The Steam Railway came to Isle of Man in 1873, and it operated from between Douglas and Port Erin in the south. The Electric Trams began working in 1893, and it was the primary source of transportation until the arrival of buses in the mid-20th century. The first omnibus services on the island were provided by the Manxland Bus Co Limited and several smaller operators that operated independently.
In 1976, the Isle of Man government bought the transportation service. The buses carried National Transport logos and a new livery, predominantly red with white trim, having previously held a variation of this color scheme under the Road Services banner. Several second-hand buses from England were also incorporated into the Isle of Man’s transportation system, including Leyland Atlanteans from Merseyside PTE, Portsmouth Transit, SELNEC, and Tyne & Wear PTE, Leyland Olympians from Devon General, Dublin Bus and Stagecoach, and Leyland Lynxs from Halton Transport.
The following photos show what the buses of Isle of Man looked like in the early 1970s.
