page_title: Carousel Buses
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Carousel Buses / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Carousel Buses L530 (G530 VBB), a Leyland Olympian/Northern Counties Palatine, in Oxford Street, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, on route 1.
context_page_description: Carousel Buses is a bus company based in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. Originally an independent company, it is a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group.
context_section_description: Carousel Buses was formed in 2000. It initially expanded by winning Buckinghamshire County Council contracts.
  In August 2003 route A40 High Wycombe to Heathrow Airport commenced, initially using second-hand Leyland Olympian double-deckers. By April 2004 these had been replaced by new low-floor Mercedes-Benz Citaro single-deck buses, in a dedicated silver and red livery. The route, which ran in partnership with Buckinghamshire County Council and Heathrow Airport Holdings, was formally introduced in January 2004.
  The company launched a new commercial route in June 2004, replacing services withdrawn by Arriva The Shires between High Wycombe and Lane End.
  In March 2008 Carousel introduced routes 35 and 36, branded as Purple Route, to replace a withdrawn Arriva Shires & Essex service to Flackwell Heath. The 35 was temporarily withdrawn in January 2010 because of road conditions, but was later restored. Arriva Shires & Essex currently run a combined 35 service with Carousel, with Carousel operating all daytime services, and Arriva operating evening and Sunday journeys.  In October 2008 the majority of services to Winchmore Hill were withdrawn, leaving the village with just one bus a day.
  In August 2009 route 336, which had previously run between Watford and Amersham, was extended to High Wycombe reinstating a through link  for the first time in 30 years. The network of routes linking Chesham and Amersham, numbered 373, 374 and 375, were rationalised into two routes, the 71 and 73, running hourly between the two locations. These routes have since changed to Red Rose Travel, linking Whelpley Hill and Ley Hill to Hilltop, Chesham Broadway, Chesham Bois, Amersham Station, Quill Hall Estate, Little Chalfont, Penn Street, Coleshill and Winchmore Hill, where Carousel no longer serves. 
  In September 2009 two new routes were introduced, route 740 supplemented the A40 between High Wycombe and Uxbridge, increasing the overall frequency to every 30 minutes and incorporating Beaconsfield,  and route 730 from Chesham to Heathrow Airport.
  A further change saw the existing route to Lane End replaced by new circular routes 2A and 2C in April 2010. These are no longer Carousel services
  In March 2012 Carousel Buses was purchased by the Go-Ahead Group. Carousel retains its identity, with its management passing to the group's Oxford Bus Company operation. Go-Ahead had previously operated services in the High Wycombe area under the Wycombe Bus name, but sold this operation to Arriva in December 2000.
  On 3 June 2018, their 'Link' network became the 'Chiltern Hundreds'. (101/102 runs from High Wycombe to Uxbridge/Heathrow Airport, 103 runs from High Wycombe to Watford, 104 runs from High Wycombe To Slough and 105 runs from Hemel Hempstead to Uxbridge).
  The only route that remains branded as 'Link' is the Link40, from High Wycombe to Stokenchurch and Thame
caption: Northern Counties Palatine bodied Leyland Olympian in High Wycombe in July 2009
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