Citibus was an English bus operator in

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...

History

Citibus was formed as a coach operator in 1979. In 1983 it obtained a road service licence, and began to compete with

GM Buses GM Buses was the main bus company serving the ten metropolitan districts of Greater Manchester in North West England. The company was formed in 1986 by the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive. In December 1993, it was split into GM ...

on their Centreline route in Manchester, and on the route between

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

and

Blackley Blackley is a suburban area of Manchester, England. Historically in Lancashire, it is approximately north of Manchester city centre, on the River Irk. History The hamlet of Blackley was mentioned in the Domesday Book. The name derives from t ...

, in early 1986. The Centreline route was abandoned following accusations of aggressive tactics by GM Buses drivers. Further routes started following

bus deregulation Bus deregulation in Great Britain was the abolition of Road Service Licensing outside of Greater London for bus services. This began in 1980 with the abolition of Road Service Licensing for long-distance bus services and was extended into local ...

in October 1986 linked Manchester to Middleton,

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...

and

Ashton-under-Lyne Ashton-under-Lyne is a market town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. The population was 45,198 at the 2011 census. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the north bank of the River Tame, in the foothills of the Pennines, east of Manche ...

. In July 1993 the 41-vehicle operation was purchased by Lynton Travel, owners of County Bus & Coach in

South-East England South East England is one of the nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It consists of the counties of Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, ...

. Citibus was then sold on to GM Buses North in 1995.Morris p.46 It may have been GM Buses's intention to run this as a low cost operator but it did not last long as GM Buses North was purchased by

FirstBus FirstGroup plc is a British Multinational corporation, multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.First Manchester First Greater ManchesterCompanies House extract company no 28186 ...

Vehicles and liveries

Citibus' original bus fleet consisted of

Leyland Panther The Leyland Panther was a rear-engined single-decker bus chassis manufactured by Leyland between the years 1964 and 1972. A version with a smaller engine was released as the Leyland Panther Cub. History The Leyland Panther was introduced in ...

s new to

Isle of Man Transport Isle of Man Transport ( gv, Arraghey Ellan Vannin) is an agency of Isle of Man Government that operates public transport on the Isle of Man. Isle of Man Transport operates the following services: * Bus Vannin, island-wide bus service * Isle of ...

in a light blue and black livery. From 1988 onwards these were replaced by

Leyland Atlantean The Leyland Atlantean is a predominantly double-decker bus A double-decker bus or double-deck bus is a bus that has two storeys or decks. They are used for mass transport in the United Kingdom, the United States, New Zealand, Europe, Asi ...

s, most of which were new to

South Yorkshire Transport South Yorkshire Transport (SYT) was a bus operator that provided services around South Yorkshire and outlying areas. The company was formed as an 'arms-length' successor of the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE) in 1986, whic ...

, and the livery was changed to two-tone blue. Under Lynton Travel ownership a few vehicles were transferred from County Bus & Coach, including a number of Mercedes-Benz 0709D minibuses, but few Citibus vehicles survived long after sale to GM Buses.

References

External links

Flickr gallery
{{Defunct British Bus Companies Companies based in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham Former bus operators in Greater Manchester 1979 establishments in England 1996 disestablishments in England British companies established in 1979