Clydeside Scottish AEC Routemaster/Park Royal Vehicles
Routemasters at the Scottish Bus Group (SBG)….
This particular bus RM875 (WLT835) was new to London Transport in July 1961. By the mid-1980s, London Transport had realised that, fine bus though it was, the Routemaster couldn’t go on for ever and began to sell surplus RMs. Whilst initially it found little market for these buses other than scrap dealers, the impending introduction of deregulation outside the Capital was to change all that.
Deregulation forced bus companies to look carefully at their operations and seek whatever competitive advantages they could. One perceived idea was to reintroduce a conductor. The introduction of buses such as the Atlantean, National and Fleetline and their one person operation (OPO) had seen most conductor-operated services ended, as they were deemed terribly old fashioned. However, was there a place a conductor in this brave new world?
The logic was that a conductor could get passengers on a bus faster, faster than a OPO bus where the driver had to also collect fares. This had the benefit of a potentially faster, friendlier service as well as potentially less buses needed to maintain the same service levels. Yes the downside was the extra crew member and the extra resultant costs. But some felt it was a price worth paying if you got it right, especially as these front engines buses were dirt cheap. .
You’d hardly think of the SBG as at the cutting edge of progressive ideas of bus operation. But it was. It resulted from the new subsidiaries the Group created to prepare for deregulation. These were managed by new young managers with fresh ideas. One of these was Clydeside Scottish.
It decided crew operation was worth trying and so borrowed a surplus Routemaster (RM652 - WLT652) in 1985 from London Transport (LT) to trial it on various routes, particularly in and out of Glasgow. Obviously impressed it purchased that bus and ordered more and one was the bus seen here, which came in September 1986. It’s been restored in Clydeside livery with the ‘Welcome aboard. We’re going your way’ branding. Clydeside kept the ex-LT fleet numbers numbers for its fleet.
Clydeside also sub-hired one of its Routemasters to fellow new subsidiaries Kelvin Scottish and Strathtay Scottish, to trial on their routes. The trials were a success and led to both ordering their own versions Soon LT was selling loads of these buses to SBG and preparing these in-house. One of the Clydeside buses was also trialled in Edinburgh but perhaps that was a step too far for the famously conservative Eastern Scottish.
Soon the Clydeside fleet grew to be one off the most substantial fleets of Routemasters outside London. Most were standard RMs but a RML (RML900 - WLT900) was also acquired as was a former RMA Airport bus which was refurbished as a dual purpose bus available for hire. It refurbished its standard Routemasters to a high standard and even upgraded some with better lighting, these being known as ‘Clydemasters’ with a special radiator badge. All other Routemasters acquired a name beginning with the letter R at the rear entrance, such as Rodney the Routemaster, Ralph, Rudolph, etc. Some Routemasters were even acquired from Kelvin when it withdrew these, having overstretched itself on competitive routes.
Sadly, when Clydeside was reunited with Western in 1989, Western’s more conservative management had no time for such fripperies such as conductors and the RMs were an easy target. To be fair, an accounting error had seen Clydeside’s costs massively understated and so that company was facing massive losses, hence the need for its merger with Western None were repainted in Western’s new livery and all were renumbered into Western’s standard fleet scheme. Many of their registrations were transferred to Western’s coaches to hide their age and they were progressively withdrawn. Western then acquired various Fleetlines and other similar OPO buses - mainly from Kelvin which had withdrawn these as it grappled with its own issues - which needed fortunes spent on them to get them up to useable standards. All the Clydeside ones had gone from regular service by the end of 1991.
The Kelvin and Strathtay fleets lasted longer. The Strathtay ones were used in Tayway services in Dundee as well as competitive services against Stagecoach’s Perth Panthers. Most carried the Strathtay colours of orange, white and blue. Certain vehicles had this laid out in a very - er - distinctive style but it was soon changed to a style more conducive to the vehicle. Some were repainted out of Strathtay orange, white and blue and into a red and white Perth City Transport colours on routes within Perth competing with Stagecoach but these were ultimately unsuccessful and Strathtay ended up withdrawing from services within Perth.
The Strathtay ones lasted until 1994 and they had an interesting legacy. Currently what was Strathtay is now part of Stagecoach East Scotland and up until just before the pandemic Stagecoach was still using conductors on the Tayway services, presently run by Volvo B5LH/ADL Enviro 400MMCs making that service one of the last to use conductors.
Kelvin’s ones were no less interesting. All arrived in Kelvin’s bold yellow and two-tone blue livery. They were used in competition with dominant operator Strathclyde’s Buses, some in services they shared with sister company Clydeside. Sadly not all these routes were successful and in the end, Kelvin’s ones settled down on to the 5/5A service between Easterhouse and Faifley (5A) or Old Kilpatrick (5), They lived a fairly uneventful life on these services, rarely venturing onto other services, the only exception being the odd occasional appearance on what was left of the 61 service between Baillieston and Glasgow.
Kelvin seemed to lose interest in its Routemasters by this stage and some were looking increasingly careworn and being kept alive by borrowing parts from other withdrawn buses, although to be fair the company was hardly flush with cash at the time. Only a select few were repainted in successor Kelvin Central livery. Most were withdrawn in 1993. Oddly, just before that, the Routemaster fleet had grown slightly when Kelvin Central acquired Stagecoach’s Magicbus subsidiary in 1992 along with its Routemasters which included some new to Northern General, the only customer outside LT to buy the Routemaster new, as even the RMAs mentioned earlier were owned by LT, despite being used on services to what was at that time called London Airport (now Heathrow).
When the 5/5A service was split in the city centre, this led to the death knell for Kelvin’s Routemasters and most were replaced by OPO Leyland Nationals on these routes, acquired when Kelvin Central took over independent operators Greens of Kirkintilloch and John Morrow of Clydebank.
An interesting side note. As I mentioned LT was selling surplus RMs to SBG to compete with Strathclyde’s Buses. At the same time, Strathclyde’s Buses stocked up with mini-buses (MCW Metroriders mainly) to fight the RMs. This led to surplus Atlanteans as Strathclyde’s Buses renewed its fleet. It in turn sold these surplus Atlanteans to London Country, the National Bus Company subsidiary who used these on tendered services which were won from former LT subsidiaries, leading to surplus RMs. Plus ca change….
Clydeside Scottish AEC Routemaster/Park Royal Vehicles
Routemasters at the Scottish Bus Group (SBG)….
This particular bus RM875 (WLT835) was new to London Transport in July 1961. By the mid-1980s, London Transport had realised that, fine bus though it was, the Routemaster couldn’t go on for ever and began to sell surplus RMs. Whilst initially it found little market for these buses other than scrap dealers, the impending introduction of deregulation outside the Capital was to change all that.
Deregulation forced bus companies to look carefully at their operations and seek whatever competitive advantages they could. One perceived idea was to reintroduce a conductor. The introduction of buses such as the Atlantean, National and Fleetline and their one person operation (OPO) had seen most conductor-operated services ended, as they were deemed terribly old fashioned. However, was there a place a conductor in this brave new world?
The logic was that a conductor could get passengers on a bus faster, faster than a OPO bus where the driver had to also collect fares. This had the benefit of a potentially faster, friendlier service as well as potentially less buses needed to maintain the same service levels. Yes the downside was the extra crew member and the extra resultant costs. But some felt it was a price worth paying if you got it right, especially as these front engines buses were dirt cheap. .
You’d hardly think of the SBG as at the cutting edge of progressive ideas of bus operation. But it was. It resulted from the new subsidiaries the Group created to prepare for deregulation. These were managed by new young managers with fresh ideas. One of these was Clydeside Scottish.
It decided crew operation was worth trying and so borrowed a surplus Routemaster (RM652 - WLT652) in 1985 from London Transport (LT) to trial it on various routes, particularly in and out of Glasgow. Obviously impressed it purchased that bus and ordered more and one was the bus seen here, which came in September 1986. It’s been restored in Clydeside livery with the ‘Welcome aboard. We’re going your way’ branding. Clydeside kept the ex-LT fleet numbers numbers for its fleet.
Clydeside also sub-hired one of its Routemasters to fellow new subsidiaries Kelvin Scottish and Strathtay Scottish, to trial on their routes. The trials were a success and led to both ordering their own versions Soon LT was selling loads of these buses to SBG and preparing these in-house. One of the Clydeside buses was also trialled in Edinburgh but perhaps that was a step too far for the famously conservative Eastern Scottish.
Soon the Clydeside fleet grew to be one off the most substantial fleets of Routemasters outside London. Most were standard RMs but a RML (RML900 - WLT900) was also acquired as was a former RMA Airport bus which was refurbished as a dual purpose bus available for hire. It refurbished its standard Routemasters to a high standard and even upgraded some with better lighting, these being known as ‘Clydemasters’ with a special radiator badge. All other Routemasters acquired a name beginning with the letter R at the rear entrance, such as Rodney the Routemaster, Ralph, Rudolph, etc. Some Routemasters were even acquired from Kelvin when it withdrew these, having overstretched itself on competitive routes.
Sadly, when Clydeside was reunited with Western in 1989, Western’s more conservative management had no time for such fripperies such as conductors and the RMs were an easy target. To be fair, an accounting error had seen Clydeside’s costs massively understated and so that company was facing massive losses, hence the need for its merger with Western None were repainted in Western’s new livery and all were renumbered into Western’s standard fleet scheme. Many of their registrations were transferred to Western’s coaches to hide their age and they were progressively withdrawn. Western then acquired various Fleetlines and other similar OPO buses - mainly from Kelvin which had withdrawn these as it grappled with its own issues - which needed fortunes spent on them to get them up to useable standards. All the Clydeside ones had gone from regular service by the end of 1991.
The Kelvin and Strathtay fleets lasted longer. The Strathtay ones were used in Tayway services in Dundee as well as competitive services against Stagecoach’s Perth Panthers. Most carried the Strathtay colours of orange, white and blue. Certain vehicles had this laid out in a very - er - distinctive style but it was soon changed to a style more conducive to the vehicle. Some were repainted out of Strathtay orange, white and blue and into a red and white Perth City Transport colours on routes within Perth competing with Stagecoach but these were ultimately unsuccessful and Strathtay ended up withdrawing from services within Perth.
The Strathtay ones lasted until 1994 and they had an interesting legacy. Currently what was Strathtay is now part of Stagecoach East Scotland and up until just before the pandemic Stagecoach was still using conductors on the Tayway services, presently run by Volvo B5LH/ADL Enviro 400MMCs making that service one of the last to use conductors.
Kelvin’s ones were no less interesting. All arrived in Kelvin’s bold yellow and two-tone blue livery. They were used in competition with dominant operator Strathclyde’s Buses, some in services they shared with sister company Clydeside. Sadly not all these routes were successful and in the end, Kelvin’s ones settled down on to the 5/5A service between Easterhouse and Faifley (5A) or Old Kilpatrick (5), They lived a fairly uneventful life on these services, rarely venturing onto other services, the only exception being the odd occasional appearance on what was left of the 61 service between Baillieston and Glasgow.
Kelvin seemed to lose interest in its Routemasters by this stage and some were looking increasingly careworn and being kept alive by borrowing parts from other withdrawn buses, although to be fair the company was hardly flush with cash at the time. Only a select few were repainted in successor Kelvin Central livery. Most were withdrawn in 1993. Oddly, just before that, the Routemaster fleet had grown slightly when Kelvin Central acquired Stagecoach’s Magicbus subsidiary in 1992 along with its Routemasters which included some new to Northern General, the only customer outside LT to buy the Routemaster new, as even the RMAs mentioned earlier were owned by LT, despite being used on services to what was at that time called London Airport (now Heathrow).
When the 5/5A service was split in the city centre, this led to the death knell for Kelvin’s Routemasters and most were replaced by OPO Leyland Nationals on these routes, acquired when Kelvin Central took over independent operators Greens of Kirkintilloch and John Morrow of Clydebank.
An interesting side note. As I mentioned LT was selling surplus RMs to SBG to compete with Strathclyde’s Buses. At the same time, Strathclyde’s Buses stocked up with mini-buses (MCW Metroriders mainly) to fight the RMs. This led to surplus Atlanteans as Strathclyde’s Buses renewed its fleet. It in turn sold these surplus Atlanteans to London Country, the National Bus Company subsidiary who used these on tendered services which were won from former LT subsidiaries, leading to surplus RMs. Plus ca change….