 A McKindless Volvo B6LE/Alexander ALX200 in Glasgow | |
| Founded | 1987 |
|---|---|
| Defunct | 2010 |
| Headquarters | Newmains |
| Service area | Greater Glasgow Glasgow City North Lanarkshire South Lanarkshire West Dunbartonshire East Dunbartonshire |
| Service type | Buses |
| Fleet | Dennis Dart Optare Excel MCW Metrobus Leyland Olympian Volvo B6LE |
McKindless was a Scottish bus operator, operating a number of bus routes throughout Greater Glasgow, Scotland. The company was based in Newmains [1] and had a depot in Parkhead.
McKindless was founded in Newmains by Vincent and Margaret McKindless. It started as a small operation of a few buses, a lorry and two coaches in 1987. Its aim was to provide school contracts and private hires, but it quickly moved into local bus operation. The first routes operated were:
These service were operated with ex-Highland Scottish front-engined Ford R1114s and Leyland Nationals. In 1994 the routes and buses were bought by Kelvin Central Buses. [2]
From 1996 Mckindless started a commuter shuttle between Wishaw and Glasgow. and restarted the original routes, and started services to Cleland and Lanark from 1997. [3]
In 2000, the company expanded again by opening a depot in Parkhead, and started operating route with Glasgow city centre – Bishopbriggs – Kirkintilloch. By 2005 they had opened a new purpose-built depot in Parkhead and started route 62. The 62 route became their best route being very busy and operated by low floor vehicles.
The company ceased operation of its services at 19:00 on Friday 19 February 2010. [4] Many employees were not notified that the company was about to close, only discovering this when their shifts ended. [3] The end of the company left 116 people unemployed. [3] There were also allegations of tax fraud, with the Inland Revenue telling former employees that the company had not paid tax or national insurance contributions on their behalf since 2004. [5] The company's depot at Bogside was taken over by new company P&C Buses, which also took on several former McKindless services in North Lanarkshire. [5] P&C was itself dissolved in 2013. Since then, McKindless has been succeeded by JMB Travel, which operates many former McKindless services in Lanarkshire and uses similar branding to McKindless. [6]
When it closed McKindless owned 110 vehicles comprising a large number of makes and models. [7] They operated six regular frequency routes with a peak vehicle requirement of 65. Recent additions included several Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 Darts with Euro 4 low emission engines. Other vehicle types used include MCW Metrobus and Leyland Olympian double deckers and various single deckers such as Dennis Darts, Volvo B6s and Optare Excels. [7]
In late 2006 the company bought its first new vehicles: two BMC Falcons and a King Long single-decker. [8] Their three express services were run with Volvo B10M and Dennis Javelin coaches. Three older vehicles, a Bristol Lodekka, an MCW Metrobus and an AEC Routemaster, were preserved by the company. McKindless had also bought ex-Hutchison Optare Excels to use on local routes in Wishaw, still in the livery of their previous. In July 2009, McKindless loaned an Alexander Dennis Enviro400 double-decker for demonstration purposes. [9]
Steady investment resulted in the operator providing 100% low-floor vehicles on their local service routes in Lanarkshire since 2007, while operations in Glasgow were nearly 100% low floor by 2009.
The McKindless Bus Group operated from its head office at Newmains and from a purpose-built depot at Nuneaton Street, Parkhead. The depot in Parkhead replaced a previous facility in Seath Road, Rutherglen.
Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark, is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. The county is no longer used for local government purposes, but gives its name to the two modern council areas of North Lanarkshire and South Lanarkshire.
Motherwell is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarkshire, Motherwell is the headquarters for North Lanarkshire Council. Geographically the River Clyde separates Motherwell from Hamilton to the west whereas the South Calder Water separates Motherwell from Carfin to the north-east and New Stevenston and Bellshill towards the north.
The Argyle Line is a suburban railway located in West Central Scotland. The line serves the commercial and shopping districts of Glasgow's central area, and connects towns from West Dunbartonshire to South Lanarkshire. Named for Glasgow's Argyle Street, the line uses the earlier cut-and-cover tunnel running beneath that thoroughfare.
Wishaw is a large town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, on the edge of the Clyde Valley, 15 miles (24 km) south-east of Glasgow city centre. The Burgh of Wishaw was formed in 1855 within Lanarkshire. it formed a joint large burgh with its neighbour Motherwell from 1920 until its dissolution when Scottish local authorities were restructured in 1975, and was then in Motherwell district within the Strathclyde region until 1996. The town is part of the Motherwell and Wishaw constituency. It has the postal code of ML2 and the dialling code 01698.
Central Scottish Omnibuses Ltd was a bus operating subsidiary of the Scottish Transport Group formed in June 1985 from Central SMT, and operated until July 1989 when it was merged with Kelvin Scottish to form Kelvin Central Buses.
Cleland is a village near Motherwell and Wishaw in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. As of 2018, it has a population of about 3,000. The village has a strong coal mining heritage, and is a typical example of a working class village in North Lanarkshire and the Glasgow area. Due to its location, despite being at the heart of North Lanarkshire, the village is isolated, geographically and culturally, from surrounding towns such as Motherwell, Shotts and Wishaw.
Uddingston is a small town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is on the north side of the River Clyde, south-east of Glasgow city centre, and acts as a dormitory suburb for the city.
Cambuslang railway station is a railway station which serves the town of Cambuslang, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. The station is 5 miles (8 km) south east of Glasgow Central, and is regularly served by trains on the Argyle Line to and from Glasgow Central. Passenger services are provided by ScotRail Trains on behalf of Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT).
First Glasgow is the largest bus company serving the Greater Glasgow area in Scotland. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup. The company operates within the area covered by the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, a public body responsible for helping to co-ordinate public transport services in the Greater Glasgow area.
Motherwell railway station is a railway station in Motherwell North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It lies on the West Coast Main Line (WCML), and is served also by Argyle Line trains of the Glasgow suburban railway network. It is the penultimate stop on the northbound WCML before Glasgow. There are four platforms of various length in use at Motherwell. The station is located next to the town's main shopping arcade, Motherwell Shopping Centre.
Wishaw railway station is a railway station in Wishaw, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The station is managed by ScotRail and lies on the Wishaw Deviation Line just south of the single track link line which connects to the West Coast Main Line at Shieldmuir.
Carluke railway station is a railway station on the West Coast Main Line (WCML) that serves the town of Carluke, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. The station is managed by ScotRail and is predominantly served by Argyle Line commuter trains running between Lanark and Glasgow Central. The station lies at the western edge of the town, and enjoys panoramic views of the Clyde Valley and beyond to the hills of Lanarkshire and Ayrshire.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Motherwell is an ecclesiastical diocese of the Catholic Church in Scotland.
Hamilton North and Bellshill was a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood). It elected one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality method of election. It was also one of ten constituencies in the Central Scotland electoral region, which elected seven additional members, in addition to ten constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
Pather is a suburb of Wishaw, Scotland and was initially built as a council estate. It is situated around ½ miles (0.8 km) from the town centre.
The Wishaw and Coltness Railway was an early Scottish mineral railway. It ran for approximately 11 miles from Chapel Colliery, at Newmains in North Lanarkshire connecting to the Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway near Whifflet, giving a means of transport for minerals around Newmains to market in Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Newmains is a village and former mining community on the eastern edge of Wishaw, North Lanarkshire, Scotland, 18 miles (29 km) south-east of Glasgow. Although it is considered by the local authority to have a town centre in its own right.
McGill's Bus Services is a bus operator based in Greenock, Scotland. The company has grown to operate a network of routes covering much of the council areas of Inverclyde, East Renfrewshire, Renfrewshire, North Lanarkshire, Glasgow City, North Ayrshire, West Lothian, Falkirk and Dundee City. McGill's have several depots based in Greenock, Inchinnan, Johnstone, Edinburgh, Bannockburn, Balfron, Livingston and Dundee. McGill's also formerly had depots in Dumbarton, Barrhead and Coatbridge.
The Caledonian Railway branches in North Lanarkshire built on the Caledonian Railway main line, which opened in 1848. In the following years the considerable increase of iron production and coal extraction in North Lanarkshire led to a progressive expansion of branch lines in the area between the eastern margin of Glasgow and Bellside in the east, and between Coatbridge, Airdrie and Motherwell. Mineral traffic was dominant and for some years passenger operation followed the construction of some of the mineral connections. In 1861 the Rutherglen and Coatbridge line was opened, extended later to Airdrie, rivalling the established Monkland Railways route. In 1869 the connection from Cleland to Midcalder was opened, connecting mineral sites but also forming a new passenger route to Edinburgh.
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