Now as everyone knows …….. even the humble bus ticket can offer up a bit of history.
And so it is with this SELNEC bus ticket
I don’t have a date for it other than Andy Robertson paid his fare on November 4th and boarded a central SELNEC bus.
The ticket can’t be any older than 1969 because that was the year when a unified bus company covering the whole of greater Manchester was established.
It was initially known as SELNEC, or South East Lancashire North East Cheshire.
Its orange and white livery would not have been my choice but then having to choose a colour scheme which did not upset the local feelings of the eleven participating bus companies would always have meant coming up with something very different.
This was a huge undertaking, covering a large conurbation and an operation broken down into four divisions, each with their own different coloured logo.
And for those who like these things here are the eleven corporation companies, the number of vehicles they brought to the enterprise and the division they belonged to.
It is not the first time I have written about SELNEC and it won’t be the last, suffice to say it arrived at the same time I arrived in Manchester in 1969.*
Five years later it became the Greater Manchester PTE with the newly created county council replacing the joint transport authority.
And since then, privatization changed the landscape yet again.
But for those who remember it, SELNEC remains a fascinating period in the attempt to create a regional bus company.
And the footnote ...... I had assumed the ticket could date from 1969 when SELNEC arrived and 1974 when it became Greater Manchester PTE, but this could not be, because in 1971 Britain went decimal so thank you to anonymous for pointing out my error.
Location; South East Lancashire North East Cheshire
Pictures;
SELNEC, bus ticket, 1969-1971, and Leyland Atlantean Double deck bus, from 1972, operated by SELNEC, from the collection of Andy Robertson
*Of trolley buses and a company called SELNEC, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2019/10/of-trolley-buses-and-company-called.html
 |
| The bus ticket, circa 1969-1971 |
I don’t have a date for it other than Andy Robertson paid his fare on November 4th and boarded a central SELNEC bus.
The ticket can’t be any older than 1969 because that was the year when a unified bus company covering the whole of greater Manchester was established.
It was initially known as SELNEC, or South East Lancashire North East Cheshire.
 |
| A SELNEC Central bus, 1972 |
This was a huge undertaking, covering a large conurbation and an operation broken down into four divisions, each with their own different coloured logo.
And for those who like these things here are the eleven corporation companies, the number of vehicles they brought to the enterprise and the division they belonged to.
 |
| The individual bus companies and their fleets, 1969 |
Five years later it became the Greater Manchester PTE with the newly created county council replacing the joint transport authority.
And since then, privatization changed the landscape yet again.
But for those who remember it, SELNEC remains a fascinating period in the attempt to create a regional bus company.
And the footnote ...... I had assumed the ticket could date from 1969 when SELNEC arrived and 1974 when it became Greater Manchester PTE, but this could not be, because in 1971 Britain went decimal so thank you to anonymous for pointing out my error.
Pictures;
SELNEC, bus ticket, 1969-1971, and Leyland Atlantean Double deck bus, from 1972, operated by SELNEC, from the collection of Andy Robertson
*Of trolley buses and a company called SELNEC, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2019/10/of-trolley-buses-and-company-called.html
well it can't be later than 1971 as it's £sd
ReplyDeletewell it can't be later than 1970 because it's £sd
ReplyDeleteWell spotted thanks will ammemd the text
Delete