Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive Leyland Atlantean AN68/Alexander AL-type
The Buses of Scotland - Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive
In 1980, Greater Glasgow Passenger Transport Executive (GGPTE) began trading as Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive (SPTE). That it had changed its name was no surprise as it was the transport arm of Strathclyde Regional Council (SRC), created in 1975. The change of name better aligned it with its new responsibilities and masters.
When GGPTE was created, it became responsible for Glasgow’s bus fleet as well as operation of the Glasgow Subway, both of which it inherited from Glasgow Corporation Transport. It also became responsible for subsidising the provision of rail services throughout the region. A not well known fact is the the local rail network in and around Glasgow is the most extensive in the British Isles outside London. It also ran the Renfrew Ferry.
Under SRC, the PTE sphere of influence expanded enormously. People sometimes don’t take into account just how massive Strathclyde was. It extended from Girvan in the south, across to Moffat and Harthill in the east and as far north as Oban, as well as taking in most of the Clyde basin and the Islsnds in the Firth of Clyde. It covered around a fifth of Scotland’s overall land mass and at least around the same in terms of population.
In terms of spheres of interest, British Rail was the most cooperative of partners as it was locked into a funding agreement and as long as it got SPTEs money it pretty much did as the PTE wanted. However the Scottish Bus Group was not. The Group had very much been top dog in terms of buses in the country but all of a sudden there was this new player in town. The Group had looked on in England and seen other PTEs expand and take over parts of the National Bus Company, such as in the West Midlands and was fearful of the PTE taking over its profitable Greater Glasgow operations leaving the Group without its most profitable heart. Had the PTE expanded to take over all the services run its area, the Group could have lost parts of Western SMT, Alexander’s (Midland) and Eastern Scottish plus all of Central SMT. Central’s profits sustained most of the Group. As such relations with the Group were at best strained bordering on downright hostile. Cooperation was very limited.
SPTE continued its predecessor’s purchases of Leyland Atlanteans however by this stage the problems of earlier PTE panoramic windowed bodied buses were becoming clear and the last major batch arrived with short windows and an updated passenger interiors. However SPTE by this stage was looking to the future and the end of Atlantean production by trying trial batches of other buses such as Volvo Ailsas, MCW Metrobuses and Leyland Olympians. It also received the first Volvo Citybuses. The Ailsa subsequently became the most numerous type purchased under SPTE, with smaller amounts of Olympians and Metrobuses also being ordered. Standardisation was now out the window.
To reflect the change in the trading name in 1980, the bus livery began to change. Initially the yellow was extended up and the green extended to cover the lower windows. White was reduced to a narrow band between decks, as seen here on LA927 (JUS774N) seen here. This was known as PTE2 livery. The fleet name continued as Trans-Clyde
Shortly after the introduction of this livery PTE3 livery appeared on the prototype Alexander R-type Leyland Olympian for SPTE which appeared at the 1980 Motor Show. This was one of several such prototypes given to key customers by British Leyland and as the largest single continuous purchaser of Leyland Atlanteans, it deemed the PTE’s business massively important. It also carried the first Alexander R-type body. But back to liveries….On this new design of bus at the show, yellow again covered the middle and upper deck with green lower decks. The colours were separated by black window surrounds. A black skirt completed the effect. This latter PTE3 livery ultimately became the fleet standard. Although this prototype Leyland Olympian - LO1 - also carried a ‘Strathclyde’ fleetname, using the same font as Trans-Clyde. This new fleet name wasn’t subsequently adopted - well at least initially. A few buses did in fact carry it but the Trans-Clyde name continued on newly repainted buses.
By the early 1980’s, the orange and black livery of the Subway had begun spread to the rail services that SPTE supported, along with the Strathclyde Transport name to highlight SPTE’s support. With the forthcoming closure of the Glasgow - Kilmalcolm railway, a replacement bus service was planned to take its place. The SPTE buses, branded as ‘Strathclyde Link Line’, that used were repainted in orange and black and carried ‘Strathclyde Transport’ as a fleet name but in the same style as Trans-Clyde. Also repainted orange and black were the single-decker Atlanteans used for the inter-station rail-link in Glasgow, plus a back-up Leyland National. These just carried a Strathclyde’ fleet name.
In June 1983, SPTE secured permission to repaint all the buses in orange and black. At a stroke, a distinctly Glaswegian identity was removed from the fleet which would now embrace the ‘Strathclyde Transport’ moniker, which incorporated a new font and a stylised map of the region as a logo. However confusion reigned as there was now four different colours for the fleet as some buses were still even in GGPTE livery. Indeed the last one wasn’t repainted out of that livery until 1984 but by the end of the following year, all of the fleet was orange and black. Bus stops and train stations had the new logo attached to them. The Scottish Bus Group was also asked to repaint its buses within Strathclyde in the PTE’s new colours. It declined - obviously - but instead agreed to affix ‘Strathclyde Transport’ stickers on its vehicles, as it had previously when ‘Trans-Clyde’ was launched. Where they appeared on the Group’s vehicles depended on where the night cleaners put them on when the buses were being cleaned.
However, SPTE did try and innovate. It launched the new Microbuses in 1983. These were minibus services which the PTE hoped would win back custom in the large postwar housing schemes in Glasgow such as Easterhouse and Drumchapel. These were the schemes built to deal with population being decanted due to the demolition of the inner-city slums in Glasgow. However the schemes had very little public amenities such as pubs, libraries and shops and taxis were a real way of getting about for people in these areas. Larger buses struggled in the narrow streets. These new Microbuses would run from shopping centres and then drop passengers off as close to their homes as possible. Some of the new services even offered Group Fares for multiple passengers. These were genuinely innovative services and although the Group Fares were dropped -mainly as they were discovered to be illegal - and the vehicles were basically panel vans with windows and seats and were quite crude, they were very successful and expanded. Remember this was well before the minibus boom of the late 1980s post deregulation. SPTE was almost at the nucleus of it. Almost.
The PTE also tried to improve disabled access. It converted Leyland Atlanteans with tip up seats, a large area for wheel chairs, repositioned hand rails and a second staff member to enable boarding through a hinged door on the side of the vehicle. It stemmed from the International Year of the Disabled and tried to remove the virtual apartheid that prevented disabled people from using public transport. The buses were rotated around various services to enable as many potential passengers to be picked up and advance booking was recommended but some disabled people disliked the offside ramp which made them feel quite conspicuous. That issue was resolved when the first purpose built Volvo Citybuses arrived, along with MCW Metroliner coaches, arrived into the PTEs fleet, which at least accommodated a wheelchair lift in the entrance. This all may seem quite primitive by today’s levels of accessibility but every journey starts with a first step. SPTE should be commended for that.
The biggest change under SPTE was the scrapping of the monopoly. This has been inherited by SPTE under the Glasgow Corporation Act (1930) and basically deferred a monopoly for SPTE buses on picking up and setting down passengers within the 1938 city boundaries. With the introduction of the Transport Act (1980), this introduced more commercialism into the bus business and several operators- including the Scottish Bus Group (SBG) - testing their new found freedoms and the earlier Act was looking increasingly outdated. With SBG looking to link up services within the city centre as a result of the 1980 ScotMap surveys, pressure was on SPTE to reach some sort of agreement and accommodation. Eventually, the earlier Act was scrapped and SBG was able to compete for city traffic and several SPTE services were extended into Lanarkshire, Monklands, Renfrewshire and Dumbartonshire. At the time it looked that SPTE had got the worse of that deal but history shows it very definitely didn’t. But that’s another story…..
In preparation for deregulation, SPTE was required to separate its bus arm into an arms length company, still owned by SRC and called Strathclyde’s Buses, with its headquarters at Larkfield Depot. It retained the same fleet colours and style of fleet name, which gave a sense of continuity almost. What was left of SPTE would now be responsible for the provision of tendered services, the Subway, Renfrew Ferry and supporting rail services. It was widely regarded that the high-cost high-subsidy Strathclyde’s Buses stood little chance against the new Clydeside and Kelvin Scottish subsidiaries created by SBG as well as the existing Central and Western subsidiaries. It confounded its critics. Freed from the PTE, it cut costs and saw off the challenge. But that’s another story too….
SPTE continued in this role until SRC itself was abolished by 1996. Section 40 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 created a new statutory corporation, the Strathclyde Passenger Transport Authority (SPTA), which took over "all of the functions, staff, property, rights, liabilities and obligations of Strathclyde Regional Council as Passenger Transport Authority" on 1 April 1996. The Executive was reincorporated as a body consisting of councillors drawn from the 12 Council Areas which succeeded Strathclyde Region:-
Argyll and Bute
West Dunbartonshire
East Dunbartonshire
North Lanarkshire
South Lanarkshire
City of Glasgow
South Ayrshire
East Ayrshire
North Ayrshire
Inverclyde
Renfrewshire
East Renfrewshire
In addition to these, nine transport experts appointed by the then Scottish Executive now known as The Scottish Government. To highlight its new image, it began then painting its subway, ferry and trains into new colours, replacing the orange and black. This was burgundy and cream, similar to British Rail colours of the 1950s and known as ‘blood and custard’.
On 1 April 2006 - following the passing of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2005 - Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive (and Authority), along with the WESTRANS voluntary regional transport partnership, were replaced by the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport. The new national agency Transport Scotland was created at the same time. At this latest reorganisation SPT gained responsibility for planning for all regional transport (not just public transport) though it lost a number of specific powers relating to rail franchising and concessionary fares. Repainting of the trains out of blood and custard into the new Transport Scotland ScotRail colours began but at the same time it also began repainting the subway trains back into an orange based livery, albeit with some grey and white this time. New trains for the Subway are now arriving, the first since the 1970s and will later introduce driverless operation at some point in the future. Although the ferry still is with us, it’s been scaled back and is now run by a private company rather than directly by SPT. However, there are plans for it to be replaced by a permanent crossing.
SPT is one of the few constants still with us in the transport history of Scotland.
Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive Leyland Atlantean AN68/Alexander AL-type
The Buses of Scotland - Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive
In 1980, Greater Glasgow Passenger Transport Executive (GGPTE) began trading as Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive (SPTE). That it had changed its name was no surprise as it was the transport arm of Strathclyde Regional Council (SRC), created in 1975. The change of name better aligned it with its new responsibilities and masters.
When GGPTE was created, it became responsible for Glasgow’s bus fleet as well as operation of the Glasgow Subway, both of which it inherited from Glasgow Corporation Transport. It also became responsible for subsidising the provision of rail services throughout the region. A not well known fact is the the local rail network in and around Glasgow is the most extensive in the British Isles outside London. It also ran the Renfrew Ferry.
Under SRC, the PTE sphere of influence expanded enormously. People sometimes don’t take into account just how massive Strathclyde was. It extended from Girvan in the south, across to Moffat and Harthill in the east and as far north as Oban, as well as taking in most of the Clyde basin and the Islsnds in the Firth of Clyde. It covered around a fifth of Scotland’s overall land mass and at least around the same in terms of population.
In terms of spheres of interest, British Rail was the most cooperative of partners as it was locked into a funding agreement and as long as it got SPTEs money it pretty much did as the PTE wanted. However the Scottish Bus Group was not. The Group had very much been top dog in terms of buses in the country but all of a sudden there was this new player in town. The Group had looked on in England and seen other PTEs expand and take over parts of the National Bus Company, such as in the West Midlands and was fearful of the PTE taking over its profitable Greater Glasgow operations leaving the Group without its most profitable heart. Had the PTE expanded to take over all the services run its area, the Group could have lost parts of Western SMT, Alexander’s (Midland) and Eastern Scottish plus all of Central SMT. Central’s profits sustained most of the Group. As such relations with the Group were at best strained bordering on downright hostile. Cooperation was very limited.
SPTE continued its predecessor’s purchases of Leyland Atlanteans however by this stage the problems of earlier PTE panoramic windowed bodied buses were becoming clear and the last major batch arrived with short windows and an updated passenger interiors. However SPTE by this stage was looking to the future and the end of Atlantean production by trying trial batches of other buses such as Volvo Ailsas, MCW Metrobuses and Leyland Olympians. It also received the first Volvo Citybuses. The Ailsa subsequently became the most numerous type purchased under SPTE, with smaller amounts of Olympians and Metrobuses also being ordered. Standardisation was now out the window.
To reflect the change in the trading name in 1980, the bus livery began to change. Initially the yellow was extended up and the green extended to cover the lower windows. White was reduced to a narrow band between decks, as seen here on LA927 (JUS774N) seen here. This was known as PTE2 livery. The fleet name continued as Trans-Clyde
Shortly after the introduction of this livery PTE3 livery appeared on the prototype Alexander R-type Leyland Olympian for SPTE which appeared at the 1980 Motor Show. This was one of several such prototypes given to key customers by British Leyland and as the largest single continuous purchaser of Leyland Atlanteans, it deemed the PTE’s business massively important. It also carried the first Alexander R-type body. But back to liveries….On this new design of bus at the show, yellow again covered the middle and upper deck with green lower decks. The colours were separated by black window surrounds. A black skirt completed the effect. This latter PTE3 livery ultimately became the fleet standard. Although this prototype Leyland Olympian - LO1 - also carried a ‘Strathclyde’ fleetname, using the same font as Trans-Clyde. This new fleet name wasn’t subsequently adopted - well at least initially. A few buses did in fact carry it but the Trans-Clyde name continued on newly repainted buses.
By the early 1980’s, the orange and black livery of the Subway had begun spread to the rail services that SPTE supported, along with the Strathclyde Transport name to highlight SPTE’s support. With the forthcoming closure of the Glasgow - Kilmalcolm railway, a replacement bus service was planned to take its place. The SPTE buses, branded as ‘Strathclyde Link Line’, that used were repainted in orange and black and carried ‘Strathclyde Transport’ as a fleet name but in the same style as Trans-Clyde. Also repainted orange and black were the single-decker Atlanteans used for the inter-station rail-link in Glasgow, plus a back-up Leyland National. These just carried a Strathclyde’ fleet name.
In June 1983, SPTE secured permission to repaint all the buses in orange and black. At a stroke, a distinctly Glaswegian identity was removed from the fleet which would now embrace the ‘Strathclyde Transport’ moniker, which incorporated a new font and a stylised map of the region as a logo. However confusion reigned as there was now four different colours for the fleet as some buses were still even in GGPTE livery. Indeed the last one wasn’t repainted out of that livery until 1984 but by the end of the following year, all of the fleet was orange and black. Bus stops and train stations had the new logo attached to them. The Scottish Bus Group was also asked to repaint its buses within Strathclyde in the PTE’s new colours. It declined - obviously - but instead agreed to affix ‘Strathclyde Transport’ stickers on its vehicles, as it had previously when ‘Trans-Clyde’ was launched. Where they appeared on the Group’s vehicles depended on where the night cleaners put them on when the buses were being cleaned.
However, SPTE did try and innovate. It launched the new Microbuses in 1983. These were minibus services which the PTE hoped would win back custom in the large postwar housing schemes in Glasgow such as Easterhouse and Drumchapel. These were the schemes built to deal with population being decanted due to the demolition of the inner-city slums in Glasgow. However the schemes had very little public amenities such as pubs, libraries and shops and taxis were a real way of getting about for people in these areas. Larger buses struggled in the narrow streets. These new Microbuses would run from shopping centres and then drop passengers off as close to their homes as possible. Some of the new services even offered Group Fares for multiple passengers. These were genuinely innovative services and although the Group Fares were dropped -mainly as they were discovered to be illegal - and the vehicles were basically panel vans with windows and seats and were quite crude, they were very successful and expanded. Remember this was well before the minibus boom of the late 1980s post deregulation. SPTE was almost at the nucleus of it. Almost.
The PTE also tried to improve disabled access. It converted Leyland Atlanteans with tip up seats, a large area for wheel chairs, repositioned hand rails and a second staff member to enable boarding through a hinged door on the side of the vehicle. It stemmed from the International Year of the Disabled and tried to remove the virtual apartheid that prevented disabled people from using public transport. The buses were rotated around various services to enable as many potential passengers to be picked up and advance booking was recommended but some disabled people disliked the offside ramp which made them feel quite conspicuous. That issue was resolved when the first purpose built Volvo Citybuses arrived, along with MCW Metroliner coaches, arrived into the PTEs fleet, which at least accommodated a wheelchair lift in the entrance. This all may seem quite primitive by today’s levels of accessibility but every journey starts with a first step. SPTE should be commended for that.
The biggest change under SPTE was the scrapping of the monopoly. This has been inherited by SPTE under the Glasgow Corporation Act (1930) and basically deferred a monopoly for SPTE buses on picking up and setting down passengers within the 1938 city boundaries. With the introduction of the Transport Act (1980), this introduced more commercialism into the bus business and several operators- including the Scottish Bus Group (SBG) - testing their new found freedoms and the earlier Act was looking increasingly outdated. With SBG looking to link up services within the city centre as a result of the 1980 ScotMap surveys, pressure was on SPTE to reach some sort of agreement and accommodation. Eventually, the earlier Act was scrapped and SBG was able to compete for city traffic and several SPTE services were extended into Lanarkshire, Monklands, Renfrewshire and Dumbartonshire. At the time it looked that SPTE had got the worse of that deal but history shows it very definitely didn’t. But that’s another story…..
In preparation for deregulation, SPTE was required to separate its bus arm into an arms length company, still owned by SRC and called Strathclyde’s Buses, with its headquarters at Larkfield Depot. It retained the same fleet colours and style of fleet name, which gave a sense of continuity almost. What was left of SPTE would now be responsible for the provision of tendered services, the Subway, Renfrew Ferry and supporting rail services. It was widely regarded that the high-cost high-subsidy Strathclyde’s Buses stood little chance against the new Clydeside and Kelvin Scottish subsidiaries created by SBG as well as the existing Central and Western subsidiaries. It confounded its critics. Freed from the PTE, it cut costs and saw off the challenge. But that’s another story too….
SPTE continued in this role until SRC itself was abolished by 1996. Section 40 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 created a new statutory corporation, the Strathclyde Passenger Transport Authority (SPTA), which took over "all of the functions, staff, property, rights, liabilities and obligations of Strathclyde Regional Council as Passenger Transport Authority" on 1 April 1996. The Executive was reincorporated as a body consisting of councillors drawn from the 12 Council Areas which succeeded Strathclyde Region:-
Argyll and Bute
West Dunbartonshire
East Dunbartonshire
North Lanarkshire
South Lanarkshire
City of Glasgow
South Ayrshire
East Ayrshire
North Ayrshire
Inverclyde
Renfrewshire
East Renfrewshire
In addition to these, nine transport experts appointed by the then Scottish Executive now known as The Scottish Government. To highlight its new image, it began then painting its subway, ferry and trains into new colours, replacing the orange and black. This was burgundy and cream, similar to British Rail colours of the 1950s and known as ‘blood and custard’.
On 1 April 2006 - following the passing of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2005 - Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive (and Authority), along with the WESTRANS voluntary regional transport partnership, were replaced by the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport. The new national agency Transport Scotland was created at the same time. At this latest reorganisation SPT gained responsibility for planning for all regional transport (not just public transport) though it lost a number of specific powers relating to rail franchising and concessionary fares. Repainting of the trains out of blood and custard into the new Transport Scotland ScotRail colours began but at the same time it also began repainting the subway trains back into an orange based livery, albeit with some grey and white this time. New trains for the Subway are now arriving, the first since the 1970s and will later introduce driverless operation at some point in the future. Although the ferry still is with us, it’s been scaled back and is now run by a private company rather than directly by SPT. However, there are plans for it to be replaced by a permanent crossing.
SPT is one of the few constants still with us in the transport history of Scotland.