Bus Companies in the United Kingdom
Links to Websites.

This listing has been compiled by Daniel McIntyre with reference to various bus magazines, including 'Buses', (website at www.busesmag.com) which is published monthly and 'Bus Fayre', (website at www.autobus-review.co.uk) which is published bi-monthly, in order to show the variety of bus company websites that currently exist in the United Kingdom.

Links to websites are shown in blue text in the listing below.

Bus Service Travel Line

Traveline

Traveline is a partnership of transport operators and local authorities formed to provide impartial and comprehensive information about public transport. It operates in England, Scotland and Wales. Traveline started operating in 2000. The telephone service was the first service to be provided. Internet followed soon afterwards and more recently the Text (Txt) service. Traveline has comprehensive information for local transport and can also be used for longer distance journeys. Each area journey planner includes all the rail services and most of the coach services across the UK.

Large Bus Company Groups

  • Arriva Bus

    Arriva operates bus services in the following areas:- Western Scotland, Northumbria and the North East of England, Yorkshire, North West England and North Wales, Midlands, London, Southern Counties, Shires and Essex. Details of all of its bus services in those areas can be obtained from this Arriva Bus website.


  • Comfort Delgro Group

    The Comfort Delgro Group is based in Singapore and operates transportation systems worldwide through a number of subsiduary companies.

    In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the Group’s bus operations are carried out under Metroline. Metroline is one of the five largest public bus operators in London with a fleet of close to 1,200 buses and almost 3,000 employees operating from 10 garages in North West London. In August 2004, Metroline acquired F.E. Thorpe & Sons to operate buses in North London. Subsequently, Metroline acquired E.H. Mundy Holdings in November 2004 to operate the Armchair Passenger Transport, a bus and coach operation in London. As a result of these acquisitions, Metroline now provides 14% of the London bus network under contract to Transport for London.

    The Group has entered into a joint venture with Stagecoach Group plc to combine and grow their inter-city coach businesses in Scotland and between Scotland and England. The Group now operates three brands - Scottish Citylink, Motorvator and megabus.com and offer better range of excellent value travel options to customers.

    In Ireland, the Group operates three inter-city coach services in Dublin, Limerick and Cork.

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  • Ensignbus

    Ensignbus was formed in 1972, since which time it has been involved in many aspects of the bus industry. In the early days a number of small contracts were operated for people such as the Port of London Authority and Lesney the toy manufactures. These small operations however became secondary to the role which Ensign has today made its own, that of buying and selling high quality used buses and coaches.

    Ensignbus currently operates five bus services in Essex, South East England.

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  • EYMS Group (East Yorkshire Motor Services Ltd.)

    EYMS Group Ltd., controls five major bus and coach operations:-
    East Yorkshire Motor Services - Service bus operator within Hull & the East Riding of Yorkshire;
    Scarborough & District Motor Services - Service bus operator in Scarborough and North Yorkshire;
    Finglands Coachways - Service bus and high quality coach operator in South Manchester;
    East Yorkshire Coaches - One of Hull & East Yorkshire's leading coach operators; and
    Whittle Coach & Bus - Coach & Local bus operator in Worcestershire & Shropshire.

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  • First Group

    The First Group website includes details of their bus and rail services in the U.K. and the school and inter-city bus services that the group operates in America.

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  • Go-Ahead Group

    The Go-Ahead Group operates bus services in following areas:-

    • In the North East of England under the Go North East brand name;
    • In the West Midlands area of Central England under the Go West Midlands brand name;
    • In the Oxford area under the Oxford Bus Company brand name;
    • In London under the brand names of London Central and London General;
    • In the Brighton area of Sussex, Southern England under the Brighton & Hove brand name;
    • Across the south east of England, under the Metrobus brand name;
    • Across southern Hampshire, based around Southampton and Eastleigh under the Solentblueline brand name;
    • On the Isle of Wight, under the Southern Vectis brand name
    • and in south central and south western England under the Wilts & Dorset brand name.

    It also operates rail services in Southern England under the Southern and Southeastern brand names.

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  • National Express Group

    Operates the famous white National Express long distance coach services in the UK and Eurolines coach services to the Continent.

    National Express Ltd., is part of a leading international transport provider, National Express Group (NEG), with over 45,000 employees. In addition to train companies within the UK including c2c, Central Trains, Gatwick Express, Midland Mainline, One, Silverlink Trains, Stanstead Express; and bus companies within the UK including Travel Coventry, Travel Dundee, Travel London and Travel West Midlands. NEG’s overseas operations include student transportation and public transit in the USA & Canada, ALSA bus and coach services in Spain and the management of Stewart International Airport near New York. In total National Express Group now carry more than 1 billion passengers a year.

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  • Rotala Plc

    Rotala is not, in the main, in competition with the large and well-established bus groups. Their market lies in the commercial bus business whereas Rotala in its bus services is focused on contracted or subsidised work for local authorities.

    Rotala plc owns the following bus companies:-
    Central Connect,formerly known as Zak’s Bus & Coach Services, based in Birmingham and the West Midlands.
    Birmingham Motor Traction (Birmingham);
    North Birmingham Busways, a long established Birmingham bus operator;
    Ludlows (Birmingham - in progress), and
    South Gloucester Bus & Coach (Bristol - in progress).

     

  • Stagecoach UK Bus

    The Stagecoach Bus Group serves communities in over 100 towns and cities in the UK, and running a fleet of around 7,000 buses and coaches, Stagecoach UK Bus is one of the largest operators in the country. It also operates megabus.com, the UK’s leading budget inter-city coach service.

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  • Tillings - Golden Miller Group

    Tellings Golden Miller Group Plc is a bus and coach operator whose head office is based at London's Heathrow Airport. We floated on the AIM (Alternative Investment Market) on the London Stock Exchange in August 2003. The group of wholly owned subsidiaries operates in excess of 207 vehicles from depots across England. Of these 207 vehicles, 76 are front line executive coaches, 96 are local buses, and a further 35 coaches are operated on behalf of National Express. Our vehicles are operated from bases in the following towns or cities; Portsmouth, London Heathrow, Harlesden, Colchester, Cambridge and Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

    Tellings Golden Miller Coaches Ltd., operates around 50 of the group's vehicles from its depots in Portsmouth and London Heathrow. Sixteen of the vehicles are operated on behalf of National Express on services from Portsmouth to various destinations including London, Bradford and Bristol. The other 34 are luxury private hire coaches operated by the coach hire division on various different types of work including Continental Touring, UK Touring, London Sightseeing, Day Trips, School Outings etc.

    The group is made up of wholly owned subsidiaries around England, they have all kept their individual identity so that our customers still can still identify the individual company. The existing management have also stayed with our group so each company keeps it independent feel. These companies include:-

    Classic Coaches, serving the whole UK, Classic Group (inc. Moor-Dale & Primrose) is based in North East England.
    Burton’s Coaches, operating from bases near the university city of Cambridge, London’s Stansted Airport and Harwich International Port, it is ideally located for all coach travel needs throughout East Anglia and for business through this rapidly developing gateway for British & European travel.
    Link Line Coaches was founded over 50 years ago and is one of London’s older established coach companies and is situated less than 5 miles from Central London.

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  • Transdev Plc

    Transdev is an international company with a reputation for delivering high quality local public transport. From a pioneering tram system in Nottingham and coaches in Paris, to river shuttles in Amsterdam and buses in Sydney, Transdev carries more than four million passengers a day.

    The group is a major London bus operator with London United and London Sovereign, and also owns Bournemouth Transport Ltd trading under the name Yellow Buses.

    In north and west Yorkshire and Lancashire, Transdev owns the Blazefield Group providing high quality bus services through its five subsidiary companies. In Nottingham, Transdev is a shareholding partner with the Council in Nottingham City Transport (NCT). As part of Arrow, the concessionaire company that designed and built Nottingham Express Transit, Transdev operates this tram system in partnership with NCT.

    In Edinburgh, Transdev is working with transport initiatives edinburgh (tie), on the development and management of the new tram in the city. Once the building work is completed, Transdev will operate the tram services for and on behalf of tie.

     

  • Veolia Transport UK

    One of the UK’s newest transport operators, Veolia Transport operates bus and coach services in South Wales, the Midlands and North East England from 14 locations. It currently employs over 1,500 people and operate a fleet of over 600 vehicles.

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  • Wellglade Group

    • The Wellglade group consists of four different company identities. These are:-

    Trent Barton (formerly known as Trent Buses, or Barton Transport);
    Notts and Derby Kinchbus;
    and the recently revived Midland General.

    The group operates into many different counties the main ones being, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. Kinchbus mainly serves the Loughborough area.

    The company is based at Langley Mill, which is just outside Heaner in Derbyshire. There are many other depots around the operational areas. There are depots at Derby (Meadow Road), Dove Holes, Langley Mill, Nottingham (Manvers Street), Sutton Junction (Midland Road), and a mainly kinchbus depot at Loughborough. The Derby depot houses many of the Notts and Derby buses, although some are kept at other locations.

     

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    This page was last updated on 15th October 2007.
    © Daniel McIntyre 2007.