Central Connect
 |
|
|
|
| Parent | Rotala |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1984 (as Birmingham Coach Company) 2000 (as Diamond Bus) |
| Headquarters | Tividale |
| Service area | West Midlands |
| Service type | Bus services |
| Depots |
|
| Chief executive | Simon Dunn |
| Website | www.diamondbuses.com |
Diamond Bus is a bus operator in the West Midlands. It is a subsidiary of Rotala.
In 1984 Geoff Howle commenced a coach operation trading as the Birmingham Coach Company. Following deregulation of the bus industry in 1986, Howle applied to operate route 16 between Hamstead and Birmingham in competition with West Midlands Travel.
In 2000 Birmingham Coach Company was re-branded as Diamond Bus, replacing many of their existing Leyland Nationals, expanding their network in Birmingham and the Black Country. By 2003 Diamond Bus had become a National Express contractor and opened a depot in Bradford.
In December 2005 the Go-Ahead Group purchased Diamond Bus and in February 2006 Probus Management with over 100 vehicles and merged the two companies to form Go West Midlands.
In March 2008 Go West Midlands was sold to Rotala who also owned Central Connect and North Birmingham Busways. Rotala originally kept the Diamond business separate from Central Connect and Ludlows (purchased later), instead switching a number of routes between the three operators. From November 2011 Central Connect was re-branded as Blue Diamond.
In July 2008 new buses were put into service in Redditch on routes 57 and 58, branded as Red Diamond. Since then a number of routes in North Worcestershire have been re-branded as Red Diamond along with new routes in competition with First Midland Red's in Redditch. At the same time new buses were allocated to a number of Black Country routes, branded as Black Diamond.
The Diamond Staffordshire brand was introduced in late 2012 for the company's services around the Lichfield area.
...
Wikipedia