Clydeside Scottish
Clydeside Scottish Omnibuses Ltd was a bus operating subsidiary of the Scottish Transport Group formed in June 1985 from Western SMT Company Ltd. The company operated until May 1989, when it was remerged with Western Scottish, the successor company to Western SMT.
Operation
From its head office in Gordon Street, Paisley, PA1 1XE Clydeside Scottish covered an operating area bounded by Largs in the south, the River Clyde to the north and the south side of Glasgow to the east. The company also operated services on the Isle of Bute.
Clydeside was the largest operator in Inverclyde and Renfrewshire and had depots in Rothesay, Largs, Greenock, Johnstone, Inchinnan, Paisley and Thornliebank in the south of Glasgow.
Clydeside Scottish also provided coaches for Scottish Citylink services between Gourock, Glasgow Airport, Glasgow and onward to Edinburgh.
History
Clydeside Scottish was one of the shortest lived of the 'new' Scottish Bus Group subsidiaries, lasting for only five years as a stand alone company. Clydeside was created in preparation for the deregulation of the British bus industry in 1986, and eventual privatisation of the state-owned Scottish Bus Group (SBG). A bright red and yellow livery was introduced for the fleet, and a fleet name displayed in a style different from the corporate SBG look.
On deregulation, the company launched a network of services in the city of Glasgow, competing against the city operator Strathclyde Buses. A large number of old London Transport Routemaster buses were purchased for these services, which would give the company the advantage of giving change (as opposed to the exact fare the city operator demanded) without the buses having to linger at bus stops. The Routemasters proved popular and operated on services into Paisley, Renfrew and Johnstone. Strathclyde Buses retaliated against the competition, however, by introducing routes beyond the city boundary and into Clydeside's operating territory.
While competing with the much larger Strathclyde Buses, Clydeside suffered an explosion of new operators in Paisley and in particular, Greenock. The Routemasters, though popular with the travelling public, could not compete economically against the minibuses these operators preferred and the elderly London buses were soon retired. Clydeside found it increasingly difficult to compete against so many operators with much smaller operating costs, sometimes running only one or two vehicles, and the company would soon find itself in economic difficulties. In May 1989 it was merged with Western Scottish. Though 'Clydeside' would remain as a trading name, the Western black, white and red livery was adopted and the end of Clydeside Scottish Omnibuses Ltd was secured.
Successor Companies
The former Clydeside operations, with the exception of those on Bute, would soon pass to a new company, Clydeside 2000 plc, on the privatisation of Western Scottish in October 1991. Clydeside's new management and employees would take a 76% stake in the new company, with Luton & District Buses purchasing the remainder. The company would scale down its Glasgow operations, and the depots at Largs, Thornliebank and Paisley would soon close.
Clydeside 2000 was later taken over by British Bus in November 1994 (stakeholder Luton & District had already become a part of British Bus), which was subsequently acquired by, and merged with, the Cowie Group to become Arriva.
Clydeside was renamed Arriva Scotland West Ltd and trades as Arriva serving Scotland, though the trading description suggests a far larger operating area than the company actually covers. Arriva expanded its Scottish operations with the purchase of McGill's Bus Service Ltd of Barrhead, though confusingly the Greenock operations of Arriva Scotland West were later demerged and sold to local management as McGill's Bus Services Ltd, a name not synonymous with bus operation in that area.
Arriva has consolidated operations to just two depots; Johnstone and Inchinnan, the only two former Clydeside Scottish depots that remain open.