A VDL SB200, Wright Commander in Llangollen on a TrawsCambria X94 service. |
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| 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. The company's official name is Arriva Cymru Ltd.
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The original predecessor of Arriva Buses Wales was 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]
The company has depots in:
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).
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.
Double-deckers allocations are concentrated with six Volvo Olympians with Northern Counties Palatine bodywork, operated by Bangor (and its outstations) on dedicated duties. Severn DAF DB250LF (ex London cascades) have in recent times been introduced to Rhyl and Aberystwyth. 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]
| Double-deck, low-floor | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Chassis | Count | Body type(s) | Image(s) |
| DAF DB250 | 7 | Alexander ALX400 | |
| Double-deck, step-entrance | |||
| Chassis | Count | Body type(s) | Image(s) |
| Volvo Olympian | 6 | 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 |
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| VDL SB200 | 42 | Wright Commander Wright Pulsar |
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| 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 | |
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