About

About Crosville

Ei hanes, ei bobl, a’i hetifeddiaeth
Its history, its people and its legacy

Welcome to Crosville.net — a website dedicated to remembering, documenting and celebrating the history of Crosville Motor Services, the people who worked for the company, the communities it served, and the vehicles that helped make its name part of British transport history.

Crosville was far more than a bus and coach operator. For generations, its vehicles connected towns, cities and communities across Cheshire, Merseyside, North Wales and beyond. For the people who worked for Crosville, and for the passengers who travelled on its services, the company became an important part of everyday life.
This website exists to preserve those memories and make them accessible to everyone.


From CRG163.com to Crosville.net

Crosville.net began life as a website devoted primarily to CRG163, a preserved Crosville coach in 2021. Over time, however, the website developed into something much broader.
Today, it brings together the history of Crosville Motor Services, personal memories, photographs, timetables, fleet information, depot histories, technical information and the continuing story of CRG163 and its restoration.

Following a major refresh and rebrand in May 2025, the website adopted the Crosville name and the crosville.net domain, reflecting its much wider purpose.
It is now intended to be an evolving online archive — one that can continue to grow as new photographs, documents, memories and stories come to light.


Remembering the people behind the name

At the heart of Crosville’s history are its people.

Drivers, conductors, engineers, mechanics, inspectors, depot staff, managers, office staff and many others all played their part in keeping Crosville and its many services moving. Behind every vehicle and every timetable were individuals and families whose lives were connected with the company.  That human story is an important part of this website.

Through personal recollections, photographs and individual memories, we aim to ensure that the people behind the Crosville name are not forgotten.
The website also recognises the importance of the families and friends who have helped preserve these memories and continue to share material from their own collections.


The story of Crosville

The history of Crosville stretches back to 1906, when the Crosville Motor Company was established in Chester. Bus operations followed in 1911, and over the decades the company developed into one of the major operators serving the North West of England and Wales.

Crosville became particularly synonymous with North Wales, while its operations also extended across Cheshire, Merseyside and surrounding areas.  The company’s history encompasses many important periods in British transport: the development of bus and coach travel, the introduction of iconic Bristol vehicles, the formation of the National Bus Company in 1969, the development of National Express services, deregulation in the 1980s, and the subsequent changes in ownership and operation.  Our Crosville Timeline brings these developments together and provides a starting point for exploring the company’s long and fascinating history.


CRG163 — a living piece of Crosville history

One of the most important parts of Crosville.net is the story of CRG163 (EFM163H).  Built in 1970, CRG163 is a Bristol RELH6G Series 2 Mark 1 coach with Eastern Coach Works bodywork. New to Crosville, it was initially based at the company’s Edge Lane depot in Liverpool and entered service on prestigious long-distance routes between Liverpool and London in its beautiful and elegant cream and black coach livery.

The coach subsequently became part of the National era of Crosville, carrying the distinctive white NATIONAL livery and serving a variety of long-distance and North Wales routes.
After being withdrawn from service in 1984, CRG163 was saved from scrapping and entered preservation. It has subsequently undergone extensive restoration, including a major second restoration programme which is presently on going.

The discovery in 2025 of original illuminated waist-panel apertures hidden beneath later bodywork has added a fascinating new chapter to the vehicle’s story and has influenced the direction of its continuing restoration.  CRG163 is therefore more than a preserved vehicle. It provides a tangible link to Crosville’s past, and a way of bringing that history to life.


Preserving the detail

Crosville.net is not simply about photographs of buses and coaches.  The website aims to preserve the detail that helps explain what life was really like within the company.


Crosville in Liverpool

The history of Crosville in Liverpool is an important part of the wider story.  CRG163’s original home was the company’s Edge Lane depot, and Liverpool remained an important part of Crosville’s operations for many decades.

The 2025 publication of Crosville in Liverpool has helped bring this part of the company’s history to a wider audience. Rather than concentrating solely on vehicles and routes, the book places the people who worked for Crosville, and their families, at the centre of the story.

For further details about the book please click HERE.

The website complements this work by providing additional photographs, memories and historical material relating to Crosville’s Liverpool operations.


Crosville in Wales

Crosville’s relationship with Wales was equally significant.  From its expansion into North Wales during the 1920s, Crosville became an everyday presence across the region. Its vehicles, depots, routes and staff became an integral part of communities throughout North and Mid Wales.  The story continued through the creation of Crosville Cymru/Crosville Wales following deregulation in 1986 and into the subsequent period of privatisation and changes of ownership.

A forthcoming book, Crosville in Wales, will explore this story in greater depth, including the experiences of the people and families connected with the company. 

More details about this new book will appear on the 'Crosville in Wales book' tab on this website.


A growing archive

No historical archive is ever truly complete.  New photographs are discovered. Old timetables and documents emerge from lofts and cupboards. Former employees and passengers remember details that might otherwise disappear. Crosville.net is intended to grow with those discoveries.

If you have photographs, documents, memories, stories, memorabilia or information relating to Crosville, we would be pleased to hear from you.  Your contribution may help preserve a piece of the story for future generations.


Why Crosville still matters

For some visitors, Crosville.net will bring back memories of journeys made decades ago.  For former employees, it may provide an opportunity to revisit an important part of their working lives.  For families, it can help preserve the stories of relatives who worked for Crosville.  For transport enthusiasts, it provides an opportunity to explore the vehicles, engineering, routes and operations that made Crosville significant.

And for those discovering Crosville for the first time, we hope the website provides an introduction to a fascinating part of Britain’s transport history.
Above all, this is a website about people, places, vehicles and memories.


Accessing the website

Whilst the main website address is Crosville.net, it can also be accessed by a number of other related web domain names which are listed below.  Not only can you access this website via its new www.crosville.net web address but also via the original www.crg163.com.

You can also access the website via the following web addresses:

• www.crosvillemotorservices.com
• www.crosvilleinwales.com
• www.crosvillecymru.com
• www.crosville.cymru 
• www.crosville.co.uk

You can also access the specific Crosville in Liverpool page directly via www.crosvilleinliverpool.com.

You can also access the website by scanning the following QR code on your smart phone, tablet or ipad.  Please feel free to screen shot the QR code and share.

Scan Me

Keeping the wheels of history turning

Crosville Motor Services may belong to history, but its story continues through the people who remember it, the photographs and documents that survive, and the preserved vehicles that allow future generations to experience a small part of that era.

Crosville.net is our contribution to keeping that story alive.  Its history. Its people. Its legacy.  Welcome Aboard.



Home Screen Images

• CRG163 - a wonderful monochrome image of CRG163 operating the prestigious X1 Liverpool - London service in 1970 in the original Crosville cream and black coaching livery.
• CRG162 & CRG163 - both vehicles are seen at Stratford-Upon-Avon operating the X1 service between Liverpool and London. (JL Buchan)
• ERG163 at Liverpool Skelhorne Street coach station having operated the Saturday X10 service from Cemaes Bay/Amlwch to Liverpool sometime between 1979 and 1984. (Bill Barlow)
• Preserved CRG163 is seen in Caernarfon in 2004/2005 with the owner, Richard Lloyd Jones at the wheel and his late father Richard Lloyd Jones in the front nearside passenger seat. (the late Derek Thompson)
• Crosville reunion - a gathering/reunion of former Crosville’s Liverpool Edge Lane depot staff on the former depot site.

The Crosville name

The intellectual property of CROSVILLE CYMRU/CROSVILLE WALES LIMITED (including original logo and graphic design from 1986) and GWASANAETHAU CERBYD CROSVILLE MOTOR SERVICES LIMITED is a registered trademarked in the UK.