Go-Ahead London is the trading name used collectively for the London bus operations of the Go-Ahead Group. The name first appeared in August 2008, before which the company had traded under separate names and brands. It is the largest bus operator in London, operating a total of 115 bus routes contracted to Transport for London.

Contents 1 History 2 Current companies 3 See also 4 References 5 External links

[edit] History

The Go-Ahead Group is a large transport group based in Newcastle. It first became involved in London bus operations in September 1994, where upon the privatisation of London Buses Limited, it acquired former LBL subsidiary London Central. Just under two years later, in May 1996, it added another former LBL subsidiary, London General, which had initially been part of a management buyout.^[1] 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 London General, on behalf of Go-Ahead, purchased Docklands Buses.^[2] Then, on 29 June 2007, the group acquired the bus operating part of Blue Triangle. With these purchases, Go-Ahead 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's London bus services started to appear in August 2008, when a new "Go-Ahead London" logo^[3] was unveiled; subsequent new buses carry new style fleetnames incorporating this logo.^[4][5]

[edit] Current companies

The current subsidiaries of Go-Ahead London are, in order of acquisition:

• London Central (1994)
• London General (1996)
• Docklands Buses (2006)
• Blue Triangle (2007)
• East Thames Buses (2009)

[edit] See also

• Metrobus - A bus company also owned by Go-Ahead, running services south of London as well as in Surrey and Sussex.
• List of bus operators of the United Kingdom

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Go-Ahead London website

v • d • e Companies operating buses under contract to London Buses Abellio · Arriva: (Arriva London, Arriva Shires & Essex, Arriva Southern Counties) · CT Plus · East London Bus Group: (East London, Selkent, Thameside) · First London · Go-Ahead Group: (Blue Triangle, Docklands Buses, London Central, London General, Metrobus)  · Metroline · Quality Line · Sullivan Buses · Transdev London London Transport Portal

v • d • e Go-Ahead Group United Kingdom bus companies: Blue Triangle · Brighton & Hove · Damory Coaches · Docklands Buses · Go North East · London Central · London General · Marchwood Motorways · Metrobus · Oxford Bus Company · Solent Blue Line (Bluestar, Uni-link) · Southern Vectis · Tourist Group · Wilts & Dorset Defunct United Kingdom bus companies: East Thames Buses UK railway companies (Govia): London Midland · Southeastern · Southern (including Gatwick Express) Other operations: Aviance UK · Meteor Parking UK railway companies: Thames Trains · Thameslink

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