Poor show Stagecoach

[Tony]

I know all operators have the occasional lapse in standards, but I expect better than this from Stagecoach. Put a replacement panel in where a London destination display used to be, then cut a hole in it to match the size of a Dot Matrix display, then instead of glazing it properly just get a piece of clear plastic, rivot it onto the front of the Fibre Glass panel, then rivot a couple of aluminium plates on either end to make sure it doesn't fall off!

[PM]

I know all operators have the occasional lapse in standards, but I expect better than this from Stagecoach. Put a replacement panel in where a London destination display used to be, then cut a hole in it to match the side of a Dot Matrix display, then instead of glazing it properly just get a piece of clear plastic, rivot it onto the front of the Fibre Glass panel, then rivot a couple of aluminium plated on either end to make sure it doesn't fall off!

That looks absolutely awful.... To say stagecoach seem to invest a lot, there still seem to be a lot of volvo olympians hanging about with their extremely dated interiors with that awful grey moquette. I guess they are soon to be withdrawn. Stagecoach generally seem fairly good across the board though I think if the NX refurb/reinvestment programme continues at the rate it is going then NXWM could soon be one of the smartest city operators, as stagecoach and arriva seem a bit stingy when it comes to refurbing interiors in particular. First are generally fairly smart but out of the main groups, Go Ahead seem to dedicate a lot of attention to vehicle refurbishments meaning they have smart fleets, although not always made up of the newest vehicles

[winston]

I know all operators have the occasional lapse in standards, but I expect better than this from Stagecoach. Put a replacement panel in where a London destination display used to be, then cut a hole in it to match the side of a Dot Matrix display, then instead of glazing it properly just get a piece of clear plastic, rivot it onto the front of the Fibre Glass panel, then rivot a couple of aluminium plated on either end to make sure it doesn't fall off!

That looks absolutely awful.... To say stagecoach seem to invest a lot, there still seem to be a lot of volvo olympians hanging about with their extremely dated interiors with that awful grey moquette. I guess they are soon to be withdrawn. Stagecoach generally seem fairly good across the board though I think if the NX refurb/reinvestment programme continues at the rate it is going then NXWM could soon be one of the smartest city operators, as stagecoach and arriva seem a bit stingy when it comes to refurbing interiors in particular. First are generally fairly smart but out of the main groups, Go Ahead seem to dedicate a lot of attention to vehicle refurbishments meaning they have smart fleets, although not always made up of the newest vehicles

Stagecoach have recently been in the press for announcing their biggest new vehicle order to date for 570 new buses & coaches, but when you take in to consideration that the Stagecoach UK fleet is now the largest fleet in the UK with 8000 buses, it implies Stagecoach are working on a 14 year vehicle life which isn't that great.

http://www.stagecoach.com/media/news-releases/2014/2014-03-03.aspx

[PM]

I know all operators have the occasional lapse in standards, but I expect better than this from Stagecoach. Put a replacement panel in where a London destination display used to be, then cut a hole in it to match the side of a Dot Matrix display, then instead of glazing it properly just get a piece of clear plastic, rivot it onto the front of the Fibre Glass panel, then rivot a couple of aluminium plated on either end to make sure it doesn't fall off!

That looks absolutely awful.... To say stagecoach seem to invest a lot, there still seem to be a lot of volvo olympians hanging about with their extremely dated interiors with that awful grey moquette. I guess they are soon to be withdrawn. Stagecoach generally seem fairly good across the board though I think if the NX refurb/reinvestment programme continues at the rate it is going then NXWM could soon be one of the smartest city operators, as stagecoach and arriva seem a bit stingy when it comes to refurbing interiors in particular. First are generally fairly smart but out of the main groups, Go Ahead seem to dedicate a lot of attention to vehicle refurbishments meaning they have smart fleets, although not always made up of the newest vehicles

Stagecoach have recently been in the press for announcing their biggest new vehicle order to date for 570 new buses & coaches, but when you take in to consideration that the Stagecoach UK fleet is now the largest fleet in the UK with 8000 buses, it implies Stagecoach are working on a 14 year vehicle life which isn't that great.

http://www.stagecoach.com/media/news-releases/2014/2014-03-03.aspx

14 years seems pretty reasonable: NXWM/Rotala/First/Arriva/Go Ahead/Stagecoach all have vehicles such as darts which have lasted beyond the 14 years allocated for. Most buses seem able to last 14 years and look pretty good for it even more lightweight buses like solos and darts and there are plenty of volvos in firstgroup which are past 14 years and look fine

[Valandil]

Stagecoach have recently been in the press for announcing their biggest new vehicle order to date for 570 new buses & coaches, but when you take in to consideration that the Stagecoach UK fleet is now the largest fleet in the UK with 8000 buses, it implies Stagecoach are working on a 14 year vehicle life which isn't that great.

http://www.stagecoach.com/media/news-releases/2014/2014-03-03.aspx

Stagecoach seem to have 'hotspots' of very high investment (I'm thinking of you, London and Manchester!)
And then other places which are very far behind.
They seem to jump from one extreme to the other in the blink of an eye.
In fact, in our own back yard, the 'Unibus' vehicles for the U1/U2/U12/U17/NU1/NU2 are pretty new and represent a significant investment, but go back a couple of years and these routes were filled by scrapheap-dodgers!

[winston]

I know all operators have the occasional lapse in standards, but I expect better than this from Stagecoach. Put a replacement panel in where a London destination display used to be, then cut a hole in it to match the side of a Dot Matrix display, then instead of glazing it properly just get a piece of clear plastic, rivot it onto the front of the Fibre Glass panel, then rivot a couple of aluminium plated on either end to make sure it doesn't fall off!

That looks absolutely awful.... To say stagecoach seem to invest a lot, there still seem to be a lot of volvo olympians hanging about with their extremely dated interiors with that awful grey moquette. I guess they are soon to be withdrawn. Stagecoach generally seem fairly good across the board though I think if the NX refurb/reinvestment programme continues at the rate it is going then NXWM could soon be one of the smartest city operators, as stagecoach and arriva seem a bit stingy when it comes to refurbing interiors in particular. First are generally fairly smart but out of the main groups, Go Ahead seem to dedicate a lot of attention to vehicle refurbishments meaning they have smart fleets, although not always made up of the newest vehicles

Stagecoach have recently been in the press for announcing their biggest new vehicle order to date for 570 new buses & coaches, but when you take in to consideration that the Stagecoach UK fleet is now the largest fleet in the UK with 8000 buses, it implies Stagecoach are working on a 14 year vehicle life which isn't that great.

http://www.stagecoach.com/media/news-releases/2014/2014-03-03.aspx

14 years seems pretty reasonable: NXWM/Rotala/First/Arriva/Go Ahead/Stagecoach all have vehicles such as darts which have lasted beyond the 14 years allocated for. Most buses seem able to last 14 years and look pretty good for it even more lightweight buses like solos and darts and there are plenty of volvos in firstgroup which are past 14 years and look fine

If NX's current purchasing policy of 130 new buses per year continues based on a fleet size of 1650 (NXWM & NXD), that implies a vehicle life of just over 12.5 years

[PM]

I know all operators have the occasional lapse in standards, but I expect better than this from Stagecoach. Put a replacement panel in where a London destination display used to be, then cut a hole in it to match the side of a Dot Matrix display, then instead of glazing it properly just get a piece of clear plastic, rivot it onto the front of the Fibre Glass panel, then rivot a couple of aluminium plated on either end to make sure it doesn't fall off!

That looks absolutely awful.... To say stagecoach seem to invest a lot, there still seem to be a lot of volvo olympians hanging about with their extremely dated interiors with that awful grey moquette. I guess they are soon to be withdrawn. Stagecoach generally seem fairly good across the board though I think if the NX refurb/reinvestment programme continues at the rate it is going then NXWM could soon be one of the smartest city operators, as stagecoach and arriva seem a bit stingy when it comes to refurbing interiors in particular. First are generally fairly smart but out of the main groups, Go Ahead seem to dedicate a lot of attention to vehicle refurbishments meaning they have smart fleets, although not always made up of the newest vehicles

Stagecoach have recently been in the press for announcing their biggest new vehicle order to date for 570 new buses & coaches, but when you take in to consideration that the Stagecoach UK fleet is now the largest fleet in the UK with 8000 buses, it implies Stagecoach are working on a 14 year vehicle life which isn't that great.

http://www.stagecoach.com/media/news-releases/2014/2014-03-03.aspx

14 years seems pretty reasonable: NXWM/Rotala/First/Arriva/Go Ahead/Stagecoach all have vehicles such as darts which have lasted beyond the 14 years allocated for. Most buses seem able to last 14 years and look pretty good for it even more lightweight buses like solos and darts and there are plenty of volvos in firstgroup which are past 14 years and look fine

If NX's current purchasing policy of 130 new buses per year continues based on a fleet size of 1650 (NXWM & NXD), that implies a vehicle life of just over 12.5 years

That's what I don't understand really: Merc's, B6's, B10ls have lasted far longer than that and on that basis, 02 reg tridents would be up for withdrawal when they are being refurbished. Maybe once darts/solos/b6s/mercs/b10ls are gone there will be a reduction in the number of new buses per year as an average 12.5 year life seems fairly short.

[winston]

I know all operators have the occasional lapse in standards, but I expect better than this from Stagecoach. Put a replacement panel in where a London destination display used to be, then cut a hole in it to match the side of a Dot Matrix display, then instead of glazing it properly just get a piece of clear plastic, rivot it onto the front of the Fibre Glass panel, then rivot a couple of aluminium plated on either end to make sure it doesn't fall off!

That looks absolutely awful.... To say stagecoach seem to invest a lot, there still seem to be a lot of volvo olympians hanging about with their extremely dated interiors with that awful grey moquette. I guess they are soon to be withdrawn. Stagecoach generally seem fairly good across the board though I think if the NX refurb/reinvestment programme continues at the rate it is going then NXWM could soon be one of the smartest city operators, as stagecoach and arriva seem a bit stingy when it comes to refurbing interiors in particular. First are generally fairly smart but out of the main groups, Go Ahead seem to dedicate a lot of attention to vehicle refurbishments meaning they have smart fleets, although not always made up of the newest vehicles

Stagecoach have recently been in the press for announcing their biggest new vehicle order to date for 570 new buses & coaches, but when you take in to consideration that the Stagecoach UK fleet is now the largest fleet in the UK with 8000 buses, it implies Stagecoach are working on a 14 year vehicle life which isn't that great.

http://www.stagecoach.com/media/news-releases/2014/2014-03-03.aspx

14 years seems pretty reasonable: NXWM/Rotala/First/Arriva/Go Ahead/Stagecoach all have vehicles such as darts which have lasted beyond the 14 years allocated for. Most buses seem able to last 14 years and look pretty good for it even more lightweight buses like solos and darts and there are plenty of volvos in firstgroup which are past 14 years and look fine

If NX's current purchasing policy of 130 new buses per year continues based on a fleet size of 1650 (NXWM & NXD), that implies a vehicle life of just over 12.5 years

That's what I don't understand really: Merc's, B6's, B10ls have lasted far longer than that and on that basis, 02 reg tridents would be up for withdrawal when they are being refurbished. Maybe once darts/solos/b6s/mercs/b10ls are gone there will be a reduction in the number of new buses per year as an average 12.5 year life seems fairly short.

Don't forget NX went through a period when the majority of new buses went to expand Travel London i.e. during 2005 & 2006, then between 2008-2010 fair fewer new buses were taken delivery of due to NX Group battling high debts/fending off takeover approaches etc.

The current new vehicle investment is a relatively new policy only introduced since 2011 whilst NX has been under the control of Dean Finch. Therefore NX are still playing catch-up for the years that experienced under investment, but by mid 2015 when all the promised 274 new buses have been delivered the fleet will be very modern with a falling average age.

[Tony]

So

The TC always picks on the small guy and never the big groups?

http://www.route-one.net/legal/stagecoach-fined-20k/

[Bryan]

So

The TC always picks on the small guy and never the big groups?

http://www.route-one.net/legal/stagecoach-fined-20k/

I very much doubt the 'TC always picks on the small guy and never the big groups' complainers in this group will take note

Your webpage link does show how all companies, large or small, need to be on their toes at all time. As for the driver of the bus that hit the low bridge whilst listening to music and on his mobile, words fail me !!!!!

[winston]

Not something you normally expect to hear regarding Stagecoach:
https://www.scotsman.com/news/transport/stagecoach-staff-bullied-into-driving-faulty-buses-1-4916358

[Roy]

I would imagine that Subway would be a bit miffed if they saw their advert on Stagecoach South East E400 15480.

[the trainbasher]

I would imagine that Subway would be a bit miffed if they saw their advert on Stagecoach South East E400 15480.

I suppose it gets people looking!