The UK’s largest public sector operator reaches its half-century in April. PAUL SAVAGE considers what it has achieved but also suggests ways it could improve the quality of service today.
Ulsterbus is 50 years old on 17 April, the day in 1967 when the stateowned company took over the road passenger operations of the Ulster Transport Authority (UTA).
Today it is by some margin the largest public sector bus operator in the UK, with nearly 1,100 buses, express service and touring coaches providing 300 services from 20 principal depots across Northern Ireland. The sister Metro business in Belfast has another 275 vehicles. Outside London, this is the only part of the UK where bus services have never been deregulated.
Beyond the cities of Belfast and Derry~Londonderry, the province is largely rural and besides the main depots, there are over 40 outstations (one at Stranraer in Scotland) that range from hard standing at drivers’ homes to parking in merchants’ yards to company-owned sites.
These outstations help embed Ulsterbus and its staff in the communities they serve. The 50th anniversary is being marked with an exhibition of memorabilia at the Ulster Folk & Transport Museum, but until very recently th…
