Articulated buses in the United Kingdom
Four models of their National bodied buses were imported, and used on extended trial by South Yorkshire PTE in 1979, returned to the lessor in 1981.
[4] These vehicles wore a green, red and cream livery, and while in SYPTE service, were also demonstrated to other UK operators including Maidstone Borough Council Transport.
Four examples was also purchased by private London operator Capital Citybus in 1994 from British Airways, receiving route blinds and markings for Red Arrow service.
In August 2008, following the election of Boris Johnson as Mayor of London, it was announced the articulated buses would be withdrawn as their five-year operating contracts came to an end, starting from May 2009.
Twelve of these were delivered for use on the Capital City Red services to Ely, which operated to a five-minute frequency, to improve infrastructure and increase capacity on a route previously operated by conventional single deckers, with the aim being that the Ely corridor would become the first Statutory Quality Bus Partnership in Wales.
The Baycar OmniCities were later withdrawn from the service, being reallocated to conventional city routes following a repaint into standard Cardiff Bus livery.
The remaining OmniCities were withdrawn on 29 January 2022 following the arrival of 36 Yutong E12 battery electric buses, with many being sold to other operators or entering private preservation.
[13][14] In early 2000 Travel West Midlands (TWM) took delivery of 11 Mercedes-Benz O405 articulated buses for its route 67 between Castle Vale and Birmingham.
[17] Articulated buses are common at airports around the United Kingdom, and are usually operated on shuttle services between terminals and car parks.
[24] Most of these were withdrawn in 2020 with the arrival of new Optare MetroDecker EVs for the network, however six were retained and upgraded to Euro VI standard for the Rawcliffe Bar route.
[28] All of Brighton & Hove's 22 Citaros were withdrawn by October 2022 and replaced with former London double-deckers, with the company claiming that discontinued spare parts for the buses, fuel emissions concerns and falling passenger numbers on the university services had led to their withdrawal.
[36] Translink's Glider bus rapid transit system in Belfast is operated using a fleet of 30 18m-long Van Hool ExquiCity 18 articulated buses.
[37][38] The majority of articulated buses in the UK are Mercedes-Benz Citaros, with the remainder being standard Scania and Volvos, and the Wright StreetCar.
