Clydeside Scottish

A preserved Clydeside Scottish Routemaster.

Clydeside Scottish Omnibuses Ltd, in Scotland, 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 company to Western SMT.

Operation

From its head office in Paisley, Clydeside Scottish covered an operating area bounded by Largs in the south, the River Clyde to the north and the south side of Glasgow to the east. The company also operated services on the Isle of Bute. It was the largest operator in Inverclyde and Renfrewshire and had depots in Rothesay, Largs, Greenock, Johnstone, Inchinnan, Paisley and Thornliebank in the south of Glasgow. Its fleet numbered 334 buses when formed.^[1]

Clydeside Scottish also provided coaches for Scottish Citylink services between Gourock, Glasgow Airport, Glasgow and onward to Edinburgh.^[1]

History

Clydeside Scottish was one of the shortest lived of the "new" Scottish Bus Group subsidiaries, lasting for only five years as a stand alone company. Clydeside was created in preparation for the deregulation of the British bus industry in 1986, and eventual privatisation of the state-owned Scottish Bus Group (SBG). A bright red and yellow livery was introduced for the fleet, and a fleet name displayed in a style different from the corporate SBG look.^[2]

On deregulation, the company launched a network of services in the city of Glasgow, competing against the city operator Strathclyde Buses. A large number of old London Transport Routemaster buses were purchased for these services, which would give the company the advantage of giving change (as opposed to the exact fare the city operator demanded) without the buses having to linger at bus stops. The Routemasters proved popular and operated on services into Paisley, Renfrew and Johnstone. Strathclyde Buses retaliated against the competition, however, by introducing routes beyond the city boundary and into Clydeside's operating territory.^[3]

While competing with the much larger Strathclyde Buses, Clydeside suffered an explosion of new operators in Paisley and in particular, Greenock. Clydeside found it increasingly difficult to compete against so many operators with much smaller operating costs. In May 1989 it was merged with Western Scottish. Though 'Clydeside' would remain as a trading name, the Western black, white and red livery was adopted and the end of Clydeside Scottish Omnibuses Ltd was secured.^[4]

Successor companies

The former Clydeside operations, with the exception of those on Bute, passed to a new company, Clydeside 2000 plc, on the privatisation of Western Scottish in October 1991. Clydeside's new management and employees took a 76% stake in the new company, with Luton & District purchasing the remainder. The company scaled down its Glasgow operations, and the depots at Largs, Thornliebank and Paisley closed in the following three years.^[5]

Clydeside 2000 was later taken over by British Bus in November 1994 (stakeholder Luton & District had already become a part of British Bus), which was subsequently acquired by the Cowie Group, later to become Arriva.

Clydeside was renamed Arriva Scotland West, trading at the time as Arriva serving Scotland, suggesting a far larger operating area than the company actually covered. Arriva expanded its Scottish operations with the purchase of McGill's Bus Service Ltd of Barrhead, though confusingly the Greenock operations of Arriva Scotland West were later demerged and sold to local management as McGill's Bus Services Ltd.

Arriva has consolidated operations to just two depots; Johnstone and Inchinnan, the only two former Clydeside Scottish depots that remain open.

See also

• List of bus operators of the United Kingdom

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Jenkinson, Keith A. (1991). Best Bus; The final years of the Scottish Bus Group. Autobus Review Publications. p. 9. ISBN 0-907834-25-6. 
2. ^ Jenkinson p.12
3. ^ Jenkinson p.188-22
4. ^ Jenkinson p44
5. ^ Brown, Stewart J (November 1995). Buses in Britain 2: The Mid Nineties. Capital Transport. p. 13. ISBN 1854141813. 

External links

• Arriva bus website
• Preserved ex-Clydeside Scottish bus website