Mercedes-Benz 709D

Entered the A1 fleet after Stagecoach’s takeover, being a standard Stagecoach Mercedes in everything except livery.

New to Kelvin Central Buses in April 1996 at Motherwell Depot as 2394, this bus was part of the second batch of ‘PS’ types bought new by the company. It was soon renumbered in parent group SB Holdings’ Strathclyde Buses-derived alphanumeric scheme as SV494. At this point Kelvin Central were using the fleetname KCB Network on their red and cream livery.

At this point Stagecoach had a 20% stake in SB Holdings. Following on from 18 buses acquired from Stagecoach as part of this deal, 60 Stagecoach-specification B10M/PS types were delivered new to the fleet, largely to oust the large number of elderly Leyland Leopards and Nationals. This vehicle was from a further batch, not to full Stagecoach standard, having grey seat frames and grey/multi-coloured-striped seats. The brick-red flooring and red handpoles were pure Stagecoach spec though.

This bus was not in KCB ownership for very long, as by winter 1996 FirstBus had taken over the SB Holdings group (including Stagecoach’s shares), with some later PS types arriving under their ownership and in the drab allover red colour.

N94 OGG soldiered on, giving 16 years loyal service to the company, operating from Parkhead, Cumbernauld, Scotstoun and Blantyre. During April 2012, by this time numbered 61434, the bus was withdrawn from service. At the time, it was destined to become a spares donor, sacrificing its engine and gearbox to other similar vehicles.

Entering preservation instead, the bus gained a place at the GVVT collection in Bridgeton where it is part of a large collection of ex-First Glasgow vehicles. It has now been through a painstaking 2-year restoration into its original KCB Network livery as SV494.