Borders Buses

Borders Buses operates both local and regional bus services in the City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian and Scottish Borders, Scotland, as well as Cumbria and Northumberland, England. It is a subsidiary of West Coast Motors.

Borders Buses
ParentWest Coast Motors
Founded1972 (1972)
HeadquartersBerwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland, England
Service area
Service typeBus and coach
Depots3
Managing DirectorColin Robert Craig
Websitewww.bordersbuses.co.uk

History
A Perryman's Buses branded Optare Solo (top) and Optare Versa (bottom).

The company, formerly known as Perryman's Buses, began in 1972, operating as a taxi service in the village of Burnmouth, Scottish Borders.[1] Following expansion over the next four decades, Perryman's moved to larger premises at Ramparts Business Park, Berwick-upon-Tweed in 2002.

Following the closure of Munro's of Jedburgh in July 2013, Perryman's was awarded a contract from Scottish Borders Council, valued at £10.4 million, to operate a number of routes in Northumberland, Midlothian, and Scottish Borders.[2][3]

This expansion saw the opening of a second depot, in the village of St Boswells, and created a total of 27 jobs. The new operation required additional vehicles, with a total of twelve high-specification Optare Versa single-deck vehicles delivered in September 2013 – the company's largest ever vehicle order at the time.[4][5][6]

In February 2016, Perryman's Buses was purchased by West Coast Motors. The sale included 45 vehicles, as well as depots at Berwick-upon-Tweed and St Boswells.[7][8] Later in the same year, the company took over several services from First Scotland East. The remainder of First's operations in the Scottish Borders, including depots at Galashiels, Hawick, Kelso and Peebles were sold to West Coast Motors in March 2017 – with a subsequent rebrand to Borders Buses in July 2017.[9][10][11]

Further expansion in the Scottish Borders over the next few years saw the company acquire routes from BARC Coach Hire in January 2018,[12] as well as Buskers in September 2019.[13]

The company has recently seen significant investment in vehicles, as well as real-time service information, and ticketing systems. In April 2019, three bike-friendly Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 MMC vehicles were introduced on to route X62 – representing an investment of about £750,000. The launch of these new vehicles coincided with the launch of full contactless payment acceptance across the Borders Buses network.[14][15]

Subsequently, ten bike-friendly Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 MMC vehicles were delivered towards the end of 2019, with a further ten being delivered in February 2020, at a cost of £3.25 million. These vehicles currently operate on routes 253, X62 and X95, and feature audio-visual next stop announcements, leather seats, tables and charging points.[16][17]

In March 2020, it was announced that Borders Buses was granted a five-year contract, valued at £4 million, to commercially operate the remaining Scottish Borders Council core bus network – including the operation of routes 51, 52, 60, 67 and 68. As well as this, the company will work in partnership with Scottish Borders Council to improve bus stops, the provision of real-time information and bus priority measures.[18][19]

Fleet and operations

Depots

As of May 2022, the company operates from three depots: Berwick-upon-Tweed, Galashiels and St Boswells.

Vehicles

The fleet consists mainly of diesel-powered single and double-deck buses manufactured by Alexander Dennis and Optare.

Branding

In July 2017, following the sale of Perryman's Buses to West Coast Motors, the business was rebranded as Borders Buses. This saw the introduction of a new cream and red corporate livery, featuring a blue stripe along the length of the vehicle, as well as a new logo. Some vehicles operating on key routes have received route-specific branding, based on the corporate livery.[20][21][22] Prior to rebranding, vehicles wore the Perryman's Buses livery, which consisted of a white base with a red and blue stripe along the length of the vehicle.

References
  1. "Perryman's Buses taken over by West Coast Motors". The Berwickshire News. 26 February 2016. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  2. Paterson, Kenny (20 June 2013). "Bus jobs boost... but Munro's misses out". The Southern Reporter. Archived from the original on 11 June 2018. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  3. "Tender losses force Munro's closure". Bus & Coach Professional. 10 July 2013. Archived from the original on 1 October 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  4. "Perryman's bus contract boost". Coach & Bus Week. 2 July 2013. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  5. "Borders Bus Company gears up for future after securing £1.7m Bank of Scotland deal". Lloyds Banking Group. 14 October 2013. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  6. "Optare completes delivery of Perryman's Buses largest ever order". Optare. 10 September 2013. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  7. "West Coast Motors buys Perryman's of Berwick-upon-Tweed". Coach & Bus Week. 29 February 2016. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  8. "Perryman's Buses taken over by West Coast Motors". The Berwickshire News. 26 February 2016. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  9. Knox, David (15 July 2016). "Perryman's set to take over threatened Borders bus routes". Border Telegraph. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  10. Peat, Chris (10 March 2017). "First to sell Borders operations". Bus & Coach Buyer. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  11. "Takeover deal secures future of Borders bus routes". The Southern Reporter. 3 April 2017. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  12. "Borders Buses to take on six new routes". Peeblesshire News. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  13. "New bus routes from Monday". Borders Buses. 5 September 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  14. "Borders Buses invests in active travel with bike-friendly Enviro400". Alexander Dennis. 18 April 2019. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  15. "Borders Buses invests in bikes on board". Routeone. 24 April 2019. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  16. Jackson, Peter (24 December 2019). "Border Buses invests £3.25m in bike-friendly buses". Coach & Bus Week. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  17. Dalton, Alastair (27 November 2019). "First Scottish 'bike bus' route launched from Berwick to Edinburgh". The Scotsman. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  18. Kelly, Paul (12 March 2020). "Firm signs £4m deal with council to help run bus services in Borders". The Southern Reporter. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  19. Knox, David (11 March 2020). "Council offloads key routes in new £4 million Borders Buses deal". Peeblesshire News. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  20. "Two become one on the Borders". Bus & Coach Buyer. 12 July 2017. Archived from the original on 11 June 2018. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  21. "Borders Buses to formally merge with Perryman's". Coach and Bus Week. No. 1299. 11 July 2017. p. 11.
  22. "End of road for Perryman's name as bus firm merges Borders subsidiaries". The Southern Reporter. 13 July 2017. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
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