Strathtay Buses Limited MCW Metrorider
The buses of Scotland - Comlaw 1313 (T/A GCT Limited)
Following the employee-buyout of Strathclyde’s Buses in 1993 from Strathclyde Regional Council, one of the first things that the newly privatised company did was to set up a new subsidiary under the snappily title of Comlaw No. 1313, but which fortunately traded as GCT Limited. Although this was obviously meant to invoke memories of the old Glasgow Corporation Transport, the company was at pains to state GCT stood for simply GCT and nothing else. The setting up of a low-cost subsidiary was something several operators did at the time, another example being Merseyrider with Merseybus and F&L with Clydeside Buses.
The company was also at pains to point out that GCT was not a true low-cost company. Whilst it was the case that it was designed to win tendered services as well as run less profitable services with a lower rate of pay for drivers, part of its purpose was also to protect the existing employees of Strathclyde’s Buses, who were also now shareholders in the company too. The idea was new recruits would start at GCT and could then move up to Strathclyde’s Buses (SBL) depending on how they did. So that was the plan, as it would protect the investments made by the new shareholders from being diluted.
The initial fleet was in the main drawn from the Strathclyde’s Buses fleet and mostly consisted of Atlanteans. These were the oldest PTE style Atlanteans - including at one stage LA664 new to the actual Corporation- plus most of the second-hand Atlanteans acquired from Newcastle Busways and Nottingham Transport following the Larkfield fire. Also transferred in we’re some MCW Metroriders from the Strathclyde’s Buses fleet plus several Leyland Olympians newly acquired from competitor Kelvin Central Buses. This purchase was part of a tidying up of areas between the two companies which saw both companies (Strathclyde’s Buses and Kelvin Central Buses) revert to their traditional areas. Such agreements were, of course, totally illegal but the competition authorities tended to turn a blind eye to them.
GCT had a initial licence for 85 vehicles and it’s interesting to note that the actual Strathclyde’s Buses licence didn’t drop by 85 vehicles. So from the start it was clear that this represented an expansion by the company. A livery of yellow and green was chosen with yellow upper decks and green lower decks separated by a black band with a similar coloured lower skirt. It was similar to the reversed livery trailed and quickly binned by the original Corporation in the late 1960s but was actually based on Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive’s livery on the bus fleet in the early 1980’s. That livery was referred to as PTE3 by some although the ‘new’ GCT fleet actually used different shades of green and yellow. A yellow GCT logo was carried on the green lower panels on both sides of the bus, as well as on the front lower dash.
Initial services were all bar one of the night services, a mix of school and tendered services plus two interesting routes. The first of the two was the 100, a service between the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre and the City Centre. The second was the 19 between Castlemilk and Easterhouse. The 19 was a combination of the former Stagecoach Magicbus services which had been sold to Kelvin Central, allegedly on the basis that by selling Magicbus to Kelvin Central, it would allow Stagecoach to then bid for Strathclyde’s Buses. The Stagecoach services were numbered the 19 (Easterhouse - City Centre via M8 Motorway) and 20 Castlemilk - City Centre. When Magicbus was acquired by Kelvin Central, it continued to run them but then sold the services and the aforementioned Olympians to Strathclyde’s Buses. Strathclyde’s Buses in turn combined the two services into one route right through the city centre, although it did alter the route slightly by avoiding the M8 Motorway section, choosing instead to run the route through the suburbs parallel to the M8 into the city centre.
But back to GCT. The plan was that GCT wouldn’t be launched by the company until the first day of actual operations and it was promoted that interchangeability of tickets was to be available with existing Strathclyde’s Buses services, with all Strathclyde’s Buses passes accepted also. However that all came undone when a vehicle shortage saw GCT liveried vehicles appear on existing services with Strathclyde’s Buses fleetnames prior to GCT’s launch.
GCT was initially based in Knightswood depot and the legal lettering was for that depot. GCT also adopted a separate fleet numbering system with a G being added to standard Strathclyde’s Buses style alpha-numeric fleet numbers. Initially, some buses were renumbered into a separate G-series (see below) but later on a simple G was added to previous SBL fleet numbers but towards the end of GCT’s existence, the fleet numbers didn’t change and existing Strathclyde’s Buses fleet numbers remained in situ.
After launch, GCT was expanded and Strathclyde’s Buses transferred a lot of the remaining M-branded services (M being for Microbuses) which saw most of the remaining MCW Metroriders move across, such as 215 (E186BNS) seen here. Under Strathclyde’s Buses this was numbered as M89 but when it moved to GCT it became GM47. It then moved to newly purchased subsidiary Kelvin Central to rid that fleet of non-standard types and became 1091 in the Kelvin fleet. When a standard fleet numbering system was applied across all the fleets it became MM34.
As older Atlanteans were withdrawn, they were replaced at GCT by other slightly less older Atlanteans. The company continued to expand and new GCT units were also opened in Larkfield and Parkhead depots to meet that demand, which saw its licence increase as a result to 150 buses. However the overall age and condition of the fleet was causing apoplexy to the Traffic Commissioner and it was eventually realised parent Strathclyde’s Buses would have to do something to improve the fleet or run the risk of loosing GCT’s operating licence. At last some better buses would arrive.
The first brand new buses to GCT were actually three Scania K93 dual purpose semi-coach style buses, ordered as part of the Larkfield fire replacement fleets. They actually arrived with SB Travel fleet names and in Strathclyde’s Buses then coach livery of orange, black and white but actually had GCT legal lettering. They would be used for private hires due to their luggage racks and lockers but could also be used for normal service if necessary. However the first new(ish) service buses were actually some Volvo B6s, two that had been acquired with the takeover of Loch Lomond Coaches and six similar buses from new sister fleet Kelvin Central, who Strathclyde’s Buses had subsequently purchased. All quickly donned GCT livery on their original style Alexander Dash bodies. More marginally less older cascaded Atlanteans arrived but another brush with the Traffic Commissioner over the state of its fleet saw it’s licence reduced to 120 vehicles.
By 1996, following the takeover of Strathclyde’s Buses by Firstbus, buses in the fleet began to adopt the new allover red livery but with GCT fleet names. Indeed GCT was the only part of the combined company not to change its names as Strathclyde’s Buses began to trade as Greater Glasgow and Kelvin Central became plain old Kelvin. However it was clear that the earlier brush with the Traffic Commissioner had changed things dramatically at GCT. Older Atlanteans began to be withdrawn in mass and GCT received ten Dennis Darts, two step-entrance Darts with Plaxton Pointer bodies and eight super low-floor ones with relatively rare - in Scotland at least - East Lancs Spryte bodies. The Parkhead unit also received some Alexander PS bodied Volvo B10Ms to improve the fleet there from Kelvin. All came in the dreary all over red livery but with GCT fleet names, prefixed with the Firstbus flying f-logo.
As 1997 dawned some major changes took place at GCT. The headquarters was moved to Larkfield Depot in May 1997 and increasingly buses appeared with Greater Glasgow fleet names. In June 1997, the writing was on the wall for GCT as services it ran began to be transferred back under the Strathclyde’s Buses and Kelvin Central licences, in preparation for the closure of GCT. The Parkhead and Larkfield units of GCT were closed and the remaining buses were corralled at Knightswood garage, by then the only garage still having any GCT operations. Although GCT’s operations were expected to stop by 3rd January 1998 operations had effectively stopped by the end of November 1997 with the remaining services, mainly the night bus services, being operated by Strathclyde’s Buses vehicles on hire.
So after four years, GCT was gone. You may wonder what happened to the Metrorider. Well it was part of a batch subsequently sold to Strathtay owner Yorkshire Traction after its spell at Kelvin Central. Originally intended to be used for spares, it was found to be in such good condition it entered service in Strathtay as it’s 215. After withdrawal it was preserved and the intention is to eventually restore it in GCT livery.
Strathtay Buses Limited MCW Metrorider
The buses of Scotland - Comlaw 1313 (T/A GCT Limited)
Following the employee-buyout of Strathclyde’s Buses in 1993 from Strathclyde Regional Council, one of the first things that the newly privatised company did was to set up a new subsidiary under the snappily title of Comlaw No. 1313, but which fortunately traded as GCT Limited. Although this was obviously meant to invoke memories of the old Glasgow Corporation Transport, the company was at pains to state GCT stood for simply GCT and nothing else. The setting up of a low-cost subsidiary was something several operators did at the time, another example being Merseyrider with Merseybus and F&L with Clydeside Buses.
The company was also at pains to point out that GCT was not a true low-cost company. Whilst it was the case that it was designed to win tendered services as well as run less profitable services with a lower rate of pay for drivers, part of its purpose was also to protect the existing employees of Strathclyde’s Buses, who were also now shareholders in the company too. The idea was new recruits would start at GCT and could then move up to Strathclyde’s Buses (SBL) depending on how they did. So that was the plan, as it would protect the investments made by the new shareholders from being diluted.
The initial fleet was in the main drawn from the Strathclyde’s Buses fleet and mostly consisted of Atlanteans. These were the oldest PTE style Atlanteans - including at one stage LA664 new to the actual Corporation- plus most of the second-hand Atlanteans acquired from Newcastle Busways and Nottingham Transport following the Larkfield fire. Also transferred in we’re some MCW Metroriders from the Strathclyde’s Buses fleet plus several Leyland Olympians newly acquired from competitor Kelvin Central Buses. This purchase was part of a tidying up of areas between the two companies which saw both companies (Strathclyde’s Buses and Kelvin Central Buses) revert to their traditional areas. Such agreements were, of course, totally illegal but the competition authorities tended to turn a blind eye to them.
GCT had a initial licence for 85 vehicles and it’s interesting to note that the actual Strathclyde’s Buses licence didn’t drop by 85 vehicles. So from the start it was clear that this represented an expansion by the company. A livery of yellow and green was chosen with yellow upper decks and green lower decks separated by a black band with a similar coloured lower skirt. It was similar to the reversed livery trailed and quickly binned by the original Corporation in the late 1960s but was actually based on Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive’s livery on the bus fleet in the early 1980’s. That livery was referred to as PTE3 by some although the ‘new’ GCT fleet actually used different shades of green and yellow. A yellow GCT logo was carried on the green lower panels on both sides of the bus, as well as on the front lower dash.
Initial services were all bar one of the night services, a mix of school and tendered services plus two interesting routes. The first of the two was the 100, a service between the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre and the City Centre. The second was the 19 between Castlemilk and Easterhouse. The 19 was a combination of the former Stagecoach Magicbus services which had been sold to Kelvin Central, allegedly on the basis that by selling Magicbus to Kelvin Central, it would allow Stagecoach to then bid for Strathclyde’s Buses. The Stagecoach services were numbered the 19 (Easterhouse - City Centre via M8 Motorway) and 20 Castlemilk - City Centre. When Magicbus was acquired by Kelvin Central, it continued to run them but then sold the services and the aforementioned Olympians to Strathclyde’s Buses. Strathclyde’s Buses in turn combined the two services into one route right through the city centre, although it did alter the route slightly by avoiding the M8 Motorway section, choosing instead to run the route through the suburbs parallel to the M8 into the city centre.
But back to GCT. The plan was that GCT wouldn’t be launched by the company until the first day of actual operations and it was promoted that interchangeability of tickets was to be available with existing Strathclyde’s Buses services, with all Strathclyde’s Buses passes accepted also. However that all came undone when a vehicle shortage saw GCT liveried vehicles appear on existing services with Strathclyde’s Buses fleetnames prior to GCT’s launch.
GCT was initially based in Knightswood depot and the legal lettering was for that depot. GCT also adopted a separate fleet numbering system with a G being added to standard Strathclyde’s Buses style alpha-numeric fleet numbers. Initially, some buses were renumbered into a separate G-series (see below) but later on a simple G was added to previous SBL fleet numbers but towards the end of GCT’s existence, the fleet numbers didn’t change and existing Strathclyde’s Buses fleet numbers remained in situ.
After launch, GCT was expanded and Strathclyde’s Buses transferred a lot of the remaining M-branded services (M being for Microbuses) which saw most of the remaining MCW Metroriders move across, such as 215 (E186BNS) seen here. Under Strathclyde’s Buses this was numbered as M89 but when it moved to GCT it became GM47. It then moved to newly purchased subsidiary Kelvin Central to rid that fleet of non-standard types and became 1091 in the Kelvin fleet. When a standard fleet numbering system was applied across all the fleets it became MM34.
As older Atlanteans were withdrawn, they were replaced at GCT by other slightly less older Atlanteans. The company continued to expand and new GCT units were also opened in Larkfield and Parkhead depots to meet that demand, which saw its licence increase as a result to 150 buses. However the overall age and condition of the fleet was causing apoplexy to the Traffic Commissioner and it was eventually realised parent Strathclyde’s Buses would have to do something to improve the fleet or run the risk of loosing GCT’s operating licence. At last some better buses would arrive.
The first brand new buses to GCT were actually three Scania K93 dual purpose semi-coach style buses, ordered as part of the Larkfield fire replacement fleets. They actually arrived with SB Travel fleet names and in Strathclyde’s Buses then coach livery of orange, black and white but actually had GCT legal lettering. They would be used for private hires due to their luggage racks and lockers but could also be used for normal service if necessary. However the first new(ish) service buses were actually some Volvo B6s, two that had been acquired with the takeover of Loch Lomond Coaches and six similar buses from new sister fleet Kelvin Central, who Strathclyde’s Buses had subsequently purchased. All quickly donned GCT livery on their original style Alexander Dash bodies. More marginally less older cascaded Atlanteans arrived but another brush with the Traffic Commissioner over the state of its fleet saw it’s licence reduced to 120 vehicles.
By 1996, following the takeover of Strathclyde’s Buses by Firstbus, buses in the fleet began to adopt the new allover red livery but with GCT fleet names. Indeed GCT was the only part of the combined company not to change its names as Strathclyde’s Buses began to trade as Greater Glasgow and Kelvin Central became plain old Kelvin. However it was clear that the earlier brush with the Traffic Commissioner had changed things dramatically at GCT. Older Atlanteans began to be withdrawn in mass and GCT received ten Dennis Darts, two step-entrance Darts with Plaxton Pointer bodies and eight super low-floor ones with relatively rare - in Scotland at least - East Lancs Spryte bodies. The Parkhead unit also received some Alexander PS bodied Volvo B10Ms to improve the fleet there from Kelvin. All came in the dreary all over red livery but with GCT fleet names, prefixed with the Firstbus flying f-logo.
As 1997 dawned some major changes took place at GCT. The headquarters was moved to Larkfield Depot in May 1997 and increasingly buses appeared with Greater Glasgow fleet names. In June 1997, the writing was on the wall for GCT as services it ran began to be transferred back under the Strathclyde’s Buses and Kelvin Central licences, in preparation for the closure of GCT. The Parkhead and Larkfield units of GCT were closed and the remaining buses were corralled at Knightswood garage, by then the only garage still having any GCT operations. Although GCT’s operations were expected to stop by 3rd January 1998 operations had effectively stopped by the end of November 1997 with the remaining services, mainly the night bus services, being operated by Strathclyde’s Buses vehicles on hire.
So after four years, GCT was gone. You may wonder what happened to the Metrorider. Well it was part of a batch subsequently sold to Strathtay owner Yorkshire Traction after its spell at Kelvin Central. Originally intended to be used for spares, it was found to be in such good condition it entered service in Strathtay as it’s 215. After withdrawal it was preserved and the intention is to eventually restore it in GCT livery.