Arriva Buses Wales - Aberystwyth Depot

  19/06/20   |     James Richford

This archive fleet list shows the final allocation of Aberystwyth depot, which closed in December 2013.

Aberystwyth depot was Arriva Wales' southernmost outpost. In hindsight its detachment from the rest of the division's interests in North Wales made it a prime candidate for closure. Its network and allocation had gradually been whittled down over the years, leaving just 30 buses at the time of closure. Early warning signs were shown in early 2012 when Aber's batch of 2009 Optare Solos were transferred to Wrexham, with much older Dennis Dart MPDs sent in exchange. At the time of closure, seven MPDs and three slightly longer 9.3M Darts, all with Plaxton Pointer 2 bodies, comprised the mainstay of the depot's local town services. The university service was shared between Aber's only double deckers, two ex-London DAF DB250/Alexander ALX400s.

Longer-distance work fell into two branding categories. 'Traws-Cambria' routes included the X32 (Aberystwyth to Bangor) and X94 (Wrexham to Barmouth) routes and were served by eight VDL SB200s with Wright Commander bodywork, which were specially geared for the cross-country nature of these routes. The 'Cymru Express' routes included the 40 and 50 services from Aberystwyth to Carmarthen and Synod Inn respectively, the domain of Wright Pulsars from batches originally delivered to Rhyl and Liverpool's Green Lane depots. The lengthy Aberystwyth to Cardiff route 20 runs were handled by two Van Hool Alizee-bodied DAF SB4000s, the only coaches in the entire Arriva North West and Wales region.

The depot finally suffered its long-expected closure on 21st December 2013. The fleet passed mainly to other Welsh depots with a handful taken by Arriva North West garages. Local operators took over some of the town's routes but many were lost altogether once Arriva pulled out of Aberystwyth.