Group plots return to High Wycombe 24 years after sale

 
Go-Ahead’s Carousel Buses operation will step in on most of the routes Arriva is proposing to withdraw

 
Go-Ahead looks set to benefit from a rival operator’s retrenchment following the news that Arriva is consulting on proposals to close its depots in Aylesbury and High Wycombe.

Arriva said the decision had been made as “despite extensive efforts to turn the situation around, including making network changes to better reflect local demand, both sites continue to be loss-making”.

The group is proposing to withdraw 14 services due to the decision. However, it confirmed plans to continue to operate one route, the X5 between Aylesbury and Hemel Hempstead, from its existing depot at Hemel Hempstead. A handful of contracted services in Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire will continue for the remainder of the contract term.

Go-Ahead wasted no time in responding to Arriva’s decision. Its Carousel Buses operation will step in on most of the routes Arriva is proposing to withdraw. The group had already announced plans to take over two routes, with Carousel taking on Arriva’s Route 4 between High Wycombe and Lane End from this weekend. Sister company Oxford Bus Company will also launch a new service following the route of the current Arriva X7 service between Oxford and Thame, from July 1.

We are ready to work with our local authority partners and to support the current workforce, to keep bus services running in High Wycombe

The London-based group is no stranger to operations in High Wycombe. Carousel has had a growing presence there for many years, and much of Arriva’s operations in the town originate in the former Wycombe Bus operation that it ironically acquired from Go-Ahead in December 2000.

Go-Ahead has previously stepped in to grow its operations elsewhere following network cuts by rivals. In 2022, Go South Coast swooped on the Yellow Buses network in Bournemouth following the demise of that operator. More recently, the subsidiary stepped in when First Bus pulled out of Southampton.

“We are ready to work with our local authority partners and to support the current workforce, to keep bus services running in High Wycombe,” said Martin Dean, managing director of Go-Ahead’s regional bus division.

 
This article appears in the latest issue of Passenger Transport.

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