Stagecoach South still has Gold on the route 1, although these E400MMCs that were due for repaint last November are still being debated by management upon the livery scheme post-Gold.
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Stagecoach Group (Group-wide matters)
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Flange Squeal
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And in the meantime, 17 of the 18 vehicles continue to advertise a 10 min Mon-Sat daytime frequency that hasn’t existed for just under 3.5 years.
Thank you. I have tried refreshing but to no avail. Looking more closely, I find that the home page has the Stagecoach circular logo rotating endlessly in the Service Updates area so something is clearly stuck somewhere. I won't risk taking this thread off topic by getting too involved in computer problems so will try contacting Stagecoach.
TheGrandWazoo
Veteran Member
Gents - Stagecoach Gold was effectively discontinued when the new livery/image was rolled out in early 2020.
That means that any publicity (not that they publish much) doesn't have Gold. However, are they going to repaint every vehicle delivered in Gold? Well, not immediately and so many are still running in Gold, and retain the same interior (not surprisingly). There is also legacy advertising internally and on bus stop flags. However, the brand is essentially dead and has been for 3.5 years.
Some OpCos have adopted the long distance yellow (with gold swirl) livery for what were Gold routes. In Devon, they have that livery but stuff like the "welcome aboard" vinyl on the cab door is a legacy from the Gold brand. In Kent, they received standard livery on repaint. In Gloucester, they received new e400mmc for the 10 that were in yellow but no mention of Gold.
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Likewise still going strong in Aldershot with the 1 (Aldershot - Farnborough - Camberley Old Dean), though diluted somewhat now as you frequently see Tridents amongst the Gold deckers, with the Golds regularly popping up on the 20 to Guildford.
EnviroExplorer
Member
Well not exactly, as @J-2739 stated the Yorkshire X17 is still going strong as an actively marketed Gold service. Vehicle 11125 was recently repainted back into Gold after losing its Queens Jubilee livery. Since the route was extended to Wirksworth, new publicity being posted on Social Media and printed timetables has the Gold brand allover it.
Also worth noting many new variations of the livery design have been introduced (when it was supposed to be simplifying things), particularly the South Coastliner 700, and TwoFifty, ThreeFifty and InterConnect receiving new livery designs in the East Midlands. I get the impression that policies on livery have become more relaxed since the former MD stepped down in May as all of these are recent developments, however I could just be reading into things too much there.
We all know Gold is dead, but I was not expecting the brand to stay on the existing fleet 3.75 years following the relivery announcement, even more so when there is uncertainty over the future liveries post-Gold, as the fleets have gone their own ways regionally, backed by the examples you mentioned in the last paragraph. Extending on the South's Gold E400s, it has been debated by management whether to paint them yellow (as they are quite similar to the Gold brand) or into the standard colours, though it should be the case that the latter is chosen.
(My apologies for the premature reply!)
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TheGrandWazoo
Veteran Member
3.75 years is a while but remember that it took about 6/7 years for the last Stagecoach vehicles to lose their stripes, and that's without the Covid era disruption to painting schedules. Another consideration is that many of these vehicles were relatively new and not due for repaint
The retention of Gold for the X17 is a surprise though.
Painting Aldershot's Golds yellow would be stretching it a bit. Okay, the 1 takes just under an hour from Aldershot to Camberley town centre then another 25 minutes to do the Old Dean loop, but you can hardly describe that as "long distance".
TheGrandWazoo
Veteran Member
That is true but then again, the 10 from Lower Tuffley to Cheltenham via Gloucester and Brockworth is hardly long distance. An urban route, it's 1h 18 end to end including stand time in Gloucester
markymark2000
On Moderation
Yes. It's plastered all over their social media too that they are no longer accepting E scooters.
MasterSpenny
Member
Were they already banned on Stagecoach London buses by Transport for London?
Noticed it on a bus in Plymouth a few days ago.
MasterSpenny
Member
Stagecoach has extended the Bus Fare Cap Grant scheme until at least June 2024, which gives £2 single fares.
www.route-one.net
Stagecoach extends BFCG participation into 2024 - routeone
Stagecoach has confirmed it will continue to offer £2 single fares in England until at least the end of June as part of the Bus Fare Cap Grant scheme.
www.route-one.net
MasterSpenny
Member
More details about the new buses across Stagecoach Group scheduled for this year, confirming more E400s, what the E100 EVs are destined as, and many other new vehicles.
tangytango.proboards.com
New Stagecoach Vehicles | The Bus Forum
Really shocked at this bus just seen in their Inverness operations Stagecoach has just bought two large batches of new single deckers, 12 Volvo/MCV Evoras and 25 Yutongs Is Stagecoach’s loyal
Ricky Kane
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The Mercedes-Benz for Thurso will be for the Dounreay contract.More details about the new buses across Stagecoach Group scheduled for this year, confirming more E400s, what the E100 EVs are destined as, and many other new vehicles.
New Stagecoach Vehicles | The Bus Forum
Really shocked at this bus just seen in their Inverness operations Stagecoach has just bought two large batches of new single deckers, 12 Volvo/MCV Evoras and 25 Yutongs Is Stagecoach’s loyal
Blindtraveler
Established Member
Nice to see some new coaches coming into the business but not nearly enough of them for the Express City connect operations in East Scotland to get rid of the worst of the current fleet. Still, perhaps they are trialling these to see how well they work in practice. The Mercedes for Caithness could indeed be for their contract or possibly for the x99, which would deserve an upgrade.
There is a much wider spectrum of different vehicle types and builders than we've seen for a very long time. I wonder if in the medium term they will move away from ADL further but remains to be seen I guess.
There is a much wider spectrum of different vehicle types and builders than we've seen for a very long time. I wonder if in the medium term they will move away from ADL further but remains to be seen I guess.
Mitchell Hurd
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Impressive I'd say!
Does anyone know if Megabus benefits from the new orders? That seems to have gone quiet apart from the Panaromas.
Does anyone know if Megabus benefits from the new orders? That seems to have gone quiet apart from the Panaromas.
Ricky Kane
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I believe the 9700DD numbered 50501-7 are going replace 50406-50412 Panoramas at Cumbernauld for the M11.
50406-50412 will be moved to Citylink duties.
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Mitchell Hurd
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Ah right
. I'm guessing the reason for the variety of new Stagecoach vehicle types including the Yutongs and 9700's on order is to see how each ones perform then fewer types ordered the following year.
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Ricky Kane
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Possibly but Stagecoach North Scotland already have 25 E10 Yutongs.Ah right
Mitchell Hurd
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I don't know if this is ok to ask in this thread rather than the Stagecoach West one but does anyone know what the 55 new E400 EV's for Oxford are displacing?
From what i counted on the Stagecoach West fleet list for Oxford, the oldest vehicles in passenger service remaining would be E400 MMC's - these being a few standard 16/66-plate ones and around 15 Gold ones. That's one way to keep the fleet as modern as possible.
The 15 plates may be a year older but they don't have USB.
From what i counted on the Stagecoach West fleet list for Oxford, the oldest vehicles in passenger service remaining would be E400 MMC's - these being a few standard 16/66-plate ones and around 15 Gold ones. That's one way to keep the fleet as modern as possible.
The 15 plates may be a year older but they don't have USB.
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chiltern trev
Member
Why Mercedes and not Volvo equivalent?
Ricky Kane
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Not too sure. All I know is that it was a condition set by Dounreay if Stagecoach was to bid for the contract.
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Jordan Adam
Established Member
Likely down to cost and limited offerings at the time the order was placed. The same reason Tain got those three Scania coaches (59001-3).
Blindtraveler
Established Member
As others have said the standard body option for Volvo with Stagecoach is Plaxton whose coach range is to say the least a little limited just now.
It also allows them to test the Mercedes coach platform on a contract that doesn't cover a huge number of miles and gets back to depot easily if there are issues before they perhaps decide to purchase more of them. Perhaps they could be used for some of the commuter or mid distance operations that they run, such as the X5 in Bedfordshire or the Falcon, not to mention things like the Express City connect in Scotland or Highland services.
It also allows them to test the Mercedes coach platform on a contract that doesn't cover a huge number of miles and gets back to depot easily if there are issues before they perhaps decide to purchase more of them. Perhaps they could be used for some of the commuter or mid distance operations that they run, such as the X5 in Bedfordshire or the Falcon, not to mention things like the Express City connect in Scotland or Highland services.
The X5 is now run with plate 66,67 and 69 Enviro 400 MMC's
The new owners appear to have ordered a wider selection of vehicles, than we’d come to expect under the previous ownership.
The Volvo/ Plaxton combo was very much a thing the previous owners stuck with.