service, they are regular visitors to local bus rallies. One such vehicle - a Leyland Fleetline/Roe - has its own that offers a full history of the bus plus photos over the years and a regularly updated blog.

Service alterations

In 2006 Stagecoach received government funding to improve services. The company itself and North East Lincolnshire Council also put money into the project. Circular route 3F/4, which ran between Cleethorpes Pier and Grimsby-Bradley Cross Roads, was renumbered as 13/14. This was done to avoid confusion between route 3F and Stagecoach in Lincolnshire routes 3, 3A and 3B, which run into the area from Lincoln.
Services on 13/14 were increased from a daytime frequency of 15 minutes to 10 minutes, while evening services were changed from hourly to half-hourly. There were also changes to the Sunday timetable and new, low-floor buses were introduced to benefit the elderly and disabled. In 2010 the Saturday daytime frequency reverted to 15 minutes, although the weekday frequency remains 10 minutes.
Also in 2006 the weekday frequency of route 45, to Immingham, was altered from 30 to a 20 minutes, starting at Grimsby Tesco, Victoria Street, instead of Cleethorpes. However, in 2009 the daytime frequency reverted to 30 minutes, with the terminus being changed again to start at Grimsby bus station. Extensions to Barton, Habrough, and the Millennium Inorganic Chemical plant were introduced. Route 7 was altered to serve Franklin College, with some runs extending to Laceby village.
In 2010 route 45B was discontinued and service 250 was reintroduced to serve Barton and the nearby villages. The 45H was also reduced to a peak time only service and route 150 was altered to include Habrough. The 45 was extended to South Killingholme and the 45M extension was retained. Some early morning runs continued to operate from Cleethorpes. Route 16 was changed from a 12-minute to 15-minute frequency and a Sunday service was introduced on 7 route between Grimsby Town Centre and Grange Estate only. Furthermore, all Grimsby depot services still operating on the Lincolnshire RoadCar operating licence were transferred onto the Grimsby Cleethorpes Transport operating licence.
In 2012 further changes were made. Route 250 was again withdrawn and replaced with an extended 450, linking Immingham with Barton and Brigg. Route 150 was altered to start at Immingham instead of Grimsby, terminating at East Halton. Service 45 from Grimsby was timed to connect with both the 150 and 450 at Immingham. The operation of route 366 was transferred from the Grimsby depot to Scunthorpe depot.
Route 3 was altered from an hourly to two-hourly service between Grimsby and Lincoln, with more frequent journeys at peak periods. Route 51 continued as a 30-minute service between Grimsby and Holton le Clay, but was reduced to an hourly service between Holton le Clay and Louth. Sunday services on routes 7 and 8 were withdrawn. Part of route 8 was replaced by an extended 46, running from North Sea Lane, through Humberston and New Waltham to the Waltham terminus. As of 5 November, the Sunday service on the 46 to Waltham has changed to Cleethorpes Pier; the 9a now runs to New Waltham on a Sunday as a replacement.
More recently, a lot of the services were renumbered. These changes are as follows - 13 to 3, 14 to 4, 16 to 6, 3 to 53, 45/46 to 5, Humber Flyer to 250, 9a to 10. The following services kept the same number: 1, 2, 7, 8, 12, 20, 25. Route 11 was running at this time, but it has since been withdrawn. Another more recent change, the Route 12's funding was cut. And with this route not being a part of the Simplibus program, the amount of services per day was also cut, with no service on a Sunday. In January 2019, route 5 stopped running extensions to Habrough. Also route 6 was cut to Grimsby Town instead of running to Asda as well as route 5 being diverted via the Willows instead of Yarborough Road, together with route 6 providing a service to the Willows every 10 minutes. Now only the limited 5S serves the route via Yarborough Road.
During November 2019, a Service 21 was introduced running from Cleethorpes Pier to the Seachill Factories out of town. The service operates twice per day from 06:00 - 14:00 and 14:00 - 22:00 Monday to Thursday, and 3 times per day on a Friday. The service was introduced to help staff at the factories get around the town, and to the factories, for the shift changes. The service launched quietly, with very little press releases about the route.

Humber Flyer (250)

Stagecoach's Grimsby and Hull depots operate the weekday hourly Humber Flyer service from Cleethorpes, via Grimsby, Laceby, Keelby, Humberside Airport, Barton and the Humber Bridge to Hull. In 2005 Stagecoach announced it was to withdraw the service, but after local media pressure and discussions with the relevant authorities, the withdrawal was delayed and in 2006 cancelled. In 2010 a Sunday and bank holiday service was introduced. This service consists of one journey in each direction and is run from the Stagecoach in Hull depot. This Sunday and Bank Holiday service no longer operates to Grimsby or Cleethorpes, and only runs as far as Humberside Airport from Hull where the route then returns to Hull.
The route more recently was known as the HumberFlyer, with the service earning its own branding on a select few ADL Enviro 300s, operated by Stagecoach Hull and Stagecoach Grimsby Cleethorpes. The route had to be renumbered 250 to follow given guidelines but the route is still ran using E300s today, and operates from Cleethorpes, then to Grimsby, Laceby, Humberside Airport, Barton-on-Humber, and then into Hull where the route returns to either Humberside Airport or Cleethorpes.

Depot