McGill's Bus Services is a bus operator based in
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 ...
, Scotland.
[Companies House extract company no SC027238]
4 October 2013 The company has grown to operate a network of routes covering much of
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 histo ...
,
East Renfrewshire
East Renfrewshire ( sco, Aest Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù an Ear) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. Until 1975, it formed part of the county of Renfrewshire for local government purposes along with the modern council areas of ...
,
Renfrewshire
Renfrewshire () ( sco, Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland.
Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Renfr ...
,
North Lanarkshire
North Lanarkshire ( sco, North Lanrikshire; gd, Siorrachd Lannraig a Tuath) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the northeast of the City of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs and commuter towns and villages. It also ...
,
Glasgow City,
North Ayrshire
North Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Àir a Tuath, ) is one of 32 council areas in Scotland. The council area borders Inverclyde to the north, Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire to the northeast, and East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire to the east and so ...
,
West Lothian
West Lothian ( sco, Wast Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Iar) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and was one of its shires of Scotland, historic counties. The county was called Linlithgowshire until 1925. The historic county was bounded geogra ...
and
Dundee
Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...
. McGill's have several depots based in
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
Johnstone,
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
,
Bannockburn
Bannockburn (Scottish Gaelic ''Allt a' Bhonnaich'') is an area immediately south of the centre of Stirling in Scotland. It is part of the City of Stirling. It is named after the Bannock Burn, a stream running through the town before flowing int ...
,
Balfron
Balfron ( gd, Both Fron) is a village in the Stirling council area of Scotland. It is situated near Endrick Water on the A875 road, 18 miles (29 km) west of Stirling and 16 miles (26 km) north of Glasgow. Although a rural settlement, ...
,
Livingston
Livingston may refer to:
Businesses
* Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010)
* Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline
* Livingston International, a North American custom ...
and
Dundee
Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...
. McGill's had former depots in
Dumbarton
Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990.
Dumbarton was the ca ...
,
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 ...
and
Coatbridge
Coatbridge ( sco, Cotbrig or Coatbrig, gd, Drochaid a' Chòta) is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, about east of Glasgow city centre, set in the central Lowlands. Along with neighbouring town Airdrie, Coatbridge forms the area known as ...
McGill's is the largest independent bus operator in the United Kingdom, as well as being named a Scottish Insider top 500 company in January 2016, coming in at 350th place.
History
Prehistory and early years (1933-2004)
The name "McGill's Bus Services" first came into use in 1933. This company was based in
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 ...
and was owned by the McGill family. It expanded significantly during the years leading up to bus deregulation, but in July 1997, sold out to the major operator in the area,
Clydeside 2000, in the face of significant competition from independent minibus operators. McGill's initially retained its identity, but was later rebranded as
Arriva Scotland West
Arriva Scotland West was a bus company based in Inchinnan, near Paisley, Scotland. It was formed in 1997 as a rebranding of the former Clydeside 2000 company when purchased by Arriva. On 26 March 2012, the business was sold to McGill's Bus Serv ...
. Another company,
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 ...
based Ashton Coaches (trading as GMS), was also acquired by Clydeside in the same month.
In July 2001, Arriva decided to withdraw from its
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 histo ...
operations, which were loss-making and was facing significant competition from independent operators. Its Greenock depot was sold to former GMS owner Alex Kean and the Easdale family with each owning 50%. Arriva had retained a separate operating licence for McGill's, and this was used as the basis for the sale.
[ The McGill's Bus Services name was revived by the new company and a new livery of blue, white, and gold was introduced. The fleet initially consisted of 33 ]Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...
minibuses hired from Arriva; services were operated from a large depot on the Easdale Industrial Estate.
Early in its existence the new company began operating services in competition with Harte Buses, and in September 2004 Harte withdrew from two routes leaving McGill's as the sole operator.
In October 2004, Kean sold his shares in the company to the Easdale family, who quickly replaced the hired minibuses with new low-floor vehicles, leading to increases in passenger numbers.
Consolidation & expansion (2005-2015)
Between 2005 and 2008, McGill's introduced a number of new longer-distance routes connecting Inverclyde and 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 ...
to 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 ...
, and in May 2005, began operating a series of day excursions branded as Smoothiecruisers. In July 2008, McGill's purchased the stage carriage routes and goodwill of four routes centred on Greenock which had previously been run by Slaemuir Coaches.
In the same month, the firm established a second depot in Barrhead on the site of the garage used by the original McGill's Bus Services, which had been vacated by Arriva in 2002.
The new operation traded as United Buses using Greenock and District Omnibuses Greenock and District Omnibus Limited o'licence with vehicles on hire from ABC Taxis ABC Taxis (Inverclyde) Limited which also had an o'licence and capitalised on the revocation of the operating licences held by local operator John Walker to move onto four routes previously served by his group of companies.
Twenty step-entrance buses were initially used, but these were largely replaced by low-floor vehicles after four months. The United name was replaced by that of McGill's in September 2009; the same month saw the company introducing the express service X23 between Glasgow and Erskine
Erskine (, sco, Erskin, gd, Arasgain) is a town in the council area of Renfrewshire, and historic county of the same name, situated in the West Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies on the southern bank of the River Clyde, providing the lo ...
. By the beginning of 2010, McGill's had become the largest independent bus operator in Scotland, and the fourth largest operator of any type.
A new service linking Greenock and Larkfield was introduced in early 2010 to replace a route withdrawn by Wilson's Coaches. May 2010 saw McGill's expand its services from Dunoon
Dunoon (; gd, Dùn Omhain) is the main town on the Cowal peninsula in the south of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It is located on the western shore of the upper Firth of Clyde, to the south of the Holy Loch and to the north of Innellan. As well ...
and Greenock to Braehead to cover for the withdrawal of Harte Buses' Braehead Express. In July 2010, the company was fined £60,000 by the Traffic Commissioner
The Traffic Commissioners for Great Britain are responsible for the licensing and regulation of the operators of heavy goods vehicles, buses and coaches, and the registration of local bus services in Great Britain.
History
The Road Traffic A ...
for failing to operate some services as timetabled, although it was permitted to expand its fleet from 110 to 150 vehicles. The Smoothiecrusisers network was withdrawn in August 2010.
The company acquired the operations and vehicles of large independent operator Gibson's Direct in September 2010, expanding the size of its fleet by around 70%.
In February 2011, two small operators based in the Paisley area, Fairway Coaches and Travel Direct, were purchased by McGill's, although no vehicles were acquired.
Two further acquisitions, of Renfrewshire-based Ferenze Travel and Phoenix Travel, were announced in March 2011. In the same month, Dickson's of Erskine sold its key route 38, a Glasgow to Paisley service operated in competition with both Arriva Scotland West and 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 ...
, to McGill's, who converted the route to low-floor operation and increased its frequency at a cost of £1.5 million.
In March 2012, McGill's purchased the remaining Arriva Scotland West operation. The sale included 165 vehicles, 380 staff, and depots at 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 ...
and Johnstone. The deal expanded the McGill's a fleet to over 350 buses.
On 15 October 2012, it was announced that McGill's were to acquire the local bus services of Balloch-based McColls Coaches for £3 million, with 30 buses joining the fleet. In June 2013, four new routes in the Paisley area were introduced by the company to replace those of Riverside Transport.
In January 2014, McGill's was linked with a bid to operate the 360-bus network on the Mediterranean island of Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
following the end of Arriva's operations there. A month later, the company pulled out of the bid citing a lack of transparency on the part of the island's government.
In October 2014 McGill's Coaches bought Henderson Travel after it suddenly ceased business.which has resulted in the company expanding in North Lanarkshire and becoming the dominant operator in the Monklands area by early 2016.
Back in Scotland, an open-top tour of 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 histo ...
was introduced in April 2015.
Lanarkshire expansion (2016-2020)
In the summer of 2015, the company announced its plans to double in size by 2020. Sandy Easdale said: "It's all about growth and now that were moving forward since the Competition Commission it's about growing McGill's. That's the aim - in the next 5 years' double everything. We are looking at expanding in Lanarkshire
Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark ( gd, Siorrachd Lannraig; sco, Lanrikshire), is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the central Lowlands of Scotland.
Lanarkshire is the most populous county in Scotlan ...
in the near future and we are in discussions with some smaller companies to be buying them out in the area and that will join into McGill's. But the good thing about it is that every time McGill's grows outside the area it actually employs people in the 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 ...
Head Office. It's all about employment. It would be easy to move our head office elsewhere but we stay in 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 ...
and we're great supporters of the local economy. We're concentrating on our own things and growing our business organically."
On 20 January 2016, McGill's announced its first acquisition in Monklands area of Lanarkshire
Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark ( gd, Siorrachd Lannraig; sco, Lanrikshire), is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the central Lowlands of Scotland.
Lanarkshire is the most populous county in Scotlan ...
, when a deal was reached to purchase the bus routes of McNairn Coaches and JJ Travel for an undisclosed sum. The deal included 14 members of staff and a number of vehicles. On 2 February 2015, a second acquisition was made with the routes of Arthur's Coaches and D.A. Coaches being bought out along with three vehicles.
On 30 May 2016, McGills purchased the routes and local service vehicles of Silverdale Coaches. On 29 August 2016, the company moved premises from a depot in Blantyre
Blantyre () is Malawi's centre of finance and commerce, and its second largest city, with an enumerated 800,264 inhabitants . It is sometimes referred to as the commercial and industrial capital of Malawi as opposed to the political capital, L ...
Industrial Estate near Hamilton Hamilton may refer to:
People
* Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname
** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland
** Lord Hamilt ...
, South Lanarkshire
gd, Siorrachd Lannraig a Deas
, image_skyline =
, image_flag =
, image_shield = Arms_slanarkshire.jpg
, image_blank_emblem = Slanarks.jpg
, blank_emblem_type = Council logo
, image_map ...
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to:
People
* Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname
** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland
** Lord Hamilt ...
to a new fully refurbished facility in Coatbridge
Coatbridge ( sco, Cotbrig or Coatbrig, gd, Drochaid a' Chòta) is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, about east of Glasgow city centre, set in the central Lowlands. Along with neighbouring town Airdrie, Coatbridge forms the area known as ...
with all services and buses from the Hamilton Hamilton may refer to:
People
* Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname
** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland
** Lord Hamilt ...
depot transferring to the new facility. A number of revisions were introduced to the Monklands services from this date improving services and connections for passengers.
Xplore Dundee & First Scotland East acquisitions (2021-)
On 1 January 2021, McGill's purchased Xplore Dundee
Xplore Dundee is a bus operator based in Dundee, Scotland, operating services mainly within Dundee City. The operator also runs a service to Edinburgh Airport. It is a subsidiary of McGill’s Buses, which is based in Greenock, Scotland.
Histo ...
and Xplore More from National Express
National Express Group is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Birmingham, England. It operates bus, coach, train and tram services in the United Kingdom, Ireland (National Express operates Eurolines in conjunction ...
. The business continues to trade under the Xplore Dundee brand for bus travel and Xplore More for coach travel. The sale involved 350 employees and a fleet of 120 buses at the time.
On 6 September 2022, it was announced that McGill's had acquired the operations of First Scotland East from the FirstGroup
FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.[McGill's Scotland East
McGill's Bus Services is a bus operator based in Greenock, Scotland.][open top bus
An open top bus is a bus, usually but not exclusively a double-decker bus, which has been built or modified to operate without a roof. Early buses were constructed without roofs but in more recent times they have only been built for tourist and s ...]
tour operation in Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
.
Ownership and management
McGill's Bus Services was initially owned by Alex Kean and the Easdale family with each owning 50%. In October 2004, Kean sold his 50% share to the Easdale family. Managed by brothers James and Sandy Easdale, they also own a number of taxi firms in the Inverclyde region, as well as several non-transport businesses.
Former Arriva Scotland West managing director Ralph Roberts joined McGill's in March 2010. General manager Bert Hendry and finance director Graeme Davidson retained their positions, while James Easdale became the firm's chairman. Colin Napier, who had previously worked for Coakley Bus & Coach and McKindless
McKindless was a Scottish bus operator, operating a number of bus routes throughout Greater Glasgow, Scotland. The company was based in Newmains and had a depot in Parkhead.
History
McKindless was founded in Newmains by Vincent and Margaret Mc ...
, became the company's area manager for its eastern operations in August 2010. Napier has since been appointed to Head of Operations & Commercial.
Fleet
As of January 2021 the fleet consists of 441 buses.
McGill's was formed with a fleet of 33 Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...
minibuses hired from their former owner Arriva Scotland West. Many of these vehicles were previously used by Ashton Coaches and were quickly repainted from their previous green and gold or aquamarine colour schemes into the McGill's blue, white, and gold livery. The minibuses began to be replaced following the Easdale family's acquisition of McGill's in 2004, and a large number of new low-floor buses were bought over the following years as the company expanded, initially 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 ...
s and 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 ...
s. A rare Hispano bodied Volvo B7L
The Volvo B7L is a fully low floor single-decker bus, double-decker bus and articulated bus chassis with a rear engine mounted vertically on the left of the rear overhang. It was built as a replacement for the Volvo B10L, and the Volvo Olympi ...
was acquired from Arriva Midlands
Arriva Midlands is a bus operator providing services in the East Midlands and West Midlands areas of England. It is a subsidiary of Arriva UK Bus.
Arriva Midlands North Operations
In September 1981 Midland Red North was formed with 230 bu ...
; later deliveries of new vehicles included Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart
The Alexander Dennis Enviro200 (previously known as the TransBus Enviro200) is a midibus that was manufactured by TransBus International and later Alexander Dennis between 2003 and 2018. The original TransBus Enviro200 design was innovative but ...
s, Alexander Dennis Enviro300
The Alexander Dennis Enviro300 (previously known as the TransBus Enviro300) is a light-weight full-size single-decker bus that was built by Alexander Dennis and its predecessor TransBus International between 2001 and 2015. The design was the first ...
s 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 ...
s, 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 and Scania L94UB
The Scania 4-series low floor city bus and coach range was introduced by Scania in 1997 as a successor to the 3-series bus range.
The 4-series bus range was first presented in September 1996, when the integral low-floor city bus OmniCity was ...
s.
The United operation in Renfrewshire began in 2008 with second-hand step-entrance Darts; these were quickly replaced by low-floor vehicles, with the depot becoming 100% low-floor by September 2009. A number of Caetano
Caetano is a Portuguese given name and surname derived from Latin ''Caietanus''. It also appears in Lusophone place names named after Saint Cajetan (''São Caetano'' in Portuguese).
People with the given name Caetano
* Caetano Prósperi Calil, ...
bodied Dart SLFs were bought from Bluestar in 2009 for use on new route X23.
A small number of coaches were operated on route 907, which used the Western Ferries
Western Ferries (Clyde) Ltd (also known as Western Ferries) is a private ferry company with its headquarters in Hunters Quay, Scotland. It currently operates on the Firth of Clyde running a year-round, high-frequency vehicle carrying service be ...
service to Dunoon
Dunoon (; gd, Dùn Omhain) is the main town on the Cowal peninsula in the south of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It is located on the western shore of the upper Firth of Clyde, to the south of the Holy Loch and to the north of Innellan. As well ...
and required vehicles with ferry lift facilities and low rear overhang. An articulated Volvo B7LA
The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...
was tested as a means of increasing capacity on services to Glasgow in early 2010, but did not prove successful. Double-deck operation was first tried in November 2009, when an Alexander Dennis Enviro400 was briefly used on route X7. Although no such vehicles were purchased, the trial prompted the company to buy two Volvo B7TLs from London United in autumn 2010 for use on the same route. These were quickly followed by 12 Alexander bodied Dennis Tridents new to Metroline
Metroline is a bus company operating services in Greater London and south Hertfordshire. It is a subsidiary of ComfortDelGro Corporation and operates services under contract to Transport for London. As at March 2021, the fleet consisted of 1,5 ...
in London.
Modern vehicles inherited into the fleet following the purchase of Arriva Scotland West
Arriva Scotland West was a bus company based in Inchinnan, near Paisley, Scotland. It was formed in 1997 as a rebranding of the former Clydeside 2000 company when purchased by Arriva. On 26 March 2012, the business was sold to McGill's Bus Serv ...
included six 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 ...
and ten 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 Pulsar
The Wright Pulsar was a single-decker bus body built on the VDL SB200 single-decker bus chassis by Wrightbus between 2006 and 2014.
A total of 639 Pulsars were built. Arriva was the main customer, with large numbers entering service at its Ken ...
. In July 2012, six articulated 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 ...
s were acquired for service 38. A further eight Tridents arrived from London United, along with a batch of at least ten from Stagecoach London
Stagecoach London is a major bus operator in Greater London. It is a subsidiary of Stagecoach and operates services under contract to Transport for London mostly in East and South East London as well as some services into Central London.
It i ...
. The number of low floor double deck vehicles introduced to the fleet since the purchase of Arriva stands at around 40. Along with an unknown number of further Mercedes-Benz Citaros articulated buses for the Dumbarton area - Glasgow services, these continue to displace elderly vehicles from the former Arriva fleet.
In 2014 McGill's purchased one of the Alexander Dennis Enviro 400s that they had trialled back in 2009, which had been operated by Connex of Jersey before the purchase. Thirteen new 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 ...
s were also acquired for the Glasgow to Greenock routes.
In late 2015, the company bought eight second-hand DAF double deckers from Ensign
An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...
.
In 2016, McGill's purchased a large number of second hand Alexander Dennis Enviro 200s to operate their new Lanarkshire network.
This was complemented by a Wright StreetLite
The Wright StreetLite is a low-floor midibus introduced by Wrightbus in 2010. It was originally available in only one body style (wheel forward) before the door forward and StreetLite Max variants were introduced in 2011 and 2012 respectively. ...
, two BMCs, and a number of Optare Solo
The Optare Solo is a low-floor minibus/midibus with one or two doors manufactured by Optare in the United Kingdom since 1998. The Solo name is a play on its low-floor status, the manufacturer marketing its vehicle as having an entrance that is ...
s which were added to the fleet as a result of the acquisition of Silverdale Coaches. The company has also added a further three second hand Wright StreetLites to the Greenock depot and is awaiting delivery of two Mellor Coachcraft Strata vehicles which are to be operated by Greenock depot.
In 2021 McGill's announced they are purchasing 35 new electric buses. In April 2021, the company announced it was purchasing an additional 33 new electric buses.
References
External links
Company website
{{Bus operators in Scotland
Bus operators in Scotland
Transport companies established in 2001
Companies based in Inverclyde