As the Great Britain Bus Timetable sank into omnibological obscurity, a small bus company was picking up Buckinghamshire tenders with a variety of second hand vehicles.
What caught the imagination of bus-nuts was the company logo ...
... having a certain affinity for that of a late version applied to London's green buses.
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to Heathrow Airport commenced, initially using second-hand Leyland Olympian double-deckers.By April 2004 these had been replaced by new low-floor Mercedes-Benz Citaro single-deck buses, in a dedicated silver and red livery.
In August 2003 route A40 High Wycombe to Heathrow Airport commenced, initially using second-hand Leyland Olympian double-deckers.By April 2004 these had been replaced by new low-floor Mercedes-Benz Citaro single-deck buses, in a dedicated silver and red livery.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 runs in partnership with Buckinghamshire County Council and Heathrow Airport Holdings, was formally introduced in January 2004.
In August 2009 route 336, which had previously run between Watford and Amersham, was extended to High Wycombe reinstating a through link for the first time in 30 years.
Now firmly established, the route uses good quality vehicles in a the company's smart red livery.
Soon expansion along the A40 corridor was in hand.
In September 2009 two new routes were introduced, route 740 supplemented the A40 between High Wycombe and Uxbridge, increasing the overall frequency to every 30 minutes ...
... and route 730 from Chesham to Heathrow Airport.[
It started, according to the GBBTT as route A30.
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.
This batch of Uxbridge and Heathrow services join the long established Arrive Green Line 724 and the London Buses A10 which we now know (thanks to a comment on yesterday's blog) started in 1996.
The Carousel Uxbridge network is now branded as The Link and timetables are brought together in the fbb designated "Lovely leaflet".
The A40, 336 and 740 are grouped together ...
... providing a half hourly service between High Wycombe and Uxbridge enhanced outside of school holdays and augmented between High Wycmbe and Beaconsfield by the 336,
The 730 is also included ...
... now running from Uxbridge (not Heathrow)
hourly to Hemel Hempsted. The other services on the cover and rural routes at lesser frequencies (580, 581 and 582) plus the Sunday 74, tendered journeys which are again advertised with the A40 between High Wycombe and Beaconsfield.
As the GBBTT faded to non-existence, Carousel came from nowhere to become a major player in the High Wycombe area. The company now runs a significant set of local services ...
... to complement "The Link! And there was a subtle change to that logo.
It is worth noting that Arrive The Shires still has a presence in High Wycombe ...
... (yes those are new Arriva vehicles), Carousel must now lay claim to be the dominant operator in and around the town.
And the do produce lovely leaflets.
Meanwhile, up in Sheffield, Sunday marks a series of timetable changes to improve services derided since the bug change on November 1st last year. Are there lovely leaflets? NO. Are there any leaflets? NO. Do the operators and the PTE care that people don't know where and when the buses go? NO.
Happy New Year
to Sheffield's Bus Passengers
FROM FIRST BUS : Since the Sheffield Bus Partnership network changes took place on 1 November 2015, you've given us your feedback, so we're making some changes to address the issues raised. We're sorry for any inconvenience caused and would like to reassure you that we're working hard to improve your service.
We'd like to thank you for bearing with us during the bus network changes. We'll continue to monitor your feedback, service punctuality and reliability to improve your public transport experience.
But we are not printing any leaflets!
FROM STAGECOACH :
We're not changing anything in Sheffield - yet
We'd like to thank you for bearing with us during the bus network changes. We'll continue to monitor your feedback, service punctuality and reliability to improve your public transport experience.
But we are not printing any leaflets!
FROM STAGECOACH :
Next bus blog : Saturday 2nd January
A couple of weeks ago some 5 or 6 Stephensons of Essex timetable leaflets were for sale on Ebay. They were described as a set of what was currently available as the operator now expects people to use the web to obtain timetable information!
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