The origins of Delaine Buses of Bourne Lincolnshire can be traced back to 1890 when the family introduced horse-drawn vehicles to cater for local people wishing to travel to markets throughout the surrounding area.
The first motor bus was introduced in 1919, initially operating Market Day services to surrounding towns including Stamford, Spalding and Grantham. In 1923 a daily service was introduced between Bourne and Peterborough which continues to be the company’s trunk route.
The core business is still based around some of those original services and today our fleet of 30 buses operates a network of commercial services predominately serving four South Lincolnshire Market Towns and the City of Peterborough, complimented with a network of school day services serving most villages throughout the surrounding area.
The company is operated by the fifth and sixth generations of the Delaine-Smith family, who have continued to develop and tailor the business using a careful blend of tradition and acting on current market demands. The sight of the familiar blue and cream buses now dates back beyond living memory and the Delaine brand has acquired an enviable reputation based on the ethos of quality, continuity and reliability which the family view as important today as it’s always been.
In 2015 the family founded the Delaine Heritage Trust and established the Delaine Bus Museum which houses the extensive Delaine Archive, with the centrepiece being the Delaine Heritage Fleet which consists of six former Delaine vehicles dating back to the 1950s.