Metroline is a bus company operating services in
Greater London
Greater may refer to:
*Greatness, the state of being great
*Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality
*Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film
*Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record
*Greater (song), "Greate ...
and south
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...
. It is a subsidiary of
ComfortDelGro Corporation
ComfortDelGro Corporation is a multi-national land transport company listed on the Singapore Exchange, operating about 35,000 vehicles in seven countries. It was formed on 29 March 2003 through a merger of Singapore-based land transport compa ...
and operates services under contract to
Transport for London. As at March 2021, the fleet consisted of 1,532 buses, making it the third largest London Buses operator. Operations are split between two registered companies, Metroline Travel Limited and Metroline West Limited.
Company history
On 1 April 1989, London Buses was divided into 11 separate
business units, one of which was Metroline. As part of the
privatisation of London bus services
The privatisation of London bus services was the process of the transfer of operation of buses in London from public bodies to private companies.
For half a century, operation of London bus services for public transport was under the direct co ...
, Metroline was sold in October 1994 to a
management buyout
A management buyout (MBO) is a form of acquisition in which a company's existing managers acquire a large part, or all, of the company, whether from a parent company or individual. Management-, and/or leveraged buyout became noted phenomena of 1 ...
worth £20 million. In July 1998, it purchased
MTL London and in March 2000 was sold to
ComfortDelGro
ComfortDelGro Corporation is a multi-national land transport company listed on the Singapore Exchange, operating about 35,000 vehicles in seven countries. It was formed on 29 March 2003 through a merger of Singapore-based land transport compa ...
.
In August 2004 ComfortDelGro purchased
Thorpes
Thorpes was an English bus operator. It operated services under contract to Transport for London.
History
Thorpes was a coach operator that diversified into operating bus services under contract to Transport for London in the 1990s. Their St ...
and in November 2004
Armchair Passenger Transport
Armchair Passenger Transport was a bus and coach charter operator in London.
History
Armchair Passenger Transport was established as a coach operator in November 1960, being sold to EH Mundy in 1974. In June 1990 it became a London Regional Tra ...
with seven routes and 86 buses. The coach business of Armchair was absorbed into
ComfortDelGro
ComfortDelGro Corporation is a multi-national land transport company listed on the Singapore Exchange, operating about 35,000 vehicles in seven countries. It was formed on 29 March 2003 through a merger of Singapore-based land transport compa ...
-owned
Westbus UK in 2006.
[ Thorpes and Armchair initially retained their existing names before being rebranded to Metroline in January 2007.][
When privatised, Metroline adopted a livery of red with a dark blue skirt. This was briefly changed to light blue in the mid 2000s before the dark blue was reinstated. In June 2009, Metroline adopted an all red scheme to comply with Transport for London requirements. In 2014, a blue, white and red livery was introduced on buses dedicated to non-Transport for London services.
On 22 June 2013, Metroline purchased ]First London
First London was a bus company operating services in east and west Greater London, England. It was a subsidiary of FirstGroup and operated buses under contract to Transport for London. It was formed in the late 1990s through the acquisition o ...
's Alperton
Alperton () is an area of north west London, England, within the London Borough of Brent. It forms the southern part of the town of Wembley and is west north-west of Charing Cross. It includes a handful of high-rise and many mid-rise buildings ...
, Greenford
Greenford () is a suburb in the London Borough of Ealing in west London, England, lying west from Charing Cross. It has a population of 46,787 inhabitants, or 62,126 with the inclusion of Perivale.
Greenford is served by Greenford Station (Lo ...
, Hayes
Hayes may refer to:
* Hayes (surname), including a list of people with the name
** Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th president of the United States
* Hayes (given name)
Businesses
* Hayes Brake, an American designer and manufacturer of disc brakes
* Ha ...
, Uxbridge
Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon. Situated west-northwest of Charing Cross, it is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Uxbrid ...
and Willesden Junction
Willesden Junction is a railway station in Harlesden, north-west London, UK. It is served by both London Overground and London Underground services.
History
The station developed on three contiguous sites: the West Coast Main Line (WCML) st ...
depots with 494 buses.
On 10 September 2021, Alperton
Alperton () is an area of north west London, England, within the London Borough of Brent. It forms the southern part of the town of Wembley and is west north-west of Charing Cross. It includes a handful of high-rise and many mid-rise buildings ...
depot closed to make way for redevelopment, with a Farewell Open Day being held the following day.
A major fire broke out at Potters Bar
Potters Bar is a town in Hertfordshire, England,in the historic County of Middlesex Hertsmere Borough Council – Community Strategy First Review (PDF) north of central London. In 2011, it had a population of 21,882. In 2022 the population was ...
garage on 22 May 2022, destroying six buses but resulting in no injuries. Drivers were able to move the majority of the garage's buses away from the fire. Two of the buses destroyed were Optare MetroDecker EV
The Optare MetroDecker is an integral twin-axle double-decker bus produced by British bus manufacturer Optare since 2014. The bus bears resemblance to the Optare MetroCity, sharing similar interior and exterior features. The MetroDecker was des ...
s, also in service with Go-Ahead London
Go-Ahead London is the trading name used collectively for the London bus operations of the Go-Ahead Group. The name first appeared in August 2008, before which the company had traded under separate names and brands. It is currently (as of 2021) ...
and Tower Transit
A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures.
Towers are specifica ...
, causing a nationwide recall of the type.
See also
*List of bus operators of the United Kingdom
:''This list is an alphabetically ordered index of current and past operators. For a structured list of current operators, see List of current bus operators of the United Kingdom''
This is a list of bus and coach operators of the United Kingdo ...
References
External links
*
{{ComfortDelGro
ComfortDelGro companies
London bus operators
Transport companies established in 1989
1989 establishments in England