Company type | TfL bus operator |
---|---|
Founded | September 1994 |
Headquarters | 18 Merton High Street, London, England |
Area served | Greater London |
Key people | Tom Joyner (Managing Director) [1] |
Number of employees | 8,000 |
Parent | Go-Ahead Group |
Subsidiaries | |
Website | www |
Go-Ahead London is a major bus operator in Greater London. The name first appeared in August 2008, before which the company had traded under separate names and brands. It is currently (as of July 2024) the largest bus operator in Greater London, operating a total of 153 bus routes mainly in South and Central London as well as some services into North and East London with a fleet size of 2270 vehicles under contract to Transport for London. [2] It is also the largest operator of electric buses in London, with a total of 540 electric vehicles.
The Go-Ahead Group is a large transport group based in Newcastle. It first became involved in London bus operations in September 1994, whereupon the privatisation of London Buses, it purchased London Central for £23.8 million. [3] In May 1996, it added another former London Buses subsidiary, London General, which had been sold in 1994 to a management buyout for £46 million. [4] [5] 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 was purchased. [6] On 29 June 2007, Go-Ahead London purchased Blue Triangle. With these purchases, Go-Ahead London surpassed Arriva London to become the largest operator of buses in London, running around 16% of London bus services.
A corporate image for Go-Ahead London bus routes started to appear in August 2008, when a new Go-Ahead London logo was unveiled. [7]
In 2009, Transport for London invited bids for the sale of their own bus operations which ran under the East Thames Buses 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 Buses brand was replaced with the Go-Ahead London brand. The East Thames Buses operations were initially absorbed under the London General arm of Go-Ahead London's business. However, after some route movements and allocation changes some of the services now run under the London Central arm of Go-Ahead London's business.
On 30 March 2012, Go-Ahead London purchased Northumberland Park garage from First London with all routes brought under the London General arm of Go-Ahead London's business. [8]
On 1 April 2014, the Go-Ahead Group restructured its Metrobus business, with the management of the Transport for London contracted services passing to the control of the London General arm of Go-Ahead London's business, with the remaining commercial services being brought under the control of Brighton & Hove from 1 July 2014. Services are now operated under an expanded London General licence, however the Metrobus trading name is partially retained. [9] London General's licence was formally increased by the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency on 25 April 2014 to accommodate the Metrobus buses. [10] [11]
In November 2024, Go-Ahead London will take over the Fastrack routes, which will introduce brand new Irizar ie trams. The Fastrack network runs in the areas of Dartford, Bluewater Shopping Centre, Greenhithe, Ebbsfleet and Gravesend.
The current subsidiaries of Go-Ahead London are, in order of acquisition:
Brighton & Hove Bus and Coach Company Limited, trading as Metrobus, is a bus operator with routes in parts of Surrey, Kent, Sussex, and Greater London. Formed through a management buyout in 1983, Metrobus was purchased by the Go-Ahead Group in September 1999 and is now under the control of Brighton & Hove, part of the Go-Ahead Group.
The Go-Ahead Group Limited is a multi-national transport group based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. While the majority of its operations are within Great Britain, it also operates services in Ireland, Australia, Singapore, and Norway. Go-Ahead was formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange prior to being purchased by Kinetic Group and Globalvia by 2022.
London General Transport Services Limited, trading as Go-Ahead London, is a bus company operating in Greater London. The London General brand is a subsidiary of Go-Ahead London and operates services under contract to Transport for London. The company is named after the London General Omnibus Company, the principal operator of buses in London between 1855 and 1933.
Reading Transport Limited, trading as Reading Buses, is an English municipal bus operator owned by Reading Borough Council, serving the towns of Reading, Bracknell, Newbury, Slough, Windsor, Maidenhead, Wokingham and the surrounding areas in the counties of Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Surrey and Hampshire, as well as parts of Greater 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 subsidiaries Grey-Green, Leaside Buses, Kentish Bus, London & Country and South London Transport. Operations are split between two registered companies, Arriva London North Limited and Arriva London South Limited.
Arriva Southern Counties Limited, trading as Arriva Southern Counties, is a bus operator in Kent, Essex, Hemel Hempstead, and Watford in England. It is a subsidiary of Arriva UK Bus.
Metroline is a bus company operating bus services in Greater London and Hertfordshire. It is a subsidiary of ComfortDelGro. It also operates bus services under contract to Transport for London.
Docklands Buses is a bus operator brand under London General Transport Services Limited), trading as Go-Ahead London. It operates services in East London under contract to Transport for London.
South East London & Kent Bus Company Limited, trading as Stagecoach London, is a bus company operating in central and south London and some parts of north-west Kent. The Selkent brand is a subsidiary of Stagecoach London and operates services under contract to Transport for London. The Selkent brand is not publicly used since 2010 as all buses are branded as Stagecoach, but it exists as a legal entity.
London Buses route 185 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Lewisham and Victoria stations, it is operated by Go-Ahead London.
The Dennis Lance was a single-decker bus chassis manufactured by Dennis between 1991 and 2000, replacing the Dennis Falcon. Its low floor variant, the Dennis Lance SLF was built between 1993 and 1996. Between 1995 and 1998, Dennis also built its double-deck variant, the Dennis Arrow, as the replacement of the Dennis Dominator.
The Optare Delta was a single-deck bus body manufactured by Optare between 1990 and 1999 on the DAF SB220 chassis. The Delta was Optare's first full-size transit bus body, with the company having previously built minibus bodies on Volkwagen LT55 and Mercedes-Benz 811D chassis. The Delta was succeeded by the Optare Excel from 1995 onwards, with production of the Delta body ceasing in 1999.
Yorkshire Rider was a bus company operating in West Yorkshire, England. The company was formed in 1986 out of the bus operations of the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive. It was later bought by the Badgerline Group, who later became the FirstGroup, and the company trades today as First West Yorkshire.
GM Buses was a major bus operator serving the ten metropolitan districts of Greater Manchester in North West England. The company was formed in February 1986 by the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive prior to deregulation on 26 October. In December 1993, it was split into GM Buses North and GM Buses South in order to increase competition for services in the area, before they were sold to the FirstGroup and Stagecoach respectively.
Capital Citybus was a bus operator in London operating services under contract to London Regional Transport.
National Express West Midlands(NXWM) is bus operator in the West Midlands of England. It is a subsidiary of Mobico Group and is the largest bus operator in the region, as well as one of the single largest in Britain.
Articulated buses, colloquially known as "bendy buses", were rarely used in the United Kingdom compared to other countries, until the turn of the millennium. This was due to a preference for the double-decker bus for use on high capacity routes. In June 2006, there were over 500 articulated buses in the United Kingdom, although they were still heavily outnumbered by double deckers. The majority of this fleet was used in London, although these buses would be withdrawn by end of 2011.
The privatisation of London bus services was the process of the transfer of operation of buses in London from public bodies to private companies.
The Wright StreetDeck is an integral double-decker bus manufactured by Wrightbus since 2014, originally delivered as standard with a Daimler OM934 diesel engine. Hybrid-electric, full-electric and hydrogen-powered variants have subsequently been produced. Production of the StreetDeck range was briefly suspended when Wrightbus entered administration in September 2019.