 | |
| Founded | 1 December 1975 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Holt |
| Service area | Norfolk |
| Service type | Bus and coach services |
| Depots | |
| Website | www.sanderscoaches.com |
Sanders Coaches is a bus and coach operator based in Holt, Norfolk, England. [1] Its managing director is Charles Sanders. [2] As of September 2021, it has approximately 115 employees. [3]
Sanders Coaches was founded on 1 December 1975 by Norman J Sanders, following the retirement of Sanders' employer George Bennett. Sanders took over six vehicles from Bennett's Coaches. [4] Sons Paul and Charles later joined the company. [5]
Initially a coach operator, Sanders was encouraged by the local authority to begin operating local bus services when deregulation occurred in 1986. Its first route ran from Sheringham to Holt. [5]
In 2019, Sanders closed its Fakenham depot, merging its operations with its depot in Holt. [6]
In May 2020, Sanders Coaches was given permission to expand its depot in Holt. [1]
Sanders operates the majority of bus services in North Norfolk. [7]
When Stagecoach in Norfolk ceased operations in April 2018, Sanders took over the eastern section of its Coasthopper route, between Wells-next-the-Sea and Cromer, which Sanders extended to North Walsham. At Wells, it connects with Lynx's Coastliner which goes to Hunstanton and King's Lynn. [8] In 2021 and 2022, six new MCV Evora-bodied Volvo B8RLEs were bought for the service. [9] Chris Haslam of the The Sunday Times named the Coasthopper and Coastliner "the two best buses in Britain." [10] [11]
In 2021, the firm introduced the number 8 Holt Hopper service, a local service operating within Holt, funded by section 106 contributions from local housing estates. [2] This route was withdrawn on 2 September 2023, due to low patronage.
As of 2023, Sanders has a fleet of 85, a mixture of buses and coaches, a majority of which have Volvo chassis. [12]
In May 2021, the firm purchased a new Plaxton Panther coach. [13] In 2022, the firm increased its fleet of Volvo B8RLE buses to ten. [14]
Sanders also has three Yutong TC9 midi coaches, including the first PSVAR compliant example. [15]
The Volvo B7RLE is a low-entry single-deck bus chassis manufactured by Volvo. It was superseded by the Volvo B8RLE in 2013.
Yutong is a Chinese manufacturer of commercial vehicles, especially electric buses, headquartered in Zhengzhou, Henan. Yutong also has businesses in construction machinery, real estate, and other investments. As of 2016 it was the largest bus manufacturer in the world by sales volume.
East Yorkshire operates both local and regional bus services in the East Riding of Yorkshire and North Yorkshire, England. Prior to acquisition by the Go-Ahead Group in June 2018, the company was known as East Yorkshire Motor Services.
Go North East operates both local and regional bus services in County Durham, Cumbria, Northumberland, North Yorkshire and Tyne and Wear, England. It was previously known as the Northern General Transport Company and Go-Ahead Northern. The company was the foundation of today's Go-Ahead Group, which now operates bus and rail services across the United Kingdom, as well as Germany, Ireland, Norway and Singapore.
First Glasgow is the largest bus company serving the Greater Glasgow area in Scotland. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup. The company operates within the area covered by the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, a public body responsible for helping to co-ordinate public transport services in the Greater Glasgow area.
First Eastern Counties is a bus operator providing services in Norfolk and Suffolk in eastern England. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup.
Centrebus Limited, trading as Centrebus, is a bus company based in Leicester operating services in Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland.
Stagecoach East is a bus operator providing local and regional services across the East of England, operating in the counties of Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire. The company is a subsidiary of the Stagecoach Group and is headquartered and registered in Cambridge.
Arriva North West is a major bus operator running services in North West England in the Merseyside area. It is a subsidiary of Arriva UK Bus.
Aircoach is an Ireland-based subsidiary company of FirstGroup. It provides airport express coach services from Cork, Belfast, Derry, Galway, Greystones, Bray, Southside Dublin and Dublin to Dublin Airport and from Derry to Belfast International Airport.
The MCV Evolution is a low floor and low entry single-decker bus body built by Manufacturing Commercial Vehicles. It was unveiled in 2003 as the successor to the MCV Stirling. The MCV Evolution 2 was launched, initially on Mercedes-Benz chassis in 2011.
Stagecoach Highlands is a division of the Stagecoach Group operating within the Scottish Highlands as well as on the Orkney Islands and Isle of Skye. The company is based in Inverness and covers most of the former Rapson Group bus and coach operations, which were taken over by Stagecoach in May 2008.
McGill's Bus Services is a bus operator based in Greenock, Scotland. The company has grown to operate a network of routes covering much of the council areas of Inverclyde, East Renfrewshire, Renfrewshire, North Lanarkshire, Glasgow City, North Ayrshire, West Lothian, Falkirk and Dundee City. McGill's have several depots based in Greenock, Inchinnan, Johnstone, Edinburgh, Bannockburn, Balfron, Livingston and Dundee. McGill's also formerly had depots in Dumbarton, Barrhead and Coatbridge.
The Volvo B8RLE is a 7.7-litre-engined low-entry bus chassis manufactured by Volvo since 2013 for Euro VI markets. It was designed as a replacement for the B7RLE and the B9RLE. The right-hand drive version was launched in November 2014.
Golden Tours is a British open top bus and coach tour operator based in Alperton, London.
The MCV Evora is a single-decker bus bodywork produced by Manufacturing Commercial Vehicles (MCV) since 2018, as the successor to the MCV Evolution. The Evora is currently available on Volvo B8RLE and Volvo B5LH chassis.
The MCV EvoTor is a model of coach bodywork produced by Manufacturing Commercial Vehicles (MCV) on Volvo B11R chassis since 2018, mainly for the United Kingdom and Ireland market. The first production EvoTor was unveiled at the 2018 Euro Bus Expo at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham on 30 October 2018. The EvoTor is MCV's first coach product for the British and Irish market, created in collaboration with Golden Tours, a long-standing MCV operator. The EvoTor is produced at the main MCV factory in El Salheya, Egypt.
The Volvo BZL is a full-size zero-emission battery electric bus chassis for both single-decker buses and double-decker buses, manufactured by Volvo since 2021.
The Yutong E10, also sold as the longer Yutong E12, is a battery electric single-decker bus manufactured by Yutong in Zhengzhou since 2016 for both Chinese and international bus operators.
The Yutong TCe12, sold as the Yutong ICe12 in continental Europe, is a battery electric coach manufactured by Yutong in Zhengzhou since 2017 for international bus and coach operators. It is based on the same technology used in the Yutong E10 battery-electric single-deck bus, having a maximum all-electric range of 200 miles, and can be configured as a school bus.
Bus operators in the East of England | ||
|---|---|---|
| Bedfordshire |  | |
| Cambridgeshire | ||
| Essex | ||
| Hertfordshire | ||
| Norfolk | ||
| Suffolk | ||
| National | ||