Lilian Express


Lilian Express, Inc., was a bus company based in Dipolog City in the Philippines. It served bus routes to the Zamboanga Peninsula.
Its buses and route network were merged with Rural Transit and Bachelor Express after it was bought out completely by the Yanson Group of Companies in 2005.

History

Lilian Express' name was taken from the family matriarch Lillian Opulentisima-Young. It started its business operation in Dipolog City in the early 1960s and eventually branched to Ozamiz, Pagadian and Zamboanga City.
In 1995, it expanded its bus transport service to the cities of Davao, Butuan, Cagayan de Oro, Iligan, Pagadian, and in the province of Bukidnon. Its sister company Mary May Express, runs Dipolog to Zamboanga City routes.
On March 5, 2005, the whole route network was bought out completely in by Yanson Group of Bus Companies, a Bacolod-based bus conglomerate, commencing from its Davao, Agusan, and Bukidnon route networks, then followed by Cagayan de Oro and Dipolog routes. Its last transport service to the public was made on April 30, 2005 on board an 8:00PM bus from Zamboanga City bound for Dipolog City which arrived at 1:30AM the following day.
Its transport operations were merged with Rural Transit of Mindanao Inc., which resulted Yanson Group to form their company re-structure by having bases in key cities. The remaining facilities of Lilian Express became Rural Transit's Dipolog and Pagadian bases.

Fleet

Majority of Lilian Express' fleet was locally manufactured in Zamboanga City. At that time, names local coach makers in Zamboanga City were unknown yet the demands of their manufacturing were high. In 2000, they started to acquire buses from Santarosa Philippines with their early models like Santarosa AKR and Minibuses.