Arriva Buses Wales

Arriva Buses Wales

A VDL SB200, Wright Commander in Llangollen on a TrawsCambria X94 service.
Parent	Arriva
Founded	2009
Headquarters	Llandudno
Locale	North Wales
Service area	Chester, Wrexham, Flintshire, Denbighshire, Conwy, Gwynedd, Isle of Anglesey, Ceredigion
Service type	Bus
Hubs	Chester, Wrexham, Rhyl, Llandudno, Bangor, Dolgellau, Aberystwyth
Web site	Arriva Buses Wales website

Arriva Buses Wales is a division of Arriva that operates bus services in north Wales. It has its origins in the former Crosville Motor Services. Arriva Buses Wales has approximately 700 employees.

History

Arriva Cymru Ltd was the original predecessor of Arriva Buses Wales, who started off as Crosville Motor Services, who ran services in Wales and northern England^[1]. The company was split following deregulation in 1986, with the Welsh operation called Crosville Cymru. The English operations would eventually be split between Arriva Midlands, Arriva North West and First Chester & The Wirral.

Crosville Cymru was bought by its management team in 1987 before being taken over by National Express Group in 1989. Drawlane would buy the company in 1991, with Drawlane eventually re-named as British Bus and then Arriva. The company would be known as Arriva Cymru until 25 February 2002, when it merged with Arriva North West, forming part of Arriva North West and Wales^[1][2]. However, on 1 January 2009, the Welsh operations were split off again, under a new managing director, Michael Morton, and a management team based at Llandudno Junction.^[1][2][3]

Operating centres

The company has depots in:

• Aberystwyth - Park Avenue.
• Bangor - Llandygai Industrial Estate, Llandygai.
• Hawarden (near Chester) - Manor Lane Industrial Estate, Manor Lane.
• Llandudno Junction - Glan-y-Mor Road.
• Rhyl - Ffynnongroew Road.
• Wrexham - Berse Road, Caego.

There are also smaller outstations or sub-depots at other locations, including Pwllheli, Holyhead and Amlwch (outstations of Bangor depot), Dolgellau, Machynlleth, New Quay, Lampeter and Pencader (outstations of Aberystwyth depot).

Fleet

Dennis Darts, of the low-floor SLF and MPD varieties, make up about half of the fleet. More recent deliveries have been VDL SB120 and SB200 with Wright Cadet, Commander and Pulsar bodywork, and Optare Solos. Other types operated include the Optare Tempo, eleven of which are used on TrawsCambria services south from Aberystwyth.

Only 7 double-deckers are in ordinary service, all of them Volvo Olympians with Northern Counties Palatine bodywork, shared between Bangor and Aberystwyth depots. The open-top double-deckers are operated in Rhyl, for use on the 120 Pensarn - Rhyl - Talacre summer route. Some examples find occasional use for special event private hires, such as football victory parades.

During March 2010 Arriva Buses Wales announced that the whole fleet is now 100% low floor (except open-tops and College/School duties).^[4]

Fleet summary

Double-deck, low-floor
Chassis	Count	Body type(s)	Image(s)
DAF DB250	4	Alexander ALX400
Double-deck, step-entrance
Chassis	Count	Body type(s)	Image(s)
Volvo Olympian	7	Northern Counties Palatine
Scania N113	1	Northern Counties (open top)
Leyland Olympian	2	Alexander R Type (open-top)
Leyland Olympian	4	ECW (open-top)
Single-deck, low-floor
Chassis	Count	Body type(s)	Image(s)
Dennis Dart SLF / MPD	115	Plaxton Pointer Plaxton Pointer 2 Alexander ALX200
VDL SB200	42	Wright Commander Wright Pulsar
Optare Solo	25	Optare Solo
VDL SB120	18	Wright Cadet
Optare Tempo	11	Optare Tempo
Volvo B7RLE	7	Wright Eclipse
Optare Versa	2	Optare Versa

See also

• List of bus operators of the United Kingdom

1. Photos of Arriva Buses in North Wales[1]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Arriva Buses Wales - History - About Arriva - Arriva buses". Arriva. http://www.arrivabus.co.uk/content.aspx?id=798. Retrieved 27 September 2011. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "Arriva North West - History - About Arriva - Arriva buses". Arriva. http://www.arrivabus.co.uk/content.aspx?id=797. Retrieved 27 September 2011. 
3. ^ "Arriva names managing director for Arriva Buses Wales". Arriva press releases. http://www.arriva.co.uk/arriva/en/media_centre/press_releases/2008/2008_11_10/. Retrieved 29 January 2009. 
4. ^ "Arriva celebrates 100% low floor buses in Wales". http://www.arrivabus.co.uk/content.aspx?id=9177. Retrieved 27 September 2011. 

External links

• Arriva Buses Wales website