Yorkshire Traction was a bus operator in Yorkshire that operated from 1902 until 2005. History In March 1902 the Barnsley & District Electric Traction Company Limited was formed. It operated trams around the Barnsley area until around 1930. In 1928, prior to the trams being withdrawn, the company was renamed from the Barnsley & District Traction Company Limited (the 'electric' part of the name being dropped some years earlier). The company was affectionately referred to as 'Tracky'. In October 1968, Yorkshire Traction purchased Mexborough & Swinton Traction Company and County Motors. As part of the privatisation of the National Bus Company, Yorkshire Traction was sold in January 1987 to a management buyout. The business subsequently expanded through purchasing other operators including: Ridings Travel Barnsley & District formed in July 1990 when Yorkshire Traction bought the bus business of Tom Jowitt Travel, Wombwell Lincolnshire RoadCar Company Lincoln City Transport Yorkshire Terrier Andrews (merged with Yorkshire Terrier in 1998) Sheffield Omnibus (merged with Andrews in 1996) South Riding (merged with Andrews in 1995) Strathtay Scottish in May 1991 Meffans Coaches (a subsidiary of Strathtay) London Traveller 35% shareholding, sold in to Thorpes in October 2001 In December 2005, Yorkshire Traction was sold to Stagecoach Yorkshire. In May 2008, Stagecoach sold its Huddersfield operations to Centrebus Holdings, it was then subsequently passed to Arriva Yorkshire as Yorkshire Tiger, and then to Transdev Blazefield in 2021, who operate as Team Pennine. The part of the business remaining with Stagecoach was renamed Stagecoach Sheffield. Operations The company operated services across Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and into Leeds, Huddersfield and eventually, Sheffield. From the 1974 merger of Sheffield, Rotherham and Doncaster municipal bus companies until the mid-1990s, the operating area of South Yorkshire was split between South Yorkshire Transport and Yorkshire Traction with the former dominating Sheffield and Rotherham. Through the acquisitions of Sheffield Omnibus, South Riding, Andrews and Yorkshire Terrier in the early 1990s, the company gained a significant foothold in Sheffield. Yorkshire Traction had for decades been a major regional operator of National Express services covering nationwide routes in addition to its regular and long established services in and out of London to Yorkshire towns and cities. It had also operated alongside National Travel, the short break holiday arm of National Bus Company. Upon privatisation, YTC launched "Yorkshire Traction's Coachlink" which became a popular choice for the short break coach holidaymaker within the region. In