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
HubsCrewe
Hanley
Macclesfield
Newcastle-under-Lyme
Nantwich
Northwich
Sale
Wilmslow
Winsford
Depots5
Fleet116 (January 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 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 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

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

As of January 2024, the fleet consisted of 116 buses.[18] Fleet livery was originally cream and blue, it has since been replaced by a red with yellow signwriting scheme. Since April 2023, D&G required a number of new vehicles from Centrebus and High Peak, thus consisting of those liveries until repainting takes place. As of November 2023, there are three vehicles awaiting respraying into D&G’s red colour scheme.

To commemorate 100 years since Northwestern Buses, D&G repainted Bus 504 (an ADL Enviro 200) into the heritage livery in August 2023.

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

As of December 2023, D&G Bus acquired two ex-Cardiff Bus Enviro 200 MMCs, of which have both been repainted into D&G Red, with respective decals applied.

Again, as of mid-December 2023, D&G Bus purchased two brand new Alexander Dennis Enviro200 MMCs. Buses 575 & 576 respectively. Both vehicles entered service on 27th December 2023.

D&G’s Routes and Fleet list can be viewed on Bustimes.org. - https://bustimes.org/operators/d-g-coach-bus

Chaserider

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.[19]

Chaserider operates as a subsidiary of D&G with different ticketing arrangements and operates a separate website,[20] 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

  1. Companies House extract company no 6918592 D&G Bus Limited
  2. Companies House extract company no 2568750 Liyell Limited
  3. 1 2 Arriva Midlands to expand operations in the West Midlands Arriva 10 August 2012
  4. 1 2 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 Route One 18 December 2019
  18. Fleet List D&G Bus
  19. Dougall, Emily (1 December 2020). "Arriva to sell Cannock bus depot as the Chaserider brand returns". CBW. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  20. "Chaserider". chaserider.co.uk.

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