Go-Ahead London is a major bus operator in Greater London. The name first appeared in August 2008, before which the company had traded under separate names and brands. It is currently (as of February 2023) the largest bus operator in Greater London, operating a total of 153 bus routes mainly in South and Central London as well as some services into North and East London with a fleet size of over 3,200 vehicles under contract to Transport for London.^[1]

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Go-Ahead London

Go-Ahead London Alexander Dennis Enviro400EV on route 40 in Southwark, November 2023
Company type	TfL bus operator
Founded	September 1994; 29 years ago (1994-09)
Headquarters	18 Merton High Street, London, England
Area served	Greater London
Key people	David Cutts (Managing Director)
Number of employees	8,000
Parent	Go-Ahead Group
Subsidiaries	Blue Triangle Docklands Buses London Central London General
Website	www.goaheadlondon.com

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The Go-Ahead Group is a large transport group based in Newcastle. It first became involved in London bus operations in September 1994, whereupon the privatisation of London Buses, it purchased London Central for £23.8 million.^[2] In May 1996, it added another former London Buses subsidiary, London General, which had been sold in 1994 to a management buyout for £46 million.^[3][4] These two companies subsequently developed in much the same way, both establishing a livery of red with a charcoal skirt and yellow relief band, and splitting orders for new buses.

Further expansion did not occur until September 2006, when Docklands Buses was purchased.^[5] On 29 June 2007, the Go-Ahead purchased Blue Triangle. With these purchases, Go-Ahead surpassed Arriva London to become the largest operator of buses in London, running around 16% of London bus services.

A corporate image for Go-Ahead's London bus services started to appear in August 2008, when a new Go-Ahead London logo was unveiled.^[6]

In 2009, Transport for London invited bids for the sale of their own bus operations which ran under the East Thames Buses brand. Go-Ahead London were selected as the preferred bidder and assumed full responsibility for 10 routes and two depots in October that year. The East Thames brand was replaced with the Go-Ahead London brand. The East Thames operations were initially absorbed under the London General arm of Go-Ahead's London business. However, after some route movements and allocation changes some of the services now run under the London Central arm of Go-Ahead London's business.

On 30 March 2012, Go-Ahead purchased Northumberland Park Garage from First London with all routes brought under the London General wing.^[7]

On 1 April 2014, Go-Ahead restructured its Metrobus business, with the management of the Transport for London contracted services passing to the control of the London General arm of Go-Ahead London's business, with the remaining commercial services being brought under the control of Brighton & Hove from 1 July 2014. Services are now operated under an expanded London General licence, however the Metrobus trading name is partially retained.^[8] London General's licence was formally increased by the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency on 25 April 2014 to accommodate the Metrobus buses.^[9][10]

In November 2024, Go-Ahead London will take over the Fastrack routes, which will introduce electric buses. The Fastrack network runs in the areas of Dartford, Bluewater Shopping Centre, Greenhithe, Ebbsfleet and Gravesend.

The current subsidiaries of Go-Ahead London are, in order of acquisition:

• London Central (September 1994)
• London General (May 1996 for the main routes/April 2014 for Metrobus' London routes)
• Docklands Buses (September 2006)
• Blue Triangle (June 2007)
• Fastrack (from November 2024)