After several years of decline, Arriva Midlands sold its operations from Cannock depot to D&G Bus on 10 January. SIMON GILL considers how well the new owner’s first week went in this part of south Staffordshire.
There is cause for optimism in Cannock and Stafford, where a change of ownership is injecting new focus and vigour into the network of services operated for over 20 years by Arriva Midlands.
The story goes back to 7 February 1977 when Midland Red Omnibus Company, then part of the state-owned National Bus Company, opened the modern depot at Delta Way, Cannock to replace the Heath Hayes site it acquired with the takeover of Harper Brothers on 22 April 1974. Its opening allocation was of 78 buses.
Following a Market Analysis Project exercise to identify a viable network, it introduced the Chaserider brand in the Cannock area on 31 August 1980, a brand shared with Stafford garage where it had begun three months earlier. For operational convenience, and to balance revenue, several routes were exchanged with West Midlands PTE which had previously been the major operator in Cannock.
Midland Red divided
After NBC split Midland Red into four area bus companies plus separate coach and engineering bus…
