First Glasgow Alexander Dennis Enviro 400MMC
Return of the PTE?
Seen here is 33980HB (SN65OFV), which was given an overall wrap for COP21 by a local artist. It retains Olympia livery on the front - possibly one of the few of this batch of these buses to do so - but a larger non-standard fleet name (for the livery) has been added, presumably as there was no space elsewhere.
First Glasgow, the city’s major operator, can trace its history all the way back to Glasgow Corporation Transport (GCT). However Firstbus acquired its Glasgow operations when it purchased Strathclyde’s Buses. That particular company had been created when the Transport Act (1985) mandated that direct operation of local authority fleets had to end. All such fleets were to be run as standalone companies on a commercial basis and importantly at a profit. They could still be owned by the local authority of course but the local authority was supposed to keep an arm’s length relationship and not interfere in them. That was the idea.
By the time of the Act’s implementation, GCT’s bus fleet had morphed into the bus fleet of Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive (SPTE) and traded under the Strathclyde Transport moniker. So under the Act, SPTE separated the bus fleet into Strathclyde’s Buses. The new company was still 100% owned by Strathclyde Regional Council (SRC) but was now separate from SPTE. Later in 1993, the company was sold by SRC in an employee-management buyout and subsequently acquired by Firstbus a few years later. SPTE continued in it’s role as transport coordinator and provider of rail services, including the Glasgow Subway and those provided through British Rail, on behalf of SRC.
When SRC was abolished in 1995, SPTE was also abolished as part of that process. It was replaced in the same role by the new Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT). SPT was what could reasonably be described as an umbrella organisation made up of most, but not all, of the new local councils that replaced SRC. Following the creation of Transport Scotland, responsibility for all the heavy rail services, including those provided by SPT, moved to it it, leaving SPT looking after the subway and coordinating transport for the local authorities it was responsible for. It’s been that way ever since.
However SPT seems to now want a bigger say in Scottish transport matters. Earlier this month (February 2022) it published a report about how it would seek to ‘join up seamlessly’ journeys across the West of Scotland. This would involve coordinated ticketing, an app showing all forms of transport options and a single uniform identity for all buses. The name for this operation would be……Strathclyde Buses (sounds familiar).
The idea, which is similar to proposals being proposed for areas such as Merseyside, West Midlands and Greater Manchester, would see a uniform livery and coordination of bus routes, with a London style uniform livery.
SPT’s report comes off the back of the Scottish Government’s new transport blueprint. This had 45 recommendations, which included electrifying certain railways, an increased focus on sustainable transport, mass transit systems in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen, more cycling paths and schemes (oh joy - more money wasted) and targeted road improvements.
Glasgow’s mass transit system would be based on a Metro-style system, similar to the Docklands Light Railway in London, making use of abandoned railways scattered about Glasgow and finally giving a rail link to Glasgow Airport.
The rail link to the Airport, massively overdue, has been proposed for many years and indeed work had started on one in the early noughties, where the line would branch off at Paisley Gilmour Street from Glasgow Central and run over new track to the Airport. It was eventually abandoned so that the savings could be used to fund the grossly obscene overspend for the Edinburgh Trams, something that still rankles to this day in Scotland’s biggest city. Suppose we did get an extra platform at Central out of it….. other schemes have included a tram/train scheme and branching the subway off at Govan and running it overground to the Airport. To me that one has a lot of merit as you could also link it into the massive retail centre at Braehead. So it would work passenger wise and provide a useful link.
Metro-schemes are all very well - and highly unlikely let’s be honest - but it’s the bus thing that intrigues me. Would we see a London tendering style scheme introduced in Scotland and a restoration of local authority control? I know that in more rural parts of Scotland there is direct ownership of bus services already happening but that tends to be for socially desirable but poorly patronised services.
Well, certainly Glasgow City Council did explore at one stage buying First Glasgow but it came to nowt. However, that was pre-pandemic. It’s clear something radical will be needed to fix our bus system as the current system of it being propped up by Government support is unsustainable long-term. Ridership may never get back to what it was pre-pandemic as firms have learned that staff can work from home more cheaply than having them work from an office. So the massive peaks of passengers each day may never ever come back. But of course the bus companies will have to be rightly compensated if the local authorities decide to restrict their ability to trade. So it could be a very expensive system. Ideology can have consequences after all….
First Glasgow Alexander Dennis Enviro 400MMC
Return of the PTE?
Seen here is 33980HB (SN65OFV), which was given an overall wrap for COP21 by a local artist. It retains Olympia livery on the front - possibly one of the few of this batch of these buses to do so - but a larger non-standard fleet name (for the livery) has been added, presumably as there was no space elsewhere.
First Glasgow, the city’s major operator, can trace its history all the way back to Glasgow Corporation Transport (GCT). However Firstbus acquired its Glasgow operations when it purchased Strathclyde’s Buses. That particular company had been created when the Transport Act (1985) mandated that direct operation of local authority fleets had to end. All such fleets were to be run as standalone companies on a commercial basis and importantly at a profit. They could still be owned by the local authority of course but the local authority was supposed to keep an arm’s length relationship and not interfere in them. That was the idea.
By the time of the Act’s implementation, GCT’s bus fleet had morphed into the bus fleet of Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive (SPTE) and traded under the Strathclyde Transport moniker. So under the Act, SPTE separated the bus fleet into Strathclyde’s Buses. The new company was still 100% owned by Strathclyde Regional Council (SRC) but was now separate from SPTE. Later in 1993, the company was sold by SRC in an employee-management buyout and subsequently acquired by Firstbus a few years later. SPTE continued in it’s role as transport coordinator and provider of rail services, including the Glasgow Subway and those provided through British Rail, on behalf of SRC.
When SRC was abolished in 1995, SPTE was also abolished as part of that process. It was replaced in the same role by the new Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT). SPT was what could reasonably be described as an umbrella organisation made up of most, but not all, of the new local councils that replaced SRC. Following the creation of Transport Scotland, responsibility for all the heavy rail services, including those provided by SPT, moved to it it, leaving SPT looking after the subway and coordinating transport for the local authorities it was responsible for. It’s been that way ever since.
However SPT seems to now want a bigger say in Scottish transport matters. Earlier this month (February 2022) it published a report about how it would seek to ‘join up seamlessly’ journeys across the West of Scotland. This would involve coordinated ticketing, an app showing all forms of transport options and a single uniform identity for all buses. The name for this operation would be……Strathclyde Buses (sounds familiar).
The idea, which is similar to proposals being proposed for areas such as Merseyside, West Midlands and Greater Manchester, would see a uniform livery and coordination of bus routes, with a London style uniform livery.
SPT’s report comes off the back of the Scottish Government’s new transport blueprint. This had 45 recommendations, which included electrifying certain railways, an increased focus on sustainable transport, mass transit systems in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen, more cycling paths and schemes (oh joy - more money wasted) and targeted road improvements.
Glasgow’s mass transit system would be based on a Metro-style system, similar to the Docklands Light Railway in London, making use of abandoned railways scattered about Glasgow and finally giving a rail link to Glasgow Airport.
The rail link to the Airport, massively overdue, has been proposed for many years and indeed work had started on one in the early noughties, where the line would branch off at Paisley Gilmour Street from Glasgow Central and run over new track to the Airport. It was eventually abandoned so that the savings could be used to fund the grossly obscene overspend for the Edinburgh Trams, something that still rankles to this day in Scotland’s biggest city. Suppose we did get an extra platform at Central out of it….. other schemes have included a tram/train scheme and branching the subway off at Govan and running it overground to the Airport. To me that one has a lot of merit as you could also link it into the massive retail centre at Braehead. So it would work passenger wise and provide a useful link.
Metro-schemes are all very well - and highly unlikely let’s be honest - but it’s the bus thing that intrigues me. Would we see a London tendering style scheme introduced in Scotland and a restoration of local authority control? I know that in more rural parts of Scotland there is direct ownership of bus services already happening but that tends to be for socially desirable but poorly patronised services.
Well, certainly Glasgow City Council did explore at one stage buying First Glasgow but it came to nowt. However, that was pre-pandemic. It’s clear something radical will be needed to fix our bus system as the current system of it being propped up by Government support is unsustainable long-term. Ridership may never get back to what it was pre-pandemic as firms have learned that staff can work from home more cheaply than having them work from an office. So the massive peaks of passengers each day may never ever come back. But of course the bus companies will have to be rightly compensated if the local authorities decide to restrict their ability to trade. So it could be a very expensive system. Ideology can have consequences after all….