Arriva Derby

History

In March 1880 the Derby Tramways Company commenced operating horse-drawn trams between Market Place and Derby railway station. The Derby Corporation Act of 1899 saw the Derby Corporation take over the tram lines in November 1899. Between 1903 and 1907 the network was extended and electrified.

In May 1917 a battery-powered bus entered service. A second entered service in 1920, but both were replaced with motor buses in 1924. Between January 1932 and July 1934 Derby's trams were replaced by trolleybuses. Motor buses continued to operate alongside the trolleybuses until the network began to be closed in the 1960s with the last running in September 1967.

In December 1973 Derby Corporation purchased Blue Bus Services of Willington. In 1974 Derby Corporation was renamed Derby Borough Transport and in 1977 Derby City Transport when Derby was granted city status. To comply with the Transport Act 1985, in October 1986 the assets of Derby City Transport were transferred to a new legal entity.

Following deregulation, Derby City Transport faced competition from Camms of Nottingham and Midland Red. The Blue Bus Services name and livery was applied to the whole fleet.

In 1994 Derby City Transport was sold to British Bus and rebranded as City Rider with a yellow, red and blue livery adopted. In August 1996 British Bus was purchased by the Cowie Group and again rebranded as Arriva Derby with the corporate aquamarine and cream livery adopted.

Fleet

As of August 2011 the fleet consisted of 144 buses and coaches.

Arriva Derby inherited a fleet of Daimler Fleetlines, Mercedes-Benz Varios, Scanias and Volvo B10Ms all of which have been withdrawn.

In early 2008, an order was announced for 59 new buses to update the ageing fleet. Optare Solos, Scania OmniLinks, Scania OmniCitys and Wright Eclipse Gemini bodied Volvo B9TLs were purchased.