stagecoach

[arrifirststage]

Looking at the headings in the forum,the only one without an entry is Stagecoach.
Perhaps I can give my own views and hope to receive the views of other members.
Stagecoach seem to me to be the best run,most efficient and most interesting of all the bus companies.There is a regular influx of new buses,good publicity,and clean modern appearance to the fleet.A complete contrast in fact to the West Midlands biggest operator.I for one very much regret that the once mooted takeover of NXWM never happened,because I believe the West Midland public would now be getting a much better service.
Perhaps some other group members,such as those in Coventry,Nuneaton,Leamington etc could give their views and, who knows, I may have to remove my rose-tinted glasses.

[MW]

Looking at the headings in the forum,the only one without an entry is Stagecoach.
Perhaps I can give my own views and hope to receive the views of other members.
Stagecoach seem to me to be the best run,most efficient and most interesting of all the bus companies.There is a regular influx of new buses,good publicity,and clean modern appearance to the fleet.A complete contrast in fact to the West Midlands biggest operator.I for one very much regret that the once mooted takeover of NXWM never happened,because I believe the West Midland public would now be getting a much better service.
Perhaps some other group members,such as those in Coventry,Nuneaton,Leamington etc could give their views and, who knows, I may have to remove my rose-tinted glasses.

Have you seen the Stagecoach fares? They're around 3 times as much as NXWM if not more.

[BN]

All the best to the lads at Stagecoach rugby today. First europe runs today. Take care over there lads!

[Justin Tyme]

Stagecoach nationally takes the trouble to have a tidy fleet and, more important, is more willing than others to invest in vehicles and service improvements - and invests sensibly.  It is also imaginative in finding ways to 'grow the market', such as good publicity.

This has certainly paid off in Warwickshire - many services (including all of them running into Coventry) have been improved in recent years, and they have quickly they have been rewarded by good increases in usage.   

[winston]

I'm glad Stagecoach never got their hands on NXWM; it's something Brian Souter has wanted to do for years since he missed out to Employee buyout bid back in WMT days. NXWM have become a bit complacent over recent years and let standards slip to an unacceptable level. However, there hands were tied for a couple of years re investment in new vehicles / re-furbishing existing vehicle following the Richard Bowker era / East Coast Main Line fiasco which very nearly sent the whole group under. NXWM are now once again investing heavily in new vehicles & refurbishing / re-trimming existing vehicles at repaint.

Out of all the big groups, I quite like what Go-Ahead Group stand for, i.e. retaining existing brands & liveries, they are also not shy in buying new vehicles,

Apologies for going a little off topic

Stagecoach seem to me to be the best run,most efficient and most interesting of all the bus companies.There is a regular influx of new buses,good publicity,and clean modern appearance to the fleet.A complete contrast in fact to the West Midlands biggest operator.I for one very much regret that the once mooted takeover of NXWM never happened,because I believe the West Midland public would now be getting a much better service.
Perhaps some other group members,such as those in Coventry,Nuneaton,Leamington etc could give their views and, who knows, I may have to remove my rose-tinted glasses.

[PM]

I like all the big groups other than first! Stagecoach are full of innovation-new megabus services to europe etc in the press today and theyre very good value. They invest in new buses and lets not forget they supported the british bus manufacturing industry when other companies weren't buying anything! they are undoubtedly the good side of deregulation and have done in places what it was designed to do-get more people on the bus. In east kent the bus use has doubled in 10 years-well done stagecoach though im glad they didnt buy national express/wmt because they are also a good operator and until recently didnt impose a dreadful corporate identity!!

[D10]

I am very impressed by Stagecoach's investment in vehicles, even the small garages ex Midland Red garages such as Stratford (E400's) and Banbury (E200's) have received new buses over the past couple of years.

Also their improvement in frequencies of routes linking the main towns is also very welcome. Three such routes off the top of my head are the 28, 86 and 500 .

[Ashley]

I went to Gloucester in March for one saturday to see what Stagecoach services were like and I can simply say the operation is much better than NXWM. The buses are clean, tiday and the paintwork looks good, there is a clear sign that investment ios one of the companys top priorities. On the note of fares. I think they charge their fares based on the distance a passenger wants to travel, which I think is reasonable even if the fares charged abit higher than what you would pay in Birmingham

[Liberator9]

I must say that Stagecoach are very good and they certainly maintain the fleet. Go Ahead is excellent too but it may have been good to see a Stagecoach take over, wouldn't mind seeing Enviro 200 and 300s down here now!

[MW]

I must say that Stagecoach are very good and they certainly maintain the fleet. Go Ahead is excellent too but it may have been good to see a Stagecoach take over, wouldn't mind seeing Enviro 200 and 300s down here now!

As well as clapped out Olympians from somewhere like Yorkshire!

[winston]

I must say that Stagecoach are very good and they certainly maintain the fleet. Go Ahead is excellent too but it may have been good to see a Stagecoach take over, wouldn't mind seeing Enviro 200 and 300s down here now!

As well as clapped out Olympians from somewhere like Yorkshire!

And MAN/ALX300's, a few years earlier it would have been B10M/Alexander PS's

[Valandil]

This is all interesting ...
My experience of Stagecoach in Warwickshire has been very mixed, to say the least.

The very first time I caught one of their buses, it was apparent that the vehicle was very poorly maintained, as the base of the seat at the back on the left was loose to the point that I could easily have fallen through it (no joke).
Also, the cost of a return to Stratford from Warwick Uni was over £5, and is now probably edging towards £6.
Even their 'half price' DayRider Gold is £4 on Sundays, so assumedly £8 the rest of the time (when I refuse to travel with them, due to cost).

I have noticed that vehicles are finally fitted with destinations for the 67a and 67b; goodness knows how long it took them to do that.
It is frequent that I see buses with destination equipment not working, with the customary piece of paper with hand-written route number in the window, or with confusing things like 'Stagecoach in Chesterfield' or 'Stagecoach in Derbyshire' displaying instead.

Despite the tight timetable, I have a lot of praise for the 68 service, and I have also had good experiences with the X15.
The 'Goldline' branding is very good and distinctive too, and thank goodness they have now abandoned the garish pink previously used on the Unibus services.
There have recently been improvements bringing the U17 to every 20 minutes, and there are some low-floor vehicles on order for the Unibus services.

[Discodave]

This is all interesting ...
My experience of Stagecoach in Warwickshire has been very mixed, to say the least.

The very first time I caught one of their buses, it was apparent that the vehicle was very poorly maintained, as the base of the seat at the back on the left was loose to the point that I could easily have fallen through it (no joke).
Also, the cost of a return to Stratford from Warwick Uni was over £5, and is now probably edging towards £6.
Even their 'half price' DayRider Gold is £4 on Sundays, so assumedly £8 the rest of the time (when I refuse to travel with them, due to cost).

I have noticed that vehicles are finally fitted with destinations for the 67a and 67b; goodness knows how long it took them to do that.
It is frequent that I see buses with destination equipment not working, with the customary piece of paper with hand-written route number in the window, or with confusing things like 'Stagecoach in Chesterfield' or 'Stagecoach in Derbyshire' displaying instead.

Despite the tight timetable, I have a lot of praise for the 68 service, and I have also had good experiences with the X15.
The 'Goldline' branding is very good and distinctive too, and thank goodness they have now abandoned the garish pink previously used on the Unibus services.
There have recently been improvements bringing the U17 to every 20 minutes, and there are some low-floor vehicles on order for the Unibus services.

With regards to stagecoach and nxwm there are two big differences.

1. I see people slag stagecoach off for fleet quality they cover a lot of the country and have done a good job in investing in there fleet yes some areas still lack but they have done a lot better than NXWM passanger growth has happened

2.NX cover mainly three areas Dundee, West Midlands and Coventry they do have some little bits in other areas Dundee got a lot of investment (been there a lot of times every time new buses and got rid of step buses long before the midlands) NXWM was left to rot until recently new buses have come in but some garages have an awful fleet WB is one PN was until it got the 9 and new Volvos.  NX also have some bad maintained buses

Both companies have good and bad but in my opinion NXWM were lucky Stagecoach did not get hold of them due to some bad business decisions by NX manangement maybe we would have had some of the investment sooner plus fairer pay rates for the drivers regardless of contracts etc the pay should be one level not £11.00 an hour for some and £8.74 for others for the same job and forced to work every Sunday when others can just chuck them in and rub your noses in it