Strathclyde Buses was a

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

operating company in

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 ...

and west-central

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 commenced operations in October 1986. Prior to 1986, the council-owned buses had belonged to Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive (Strathclyde PTE), and therefore were owned by

Strathclyde Regional Council Strathclyde ( in Gaelic, meaning "strath (valley) of the River Clyde") was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government etc. ...

. The new company, although still under the control of the Council, was no longer able to rely on the Council for any financial, or any other, help. In 1996 the company was taken over by

FirstGroup FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.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 ...

History

Strathclyde Buses was created in October 1986. It inherited most of its fleet of around 800 vehicles from the former Strathclyde PTE company. A black and orange livery introduced by the PTE in 1983 was used on the majority of the company's buses; single-deck vehicles, which made up less than 1% of the fleet, were painted in a similar livery which also included white. At its creation the company operated from four garages at Larkfield,

Possilpark Possilpark is a district in the Scottish city of Glasgow, situated north of the River Clyde and centred around Saracen Street. The area developed around Saracen Foundry of Walter MacFarlane & Co., which was the main employer. In the wake of th ...

Parkhead Parkhead ( sco, Pairkheid) is a district in the East End of Glasgow. Its name comes from a small weaving hamlet at the meeting place of the Great Eastern Road (now the Gallowgate and Tollcross Road) and Westmuir Street. Glasgow's Eastern Necropo ...

and Knightswood. Garages at Gartcraig and

Newlands Newlands may refer to: Places Australia * Newlands, Queensland, a locality in the Whitsunday Region New Zealand * Newlands, Wellington, a suburb of Wellington South Africa * Newlands, Cape Town, a suburb of Cape Town * Newlands, Johannesbur ...

had been closed in July 1986 by SPTE, and the number of employees cut. Prior to the creation of Strathclyde Buses, competition came to

in the run up to deregulation of UK bus services in October 1986. Strathclyde PTE brought its deregulated network to the market in August 1986 and the surrounding

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 ...

(SBG) units,

Central Scottish Central Scottish Omnibuses Ltd was a bus operating subsidiary of the Scottish Transport Group formed in June 1985 from Central SMT, and operated until July 1989 when it was merged with Kelvin Scottish to form Kelvin Central Buses. Operation Fr ...

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 ...

and

Kelvin Scottish Kelvin Scottish Omnibuses Ltd was a bus operating subsidiary of the Scottish Transport Group based in Bishopbriggs, Strathclyde, Scotland. It was formed in March 1985 from parts of Walter Alexander & Sons (Midland) Ltd and Central SMT, initial ...

, also began their networks early. Whilst the SBG units began operating services within Glasgow's city limits, Strathclyde PTE started or extended services to places including

East Kilbride East Kilbride (; gd, Cille Bhrìghde an Ear ) is the largest town in South Lanarkshire in Scotland and the country's sixth-largest locality by population. It was also designated Scotland's first new town on 6 May 1947. The area lies on a rais ...

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 ...

, Balloch and

Johnstone Johnstone ( sco, Johnstoun,
gd, Baile Iain) is a town ...

. In 1992, sixty buses were destroyed in a fire at Larkfield garage; these were replaced by a mixture of new and second-hand vehicles. The company was privatised in February 1993, with a management buy-out taking control despite interest from

Stagecoach Group Stagecoach Group is a transport group based in Perth, Scotland. It operates buses, express coaches and a tram service in the United Kingdom. History Stagecoach was born out of deregulation of the British express coach market in the early ...

. A low-cost operation, GCT, was set up in 1993 using former Strathclyde Buses vehicles in a new livery of green and yellow. In October 1994 the company took over the former SBG subsidiary

Kelvin Central Buses Kelvin Central Buses was a bus operator in Scotland. Formed as a subsidiary of the Scottish Bus Group in July 1989 from the merger of Kelvin Scottish and Central Scottish, it was sold in a management buyout and in July 1998 became part of First ...

(KCB), formed from the former Kelvin Scottish and Central Scottish operations. KCB was retained as a separate operating subsidiary. In December 1994 Stagecoach bought 21.7% of SB Holdings, the holding company which now owned Strathclyde Buses. However, a year-long investigation by the

Monopolies and Mergers Commission The Competition Commission was a non-departmental public body responsible for investigating mergers, markets and other enquiries related to regulated industries under UK competition law, competition law in the United Kingdom. It was a competiti ...

(MMC) concluded that the group should divest the stake as it also owned

Stagecoach West Scotland Stagecoach West Scotland ( gd, Stagecoach an Iar na h-Alba) is an operating region of Stagecoach UK Bus, comprising Western Buses Ltd based in Ayr, Scotland. Operations Stagecoach West Scotland operates in west central and southwest Scotland ...

, who also ran in Glasgow. Stagecoach intended to appeal the ruling, but before this could take place an offer to purchase SB Holdings was made by

FirstGroup FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland. SB Holdings, which by now owned 1,300 vehicles and employed over 2,000 staff members, was bought by First in May 1996 for £110 million. The deal made First the largest bus operating company in the United Kingdom. The takeover was reviewed by the MMC due to concerns that First would have a monopoly of services in Glasgow, but was eventually cleared in the summer of 1998 after the introduction of additional competing services by Stagecoach. Strathclyde Buses had been renamed to

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 ...

earlier in the year.

Fleet

Strathclyde Buses relied heavily on the

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 ...

bus, having inherited over 300 at its creation, and the

Volvo Ailsa B55 The Volvo Ailsa B55 was a front-engined double-decker bus chassis manufactured in Scotland by Ailsa, Volvo's British subsidiary in which it owned 75%, from 1974 until 1985. Versions The B55 was designed with a front-mounted engine that sti ...

, of which over 100 were operated. In 1988/9 it ordered 95

Volvo Citybus The Volvo B10M was a mid-engined city bus and coach chassis manufactured by Volvo between 1978 and 2003. It succeeded the B58 and was equipped with the same 9.6-litre horizontally mounted Volvo diesel engine mounted under the floor behind the ...

es with

Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

bodywork and 25

MCW Metrobus The MCW Metrobus is a two and three-axle double-decker bus manufactured by Metro Cammell Weymann (MCW) between 1977 and 1989, with over 4,000 built. The original MkI was superseded by the MkII which had a symmetrical windscreen with an arched ...

es. Whilst many of the company's competitors ordered

minibus A minibus, microbus, minicoach, or commuter (in Zimbabwe) is a passenger-carrying motor vehicle that is designed to carry more people than a multi-purpose vehicle or minivan, but fewer people than a full-size bus. In the United Kingdom, th ...

es which had van-derived chassis, the company ordered the

MCW Metrorider The MCW Metrorider, launched at the 1986 Motor Show, was a minibus designed built by Metro Cammell Weymann (MCW) between 1986 and 1989. Constructed in two lengths, 7.0 m and 8.4 m, the Metrorider was an integral bus, marking it out from its va ...

for use on its minibus network. A small single-deck fleet was also operated, including three rare

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

Volvo B10M The Volvo B10M was a mid-engined city bus and coach chassis manufactured by Volvo between 1978 and 2003. It succeeded the B58 and was equipped with the same 9.6-litre horizontally mounted Volvo diesel engine mounted under the floor behind the ...

References

{{Defunct British Bus Companies Former bus operators in Scotland Transport in Glasgow Companies owned by municipalities of Scotland