Tiger Twilight
With the end of summer approaching it seems that the era of the Tiger will shortly finish, with the majority of the fleet being withdrawn from service.
On this page we take a look at the final few months of Tiger operation in 2011 and pay tribute to these long lasting machines.
Above: 1402 was new to Citybus as one of 10 express coaches for the 'CityExpress' service. It was photographed in Portaferry in March this year and operated until the middle of May. [ Noel O'Rawe ]
Above: 1492 was was based at Downpatrick until the end of August and occasionally travelled up to Belfast on the 15A route which is unsuitable for newer vehicles. It has subsequently returned to service at Newcastle depot[ Paul Savage ]
Above: 1483/4/5 were allocated to Ballymena until the end of June and have been based there since they were new in early 1993. [ Noel O'Rawe ]
Above: Another view of 1483 at Antrim prior to operating a schools run back to Ballymena. These 14xx buses were the final batch new to Ulsterbus. [ Martin Young ]
Above: 1467 was new to Citybus and moved to Ulsterbus in January 2006, and is currently (September 2011) allocated to Coleraine. These buses only seat 51 compared to 53 for the native Ulsterbus machines, as there is a luggage pen fitted in place of the front nearside seat. [ Martin Young ]
Above: 6 ex Citybus Tigers remained with Metro and have all were painted in the current house livery which suits them well. As of September 2011 only 1478 was active. [ Noel O'Rawe ]
Above: The 6 Metro Tigers are generally not used on normal service but can be found on schools work, private hire and occasionally park and ride services. This is still in use in September 2011. [ Martin Young ]
Above: Derry based 1466 is another to have originated with Citybus and is seen smartly presented on the occasion of the Omnibus Society visit to Northern Ireland in June this year. [ Paul Savage ]
Above: 1448 was operational at GVS until the end of May and is one of of a batch 14 vehicles built to 12m length as 65 seater school buses. It has subsequently been sold the Belfast Royal Academy for which the red paint scheme has been applied.[ Will Hughes ]
Above: 1495 of the final batch of Tigers operated for Craigavon for most of it's life, but transferred to Ards in May 2011. It is seen leaving Laganside for the run to Newtownards and Ballywalter. [ Paul Savage ]
Above: 1499 is the penultimate Ulsterbus Tiger and in August 2011 was still active at Magherafelt depot. [ Paul Savage ]
Above: 1500 is the last Leyland delivered new to the fleet and is still in use in October 2011 at Enniskillen depot. It is seen leaving GVS on 30th August for the run back along the Lagan valley on the 51 route to Craigavon. [ Paul Savage ]
Above: Another view of 1500 on the 72 route between Dungannon and Armagh in September 2011 [ Martin Young ]
Above: 1487 returned to service in October 2011 to cover for a defective B10M andf is seen leaving Belfast City Centre for the hour long run to Downpatrick. [ Paul Savage ]
