McKindless
 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.
History
[edit]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:
- 68 West Crindledyke – Hamilton
- 61 Bonkle – Newarthill
- 66 Bonkle – Hamilton
- 56 Shotts – Hamilton
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 Rutherglen, 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.
Collapse
[edit]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]
Former services
[edit]- Parkhead (formerly Rutherglen)
- 62: Glasgow – Clydebank – Faifley
- 67: Glasgow – Rutherglen – Cambuslang – Blantyre – Hamilton – Fairhill – Little Earnock (Hamilton)
- 75: Milton – Glasgow (used to operate to Kennishead before it was cut back to City Centre)
- 80 Glasgow – Springburn – Kirkintilloch – Harestanes
- Newmains
- 6: Motherwell – North Motherwell (Motherwell Local)
- 9 : Hamilton or North Motherwell – Motherwell – Wishaw – Cleland
- 10: Cleland – Waterloo
- 21/X21: Lanark – East Kilbride
- 22: Coltness – Overtown
- 24: Wishaw/Coltness Circular (Main St, Dryburgh Rd, Coltness Terminus, Dryburgh Rd, Kenilworth Ave)
- 31: Hamilton – Larkhall – Lanark
- 41: Hamilton – Wishaw – Lanark
- 44: Wishaw – Bellshill via Cleland (also operated to Overtown at some point)
- 56: Hamilton – Wishaw – Shotts
- 68: Newmains – Hamilton (also operated to North Motherwell, Peacock Cross (Hamilton) and Bellshill at some point)
- 93: Cleland – Forgewood
- X1: Glasgow – West Crindledyke
- X2: Glasgow – Cleland
Former fleet
[edit]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.
Depots
[edit]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.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Companies House". Retrieved 4 May 2009.
- ^ "KCB on the Acquisition Trail" centralsmt.co.uk
- ^ a b c "Abrupt end as McKindless closes down with hours' notice". Buses (661): 12–13. April 2010.
- ^ SPT steps in to help McKindless passengers Archived 1 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b Employees left in the dark after Lanarkshire bus firm’s collapse – Daily Record
- ^ "P & C BUSES LIMITED overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK".
- ^ a b UKB-Fleetlists: McKindless
- ^ Allan, Mark (December 2006). "McKindless buys King Long bus". Buses (621). Ian Allan Publishing: 8.
- ^ Enviro 400 demo in George Square Glasgow on Flickr – Photo Sharing
