Strathclyde Buses

Strathclyde Buses

Strathclyde Buses double-decker in 1993
Founded	October 1986
Defunct	May 1996
Headquarters	Larkfield
Locale	Strathclyde
Service type	Bus

Strathclyde Buses was a bus operating company in Glasgow and west-central Scotland. It commenced operations in October 1986. Prior to 1986, the council-owned buses had belonged to Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive (Strathclyde PTE), and therefore were owned by Strathclyde Regional Council. The new company, although still under the control of the Council, was no longer able to rely on the Council for any financial, or any other, help. In 1996 the company was taken over by FirstGroup. Its former operations are now part of First Glasgow.

Strathclyde Buses was created in October 1986. It inherited most of its fleet of around 800 vehicles from the former Strathclyde PTE company. A black and orange livery introduced by the PTE in 1983 was used on the majority of the company's buses; single-deck vehicles, which made up less than 1% of the fleet, were painted in a similar livery which also included white.

At its creation the company operated from four garage at Larkfield, Possilpark, Parkhead and Knightswood. Garages at Gartcraig and Newlands had been closed in July 1986 by SPTE, and the number of employees cut.

Prior to the creation of Strathclyde Buses, competition came to Glasgow in the run up to deregulation of UK bus services in October 1986. Strathclyde PTE brought its deregulated network to the market in August 1986 and the surrounding Scottish Bus Group (SBG) units, Central Scottish, Clydeside Scottish and Kelvin Scottish, also began their networks early. Whilst the SBG units began operating services within Glasgow's city limits, Strathclyde PTE started or extended services to places including East Kilbride, Cumbernauld, Balloch and Johnstone.