Stagecoach Repaint Updates

[Busaholic]

Trawling through the thread, it's surprising the degree of unanimity on the current standard Stagecoach livery. If that's not a vote of confidence in them getting it right all those years ago, I don't know what is. If it ain't broke, don't fix it is not a maxim much in favour in GB these past couple of decades, but maybe Stagecoach should adopt it now, maybe with a couple of 'modern' tweeks, but not just for the sake of it.

 

[JaJaWa]

I'd predict more local sub-brands rather than less. Possibly so they can get the support of being 'a local company' ahead of franchising coming in. Agreed their standard livery is much better than both of First's attempts and Arriva's.

 

[175mph]

...We’ve recently seen a couple of the green E400Hs at Holbrook depot in Sheffield painted out of their “Hybrid” livery into “common or garden” red/ white/ blue/ orange beachball – I don’t know if the same is true of the “Hybrid” vehicles at Manchester/ Oxford/ Newcastle etc?.....

On those green double deckers in Sheffield you mentioned were repainted recently, have the handlebars been repainted from yellow to orange?

 

[BestWestern]

I agree with the comments about the livery still looking modern today – it possibly even looks more suited to modern vehicles than it did to the buses around when it was introduced around the millennium.

Ah, I disagree there! I think the weakness of the 'swoops' is, in fact, the current preferred vehicle design ethos. It was developed to fit the ALX range of bodywork from Alexander, along with the previous generation of Olympians etc, and it needs decent chunks of unobstructed bodywork to be visible for it to work, which modern design tends not to accommodate particularly well. If you take the blue 'swoop' at the front, it is barely visible on many current vehciles - the Enviro double deckers in particular, which have such large upper deck screens there is little body left to paint. The result is lost, broken patches of colour, rather than a coherent livery. Indeed on some vehicles, I understand the blue was dropped completely, leaving just a white vehicle with a navy skirt from the front. Hardly inspiring.

The red and orange at the rear are distinctive, but being - well, literally the back end of a bus! - they are often less than pristine, and from the rear all you have is solid red. Again, not overly special. I'd love to see the same colours retained, and a third development of what is indeed a rather iconic brand. Something is definitely needed though!

 

[GaryMcEwan]

We've got Fastlink here in Glasgow which from the City Centre to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital via Govan (the whole route is from Easterhouse to the QEUH) on dedicated bus lanes lanes but they are closed more often than they are open.

 

[mbonwick]

Cambridge Busway, Fastlink are contract-specified liveries - i.e. vehicles must wear the branding in a certain way to be allowed onto the bus-only sections of the routes.

Interlink was a similar council supported exercise several years back I believe.

There is some council input into the Cambridge P&R liveries (mainly around colour) but Stagecoach have final say, as shown by the swoops.

 

[johnw]

It seems to me that senior management at Stagecoach UK Bus feel that maybe the overall Stagecoach brand is being diluted with the various branding and unique liveries.

I like the present livery but it fails in its upper front end light blue and orange as the lines never seem quite right -though this might be a result of how difficult it must be to paint or mask out. I've never been a fan of the 'Stagecoach' word logo as it appears unstated being in lower case.

However I think that the biggest problem, and what does dilute and 'cheapen' the Stagecoach brand, is some of the horrid schemes that have been applied for example at Stagecoach Manchester, North East and East Midlands (plus other divisions)

The Zone at North East - looks like a 90's night club flyer, Manchester's X34/34 - white typeface on light blue... 'Mansfield Move' :roll:

What does work is the quality branding such as the various Park & Ride liveries, The Kings City, X5, The Falcon, Coastliner, The Southdowns, The Lakes etc. Plus normal Stagecoach livery can work with more subtle branding such as Cambridge Citi, Basingstoke, the Northampton route branding etc. Most of these are designed by Best Impressions.

I’m not here to advertise the work of Ray Stenning as there are some I am not too keen on such as ‘more’ or some of his earlier work for TrentBarton, But he seems one of the only guy at present to be able to create a quality brand and a livery on both the railways and buses.

Then there is the Stagecoach interior... Light blue, orange and Ann Gloag’s infamous red floors which looks garish. I’m sure that senior Stagecoach management don’t specify their premium brand company cars in this scheme. Neither did I on my present Audi.

If they do redesign lets hope it is Best Impressions.

 

[daikilo]

On the new Sprinter minibuses the beach ball logo is just an outline in white and the name Stagecoach doesn't appear at all in the main livery, is that an indication?

 

[Mb3245]

Then there is the Stagecoach interior... Light blue, orange and Ann Gloag’s infamous red floors which looks garish. I’m sure that senior Stagecoach management don’t specify their premium brand company cars in this scheme. Neither did I on my present Audi.

Totally agree. The decent livery is led down by the interiors. In recent times, I have traveled on many stagecoach buses and now I've come to the stage when I actively try to avoid any buses with standard stagecoach interiors (especially the standard seats) because of the smell and because the colours drive me mad. Stagecoach Gold is okay (I haven't yet traveled on the 2016/17 version so I'm only commenting about the previous versions), but not great either. For example, I find standard Yellow buses (Bournemouth) more comfortable and better that Stagecoach Gold interiors.

That said, First is as bad. Grey/brown seats and pink handrails? Definitely wouldn't have that in my car. These colours just don't go together.
Same goes for Arriva, although I do find it a bit better that Stagecoach and First.

Go-Ahead is probably the best in terms of interiors as they tend to vary them around the country. However, on my local route (Go South Coast) I have found there to be too much dark blue on the panels, with seats being blue as well, there is bit too much blue. Still, it's a lot better than Stagecoach, First or Arriva.

 

[Bletchleyite]

The smell has nothing to do with the interior, and everything to do with bus companies not being willing to pay the extra on fuel consumption to either use double glazing throughout or provide pressure ventilation as is usual in London.

If you don't do either of those, the upstairs gets very damp and soon the bus has that characteristic smell of rot.

 

[overthewater]

Im sure some of the colours used on the handrails have to comply with DDA rules so people can see them. I do agree with Neils above, about either getting Double glazing on all buses. Mind you how does pressure ventilation work?

 

[daikilo]

Mind you how does pressure ventilation work?

As its name suggests, you create an over-pressure inside with an open exit route to the outside. It is very basic and can leave large areas with no real change of air. The difference vs air conditioning is that there is no recirculation although you can heat or cool the air being pumped in if you wish.

Back on the thread title, anyone any views on my comment above concerning the logo on the Sprinter minibuses?

 

[padbus]

Most of my bus travel is on Stagecoach so I am used to their bright blue and orange interiors. I prefer them to First's pastel colours which look dowdy even when new.

The interesting thing about the current "beachball" livery is that the layout of the colours indicates it is a Stagecoach bus regardless of the colours used. The Hop22 buses in Torquay, for instance, use shades of green and yellow instead of red, orange and blue but are still instantly recognisable as Stagecoach.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

The smell has nothing to do with the interior, and everything to do with bus companies not being willing to pay the extra on fuel consumption to either use double glazing throughout or provide pressure ventilation as is usual in London.

If you don't do either of those, the upstairs gets very damp and soon the bus has that characteristic smell of rot.

The smell of rot has very little to do with condensation. Main sources are to do with other main issues a) ingress via wheel arches and general road spray leading to further corrosion b) water traipsed in by passengers (both a and b leading to replacement floors) and c) ingress into area between interior panels and frames/exterior panels from front dome damage.

 

[Bletchleyite]

The smell of rot has very little to do with condensation. Main sources are to do with other main issues a) ingress via wheel arches and general road spray leading to further corrosion b) water traipsed in by passengers (both a and b leading to replacement floors) and c) ingress into area between interior panels and frames/exterior panels from front dome damage.

Those may be the root cause, but changing the air more frequently at least means you smell it less. London buses used to smell really dank, and since they all got the forced-air system this has reduced massively.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Those may be the root cause, but changing the air more frequently at least means you smell it less. London buses used to smell really dank, and since they all got the forced-air system this has reduced massively.

May also have to do with the relative modernity of the London fleet!

 

[Bletchleyite]

May also have to do with the relative modernity of the London fleet!

There is that, but it is a distinct memory at the time of switching the 68 from buses without the feature to buses with that the "rotting bus smell" (and steamed up windows) reduced substantially.

 

[AnonymousUser1]

As its name suggests, you create an over-pressure inside with an open exit route to the outside. It is very basic and can leave large areas with no real change of air. The difference vs air conditioning is that there is no recirculation although you can heat or cool the air being pumped in if you wish.

i.e. the same as moast coaches had since large windows and overhead luggage shelfs with the vent + light on them came about ...

 

[JonathanH]

i.e. the same as moast coaches had since large windows and overhead luggage shelfs with the vent + light on them came about ...

Most coach drivers appear to be pretty reluctant to turn on the forced air to the vents in the luggage racks in my experience (or perhaps can't).

 

[overthewater]

Its been a few months down the line and its all gone quiet, does anyone know what might be happening

 

[richw]

Draft Question, how many regional branding is there? The only few I do know are:

* Cambridge busways which is green
* New X34 route in Newcastle - Sunderland.

North Devon Wave
The pink/ purple hop in south Devon
The green hop in south Devon.
Plymouth p&R
Torbay yellow open tops

 

[sk688]

That said, First is as bad. Grey/brown seats and pink handrails? Definitely wouldn't have that in my car. These colours just don't go together.
Same goes for Arriva, although I do find it a bit better that Stagecoach and First.

Go-Ahead is probably the best in terms of interiors as they tend to vary them around the country. However, on my local route (Go South Coast) I have found there to be too much dark blue on the panels, with seats being blue as well, there is bit too much blue. Still, it's a lot better than Stagecoach, First or Arriva.

While I agree with the fact that Stagecoach interiors aren't the greatest ( the 205 buses were pretty weird ) , I don't think Go Ahead is the best in terms of interiors , as the blue/yellow clashes slightly

imo , Metroline have the best interior colour scheme as it is light and airy ,the blue and orange goes well together

Although if you are looking for bad interiors , look at the ex First London buses . Seats changed into current operator , but the rest of the thing is purple and cyan . Pretty horrible , although the alternative is a fully worn out interior

 

[BestWestern]

While I agree with the fact that Stagecoach interiors aren't the greatest ( the 205 buses were pretty weird ) , I don't think Go Ahead is the best in terms of interiors , as the blue/yellow clashes slightly

imo , Metroline have the best interior colour scheme as it is light and airy ,the blue and orange goes well together

Although if you are looking for bad interiors , look at the ex First London buses . Seats changed into current operator , but the rest of the thing is purple and cyan . Pretty horrible , although the alternative is a fully worn out interior

Current Firstgroup interiors seem to wear badly, IMHO. The much vaunted 'e-leather' tends to look dull and utilarian, and I think is significantly less visually appealing than a decent cloth moquette. Stagecoach have always tended to go basic, but their current spec is at least bright and welcoming.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Current Firstgroup interiors seem to wear badly, IMHO. The much vaunted 'e-leather' tends to look dull and utilarian, and I think is significantly less visually appealing than a decent cloth moquette. Stagecoach have always tended to go basic, but their current spec is at least bright and welcoming.

I really don't like the current trend for sticky plastic seats. Putting leather fibres in a plastic matrix composite does not a leather seat make, as it were.

 

[Great_Western]

Current Firstgroup interiors seem to wear badly, IMHO. The much vaunted 'e-leather' tends to look dull and utilarian, and I think is significantly less visually appealing than a decent cloth moquette. Stagecoach have always tended to go basic, but their current spec is at least bright and welcoming.

Interestingly, down in Wells the curent Wright Eclipse fleet has been refurbishsd, but have retained the moquette seating (and it infact looks new). I wonder if they are gradually switiching back away from the nasty e leather?

 

[richw]

Current Firstgroup interiors seem to wear badly, IMHO. The much vaunted 'e-leather' tends to look dull and utilarian, and I think is significantly less visually appealing than a decent cloth moquette. Stagecoach have always tended to go basic, but their current spec is at least bright and welcoming.

Interestingly, down in Wells the curent Wright Eclipse fleet has been refurbishsd, but have retained the moquette seating (and it infact looks new). I wonder if they are gradually switiching back away from the nasty e leather?

The new First MMCs here in Cornwall all have moquette seating but with leather headrests,

 

[Bletchleyite]

Im sure some of the colours used on the handrails have to comply with DDA rules so people can see them. I do agree with Neils above, about either getting Double glazing on all buses. Mind you how does pressure ventilation work?

Extractor fans is the usual way.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Interestingly, down in Wells the curent Wright Eclipse fleet has been refurbishsd, but have retained the moquette seating (and it infact looks new). I wonder if they are gradually switiching back away from the nasty e leather?

It's an interesting question. I'm not a great fan of eLeather - it is almost a hark back to the mid 1970s and tan vinyl in some National, VR or LH.

First have specified moquette on recent refurbs in the West as in the Mendip B7RLEs and also on older fleet. As well as Kernow, the Bristol P&R also had similar with eLeather headrests and moquette seats. Other new vehicles have the eLeather!

Double glazing adds considerably to cost with a double whammy on both capital and revenue cost through poorer fuel economy. Hence why it is so seldom specified. Why Scotland needs it in preference to anywhere else, I have no idea.

 

[fgwrich]

Are we sure that First uses E-Leather? There was an article in one of Buses magazines a few years ago from someone high up in First Group saying they were going to use Scottish leather as there's a lot of Slaughterhouses up there from the Beef industry.

I hope Stagecoach's newer designs use a better material than E-leather, some of the Gold hybrid specced Enviros down in Devon look frankly awful where it's worn very badly and quickly.

 

[Jordan Adam]

On the current beach ball livery the red at the rear gets very worn and dirty fairly quickly. Further to that the application of the livery is often quite cheap and nasty, Panels not lining up and sharp edges on what should be a smooth curve. Just look at anything painted at Inverness, they're famed for their terrible application of the livery.

Quite a good example of that here.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/npe56passenger/5446514034/