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Citybus, Belfast

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Citybus took over the vehicles and services of Belfast Corporation in April 1973, with a mixed fleet comprising Daimler and Guy half cab double deckers, Daimler Fleetlines and Roadliners, AEC Swifts and a small number of Atlanteans. The first new vehicles were the final five Fleetlines which had been ordered by Belfast Corporation, followed by forty AN68 Atlanteans in 1975/76. As a sister company of Ulsterbus, it was inevitable that a common fleet policy would be introduced. This came in 1975 in the form of the first of 600 Bristol RELL6Gs with Alexander bodywork, with a batch of 40 for each operator. While this brought about the end of half cab conductor operated buses, the civil unrest in Ulster meant that further buses were also required.

Prior to the arrival of the new Bristol RELLs, the need for replacement buses was filled by the rebodying of buses (mainly Fleetlines) which had been destroyed, and the transfer of 32 Leyland Tiger Cubs and two Titans from Ulsterbus in 1974/75. 40 Atlanteans were placed in service in 1975/76, which were to be the last new Leyland double deckers to be bought by either company. From 1977 onwards the fleet began to be altered by the addition of second- hand buses from operators in the U.K. The first to arrive were ex London Transport AEC Merlins, followed by single deck Fleetlines from Northern General and Potteries. Ex London AEC Swifts came next, being followed by a group of former London Country AEC Merlins in 1979/80. Alongside these came further batches of new Bristol RELLs, as well as two ex Ulsterbus Bedford VAM14s, the latter being of note as the only front engined buses in the fleet at the time.

The next supplier of used buses was Crosville, who sent sixteen ECW bodied Bristol RELLs in 1980. A further batch followed them from United Automobile Services, and with these and new buses, the last ex London buses were withdrawn in 1981/82. Over the following few years further ECWs, from an increasingly varied selection of companies entered service, bringing a good degree of mechanical standardization to the fleet. As the years progressed the reducing availability of used RELLs meant turning to shorter buses, dual door vehicles, and finally some with Leyland engines instead of Gardner.

Three Leyland B21s arrived in 1982, followed by five Leyland Lynxes in 1986, but these were to remain little more than trial batches, being sold off after only only a few years service. The next major development was the introduction of Gardner powered Leyland Tigers from 1988 onwards, bringing a fleet of new mid-mounted underfloor engined buses to Belfast city routes for the first time. The last ECWs were withdrawn in 1991, with some returning to England for further service, and later preservation. The Alexander variety had been all withdrawn by 2000, with some passing to Bus Eireann for school transport, and some of the newer examples going to Lough Swilly.

1973

Opening fleet in April 1973, ex Belfast Corporation:

The following vehicles were operational at the takeover, and all were renumbered by the addition of 2000 to their previous B C T fleet numbers.

The following vehicles were taken over as withdrawn stock and not renumbered. 338 to 445 were used for spares, and 560 to 827 were later rebodied for Citybus:

New vehicles:

Rebodied vehicles:

1974

Rebodied vehicle:

1975

Citybus 2898 was one of the 40 Alexander bodied AN68s bought by Citybus in 1975. These buses were the last new Leyland double deckers to be bought by either Ulsterbus or Citybus.

1976

Rebodied vehicle:

1977

Citybus 2097 seen in central Belfast on August 22nd 1987. This bus later became Bus Eireann number BG18 (77-D-185), as depicted in the second photo (below). 2097 was sold for scrap at the end of 2000.

2154 is seen at Newtownabbey depot in February 1994, having been converted to single door for possible sale to Bus Eireann. However it was retained by Citybus due to a vehicle shortage at the time, and hence was not destined to join the B.E. fleet.

1978

1979

Rebodied vehicles:

1980

New in 1967, 701 was one of the oldest second-hand REs, arriving from Crosville in 1980 and seen here on route 11 on November 17th 1984. The route number co-incidentally matches the registration number.

Co-op allover advert 2348 provided a chance to sample free RE travel in Belfast, between the city centre and York House superstore. It is seen opposite City Hall on November 17th 1984.

NIR painted 2360 was one of four such buses (2357- 2360) used on the Rail-Link service during the 1980s, as seen at Central Station on January 26th 1985.

Donegall Square on November 17th 1984 with four-year-old bus 2415 between service journeys. This bus is now preserved by the Irish Transport Trust.

1981