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.

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Ulsterbus

Wright Gemini 3 bodied Volvo B5TL in Omagh in July 2023
Parent	Translink
Founded	1967
Headquarters	Milewater Road, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Locale	Northern Ireland
Service area	Northern Ireland Republic of Ireland (via Cross Border Services)
Service type	Bus service, Coach
Alliance	Bus Éireann
Stations	22
Fleet	~1,100
Operator	Translink
Website	Official website

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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.^[1] Drivers would often face hijackings, assaults and robberies while operating Ulsterbus services, their buses being turned into burning barricades or occasionally being bombed.^[2] Four Ulsterbus employees were killed in the 1972 Bloody Friday bombings when an IRA bomb exploded at the Oxford Street bus station.^[3][4] 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.^[1][5]

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.^[6]

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.^[7]

Ulsterbus is responsible for most of the province-wide bus services in Northern Ireland. It operates 1,100 buses and twenty-two bus stations, several of which, such as those at Belfast Europa and Bangor, form integrated transport interchanges with Northern Ireland Railways stations.^[8] Ulsterbus, as part of Translink, is charged with transporting over 55,000 children per day to school.^[9] Every July and August, around 250 vehicles are usually de-taxed. This is because not as many are needed for service due to schools finishing for summer holidays.^{[citation needed]}

In December 2015, a single-decker bus crashed into Strangford Lough after colliding with a wall on the Portaferry Road near Newtownards. No passengers were on board at the time and the driver of the bus sustained only minor injuries. The bus was recovered and put back onto land a few hours later.^[21]

Two Ulsterbus Goldline coaches have suffered engine fires while in service; a coach bound for Belfast caught fire outside of Lurgan, County Armagh in November 2016, while another caught fire on the M2 in County Antrim in July 2021, which the company states was caused by "accidental ignition".^[22][23]

An Urby bus was hijacked and set alight by "masked men" on the morning of 1 November 2021 in Newtownards. The bus had recently entered service in the Bowtown estate when hijackers held the driver at gunpoint and "muttered something about the (Northern Ireland) protocol" before setting the bus alight. No passengers were on board at the time, but the bus was totally destroyed and the driver left "badly shaken". The attack was widely condemned by members of the Northern Ireland Assembly and all buses to the town were briefly suspended.^[24][25]

As of October 2021, the Ulsterbus fleet consists of nearly 1,100 buses and coaches,^[11] with buses predominantly bodied by Wrightbus of Ballymena.

Prior to the advent of low-floor buses, the Ulsterbus fleet mainly consisted of Alexander-bodied Bristol REs, Leyland Leopards, Leyland Tigers and Volvo B10Ms. Many of these would be hijacked and maliciously destroyed throughout The Troubles, and as such, second-hand Bristol, Leyland and AEC buses were regularly purchased from British operators.^[11][26]

The last Leyland Tiger of a fleet of over 600 was handed over to the company in September 1993, with Ulsterbus moving over to the Volvo B10M following the closure of Leyland Bus.^[27] Most high-floor Ulsterbus buses were withdrawn by the mid-2000s; the last Leyland Leopards were finally withdrawn in 2006, with 681 being built for Ulsterbus and 228 of these being maliciously destroyed.^[28]

Following an order for 40 Leyland Atlanteans in 1971, no further double decker buses were ordered, as they were seen as expensive to run and not offering good value for money at the time.^[29][30] In 2001, however, double decker buses were reintroduced to Northern Ireland through the purchase of 20 low-floor Volvo B7TLs with Alexander ALX400 bodywork for both Ulsterbus and Citybus.^[31]