Chaserider is the brand name for bus services operated around

Cannock Cannock () is a town in the Cannock Chase district in the county of Staffordshire, England. It had a population of 29,018. Cannock is not far from the towns of Walsall, Burntwood, Stafford and Telford. The cities of Lichfield and Wolverhampton ...

and

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

by D&G Bus, a local bus operator owned by Centrebus who are based in Adderley Green,

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England. It has an estimated population of 259,965 as of 2022, making it the largest settlement in Staffordshire ...

History

The Chaserider brand name, which refers to

Cannock Chase Cannock Chase, often referred to locally as The Chase, is a mixed area of countryside in the county of Staffordshire, England. The area has been designated as the Cannock Chase National Landscape, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and muc ...

, was first used by

Midland Red Midland Red was a bus company that operated in the Midlands of England from 1905 until 1981. It was one of the largest English bus companies, operating over a large area between Gloucester in the south and Derbyshire in the north, and from Nort ...

from 1977 until 1992. During November 2020, Centrebus Group subsidiary D&G Bus announced they would be taking over the Cannock depot of Arriva Midlands from the end of January 2021 with operations in Cannock and Stafford running under the revived Chaserider brand.

Services

Chaserider services operate mainly around Cannock and Stafford with some further afield into Wolverhampton and Walsall. Since taking over from Arriva Midlands in January 2021, Chaserider have undertaken a number of service reviews including a trial of running the Pye Green circular buses on Sundays via Designer Outlet West Midlands. Some of the

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, England. It is located about south of Stoke-on-Trent, north of Wolverhampton, and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 71,673 at the 2021–2022 United Kingd ...

town centre network inherited from Arriva has been taken over by Select Bus Services. From June 2021, Chaserider introduced a new service X14 between

Shifnal Shifnal () is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire, England, about east of Telford, 17 miles (27 km) east of Shrewsbury and 13 miles (20 km) west-northwest of Wolverhampton. It is near the M54 motorway and A5 (road), A5 road ...

Telford Telford () is a town in the Telford and Wrekin borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Shropshire, England. The wider borough covers the town, its suburbs and surrounding towns and villages. The town is close to the county's eastern b ...

and Oakengates. This had 6 journeys in each direction, but was withdrawn in January 2022 owing to low passenger numbers. From February 2023, Chaserider began operating subsidised services 102 and 103 along with school services 104 and 105 in the Telford area. Also operated under contract to Telford and Wrekin Council, Chaserider also began to operate service 100 in late 2022. These services utilise a fleet of 6 suitably branded Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 MMCs. Service 1 which ran between

and

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

and operated every 20 minutes at its peak was curtailed to operate only between

Cheslyn Hay Cheslyn Hay is a village and civil parish in the South Staffordshire district of Staffordshire, England. It is 3 miles south of Cannock, 10 miles north of Walsall, 9 miles northeast of Wolverhampton, and 13 miles south of Stafford. The village ...

and Cannock from the summer 2022. This was controversial as at the same time

National Express Mobico Group, formerly National Express Group, is a British multinational public transport company with headquarters in Birmingham, England. Domestically it currently operates bus and coach services under brands including National Express. Th ...

cut its competing X51 between Cannock and Walsall (and which continues to Birmingham) to every 30 minutes from 20 minutes between the two towns. In July 2023, Chaserider commenced operations on behalf of

Transport for West Midlands Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) is the public body responsible for co-ordinating transport services in the West Midlands metropolitan county in England. It is an executive body of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), with bus fran ...

(TfWM) and

Staffordshire County Council Staffordshire County Council is the upper-tier Local government in England, local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Staffordshire, England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county, which additionally includ ...

, running services 35A and 36 between

Aldridge Aldridge is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall in the West Midlands, England. It is historically, a village that was part of Staffordshire until 1974. The town is from Brownhills, from Walsall, from Sutton Coldfield and from ...

and

Lichfield Lichfield () is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated south-east of the county town of Stafford, north-east of Walsall, north-west of ...

. Additionally, service 19 under contract in October 2023 commenced, between

and

Bloxwich Bloxwich is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, West Midlands, England. It is located between the towns of Walsall, Cannock, Willenhall and Brownhills. The most famous resident is John Singh Sangha, the Bengali tiger, the ...

however due to antisocial behaviour in the Coal Pool area the service was diverted, finished early and briefly withdrawn until an alternative operator was found. Service 19 is now operated by Carolean Coaches. In November 2023, Chaserider replaced National Express West Midlands on service 5 (Wolverhampton to Codsall) on evenings and Sundays. Day time journeys are operated by Banga Buses. In June 2024, saw the extension of the 63 Cannock to Rugeley via Brereton linking onto Uttoxeter with some journeys subcontracted to Bus Link. In July 2024, saw the 35A Walsall to Leighswood via Aldridge service be withdrawn and replaced with a new 36A extending from Leighswood to Lichfield via Streets Corner and Muckley Corner (similar to former Diamond 35 route). From January 2025, the 36 service will operate on Sundays. These changes are on behalf of Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) and Staffordshire County Council. Due to roadworks near to Stafford Town Centre, Chaserider amended part of their network between 2024–25. Service 10 in Stafford was withdrawn this was replaced by a modification on selected journeys on service 841. On the 74, journeys from Stafford to Cannock operated non-stop from The Sun Public House (Lichfield Road) to Pottal Pool roundabout. Service 826 towards

Rugeley Rugeley ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Cannock Chase District, in Staffordshire, England. It lies on the north-eastern edge of Cannock Chase next to the River Trent; it is north of Lichfield, southeast of Stafford, northeast of ...

operated a loop via Baswich and Milford it has since been modified to serve Etchinghill on certain journeys from Rugeley and Stafford respectively.

Fleet

As part of the sale to D&G bus,

Arriva Arriva Ltd. is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England. The company was originally established on 24 October 1938 as T Cowie Ltd. Initially focused on the sale of motorcycles, it relaunched shortl ...

included 46 vehicles with sale of Cannock depot, since the takeover most of the vehicles have been refurbished into D&G two tone red livery with Chaserider branding alongside some newer additions from within D&G parent company Centrebus Group. As of June 2022, Centrebus are upgrading the Chaserider fleet with newer vehicles from elsewhere within their operations. As of August 2024, the fleet consists of 58 vehicles.

Bus services

References

External links

Company websiteFlickr gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:DandG Bus Bus operators in Cheshire Bus operators in Staffordshire Transport companies established in 1977 Transport companies established in 2021 1977 establishments in England 2021 establishments in England