Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 in September 2012 | |
Parent | Geoff Cross |
---|---|
Founded | September 2003 |
Defunct | 24 February 2018 |
Headquarters | Perry Barr |
Service area | Birmingham Coventry Staffordshire Warwickshire Worcestershire Shropshire |
Service type | Bus operator |
Routes | 23 (February 2018) |
Depots | 2 |
Fleet | 31 (February 2018) |
Website | www.centralbuses.com |
Central Buses [1] was a bus company based in Birmingham, England.
Birmingham is the second-largest city and metropolitan area in England and the United Kingdom, with roughly 1.1 million inhabitants within the city area and 3.8 million inhabitants within the metropolitan area. This also makes Birmingham the 17th largest city and 8th largest metropolitan area in the European Union. Birmingham is commonly referred to as the nation's "second city".
Central Buses was founded in September 2003 by 16-year-old Geoff Cross, in partnership with his father Peter. [2] [3]
Later, a separate arm of the company was created. Centrad was created under the CEN Group brand, which Central Buses also joined. This supplies electronic equipment to the bus industry. [2]
Many of the services operated by Central Buses were operated under contract to Transport for West Midlands. All buses were equipped to use prepaid fare cards. [4] [5] [6] [7]
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 franchising and highway management powers similar to Transport for London. TfWM's policies and strategy are set by the Transport Delivery Committee of the WMCA.
In February 2018, Central Buses was purchased by Rotala with its 23 services and 31 buses taken over by its Diamond West Midlands subsidiary. [8] [9] [10] Operations ceased at the conclusion of services on 24 February 2018. [11] [12]
Rotala plc LSE: ROL is an Alternative Investment Market listed company, established in 2005, which owns a number of bus operators in England.
Diamond Bus Ltd., trading as Diamond West Midlands, is a bus operator in the West Midlands. It is a subsidiary of Rotala.
As of February 2018, the fleet consisted of 31 buses. Fleet livery was red and grey. [11]
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