overthewater
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This has been doing the rounds on a few of the other forums: Can anyone confirm?
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STAGECOACH PLACES £70MILLION ORDERS FOR NEW VEHICLES
13 Apr 2017
More than 340 new buses and coaches ordered
More than £1billion orders for around 7,000 new vehicles placed over past 11 years
Latest intake of vehicles all meet latest Euro 6 emissions standards and have USB charging points
Innovative emissions-reducing stop-start technology on majority of new buses
Stagecoach Group today (13 April 2017) announced new vehicle orders worth £70million.
A new fleet of around 340 vehicles, most equipped with free wifi, will be introduced in the coming 2017-18 financial year as the company continues to reinvest profits in improving services for customers in communities across the UK.
The latest announcement takes Stagecoach Group's total orders of new buses and coaches to more than £1billion in the past 11 years, delivering around 7,000 new vehicles for passengers.
The brand new buses and coaches will be introduced in Stagecoach's regional networks in England, Scotland and Wales, as well as on the companys megabus.com network in the UK.
Almost half of the new vehicles meet the Governments Low Carbon Emission Bus specification, while around two thirds feature innovative stop-start technology to help improve fuel consumption and reduce emissions.
Most of the new vehicles are set to be built in the UK, helping to support hundreds of British manufacturing jobs and smaller businesses in the supply chain who produce key components from drivers' seats and toilets to wheelchair lifts and destination displays*. All of the new vehicles meet Euro 6 emissions standards.
Each of the new vehicles will also be fitted with CCTV, and USB charging points, while most will also have wi-fi installed, giving customers free internet access during their journeys.
The latest orders follow an annual competitive tendering process and the first of the new vehicles are being delivered from Spring 2017.
Highlights of the latest investment are around 180 low-floor double-decker vehicles to go into service across the UK, as well as around 60 single deck vehicles and 40 midibuses. Included in the latest order are the first purpose-build open top vehicles the company has ever ordered, plus new vehicles for the Cambridge Guided Busway and a fleet of 18 micro hybrid vehicles to go into operation in Sheffield, which have been partly funded by the Office for Low Emissions Vehicles (OLEV).
There are also 34 coaches for the Groups UK Bus, Scottish Citylink and megabus.com operations.
Stagecoach has already met its requirements under the UK Disability Discrimination Act deadline for double deck and single deck vehicles.
Stagecoach Group Chief Executive Martin Griffiths said: Our focus is on delivering practical improvements to make travel even better for our customers. We are continuing to re-invest money from fares in state-of-the-art, cleaner, greener vehicles, digital technology and smart ticketing to deliver an even higher standard of service. These latest vehicle orders are an important part of our strategy to encourage even more people to take the bus.
Local bus services are the backbone of the countrys transport networks. However, the increasing problem of traffic congestion in our towns and cities is holding buses back and it is high time our politicians stepped up and took action to support bus passengers and free up road space to help bus networks flourish.
Details of the new orders are as follows:
122 ADL MMC E400 double-deckers
59 Scania ADL MMC E400 double-deckers
62 ADL MMC E200 single-deckers
40 ADL MMC E200 midibuses
18 Wrightbus StreetLite 11.5m Micro Hybrid single-deckers
7 Wrightbus Volvo open top double decker
2 Wrightbus Eclipse-Volvo single-deckers
9 Plaxton Elite i 15metre coaches
8 Plaxton Elite 6x2 15metre coaches
14 Plaxton Elite 4x2 coaches
3 Caetano Levante Volvo B11R 6x2 coaches
Stagecoach has made a series of other investments to help transform bus travel for customers, including:
the new Stagecoach Bus smartphone app which provides customers with journey planning, next-stop information and live bus tracking, and enables people to buy and download bus tickets straight to their mobile phone.
Smart ticketing at all Stagecoach regional companies with more than two million StagecoachSmart cards in circulation and more than 330million smart transactions every year.
Multi-operator smart ticketing in all of Englands city regions, benefitting around 15million people, and in several key areas of Scotland, delivered in partnership with other UK bus operators.
Contactless payments launched on Stagecoach services in Oxfordshire, Manchester and the north east of England, with the technology to be available at all Stagecoach bus companies by 2018.
A commitment to work with the UKs major bus operators on an ambitious scheme that could see contactless travel introduced on every one of the UKs 32,000-plus buses outside London by 2022.
For further information about Stagecoach bus services, visit www.stagecoachbus.com.
Interesting nuggets - Streetlites being ordered!
Also, only 340 vehicles compared to the 480 announced this time last year.
A lot better than the supposed order list that has been doing the rounds!
7 Wrightbus Volvo open top double decker
18 Wrightbus StreetLite 11.5m Micro Hybrid single-deckers
I found that slightly surprising, as the open toppers that I've known have tended to be mid-life conversions (sometimes due to the involvement of a low bridge!).
For examples, the Stagecoach ones that I see most often are the ex-Wigan Geminis that they inherited from First, which had a brief life in Glenrothes before conversion to run tourist services in Cleethorpes.
Building brand new open top buses is certainly a sign of confidence! (maybe they are anticipating foreign holidays getting too expensive and people staying in the UK?)
I presume that these are for the 1 (High Green - Batemoor), which runs in connection with the First 1a for most of the route - Streetlites seem a bit small for that service though (First run Geminis on most of their parallel service).
I don't think I've ever seen a Stagecoach liveried Streetlite.
I found that slightly surprising, as the open toppers that I've known have tended to be mid-life conversions (sometimes due to the involvement of a low bridge!).
For examples, the Stagecoach ones that I see most often are the ex-Wigan Geminis that they inherited from First, which had a brief life in Glenrothes before conversion to run tourist services in Cleethorpes.
Building brand new open top buses is certainly a sign of confidence! (maybe they are anticipating foreign holidays getting too expensive and people staying in the UK?)
I presume that these are for the 1 (High Green - Batemoor), which runs in connection with the First 1a for most of the route - Streetlites seem a bit small for that service though (First run Geminis on most of their parallel service).
I don't think I've ever seen a Stagecoach liveried Streetlite.
I would anticipate that the open toppers are for the Lakes - 599. It's a busy service and operates throughout the year (the Lakes are full of camera toting tourists all year round - Beatrix Potter and all that). It runs very intensively during the summer months and Easter etc with less frequent service and different times in the winter and other times.
I would anticipate that the open toppers are for the Lakes - 599. It's a busy service and operates throughout the year (the Lakes are full of camera toting tourists all year round - Beatrix Potter and all that). It runs very intensively during the summer months and Easter etc with less frequent service and different times in the winter and other times.
Not many places can justify year round open toppers. Usually a season of a few months, using either (mainly) depreciated fleet or an accident victim as you say.
The other options is the convertible open topper whereby the roof can be detached for the summer and reapplied for winter use. Devon General had a set of Atlanteans that were very long lived because of this flexibility, as did Southdown with their Queen Mary's. Wilts and Dorset had some ex North Devon and West Yorkshire PTE Olympians retro-converted as convertibles until they were replaced by new convertible B7TLs in c.2005.
Can't recall if the Stagecoach DFs are sourced by SPT for the Arran services. The South Wales WF were, of course, new in 2012 as they were initially employed on the Olympic Torch procession.
2 Wrightbus Eclipse-Volvo single-deckers
Now that is even stranger. Wonder where they're headed for?
Wright's rather optimistically-named Micro Hybrid is exactly the same type of device that ADL fits, at least to E200 MMCs and I think also to E400 MMCs. Optare also has something of its kind. It's a kinetic energy recovery system - quite a clever one that is highly beneficial, but there is nothing conventionally 'hybrid' about it, so the StreetLites will no doubt be delivered in the standard scheme.I wonder if they will carry the standard Stagecoach livery or come in the hybrid variant, but I suppose it could be either really. After all, they're not "proper" hybrids.
Now that is even stranger. Wonder where they're headed for?
South Wales have got the WF variant and Western have the DF variant but in an SPT version of the swoops...
It's interesting to see some StreetLites ordered, for variety's sake at least. I wonder if they will carry the standard Stagecoach livery or come in the hybrid variant, but I suppose it could be either really. After all, they're not "proper" hybrids.
I would anticipate that the open toppers are for the Lakes - 599. It's a busy service and operates throughout the year (the Lakes are full of camera toting tourists all year round - Beatrix Potter and all that). It runs very intensively during the summer months and Easter etc with less frequent service and different times in the winter and other times.
Not many places can justify year round open toppers. Usually a season of a few months, using either (mainly) depreciated fleet or an accident victim as you say.
The other options is the convertible open topper whereby the roof can be detached for the summer and reapplied for winter use. Devon General had a set of Atlanteans that were very long lived because of this flexibility, as did Southdown with their Queen Mary's. Wilts and Dorset had some ex North Devon and West Yorkshire PTE Olympians retro-converted as convertibles until they were replaced by new convertible B7TLs in c.2005
South Wales have got the WF variant and Western have the DF variant but in an SPT version of the swoops...
Interesting nuggets - Streetlites being ordered!
Also, only 340 vehicles compared to the 480 announced this time last year.
Hope Barnsley gets some of those deckers, to put on the 32.
The ones we have on the 66 are absolutely splendid. Free Wifi is hard to beat if you need to go on Snapchat!
Stagecoach WiFi is miles better than First's equivalent in Manchester where it has a ridiculously low usage limit.
Opening up Snapchat and half of your limit will have been exceeded!
Sam
Aha. I wondered when this would be announced. Good to see a good number of coaches in there, 1 surprise being the 3 Kitanos. Any ideas where they might be off to?
USB as standard also is great news but the favourite for me is the Scanias, far superior for pelting down duel carrageways/motorways and infact for any longer distance work. Great shout there. No Solos or Versas this time though, interesting.