Carousel Buses is a bus company based in High Wycombe,

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-e ...

, England. Originally an independent company, it is a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group. It is grouped together with Oxford Bus Company and

Thames Travel Thames Travel is a bus operator serving the southern part of the English county of Oxfordshire. It is based in Didcot and is a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group. In May 2011 the Go-Ahead Group bought Thames Travel. Branded routes River Rapid ...

, both of Oxfordshire, with the fleets of each operator regularly interchanged.

History

Carousel Buses was formed in 2000. It initially expanded by winning Buckinghamshire County Council contracts. In August 2003 route A40 High Wycombe to

Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others be ...

commenced, initially using second-hand

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 ...

double-deckers. By April 2004 these had been replaced by new low-floor Mercedes-Benz Citaro single-deck buses, in a dedicated silver and red livery. The route, which ran in partnership with Buckinghamshire County Council and Heathrow Airport Holdings, was formally introduced in January 2004. The company launched a new commercial route in June 2004, replacing services withdrawn by Arriva The Shires between High Wycombe and Lane End. In March 2008 Carousel introduced routes 35 and 36, branded as Purple Route, to replace a withdrawn Arriva Shires & Essex service to Flackwell Heath. The 35 was temporarily withdrawn in January 2010 because of road conditions, but was later restored. Arriva Shires & Essex currently run a combined 35 service with Carousel, with Carousel operating all daytime services, and Arriva operating evening and Sunday journeys. In October 2008 the majority of services to Winchmore Hill were withdrawn, leaving the village with just one bus a day. In August 2009 route 336, which had previously run between

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

and

Amersham Amersham ( ) is a market town and civil parish within the unitary authority of Buckinghamshire, England, in the Chiltern Hills, northwest of central London, from Aylesbury and from High Wycombe. Amersham is part of the London commuter be ...

, was extended to High Wycombe reinstating a through link for the first time in 30 years. The network of routes linking Chesham and Amersham, numbered 373, 374 and 375, were rationalised into two routes, the 71 and 73, running hourly between the two locations. These routes have since changed to Red Rose Travel, linking Whelpley Hill and Ley Hill to Hilltop, Chesham Broadway, Chesham Bois, Amersham Station, Quill Hall Estate, Little Chalfont, Penn Street, Coleshill and Winchmore Hill, where Carousel no longer serves. In September 2009 two new routes were introduced, route 740 supplemented the A40 between High Wycombe and

Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon. Situated west-northwest of Charing Cross, it is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Uxb ...

, increasing the overall frequency to every 30 minutes and incorporating

Beaconsfield Beaconsfield ( ) is a market town and civil parish within the unitary authority of Buckinghamshire, England, west-northwest of central London and south-southeast of Aylesbury. Three other towns are within : Gerrards Cross, Amersham and High W ...

, and route 730 from Chesham to Heathrow Airport. A further change saw the existing route to Lane End replaced by new circular routes 2A and 2C in April 2010. These are no longer Carousel services In March 2012 Carousel Buses was purchased by the Go-Ahead Group. Carousel retains its identity, with its management passing to the group's Oxford Bus Company operation. Go-Ahead had previously operated services in the High Wycombe area under the Wycombe Bus name, but sold this operation to Arriva in December 2000.Go-Ahead annual results 30 June 2001
Go-Ahead Group plc On 3 June 2018, their 'Link' network became the 'Chiltern Hundreds'. (101/102 runs from High Wycombe to

/Heathrow Airport, 103 runs from High Wycombe to

Slough Slough () is a town and unparished area in the unitary authority of the same name in Berkshire, England, bordering west London. It lies in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the ...

, 104 runs from High Wycombe To Uxbridge and 106/107 runs from

.) As of the 25th July 2022 Carousel Buses have cut the Watford part of the 103 and cut the 103 back to Wycombe and Chesham with the reason being low passenger usage and in September is set to be extended to Slough with Chesham being cut. The Watford part has been replaced by Arriva's 336 Watford to Amersham and 335 Watford to Chorleywood. Carousel also cut 105 Chesham to Uxbridge by extending 106/7 to Amersham with the reason being the same as 103. Route 40 also passed to Red Rose Travel with the same reason as 105 and 103. However route 102 has been extended back to London Heathrow and 101 has been reinstated after being suspended during Covid 19 As of September 2022, Carousels routes 35 and 36 have transferred to Arriva. With school route 39A being fully terminated due to lack of use. While carousel takes over the Route 1/1A/1B entirely. Carousel have also Started a "PickMeUp" service, operating similar to Uber and funded in part by Buckinghamshire County Council. In which you can order a minibus (Mercedes Sprinter) to collect you and take you to your destination (within the High Wycombe zone)

Fleet

(As of 12th October 2022) *5

Alexander Dennis Enviro400 The Alexander Dennis Enviro400 is a twin-axle low-floor double-decker bus that was built by the British bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis between 2005 and 2018. It replaced the Alexander ALX400, Dennis Trident (from which the Enviro400 was d ...

bodied Scania N230UDs (2010) *9 Wright Streetlites (2015-2016) *10 EVM

Mercedes-Benz Sprinter The Mercedes-Benz Sprinter is a light commercial vehicle (van) built by Mercedes-Benz Group AG of Stuttgart, Germany as a large van, chassis cab, minibus, and pickup truck. In the past, the Sprinter had been sold under the Mercedes-Benz, Dod ...

(2018-2019) *2 Optare Versa (2015-2016) *5

Scania OmniDekka The East Lancs OmniDekka (later sold as the Darwen OmniDekka and Optare OmniDekka) is a double-decker bus built for sale in the UK market, introduced by East Lancashire Coachbuilders in 2003. Originally built on Scania N94UD chassis at Euro ...

(2005-2007) *13 Mercedes-Benz Citaro (2005–2009) 856/9 On loan to Thames travel (858/7 Scrapped) *1

Wright Gemini 2 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 ...

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 ...

(2008) On loan to Thames Travel *2 Wright Eclipse Gemini bodied Volvo B7TLs (2005–2006) 940 On loan to Thames Travel

Major Routes

*1-High Wycombe, Hazlemere, Amersham, Chesham, Bovingdon, Hemel Hempstead. *1A/1B - High Wycombe Bus Station, Amersham, Chesham Pond Park Estate (1A to Hemel Hempstead Sundays/Bank Holidays only) *102- High Wycombe Bus Station, Beaconsfield, Gerrads Cross, Denham, Uxbridge, London Heathrow Airport.

References

External links

Company website
{{Go-Ahead Bus Companies, state=collapsed Bus operators in Buckinghamshire Transport in Buckinghamshire Bus operators in Hertfordshire Go-Ahead Group companies London bus operators