I tested the service provided by municipally-owned Warrington’s Own Buses and spoke to the company’s MD, Ben Wakerley
Warrington’s Own Buses is part of the ‘yellow wave’ in the North West
Warrington sits between Liverpool (formerly one of the biggest ports in the World) and Manchester (the first industrial city in the world). It’s skirted by the first, modern, long distance railway in the world. The North West wasn’t afraid to do big things then – and it doesn’t mess around now either. It was Greater Manchester that was first to bring buses back under public control and it’s Liverpool City Region that will be the second to do it.
But whilst its big brothers of Liverpool and Manchester tend to capture the headlines, Warrington is more than a bit part player in the sub-region. It has a robust local economy (partly linked to its pivotal point on multiple transport links) and is now ranked in the top 10 in the country both for employment rates and for number of businesses.
On transport its municipally-owned bus operator, Warrington’s Own Buses (WoB), has recently introduced a new electric bus fleet and this has contributed to rapid growth in passenger numbers (up 9% in 2024/25 putting it in the top 10 nationally for growth).
And it’s also part of the ‘yellow wave’ in the North West with WoB choosing the same colour as Greater Manchester and Merseyside to symbolise the big changes taking place.
My journey starts when I arrive at the first-rate interchange that is Merseytravel’s Newton-le-Willows station. There’s a heated booking hall, and toilets, and as I shelter from the capricious March weather, a cleaner is ensuring the whole place is immaculate. All these details matter in making people feel like they are being treated with dignity and that public spaces haven’t been abandoned.
When I get on the WoB electric bus this feeling is maintained. It’s clean, comfortable, green, reliable, well maintained, there’s a friendly driver, good ride quality and it’s simple to use and understand. The livery reflects civic identity and pride in place. Clutter is minimised. You really don’t need a lot of bells and whistles for short urban bus trips.
At Warrington interchange I meet WoB managing director, Ben Wakerley, and we chat about our mutual admiration for Edinburgh’s municipally-owned Lothian – who exemplify the same idea of urban bus as a public utility that gets the details right. Indeed, after a visit to Lothian, WoB overhauled its bus presentation and cleaning regime, using the same contractor as Lothian.
I ask Ben about what he thinks is driving growth.
He responds: “What has made a big difference for WoB is the network as the product, a new fleet, customer service training and consistently applying ourselves to the task over multiple years.”
I ask, why go yellow?
Ben says: “Nobody asked us to go yellow but we did it because I can see the potential of a wider and more integrated yellow bus network across the North West. Stakeholders and passengers want to see what they describe as a ‘London-style’ bus system and to many, it is beginning to look like one in the region.
“Warrington Council deserve great credit and Cheshire devolution is a huge opportunity for the new combined authority to continue to transform public transport in this way.”
He continues: “We are working very well to smooth out some boundary issues and looking to the future there’s a lot more that could be done to create a more integrated public transport network in the North West.
“I’d like to see Transport for the North coordinate across the entire North West region for pragmatic medium-term tactical benefits for example on North West-wide ticketing across all areas.”
I’m interested in Ben’s views on why municipals in general over-perform at industry awards and in customer surveys – but also why some municipals have failed?
“In a municipal the entire borough is your boss not just ‘head office’. Local politicians, business leaders and stakeholders will call you directly if there’s something to discuss. There’s nowhere to hide.
I can see the potential of a wider and more integrated yellow bus network across the North West
“But there are scale issues too – medium sized bus operators with local management generally over perform, whether municipally or privately owned. Some of the smaller municipals struggled in the past.”
Warrington has been concerned that the new buses legislation could end up with Local Authority Owned Bus Companies (or LABCOs) and SMEs caught between deregulation or franchising and losing out. There’s been some welcome assurances that direct award of a franchise to LABCOs is the way out of this dilemma. However, it still feels like the potential of LABCOs is being underplayed – despite their overall success.
Ben argues that: “In the locations with LABCOs, they are potentially the fastest and best value way for a local authority to achieve its aims for public transport. There’s also the social dividend benefits that come from ownership of a LABCO as well as the profits.”
There’s a mayor coming to the new Cheshire and Warrington Combined Authority in 2027 (which will be the transport authority sitting above the three existing authorities in the sub-region). It occurs to me that this is an opportunity to root local services firmly in the places they serve, to recycle profits locally, and to make citizens the boss not some distant corporate suit. In short, to spread the yellow wave southwards.
My time with Ben is up which gives me time to check out Runcorn New Town’s legendary 1970s busway – part of a plan to put everyone in the new town within five minutes of a bus stop. It’s largely forgotten now but it was the first busway in the world! A 14-mile, figure of eight including an exciting, elevated section which provides direct access to what was originally the largest indoor shopping centre in Europe (now with many vacant units).
I get from Warrington to the original Runcorn bus station via a patched up, shuddering diesel bus belonging to a national bus operator. It’s time to come crashing back to earth with a bang.
“I hate this f****** bus – it stinks,” announces one passenger as part of her strikingly loud mobile phone conversation. Not the precise words I would have chosen – but I also want to get off as soon as possible. Are fumes leaking into the vehicle somehow? By the time I get off at Runcorn bus station I’m feeling nauseous.
Runcorn’s bus station is hardly a tonic either. Signs indicating which services depart from each bay are crudely taped over. The bus station is also no stranger to musings of local youth via the medium of marker pen graffiti.
Having recovered my sea legs and found the willpower to continue I make my best guess of what bus will be next on the busway. It turns out to be a minibus with a cheery driver, who is blasting out his music for our compulsory entertainment. The bus veers about a bit as we hammer along the battered busway which skirts and serves the light industry, residential areas and wooded areas of the New Town.
I told the driver I wanted Runcorn East railway station but after we had merrily hurtled past it I got off at the next stop and walked back to the station. As I did so I was thinking about how this place was a microcosm of the post-war story. It was built at a time when Britain seemed to be finally leaving the Victorian era behind. A period of self-conscious modernisation informed by dreams of a more equitable future of growing living standards through jobs with dynamic corporate and civic enterprise – from ICI to the Central Electricity Generating Board. The spirit of that age can be seen in the busway. But now the busway looks careworn and unloved. The once confident local government sector that built it has been hollowed out and no longer has the money to maintain it. Meanwhile, the services that run on it feel like their motto is: ‘will this do?’. The fag-end of a deregulation era which here has completely run out of energy. It’s all very melancholy.
And then, suddenly, out of the gloom, an alien spaceship from the future approaches on the busway – an electric WoB bus goes past. Clean, well maintained, modern – and well, municipal. The future is bright, the future’s yellow, it seems to say.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: For decades Jonathan Bray has been at the forefront of making progressive change happen on transport – from stopping the national roads programme in its tracks in the 1990s to getting buses back under public control in the 2020s. He is an advisor to the Welsh Government on bus franchising and an independent advisor. www.jonathan-bray.com
This article appears in the latest issue of Passenger Transport.
The future’s bright, the future’s yellow
by Passenger Transport on Mar 27, 2026 • 9:47 am No CommentsI tested the service provided by municipally-owned Warrington’s Own Buses and spoke to the company’s MD, Ben Wakerley
Warrington sits between Liverpool (formerly one of the biggest ports in the World) and Manchester (the first industrial city in the world). It’s skirted by the first, modern, long distance railway in the world. The North West wasn’t afraid to do big things then – and it doesn’t mess around now either. It was Greater Manchester that was first to bring buses back under public control and it’s Liverpool City Region that will be the second to do it.
But whilst its big brothers of Liverpool and Manchester tend to capture the headlines, Warrington is more than a bit part player in the sub-region. It has a robust local economy (partly linked to its pivotal point on multiple transport links) and is now ranked in the top 10 in the country both for employment rates and for number of businesses.
On transport its municipally-owned bus operator, Warrington’s Own Buses (WoB), has recently introduced a new electric bus fleet and this has contributed to rapid growth in passenger numbers (up 9% in 2024/25 putting it in the top 10 nationally for growth).
And it’s also part of the ‘yellow wave’ in the North West with WoB choosing the same colour as Greater Manchester and Merseyside to symbolise the big changes taking place.
My journey starts when I arrive at the first-rate interchange that is Merseytravel’s Newton-le-Willows station. There’s a heated booking hall, and toilets, and as I shelter from the capricious March weather, a cleaner is ensuring the whole place is immaculate. All these details matter in making people feel like they are being treated with dignity and that public spaces haven’t been abandoned.
When I get on the WoB electric bus this feeling is maintained. It’s clean, comfortable, green, reliable, well maintained, there’s a friendly driver, good ride quality and it’s simple to use and understand. The livery reflects civic identity and pride in place. Clutter is minimised. You really don’t need a lot of bells and whistles for short urban bus trips.
At Warrington interchange I meet WoB managing director, Ben Wakerley, and we chat about our mutual admiration for Edinburgh’s municipally-owned Lothian – who exemplify the same idea of urban bus as a public utility that gets the details right. Indeed, after a visit to Lothian, WoB overhauled its bus presentation and cleaning regime, using the same contractor as Lothian.
I ask Ben about what he thinks is driving growth.
He responds: “What has made a big difference for WoB is the network as the product, a new fleet, customer service training and consistently applying ourselves to the task over multiple years.”
I ask, why go yellow?
Ben says: “Nobody asked us to go yellow but we did it because I can see the potential of a wider and more integrated yellow bus network across the North West. Stakeholders and passengers want to see what they describe as a ‘London-style’ bus system and to many, it is beginning to look like one in the region.
“Warrington Council deserve great credit and Cheshire devolution is a huge opportunity for the new combined authority to continue to transform public transport in this way.”
He continues: “We are working very well to smooth out some boundary issues and looking to the future there’s a lot more that could be done to create a more integrated public transport network in the North West.
“I’d like to see Transport for the North coordinate across the entire North West region for pragmatic medium-term tactical benefits for example on North West-wide ticketing across all areas.”
I’m interested in Ben’s views on why municipals in general over-perform at industry awards and in customer surveys – but also why some municipals have failed?
“In a municipal the entire borough is your boss not just ‘head office’. Local politicians, business leaders and stakeholders will call you directly if there’s something to discuss. There’s nowhere to hide.
“But there are scale issues too – medium sized bus operators with local management generally over perform, whether municipally or privately owned. Some of the smaller municipals struggled in the past.”
Warrington has been concerned that the new buses legislation could end up with Local Authority Owned Bus Companies (or LABCOs) and SMEs caught between deregulation or franchising and losing out. There’s been some welcome assurances that direct award of a franchise to LABCOs is the way out of this dilemma. However, it still feels like the potential of LABCOs is being underplayed – despite their overall success.
Ben argues that: “In the locations with LABCOs, they are potentially the fastest and best value way for a local authority to achieve its aims for public transport. There’s also the social dividend benefits that come from ownership of a LABCO as well as the profits.”
There’s a mayor coming to the new Cheshire and Warrington Combined Authority in 2027 (which will be the transport authority sitting above the three existing authorities in the sub-region). It occurs to me that this is an opportunity to root local services firmly in the places they serve, to recycle profits locally, and to make citizens the boss not some distant corporate suit. In short, to spread the yellow wave southwards.
My time with Ben is up which gives me time to check out Runcorn New Town’s legendary 1970s busway – part of a plan to put everyone in the new town within five minutes of a bus stop. It’s largely forgotten now but it was the first busway in the world! A 14-mile, figure of eight including an exciting, elevated section which provides direct access to what was originally the largest indoor shopping centre in Europe (now with many vacant units).
I get from Warrington to the original Runcorn bus station via a patched up, shuddering diesel bus belonging to a national bus operator. It’s time to come crashing back to earth with a bang.
“I hate this f****** bus – it stinks,” announces one passenger as part of her strikingly loud mobile phone conversation. Not the precise words I would have chosen – but I also want to get off as soon as possible. Are fumes leaking into the vehicle somehow? By the time I get off at Runcorn bus station I’m feeling nauseous.
Runcorn’s bus station is hardly a tonic either. Signs indicating which services depart from each bay are crudely taped over. The bus station is also no stranger to musings of local youth via the medium of marker pen graffiti.
Having recovered my sea legs and found the willpower to continue I make my best guess of what bus will be next on the busway. It turns out to be a minibus with a cheery driver, who is blasting out his music for our compulsory entertainment. The bus veers about a bit as we hammer along the battered busway which skirts and serves the light industry, residential areas and wooded areas of the New Town.
I told the driver I wanted Runcorn East railway station but after we had merrily hurtled past it I got off at the next stop and walked back to the station. As I did so I was thinking about how this place was a microcosm of the post-war story. It was built at a time when Britain seemed to be finally leaving the Victorian era behind. A period of self-conscious modernisation informed by dreams of a more equitable future of growing living standards through jobs with dynamic corporate and civic enterprise – from ICI to the Central Electricity Generating Board. The spirit of that age can be seen in the busway. But now the busway looks careworn and unloved. The once confident local government sector that built it has been hollowed out and no longer has the money to maintain it. Meanwhile, the services that run on it feel like their motto is: ‘will this do?’. The fag-end of a deregulation era which here has completely run out of energy. It’s all very melancholy.
And then, suddenly, out of the gloom, an alien spaceship from the future approaches on the busway – an electric WoB bus goes past. Clean, well maintained, modern – and well, municipal. The future is bright, the future’s yellow, it seems to say.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: For decades Jonathan Bray has been at the forefront of making progressive change happen on transport – from stopping the national roads programme in its tracks in the 1990s to getting buses back under public control in the 2020s. He is an advisor to the Welsh Government on bus franchising and an independent advisor. www.jonathan-bray.com
This article appears in the latest issue of Passenger Transport.
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