Ulsterbus - Ulsterbus History - A

Ulsterbus - A

Ulsterbus is a public transport operator in Northern Ireland and operates bus services outside Belfast. It is part of Translink, the brand name for the subsidiary operating companies of the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company, which also includes Northern Ireland Railways and Metro Belfast.

Ulsterbus History

Ulsterbus was founded in 1967 with the creation of the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company, replacing the former Ulster Transport Authority. The founding of Ulsterbus coincided with the beginnings of The Troubles, a conflict which intensified throughout the 1970s and 1980s and often saw Ulsterbus buses and employees caught in the crossfire.

Drivers would often face hijackings, assaults and robberies while operating Ulsterbus services, their buses being turned into burning barricades or occasionally being bombed. Four Ulsterbus employees were killed in the 1972 Bloody Friday bombings when an IRA bomb exploded at the Oxford Street bus station. In total, 17 employees from both Ulsterbus and Citybus were killed during The Troubles, with 1,484 buses in total being maliciously destroyed from 1964 to the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.

Werner Heubeck was the first managing director of both Ulsterbus and Citybus, managing both companies throughout The Troubles from his appointment in 1965 until his retirement in 1988. A former Luftwaffe conscript, Heubeck became known for carrying bombs off buses and for making Northern Ireland's buses profitable and running to schedule despite the security situation, and received both an OBE in 1977 and a CBE on his retirement in 1988.

The Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company was rebranded to Translink in 1996. Ulsterbus and Citybus, as well as Northern Ireland's rail services, were integrated into Translink and were subsequently rebanded. Translink have built and refurbished a number of bus stations served by Ulsterbus and have invested in a fully low-floor bus fleet, as well as introducing brands such as the Foyle Metro.

Ulsterbus Overview

Ulsterbus Parent: Translink
Ulsterbus Founded: 1967
Ulsterbus Headquarters: Milewater Road, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Ulsterbus Locale: Northern Ireland
Ulsterbus Service Area: Northern Ireland
Ulsterbus Service Type: Bus service, Coach
Ulsterbus Alliance: Bus Éireann
Ulsterbus Stations: 22
Ulsterbus Fleet: ~1,100
Ulsterbus Operator: Translink