Quote from: markcf83 on Today at 10:37:46 AMArriva have confirmed they will be pulling out of Aylesbury and Wycombe in July. I understand that Carousel is to take over the bulk of the Wycombe network and Oxford Bus is to run the direct Oxford to Aylesbury service once again and renumber it to 280, which it used to be of course. Carousel has put a statement on their website which I've just read. Hemel Hempstead will run the X5, former 500,but that'll be the only Arriva route in the Buckinghamshire county town except for the Milton Keynes service.Arriva have proposed to close those depots: it probably will happen, but not 100% confirmed yet. Also the new 280 is seemingly only going as far as Thame, not all the way to Aylesbury.
I can't say the news about Aylesbury is a huge surprise - they have lost a lot of market share to Red over the previous years, and only operate 3 longer interurban routes currently with a PVR of less than 20. However, it will still be sad to net see any famous blue buses in Oxford anymore!
What is a bit of a surprise is the timing, with timetable changes planned for June. This suggests to me that it is a sudden upper management decision for cost-cutting purposes. I understand that Arriva was recently purchased, so I wonder if the new owners want to axe the areas that lose money?