Company announces takeover of several Bucks bus routes but Aylesbury's future remains uncertain

Carousel Buses has announced plans to takeover Arriva’s routes that are operated from its High Wycombe depot.

Also, its parent company, Go Ahead, has revealed plans for Carousel’s sister service, Oxford Bus Company, to take over the route between Thame and Oxford.

It will be completing the recently launched X7 route, under the old 280 name, but may no longer connect Aylesbury to the Oxfordshire areas.

Carousel’s announcement comes hot on the heels of Arriva’s statement yesterday. Arriva revealed plans to close both its Aylesbury and High Wycombe depots, which will lead to the termination of all bus routes, which operate from those sites.

This would leave Arriva only serving Buckinghamshire customers via routes that originate from nearby depots in Hemel Hempstead and Milton Keynes.

When the Arriva depot in High Wycombe Carousel Buses plans to immediately start running Arriva’s current routes in south Buckinghamshire. But the future of Aylesbury buses which travel between Oxford and High Wycombe remains uncertain.

"We understand that local people may well be worried that the bus services they rely on across Wycombe and south Bucks will be impacted by this sad news - but they need not be concerned,” said Luke Marion, Carousel Buses managing director.

“I can reassure them that Carousel is ready to step in, to ensure bus users can still get to where they need to go. If Arriva does proceed with its plans to close the High Wycombe depot, we plan to immediately provide a service on current Arriva routes 2, 3, 5/5a, 6/6a, 7/7a, 10, 11, 12, 13, 800, 850 and X80, from the date of the closure.

"Therefore, we will ensure that Wycombe and the surrounding area will be covered by a very similar level of bus services to today - albeit with different coloured buses running the routes.”

Arriva has said it will continue to fulfil its contractual agreements with Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire’s local authorities, and neither depot will shut before 27 July.

Aylesbury commuters will still have access to buses that travel between Oxford and High Wycombe. However with only one bus service covering these popular routes, demand is likely to increase, while availability could halve.