Arriva Midlands

Arriva Midlands

Wright Eclipse Gemini bodied Volvo B9TL in Birmingham in September 2010
Parent	Arriva UK Bus
Founded	1904
Headquarters	Thurmaston
Service area	East Midlands West Midlands
Service type	Bus services
Depots	9
Chief executive	Mark Bowd
Website	www.arrivabus.co.uk/Midlands

Arriva Midlands^[1] is a bus operator providing services in the East Midlands and West Midlands areas of England. It is a subsidiary of Arriva UK Bus.

Arriva Midlands North

Plaxton Pointer 2 bodied Dennis Dart in Whitchurch in August 2009

Wardle Transport Northern Counties Palatine bodied Volvo Olympian in October 2012

In September 1981 Midland Red North^[2] was formed with 230 buses operating from six depots in Shropshire, Staffordshire and the West Midlands as part of the breakup of the Midland Red bus company.^[3] In May 1983 the Ludlow depot was closed. In January 1988 Midland Red North was sold to the Drawlane Transport Group.^[4] In November 1992 it was sold to British Bus which in August 1996 was sold to the Cowie Group.^[5][6][7]

In 2003 the Arriva Midlands North garages in Crewe, Macclesfield and Winsford were transferred to Arriva North West. The remaining parts of Arriva Midlands North were combined with Arriva Derby and Arriva Fox County to form Arriva Midlands. Buses still operate with Arriva Midlands North legal name (except Burton upon Trent which uses Stevensons of Uttoxeter).

In February 2007 the business of Chase Coaches was purchased with 27 buses with operations integrated into Arriva's Cannock depot.^[8] In late 2007 a new ChaseLinx brand (similar to the Leicester Linx brand below) was introduced, reflecting the purchase of Chase Coaches.

In December 2007 Swadlincote depot closed with operations transferred to Burton upon Trent. In August 2008 the Hinckley depot and services were sold to Centebus Holdings.^[9] In January 2009 Shifnal depot closed while in the same month Bridgnorth reopened.

In December 2010 the business of Wardle Transport, Stoke-on-Trent was purchased with 64 buses,^[10][11] followed in June 2011 by the Staffordshire operations of D&G Bus with 30 buses that was integrated with Wardle Transport^[12][13] and in August 2012 Midland of Wednesfield from D&G Bus with 61 buses.^[14]

In May 2015, D&G Bus purchased Wardle transport back from Arriva Midlands with 19 buses.^[15][16][17]

In April 2016, Arriva confirmed it was in talks to sell its Burton upon Trent based services to Midland Classic.^[18][19] The deal took effect on 27 August 2016 with 30 buses and 80 staff transferring.^[20]

On 23 April 2017 the Wednesfield depot closed with some services sold to Diamond Bus with nine vehicles and the remainder allocated to other depots.^[21][22] The depot had only reopened in March 2013 after a refurbishment.^[23]

Arriva announced that from 1st April 2018 that no buses from their Cannock depot would run evenings and Sundays as a result of Staffordshire County Council funding cuts.^[24] Hundreds signed an online petition within the first week, which quickly lead to thousands including backing from two local MPs.^[25]

Arriva Derby

Arriva Derby East Lancs Myllennium Lowlander bodied VDL DB250 in Derby in September 2007

In 1994 Derby City Transport was privatised and sold to British Bus.^[26] In August 1996 British Bus was purchased by the Cowie Group and the operation rebranded as Arriva Derby.^[27]

Arriva Fox County

Arriva Fox County Wright Commander bodied VDL SB200 in Coventry in July 2007

In September 1981 Midland Red East^[28] was formed with 181 buses operating from five depots in Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire as part of the breakup of the Midland Red bus company, and in January 1984 was renamed Midland Fox.^[3] In 1987 it was privatised in a management buyout. Several smaller operators including Loughborough Bus & Coach Company were purchased and in 1989 it was sold to the Drawlane Group. In November 1992 it was sold to British Bus which in August 1996 was sold to the Cowie Group and later renamed Arriva Fox County.^[5]

Hinckley Bus

In 9 September 2013, Centrebus Group sold its shares in Centrebus Holdings to Arriva^[29][30] which included depots and services in West Yorkshire along with the operations based in Hinckley which are now trading as Hinckley Bus and are again a part of Arriva Midlands, having been sold to Centrebus Holdings in 26 August 2008.^[31]

Hinckley Bus operate a number of Leicestershire County Council tendered bus services to villages that surround Hinckley including Burbage and Sharnford, Thurlaston,^[32][33] along with commercially operated services to Lutterworth, Market Harborough, Barwell, Rugby, Leicester and Tamworth.

Depots

Arriva Midlands operate nine depots as of April 2017 in:^[34]

• Cannock
• Derby
• Hinckley
• Oswestry
• Shrewsbury
• Tamworth
• Telford
• Thurmaston
• South Wigston

In 2016 the Burton-upon-Trent depot was bought by Midland Classic.^[35]

In 2017 the Wednesfield depot closed due to loss of most Transport for West Midlands contracted services. Commercially run routes 35, and 35A were moved to Cannock Depot, while routes 10, 10A, and 10B were transferred to Telford Depot.

In 2018 the Cannock depot began closing entirely on Sundays due to county council subsidy cuts, leaving Cannock without buses.

References

External links

• Company website
• Media related to Arriva Midlands at Wikimedia Commons