Municipal bus company explained

A municipal bus company is an operator of bus services owned by the local government authority. This article lists all current municipal bus companies in the United Kingdom.

Most municipal bus companies disappeared between 1968 and 1974 before (or with) the formation of PTE bus operations.

Of the remaining municipal operators, post-1986 many were sold off or collapsed in the process of bus deregulation, which required their separation into stand-alone arms-length companies. A few remaining companies have accepted minority-stake holdings in their companies by private bus operating companies, as a method of securing investment.

Local authorities Company Routes Number of vehicles Private shareholdings
Bath & North East Somerset CouncilBath & North East Somerset Council BusesOperates route 752 (Bath to Hinton Blewett) and route 754 (North Radstock to Hinton Blewett)None
Beaminster Town CouncilBeaminster Town Council BusesOperates route CB3 (Bridport to Yeovil)None
Operates local bus services throughout Blackpool and surrounding areas158 buses and 75 trams (September 2013)[1] None
Caerphilly County Borough CouncilCaerphilly County Borough Council BusesOperates routes 15 (Cefn Glas to Blackwood), C1 (Nelson Town Service), J (Caerphilly to Rudry), and L (Caerphilly to Nantddu)None
Operates local bus services throughout Cardiff and surrounding areas240 None
City of Edinburgh Council (91%), East Lothian Council (3%), Midlothian Council (3%), West Lothian Council (3%) Operates local bus services throughout Edinburgh as well as longer distance bus routes to the surrounding areas (branded as East Coast Buses for services to the east of Edinburgh and Lothian Country Buses for services to the west of Edinburgh)721 buses and 27 trams (December 2012)[2] None
Cogenhoe & Whiston Parish CouncilCogenhoe & Whiston Parish Council BusesOperates route VH1 (Northampton to Wollaston)None
Bus Na ComhairleW5 - Stornoway to TolstaW5 - Stornoway to Bayble/Portnaguran

W7 - Stornoway Town Services

7None
Denbighshire County CouncilDenbighshire Council BusesOperates local bus services throughout Denbighshire and surrounding areasNone
DGC BusesOperates local bus services throughout Dumfries and surrounding areas40 (February 2010)[3] None
Operates local bus services throughout Ipswich and surrounding areas76 (September 2013)[4] None
Monmouthshire County CouncilMonmouthshire County Council BusesOperates route 65 (Monmouth to Chepstow) and routes W3/W4/W5 (Monmouth Town Services)None
Moray CouncilMoray Council BusesOperates various local bus routes around the Elgin and Keith areasNone
Operates local bus services throughout Newport and surrounding areas90 None
North Yorkshire County CouncilNorth Yorkshire County Council BusesOperates many local rural bus routes around the Skipton areaNone
Northern IrelandTranslinkOperates entire Northern Ireland bus networkNone
Operates local bus services throughout Nottingham and surrounding areas315 (November 2019)[5] 18% owned by Transdev[6]
Nottinghamshire County CouncilNotts BusOperates many local bus routes in towns and rural areas throughout NottinghamshireNone
Pembrokeshire County CouncilPembrokeshire County Council BusesOperates routes 360/361 (Pembroke Dock to Tenby) and 387/388 (Pembroke Dock to Stackpole)None
Operates local bus services throughout Reading and surrounding areas, as well as local buses around Slough and Bracknell (branded as Thames Valley and Courtney Buses), local buses around Newbury (branded as Kennections and Newbury & District), express services to London (branded as Greenline), contracts for Green Park Business Park (branded as Greenwave) and private contracts for Vodafone165 (May 2013)[7] None
Runnymede Borough CouncilRunnymede Community TransportOperates routes 457 (Addlestone to St Peters Hospital) and route 556 (Addlestone to Woking)None
Scottish Borders CouncilScottish Borders Council BusesOperates the Hawick town services and other local bus routes around the Galashiels and Hawick areasNone
Somerset County CouncilSomerset County Council BusesOperates local bus service throughout Somerset and surrounding areasNone
Swansea CouncilSwansea Council BusesOperates the Tuesday and Thursday journeys on route 142 (Morriston to Garnswllt)None
Operates local bus services throughout Warrington and surrounding areas102 (March 2017)[8] None
West Berkshire CouncilWest Berkshire Council BusesOperates local bus services throughout West Berkshire and surrounding areasNone
Wolverhampton City CouncilWolverhampton City Council BusesOperates route 500 (Wolverhampton City Free Bus)None

See also

Notes and References

  1. http://www.freewebs.com/nwbus/fleetlists.htm Blackpool
  2. http://lothianbuses.com/assets/files/2012_AnnualReport.pdf Annual Report 2012
  3. http://www.busandcoach.com/newspage.aspx?id=3604&categoryid=4 Three new Solos for DGC Buses
  4. http://www.ipswichbus.co.uk/ipswichfleet/ Ipswich Buses Fleetlist
  5. https://www.nctx.co.uk/ourfleet Our Fleet
  6. http://www.nottinghaminsight.org.uk/f/96578/Library/Council-Government-and-Democracy/Financial-Statements/ Final Statement of Accounts 2012/13
  7. http://www.reading-buses.co.uk/files/documents/Fleet%20lists/May%202013.pdf Fleet List
  8. https://www.networkwarrington.co.uk/assets/library/original/pdf/6/fleet-list-mar-2017.4d594441e226033a1b35ecdcd9be5c5a.1489150411.pdf Network Warrington Fleet List