Inchinnan
Inchinnan (Scottish Gaelic: ''Innis Fhionghain'') is a small village in Renfrewshire, Scotland. The village is located on the main A8 road between Renfrew and Greenock, just south east of the town of Erskine.
History
The name of Inchinnan vil ...
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
. It was formed in 1997 as a rebranding of the former Clydeside 2000 company when purchased by
Arriva
Arriva plc is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England.McGill's Bus Services.
History
Clydeside was formed as
Clydeside Scottish
Clydeside Scottish Omnibuses Ltd was a bus operating subsidiary of the Scottish Transport Group formed in June 1985 from Western SMT Company Ltd. The company operated until May 1989, when it was remerged with Western Scottish, the successor co ...
in June 1985 from the northern operations of
Western SMT
Western Scottish Motor Traction Co. Limited was a bus operator in south-west Scotland from 1929 to 1985.
The company was formed in 1929 by the renaming of Scottish General Transport Co. Ltd, after the British Electric Traction subsidiary forme ...
to prepare the state-owned parent company, the
Scottish Bus Group
The Scottish Bus Group (SBG) was a state-owned group of bus operators covering the whole of mainland Scotland.
The origin of the grouping was the operators owned by and including the Scottish Motor Traction company, which were transferred to S ...
, for
deregulation
Deregulation is the process of removing or reducing state regulations, typically in the economic sphere. It is the repeal of governmental regulation of the economy. It became common in advanced industrial economies in the 1970s and 1980s, as a ...
.
At the time, Clydeside's operating area was much larger, covering
Inverclyde
Inverclyde ( sco, Inerclyde, gd, Inbhir Chluaidh, , "mouth of the Clyde") is one of 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Together with the East Renfrewshire and Renfrewshire council areas, Inverclyde forms part of the hist ...
(including the towns of
Gourock
Gourock ( ; gd, Guireag ) is a town in the Inverclyde council area and formerly a burgh of the County of Renfrew in the west of Scotland. It was a seaside resort on the East shore of the upper Firth of Clyde. Its main function today is as a ...
and
Greenock
Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council areas of Scotland, council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh of barony, burgh within the Counties of Scotland, historic ...
), the
Isle of Bute
The Isle of Bute ( sco, Buit; gd, Eilean Bhòid or '), known as Bute (), is an island in the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, United Kingdom. It is divided into highland and lowland areas by the Highland Boundary Fault.
Formerly a constituent is ...
and much of the south side of
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
. Clydeside was re-merged with
Western Scottish
Western Scottish Omnibuses Ltd, in Scotland, was a bus operating subsidiary of the Scottish Transport Group formed in June 1985 from Western SMT Company Ltd and operated until 1997, when it became Western Buses Ltd. This successor company is no ...
(Western SMT's successor company) in 1989 in an attempt to make it more financially viable. However, on the privatisation of Western Scottish the Clydeside operations were sold in a management buyout as Clydeside 2000 plc with Luton & District taking a 23% stake. Clydeside began rationalising some of its operations, and depots at
Largs
Largs ( gd, An Leargaidh Ghallda) is a town on the Firth of Clyde in North Ayrshire, Scotland, about from Glasgow. The original name means "the slopes" (''An Leargaidh'') in Scottish Gaelic.
A popular seaside resort with a pier, the town mark ...
Thornliebank
Thornliebank ( Scots: ''Thonliebank'', Scottish Gaelic: ''Bruach nan Dealgan'') is a suburban area in East Renfrewshire, in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. Part of the Greater Glasgow conurbation, it is located on the Auldhouse Burn about s ...
were closed, the latter as a result of a reduction in operations within Glasgow.
In November 1994, Clydeside 2000 was sold to
British Bus
British Bus was a bus group in the United Kingdom. It was sold to the Cowie Group in August 1996.
History
British Bus was founded in November 1992 when the Drawlane Transport Group split its bus interests from its National Express in the lead ...
, who had just completed the take over of shareholder Luton & District. The new parent company began investing heavily in the ageing fleet. A more vibrant red, white and yellow livery was introduced, and new "Flagship" routes were created to raise quality levels. Clydeside Buses was included in the 1 August 1996 sale of British Bus to the
Cowie Group
Arriva plc is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England.Arriva
Arriva plc is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England.McGill's Bus Services of
Barrhead
Barrhead ( sco, Baurheid, gd, Ceann a' Bharra) is a town in East Renfrewshire, Scotland, southwest of Glasgow city centre on the edge of the Gleniffer Braes. At the 2011 census its population was 17,268.
History
Barrhead was formed when ...
was also purchased in the same month, and initially continued to operate under its own identity. A stake was also taken in
Dart Buses
Dart Buses was an independent bus operator in the Paisley and Renfrewshire area in the 1990s. The company is attributed with starting a bus war with the main operator of the area, Clydeside Scottish. Bus wars were common following bus deregula ...
of Paisley, another competitor, though this operator would soon go out of business.
The company flirted with operations outside its operating area, successfully securing tenders to operate services in
Cumbernauld
Cumbernauld (; gd, Comar nan Allt, meeting of the streams) is a large town in the historic county of Dunbartonshire and council area of North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is the tenth most-populous locality in Scotland and the most populated t ...
(where a depot was established for a short time) and south east Glasgow, though these were short-lived.
Further rationalisation took place in 2002, with the Inverclyde operations being sold to local management. Confusingly, the new operation was branded as McGill's Bus Services - the company name and operating licence having been purchased with McGill's of Barrhead - based in Port Glasgow, and employing a livery of blue, white and gold in the same styles as both Arriva and the GMS division, depending on what type of vehicle it was applied to. At the same time, the Barrhead depot, originally belonging to the initial McGill's Bus Service, was closed and operations concentrated on the two remaining depots.
In 2007, BAA awarded the new Glasgow Flyer 500 service to Arriva, which bought eleven specially liveried
Wright Eclipse
The Wright Eclipse is a low-floor single-deck bus body that was built by Wrightbus between 1999 and 2019. The second-generation Eclipse 2 was launched in 2008, followed by the third-generation Eclipse 3 in 2015. The Eclipse, and its sister desi ...
bodied
Volvo B7RLE
The Volvo B7RLE is a low-entry single-deck bus chassis manufactured by Volvo. It was superseded by the Volvo B8RLE in 2013.
Specifications
The Volvo B7RLE is similar to its predecessor, the B10BLE. In essence the B7RLE is the front section of t ...
s for the service. As a result, the 905 Airlink service, jointly operated with Fairline Coaches under contract to
Scottish Citylink
Scottish Citylink is a long-distance express coach operator in Scotland and Ireland (where it operates as Irish Citylink) and England (where it operates as Stansted Citylink). The company was formed as a subsidiary of Scottish Transport Group i ...
, ended; however Fairline have since started an independent service numbered 905.
In August 2010 the company, along with
First Glasgow
First Glasgow is the largest bus company serving the Greater Glasgow area in Scotland. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup. The company operates within the area covered by the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, a public body responsible for h ...
, were banned by the area Traffic Commissioner from registering any new services into Glasgow city centre for six months after being found guilty of breaching regulations by picking up and dropping off passengers at locations other than their designated bus stops. One other operator was also banned.
In December 2011, Arriva announced it had agreed to sell the business to McGill's Bus Services.Arriva exits Scotland with Sale to McGill's ''Bus & Coach Professional'' 14 December 2011 The transaction was referred to the Competition Commission, before being approved in 2012.
Fleet
Below is a list of each depot fleet before the sale to McGill's. Most buses were transferred over to McGill's as part of the deal when the assets of Arriva Scotland West were sold to McGill's.
Inchinnan Depot
Location:
Inchinnan
Inchinnan (Scottish Gaelic: ''Innis Fhionghain'') is a small village in Renfrewshire, Scotland. The village is located on the main A8 road between Renfrew and Greenock, just south east of the town of Erskine.
History
The name of Inchinnan vil ...
(Greenock Road)
*2
Volvo B7RLE
The Volvo B7RLE is a low-entry single-deck bus chassis manufactured by Volvo. It was superseded by the Volvo B8RLE in 2013.
Specifications
The Volvo B7RLE is similar to its predecessor, the B10BLE. In essence the B7RLE is the front section of t ...
/
Wright Eclipse
The Wright Eclipse is a low-floor single-deck bus body that was built by Wrightbus between 1999 and 2019. The second-generation Eclipse 2 was launched in 2008, followed by the third-generation Eclipse 3 in 2015. The Eclipse, and its sister desi ...
*29
Dennis Dart SLF
The Dennis Dart is a rear-engined single-decker midibus chassis that was introduced by Dennis Specialist Vehicles of Guildford, England in 1989, replacing the Dennis Domino. Initially built as a high-floor design, In 1996 the low-floor se ...
/
Plaxton Pointer
The Plaxton Pointer (originally known as the Reeve Burgess Pointer, and later as the TransBus Pointer and Alexander Dennis Pointer) was a single-decker bus body manufactured during the 1990s by Reeve Burgess, Plaxton and latterly built by Alexa ...
*3
DAF SB120
Daf ( fa, دف) also known as Dâyere and Riq is a Middle Eastern (mainly Iranian) frame drum musical instrument, used in popular and classical music in South and Central Asia. It is also used in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Iran, Uzbe ...
/
Wright Cadet
The Wright Cadet was a low floor midibus body built on the DAF/VDL SB120 chassis by Wrightbus between 2000 and 2006. It was sold via VDL dealer Arriva Bus & Coach. Of the 681 produced, 366 were for Arriva subsidiaries including eight for its N ...
*2
VDL SB120 VDL may refer to:
* Vancouver Dodgeball League
* Van Diemen's Land, the former name of the smallest Australian state of Tasmania
* Van Diemen's Land Company in Tasmania
* VDL Groep, Dutch manufacturing company
* VDL (radio), a name used by two rad ...
/ Wright Cadet
*10
VDL SB200
The VDL SB200 (originally the DAF SB200) was a light-weight 12m low floor single decker bus chassis produced from 2001 by VDL Bus & Coach (formerly DAF Bus International). It superseded the SB220.
It is originally designed for use by Arriva (VD ...
Wright Commander
The Wright Commander was a low-floor single-decker bus body built on the DAF/VDL SB200 chassis by Wrightbus between 2002 and 2007.
History
Visually and structurally, it is a larger version of the Wright Cadet. Along with the Cadet, it perpetu ...
*6
Scania OmniLink
The Scania OmniLink is a series of integrally constructed rear longitudinal-engined low-entry city buses available on the European market. It is a complete product built by Scania of Sweden.
The OmniLink was launched in 1998 with an inclined e ...
Dennis Dart
The Dennis Dart is a rear-engined single-decker midibus chassis that was introduced by Dennis Specialist Vehicles of Guildford, England in 1989, replacing the Dennis Domino. Initially built as a high-floor design, In 1996 the low-floor seco ...
/
Northern Counties Paladin
The Northern Counties Paladin, also badged as the Plaxton Paladin towards the end of production, is a step-entrance single-decker bus body built by Northern Counties of Wigan, UK, between 1991 and 1998. The replacements for the Paladin are th ...
*16
Dennis Dart
The Dennis Dart is a rear-engined single-decker midibus chassis that was introduced by Dennis Specialist Vehicles of Guildford, England in 1989, replacing the Dennis Domino. Initially built as a high-floor design, In 1996 the low-floor seco ...
Dennis Dart SLF
The Dennis Dart is a rear-engined single-decker midibus chassis that was introduced by Dennis Specialist Vehicles of Guildford, England in 1989, replacing the Dennis Domino. Initially built as a high-floor design, In 1996 the low-floor se ...
/
Alexander ALX200
__NOTOC__
The Alexander ALX200 was a single-decker bus body built by Alexander of the United Kingdom. It was created for low-floor bus chassis produced from the late 1990s.
It was launched in spring 1996 as a low floor replacement of the Ale ...
*23 Dennis Dart SLF /
Plaxton Pointer
The Plaxton Pointer (originally known as the Reeve Burgess Pointer, and later as the TransBus Pointer and Alexander Dennis Pointer) was a single-decker bus body manufactured during the 1990s by Reeve Burgess, Plaxton and latterly built by Alexa ...
*3
Mercedes-Benz Citaro
The Mercedes-Benz Citaro is a single-decker, rigid or articulated bus manufactured by Mercedes-Benz/ EvoBus. Introduced in 1997, the Citaro is available in a range of configurations, and is in widespread use throughout Europe and parts of Asia ...
*9
Volvo B7RLE
The Volvo B7RLE is a low-entry single-deck bus chassis manufactured by Volvo. It was superseded by the Volvo B8RLE in 2013.
Specifications
The Volvo B7RLE is similar to its predecessor, the B10BLE. In essence the B7RLE is the front section of t ...
/
Wright Eclipse
The Wright Eclipse is a low-floor single-deck bus body that was built by Wrightbus between 1999 and 2019. The second-generation Eclipse 2 was launched in 2008, followed by the third-generation Eclipse 3 in 2015. The Eclipse, and its sister desi ...
Van Hool
Van Hool NV () is a Belgium, Belgian family-owned coachbuilder and manufacturer of buses, Coach (bus), coaches, trolleybuses, and Semi-trailer, trailers.
Most of the buses and coaches are built entirely by Van Hool, with engines and axle ...
Alizee
*5
Scania N113
The Scania N113 was a transverse-engined step-entrance and low-floor city bus chassis manufactured by Scania between 1988 and 2000.
History
The Scania N113 was designed as a successor to the N112. Most of the single-decker buses and the ...
/
East Lancs
East Lancashire Coachbuilders Limited was a manufacturer of bus bodies and carriages founded in 1934 in Blackburn, Lancashire, England. The company went into administration for a short while in August 2007, before being bought by Darwen Group ...
*2
Volvo B6
The Volvo B6 was a engined midibus chassis manufactured by Volvo between 1991 and 1999. It was also available as the low-entry Volvo B6LE.
History
In the United Kingdom, the B6 competed in the midibus market with the Dennis Dart, and with the ...
/
Plaxton Pointer
The Plaxton Pointer (originally known as the Reeve Burgess Pointer, and later as the TransBus Pointer and Alexander Dennis Pointer) was a single-decker bus body manufactured during the 1990s by Reeve Burgess, Plaxton and latterly built by Alexa ...
(Trainer vehicles)
*3
Mercedes-Benz Vario
The Mercedes-Benz Vario (model designation BM667/668/670) is a full-size commercial heavy van manufactured by Mercedes-Benz between 1996 and 2013.
History
The Vario was launched in 1996 as a facelifted version of the Mercedes-Benz T2.
The bod ...
/
Plaxton Beaver
The Plaxton Beaver, originally known as the Reeve Burgess Beaver, is a minibus body built by Plaxton. It was built at the Pilsley, Derbyshire factory of Plaxton's Reeve Burgess subsidiary from 1987 to 1991, at Plaxton's main Scarborough facto ...
*1
Optare MetroRider
The Optare MetroRider was a midibus manufactured by Optare between 1989 and 2000.
History
Optare based the original design on the MCW Metrorider after it bought the rights from Metro Cammell Weymann after the latter decided to cease production ...
(Staff vehicle)
*5
Volvo B10B
The Volvo B10B was a rear-engined step deck single-decker bus chassis manufactured by Volvo between 1992 and 2001. The first prototype were built in 1990, but the B10B wasn't launched until the 1992 Geneva Motor Show. It superseded the Leyland Ly ...
/
Wright Endurance
The Wright Endurance was a step-entrance single-decker bus body on Mercedes-Benz, Scania N113 and on Volvo B10B chassis by Wrightbus between 1993 and 1997.
The Endurance was built on 26 Scania N113 chassis for Midland Bluebird. Of the 292 En ...
*2
Volvo B6LE
The Volvo B6 was a engined midibus chassis manufactured by Volvo between 1991 and 1999. It was also available as the low-entry Volvo B6LE.
History
In the United Kingdom, the B6 competed in the midibus market with the Dennis Dart, and with th ...
Dennis Dart SLF
The Dennis Dart is a rear-engined single-decker midibus chassis that was introduced by Dennis Specialist Vehicles of Guildford, England in 1989, replacing the Dennis Domino. Initially built as a high-floor design, In 1996 the low-floor se ...
/ Wright Crusader
*2 Dennis Dart SLF /
East Lancs Spryte
The East Lancs Spryte was a low floor single-decker bus body built by East Lancashire Coachbuilders. It was designed to body the Dennis Dart SLF chassis, but a handful have been built on others, for example, the Volvo B6LE. Mechanically and ...