Ulsterbus, Northern Ireland

This frame shows the cover of the Summer 1981 Ulsterbus Express Services timetable (left). The company operated services within Northern Ireland together with some services into the Irish Republic worked jointly with CIÉ (Córas Iompair Éireann). The map on the right appeared one of the inside pages and showed the cross channel services operated from Northern Ireland to England and Scotland Services from Belfast ran to London (924) nightly; to Glasgow/Edinburgh (913) four days a week; to Leeds via Lancaster, Preston and Manchester (923) three times a week; and Middlesbrough (349) twice a week. There were also three holiday traffic services to Blackpool (258); Scarborough (249) and Ayr (914) once weekly. A curious ‘New 1981’ service was that to Bristol which ran overnight from Belfast on Sunday nights returning overnight from Bristol on Monday nights operated from 28 June until 31 August. The timetable showed just four timing points Belfast-Larne-Cairnryan-Bristol. Can anyone tell me more about this service?? In addition there were cross channel services which avoided Belfast running to Glasgow from Londonderry (287) four times weekly and from Bundoran (288) twice weekly. Also from Londonderry were services to London (922) twice weekly and to Blackpool (259) on two holiday weekends. This timetable was personally sent to me by the late Reg Ludgate, the man who for many years compiled the Northern Ireland news column for ‘Buses Illustrated’ and ‘Buses’ magazines. Mr. Ludgate worked for Ulsterbus.

The timetable leaflet produced by Ulsterbus for the services to Belfast from Birmingham (day service 921) and from London (overnight service 920) valid from 1 April 2004 until 31 March 2005. The services were worked jointly with National Express and ferry company Stena Line although not operated with through coaches. Ulsterbus has an outstation at Stranraer that provides the coaches which work from there to and from the English cities. In Northern Ireland a separate coach carries the passengers between the Ferry Port and the City Centre. In between they walk on and off the ferry.

The timetable leaflet produced by Ulsterbus for the services to Belfast from Birmingham (day service 921) and from London (overnight service 920) valid from 1 April 2004 until 31 March 2005. The services were worked jointly with National Express and ferry company Stena Line although not operated with through coaches. Ulsterbus has an outstation at Stranraer that provides the coaches which work from there to and from the English cities. In Northern Ireland a separate coach carries the passengers between the Ferry Port and the City Centre. In between they walk on and off the ferry.

The timetable leaflet produced by Ulsterbus for the service 923 from Belfast to Glasgow and Edinburgh valid from 1 April 2004 until 31 March 2005. This service was operated jointly with Scottish Citylink and ferry company Stena Line although not operated with through coaches. At the Belfast end passengers first travelled by coach between the Europa Bus Centre and the Ferry Port and then boarded the ferry as foot passengers. When the ferry arrived at Stranraer a second coach awaited for the onward journey. The morning service from Stranraer and the afternoon service from Edinburgh were operated by a Stranraer based Ulsterbus coach.

The timetable leaflet produced by Ulsterbus for the service 923 from Belfast to Glasgow and Edinburgh valid from 1 April 2004 until 31 March 2005. This service was operated jointly with Scottish Citylink and ferry company Stena Line although not operated with through coaches. At the Belfast end passengers first travelled by coach between the Europa Bus Centre and the Ferry Port and then boarded the ferry as foot passengers. When the ferry arrived at Stranraer a second coach awaited for the onward journey. The morning service from Stranraer and the afternoon service from Edinburgh were operated by a Stranraer based Ulsterbus coach.

Tuesday 4 May 2004 - Digbeth Coach Station, Birmingham: Left is Ulsterbus 692 (ACZ 6692), a Plaxton Excalibur bodied B10M new in 1999, which would be working the 1100 service 921 as far as Stranrear on the Belfast service. Right is First 20542 (WX53 WFA), a Transbus Plaxton Paragon bodied Volvo B10M new in 2003.

Tuesday 4 May 2004 - Digbeth Coach Station, Birmingham: Left is First Coaches or First 20542 (WX53 WFA), a Transbus Plaxton Paragon bodied Volvo B10M new in 2003. Right is Ulsterbus 692 (ACZ 6692), a Plaxton Excalibur bodied B10M new in 1999, which would be working the 1100 service 921 as far as Stranrear on the Belfast service.

Tuesday 4 May 2004 (1452) at Tebay Service Area in Cumbria: Already close to their departure time and the smokers getting their last gasp of nicotine before the coach doors were closed. Bebb Travel CN51 XNU was working the 0745 Cardiff-Edinburgh National Express service 536 and Park's of Hamilton HSK 643 was working the 0715 Lincoln to Glasgow National Express service 537. On the right is Ulsterbus 692 (JAZ 6692) participating in the joint Ulsterbus/National Express Birmingham-Belfast service 921. It covered the Birmingham-Stranraer portion of the trip. Passengers then transferred to the Stena Line HSS ferry ‘Stena Voyager’ for the sea crossing and when they arrived at Belfast port another Ulsterbus coach was waiting to complete the journey into Belfast city centre. The Bebb coach had left Birmingham at the same time as the Ulsterbus coach. That travelled via Wolverhampton then non-stop to Tebat whereas the Ulsterbus coach travelled via Manchester and Preston.

Tuesday 4 May 2004 - Tebay Service Area, Cumbria. Left is Rapson's Coaches 667 (DSU 707) working the 0830 Coventry to Inverness National Express service 538. Right is Ulsterbus 692 (ACZ 6692) working the 1100 Birmingham to Stranraer portion of the Belfast service 921, a joint Ulsterbus/National Express (Eurolines) service.

Tuesday 4 May 2004 (2154) - The joint National Express/Ulsterbus 'Eurolines' service 921 linking Birmingham and Belfast is split into three sections. The sea crossing between Stranraer and Belfast port is with Stena Line (also referred to a joint operator) and passengers travel on the ferry as foot passengers. Different coaches are used either side of the water and do not make the crossing on the ferry. The section on the mainland between Birmingham and Stranraer is covered by Ulsterbus coaches outstationed in Stranraer. Upon arrival at Belfast port a coach awaits to convey the passengers on the short 7 minute run to Belfast city centre. In addition to conveying passengers from service 921 that coach also conveys passengers off the joint Ulsterbus/Scottish Citylink service 923 from Edinburgh and Glasgow. In this view we see Ulsterbus 1603 (JAZ 1603), a 1996 Plaxton Première 320 bodied Volvo B10M-62, unloading at the Europa Buscentre in Belfast at 2154.

Thursday 6 May 2004 - The joint National Express/Ulsterbus 'Eurolines' service 921 linking Belfast and Birmingham is split into three sections. The sea crossing between Belfast port and Stranraer is with Stena Line (also referred to a joint operator) and passengers travel on the ferry as foot passengers. Different coaches are used either side of the water and do not make the crossing on the ferry. The section on the mainland between Stranraer and Birmingham is covered by Ulsterbus coaches outstationed in Stranraer. Ulsterbus 1603 (JAZ 1603), a 1996 Plaxton Première 320 bodied Volvo B10M-62, was seen on stand at the Europa Buscentre in Belfast at 0650 performing the first part of the service, the short 7 minute run to Belfast port. The coach also carried passengers travelling on the joint Ulsterbus/Scottish Citylink service 923 to Edinburgh. (The destination blind is totally incorrect. It carries service 300 which is that to Belfast International Airport).

Thursday 6 May 2004 (approx 0950) - Ulsterbus participates in joint workings from Belfast to Edinburgh on service 923 with Scottish Citylink and from Belfast to Birmingham on service 921 with ‘Eurolines’ (National Express). The coaches do not work a through service and clients use the Stena Line ferry as foot passengers. Coaches on the mainland side are provided by Ulsterbus using vehicles outstationed in Stranraer. A shared vehicle works the short section from the Europa Buscentre to Belfast Ferry Terminal (which took just 7 minutes on this day). Seen at Stranraer ferry port, with the bright red funnels of the ‘Stena Voyager’ in the background, coach 510 (GAZ 5510) was working to Edinburgh and coach 691 (ACZ 6691) was working to Birmingham. Both are Plaxton Excalibur bodied Volvo B10Ms.

Thursday 6 May 2004 - The Belfast-Birmingham service 921 is a joint working by ‘Eurolines’ (National Express), Stena Line Ferries and Ulsterbus. Ulsterbus covers the coach workings and on the mainland uses vehicles outstationed in Stranraer (Scotland) for the section between Stranraer ferry port and Birmingham. The sea crossing is by Stena Line, the coaches do not work a through service and another Ulsterbus vehicle covers the short section between the Europa Buscentre and the ferry port in Belfast. Today my trip to Birmingham was on board Ulsterbus 691 which was seen just before we left Stranraer at 0954. The bright red funnels of the ‘Stena Voyager’ can be seen in the background.

Thursday 6 May 2004 - The Belfast-Birmingham service 921 is a joint working by ‘Eurolines’ (National Express), Stena Line Ferries and Ulsterbus. Ulsterbus covers the coach workings and on the mainland uses vehicles outstationed in Stranraer (Scotland) for the section between Stranraer ferry port and Birmingham. The coaches do not work a through service and another Ulsterbus vehicle covers the short section between the Europa Buscentre and the ferry port in Belfast. Coach 691 (ACZ 6691), a 1999 Plaxton Excalibur bodied Volvo B10M-62, was seen at the rest stop taken at Tebay Service Area, Cumbria between 1320 and 1405. There had just been a downpour prior to our arrival

Thursday 6 May 2004 (1427) - I was travelling on Ulsterbus 691 (ACZ 6691), a 1999 Plaxton Excalibur bodied Volvo B10M-62, working the Stranraer-Birmingham section of the Belfast-Birmingham service 921. As we passed Burton-in-Kendal service area on the M6 Motorway at 1427 we encountered the northbound 921 service which had left Birmingham at 1100. He was on time and would be taking a rest stop at Tebay Service Area in about 22 minutes. Couldn’t tell which coach this was unfortunately. It could possibly have been 692 on which I had travelled north two days earlier. The no roller type destination sign was a possible clue.

Saturday 11 May 1996 (approx 0935) - Two Plaxton bodied coaches seen at Busáras in Dublin. Left is Ulsterbus 1600 (EAZ 2600), a 320 model loading as the 1000 hrs service to Belfast. Right is Bus Éireann VP11 (96 D 25727), a 350 model. Both are on Volvo chassis.

Saturday 11 May 1996 (approx 0950) - The joint Ulsterbus/Bus Éireann service linking Dublin with Belfast has proved very popular and over the years has been expanded significantly. In this view at Busáras in Dublin, Ulsterbus 1600 (EAZ 2600) (on the right) was the service vehicle for the 1000 hrs departure to Belfast. On the left Bus Éireann PL79 (90 D 43687) poised ready to duplicate. They are a Plaxton Premiere 320 bodied Volvo and a Plaxton Paramount bodied Leyland Tiger respectively. The Bus Éireann coach was new to Shearings Holidays (England) as G815 RNC in 1986.

Friday 18 November 1983 - Ulsterbus 3000 (WOI 607) on trial with Ipswich Buses and seen here at Tower Ramparts bus station. It was a Leyland B21 with Alexander (Belfast) bodywork new in February 1982. About nine years later (circa 1991 after continued service in Northern Ireland) Ipswich Buses acquired the vehicle (#148) (later re-registered YBJ 159X).