Go-Ahead London is the trading name used collectively for the London bus operations of the

Go-Ahead Group The Go-Ahead Group plc is a passenger transport company based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, with operations in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Singapore, Norway and Germany. Formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange, in 2022 it was purchased ...

. The name first appeared in August 2008, before which the company had traded under separate names and brands. It is currently (as of 2021) the largest bus operator in Greater London, operating a total of 115 bus routes with a fleet size of 2,210 vehicles under contract to Transport for London.

History

The

is a large transport group based in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

. It first became involved in London bus operations in September 1994, whereupon the privatisation of London Buses, it purchased

London Central London Central is a bus company operating in South London. It is a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group and operates services under contract to Transport for London. History London Central commenced operating on 1 April 1989 when London Bus ...

for £23.8 million. In May 1996, it added another former London Buses subsidiary,

London General London General is a bus company operating in Greater London. It is a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group and operates services under contract to Transport for London. The company is named after the London General Omnibus Company, the principal ...

, which had been sold in 1994 to a management buyout for £46 million. These two companies subsequently developed in much the same way, both establishing a livery of red with a charcoal skirt and yellow relief band, and splitting orders for new buses. Further expansion did not occur until September 2006, when

Docklands Buses Docklands Buses is a bus company operating in East London. It is a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group and operates services under contract to Transport for London. History Docklands Buses was formed by Harry Blundred's Transit Holdings in 1988 ...

was purchased. On 29 June 2007, the Go-Ahead purchased

Blue Triangle Blue Triangle is a bus company operating services in East London. It is a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group and operates most services under contract to Transport for London. It is the operator of the East London Transit service. History ...

. With these purchases, Go-Ahead surpassed

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 ...

to become the largest operator of buses in London, running around 16% of London bus services. A corporate image for Go-Ahead's London bus services started to appear in August 2008, when a new Go-Ahead London logo was unveiled. In 2009, Transport for London invited bids for the sale of their own bus operations which ran under the

East Thames Buses East Thames Buses was the trading name of London Buses Limited, an arms length subsidiary of Transport for London. In 2009, it was sold to the Go-Ahead Group. History East Thames Buses was formed in 1999 to take over the services operated ...

brand. Go-Ahead London were selected as the preferred bidder and assumed full responsibility for 10 routes and two depots in October that year. The East Thames brand was replaced with the Go-Ahead London brand. The East Thames operations were initially absorbed under the

arm of Go-Ahead's London business. However, after some route movements and allocation changes some of the services now run under the

. On 30 March 2012, Go-Ahead purchased Northumberland Park Garage from

First London First London was a bus company operating services in east and west Greater London, England. It was a subsidiary of FirstGroup and operated buses under contract to Transport for London. It was formed in the late 1990s through the acquisition o ...

with all routes brought under the London General wing. On 1 April 2014, Go-Ahead restructured its Metrobus business, with the management of the Transport for London contracted services passing to the control of Go-Ahead London, with the remaining services administered by

Brighton & Hove Brighton and Hove () is a city and unitary authority in East Sussex, England. It consists primarily of the settlements of Brighton and Hove, alongside neighbouring villages. Often referred to synonymously as Brighton, the City of Brighton and ...

from 1 July 2014. Services are now operated under an expanded London General licence, however the Metrobus trading name is retained.Go-Ahead London welcomes Metrobus garages into fold
''Bus Talk'' (Go-Ahead London) issue 27 April 2014

's licence was formally increased by the

Vehicle and Operator Services Agency Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) was an executive agency granted trading fund status in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Transport of the United Kingdom Government. It was announced on 20 June 2013 that VOSA would ...

on 25 April 2014."Go-Ahead London" ''Buses'' issue 713 August 2014 page 71

Current subsidiaries

The current subsidiaries of Go-Ahead London are, in order of acquisition: *

(September 1994) *

(May 1996) * Metrobus (September 1999) *

(September 2006) *

(June 2007)

References

External links

* {{Go-Ahead Bus Companies Go-Ahead Group London bus operators London bus operators