page_title: Scottish Citylink
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Scottish Citylink / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Scottish Citylink coach (reg. P720 RWU), a 1996 DAF SB3000 single-decker with Van Hool Alizée bodywork, pictured in Oban, Argyll and Bute, about to depart on route 918 to Fort William.
context_page_description: Scottish Citylink is a long-distance express coach operator in Scotland and Ireland and England. The company was formed as a subsidiary of Scottish Transport Group in March 1985. Since September 2005 it has been operated as a 65/35 joint venture between ComfortDelGro and Stagecoach.
context_section_description: Scottish Citylink Coaches was formed in 1985 during the reorganisation of the Scottish Bus Group 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 (which still holds true today).
  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 Quicksliver 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 Rapson's 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 Londonderry / 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, when sold in a management buyout to its management and employees. As the Scottish Bus Group broke up, the number of private operators working Citylink contracts increased. Park's, West Coast Motors and Rapson's 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.
  In August 1998 Scottish Citylink was sold to Metroline, the London-based subsidiary of ComfortDelGro.
  In 2002, the company began trading in the Republic of Ireland, acquiring Cummer Commercials, which operated on the Dublin to Galway route (and also traded as CityLink Express). The route has since been rebranded to the yellow-blue Citylink livery (although without the "Scottish" prefix) and h
caption: Van Hool Alizée bodied DAF SB3000 in Oban in October 2007
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