User:GeoffGlem

The Route 125 is a major bus route operating between Bolton and Preston, operated by Stagecoach Merseyside and South Lancashire. Originally the '125' was operated by Ribble Motor Services from the 1940's onward.

History
Originally the Route 125 was the mainstream route between Preston and Bolton. The route operated alongside Ribble's *12_* bus services. These included the 123, which operated between Preston and Wigan ; the 124, that operated between Chorley and Blackburn ; the 125 between Bolton and Preston and the 126 between Preston and Horwich.

Nearly all of these routes have either been replaced or phased out. The Route 123 was subsequently replaced by a new Route 113 in the 1970's, which has lasted until today. The Route 124 has lasted until today although is now operated by Transdev Lancashire United as Route 24. The Route 126 lasted until 2009 when Stagecoach North West decided merge both the 125 and 126 together.

In 2009 Stagecoach announced the purchase of 24 Alexander Dennis Enviro 400's to replace an aging fleet off Dennis Trident 2's that had been operating since 2004.

In 2015 Stagecoach announced that they would be re branding the Route 125 as a Stagecoach Gold route, operating from November 2015.

Route
The Route 125 operates between Preston and Bolton.

=Notes= Route 125C Operates to Preston College on a limited stop basis at 0730 from Chorley and 1635 from Preston College. Route 125PHS operates to Bolton from the Holiday Inn hotel in Clayton-le-Woods, via Parklands High School. Although the route is for Parklands' students the bus route is a public one.

Buses from Preston after 2100 (Mon-Sat) and 1700(Sundays) operate only to Horwich. On Sundays the 125 terminates at Clayton Brook after 2305.