D&G Bus

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D&G Bus
Optare Solo SR at Knutsford Bus Station in 2023
ParentCentrebus Group
Founded1998; 25 years ago
HeadquartersStoke-on-Trent
Service areaCheshire
Derbyshire
Greater Manchester
Staffordshire
Stockport
Stoke-on-Trent
Trafford
AllianceCentrebus Group
Routes1, 1A, 2, 3, 5, 7, 7A, 8, 8A, 9, 10, 12, 16, 16A, 18, 19, 19A, 24, 31, 32, 32A, 32X, 33, 35, 37, 38, 40, 42, 43, 48, 48A, 49, 70, 71, 72, 73, 82, 84X, 85, 88, 89, 93, 94, 94A, 94B, 95, 100, 101, 108, 130, 188, 312, 316, 317, 318, 319, 385, 445, 836, FREE, X31, X41
HubsCrewe
Hanley
Macclesfield
Newcastle-under-Lyme
Nantwich
Northwich
Wilmslow
Winsford
Depots5
Fleet119 (April 2024)
Fuel typeDiesel
Chief executiveJulian Peddle
Websitewww.dgbus.co.uk

D&G Bus[1] is a bus operator based in Stoke-on-Trent. They operate local & interurban bus services in Cheshire, Derbyshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire & Stoke-on-Trent. D&G Bus is the largest bus operator in Cheshire East & the second-largest in North Staffordshire.

History[edit]

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 February 2023, Arriva North West announced that they were closing their depots in Winsford & Macclesfield. In response to this, D&G registered replacement routes to cover some of the cancelled services, with some of these services being part-supported by Cheshire East Council.

Depots[edit]

The company has depots in:

Past depots, now closed have included:

  • Crewe - Lockitt Street
  • Leek - Sunnyhills Road (shared with Aimee's Travel)
  • Uttoxeter - Unknown Road

Fleet[edit]

As of April 2024, the fleet consisted of 119 buses.[18] Fleet livery was originally cream and blue, it has since been replaced by a red with yellow signwriting scheme. During January 2024, the company revealed a new fleet livery.[19] Red is the main colour dominating the majority of the vehicle, but now features a yellow diagonal stripe with the rear of the vehicle being dark blue. This scheme is similar to the newer livery of Centrebus vehicles

The fleet mainly consists of Optare Solos, Enviro 200's & Wright Streetlites.

Since December 2023, D&G acquired a number of brand new and second-hand Enviro 200 MMCs, both the short and long wheel-base varieties.

Chaserider[edit]

Chaserider
FoundedJanuary 2021
HeadquartersDelta Way, Cannock
Service areaCannock
Stafford
Wolverhampton
DepotsCannock
OperatorD&G Bus
Chief executiveJulian Peddle
Websitewww.chaserider.co.uk

In November 2020, D&G announced they would be taking over the Cannock depot of Arriva Midlands from January 2021 with operations in Cannock and Stafford running under the Chaserider brand.[20]

Chaserider operates as a subsidiary of D&G with different ticketing arrangements and operates a separate website,[21] similar to the way Arriva owned Yorkshire Tiger operated in West Yorkshire but unlike Yorkshire Tiger, Chaserider has a similar livery to its parent.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Companies House extract company no 6918592 D&G Bus Limited
  2. ^ Companies House extract company no 2568750 Liyell Limited
  3. ^ a b Arriva Midlands to expand operations in the West Midlands Arriva 10 August 2012
  4. ^ 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. ^ Fleet List D&G Bus
  19. ^ Cliff Beeton. (2 February 2024), FIRST D&G BUS IN NEW RED YELLOW & BLUE LIVERY., retrieved 8 April 2024
  20. ^ Dougall, Emily (1 December 2020). "Arriva to sell Cannock bus depot as the Chaserider brand returns". CBW. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  21. ^ "Chaserider". chaserider.co.uk.

External links[edit]

Media related to D&G Bus at Wikimedia Commons