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.
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June 2013 acquired 5 new garages as part of Metroline.
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March 2016 - 2016, Metroline was awarded the title ‘London Bus Operator of the Year' at the prestigious London Transport Awards.
