RELIANCE OF GREAT GONERBY
Operating local and country services in and around Grantham
Please
note this is a site of historical record and does not contain current
service information
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RELIANCE OF GREAT GONERBY Operating local and country services in and around Grantham
Please
note this is a site of historical record and does not contain current
service information |
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| The Reliance business was founded in Gonerby by the Simmons family when they bought their first bus in 1924 and the routes from Grantham north to Gonerby and west to Barrowby started at that time. But there were other operators on these routes such as Whipple and Girdlestone. Simmons acquired the Whipple business in 1930 bringing also the country routes to Ropsley and Corby and also gained Girdlestone's timings on the Gonerby and Barrowby routes. Lincolnshire Road Car were also present in Grantham and developed both town and country routes from their depot in Springfield Road, Grantham. | ||
The timetable illustrated from this Lincolnshire operator is undated, but would come from before 1962 as the town service from Grantham to Earlesfield Estate started in that year is not included. Some of the timetables shown below have a rather odd imbalance of timings, this is because of shared operations with the other operators (eg Road Car and the other operator then based in Gonerby, Pulfrey, who operated between Grantham and Newark via Gonerby). The timetable cover has a hand written note that the Road Car route 19 has co-ordinated timings with Reliance. Much housing growth occured over the years in the Dysart Road and Earlesfield areas, traversed by these routes. In 1977 the routes in operation were Grantham - Corby - Swinstead - Bourne (weekdays, an extension of the service in the timetable below); Grantham - Ingoldsby - Corby - Swinstead (Saturdays); Grantham - Roplsey (daily); Grantham - Gonerby (daily); Grantham town service to Earlesfield, Goodliff Road / Stour Court (daily, joint with Road Car service 19, as mentioned above); and Grantham town service to Heathfield Road / Barrowby (daily). Turning to the more recent story of the town services in and around Grantham, the Reliance business was acquired from Joe Simmons by Mass Transit of Sheffield in mid-2003. They opened a new depot in Tollemache Road in spring 2004 and extended from the original Reliance routes by taking over some of the Road Car services from 31st May when the Road Car depot in Grantham closed. This followed a dispute with local staff over trade union recognition. Road Car still worked some routes into Grantham from their Lincoln and Newark depots. Operations by Mass Transit proved to be unreliable and was the cause of much public complaint; they withdrew because of a deteriorating financial situation and with hindsight may well have over-reached themselves. |
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From 12th January
2005
the Grantham town services passed to CentreBus,
an operator with other
networks in Leicestershire, Hertfordshire and Derbyshire and St Albans.
The
Grantham services were then rationalised to a core operation of viable
services (some
of the areas of the town do seem to have been overprovided at
times). In April 2010 the Grantham town network of CentreBus was
considerably enhanced and expanded as part of the county council
supported IntoTown services provided in various Lincolnshire market
towns. Working in partnership with Lincolnshire County Council, a fleet
of 7 brand new low floor buses has been purchased for use on routes
around Grantham town. The popular cross-town Alma Park to Earlesfield
service has been increased to run every 20 minutes whilst other areas
such as Great Gonerby, Barrowby Gate and Sunningdale are also
benefitting with the introduction of half hourly services running
throughout the day, six days a week. A service to the rail station was
provided for the first time. This £850,000 investment was
backed up by improvements at bus stops, and the rolling out of a
real-time satellite-based passenger information system funded by the
county council. So Grantham’s bus network is transformed to ensure that
the 21st century transport needs of residents and visitors can be met
sustainably. In 2011 Centrebus took over long established independent Kimes of Folkingham. Gone but not forgotten? Even in June 2011 one of the departure stands at Grantham bus station still bears the Reliance name! |
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| The story of Reliance appears in 'The Independent Bus' by Keith Turns, published by David & Charles in 1974 | ||||||||||||
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and on this page is incorporated additional information from articles and publications found in the libraries of Lincolnshire |
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