Scottish Citylink

Scottish Citylink was created in October 1983 as route branding to improve the public awareness of the for Scottish Bus Group's commuter coach network, and within a year, passengers numbers had risen by 30%. On 1 March 1985, as part of the reorganisation of the Scottish Bus Group, it become a stand alone company to co-ordinate and manage the long-distance express services operated by the other SBG subsidiaries, particularly the Western Scottish and Eastern Scottish services from Glasgow and Edinburgh to London and the south.

By combining the SBG express network, Citylink became the largest operator of long-distance express services within Scotland, and from Scotland to England and Wales. With the main hubs in Glasgow and Edinburgh, many services to the Highlands and Islands were in some cases vital to rural areas as the only public transport link available.

One vehicle was owned to satisfy licensing conditions, but this was operated as part of the Western Scottish fleet. Citylink itself did not operate any vehicles, but a uniform two-tone blue and yellow livery was introduced for coaches operating Citylink services, with the subsidiary's corporate fleetname displayed on the front and rear of the vehicle. Previously, only cross-border services had adopted some form of corporate look in the late 1970s, with vehicles wearing a simple but striking blue-and-white livery with bold Scottish fleetnames in the SBG corporate logo style.

Subsidiary companies operated Citylink vehicles on express services originating from their operating area, and where long-distance services spanned one or two operating areas, the routes were shared between the companies. The level of involvement of the subsidiary firms in providing Citylink work varied with size and geography. Central Scottish, Strathtay Scottish, Kelvin Scottish and Clydeside Scottish were the smaller contributors as no major city or destination lay within their main operating regions. Indeed, Clydeside marketed its own express services within its area as Clydeside Quicksilver with its own distinct brand.

As the Scottish Bus Group prepared for privatisation, Citylink franchises were no longer exclusive to the SBG subsidiaries. Private companies such as Rapsons Coaches of Inverness, Henry Crawford Coaches of Neilston, West Coast Motors of Campbeltown, Skye-Ways and Park's of Hamilton were awarded Citylink contracts and provided vehicles of their own for this work. Also seen using a Citylink livery but with the distinctive Ulsterman lettering, Ulsterbus provided coaches for services between Derry or Belfast to Birmingham and London via towns in Dumfries and Galloway. This route was also operated by Dodds of Troon and Western Scottish.

Citylink itself was privatised in August 1990, operating under the Clansman Travel & Leisure holding company after being purchased by its management and employees in a management buyout. As the Scottish Bus Group broke up, the number of private operators working Citylink contracts increased. Park's, West Coast Motors and Rapsons were now major contributors, while the former SBG companies now owned by Stagecoach (Fife Scottish, Western Scottish, Bluebird Buses) began operating their own Stagecoach Express network.

In 1993 Scottish Citylink was sold to National Express. At that time, cross border services to England were replaced by National Express services, leaving Citylink with Scottish domestic services, and co-ordinated timetabling and ticketing was introduced between the two operators. During this period, Citylink took a stake in West Coast Motors, purchased Skye-Ways Coaches and also Highland Country Buses, which was an offshoot of Highland Scottish.

With the privatisation of British Rail, in 1997 National Express won the ScotRail franchise. The Mergers & Monopolies Commission ruled this would give National Express a monopoly on long-distance services in Scotland and ordered the sale of Scottish Citylink. Scottish Citylink was subsequently sold to Metroline, the London-based subsidiary of ComfortDelGro, for £10.3 million in August 1998.

Scottish Citylink operates an extensive network of long-distance express services within Scotland, operating 19 routes linking the cities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee, Stirling and Inverness, as well as linking some rural Highland communities to the main urban areas of Scotland. Services also operate to Northern Ireland, with a connection via the ferry link between Cairnryan and Belfast, and there are seasonal workings to Blackpool. In all, over 200 destinations are served by Scottish Citylink within Scotland, using about 90 coaches provided by operators local to the 'destination' area, carrying over three million passengers annually.

Despite the extent of Citylink's operations in Scotland, there are notable geographical regions, including large urban areas, that have poor or no connections with the network. These tend to be areas served by subsidiaries of Stagecoach, which operate their own comprehensive network, to destinations such as Ayrshire (Kilmarnock, Ayr and Irvine), Fife (Kirkcaldy, Dunfermline and St Andrews), Aberdeenshire and Moray. A notable exception is the Scottish Borders, which is covered by West Coast Motors, though they have no regular express service.

Citylink also operates in the Republic of Ireland, operating between Dublin, Galway City, Clifden, Cork and Shannon.