several other Scottish Bus Group subsidiaries. In exchange for more Leyland Nationals with (relatively) wide doors and low floor heights, Kelvin disposed of some of its Leyland Leopard and Tiger service buses with higher floors and narrow doorways, along with coaches and dual-purpose vehicles that were more suited to longer-distance routes. A fleet of secondhand AEC Routemaster buses were purchased from London Transport in 1986 to launch the new services in competition with Strathclyde Buses. The Routemasters proved popular with both passengers and staff, and although some were disposed of following the 1987 service cuts forty of the type continued to operate into the 1990s under successor company Kelvin Central, which was one of the last operators of the type in regular service in Scotland. Although the original fleet did not include any minibuses, forty-three new Mercedes-Benz L608D vehicles were introduced from September 1986 for the high-frequency service in central and northern Glasgow; but this did not prove profitable and was converted to full-size operation a year later, with many of the minibuses transferred to other SBG subsidiaries. Full-sized buses purchased new in 1986-87 comprised a solitary Leyland Lynx (the only one of its type in the Scottish Bus Group), ten MCW Metrobus dual-purpose double deckers for Cumbernauld to Glasgow express services and four Leyland Tiger coaches for Scottish Citylink work. Six rare Leyland-DAB Lion dual-purpose double-deckers were also ordered for delivery in 1987, but owing to the large cut in Kelvin's peak vehicle requirement their purchase was cancelled and they were instead bought by Clydeside Scottish. References Notes Sources Former bus operators in Scotland Defunct companies of Scotland Transport in East Dunbartonshire Transport in West Dunbartonshire Transport in North Lanarkshire