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Stagecoach Group

Stagecoach Group is a transport group based in Perth, Scotland. It operates buses, express coaches and a tram service in the United Kingdom.

Stagecoach Group plc
TypePrivate
IndustryPublic transport
Founded1980; 43 years ago (1980)
FounderBrian Souter
Ann Gloag
Robin Gloag
HeadquartersPerth, Scotland, UK
Area served
United Kingdom
Key people
Ray O'Toole (Chairman)
Martin Griffiths (Chief Executive)
ProductsBus, coach, tram and train services
Revenue£1.9 billion (2019)[1]
£161 million (2019)[1]
£101 million (2019)[1]
Number of employees
31,196 (2019)[1]
ParentInframobility
Websitewww.stagecoachgroup.com

History

 
Stagecoach South Alexander Dash bodied Dennis Dart in the previous livery

Stagecoach was born out of deregulation of the British express coach market in the early 1980s, though its roots can be traced back to 1976 when Ann Gloag and her husband Robin Gloag set up a small recreational vehicle and minibus hire business called Gloagtrotter in Perth, Scotland. Ann's brother, Brian Souter, an accountant, joined the firm and expanded the business into bus hire. In 1982, with the collapse of his marriage to Ann, Robin Gloag sold his ownership stake in the business and ceased any involvement. The Transport Act 1980, which freed express services of 35 miles and over from regulation by the Traffic Commissioner, brought new opportunities for the company and services were launched from Dundee to London using second-hand Neoplan coaches. For a while, the company offered a very personal service with Brian Souter doing the driving and Ann Gloag making up sandwiches and snacks for the passengers.[2][3]

Successfully competing against the then state-owned National Express Coaches and Scottish Citylink, the company grew significantly between 1981 and 1985, when Stagecoach entered local bus operation with the acquisition of McLennan of Spittalfield, near Perth. Its early success allowed Stagecoach to take advantage of the privatisation of the national bus groups. Several firms were purchased from London Regional Transport, the National Bus Company, Scottish Bus Group and various city councils. The company consolidated its operations during the 1990s by purchasing ex NBC and SBG bus companies that had been purchased via management buyouts and employee-owned corporations when privatised. Stagecoach left the long-distance express coach market in 1988 when it sold its operations to National Express.[4]

During the privatisation of British Rail, Porterbrook was formed as one of three rolling stock companies owning around a third of passenger railway locomotives, multiple units and coaching stock running on Network Rail's system which is leased to various train operators. It was sold to a management buyout before being purchased by Stagecoach in August 1996.[5][6] In April 2000 Stagecoach sold Porterbrook to Abbey National for £773 million.[7]

In 1997, Stagecoach won the franchise to operate the Sheffield Supertram system, from the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive, who own the system. Stagecoach bought the remaining 27 years of a 30-year franchise, which expires in 2024, and run the operation under the Stagecoach Supertram brand, having responsibility for the operation and maintenance of the tram system. When Stagecoach took over the system, it was struggling, both financially and in terms of attracting passengers, but it is now an extremely popular and successful operation.[8] Stagecoach took another turn in 1998, when it purchased Scotland's Prestwick Airport for £41 million. By the summer of 1999, the company was rumoured to have been offered some £80 million for Prestwick. They sold the airport in January 2001 to concentrate on surface transport.[9]

On 21 November 2005, Stagecoach announced the sale of its New Zealand operations to Infratil.[10] On 14 December 2005 Stagecoach purchased Barnsley based Traction Group (Yorkshire Traction) for £26 million, and also assume Traction's £11 million debt. Traction operated 840 buses in South and West Yorkshire (Yorkshire Traction, Barnsley & District, Yorkshire Terrier), Lincolnshire (RoadCar) and Angus (Strathtay Scottish). Traction was the largest remaining privately owned independent bus operator in the UK.[11]

Following the sale of its London bus operations to Macquarie Bank in 2006, Stagecoach UK Bus concentrated on the bus market outside the UK capital, focusing on organic growth and exploring acquisition options.[12] In September 2005, following competition with its Megabus coach operation, Stagecoach launched a joint venture with Scottish Citylink coaches. After a competition enquiry, in October 2006 Stagecoach was instructed to sell some of the Scottish coach services.[13] Stagecoach were also active in the rail industry, having a 49% stake in Virgin Rail Group. In 2007 the group were successful in their bid for the new East Midlands franchise which had been created by amalgamating the previous Midland Mainline franchise with the eastern part of the former Central Trains franchise.[14]

In July 2007, Stagecoach commenced operating the Manchester Metrolink tram network.[15] In January 2009, Stagecoach bought Preston Bus, a former rival in the Lancashire area.[16] In November 2009 the Competition Commission ordered Stagecoach to sell Preston Bus after it had adversely affected competition in the area.[17]

In October 2010, Stagecoach expanded further by re-acquiring East London and Selkent, Stagecoach's former London bus operations.[18] In August 2011, Stagecoach sold its Manchester Metrolink concession to RATP Group halfway through its ten-year contract to operate the network.[19] In December 2013, Stagecoach bought King's Lynn based Norfolk Green.[20] In March 2015, Virgin Trains East Coast, in which Stagecoach held a 90% shareholding, commenced operating the InterCity East Coast franchise.[21][22] The franchise was terminated on 23 June 2018 after it was revealed that Stagecoach had overbid.[23]

 
A Stagecoach Devon Enviro400 MMC in the new local services livery (Torquay, 2021)

In December 2018, it was announced that private equity house, Variant would acquire Stagecoach Group's US division for $271 million. The sale was completed in April 2019.[24][25]

In April 2019, Stagecoach was disqualified from participating in three rail franchise competitions by the Department for Transport after it submitted non-compliant bids for the East Midlands, South Eastern and West Coast Partnership franchises.[26]

A new set of liveries were introduced in February 2020 for British bus operations. Three colour schemes were to be used to reduce customer confusion:

  • Local services- white with azure blue
  • Longer distance - amber yellow
  • Specialist services - white with ocean green (this includes park and ride, university and tourist services)[27]

In September 2021, National Express entered into talks to acquire Stagecoach Group.[28] In December 2021, a deal was agreed between the boards of the two companies: however, it was subject to both shareholder approval and regulatory scrutiny.[29] To satisfy the Competition & Markets Authority, Stagecoach sold Megabus, its 35% shareholding in Scottish Citylink and the Falcon Coaches part of Stagecoach South West to ComfortDelGro.[30][31] Having originally recommended shareholders accept the National Express offer, in March 2022 the board of directors withdrew the recommendation in favour of a takeover offer from a DWS managed investment fund.[32]

In June 2022, Stagecoach purchased London bus operator Tower Transit's Lea Interchange garage, with Stagecoach London taking on 150 buses and 11 Transport for London bus route contracts;[33][34] operations from Lea Interchange are managed under the Lea Interchange Bus Company Limited license.[35] Later in August, Stagecoach acquired the London operations of the HCT Group after the company had fallen into administration, with Stagecoach acquiring a further 160 buses, 17 TfL route contracts and two bus garages from the acquisition.[36][37]

Operations

Key people

Stagecoach Group plc was listed on the London Stock Exchange. Founder Brian Souter and his sister Ann Gloag were the largest shareholders with a combined 26% shareholding at April 2019.[38]

UK operating companies

The following is a breakdown of the Stagecoach operating divisions. The centre of each operating region is shown in parentheses. Legal company names are listed alongside the trading names for that company.

Bus division

Bus division operations are as follows:[39]

Stagecoach UK bus divisions
Division Headquarters Local brands Legal name and other notes
Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire Carlisle
  • Stagecoach in Cumbria
  • Stagecoach in Lancaster
  • Stagecoach in Lancashire
Cumberland Motor Services and Ribble Motor Services, operates in the north west of England
Stagecoach East Cambridge
  • Stagecoach in Bedford
  • Stagecoach in Cambridge
  • Stagecoach in Huntingdonshire
  • Stagecoach in Peterborough
Cambus, Stagecoach in the Fens (Huntingdon) now operates the longest Guided busway in the world with the fleet for the busway running on bio fuel. As of September 2010 Stagecoach in Northants transferred to a new Midland division.
Stagecoach East Midlands Lincoln
  • Stagecoach in Worksop
  • Stagecoach in Mansfield
  • Stagecoach in Gainsborough
  • Stagecoach in Grimsby
  • Stagecoach in Scunthorpe
  • Stagecoach in Hull
  • Stagecoach in Lincoln
Go West Travel Co, Lincolnshire Road Car Co
Stagecoach East Scotland Dunfermline Fife Scottish Omnibuses, previously operated the Forth Fast hovercraft service from Kirkcaldy to Portobello.
Stagecoach London Canning Town East London Bus & Coach Co, South East London & Kent Bus Co. Stagecoach purchased the East London and Selkent divisions of London Buses when they were privatised in 1994. They were sold to Macquarie Bank on 31 August 2006 for £263.6m. Macquarie continued to use the Stagecoach brand under licence before rebranding the services as East London and Selkent. Stagecoach bought its old London operations from Macquarie Bank in October 2010 for £59.5m and both were rebranded as Stagecoach.[40]
Stagecoach Manchester Ardwick
  • Stagecoach in Manchester
  • Stagecoach in Wigan
  • Magic Bus
Greater Manchester Buses (South)
Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire Liverpool
  • Stagecoach in Chester
  • Stagecoach in Wirral
  • Stagecoach Merseyside
  • Stagecoach Preston
Glenvale Transport, has operations in the South Lancashire, Merseyside and Liverpool
Stagecoach Midlands Northampton Midland Red (South) in Warwickshire and United Counties Omnibus Company in Northamptonshire.
Stagecoach North East Sunderland
  • Stagecoach on Teesside
  • Stagecoach in Hartlepool
  • Stagecoach in Newcastle
  • Stagecoach in South Shields
  • Stagecoach in Sunderland
  • Tees Flex
Busways Travel Services and Cleveland Transit
Stagecoach Highlands Inverness
  • Stagecoach in Orkney
  • Stagecoach in Lochaber
  • Stagecoach in Skye
  • Stagecoach in Inverness
  • Stagecoach in Caithness
Took over the Rapsons Group (Orkney Coaches/Highland Country Buses) in 2008.
Stagecoach Bluebird Aberdeen
  • Stagecoach in Aberdeen
Stagecoach South Chichester
  • Stagecoach in Hants & Surrey
  • Stagecoach in Hampshire
  • Stagecoach in Portsmouth
  • Stagecoach in the South Downs
Stagecoach (South)
Stagecoach South East Canterbury
  • Stagecoach in East Kent
  • Stagecoach in East Sussex
East Kent Road Car Company, operating in East Kent and East Sussex
Stagecoach South Wales Cwmbran
  • Stagecoach De Cymru
  • TrawsCymru
Red & White Services
Stagecoach South West Exeter
  • Stagecoach in Devon
  • Stagecoach in Somerset (defunct)
  • South West Falcon
Stagecoach Devon
Stagecoach West Gloucester Cheltenham & Gloucester Omnibus Co, Swindon & District Bus Co, Thames Transit
Stagecoach West Scotland Ayr
  • Stagecoach Western
  • Stagecoach A1 Service
  • Stagecoach in Glasgow
Western Buses
Stagecoach Yorkshire & Chesterfield Barnsley
  • Stagecoach in Yorkshire
  • Stagecoach in Sheffield
  • Stagecoach in Chesterfield
Yorkshire Traction Co, Yorkshire Terrier, South Yorkshire Supertram and Andrews (Sheffield)

Brands

 
Oxford Tube Van Hool T9 Astromega on the M40 in August 2009

Apart from the ordinary bus operations and no-frills services, the UK bus division has the following brands that extend across operating divisions.

  • Stagecoach Express – an express coach service that operates mainly between towns and cities where Stagecoach operate. It tends not to compete with National Express like Megabus, and in some cases tickets are available through the National Express website.[41]
  • Oxford Tube – an express coach service offering high frequency 24-hour services to London, operated by Stagecoach West.[42]
  • Citi – some urban networks have received Citi branding, such as Cambridge, Exeter & Peterborough; although much of this brand has now been withdrawn.[43]
  • Stagecoach Gold – a luxury bus service brand designed to attract middle class travellers to public transport, generally on the most important and high-profile routes within an area served by Stagecoach (e.g. Sheffield to Chesterfield). Gold buses typically feature a special blue and gold colour scheme, leather seats, and on-board Wi-Fi access. Both single-decker and double-decker gold buses are used.[44]
  • Stagecoach SimpliBus operates in the East Midlands.[45]

Fleet numbers

The Stagecoach Group number their buses using a system that applies for the life of the bus or until it is sold, as follows:[46]

  • 10000 – 19999: double-decker buses
  • 20000 – 29999: heavyweight single-decker buses
  • 30000 – 39999: lightweight single-decker buses
  • 40000 – 49999: minibuses and midibuses
  • 50000 – 59999: coaches
  • 60000 – 69999: New Routemasters and other specialised vehicles
  • 70000 – 79999: series unused
  • 80000 – 89999: demonstrator and loaned vehicles
  • 90000 – 99999: pool cars, staff transport vehicles, etc.

Light Rail Division

 
Sheffield Supertram in July 2020
Sheffield Supertram – Stagecoach has operated the Sheffield Supertram under a concession from the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive since 1997.[47] Its average daily ridership is 33,700, equalling more than 12 million per year, well above expectations. There are currently three light rail transit lines and a later tram-train service to Rotherham. Future plans included schemes to Dore, Fulwood and Maltby; following consultations, a reduced scheme with an extension to Broomhill was being considered.[48]

Former operations

East Midlands Trains

Manchester Metrolink

In July 2007, Stagecoach took over the operation of Manchester Metrolink on a 10-year fixed-term management contract, beating competition from Keolis, Serco and Transdev, to make it the biggest tram operator in the UK.[51] This system was the first modern tram system in the United Kingdom, opening just before the Sheffield system in 1992. Nearly 18 million people ride on the system a year. Stagecoach sold the Metrolink business to RATP Group in August 2011.[52]

South West Trains

Stagecoach Rail

In 1992, shortly before the privatisation of British Rail, Stagecoach Rail briefly operated a modest InterCity operation between Aberdeen and London. Two British Railways Mark 2 passenger carriages were re-branded in Stagecoach colours and attached to a scheduled British Rail InterCity sleeper service.[56]

Virgin CrossCountry

Virgin Rail Group operated the CrossCountry franchise as Virgin CrossCountry from January 1997[57] until November 2007 when it passed to Arriva.[58]

Virgin Trains East Coast

Virgin Trains East Coast, in which Stagecoach held a 90% shareholding, operated the InterCity East Coast franchise from March 2015 to June 2018.[21][22]

Virgin Trains West Coast

Australia

In 1999, Stagecoach purchased the school bus operations of Sunbus in the Cairns, Ipswich and Sunshine Coast regions of Queensland. These were sold in 2002 to:[62]

Hong Kong

 
Citybus MAN NL262 in Hong Kong in Stagecoach livery

In 1994, Stagecoach created a bus-operating subsidiary in Hong Kong which operated residential bus services. It ceased operation in April 1996.[63]

In 1999, Stagecoach planned to become the largest bus company in China through joint ventures, equity stakes and partnerships, and confirmed the £181 million acquisition of Hong Kong's Citybus. Stagecoach acquired control of Citybus Group, which provided franchised bus services on Hong Kong Island and to and from Hong Kong International Airport as well as non-franchised services throughout Hong Kong, in March 1999 and then completed the privatisation of Citybus on 17 July 1999.[64]

In June 2003, the operation was sold to Chow Tai Fook Enterprises, the parent company of the major rival operator New World First Bus.[65][66]

Kenya

In November 1991, Stagecoach Holdings (as it was named then), bought United Transport's shareholding in Kenya Bus Services. During its tenure, Stagecoach rapidly expanded the fleet, introducing the Express Services and the modern double decker buses back on Kenyan roads. In October 1998 a consortium of investors led by Karanja Kabage as chairman acquired Kenya Bus Services from Stagecoach Holdings which owned 95% of the business.[67]

New Zealand

Stagecoach New Zealand was a wholly owned part of the Stagecoach Group, which provided bus services in Auckland, Wellington and the Hutt Valley and nine ferry routes in Auckland. It was the largest bus company in New Zealand when sold. Stagecoach NZ started operations when the firm acquired Wellington City Transport, including the Hutt Valley suburban bus operations of the New Zealand Railways Road Services, branded CityLine, in the 1990s. Following this initial acquisition Stagecoach also purchased Eastbourne Buses, The Yellow Bus Company in Auckland and a controlling interest in Fullers Auckland. In November 2005, the business was sold to Infratil and rebranded as NZ Bus.[68]

North America

Stagecoach carried out bus operations in the northeastern and midwestern United States and in eastern Canada. Businesses were focused on commuter services, and included tour and charter, sightseeing, local, and school bus operations:

  • Coach USA – operating primarily in the northeastern United States providing subsidised transit services (primarily in Greater New York), sightseeing, and charter services, and in the midwestern United States with primarily charter and sightseeing services. Yellow school bus services are also provided by Coach USA in the state of Wisconsin.[69]
  • Megabus – discount express bus services radiating from Chicago and New York City. Like Megabus in the United Kingdom, most stops are made at street locations.[70]
  • Coach Canada – serving primarily Ontario and Quebec, where it operates interurban and chartered bus services, contract bus services in Durham, yellow school bus service in Durham Region and Peterborough County in Ontario, and sightseeing services in Montreal.[71]

In December 2018, Stagecoach announced it had agreed to sell all of its North American operations to Variant Equity Advisors with the deal concluded in April 2019.[25][72][73][74]

Portugal

Stagecoach Portugal had its origins in the re-privatisation of Portuguese bus and coach operation, which had been nationalised after the 1974 Revolution. In 1990, the nationalised Rodoviária Nacional was split into ten components. In the capital, Lisbon, Rodoviária de Lisboa was the chief operator outside the city itself, where Carris provided city bus and tram services. The name of Rodoviária de Lisboa survived as part of the Barraqueiro bus company, but another part, serving the area to the west of Lisbon, became Stagecoach Portugal in 1995. A further portion still operates as Vimeca – Viação Mecânica de Carnaxide. In June 2001, Stagecoach announced the sale of their Portuguese operations to ScottURB for £14 million.[75]

Nordic countries

In October 1996, during Stagecoach's International buying spree, it made its most important international acquisition at the time, buying Swebus AB, the bus-company arm of the Swedish State Railways (SJ), for 1.2 billion kronor ($164 million), which also included operations in Denmark, Finland and Norway.[76] The operations in Norway included only city and regional traffic in three minor cities around lake Mjøsa, but several unsuccessful bids on operators in the Oslo area led to Stagecoach selling out to Norgesbuss in April 1997. The Danish operations never proved profitable, and were sold to Combus in autumn of 1997. The operations in Finland were more successful, and were in April 1998 renamed Stagecoach Finland. In spring of 1997, Swebus Express was started as an intercity coach service between several cities in southern parts of Sweden, sporting the Stagecoach livery of the time. Stagecoach in 1998 announced that it had bid for several rail franchises in Sweden. On 27 October 1999, Stagecoach revealed that it was going to sell Swebus to Concordia Bus for £100 million, to refocus its bus operation on the United States and Asia.[77]

No-frills brands

Stagecoach operate a number of so-called "no-frills" services across the United Kingdom and the United States. Applying the business model of the low-cost carrier air lines, these services aim to offer cheaper alternatives to the established operators in the bus, coach and rail markets, by reducing costs, and offering extremely low fares for the earliest bookings, rising nearer the journey time:

Magic Bus

 
Magic Bus Alexander ALX400 bodied Dennis Trident 2 in Manchester in March 2013

Magic Bus was the first no-frills brand of Stagecoach. It was first used in red lettering on ex London Regional Transport AEC Routemasters, otherwise painted in Stagecoach stripes, in competition in Glasgow. Later, an allover blue with yellow lettering was adopted, on older service buses with simple fares and no travel passes, usually operated on routes with strong competition from other operators, most notably on the Manchester Piccadilly to East Didsbury Wilmslow Road bus corridor route in Manchester, but also in Newcastle upon Tyne and East Scotland (as Magic Mini). In 2008 Stagecoach Merseyside introduced a Magic Bus service competing with themselves and Arriva North West on the busy route 14 corridor, Magic Bus 14C runs every 7/8 minutes between City Centre and Broadway. By 2012, only the Manchester Magic Bus remained, these being upgraded from Volvo Olympians and Dennis Dragons to Alexander ALX400 and East Lancs bodied Dennis Trident 2s.[78]

Megabus

 
Megabus Van Hool Astromega in September 2012

Megabus is a low cost, "no-frills" intercity coach service launched in the United Kingdom by Stagecoach in 2003, on 10 April 2006 in the United States, and in 2009 within Canada. Its main rival in the UK is National Express, who have had to lower their prices to compete with Megabus. In the US, Megabus/Eastern Shuttle's main rival is BoltBus, which is 50% owned by Stagecoach rival FirstGroup. In the UK, the Megabus network covers most of the island of Great Britain, although some routes offer only one journey per day. Originally operated using high capacity, but older coach-seated vehicles, most services are now operated with new modern single or double deck coaches. In the United States, services radiate from Chicago and New York City, but the networks are not connected. In both the UK and the US, to cut costs, most services use on-street bus stops, rather than pay for access to coach stations (except in cases where pre-existing routes were converted to Megabus lines). A notable exception to this is the use of London Victoria Coach Station.[79]

Megatrain

On 14 November 2005, the Megabus concept was extended to certain rail services, with the introduction of Megatrain between London and Southampton, and London and Portsmouth, using a dedicated carriage on selected South West Trains services. It was later extended to some Virgin Trains services (since withdrawn) and to selected East Midlands Trains services. In 2009, the Megabusplus concept was introduced, under which certain trips are begun on a train and are then completed on a bus. Unlike the original Megatrain concept, this service is available seven days a week.[80]

Scottish Citylink

 
Plaxton Panther bodied Volvo B12B in September 2010

In September 2005, Stagecoach and ComfortDelGro announced a joint venture in the provision of express coach services in Scotland, ending intense competition between ComfortDelGro's subsidiary Scottish Citylink and Stagecoach subsidiaries Megabus and Motorvator. Under the terms of the joint venture, the Stagecoach Group acquires a 35% stake in Scottish Citylink Coaches Ltd, with Citylink assuming certain rights to the Megabus and Motorvator brands in Scotland.[81]

The Competition Commission ruled in October 2006 that the joint venture substantially reduced competition and that evidence suggested some routes were already experiencing higher fares as a result.[82] Though no firm conclusion was drawn, regulators are to consult the two companies about what they need to do to comply with competition regulations and they have indicated that this will likely lead to the forced divestment of some services to an independent operator. The ruling was criticised by Stagecoach as leaving vital services in limbo and jeopardising Scotland's intercity coach network, making it unable to compete effectively with rail and private car journeys.[83]

To satisfy the commission, some Citylink routes were sold to Parks Motor Group in early 2008.[84]

Controversy

 
Section 28 protestor in Manchester in July 2000

Competitive strategy

Following the deregulation of bus services in the United Kingdom, Stagecoach bought a number of the newly emerged small bus companies and ran free or low fare buses to put local rivals out of business.[85] In Darlington, Stagecoach subsidiary Busways offered bounties to recruit drivers away from the existing bus service and offered free buses to deter the rival preferred bidder from taking over the existing bus service. This was "predatory, deplorable and against the public interest" according to findings from the Monopolies & Mergers Commission.[86][87]

In 2000, Stagecoach Manchester was found to have been employing bus inspectors to usher passengers away from competitor's services.[88] In 2005 alleged aggressive behaviour by Stagecoach drivers, seeking to compete with Scotbus, resulted in an arson fire at a Stagecoach East Scotland garage.[89]

In 2006/07, Stagecoach Manchester and UK North engaged in a bus war on route 192 and on the Wilmslow Road bus corridor that caused traffic chaos in Manchester.[90][91] In November 2009 the Competition Commission ordered Stagecoach to sell Preston Bus after it had adversely affected competition in the area. Preston Bus was sold in January 2011.[92][93][94]

Controversial chairman

The Stagecoach Group has also indirectly attracted criticism through controversial statements and actions made by its chairman and co-founder, Brian Souter, regarding certain public statements and his funding of a campaign to block the repeal of the Section 28 law. In 2000, OutRage! spokesman Peter Tatchell, called for a boycott of the bus and rail group.[95]

Guided Busway

Stagecoach operate buses along the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway. The Guide wheels on the side of the buses, combined with a specially built track mean that hands free driving is possible. The main advantages of a guided busway, versus a normal road are higher speeds (meaning increased capacity) and increased safety as traffic of differing directions is physically separated.[96]

See also

References

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Further reading

  • Wolmar, Christian (21 October – 3 November 1998). "The real Stagecoach story...". Rail. No. 342. EMAP Apex Publications. pp. 24–28. ISSN 0953-4563. OCLC 49953699.

External links

  • Company website
  •   Media related to Stagecoach Group at Wikimedia Commons
  •   Media related to Stagecoach UK Bus at Wikimedia Commons

stagecoach, group, transport, group, based, perth, scotland, operates, buses, express, coaches, tram, service, united, kingdom, plctypeprivateindustrypublic, transportfounded1980, years, 1980, founderbrian, souterann, gloagrobin, gloagheadquartersperth, scotla. Stagecoach Group is a transport group based in Perth Scotland It operates buses express coaches and a tram service in the United Kingdom Stagecoach Group plcTypePrivateIndustryPublic transportFounded1980 43 years ago 1980 FounderBrian SouterAnn GloagRobin GloagHeadquartersPerth Scotland UKArea servedUnited KingdomKey peopleRay O Toole Chairman Martin Griffiths Chief Executive ProductsBus coach tram and train servicesRevenue 1 9 billion 2019 1 Operating income 161 million 2019 1 Net income 101 million 2019 1 Number of employees31 196 2019 1 ParentInframobilityWebsitewww wbr stagecoachgroup wbr com Contents 1 History 2 Operations 2 1 Key people 3 UK operating companies 3 1 Bus division 3 1 1 Brands 3 1 2 Fleet numbers 3 2 Light Rail Division 4 Former operations 4 1 East Midlands Trains 4 2 Manchester Metrolink 4 3 South West Trains 4 4 Stagecoach Rail 4 5 Virgin CrossCountry 4 6 Virgin Trains East Coast 4 7 Virgin Trains West Coast 4 8 Australia 4 9 Hong Kong 4 10 Kenya 4 11 New Zealand 4 12 North America 4 13 Portugal 4 14 Nordic countries 5 No frills brands 5 1 Magic Bus 5 2 Megabus 5 3 Megatrain 6 Scottish Citylink 7 Controversy 7 1 Competitive strategy 7 2 Controversial chairman 8 Guided Busway 9 See also 10 References 11 Further reading 12 External linksHistory Edit Stagecoach South Alexander Dash bodied Dennis Dart in the previous livery Stagecoach South Wales Plaxton Expressliner bodied Volvo B10M in July 2008 Manchester Metrolink AnsaldoBreda T 68 tram at Whitefield tram stop in May 2008 Stagecoach was born out of deregulation of the British express coach market in the early 1980s though its roots can be traced back to 1976 when Ann Gloag and her husband Robin Gloag set up a small recreational vehicle and minibus hire business called Gloagtrotter in Perth Scotland Ann s brother Brian Souter an accountant joined the firm and expanded the business into bus hire In 1982 with the collapse of his marriage to Ann Robin Gloag sold his ownership stake in the business and ceased any involvement The Transport Act 1980 which freed express services of 35 miles and over from regulation by the Traffic Commissioner brought new opportunities for the company and services were launched from Dundee to London using second hand Neoplan coaches For a while the company offered a very personal service with Brian Souter doing the driving and Ann Gloag making up sandwiches and snacks for the passengers 2 3 Successfully competing against the then state owned National Express Coaches and Scottish Citylink the company grew significantly between 1981 and 1985 when Stagecoach entered local bus operation with the acquisition of McLennan of Spittalfield near Perth Its early success allowed Stagecoach to take advantage of the privatisation of the national bus groups Several firms were purchased from London Regional Transport the National Bus Company Scottish Bus Group and various city councils The company consolidated its operations during the 1990s by purchasing ex NBC and SBG bus companies that had been purchased via management buyouts and employee owned corporations when privatised Stagecoach left the long distance express coach market in 1988 when it sold its operations to National Express 4 During the privatisation of British Rail Porterbrook was formed as one of three rolling stock companies owning around a third of passenger railway locomotives multiple units and coaching stock running on Network Rail s system which is leased to various train operators It was sold to a management buyout before being purchased by Stagecoach in August 1996 5 6 In April 2000 Stagecoach sold Porterbrook to Abbey National for 773 million 7 In 1997 Stagecoach won the franchise to operate the Sheffield Supertram system from the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive who own the system Stagecoach bought the remaining 27 years of a 30 year franchise which expires in 2024 and run the operation under the Stagecoach Supertram brand having responsibility for the operation and maintenance of the tram system When Stagecoach took over the system it was struggling both financially and in terms of attracting passengers but it is now an extremely popular and successful operation 8 Stagecoach took another turn in 1998 when it purchased Scotland s Prestwick Airport for 41 million By the summer of 1999 the company was rumoured to have been offered some 80 million for Prestwick They sold the airport in January 2001 to concentrate on surface transport 9 On 21 November 2005 Stagecoach announced the sale of its New Zealand operations to Infratil 10 On 14 December 2005 Stagecoach purchased Barnsley based Traction Group Yorkshire Traction for 26 million and also assume Traction s 11 million debt Traction operated 840 buses in South and West Yorkshire Yorkshire Traction Barnsley amp District Yorkshire Terrier Lincolnshire RoadCar and Angus Strathtay Scottish Traction was the largest remaining privately owned independent bus operator in the UK 11 Following the sale of its London bus operations to Macquarie Bank in 2006 Stagecoach UK Bus concentrated on the bus market outside the UK capital focusing on organic growth and exploring acquisition options 12 In September 2005 following competition with its Megabus coach operation Stagecoach launched a joint venture with Scottish Citylink coaches After a competition enquiry in October 2006 Stagecoach was instructed to sell some of the Scottish coach services 13 Stagecoach were also active in the rail industry having a 49 stake in Virgin Rail Group In 2007 the group were successful in their bid for the new East Midlands franchise which had been created by amalgamating the previous Midland Mainline franchise with the eastern part of the former Central Trains franchise 14 In July 2007 Stagecoach commenced operating the Manchester Metrolink tram network 15 In January 2009 Stagecoach bought Preston Bus a former rival in the Lancashire area 16 In November 2009 the Competition Commission ordered Stagecoach to sell Preston Bus after it had adversely affected competition in the area 17 In October 2010 Stagecoach expanded further by re acquiring East London and Selkent Stagecoach s former London bus operations 18 In August 2011 Stagecoach sold its Manchester Metrolink concession to RATP Group halfway through its ten year contract to operate the network 19 In December 2013 Stagecoach bought King s Lynn based Norfolk Green 20 In March 2015 Virgin Trains East Coast in which Stagecoach held a 90 shareholding commenced operating the InterCity East Coast franchise 21 22 The franchise was terminated on 23 June 2018 after it was revealed that Stagecoach had overbid 23 A Stagecoach Devon Enviro400 MMC in the new local services livery Torquay 2021 In December 2018 it was announced that private equity house Variant would acquire Stagecoach Group s US division for 271 million The sale was completed in April 2019 24 25 In April 2019 Stagecoach was disqualified from participating in three rail franchise competitions by the Department for Transport after it submitted non compliant bids for the East Midlands South Eastern and West Coast Partnership franchises 26 A new set of liveries were introduced in February 2020 for British bus operations Three colour schemes were to be used to reduce customer confusion Local services white with azure blue Longer distance amber yellow Specialist services white with ocean green this includes park and ride university and tourist services 27 In September 2021 National Express entered into talks to acquire Stagecoach Group 28 In December 2021 a deal was agreed between the boards of the two companies however it was subject to both shareholder approval and regulatory scrutiny 29 To satisfy the Competition amp Markets Authority Stagecoach sold Megabus its 35 shareholding in Scottish Citylink and the Falcon Coaches part of Stagecoach South West to ComfortDelGro 30 31 Having originally recommended shareholders accept the National Express offer in March 2022 the board of directors withdrew the recommendation in favour of a takeover offer from a DWS managed investment fund 32 In June 2022 Stagecoach purchased London bus operator Tower Transit s Lea Interchange garage with Stagecoach London taking on 150 buses and 11 Transport for London bus route contracts 33 34 operations from Lea Interchange are managed under the Lea Interchange Bus Company Limited license 35 Later in August Stagecoach acquired the London operations of the HCT Group after the company had fallen into administration with Stagecoach acquiring a further 160 buses 17 TfL route contracts and two bus garages from the acquisition 36 37 Operations EditKey people Edit Stagecoach Group plc was listed on the London Stock Exchange Founder Brian Souter and his sister Ann Gloag were the largest shareholders with a combined 26 shareholding at April 2019 38 UK operating companies EditThe following is a breakdown of the Stagecoach operating divisions The centre of each operating region is shown in parentheses Legal company names are listed alongside the trading names for that company Bus division Edit Bus division operations are as follows 39 Stagecoach UK bus divisions Division Headquarters Local brands Legal name and other notesStagecoach Cumbria amp North Lancashire Carlisle Stagecoach in Cumbria Stagecoach in Lancaster Stagecoach in Lancashire Cumberland Motor Services and Ribble Motor Services operates in the north west of EnglandStagecoach East Cambridge Stagecoach in Bedford Stagecoach in Cambridge Stagecoach in Huntingdonshire Stagecoach in Peterborough Cambus Stagecoach in the Fens Huntingdon now operates the longest Guided busway in the world with the fleet for the busway running on bio fuel As of September 2010 Stagecoach in Northants transferred to a new Midland division Stagecoach East Midlands Lincoln Stagecoach in Worksop Stagecoach in Mansfield Stagecoach in Gainsborough Stagecoach in Grimsby Stagecoach in Scunthorpe Stagecoach in Hull Stagecoach in Lincoln Go West Travel Co Lincolnshire Road Car CoStagecoach East Scotland Dunfermline Rennies Stagecoach in Perth Stagecoach in Fife Stagecoach Strathtay Fife Scottish Omnibuses previously operated the Forth Fast hovercraft service from Kirkcaldy to Portobello Stagecoach London Canning Town East London Selkent Thameside East London Bus amp Coach Co South East London amp Kent Bus Co Stagecoach purchased the East London and Selkent divisions of London Buses when they were privatised in 1994 They were sold to Macquarie Bank on 31 August 2006 for 263 6m Macquarie continued to use the Stagecoach brand under licence before rebranding the services as East London and Selkent Stagecoach bought its old London operations from Macquarie Bank in October 2010 for 59 5m and both were rebranded as Stagecoach 40 Stagecoach Manchester Ardwick Stagecoach in Manchester Stagecoach in Wigan Magic Bus Greater Manchester Buses South Stagecoach Merseyside amp South Lancashire Liverpool Stagecoach in Chester Stagecoach in Wirral Stagecoach Merseyside Stagecoach Preston Glenvale Transport has operations in the South Lancashire Merseyside and LiverpoolStagecoach Midlands Northampton Stagecoach in Warwickshire Stagecoach in Northamptonshire Goldline Midland Red South in Warwickshire and United Counties Omnibus Company in Northamptonshire Stagecoach North East Sunderland Stagecoach on Teesside Stagecoach in Hartlepool Stagecoach in Newcastle Stagecoach in South Shields Stagecoach in Sunderland Tees Flex Busways Travel Services and Cleveland TransitStagecoach Highlands Inverness Stagecoach in Orkney Stagecoach in Lochaber Stagecoach in Skye Stagecoach in Inverness Stagecoach in Caithness Took over the Rapsons Group Orkney Coaches Highland Country Buses in 2008 Stagecoach Bluebird Aberdeen Stagecoach in AberdeenStagecoach South Chichester Stagecoach in Hants amp Surrey Stagecoach in Hampshire Stagecoach in Portsmouth Stagecoach in the South Downs Stagecoach South Stagecoach South East Canterbury Stagecoach in East Kent Stagecoach in East Sussex East Kent Road Car Company operating in East Kent and East SussexStagecoach South Wales Cwmbran Stagecoach De Cymru TrawsCymru Red amp White ServicesStagecoach South West Exeter Stagecoach in Devon Stagecoach in Somerset defunct South West Falcon Stagecoach DevonStagecoach West Gloucester Stagecoach in Cheltenham Stagecoach in Swindon Stagecoach in Gloucester Stagecoach in the Cotswolds Stagecoach in Oxfordshire Oxford Tube Stagecoach in the Wye amp Dean Cheltenham amp Gloucester Omnibus Co Swindon amp District Bus Co Thames TransitStagecoach West Scotland Ayr Stagecoach Western Stagecoach A1 Service Stagecoach in Glasgow Western BusesStagecoach Yorkshire amp Chesterfield Barnsley Stagecoach in Yorkshire Stagecoach in Sheffield Stagecoach in Chesterfield Yorkshire Traction Co Yorkshire Terrier South Yorkshire Supertram and Andrews Sheffield Stagecoach Devon Alexander Dennis Enviro200 MMC in April 2022 Stagecoach London Alexander Dennis Enviro400EV on route 180 in Abbey Wood in July 2022 Stagecoach Cumbria amp North Lancashire Scania N230UD Alexander Dennis Enviro400 in May 2022 Stagecoach Bluebird Plaxton Panther bodied Volvo B9R in September 2022Brands Edit Oxford Tube Van Hool T9 Astromega on the M40 in August 2009 Apart from the ordinary bus operations and no frills services the UK bus division has the following brands that extend across operating divisions Stagecoach Express an express coach service that operates mainly between towns and cities where Stagecoach operate It tends not to compete with National Express like Megabus and in some cases tickets are available through the National Express website 41 Oxford Tube an express coach service offering high frequency 24 hour services to London operated by Stagecoach West 42 Citi some urban networks have received Citi branding such as Cambridge Exeter amp Peterborough although much of this brand has now been withdrawn 43 Stagecoach Gold a luxury bus service brand designed to attract middle class travellers to public transport generally on the most important and high profile routes within an area served by Stagecoach e g Sheffield to Chesterfield Gold buses typically feature a special blue and gold colour scheme leather seats and on board Wi Fi access Both single decker and double decker gold buses are used 44 Stagecoach SimpliBus operates in the East Midlands 45 Fleet numbers Edit The Stagecoach Group number their buses using a system that applies for the life of the bus or until it is sold as follows 46 10000 19999 double decker buses 20000 29999 heavyweight single decker buses 30000 39999 lightweight single decker buses 40000 49999 minibuses and midibuses 50000 59999 coaches 60000 69999 New Routemasters and other specialised vehicles 70000 79999 series unused 80000 89999 demonstrator and loaned vehicles 90000 99999 pool cars staff transport vehicles etc Light Rail Division Edit Sheffield Supertram in July 2020 Sheffield Supertram Stagecoach has operated the Sheffield Supertram under a concession from the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive since 1997 47 Its average daily ridership is 33 700 equalling more than 12 million per year well above expectations There are currently three light rail transit lines and a later tram train service to Rotherham Future plans included schemes to Dore Fulwood and Maltby following consultations a reduced scheme with an extension to Broomhill was being considered 48 Former operations EditEast Midlands Trains Edit East Midlands Trains Stagecoach commenced operating this new franchise in November 2007 that took over all of Midland Mainline s and some of Central Trains services 49 It ceased operating in August 2019 when the franchise was taken over by Abellio East Midlands Railway 50 Manchester Metrolink Edit In July 2007 Stagecoach took over the operation of Manchester Metrolink on a 10 year fixed term management contract beating competition from Keolis Serco and Transdev to make it the biggest tram operator in the UK 51 This system was the first modern tram system in the United Kingdom opening just before the Sheffield system in 1992 Nearly 18 million people ride on the system a year Stagecoach sold the Metrolink business to RATP Group in August 2011 52 South West Trains Edit South West Trains Stagecoach ran this franchise from February 1996 to August 2017 It retained the franchise for three years from February 2004 and for a further 10 years from February 2007 53 The franchise passed to First MTR South Western Railway on 20 August 2017 54 Island Line Trains The rail system on the Isle of Wight was also operated by Stagecoach from October 1996 to August 2017 In February 2007 it was merged into the South Western franchise 55 Stagecoach Rail Edit In 1992 shortly before the privatisation of British Rail Stagecoach Rail briefly operated a modest InterCity operation between Aberdeen and London Two British Railways Mark 2 passenger carriages were re branded in Stagecoach colours and attached to a scheduled British Rail InterCity sleeper service 56 Virgin CrossCountry Edit Virgin CrossCountry Class 220 Voyager at Bristol Temple Meads in June 2005 Virgin Rail Group operated the CrossCountry franchise as Virgin CrossCountry from January 1997 57 until November 2007 when it passed to Arriva 58 Virgin Trains East Coast Edit Virgin Trains East Coast in which Stagecoach held a 90 shareholding operated the InterCity East Coast franchise from March 2015 to June 2018 21 22 Virgin Trains West Coast Edit Virgin Trains East Coast class 43 at King s Cross in September 2015 Virgin Trains West Coast the group has held a 49 stake in Virgin Rail Group since October 1998 Virgin Rail Group operated the InterCity West Coast franchise from March 1997 until December 2019 59 60 61 Australia Edit In 1999 Stagecoach purchased the school bus operations of Sunbus in the Cairns Ipswich and Sunshine Coast regions of Queensland These were sold in 2002 to 62 Cairns Love s Bus Service Ipswich Pulitano Group Sunshine Coast Buslink QueenslandHong Kong Edit Citybus MAN NL262 in Hong Kong in Stagecoach livery In 1994 Stagecoach created a bus operating subsidiary in Hong Kong which operated residential bus services It ceased operation in April 1996 63 In 1999 Stagecoach planned to become the largest bus company in China through joint ventures equity stakes and partnerships and confirmed the 181 million acquisition of Hong Kong s Citybus Stagecoach acquired control of Citybus Group which provided franchised bus services on Hong Kong Island and to and from Hong Kong International Airport as well as non franchised services throughout Hong Kong in March 1999 and then completed the privatisation of Citybus on 17 July 1999 64 In June 2003 the operation was sold to Chow Tai Fook Enterprises the parent company of the major rival operator New World First Bus 65 66 Kenya Edit In November 1991 Stagecoach Holdings as it was named then bought United Transport s shareholding in Kenya Bus Services During its tenure Stagecoach rapidly expanded the fleet introducing the Express Services and the modern double decker buses back on Kenyan roads In October 1998 a consortium of investors led by Karanja Kabage as chairman acquired Kenya Bus Services from Stagecoach Holdings which owned 95 of the business 67 New Zealand Edit Stagecoach New Zealand Hawke bodied Volvo B58 trolleybus in Wellington Stagecoach New Zealand was a wholly owned part of the Stagecoach Group which provided bus services in Auckland Wellington and the Hutt Valley and nine ferry routes in Auckland It was the largest bus company in New Zealand when sold Stagecoach NZ started operations when the firm acquired Wellington City Transport including the Hutt Valley suburban bus operations of the New Zealand Railways Road Services branded CityLine in the 1990s Following this initial acquisition Stagecoach also purchased Eastbourne Buses The Yellow Bus Company in Auckland and a controlling interest in Fullers Auckland In November 2005 the business was sold to Infratil and rebranded as NZ Bus 68 North America Edit Stagecoach carried out bus operations in the northeastern and midwestern United States and in eastern Canada Businesses were focused on commuter services and included tour and charter sightseeing local and school bus operations Coach USA operating primarily in the northeastern United States providing subsidised transit services primarily in Greater New York sightseeing and charter services and in the midwestern United States with primarily charter and sightseeing services Yellow school bus services are also provided by Coach USA in the state of Wisconsin 69 Megabus discount express bus services radiating from Chicago and New York City Like Megabus in the United Kingdom most stops are made at street locations 70 Coach Canada serving primarily Ontario and Quebec where it operates interurban and chartered bus services contract bus services in Durham yellow school bus service in Durham Region and Peterborough County in Ontario and sightseeing services in Montreal 71 In December 2018 Stagecoach announced it had agreed to sell all of its North American operations to Variant Equity Advisors with the deal concluded in April 2019 25 72 73 74 Portugal Edit Stagecoach Portugal had its origins in the re privatisation of Portuguese bus and coach operation which had been nationalised after the 1974 Revolution In 1990 the nationalised Rodoviaria Nacional was split into ten components In the capital Lisbon Rodoviaria de Lisboa was the chief operator outside the city itself where Carris provided city bus and tram services The name of Rodoviaria de Lisboa survived as part of the Barraqueiro bus company but another part serving the area to the west of Lisbon became Stagecoach Portugal in 1995 A further portion still operates as Vimeca Viacao Mecanica de Carnaxide In June 2001 Stagecoach announced the sale of their Portuguese operations to ScottURB for 14 million 75 Nordic countries Edit In October 1996 during Stagecoach s International buying spree it made its most important international acquisition at the time buying Swebus AB the bus company arm of the Swedish State Railways SJ for 1 2 billion kronor 164 million which also included operations in Denmark Finland and Norway 76 The operations in Norway included only city and regional traffic in three minor cities around lake Mjosa but several unsuccessful bids on operators in the Oslo area led to Stagecoach selling out to Norgesbuss in April 1997 The Danish operations never proved profitable and were sold to Combus in autumn of 1997 The operations in Finland were more successful and were in April 1998 renamed Stagecoach Finland In spring of 1997 Swebus Express was started as an intercity coach service between several cities in southern parts of Sweden sporting the Stagecoach livery of the time Stagecoach in 1998 announced that it had bid for several rail franchises in Sweden On 27 October 1999 Stagecoach revealed that it was going to sell Swebus to Concordia Bus for 100 million to refocus its bus operation on the United States and Asia 77 No frills brands EditStagecoach operate a number of so called no frills services across the United Kingdom and the United States Applying the business model of the low cost carrier air lines these services aim to offer cheaper alternatives to the established operators in the bus coach and rail markets by reducing costs and offering extremely low fares for the earliest bookings rising nearer the journey time Magic Bus Edit Main article Magic Bus Stagecoach Magic Bus Alexander ALX400 bodied Dennis Trident 2 in Manchester in March 2013 Magic Bus was the first no frills brand of Stagecoach It was first used in red lettering on ex London Regional Transport AEC Routemasters otherwise painted in Stagecoach stripes in competition in Glasgow Later an allover blue with yellow lettering was adopted on older service buses with simple fares and no travel passes usually operated on routes with strong competition from other operators most notably on the Manchester Piccadilly to East Didsbury Wilmslow Road bus corridor route in Manchester but also in Newcastle upon Tyne and East Scotland as Magic Mini In 2008 Stagecoach Merseyside introduced a Magic Bus service competing with themselves and Arriva North West on the busy route 14 corridor Magic Bus 14C runs every 7 8 minutes between City Centre and Broadway By 2012 only the Manchester Magic Bus remained these being upgraded from Volvo Olympians and Dennis Dragons to Alexander ALX400 and East Lancs bodied Dennis Trident 2s 78 Megabus Edit Main articles Megabus North America and Megabus Europe Megabus Van Hool Astromega in September 2012 Megabus is a low cost no frills intercity coach service launched in the United Kingdom by Stagecoach in 2003 on 10 April 2006 in the United States and in 2009 within Canada Its main rival in the UK is National Express who have had to lower their prices to compete with Megabus In the US Megabus Eastern Shuttle s main rival is BoltBus which is 50 owned by Stagecoach rival FirstGroup In the UK the Megabus network covers most of the island of Great Britain although some routes offer only one journey per day Originally operated using high capacity but older coach seated vehicles most services are now operated with new modern single or double deck coaches In the United States services radiate from Chicago and New York City but the networks are not connected In both the UK and the US to cut costs most services use on street bus stops rather than pay for access to coach stations except in cases where pre existing routes were converted to Megabus lines A notable exception to this is the use of London Victoria Coach Station 79 Megatrain Edit Main article Megatrain On 14 November 2005 the Megabus concept was extended to certain rail services with the introduction of Megatrain between London and Southampton and London and Portsmouth using a dedicated carriage on selected South West Trains services It was later extended to some Virgin Trains services since withdrawn and to selected East Midlands Trains services In 2009 the Megabusplus concept was introduced under which certain trips are begun on a train and are then completed on a bus Unlike the original Megatrain concept this service is available seven days a week 80 Scottish Citylink EditMain article Scottish Citylink Plaxton Panther bodied Volvo B12B in September 2010 In September 2005 Stagecoach and ComfortDelGro announced a joint venture in the provision of express coach services in Scotland ending intense competition between ComfortDelGro s subsidiary Scottish Citylink and Stagecoach subsidiaries Megabus and Motorvator Under the terms of the joint venture the Stagecoach Group acquires a 35 stake in Scottish Citylink Coaches Ltd with Citylink assuming certain rights to the Megabus and Motorvator brands in Scotland 81 The Competition Commission ruled in October 2006 that the joint venture substantially reduced competition and that evidence suggested some routes were already experiencing higher fares as a result 82 Though no firm conclusion was drawn regulators are to consult the two companies about what they need to do to comply with competition regulations and they have indicated that this will likely lead to the forced divestment of some services to an independent operator The ruling was criticised by Stagecoach as leaving vital services in limbo and jeopardising Scotland s intercity coach network making it unable to compete effectively with rail and private car journeys 83 To satisfy the commission some Citylink routes were sold to Parks Motor Group in early 2008 84 Controversy Edit Section 28 protestor in Manchester in July 2000 Competitive strategy Edit Following the deregulation of bus services in the United Kingdom Stagecoach bought a number of the newly emerged small bus companies and ran free or low fare buses to put local rivals out of business 85 In Darlington Stagecoach subsidiary Busways offered bounties to recruit drivers away from the existing bus service and offered free buses to deter the rival preferred bidder from taking over the existing bus service This was predatory deplorable and against the public interest according to findings from the Monopolies amp Mergers Commission 86 87 In 2000 Stagecoach Manchester was found to have been employing bus inspectors to usher passengers away from competitor s services 88 In 2005 alleged aggressive behaviour by Stagecoach drivers seeking to compete with Scotbus resulted in an arson fire at a Stagecoach East Scotland garage 89 In 2006 07 Stagecoach Manchester and UK North engaged in a bus war on route 192 and on the Wilmslow Road bus corridor that caused traffic chaos in Manchester 90 91 In November 2009 the Competition Commission ordered Stagecoach to sell Preston Bus after it had adversely affected competition in the area Preston Bus was sold in January 2011 92 93 94 Controversial chairman Edit The Stagecoach Group has also indirectly attracted criticism through controversial statements and actions made by its chairman and co founder Brian Souter regarding certain public statements and his funding of a campaign to block the repeal of the Section 28 law In 2000 OutRage spokesman Peter Tatchell called for a boycott of the bus and rail group 95 Guided Busway EditStagecoach operate buses along the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway The Guide wheels on the side of the buses combined with a specially built track mean that hands free driving is possible The main advantages of a guided busway versus a normal road are higher speeds meaning increased capacity and increased safety as traffic of differing directions is physically separated 96 See also EditBus transport in the United KingdomReferences Edit a b c d Annual Report 2019 PDF Stagecoach Group Retrieved 4 March 2020 Brian Souter The man who hates not getting his money s worth The Daily Telegraph London 23 July 2007 Archived from the original on 12 January 2022 New man at Stagecoach wheel Daily Record 19 April 2013 Hymans Michael 2016 British Coaching Chassis Manufacturers Coachbuilders and Operators Amberley Publishing ISBN 978 1445661803 Stagecoach aims to buy trains Porterbrook purchase would give bus and rail giant one third of passenger rolling stock The Herald Glasgow 1 July 1996 Porterbrook Leasing sale agreed Railway Gazette International 27 October 2008 City Our 20 March 2000 Stagecoach poised to sell Porterbrook Independent London Archived from the original on 13 February 2009 Retrieved 1 January 2009 Sheffield supertram falls victim to competition from cheap buses The Independent 10 June 1996 Harrison Michael 23 January 2001 Stagecoach sells off Prestwick for 33m Independent London Archived from the original on 13 February 2009 Retrieved 1 January 2009 Stagecoach sells New Zealand unit BBC News 21 November 2005 Retrieved 22 November 2005 Stagecoach buys Yorkshire Traction Bus and Coach 2005 Archived from the original on 12 February 2009 Retrieved 1 January 2009 Fletcher Nick 15 October 2010 Stagecoach buys back London bus business at a discount The Guardian Retrieved 29 March 2013 Stagecoach told to sell off services Bus and Coach News 2006 Archived from the original on 6 November 2007 Retrieved 24 October 2006 Stagecoach wins railway franchise BBC News 22 June 2007 Retrieved 22 June 2007 Stagecoach named preferred bidder to run Greater Manchester s Metrolink Press release Greater Manchester PTE 3 April 2007 Archived from the original on 27 September 2007 Retrieved 12 April 2007 Stagecoach to buy bus war rival Lancashire Evening Post 30 December 2008 Retrieved 4 May 2009 UK Government Stagecoach Must Sell Preston Bus Limited ADVFN Retrieved 3 April 2015 Fletcher Nick 15 October 2010 Stagecoach buys back London bus business at a discount The Guardian Retrieved 15 October 2010 Carter Helen Milmo Dan 2 August 2011 Manchester s trams to be run by Paris Metro firm The Guardian London Retrieved 4 August 2011 Bus Group purchases Herald Green The Herald Glasgow 18 December 2013 Retrieved 24 March 2014 a b More seats more services and new trains for East Coast passengers Department for Transport 27 November 2014 a b Stagecoach and Virgin win East Coast mainline rail franchise BBC News 27 November 2014 East Coast train line to be put into public control BBC News 16 May 2018 Pooley Cat Rutter 20 December 2018 Stagecoach sells US bus division to Variant for 271m Financial Times a b Completion of North America sale Stagecoach 16 April 2019 Stagecoach disqualified from bidding for three British franchises International Railway Journal 10 April 2019 Stagecoach unveils people powered new look buses as it marks 40 years of connecting communities Press release Perth Stagecoach Group plc 30 January 2020 Retrieved 13 July 2021 National Express in talks to buy transport rival Stagecoach BBC News 21 September 2021 Retrieved 22 September 2021 Scottish bus group Stagecoach and National Express combine to create 1 9 billion transport giant The Scotsman 14 December 2021 Retrieved 14 December 2021 Agreement reached for National Express to buy Stagecoach Route One 14 December 2021 Sale of Scottish Citylink stake and the retain and customer service activities of Megabus UK and Falcon Stagecoach Group 14 December 2021 Stagecoach opts for rival takeover in blow to National Express merger plan The Guardian 9 March 2022 Willems Michiel 27 May 2022 Stagecoach strikes 20m deal to snap up Kelsian s 150 buses in east London City AM a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint url status link Stagecoach London welcomes Lea Interchange to its business routeone 28 June 2022 Retrieved 30 December 2022 Lea Interchange Bus Company Limited filing history Companies House Retrieved 28 June 2022 Stagecoach completes purchase of HCT Group TfL work routeone 27 August 2022 Retrieved 30 December 2022 Abellio management buy out as HCT Group s TfL operations go to Stagecoach Buses No 811 Stamford Key Publishing 8 September 2022 Retrieved 30 December 2022 Annual Report 30 April 2019 Stagecoach plc Opco map Stagecoach Group Retrieved 25 April 2017 Stagecoach re enters London bus market BBC News 15 October 2010 Integrated Transport White Paper Retrieved 25 April 2017 London to Oxford by direct coach Europe bus Retrieved 25 April 2017 Getting Around Cambridge Retrieved 25 April 2017 Stagecoach Gold X17 luxury at no extra cost Retrieved 25 April 2017 Stagecoach rolls out 3m new buses and timetables for Lincoln The Lincolnite 23 January 2018 Retrieved 30 March 2018 Stagecoach fleet list SD Website Retrieved 26 April 2017 Sheffield Supertram History TheTrams co uk Retrieved 22 August 2007 Bromhill on line Retrieved 25 April 2017 More services and extra capacity for the Midlands Department for Transport 2007 Archived from the original on 11 December 2007 Retrieved 5 January 2008 More seats and services and state of the art trains for passengers on new East Midlands railway Department for Transport 10 April 2019 Stagecoach s Metrolink journey starts on Sunday Greater Manchester Public Transport Executive 2007 Archived from the original on 27 September 2007 Retrieved 19 July 2007 RATP buys Manchester Metrolink operator Railway Gazette International 2 August 2011 Davidson Ros 22 September 2006 Stagecoach wins South West Trains contract The Guardian London Retrieved 5 January 2008 FirstGroup and MTR welcome South Western rail franchise award London Stock Exchange 27 March 2017 TUPE transfer to Stagecoach South Western Trains Limited TSSA 2007 Retrieved 5 January 2008 Stagecoach Group Company History Stagecoach Group 2008 Archived from the original on 17 April 2010 Retrieved 4 January 2008 Virgin to run CrossCountry trains The Independent 14 November 1996 Archived from the original on 24 May 2022 Retrieved 26 April 2017 Arriva wins Cross Country rail routes The Telegraph 11 June 2007 Archived from the original on 12 January 2022 Retrieved 26 April 2017 Harrison Michael 31 January 1997 Virgin pledges tilt trains for West Coast The Independent Archived from the original on 24 May 2022 Retrieved 4 October 2012 Virgin Trains to disappear in less than a year due to pensions row The Independent 10 April 2019 Virgin Trains Final service departs as UK s longest running rail franchise ends BBC News 8 December 2019 Buslink Queensland History Australian Bus Fleet Lists Retrieved 26 April 2017 Stagecoach Hong Kong Oriental Model Buses Retrieved 26 April 2017 Stagecoach enters Hong Kong BBC News 18 January 1999 Stagecoach sells HK buses BBC News 9 June 2003 Stagecoach takes the 176m road away from Hong Kong The Telegraph 10 June 2003 Metamorphosis of Kenya Bus in the Provision of Urban Transport in Nairobi PDF Africa Transport Policy Programme Retrieved 26 April 2017 Stagecoach sells New Zealand unit BBC 21 November 2015 Retrieved 26 April 2017 Coach USA Retrieved 26 April 2017 Megabus Retrieved 26 April 2017 Coach Canada Archived from the original on 26 April 2017 Retrieved 26 April 2017 Sale of North America Division for Estimated Enterprise Value of US 271M Stagecoach 19 December 2018 Stagecoach sells off North American division for 271m Coach amp Bus Week 21 December 2018 Stagecoach agrees to sell Coach USA Buses issue 767 February 2019 page 6 Stagecoach to shed Portuguese fleet The Telegraph 17 June 2001 Archived from the original on 12 January 2022 Retrieved 18 June 2001 Stagecoach seals pounds 230m takeover of Swebus The Independent 3 November 1996 Archived from the original on 24 May 2022 Retrieved 26 April 2017 Stagecoach loses 123m on sale of Swebus The Independent 27 October 1999 Archived from the original on 24 May 2022 Retrieved 26 April 2017 The price of the Magic bus is going UP by 50p and students are not happy Manchester Evening News 24 March 2017 Retrieved 26 April 2017 Megabus services to and from London London Tool Kit Retrieved 26 April 2017 Rivals do not fear 1 London service Hull Daily Mail 27 March 2009 Archived from the original on 3 January 2014 Retrieved 26 April 2017 Scottish Citylink joint venture Stagecoach Group 2006 Archived from the original on 10 November 2006 Retrieved 13 September 2006 Stagecoach Scottish Citylink inquiry Competition Commission 2006 Archived from the original on 8 January 2007 Retrieved 23 October 2006 StagecoachScottish Citylink response to Competition Commission announcement Stagecoach Group 14 January 2000 Retrieved 23 October 2006 Scottish Citylink Completes Sale of Services permanent dead link Competition Commission 5 February 2008 UK Brian Souter Stagecoach s straightman BBC News 21 January 2000 Retrieved 5 February 2012 Glenda Cooper 24 December 1995 Stagecoach set record of shame ful record of shame Home News UK The Independent London Archived from the original on 24 May 2022 Retrieved 5 February 2012 The supply of bus services in the north east of England Competition Commission Archived from the original on 4 February 2012 Retrieved 5 February 2012 Stagecoach found guilty of bus war dirty tricks The Independent 3 December 2000 Man jailed over bus depot fires BBC News 14 February 2006 Retrieved 14 February 2006 Council concerns over bus war BBC News 3 April 2006 Bus wars Get it sorted Manchester Evening News 15 February 2007 Preston Bus to be Sold Archived 19 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine Competition Commission 11 November 2009 Company must sell bus war rival BBC News 11 November 2009 Stagecoach must sell Preston Bus Lancashire Evening Post 11 November 2009 Boycott call in Stagecoach anti gay row BBC News 14 January 2000 Retrieved 7 November 2007 Scott Richard 8 August 2011 hands free bus BBC News Retrieved 14 April 2012 Further reading EditWolmar Christian 21 October 3 November 1998 The real Stagecoach story Rail No 342 EMAP Apex Publications pp 24 28 ISSN 0953 4563 OCLC 49953699 External links EditCompany website Media related to Stagecoach Group at Wikimedia Commons Media related to Stagecoach UK Bus at Wikimedia Commons Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Stagecoach Group amp oldid 1144994369, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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