First attacks JMB in Lanarkshire

Thursday 2nd April 2026

Another bus ‘war’ has broken out. This time in Lanarkshire.

And this one reminds me of the time Arriva began competing with Safeguard, the much respected long standing independently owned small bus company in Guildford in a David and Goliath style battle. I think Arriva thought it could knock a fatal nail in Safeguard’s profitability but in the event it didn’t end well for Arriva.

As in Guildford, this latest bus battle, which began on Sunday, was initiated by the Goliath of the pair, First Bus, aggressively duplicating JMB Travel’s, flagship bus route between Motherwell and Lanark.

JMB has been running its route 41 every 15 minutes (Mondays to Fridays, 20 on Saturdays and hourly on Sundays) for many years. It’s a good route linking the communities of Lanark, Carluke, Bogside, Wishaw, Craigneuk and Motherwell after which buses continue to Hamilton.

JMB run a fleet of smart modern Volvo eVoRa buses dedicated to the route.

Also running on this inter-urban corridor is fellow independent, Stuart’s Coaches, with its (approximate) hourly route 240X between Lanark and Motherwell then fast to Glasgow…

… but until Sunday, First Bus had shown no interest with its route 240 reaching only as far south as Overtown and route 242 to Pather, both located just beyond Wishaw.

Now, First’s new bus route numbered 243 has appeared on the scene which not only mirrors JMB’s route 41 and its 15 minute frequency (20 on Saturdays and hourly Sundays) but surprise, surprise, buses are all timed to run a few minutes in front of the 41.

I thought that kind of wasteful cynical competition was for a bygone era rather than the enlightened 21st century when it’s all about sensible partnership working. More of this kind of activity and SPT leaders will have all the evidence they need to justify pressing on with their franchising plans for the region.

But, of course, First Bus managers justify what is a blatant competitive attack as something completely different with Commercial Director Graeme Macfarlane claiming “these new services will provide better connectivity, greater convenience and more options for customers travelling around Lanarkshire”.

It’s true this 243/41 skirmish is just one small part of a much larger review of First’s Lanarkshire network which includes new links and improved frequencies but it’s being disingenuous and taking us for fools by not admitting there’s only one justification for new route 243 and that’s to damage JMB Travel’s market share.

And with what aim, I wonder? Taking a ride up and down the route on Tuesday afternoon First is obviously damaging JMB’s revenue with buses creaming off passengers waiting at bus stops along the route particularly on the busy section between Motherwell and Wishaw, which is one continuous built up area, but it’s also doing its own profitability no favours.

South of Wishaw and through Carluke to Lanark the route is more rural in nature and there are slim pickings.

The First Bus I travelled on heading towards Lanark carried around a dozen passengers between Motherwell and Wishaw (17 minutes), just three south of Wishaw, who all travelled for a couple of stops, and then no one for 10 minutes (see photo above) and only one passenger between Carluke and Lanark (15 minutes).

Returning on a JMB Travel 41 saw us leave Lanark with 16 on board (see photo below) thanks to some judicious layover tactics where JMB is sensibly having a bus on stand loading up for almost the full fifteen minutes whereas First Bus are almost in and out.

JMB also had a member of staff at the temporary terminal point (the bus station is being resurfaced) overseeing things and we left smartly in advance of a slightly late running 243 which overtook us heading out of Lanark with no one on compared to our 16.

We picked up another 17 on the journey to Motherwell so not bad going considering the 243 was ahead of us.

All the other buses I passed on the route were similarly loaded and I’d say it’s the luck of the draw between Motherwell and Wishaw which bus comes first but JMB seem to have the upper hand between Wishaw, Carluke and Lanark.

Unless First Bus expects to run JMB off the road (and that’s not going to do its reputation and standing much good) I can’t see why they would want to invest considerable resources and cost – the route takes eight buses which doesn’t come cheap – with consequential damage to its profit margin by running up losses on this foolhardy venture.

I suspect somewhere in the First Glasgow team there’s frustration, and even annoyance, seeing JMB taking the initiative over the last year or so to successfully introduce two new ‘fast’ routes linking Hillhouse/Hamilton (X1) and Newarthill/Motherwell (X5) with Glasgow (as featured in previous blogs) which have both inevitably meant some minor toe treading on First’s network in the localised segments of the routes. Anyone looking objectively can see JMB has been at pains to avoid any direct head to head competition; they’ve found gaps in the market and filled them. This contrasts completely with First’s 243 blatant head to head aggression.

As well as the trade press, I see the Glasgow Times picked up on the story on Monday

JMB’s Martin Bell is quoted as saying “we now face a David and Goliath situation – a small independent family-run business, up against a large multi national conglomerate. We cannot understand why First Bus have decided to take this unnecessary action when there are other communities across Glasgow and Lanarkshire which could have benefitted from this investment.”

It’s not just the 243/41 which is concerning Martin. Another new service introduced by First Bus on Sunday is route 211 between Motherwell and Airdrie (with extensions at both ends to Eddlewood/Hamilton and Thrashbush previously served by now withdrawn routes 202 and 229 respectively).

It’s true this hourly 211 provides new links but it also comes at the expense of duplicating JMB Travel’s hourly route 42 which covers much of the same ground.

Again I travelled towards Airdrie on Tuesday on a late running 211 – scheduled eight minutes ahead of the 42 on the common section (similar timings southbound too) – and managed to cream off two or three passengers no doubt expecting a 42 but southbound an almost full JMB 16-seater half emptied out between Airdrie and Calderbank with another four or five joining us in the contested section through New Stevenston into Motherwell.

I think the 42’s more direct routing will help keep loyal passengers on much of the route as First has taken the opportunity to serve Maxim Park (a business park off the M8) leading to a more indirect route.

Other changes introduced by First include a new circular route 291/293 replacing routes 241 and 254 providing a new link between Wishaw, Cottness and Parkside (241) with Newharthill and Carfin (254).

In a separate development on Sunday, First Bus also took over services X25/X25A, the main route between Cumbernauld and Glasgow which Stagecoach ran for years but gave up last weekend presumably believing it’s no longer commercial.

It’s quite a commitment for First which must have added another seven or even eight additional buses to its fleet to run the route.

Buses run fast on the motorway between Glasgow and Cumbernauld then serving the town centre before continuing to the suburb of Abronhill.

Stagecoach (as well as citylink and enber) still runs between Glasgow and Cumbernauld on its hourly X27 from Kirkcaldy, Halbeath and Dunfermline (as well as Leven in the peaks on a marathon two hours 50 minute journey).

Commendably First Bus has made available route maps for all its new services online as well as explanations about the changes posted well in advance.

However although the network map for Lanarkshire has been updated you have to hunt for it online as the old map is still showing in the map section of the website (as below).

Hopefully that will be resolved soon so prospective passengers can find the new map (as above) and will be able to see the “better connectivity, greater convenience and more options”.

Roger French

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