British Independent Buses in the 1990s

After the upheavals of the 1980s, with the break-up of the National Bus Company, the 1990s saw further changes. The former NBC companies were now private companies, technically ‘independents’, but because of their lineage are outside the scope of this book. The 1990s saw the emergence of the larger groupings that began to swallow up some of the traditional independent operators: A1 Service in Scotland went to Stagecoach and OK Motor Services in County Durham went to the Go-Ahead Group, while other companies disappeared altogether.

The 1990s also saw the rise of the midibus, especially the ubiquitous Dennis Dart. These began to filter slowly through into the independent fleets, especially towards the end of the 1990s when new vehicles gave greater accessibility to wheelchair users and those with impaired mobility. 

Here, in the second in the series, this selection of previously unpublished photos illustrates the changes in independent buses in the 1990s.