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Stagecoach Group (Group-wide matters)

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robk23oxf

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30 Jul 2017
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Mitchell Hurd said:
Talking of which, why were Euro 5 Stagecoach E200's fitted with 3 gears and limited to around 50mph?
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I have no idea about that one and I'm glad the newer MMCs have 4-speed gearboxes instead. The old E200s which spend all their time on stop-start urban services are fine. The ones which spend all their time on fast rural route tend not to be in as good a condition and often end up in 'limp mode'.
 
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GaryMcEwan

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robk23oxf said:
I have no idea about that one and I'm glad the newer MMCs have 4-speed gearboxes instead. The old E200s which spend all their time on stop-start urban services are fine. The ones which spend all their time on fast rural route tend not to be in as good a condition and often end up in 'limp mode'.
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The 60 plate E200s that Perth have only 3 Speed and are appalling. On the other hand the 14 plate E200s are 4 Speed and also as bad. The seem to have no oompf in them at all.
 
M

Mitchell Hurd

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GaryMcEwan said:
The 60 plate E200s that Perth have only 3 Speed and are appalling. On the other hand the 14 plate E200s are 4 Speed and also as bad. The seem to have no oompf in them at all.
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Hmmm. In July 2017 and on the 3rd August on the Saturday nearly 2 weeks ago, I heard a beep come from the drivers cab. Strangely, this happened in roughly the same places - end of Stanlake / between there and Witney.

I will say though that the old ALX200 Darts weren't quite reliable - meaning you'd have to have a very healthy old Dart to get from Abingdon to Witney which involves nearly 90 seconds of Dual carriageway, something that the Gold Scanias are more suited to.

The E200's being on the Abingdon to Witney route give massive confidence in the service running. I'll choose this over a service to Oxford when changing for an S6 to Swindon as changing at Kingston Bagpuize / Southmoor means you're waiting at exactly the same stop. Not the case in Oxford!
 
83G/84D

83G/84D

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When are the E400MMC's due for Leamington depot? Did I see September mentioned somewhere?
 
C

cav1975

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Typhoon said:
Ends at North Greenwich - handy for finance district (Canary Wharf, Canada Water), Univ of Greenwich, not far from London City Airport, need underground for central London. HS1 - nearest to finance is Stratford then St Pancras (bit out of the way), bog-standard South Eastern to Victoria (like NEx) ie central London. I've been on HS1 from Canterbury - pretty packed and goes via Ashford but only about an hour, return fare £72. Its a gamble. Interesting time to start (start of school holidays).
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My wife and I tried out the new M2 Stagecoach Express route yesterday (Friday). There were very few passengers. For the Medway to North Greenwich & back sectors we were the only passengers. Admittedly this was mid morning up and mid evening back - after dropping us at Rainham Mark the driver departed empty. We were early at all stops and had to wait for time.

Depending on where you are going, North Greenwich is no less convenient that St. Pancras or Victoria and the trek to the UndergrounD is shorter.

The coaches were comfortable but use very dark glass in the side windows effectively removing any views for passengers which is a pity.

Overall a reasonable experience marred only by the waits at the stops and the poor visibility through the windows, I hope it succeeds.
 
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GaryMcEwan

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83G/84D said:
When are the E400MMC's due for Leamington depot? Did I see September mentioned somewhere?
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I think they've been slightly diverted and sent to East Scotland for the Solheim Cup. There's been a few 69 plate E400MMCs doing the shuttle between Gleneagles and Stirling.
 
83G/84D

83G/84D

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GaryMcEwan said:
I think they've been slightly diverted and sent to East Scotland for the Solheim Cup. There's been a few 69 plate E400MMCs doing the shuttle between Gleneagles and Stirling.
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Okay thanks. I have not seen any registrations quoted anywhere for them so that was why I was asking.
 
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overthewater

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In case you don't reads the Stagecoach West/South West/South Wales - Fleet News & Discussion

https://www.stagecoach.com/media/ne...j52f7vw2vcB2fAiasD9Uh3z39KRTz8CZ2YmlDnfsXx32c

23 September 2019
Britain’s biggest bus and coach operator expanding in Bristol

  • Stagecoach and megabus continuing to expand services
  • Acquisition of South Gloucestershire Bus and Coach enables more flexibility and a diverse mix of services
  • Boost for one of the UK’s fastest growing cities, with improved connectivity to support the region’s aspirations for economic growth
Stagecoach has announced an exciting development to its bus operation in the West of England with the acquisition of South Gloucestershire Bus and Coach, enabling further growth into one of the UK’s fastest growing cities.

Stagecoach has been working in partnership with the Bristol-based family bus and coach company for the past two years and now that the owners have decided to step down, a mutual agreement has been made to buy the business and its assets. The operation will become part of Stagecoach West, which covers nearly 25 million passenger journeys a year.

As one of the UK’s leading smart cities, with a focus on delivering better air quality and improved traffic flows, Bristol is seeing growing levels of employment and has predicted growth of 20% in the next five years among the 16-25 year old population.

Stagecoach’s plans for Bristol will help to deliver improved connectivity for the city and support the region’s aspirations for economic growth, in getting people to work, and bringing shoppers and visitors to the city.

Stagecoach has invested significantly to improve the experience for its customers, with the roll out of the country’s biggest bus contactless ticketing project and industry-leading investment in greener buses. Stagecoach West, in the last year alone, has invested around £4.8million in 19 brand new double-decker buses to link Swindon, Faringdon and Oxford and to serve Cheltenham Park & Ride.

Megabus services provide access to and from Bristol to almost 70 destinations on its intercity coach network including London, Plymouth, Exeter, Birmingham, Sheffield, Leeds and Liverpool.

Rupert Cox, Managing Director for Stagecoach West, said: “This is a really exciting development for passengers in the West of England. We’ve been working in partnership with South Gloucestershire Bus and Coach for some time now and they’ve also been a very reliable and trustworthy contractor for our megabus services.

“This provides us with a great opportunity for more flexibility and offers a diverse mix of services to complement our existing routes. And with the 16-25 year old population predicted to grow by 20% in the next five years in Bristol, now’s a great time to look at expanding our services even further into this exciting market and to support the region’s aspirations for economic growth.

“We’d like to thank the team at South Gloucestershire Bus and Coach for their support and we look forward to developing the services even further.”

Mark Venables, Managing Director for megabus, added: “This is a great step forward for megabus. We’ve enjoyed a really close partnership with South Gloucestershire Bus and Coach for over two years and with the owning family deciding to step away after many successful years of operation, we’re happy to continue with their legacy in taking the business forward.

“With our megabus services allowing access to and from Bristol to almost 70 destinations on our intercity coach network, it provides great opportunities for greater connectivity with this important city.”

As well as its depot in Bristol, the business includes the 100 employees working for South Gloucestershire Bus and Coach and its fleet of 53 buses and coaches. The operation runs commercial bus services, school contracts, private hire services and is one of the lead contractors for Stagecoach’s megabus business, operating services across a national network of coaches.

All services currently operated by South Gloucestershire Bus and Coach will continue to run as planned, and all staff currently working for the business will transfer to Stagecoach West.

Exchange of contracts took place on Friday 20 September with completion expected in late October.

ENDS
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alex397

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ADL demonstrator LJ68 CYO, an electric BYD D8UR with E200 MMC bodywork, is currently with Stagecoach South East on Canterbury's Sturry Road Park & Ride route P1. Apparently its just there for a week.

Canterbury City Council are investigating possible eco-friendly vehicle types in the next contract for the Park & Ride, especially as the council has declared a 'climate change emergency' (laughable given they are largely pro-car and have made some rather controversial decisions and plans recently).

Stagecoach currently operate it from Dover depot with a mix of Enviro400s and Enviro300s - these are owned by Stagecoach, but are in a CCC designed livery.
 
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megabusser

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30 Sep 2019
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Boarding the 2359 Megabus from Victoria to Glasgow last night, they weighed the suitcase of the woman in front of me. It was just under 20kg, so she was allowed on. The staff said that they have to enforce the weight luggage as of today (ie yesterday).

Not worrying about luggage has always been one of the advantages of coach/train travel over flying, hope they don’t become too picky about it.
 
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overthewater

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Im not surprised some people were just taking the mickey, Its been said, and I have spotted it people coming with 4 huge suitcases, it was like everything and the kitchen sink. If it the daytime bus and its lacking suitcases there would turn a blind eye but the Nightbuses are a different ball game.
 
LOL The Irony

LOL The Irony

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overthewater said:
Im not surprised some people were just taking the mickey, Its been said, and I have spotted it people coming with 4 huge suitcases, it was like everything and the kitchen sink. If it the daytime bus and its lacking suitcases there would turn a blind eye but the Nightbuses are a different ball game.
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They know there's demand, so why not buy a few trailers & tow hooks? Some of their vehicles already have tow hooks.
 
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overthewater

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LOL The Irony said:
They know there's demand, so why not buy a few trailers & tow hooks? Some of their vehicles already have tow hooks.
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Because the trailer is already full.... Its been said a few times some of the suitcase were sent to Edinburgh operate down to London on the B13.
 
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Mitchell Hurd

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According to Spottings and Jottings for yesterday, it showed the new Stagecoach Oxford buses for Witney unfortunately not being Gold.

However, I did spot some blue rails and I presume grey leather seating, so it must be higher spec.

I bet several passengers may question Stagecoach as to why the buses are not Gold! I'm aware that on normal colour Stagecoach MMC's most have high-back leather seats and USB sockets but still.
 
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overthewater

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Is there any spare coaches going spare? apart from Bottom of the line Citylink stock?
 
C

CM

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route101 said:
Where the old 900 buses going?

The Parks were newer , with their private regs i dont know how old.
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Park's vehicles will probably be leased and will returned to wherever they are leased from as Park's generally replace vehicles every 3 or 4 years. It's a bit hit or miss with the Stagecoach vehicles as if they are leased they could also be returned to whoever they are leased from or they could end up elsewhere in the group if they were bought outright.
 
Jordan Adam

Jordan Adam

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route101 said:
Where the old 900 buses going?

The Parks were newer , with their private regs i dont know how old.
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As per Ross's comment there's word that some of the Panthers are going to Tain and Caithness to replace the remaining B12BT Panthers, some of which are now 13 years old. It's notable too that 54062/66 have recently been disposed of.
 
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route101

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Jordan Adam said:
As per Ross's comment there's word that some of the Panthers are going to Tain and Caithness to replace the remaining B12BT Panthers, some of which are now 13 years old. It's notable too that 54062/66 have recently been disposed of.
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I see. The 63 plates are tired themselves.
 
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