In March 1880 the Derby Tramways Company commenced operating horse-drawn trams between Market Place and Derby railway station. The Derby Corporation Act of 1899 saw the Derby Corporation take over the tram lines in November 1899. Between 1903 and 1907 the network was extended and electrified.[2]
In May 1917 a battery-powered bus entered service. A second entered service in 1920, but both were replaced with motor buses in 1924. Between January 1932 and July 1934 Derby's trams were replaced by trolleybuses. Motor buses continued to operate alongside the trolleybuses until the network began to be closed in the 1960s with the last running in September 1967.[2]
In December 1973 Derby Corporation purchased Blue Bus Services of Willington.[3] In 1974 Derby Corporation was renamed Derby Borough Transport and in 1977 Derby City Transport when Derby was granted city status. To comply with the Transport Act 1985, in October 1986 the assets of Derby City Transport were transferred to a new legal entity.[1][2]
Following deregulation, Derby City Transport faced competition from Camms of Nottingham[4] and Midland Red.[5] The Blue Bus Services name and livery was applied to the whole fleet.[6]
In July 1994 Derby City Transport was sold to British Bus and rebranded as City Rider with a yellow, red and blue livery adopted.[6] In August 1996 British Bus was purchased by the Cowie Group[2] and again rebranded as Arriva Derby with the corporate aquamarine and cream livery adopted.
In November 2024, the Arriva Derby depot was crowned Top National Depot at the UK Bus Awards.
Services
Most services depart from Derby Bus Station although some use on street stops around the City Centre [7][8] Service X38 was jointly operated with TrentBarton,[9] however following a dispute, both operators are now competing on the route.[10] Arriva have operated University of Nottingham HopperBuses around Nottingham since September 2018.[11]
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