bodied
Dennis Dart in
Whitchurch in August 2009
Northern Counties Palatine bodied
Volvo Olympian in October 2012 bodied
VDL DB250 pictured on route 104 to Fosse Park. ,
Shropshire, June 2022. In September 1981, Midland Red North was formed with 230 buses operating from six depots in
Shropshire,
Staffordshire and the
West Midlands as part of the breakup of the
Midland Red bus company. In May 1983 the
Ludlow depot was closed. In January 1988 Midland Red North was sold to the Drawlane Transport Group. In November 1992 it was sold to
British Bus which in August 1996 was sold to the
Cowie Group. In 2003, the Arriva Midlands North garages in
Crewe,
Macclesfield and
Winsford were transferred to
Arriva North West. These had previously been operated by Crosville and had adopted the "Midland Redline" fleetname after transfer to Midland Red North. The remaining parts of Arriva Midlands North were combined with
Arriva Derby and
Arriva Fox County to form Arriva Midlands. Buses still operate with Arriva Midlands North legal name (except
Burton upon Trent which used
Stevensons of Uttoxeter). In February 2007, the business of
Chase Coaches was purchased with 27 buses with operations integrated into Arriva's
Cannock depot. In late 2007 a new ChaseLinx brand (similar to the Leicester Linx brand) was introduced, reflecting the purchase of Chase Coaches. In December 2007,
Swadlincote depot closed with operations transferred to Burton upon Trent. In August 2008 the
Hinckley depot and services were sold to
Centebus Holdings. In January 2009
Shifnal depot closed while in the same month
Bridgnorth reopened. In December 2010, the business of
Wardle Transport,
Stoke-on-Trent was purchased with 64 buses, followed in June 2011 by the
Staffordshire operations of
D&G Bus with 30 buses that was integrated with Wardle Transport and in August 2012
Midland of
Wednesfield from D&G Bus with 61 buses. In May 2015, D&G Bus purchased Wardle transport back from Arriva Midlands with 19 buses. On 23 April 2017, the Wednesfield depot closed with some services passing to
Diamond Buses with nine vehicles and the remainder of vehicles reallocated to other depots. The depot had only reopened in March 2013 after a refurbishment. In 2017, four
Arriva Shires & Essex depots (
Milton Keynes,
Luton,
Aylesbury and
High Wycombe), and their routes, were transferred into the management of Arriva Midlands. The vehicles were renumbered in late 2018 and early 2019 to avoid multiple vehicles having the same fleet numbers. Arriva announced that from 1 April 2018 that no buses from their Cannock depot would run during the evenings and Sundays as a result of Staffordshire County Council funding cuts. Hundreds signed an online petition within the first week, which quickly lead to thousands including backing from two local MPs. In November 2020, it was announced that the Cannock Depot would be sold to
D&G bus, with services being operated under the Chaserider brand from the end of service on 9 January 2021. ==Arriva Midlands East operations==