The Troubles: Steering the busses through the conflict

Vinnie Morrison, Andy McGillan, George Curry, Trever Tracey and Jim Kelly all handed back their keys at the Ulsterbus depot earlier this month

Throughout Northern Ireland's Troubles, hijackings became an all too frequent occurrence for many bus drivers and their passengers.

Busses were regularly targeted by paramilitaries throughout the conflict.

Five recently-retired bus drivers with more than 180 years of shared experience behind the wheel have spoken of that time.

Three of them, Vinnie Morrison, Andy McGillan and Trevor Tracey, recall driving during some of those dark days.

The men have all handed back their keys at the Pennyburn bus depot in Londonderry after decades of loyal service, as first reported by the Derry Journal.

Vinnie Morrison, who has more than 45 years of service on the buses, began driving in 1978 in Derry during the height of the Troubles and experienced his first ever hijacking in his second year in the job.

"I remember the first time I was hijacked by a group of thugs," Mr Morrison told the BBC's Mark Patterson Show.

Andy McGillan, Vinnie Morrison and Trevor Tracey have driven on the buses over the decades

"I was hijacked in 1979, then I was married 1981, hijacked in 1982 and then 1984.

"I remember the first one was the 640 out of Creggan in the morning. I came up around the corner at Marlborough Terrace and there was five guys at the side of the road who flagged me down.

"They told me to get out of the bus and that they were taking it.

"I was taken out by the scruff of the neck and thrown to the side of the road. Where I was hijacked was right beside my father's house.

"My father actually saw this out his window and chased after them in his pyjamas."

Mr Morrison said that as the bus was making its way down the road the police were making their way up the same road.

"So these lads saw the police and jumped out of the bus as it was moving; one of them actually broke his legs as he landed in a garden and the bus carried on and crashed into the front of a house."

Mr Morrison said it was a surreal experience but at the time it was "like water off a duck's back" because such incidents had become quite common.

An estimated 1,500 Ulsterbus vehicles were destroyed during the Troubles

On another occasion Mr Morrison said he was dragged out of his bus by a group of masked men with petrol bombs and baseball bats near Gobnascale before they set his bus alight.

"They dragged me out of the bus and they just set fire to it," he said.

"This wee man took me into his house and offered me a cup of tea because I was shaking after that."

'Stop the bus or I'll shoot you'

The third time he was hijacked was by far the most terrifying, he said.

"It was a summer's night and I was going to Ballymagroarty and it was quite late," he explained.

"I looked in my mirror and saw a man with a sub-machine gun.

"I was driving and he jumped on the wee step outside the door and pointed the gun through the rubber in the door and said: 'Stop the bus or I'll shoot you.'"

Mr Morrison said the man then boarded the bus, pointed the gun at his stomach and told him to drive until he was forced off the bus.

Soldiers pictured standing behind armoured vehicles during violence in Londonderry

Andy McGillan said they had all had their share of stressful experiences on the roads but there was always a sense of camaraderie between the drivers when they got back at the depot.

"The people, all the girls and the guys I have worked with over the years, have been absolutely brilliant," said the man with 35 years of experience driving busses.

Trevor Tracey, who has more than 17 years of experience, said his time on the roads mainly involved taking schoolchildren from home to school and back again.

He said it was a huge responsibility every day to keep those children safe, especially on icy roads during the winter months.

'People came from different backgrounds'

The trio agree that they will miss the many great characters they have worked with over the years.

"There was no politics at all on the buses," said Mr McGillan.

"People came from all different backgrounds and it didn't matter one bit - we did a bit of slagging every now and again, don't get me wrong, but it was all good craic."

The drivers may have handed back their keys for good but they have made friendships with workers, engineers and passengers that will last a lifetime.