Arriva the Shires has proposed the closure of depots in Aylesbury and High Wycombe. It notes that both operating centres are lossmaking despite “extensive efforts to turn the situation around.” The move will occur no sooner than 27 July.
If adopted, the plans will see the general withdrawal of 14 service groups that in addition to serving as town provision in each location extend to Maidenhead, Oxford, and Reading, although journeys worked under contract to Buckinghamshire Council or Oxfordshire County Council (OCC) will continue to be operated by Arriva until those terms expire.
One other route – the X5 between Aylesbury and Hemel Hempstead – will be operated from Arriva’s depot in the latter town. The business says that “there will be no immediate impact” on services while it works with local authorities (LAs) to minimise the impact of removals should the closures progress.
Go-Ahead Group moved quickly to say that it “stands ready to operate” former Arriva services in High Wycombe via its Carousel Buses subsidiary, which is already active in the town.
Regional Bus Managing Director Martin Dean adds that the group is willing to work with LA partners, noting that “we want to reassure customers that we would take on services as soon as Arriva makes its decision to exit the bus market in High Wycombe.”
Less than a year ago, Arriva made significant changes to its network in High Wycombe, with more regular timetables and a doubling of frequencies on some routes. Certain additional later buses were also introduced thanks to OCC support.
Arriva says that if the proposed closure of Aylesbury and High Wycombe depots goes ahead, it will look “to avoid redundancies by redeploying as many colleagues as possible to other UK Bus locations and/or roles.” Aylesbury has an authorisation of 58 vehicles and High Wycombe has an authorisation of 55.
If it progresses, the move will follow similar exits by Arriva from depots in Oswestry and Winsford, and an outstation in Macclesfield, during 2023; from the Jesmond area of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 2022; from Guildford in 2021; and sale of its operating centre in Cannock to Centrebus during 2020.
In some of those cases, the reason for closure or sale was given as financial performance, although service provision was generally maintained either by transfer of work to other Arriva depots or through registration by other operators.
