Central Buses was a bus company based in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
, England.
History
Central Buses was founded in September 2003 by 16-year-old Geoff Cross.
[Start your own business: Young bus operator takes slow lane to success]
''Daily Express
The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first ...
'' 24 February 2010
Later, a separate arm of the company was created. Centrad was created under the CEN Group brand, which Central Buses also joined. This supplies electronic equipment to the bus industry.
[
Many of the services operated by Central Buses were operated under contract to ]Transport for West Midlands
Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) is the public body responsible for co-ordinating transport services in the West Midlands metropolitan county in England. It is an executive body of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), with bus fran ...
. All buses were equipped to use prepaid fare cards.
In February 2018, Central Buses was purchased by Rotala
Rotala Limited is a company established in 2005, which owns a number of bus operators in England. It was listed on the Alternative Investment Market from 2005 until 2024.
History
In March 2005, Rotala was listed on the Alternative Investmen ...
for £1.95 million, with its 23 services and 31 buses taken over by its Diamond West Midlands
Diamond Bus Ltd., trading as Diamond West Midlands, is a bus operator in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands. It is a subsidiary of Rotala.
History Birmingham Coach Company & Diamond Bus
In 1984, Geoff Howle commenced a coach operation ...
subsidiary. Operations ceased at the conclusion of services on 24 February 2018.["Central Buses bows out in style" ''Buses'' issue 757 April 2018 page 10]["Central Farewell" ''Bus & Coach Preservation'' May 2018 page 21]
Fleet
As of February 2018, the fleet consisted of 31 buses. Fleet livery was red and grey.[
]
References
External links
Official website
{{Defunct British Bus Companies, state=collapsed
Former bus operators in Shropshire
Former bus operators in the West Midlands (county)
Former bus operators in Worcestershire
Transport companies established in 2003
Transport companies disestablished in 2018
2003 establishments in England
2018 disestablishments in England
British companies established in 2003
British companies disestablished in 2018