History

Metroline was formed in 1989 as a subsidiary of the publicly owned London Buses Limited. This was a prelude to the deregulation of bus services in London and the eventual privatisation of the company. Plans for deregulation were shelved in 1993.

Metroline through the years...

• October 1994 - Metroline privatised in the form of a management and employee buyout.
• July 1997 - Metroline floats on the stock exchange. Metroline Travel becomes the bus operating subsidiary of Metroline Plc.
• August 1998 - The purchase of MTL London from MTL completed, almost doubling the size of the bus operation. Metroline Plc purchases Scottish Citylink from National Express.
• February 2000 - DelGro Corporation, a Singaporean based investment company focused on transport businesses, offers to purchase Metroline.
• March 2000 - The sale of the company to Delgro confirmed.
• January 2001 - Aerdart, a Dublin based bus company was formed making Metroline the first UK operator to enter the Irish bus market.
• April 2003 - DelGro Corp merges with Comfort Group, forming ComfortDelGro.
• August 2004 - Metroline announces the purchase of privately owned London bus operator, F. E. Thorpe and Sons Ltd.
• November 2004 - Metroline announces the purchase of E. H. Mundy Holdings Ltd, which operates buses and coaches in London under Armchair Passenger Transport Company Ltd.
• 2006 – The coaching side of Armchair was amalgamated with the ComfortDelGro subsidiary Westbus.
• January 2007 – The F.E. Thorpes and the bus side of the Armchair business were absorbed in the main Metroline operation and these respective trading names are no longer used.