Stagecoach Repaint Updates

[xc170]

Just when you thought the new livery couldn't get any worse...

Most of the curves look pretty wonky too and like they were done by those famous children armed with 15CM rulers at 1 Seafield Road, Inverness.... Not to mention the offside doesn't match the nearside!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/stagecoachuk/49587568521/

Looks fine to me.

 

[SeveerYeliab]

Just when you thought the new livery couldn't get any worse...

Most of the curves look pretty wonky too and like they were done by those famous children armed with 15CM rulers at 1 Seafield Road, Inverness.... Not to mention the offside doesn't match the nearside!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/stagecoachuk/49587568521/

I like this more than the application to the mmcs however agree that the front panel looks awful

 

[hst43102]

What's the deal with trying to make a E400 look like an MMC with the black headlight surrounds? Looks terrible!

 

[SouthEastBuses]

New Livery looks very good, but I think I prefer the old Stagecoach livery...

 

[SouthEastBuses]

I'm imagining how all the buses on my local stuff like Coastliner 700s, Pulse, South Downs 1/60, Witterings 52/53, and you name it, every other Worthing/Chichester route would look like in the new livery.

 

[PG]

For anyone who hasn't seen it yet, here's a link to a photo of the "local" livery on a single decker: https://twitter.com/brownncream/status/1227315108440870913

First thought was it reminded me of an East Lancs National Greenway with all that bare white on the side.

Second thought was oh dear not very professional looking.

 

[xc170]

After having a proper look at PX60BFA in it's new livery, I'm starting to really like it, it's clean, smart, professional yet fun at the same time.

I've read a fair amount of criticism claiming the new livery contains too much white, but looking at the before and after photos below, I'm not sure there is much difference overall, the 'swoops' are just in different places.

IMO, the old livery actually looks a little dated in comparison.

15698 (PX60BFA) Carlisle Castle Car Park by Carlisle Bus Group, on Flickr

15698 (PX60BFA) Preston 41 by Carlisle Bus Group, on Flickr

 

[Jordan Adam]

For me the colours or use of white are not the issue, i actually like the colours. The issue is the awful poorly thought out template design (which was clearly done by a non-bus related marketing company) and then the application on different vehicles. On 15698 for example the curves are wonky and the offside doesn't match the nearside. Also having seen the coach livery in person it looks okay, but the gold most of the time is quite dull and closer to a grey while the new logo doesn't fit at all.

 

[xc170]

I've had a good look at photos of both sides, I can see some small differences in positioning but nothing too awful, you don't see both sides of the bus at the same time anyway.

 

[Jordan Adam]

I've had a good look at photos of both sides, I can see some small differences in positioning but nothing too awful, you don't see both sides of the bus at the same time anyway.

Still it shows inconsistency. Just wait until a bus has a minor RTC and they take a skirt panel off another bus from the same batch that's long term VOR. It'll then look dreadful as the lines won't match up.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Nope, still don't like it. Particularly not the orange bumper which smacks of "we need to send it out but we've only got an orange one, that'll do".

 

[PG]

After having a proper look at PX60BFA in it's new livery, I'm starting to really like it, it's clean, smart, professional yet fun at the same time.

I've read a fair amount of criticism claiming the new livery contains too much white, but looking at the before and after photos below, I'm not sure there is much difference overall, the 'swoops' are just in different places.

IMO, the old livery actually looks a little dated in comparison.

15698 (PX60BFA) Carlisle Castle Car Park by Carlisle Bus Group, on Flickr

15698 (PX60BFA) Preston 41 by Carlisle Bus Group, on Flickr

For me the amount of white is not the problem but it's positioning. Note how the old livery has no white at the lower extremities where road dirt/spray will collect. On the new livery the bus is going to look dirty after a very short time each day due to the white going right down the bodyside.

 

[PG]

Nope, still don't like it. Particularly not the orange bumper which smacks of "we need to send it out but we've only got an orange one, that'll do".

Reminds me of cars in the late 70's and early 80's when plastic bumpers were a new thing and no attempt was made to blend them in - the bumper was either grey or black and that was that no matter that it looked like a stuck on afterthought.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I think the other issue with the orange is that it isn't a nice colour, it's almost hi-vis orange, a practical, engineering colour, not one that sells things[1]. It's the same orange as beachball, but beachball didn't emphasize it in the way this livery does.

It'd actually look better if it was another softer colour instead of orange.

[1] easyJet orange is much deeper with more red, but would still look out of place here.

 

[83G/84D]

Enviro 400MMC 11259 seen in Manchester in the ‘latest’ livery, this morning. This is the first Manchester vehicle done I believe.

 

[tbtc]

After having a proper look at PX60BFA in it's new livery, I'm starting to really like it, it's clean, smart, professional yet fun at the same time.

I've read a fair amount of criticism claiming the new livery contains too much white, but looking at the before and after photos below, I'm not sure there is much difference overall, the 'swoops' are just in different places.

IMO, the old livery actually looks a little dated in comparison.

15698 (PX60BFA) Carlisle Castle Car Park by Carlisle Bus Group, on Flickr

15698 (PX60BFA) Preston 41 by Carlisle Bus Group, on Flickr

For me the amount of white is not the problem but it's positioning. Note how the old livery has no white at the lower extremities where road dirt/spray will collect. On the new livery the bus is going to look dirty after a very short time each day due to the white going right down the bodyside.

Thanks @xc170 for posting pictures that show a fair comparison from the same angle, but I'm with @PG here - on the "old" livery, the white was like a rugby balled shape in the middle of the vehicle, with a strong identity at the front and back, and the dark blue along the bottom to stop it getting dirty and make panels much easier to replace.

As well as the new livery (which may look fine in a design studio) getting pretty filthy pretty quickly (given the spray from the front wheels), it's going to look terrible once a panel is inevitably replaced, especially given that the haphazard application of the turquoise/ blue/ orange will mean that the swoosh on the panel often won't line up perfectly.

I'm not too obsessed with one colour over another, but some bus companies design liveries that suit the contours of modern vehicles, some bus companies design liveries that will still look good after a hard week of puddles/ potholes/ low level road traffic collisions etc << this Stagecoach livery feels far too abstract - the "clever" swooshes will be hidden by adverts, the skirt will look filthy after a few hours on British roads, the complicated nature of it will ruin some attempts to repaint bits or replace panels.

Look at how some "Barbie" First vehicles used to run around with butchered willowleafs because the depot just put a plain dark blue one on, given the need to rush a vehicle back into service instead of waiting for a proper paint job - I thought that Stagecoach were smarter than that, and had an identifiable design that suited a variety of operations ("regular"/ "gold"/ "hybrid"/"magicbus" etc).

Buses are great, buses are the solution to a lot of our public transport problems (often the ones that people insist we build heavy rail for!), but buses spend their time working hard on dirty roads, splashing through puddles, at risk of road traffic collisions (and modern buses have horrible big black panels/ windows/ destination screens that ruin most attempts at a funky livery) - I'd hoped that Stagecoach's designers would deal with the mundane reality of that, rather than this conceptual approach.

 

[LOL The Irony]

After having a proper look at PX60BFA in it's new livery, I'm starting to really like it, it's clean, smart, professional yet fun at the same time.

I've read a fair amount of criticism claiming the new livery contains too much white, but looking at the before and after photos below, I'm not sure there is much difference overall, the 'swoops' are just in different places.

IMO, the old livery actually looks a little dated in comparison.

15698 (PX60BFA) Carlisle Castle Car Park by Carlisle Bus Group, on Flickr

15698 (PX60BFA) Preston 41 by Carlisle Bus Group, on Flickr

They should replace the yellow on the front with the blue.

 

[Flinn Reed]

After having a proper look at PX60BFA in it's new livery, I'm starting to really like it, it's clean, smart, professional yet fun at the same time.

I've read a fair amount of criticism claiming the new livery contains too much white, but looking at the before and after photos below, I'm not sure there is much difference overall, the 'swoops' are just in different places.

IMO, the old livery actually looks a little dated in comparison.

15698 (PX60BFA) Carlisle Castle Car Park by Carlisle Bus Group, on Flickr

15698 (PX60BFA) Preston 41 by Carlisle Bus Group, on Flickr

I agree that this particular livery on 15698 is looking dated. However I think that the revised beachball livery used on MMCs is far better than both of these. Would have much preferred it this was kept and introduced to all other vehicle types, perhaps with a green variant used for P&R, university, busway etc. And maybe a revised version of the Gold livery, also for use across coach services.

 

[MDB1images]

Gotta say that I thought it would grow on me but it still looks like a major error by Stagecoach to implement this hotch potch of colours on vehicles.
The old livery looks so much better, organised and professional for me.

 

[LOL The Irony]

However I think that the revised beachball livery used on MMCs is far better than both of these.

It also works on older vehicles as well.

 

[Alexbus12]

After having a proper look at PX60BFA in it's new livery, I'm starting to really like it, it's clean, smart, professional yet fun at the same time.

I've read a fair amount of criticism claiming the new livery contains too much white, but looking at the before and after photos below, I'm not sure there is much difference overall, the 'swoops' are just in different places.

IMO, the old livery actually looks a little dated in comparison.

15698 (PX60BFA) Carlisle Castle Car Park by Carlisle Bus Group, on Flickr

15698 (PX60BFA) Preston 41 by Carlisle Bus Group, on Flickr

I quite like it. Looks smart and professional.

 

[NewcastleOne]

Newcastle’s 19440 has yellow around the headlights rather than black as well as a bit more blue in comparison to 15698.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/nebp2/49592472526/
Photo credit to Steven Hodgson, John Soutar and Mark McCann.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Newcastle’s 19440 has yellow around the headlights rather than black as well as a bit more blue in comparison to 15698.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/nebp2/49592472526/
Photo credit to Steven Hodgson, John Soutar and Mark McCann.

That looks less rubbish, but still rubbish.

It's genuinely awful. It looks like a primary school kid did it, or like it's a Fisher Price toy. The font included; it's barely a step away from Comic Sans.

 

[tbtc]

Newcastle’s 19440 has yellow around the headlights rather than black as well as a bit more blue in comparison to 15698.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/nebp2/49592472526/
Photo credit to Steven Hodgson, John Soutar and Mark McCann.

Five minutes into the new livery and we've already got different versions - it's just too complicated/ fussy/ awkward - the fact that different depots can't even agree on how to apply it really doesn't bode well.

Part of my frustration is that Stagecoach used to be really good at these little details , they seemed pretty switched on when it came to maintaining standards (compared to the other large bus groups).

 

[Bletchleyite]

Part of my frustration is that Stagecoach used to be really good at these little details , they seemed pretty switched on when it came to maintaining standards (compared to the other large bus groups).

I do wonder if this was Souter's personal thing, and now he's gone it's reverted to a more typical corporate, IOW more like FirstGroup.

The new non-Sid Megabus branding is similarly underwhelming. Not, as a certain bearded shorts-wearer might say, "creating desire" at all.

 

[robk23oxf]

The Newcastle repaint is actually the correct version, at least according to the livery diagram I've seen.

 

[tbtc]

I do wonder if this was Souter's personal thing, and now he's gone it's reverted to a more typical corporate, IOW more like FirstGroup.

The new non-Sid Megabus branding is similarly underwhelming. Not, as a certain bearded shorts-wearer might say, "creating desire" at all.

Agreed - the old Stagecoach scheme wasn't as fancy as some operators on paper (e.g. First in the Barbie days, where they had seat cushions in alternating diagonals, which must have made replacement more complicated/expensive/ additional stocks required to ensure sufficient supply of each), but the Stagecoach approach was delivered better, and that counts for a lot - a fairly consistent approach (with different brands on offer, but clearly under the same umbrella).

The Newcastle repaint is actually the correct version, at least according to the livery diagram I've seen.

It's frustrating - we're talking professional bus painters here but the end result looks like a classroom of kids have done one of those "paint by numbers" challenges, with mixed results - we might see a bit of variety with precisely where the middle "swoosh" lines up but something as basic as what colour the front bumper is ought to be on page one of the design brief - if depots are struggling to get that right then either this shows that Head Office are giving inconsistent/complicated information (if depots can't interperate what colour the front should be) or that local depots aren't fussed about following orders - either paints a picture* of a company that doesn't care as much for detail as it used to, an organisation where standards are slipping (maybe, post-Souter, that's what Stagecoach are becoming, as Neil alludes to above).

(* - sorry for the pun)

 

[Jordan Adam]

Agreed - the old Stagecoach scheme wasn't as fancy as some operators on paper (e.g. First in the Barbie days, where they had seat cushions in alternating diagonals, which must have made replacement more complicated/expensive/ additional stocks required to ensure sufficient supply of each), but the Stagecoach approach was delivered better, and that counts for a lot - a fairly consistent approach (with different brands on offer, but clearly under the same umbrella).

I agree with your point, however it should be noted how poor Stagecoach have always been when it comes to route branding, every opco does it differently to varying degrees of success. First on the other hand (while not perfect) have always been fairly consistent with route branding styles.

It's frustrating - we're talking professional bus painters here but the end result looks like a classroom of kids have done one of those "paint by numbers" challenges, with mixed results - we might see a bit of variety with precisely where the middle "swoosh" lines up but something as basic as what colour the front bumper is ought to be on page one of the design brief - if depots are struggling to get that right then either this shows that Head Office are giving inconsistent/complicated information (if depots can't interperate what colour the front should be) or that local depots aren't fussed about following orders - either paints a picture* of a company that doesn't care as much for detail as it used to, an organisation where standards are slipping (maybe, post-Souter, that's what Stagecoach are becoming, as Neil alludes to above).

(* - sorry for the pun)

I must say, i can't wait until Inverness repaint a bus in the new livery... Given how awful all their attempts at Beachball have been over the past decade i'm sure they'll bring out a unique edition of the new scheme with their iconic 45*C angles approach (see link below for a classic example)...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/thejamster/8004086872

 

[xc170]

I think a sanity check is needed here, we're talking minor variations to a livery that is a few weeks old, the buses we've seen so far are the first buses the painters have done in the new livery, I'm sure the first few buses painted in the original beach ball livery had faults...

 

[175mph]

I've noticed a bus in Hull just now with a registration plate beginning with FT13 is in plain white livery, it's old livery being a Park & Ride one. I'm wondering if they will give it a new Park & Ride livery or the standard new livery?