Arriva Buses Wales ( cy, Bysiau Arriva Cymru) is a bus operator providing services in northern

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

and

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

in northern England. It is a subsidiary of

Arriva UK Bus Arriva UK Bus is a major bus operator in the United Kingdom based in Sunderland, England. It is a subsidiary of Arriva which runs transport services across Europe, which has been a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn since 2010. Arriva UK Bus operates ...

History

ARRIVA Cymru (ARRIVA Buses Wales), fleetnumber 4405 J500 ABW

Arriva Buses Wales Cymru 863 X213JOF (8700032282)

Crosville Motor Services Crosville Motor Services was a bus operator based in the north-west of England and north and mid-Wales. History On 27 October 1906, Crosville Motor Company was formed in Chester by George Crosland Taylor and his French business associate Geo ...

was formed in 1919 and operated services in Wales and northern England.Arriva Buses Wales - History
Arriva Wales It became a subsidiary of National Bus Company before its Welsh operations were split into Crosville Cymru in preparation for sale in 1987 through a

management buyout A management buyout (MBO) is a form of acquisition in which a company's existing managers acquire a large part, or all, of the company, whether from a parent company or individual. Management-, and/or leveraged buyout became noted phenomena o ...

. In 1989 Crosville Cymru was sold to

National Express National Express Group is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Birmingham, England. It operates bus, coach, train and tram services in the United Kingdom, Ireland (National Express operates Eurolines in conjunction ...

. In 1991 it was sold again to

British Bus British Bus was a bus group in the United Kingdom. It was sold to the Cowie Group in August 1996. History British Bus was founded in November 1992 when the Drawlane Transport Group split its bus interests from its National Express in the lead ...

. In August 1996 British Bus was purchased by the

Cowie Group Arriva plc is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England.Arriva North West Arriva North WestCompanies House extract company no 1990871

to form Arriva North West & Wales.Arriva North West - History
Arriva In August 2008 Arriva purchased routes 9 and 9A with seven buses from KMP. In January 2009, Arriva North West & Wales was split, with the Welsh operations being managed by a new management team based at

Llandudno Junction Llandudno Junction ( cy, Cyffordd Llandudno), once known as Tremarl, is a village in the county borough of Conwy, Wales. It is part of the ancient parish of Llangystennin, and it is located south of Llandudno. It adjoins Deganwy and is to the ...

depot. The Crosville Cymru / Crosville Wales Limited name exists today but not with Arriva. It is a dormant company and is registered in Wales.

Services

Arriva Buses Wales operates services across the north of

from

Holyhead Holyhead (,; cy, Caergybi , "Cybi's fort") is the largest town and a community in the county of Isle of Anglesey, Wales, with a population of 13,659 at the 2011 census. Holyhead is on Holy Island, bounded by the Irish Sea to the north, and i ...

and

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

. During the summer months open top buses operate services in

Rhyl Rhyl (; cy, Y Rhyl, ) is a seaside town and community in Denbighshire, Wales. The town lies within the historic boundaries of Flintshire, on the north-east coast of Wales at the mouth of the River Clwyd ( Welsh: ''Afon Clwyd''). To the we ...

. Arriva Buses Wales previously operated some Trawscambria services. As from July 2016 several ex

GHA Coaches GHA Coaches was a bus and coach operator serving North East Wales, Cheshire, and Shropshire. It also operated bus services extending into Telford & Wrekin, Staffordshire, Gwynedd, and Merseyside. GHA Coaches ceased trading after entering a ...

routes have been taken on by Arriva Buses Wales after

went into administration. They are as follows: *5

Llangollen Llangollen () is a town and community, situated on the River Dee, in Denbighshire, Wales. Its riverside location forms the edge of the Berwyn range, and the Dee Valley section of the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Bea ...

*82

Northwich {{Infobox UK place , static_image_name = Northwich - Town Bridge.jpg , static_image_caption = Town Bridge, the River Weaver and the spire of Holy Trinity Church , official_name = Northwich , country ...

*DB1

Mold A mold () or mould () is one of the structures certain fungi can form. The dust-like, colored appearance of molds is due to the formation of spores containing fungal secondary metabolites. The spores are the dispersal units of the fungi. Not ...

*DB2

Saltney Saltney is a cross-border town, split between Flintshire, Wales and Cheshire, England. The town is intersected by the England–Wales border, with its larger part being a community of Wales in the historic county of Clwyd. The town forms par ...

*DB4

Deeside Deeside ( cy, Glannau Dyfrdwy) is the name given to a predominantly industrial conurbation of towns and villages in Flintshire and Cheshire on the Wales–England border lying near the canalised stretch of the River Dee that flows from neig ...

*X51

Denbigh Denbigh (; cy, Dinbych; ) is a market town and a community in Denbighshire, Wales. Formerly, the county town, the Welsh name translates to "Little Fortress"; a reference to its historic castle. Denbigh lies near the Clwydian Hills. History ...

(was X50 with GHA) They also ran SP1/2 between

Ellesmere Port Ellesmere Port ( ) is a port town in the Cheshire West and Chester borough in Cheshire, England. Ellesmere Port is on the south eastern edge of the Wirral Peninsula, north of Chester, south of Birkenhead, southwest of Runcorn and south of ...

and

for a short period.

Depots

Arriva Buses Wales operates four depots: * Bangor - Llandygai Industrial Estate,

Llandygai Llandygái (; ; ; also Llandegai) is a small village and community on the A5 road between Bangor and Tal-y-bont in Gwynedd, Wales. It affords a view of the nearby Carneddau mountain range. The population of the community taken at the 2011 ...

(headquarters) *

Hawarden Hawarden (; cy, Penarlâg) is a village, community and electoral ward in Flintshire, Wales. It is part of the Deeside conurbation on the Wales-England border and is home to Hawarden Castle. In the 2011 census the ward of the same name ...

(near

) - Manor Lane Industrial Estate, Manor Lane *

- Ffynnongroew Road *

- Berse Road, Caego There are also smaller outstations or sub-depots at other locations, including

Llandudno Llandudno (, ) is a seaside resort, town and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales, located on the Creuddyn peninsula, which protrudes into the Irish Sea. In the 2011 UK census, the community – which includes Gogarth, Penrhyn Bay, Craig ...

and

Amlwch Amlwch (; ) is a port town and community in Wales. It is situated on the north coast of the Isle of Anglesey, on the A5025 which connects it to Holyhead and to Menai Bridge. As well as Amlwch town and Amlwch Port, other settlements within t ...

(outstations of Bangor). Caelloi Motors share their depot with

Arriva Arriva plc is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England.Pwllheli Pwllheli () is a market town and community of the Llŷn Peninsula ( cy, Penrhyn Llŷn) in Gwynedd, north-western Wales. It had a population of 4,076 in 2011 of whom a large proportion, 81%, are Welsh speaking. Pwllheli is the place where Plai ...

. The former regional headquarters and depot at

closed in April 2013.

Aberystwyth Aberystwyth () is a university and seaside town as well as a community in Ceredigion, Wales. Located in the historic county of Cardiganshire, means "the mouth of the Ystwyth". Aberystwyth University has been a major educational location i ...

depot, along with its outstations at New Quay and

Lampeter Lampeter (; cy, Llanbedr Pont Steffan (formal); ''Llambed'' (colloquial)) is a town, community and electoral ward in Ceredigion, Wales, at the confluence of the Afon Dulas with the River Teifi. It is the third largest urban area in Ceredigio ...

closed on 21 December 2013, along with

Dolgellau Dolgellau () is a town and Community (Wales), community in Gwynedd, north-west Wales, lying on the River Wnion, a tributary of the River Mawddach. It was the traditional county town of the Historic counties of Wales, historic county of Merionet ...

, latterly an outstation of Wrexham depot. Councillors and AMs criticised the short notice given by Arriva, leading to fears that communities could be left without bus services; however, other operators took over the running of the routes.

Fleet

As of February 2016 the fleet consists of 192 vehicles. The majority of the fleet is single deck (68%) and is entirely low floor. There is a wide range of different types in the fleet although DAF and VDL chassis are the most common accounting for 41% of all vehicles in the fleet. During March 2010 Arriva Buses Wales announced that the fleet was 100% low floor (except open-tops and college/school duties), although high-floor Van Hool coaches were subsequently brought in to replace

Optare Tempo The Optare Tempo is an integral low-floor, full-size rigid single-deck bus manufactured by Optare and was launched in late 2004. It is marketed and sold as the replacement for the Optare Excel. It is designed as a lightweight bus, to use less ...

s on Aberystwyth-Cardiff duties.

Single deck

Dennis Dart The Dennis Dart is a rear-engined single-decker midibus chassis that was introduced by Dennis Specialist Vehicles of Guildford, England in 1989, replacing the Dennis Domino. Initially built as a high-floor design, In 1996 the low-floor seco ...

s, which made up around half the fleet in 2011, had been reduced to just four vehicles by October 2017, all of the 8.8-metre MPD variety. More recent deliveries have been

VDL SB120 VDL may refer to: * Vancouver Dodgeball League * Van Diemen's Land, the former name of the smallest Australian state of Tasmania * Van Diemen's Land Company in Tasmania * VDL Groep, Dutch manufacturing company * VDL (radio), a name used by two ...

and SB200 with

Wright Cadet The Wright Cadet was a low floor midibus body built on the DAF/VDL SB120 chassis by Wrightbus between 2000 and 2006. It was sold via VDL dealer Arriva Bus & Coach. Of the 681 produced, 366 were for Arriva subsidiaries including eight for its N ...

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

and

Pulsar A pulsar (from ''pulsating radio source'') is a highly magnetized rotating neutron star that emits beams of electromagnetic radiation out of its magnetic poles. This radiation can be observed only when a beam of emission is pointing toward Ea ...

/Pulsar 2 bodywork, as well as

Optare Solo The Optare Solo is a low-floor minibus/midibus with one or two doors manufactured by Optare in the United Kingdom since 1998. The Solo name is a play on its low-floor status, the manufacturer marketing its vehicle as having an entrance that is ...

s of differing lengths. Other types operated include a pair of

Optare Versa The Optare Versa is a low-floor midibus that was manufactured by Optare at its Sherburn-in-Elmet factory. In total 883 were produced between 2007 and 2018.Wright Eclipse bodied Volvo B7RLE, one of seven acquired from K.M.P. in 2008; and fourteen Alexander Dennis Enviro200s which were delivered to Bangor, Wrexham and Rhyl depots in 2015.

Double deck

The most common double deck type in the fleet is the Alexander Dennis Enviro400 - all 40 of which are currently operated on Sapphire services based at Wrexham, Chester and Rhyl depots respectively. The majority of these were delivered brand new - however eleven of these were refurbished after being released from

Arriva North West Arriva North WestCompanies House extract company no 1990871

. Other double deck types in the fleet are the Wright Gemini 2 bodied

VDL DB300 The Wright Gemini 2 is a double-decker bus built by Wrightbus between 2009 and 2013. It was announced in December 2007 but was not named until 2008. It was constructed as a semi-integral vehicle, with chassis modules provided by VDL. The bodywo ...

which are operated exclusively on ''Cymru Coastliner'' services from Rhyl depot and eleven DAF DB250RS. Six of these are

East Lancs Myllennium Lowlander The East Lancs Myllennium Lowlander is the type of double-decker bus body built on the DAF/VDL DB250 chassis by East Lancashire Coachbuilders. The name "Lowlander" was derived from the chassis being built by a company from The Netherlands. ...

bodied (these being cascaded from

Arriva Midlands Arriva Midlands is a bus operator providing services in the East Midlands and West Midlands areas of England. It is a subsidiary of Arriva UK Bus. Arriva Midlands North Operations In September 1981 Midland Red North was formed with 230 bu ...

to replace

Volvo Olympian The Volvo Olympian was a rear-engined 2-axle and 3-axle double decker bus chassis manufactured by Volvo at its Irvine, Scotland factory. The first was built in 1992 and entered production in March 1993, replacing the Leyland Olympian. History ...

s at Bangor) whilst the remaining five are former

Arriva London Arriva London is a major bus company operating services in Greater London. It is a subsidiary of Arriva UK Bus and operates services under contract to Transport for London. It was formed in 1998 from a fusion of previously separate Arriva s ...

Alexander ALX400 The Alexander ALX400 (later known as the TransBus ALX400 and the Alexander Dennis ALX400) was a 2-axle double-decker bus body built by Walter Alexander Coachbuilders (later by TransBus International/Alexander Dennis). It was one of the ALX-seri ...

bodied examples which have been converted to open top to replace

Leyland Olympian The Leyland Olympian was a 2-axle and 3-axle double-decker bus chassis manufactured by Leyland between 1980 and 1993. It was the last Leyland bus model in production. Construction The Olympian had the same chassis and running gear as ...

s to operate the ''Roller Coaster'' service between

and

Prestatyn Prestatyn is a seaside town and community in Denbighshire, Wales. Historically a part of Flintshire, it is located on the Irish Sea coast, to the east of Rhyl. Prestatyn has a population of 19,085, History Prehistory There is evidence that ...

References

External links

Arriva Buses Wales website
{{Bus companies in Wales 1919 establishments in England

British companies established in 1919 Bus operators in Wales Transport in Cheshire