Glasgow Buses, After 1973
A brief history of the PTE fleet.

     

As a result of local Government reform, in June 1973 the Greater Glasgow Passenger Transport Authority, and it's operational wing, Greater Glasgow Passenger Transport Executive (GGPTE), took over the Glasgow Corporation Transport bus fleet & Underground.  At the time, the fleet strength was 1,318 buses, operating out of eleven garages. The first Director General, was Ronald Cox, the former Transport Manager for Edinburgh Corporation Transport. The Leyland Atlantean continued to dominate the bus fleet, and Ronald Cox was to introduce a few Edinburgh design feaures to the latest deliveries. From LA691 the W. Alexander bodywork featured engine "bustle" shrouds, and from LA751, panoramic windows. The large windows certainly made the buses look very striking, but the structural weakness of the design, along with the flexing of the chassis, would come back to haunt the GGPTE in the late 1970's-early 1980's, when cracks were discovered in the body pillars of many vehicles. The problem needed to be fixed, and a few ideas were tried, including rebuilding several Atlanteans with short bay windows on the lower deck. But it was too expensive to rebuild the entire LA fleet, therefore it was decided to sell, or scrap, the worst affected buses. The problem had been caught early enough to order the last batches of Atlanteans with short bay windows. These would go on to become some of the longest lived buses in the fleet. Early plans were made by GGPTE to adopt a new livery loosely based around the Edinburgh style white window surrounds, but with verona green & gold cup yellow in place of the "madder" dark red used in Edinburgh.  A stylised 'GG' logo was applied to the forward upper-deck side panels. The colours, and the way they were applied, bore a close resemblance to the Irish flag, which in a city like Glasgow, with it's fair share of sectarian history, did raise some eyebrows.

An ex GCT Leyland Atlantean, wearing the first GGPTE livery.

Leyland Atlanteans, with W. Alexander Ltd, panoramic window bodywork.

An example of the last batches of Atlanteans, with short bay windows.

Other bus types were also tried out in the mid 1970's.  The Metropolitan was a product of MCW & Scania. GCT had ordered 20, and deliveries were now being made. In service they showed their failings with breakdowns, expensive replacement parts, and problems with severe corrosion. They were also prone to skidding in bad weather which did not endear them to the drivers. A total of 40 were eventually bought, all were withdrawn & sold by 1982. A success story, was the Scottish built Ailsa (a company owned by Volvo). The first, newly designed, front engine double deck chassis for many years, it was a very reliable, & long lived bus with the PTE, and other (especially Scottish) bus operators.

MCW-Scania Metropolitan.

A newly delivered Ailsa.

Single-deckers had never been popular with GCT, and the GGPTE was to be no different, however there are always situations where they are the best, or only, option. To cover this need, the PTE bought 20 of a new generation of single-decker, the Leyland National.  Other single-deckers added in the years up to 1980, were six Seddon midibuses, and for the growing coach hire business, a Bristol LHS6L, and eight Leyland Leopards. Despite the newcomers, a rapidly diminishing number of old timers remained in the fleet. The last Regents, & Daimlers, were gone by 1975, the last rear entrance Titans went in 1977.  The unreliable Leyland Panther single-deck buses were also withdrawn in that year, but three were later rebuilt as coaches. Most of the GCT era Atlanteans were also gone by 1981.

Withdrawn Daimlers.

Leyland Titans on Glasgow Bridge. The middle bus still wears the old GCT livery.

A Leyland Titan, & an early Atlantean, in George Square.

On it's formation in 1975, Strathclyde Regional Council absorbed the Greater Glasgow Passenger Transport Authority & GGPTE, but retained the GGPTE title until late 1980, when it was renamed the Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive (SPTE). At the beginning of the 1980's, the Atlantean was still the backbone of the bus fleet, however, dissatisfaction with the type, problems within the industry, and the desire for choice, had led SPTE to look further afield for it's buses. The next generation of rear engine buses was now upon them, and the MCW Metrobus would become a much bigger success than the ill-fated Metropolitan had been.  Another product of this new generation was the Leyland Olympian, it would become a popular bus in many fleets, including SPTE, & the later Strathclyde's Buses.  However, by far the main purchase for the early to mid 80's, was the improved Volvo Ailsa. Beginning in 1979, and in addition to the 'GG' logo, 'Trans-Clyde' wording was applied to the PTE's buses, Underground, publications, & signage, and also on much of the local British Rail rolling stock. This was to publicise the now official links between these transport services within the PTE area. The 'GG' logo was removed when the PTE changed it's official title to Strathclyde PTE. However, the 'Trans-Clyde' branding remained for some years into the 1980's. The early 1980's saw some experimentation with liveries. On some buses the yellow colour was extended over the roof, and the lower green extended up to the top of the lower deck windows. The white was restricted to a narrow band between decks.  Another variation eliminated the white altogether, and used matt black around the lower deck windows. This was to become the standard on new deliveries of the early 80's. Eventually a completely new livery of dark orange, known officially as "Strathclyde Red", with matt black lower-deck window surrounds, was adopted as the standard livery for all buses. A new logo was applied in addition to the new colours, a stylised 'Strathclyde Transport' title wording, with a map of Scotland highlighting the Strathclyde Region.

An Atlantean, with the first livery variation of the early 80's.

MCW Metrobus, in the last of the PTE's green/yellow liveries.

Leyland Olympian, featuring the "Strathclyde Red" colour.

The expanding private hire business brought yet more coaches, including two Metroliners, with disabled access, purchased in 1983. In addition, a Volvo B10M, and a Leyland Tiger, joined the fleet in 1985. A new idea for Glasgow was the introduction of Microbuses, these small minibus type vehicles, would serve a need for a bus service where full size vehicles had difficulties due to narrow streets, or a limited market. The next generation of Volvo bus was ready in 1984, the Volvo Citybus was a new concept double-decker, with an underfloor engine. It would go on to be purchased in healthy numbers by Strathclyde's Buses Ltd. With deregulation, the PTE formed "Strathclyde's Buses Ltd" as a private company to run the bus fleet, but the only external livery change was the substitution of "Strathclyde's Buses", for the old lettering.

A Volvo Citybus, with an Atlantean following.

A selection of Strathclyde's Buses vehicles.

In 1993 Strathclyde's Buses Ltd become employee owned through the formation of a parent company, SB Holdings Ltd.  It retained the Strathclyde's Buses trading name (but dropped the regional map), and also bought Kelvin Central Buses Ltd (KCB), and set up the low cost operaton, Comlaw No 313 Ltd, which used the (familiar) initials "GCT" as it's trading name. SB Holdings Ltd, kept the 'Strathclyde Red' livery for the Strathclyde's Buses fleet, but choose green & yellow, with a black stripe, for GCT. FirstBus acquired SB Holdings, & it's subsidiaries in 1996.  After the sale, a dull red livery, with a "Greater Glasgow" fleetname, was used for a while, but eventually all former liveries were abolished in favour of First's corporate logo, and colours of white, blue, & pink (nicknamed 'Barbie').

GCT (Comlaw No 313 Ltd) Atlanteans.

KCB, Volvo B10M-55. A Strathclyde's Buses, Volvo Citybus, is behind.

First Bus, old & current, colours.

Further reading...
British Bus, Tram, and Trolleybus, Systems Number 10 - Glasgow Buses, by Stuart Little.
See the book list for more titles.

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(Photo Credits)