Scottish Citylink are celebrating 40 years of Connecting Scotland, with some of their coaches wearing the anniversary logo along with an original strapline of ‘Citylinking-Smart Thinking’.
Evolving from the Scottish Bus Group’s range of coach services which expanded in the early 1980s, Scottish Citylink Coaches Limited became a separate entity in 1985 and gradually developed its services through a wider range of operators. After a management buyout in 1990, subsequent owners were National Express from 1993 and Metroline from 1998, which in 2000 was taken over by ComfortDelGro. From 2005, Stagecoach Bus Holdings have had a 35% shareholding, with the other 65% held by a UK subsidiary of ComfortDelGro.
In the last two years, new vehicles worth £10 million have been introduced across the Citylink network, featuring a variety of facilities designed around customer convenience and comfort. Its operations continue to meet high standards, with average network-wide punctuality at 93% in 2024.
The latest distinctive large batch of coaches are Volvo 9700 DD, 81 seat double deckers, made in Finland. These coaches feature the latest refinements of reclining seats, three point seat belts, usb charging points and fold down tables, with wheelchair access via the rear door adjacent to the toilet. They also have CCTV and driver’s rear view camera systems which remove the need for external mirrors, which can be quite vulnerable to damage on narrower roads.
A wide variety of modern coaches from different operators can be seen daily on Citylink services, although signs of any collective branding can be difficult to recognise on some of them.
The Citylink operators shown are West Coast Motors, McLeans Coaches, Parks of Hamilton and Stagecoach. Other operators of scheduled Citylink services include Shiel Buses, D&E Coaches, Simpsons Coaches, Central Coaches, Edinburgh Coach Lines, Hairy Haggis and Translink.
Citylink has long offered popular reasonably priced express and limited stop alternatives to train services. In addition, there are direct connections to main ferry services at Ullapool for Stornoway, Uig in Skye for Harris and North Uist, Oban and Kennacraig in Argyll for Inner Hebrides, and Cairnryan for Belfast. There are also various services which operate hail and ride in some rural areas.
Other separate operators have increasingly sought a slice of the cake. There is now competition with Citylink throughout its main Saltire Cross network and across 7 cities, and very recently on services to the West Highlands as well.
The combined effect of all these coach services running in parallel can result in what appears to be the coach equivalent of ‘elephant racing’ on motorways and dual carriageways – speed limited to 100kph!
Competition for market share shows the rear of the FlixBus highlighting free travel for concession pass holders. Ember coaches require advance booking but have zero booking fee. All operators offer some low fares, subject to certain conditions. Citylink promotions have included positioning a mobile advert on the entry to Fort William, which is in direct view of the new Ember coach services from Edinburgh and Glasgow.
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