stagecoach wigan future.

[radamfi]

Why do Gold services need to be double deck? Metrobus routes 10/20 are higher quality than any Gold service yet are run by single deck Wright bodied Volvos running every 6 minutes. The highest quality bus route in Europe is probably the Connexxion service 300 between Haarlem, Schiphol Airport and Amsterdam Arena, which is run by articulated Citaros.

 

[mbonwick]

They don't have to be, but the criteria for making the business case for a route to go Gold mean that routes often are DD.

 

[radamfi]

There's no law against Stagecoach running double deck Van Hool coaches if they removed some seats to create space for buggies. Yes they are very expensive but Gold is supposed to be as good as a bus could be. Stagecoach used to run Oxford Tube branded coaches on some journeys on services between Wantage and Oxford.

 

[mbonwick]

There's no law, but common sense says that coaches don't work well on service runs.
Compared to a decker, they're longer and lower capacity, which is likely to cause issues.

While some Oxford Tubes do do early morning runs on local services, that's only to get them out of the depot in the right order, and reduce the overall number of vehicles required.

 

[overthewater]

Could you convert the doors on the Van hools? to bus doors?

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

There's no law, but common sense says that coaches don't work well on service runs.
Compared to a decker, they're longer and lower capacity, which is likely to cause issues.

While some Oxford Tubes do do early morning runs on local services, that's only to get them out of the depot in the right order, and reduce the overall number of vehicles required.

True.

Also, I don't think Gold is to be the best a bus can be. The website says "So what exactly was the thinking behind the new Stagecoach Gold buses? Our chief executive Sir Brian Souter wanted to develop a product which gave something back to our loyal customer base. Our research had highlighted that key elements of the bus journey, including clean vehicles, friendly drivers, comfortable seats and pleasant surroundings contributed greatly to our customers overall journey experience."

In that respect, they're ok with the vehicles and simple economics also plays a part. You can have all the luxury and bells and whistles but that must be funded thru the farebox. Not as if you can charge a premium price?

To my mind, Gold is more marketing than delivery. That might seem harsh but what it is promoting as special is what others now provide as the new standard. Sapphire does at least have additional features such as plug/USB sockets and better legroom. I'm not a fan of the seats TBH, and find that First's wifi is more reliable but both are subjective

 

[radamfi]

I don't think wi-fi is such a big deal these days, given that most people have more than enough their own data. Using your own data means less chance of your personal data being compromised, and your own data is usually quicker, particularly if you have 4G.

 

[oldman]

I don't think wi-fi is such a big deal these days, given that most people have more than enough their own data.

In cities maybe. The country is another matter.