D&G Bus

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D&G Bus
Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 operated by D&G Bus.jpg
Alexander Dennis Enviro200 in Walsall in 2018
ParentCentrebus Group
FoundedApril 1998
HeadquartersAdderley Green
Service areaCheshire
Staffordshire
Shropshire
Derbyshire
Greater Manchester
Wrexham
Depots3
Fleet169 (January 2021)
Chief executiveJulian Peddle
Websitewww.dgbus.co.uk

D&G Bus[1] is a local bus operator owned by Centrebus and based in Adderley Green, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire.

History[]

D&G Bus was formed by David Reeves and Gerald Henderson in April 1998 initially operating four buses on two routes under contract to Stoke-on-Trent City Council. It expanded with both route and school services in Cheshire and Staffordshire with 16 buses by the end of 1998. In April 2005 D&G Bus purchased Wednesfield based Midland.[2][3] In 2006 following Gerald Henderson's sudden death Julian Peddle purchased Henderson's shareholding in the business.[4]

In August 2011 the Staffordshire business was sold to Wardle Transport with 46 routes, 30 buses and the Adderley Green depot.[5][6] In September 2011 D&G Bus and Julian Peddle purchased South Lancs Travel in Atherton, Greater Manchester.[7] In August 2012 the Midland business was sold to Arriva Midlands with 61 buses.[3] In December 2014, the route operations of BakerBus were purchased with nine buses.[4][8][9]

In March 2015, D&G sold South Lancs Travel to Rotala[10] and in May 2015 purchased Wardle Transport back from Arriva Midlands with 19 buses.[11][12][13] In April 2016, D&G took over six routes from Routemaster Buses.[14] In September 2016 D&G Bus took over the rest of the routes which Routemaster Buses had operated. In October 2016 D&G were awarded new five-year contracts for eight Cheshire East routes which were operated by GHA Coaches prior to its collapse including the 88 Altrincham to Knutsford via Wilmslow service.[15] However, most of these contracts were annulled 18 months later as part of Cheshire East council's bus review.[16]

In December 2019, Julian Peddle's Centrebus Group purchased David Reeves shareholding in D&G bus, at present it will continue to operate as a separate unit from Centrebus.[17]

In November 2020, it was announced that D&G had bought the Cannock operations and garage of Arriva Midlands with services operated under the Chaserider brand since January 2021.

A Chaserider Wright Streetlite seen here in Walsall in January 2021

Chaserider operates as a subsidiary of D&G with different ticketing arrangements and it has a separate website,[18] similar to the way Arriva owned Yorkshire Tiger operates in West Yorkshire but unlike Yorkshire Tiger, Chaserider has a similar livery to its parent.

Criticism[]

Following Cheshire East bus review, many subsided bus routes were cut back from April 2018 and as a result D&G Bus also reviewed their commercial bus services within Cheshire East. For example, up until April 2018 the 88 Altrincham to Knutsford via Wilmslow contracted service had operated half-hourly, while a 300 Knutsford circular service commercial service also operated half-hourly. Following the 88 contract being reduced to hourly (and remaining with D&G Bus), D&G Bus withdrew the 300 service[19] and registered an hourly 88A Knutsford to Colshaw Farm via Longridge service which retained a roughly half-hourly frequency between Knutsford and Wilmslow but halved the number of services along certain roads in Knutsford. They also registered a 130 Macclesfield to Manchester Airport service in response to the 200 service being withdrawn and Arriva reducing the frequency of the 130 Macclesfield to East Didsbury service. However, within 3 months of changing their commercial service in Cheshire East they cancelled most of their commercial services in the borough. [20][21] D&G had also previously registered a 378 Wilmslow to Handforth Dean service in response to Stagecoach withdrawing the service but again promptly withdrew the new service.[22]

Fleet[]

As of January 2021, the fleet consisted of 169 buses.[23] Fleet livery was originally cream and blue, it has since been replaced by a red with yellow signwriting scheme. The fleet also consists of 46 ex Arriva Midlands vehicles (still in Arriva colours) which were included in the purchase of Cannock Depot. These vehicles have had Chaserider markings applied over the Arriva markings.

Routes[]

D&G Bus operates mainly in North Staffordshire and South Cheshire.[24][25] The acquisition of the Arriva Midlands Cannock Depot will be the first time the company has operated in the West Midlands since the sale of Midland to Arriva.

References[]

  1. ^ Companies House extract company no 6918592 D&G Bus Limited
  2. ^ Companies House extract company no 2568750 Liyell Limited
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b Arriva Midlands to expand operations in the West Midlands Arriva 10 August 2012
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b D&G Bus Bus & Coach Buyer 29 January 2015
  5. ^ Arriva Midlands acquires D&G Archived 1 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine Bus & Coach Professional 10 June 2011
  6. ^ D&G Buses bought by Arriva - owners blame subsidy cuts for sale The Sentinel 11 June 2011
  7. ^ D&G buys South Lancs Archived 5 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine Bus & Coach Professional 10 October 2011
  8. ^ D&G buys BakerBus Archived 2 March 2015 at the Wayback Machine Route One 2 January 2015
  9. ^ "25 jobs saved after BakerBus is bought by Crewe based D&G Bus". The Sentinel. 6 January 2015.
  10. ^ "Acquisition in Greater Manchester". Rotala. 2 March 2015. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015.
  11. ^ "D&G Bus". www.dgbus.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  12. ^ "D&G buys Wardle Transport". Bus & Coach Buyer. 18 March 2015.
  13. ^ "D&G Bus". Buses (723): 84. June 2015.
  14. ^ D&G Bus take over some services from Routemaster Buses D&G Bus
  15. ^ "Services - 374810-2016 - TED Tenders Electronic Daily". ted.europa.eu. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  16. ^ "TSS helps Cheshire East Council implement revised Bus Services".
  17. ^ D&G Bus taken over by Centrebus Group[dead link] Route One 18 December 2019
  18. ^ http://www.chaserider.co.uk/
  19. ^ "Vehicle Operator Licensing - GOV.UK".
  20. ^ https://www.knutsfordguardian.co.uk/news/16219959.styal-lose-bus-d-g-axes-130-manchester-airport/
  21. ^ "New bus service axed after 5 weeks - wilmslow.co.uk".
  22. ^ "New bus service terminates after 12 weeks - wilmslow.co.uk".
  23. ^ Fleet List D&G Bus
  24. ^ North Staffs Route List Archived 4 January 2017 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved Jan 2017
  25. ^ Cheshire Route List Archived 6 January 2017 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved Jan 2017

External links[]

Media related to D&G Bus at Wikimedia Commons

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