Stagecoach Gold

Last updated

StagecoachGold.svg
AlexanderDennis Enviro400 MMC SN66 VZJ Oxford Summertown.jpg
Stagecoach in Oxfordshire Gold-branded Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC operating route 7 in Oxford
Parent Stagecoach
FoundedNovember 2007
Service typeLuxury bus
Routes49
Fleet Alexander Dennis Enviro300
(Integral, MAN 18.240, Scania K230UB )
Alexander Dennis Enviro400
( Scania N230UD )
Alexander Dennis Enviro200 MMC
(Integral)
Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC
(Integral, Scania N250UD )
Operator Stagecoach East
Stagecoach East Kent
Stagecoach East Scotland
Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire
Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire
Stagecoach Midlands
Stagecoach South
Stagecoach South Wales
Stagecoach South West
Stagecoach West
Stagecoach Yorkshire
Website www.stagecoachgold.com

Stagecoach Gold is a luxury bus sub-brand used by various Stagecoach bus subsidiaries in the United Kingdom.

Contents

Stagecoach Gold (originally Goldline) was launched in 2007 and was designed to attract more middle-class passengers to choose bus travel as a method of transport as well as to reward passengers on some busy and popular routes.

Stagecoach West currently runs the most Stagecoach Gold routes, nine, as of August 2022. Stagecoach Midlands owns the largest number of Stagecoach Gold branded vehicles with 63 in its fleet as of August, 2023.

History

Interior of a Stagecoach South Alexander Dennis Enviro300 bodied MAN 18.240 in February 2009 Stagecoach Hants & Surrey 22744 interior.JPG
Interior of a Stagecoach South Alexander Dennis Enviro300 bodied MAN 18.240 in February 2009

The Goldline brand was introduced to try to win more middle-class motorists to bus services. The brand was initially trialled in both Perth, using Alexander Dennis Enviro300 single-deck buses, and Warwick, using Optare Solo midibuses, from November 2007, both on routes which received kick-start funding from the government to help establish the routes. Stagecoach East Scotland invested £300,000 to demonstrate the idea to politicians. [1] [2]

Goldline routes have a luxury specification. Buses have hand-stitched leather seats, metallic paint, special flooring and free WiFi. Drivers wear special uniform and there is a Goldline customer charter. [1]

In February 2009 the service was expanded to Aldershot and in September 2009 to Cheltenham and Gloucester on route 94. At this stage the brand name changed from Goldline to Stagecoach Gold, as well as the introduction of a new livery with brighter swoops added, as opposed to the previous gold and blue only livery. The reason behind the name change was that Translink had the rights to the Goldline name, using it on their Ulsterbus coach services, and Stagecoach had to pay Translink a royalty.

In 2010, the Stagecoach Gold brand was extended to services run by Scottish Citylink, where Stagecoach have a 35% shareholding, where the Glasgow to Aberdeen and Glasgow to Inverness services were designated as Citylink Gold. [3]

In 2015, all brand new Stagecoach Gold vehicles came equipped with USB charging facilities underneath every seat which enabled passengers to charge their mobile devices whilst on board. USB charging first became available on the Stagecoach in Oxfordshire S4 service which was upgraded to Stagecoach Gold in September 2015.

As of 2016, all brand new Stagecoach buses, including non-gold vehicles, come equipped with high back leather seats, USB charging facilities and many with free onboard Wi-Fi. Subsequently, this means that many of Stagecoach's new non-gold vehicles are now at the same specification as the Gold branded vehicles. As a result, some non-gold routes now have higher specification vehicles than many of the Gold routes as prior to 2015, Stagecoach Gold vehicles did not come equipped with USB charging facilities.

2016 also saw Stagecoach take delivery of the first Stagecoach Gold branded Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC and Enviro200 MMC vehicles. The liveries on the new vehicles remain the same as the previous models; however, Stagecoach have slightly modified the interior upholstery with new style leather seats that incorporate a cream-coloured headrest as well as new wood effect flooring.

From 2020, many Stagecoach Gold vehicles are being debranded due to Stagecoach's new design and liveries replacing it. [4]

Routes

Stagecoach South West Alexander Dennis Enviro400 bodied Scania N230UD in Totnes in July 2014 Totnes Seven Stars - Stagecoach 15930 (YN63BXC).JPG
Stagecoach South West Alexander Dennis Enviro400 bodied Scania N230UD in Totnes in July 2014
Two Stagecoach West Alexander Dennis Enviro400 bodied Scania N230UDs in Bicester on route S5 in April 2013 OU61 AVO 15759 Stagecoach Gold Enviro 400 - Scania N230UD (8612154235).jpg
Two Stagecoach West Alexander Dennis Enviro400 bodied Scania N230UDs in Bicester on route S5 in April 2013
Stagecoach Midlands Gold branded Alexander Dennis Enviro200 MMC Stagecoach Gold 48 - 26216.jpg
Stagecoach Midlands Gold branded Alexander Dennis Enviro200 MMC

As of December 2022, there are 46 Stagecoach Gold routes (including night services).

No./NameRoute startRoute endRefs
Stagecoach South West
GOLD Paignton Plymouth
Stagecoach West
55 Chippenham Swindon [5]
63Forest Green (Nailsworth) Gloucester [6]
94/94X/N94 Cheltenham Gloucester [7]
S3/NS3 Chipping Norton/Charlbury Oxford [8]
S5/NS5 Bicester Oxford [9] [10]
S6 Swindon Oxford [11] [12]
S7 Witney Oxford [13]
S9/NS9 Wantage Oxford [14] [15] [16]
Stagecoach South
1 Aldershot Old Dean [17]
Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire
1/X1 Liverpool Chester [18] [19]
5 Chester Huntington [20]
9 Chester Piper's Ash [21]
38 West Kirby Eastham Ferry [22]
125 Preston Bolton [23]
471/472 Heswall Liverpool [24] [25]
Stagecoach South East
16 Hythe Canterbury [26]
Stagecoach Midlands
148 Coventry Leicester [27]
X4 Peterborough Northampton [28]
X46/X47 Northampton Raunds [29] [30]
Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire
300/301 Carlisle Whitehaven [31]
Stagecoach Yorkshire
50/50A Chesterfield Sheffield [32]
X17 Barnsley Wirksworth [33]
Stagecoach South Wales
1/2/5/6/7 Cwmbran [34]
26 Blackwood Cardiff [35]
132 Maerdy Cardiff [36]
151 Blackwood Newport [35]
X24 Blaenavon Newport [37]

Other routes

Scottish Citylink Plaxton Elite bodied Volvo B12M (right) at Inverness bus station in September 2011 Stagecoach Bluebird coach 53239 (SV55 FJN) & Scottish Citylink coach (HSK 648), 15 September 2011.jpg
Scottish Citylink Plaxton Elite bodied Volvo B12M (right) at Inverness bus station in September 2011
No./NameRoute startRoute endRefs
Scottish Citylink
G9 Glasgow Aberdeen [38]
G10 Glasgow Inverness

Former routes

Route NumberRouteOperatorNotes
GoldTorquay - Dartmouth Stagecoach South West Totnes - Dartmouth section replaced by service 92.
7Scone - Hillend Stagecoach East Scotland Gold status removed.
10Lower Tuffley (Gloucester) - Cheltenham Stagecoach West Rebranded as Stagecoach Long Distance service. [39] [40]
13Cambridge - Haverhill Stagecoach East Gold status removed.
48 Coventry to Nuneaton then either Atherstone or Leicester Stagecoach Midlands Service split into 48A, 48C and 48L in 2020 but retains gold status
48C Nuneaton to Coventry via BedworthMerged back together as 148 [27]
48A Nuneaton to Atherstone via Mancetter
48L Nuneaton to Leicester via Hinckley, Barwell, Leicester Forest East & Hinckley Road
51Selsey - Chichester Stagecoach South Gold status removed due to service rebranding. [41]
57/N57Exeter - Exmouth Stagecoach South West Rebranded as Stagecoach Long Distance service.
66Cheltenham/Stroud/Dursley - Gloucester Stagecoach West Gold status removed due to route changes and low passenger usage.
93Arle Court P&R - Cheltenham Town Centre Stagecoach West Gold status removed, then service was withdrawn.
97/98Cheltenham - Gloucester Stagecoach West Rebranded as Stagecoach Long Distance service.
120/130Blaencwm - Caerphilly Stagecoach South Wales Gold status removed.
G1Warwick - South Farm Stagecoach Midlands Service withdrawn. [42] Replaced by service 1.
S1/S2/NS1Carterton/Witney - Oxford Stagecoach West Gold status removed due to Gold branding withdrawal. [43] [44]
S4/H4 Banbury - Oxford/JR Hospital Stagecoach West Gold status removed due to Gold branding withdrawal and vehicle reshuffle.
S7Carterton - Oxford/Headington Stagecoach West Gold status removed due to low passenger usage and route being discontinued.
S8/NS8/34Wantage/Harwell Campus - Oxford Stagecoach West Gold status removed due to an operator change to Thames Travel. [45] [46]
SW1Carterton - London Stagecoach West Service withdrawn in May 2015 due to low passenger numbers.
Severn Express Bristol - Newport Stagecoach West Service withdrawn in June 2020 due to low passenger numbers.
X4/X5 Workington - Penrith Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire Gold status removed due to service rebranding. [47] [48] [49]
X5 Cribbs Causeway - Weston-super-Mare Stagecoach West Service withdrawn in June 2020 due to low passenger numbers.
X14Cribbs Causeway - Chepstow Stagecoach West Service withdrawn in June 2020 due to low passenger numbers.
X46Exeter - Paignton Stagecoach South West Service withdrawn due to low passenger numbers.

See also

Related Research Articles

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

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reading Buses</span> British municipal bus operator

Reading Transport Limited, trading as Reading Buses, is an English municipal bus operator owned by Reading Borough Council, serving the towns of Reading, Bracknell, Newbury, Slough, Windsor, Maidenhead, Wokingham and the surrounding areas in the counties of Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Surrey and Hampshire, as well as parts of Greater London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stagecoach in Oxfordshire</span> Bus and Coach operator

Stagecoach in Oxfordshire is the trading name of Thames Transit Ltd. It is a bus operator serving the county of Oxfordshire, England. Since 1997 has been a subsidiary of Stagecoach Group, and since February 2021 it has been part of Stagecoach West, managed from the latter's headquarters in Gloucester.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scottish Citylink</span> Intercity coach operator in Scotland

Scottish Citylink is a long-distance express coach operator in Scotland and Ireland and formerly England. The company was formed as a subsidiary of Scottish Transport Group in March 1985. It is operated as a 63/37 joint venture between ComfortDelGro and Stagecoach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Scottish</span>

Western Scottish Omnibuses Ltd, in Scotland, was a bus operating subsidiary of the Scottish Transport Group formed in June 1985 from Western SMT Company Ltd and operated until 1997, when it became Western Buses Ltd. This successor company is now a part of Stagecoach West Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stagecoach West Scotland</span> Bus operator in west Scotland

Stagecoach West Scotland is an operating region of Stagecoach UK Bus, comprising Western Buses Ltd based in Ayr, Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stagecoach East Scotland</span> Bus operator in East Scotland

Stagecoach East Scotland is a bus operator providing services in eastern Scotland, with its regional base in Dunfermline, Fife. The company is a subsidiary of the Stagecoach Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Dennis Enviro400</span> British-built double-decker bus (built 2005–2018)

The Alexander Dennis Enviro400 is a twin-axle low-floor double-decker bus that was built by the British bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis between 2005 and 2018. It replaced the Alexander ALX400, Dennis Trident and Plaxton President. In 2014, the Enviro400 was succeeded by the updated Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC and production of the classic Enviro400 ceased in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stagecoach in Lincolnshire</span> Bus operator in Lincolnshire, England

Stagecoach Lincolnshire is a bus company, formerly known as Lincolnshire RoadCar, operating bus services throughout Lincolnshire. The company is a division of Stagecoach East Midlands, which is a subsidiary of the Stagecoach Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stagecoach West</span> Bus operator in the West of England

Stagecoach West is a bus operator providing services in Gloucestershire, Bristol, Swindon, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, North Somerset and Herefordshire, in the West of England. The company is a subsidiary of the Stagecoach Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NZ Bus</span>

NZ Bus is New Zealand's largest bus company, operating in Auckland, Tauranga and Wellington. Formerly a subsidiary of Stagecoach Group and later Infratil and Next Capital, it is now owned by Kinetic Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xplore Dundee</span> Scottish bus operator based in Dundee

Xplore Dundee is a bus operator based in Dundee, Scotland, operating services mainly within the city. The operator also runs a service to Edinburgh Airport. It is a subsidiary of McGill's Bus Services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thames Transit</span> Former Oxford bus operator

Thames Transit was a bus and coach company which operated in the Oxford area. As well as running a number of local services, it also ran a regular service to London under the Oxford Tube brand. It was sold in July 1997 to Stagecoach, and traded as Stagecoach in Oxfordshire. As of 2022 it is part of Stagecoach West.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blackburn Bus Company</span> Transdev-owned bus operator

The Blackburn Bus Company operates both local and regional bus services in Greater Manchester and Lancashire, England. It is a subsidiary of Transdev Blazefield, which operates bus services across Greater Manchester, Lancashire, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stagecoach South</span> Bus operator providing services in South East England

Stagecoach (South) Limited, trading as Stagecoach South, is a bus operator providing services in South East England as a subsidiary of Stagecoach. It operates services in Hampshire, Surrey, and Sussex with some routes extending into Brighton and Wiltshire. It operates 487 buses from eight depots.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coach transport in the United Kingdom</span>

The United Kingdom has a number of intercity coach services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thames Travel</span> Oxfordshire bus operator

Thames Travel is a bus operator serving the southern part of the English county of Oxfordshire. It is based in Didcot and is a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group's Oxford Bus Company operation, having been purchased as a 35-vehicle independent operator by group in May 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Megabus (Europe)</span> Long distance coach operator

Megabus is a long-distance intercity coach service operator owned by Scottish Citylink and based in the United Kingdom. Founded by Stagecoach Group in August 2003, it operates using low-cost fares, formerly starting at £1, based on a yield management model.

This article contains detailed information about the history of Megabus coach routes in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stagecoach Midlands</span> British bus company

Stagecoach Midlands operates most bus routes in Northamptonshire and Warwickshire; the legal name for the company is Midland Red (South) Ltd.The company was previously split into Midland Red in Warwickshire and United Counties Omnibus in Northampton; however, the two were merged together under the Midland Red identity in 2021.

References

  1. 1 2 Millar, Allan (December 2007). "£2m two-town trial for Stagecoach's new luxury bus brand". Buses Magazine (633): 6.
  2. ↑ "New-look Enviro for Stagecoach Goldline route". Bus & Coach Professional. 31 October 2007. Archived from the original on 5 November 2007. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  3. ↑ https://cbwmagazine.com/stagecoach-marks-40th-year-with-new-look/
  4. ↑ "Stagecoach Gold 55". Stagecoach. Stagecoach West. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
  5. ↑ "63 Bus Route & Timetable: Gloucester - Forest Green". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  6. ↑ "94 Bus Route & Timetable: Cheltenham - Gloucester". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  7. ↑ "S3 Bus Route & Timetable: Oxford - Chipping Norton". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 25 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  8. ↑ "S5 Bus Route & Timetable: Oxford - Bicester". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 28 August 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  9. ↑ "NS5 Bus Route & Timetable: Oxford - Bicester". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 28 August 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  10. ↑ "66 Bus Route & Timetable: Swindon - Faringdon". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  11. ↑ "66 Bus Route & Timetable: Faringdon - Oxford". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  12. ↑ "S7 Bus Route & Timetable: Oxford - Witney".
  13. ↑ Grant, Peter (17 October 2017). "Stagecoach announces two new Wantage bus services to launch this Sunday". Times Series. Archived from the original on 25 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  14. ↑ "Oxfordshire Bus Services and Frequencies" (PDF). Oxfordshire County Council. 2 July 2015. p. 2. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 March 2013. Retrieved 24 February 2018. 34 Stagecoach Oxford - Abingdon - Steventon - Harwell Campus - Wantage Mon-Fri
  15. ↑ "S9 Timetable" (PDF). Stagecoach Bus. Stagecoach West. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  16. ↑ "1 Bus Route & Timetable: Aldershot - Old Dean". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  17. ↑ "1 Bus Route & Timetable: Liverpool Sir Thomas Street - Chester Bus Exchange". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  18. ↑ "1 Bus Route & Timetable: Chester Bus Exchange - Liverpool Sir Thomas Street". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  19. ↑ "5 Bus Route & Timetable: Chester - Huntington, Rake & Pikel". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  20. ↑ "9 Bus Route & Timetable: Chester - Pipers Ash". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  21. ↑ Grundy, James. "Stagecoach adds a touch of Gold throughout Wirral". The North West Bus Blog. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  22. ↑ "125 Bus Route & Timetable: Preston - Bolton". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  23. ↑ "471 Bus Route & Timetable: Heswall Bus Station - Liverpool, Cook Street". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  24. ↑ "472 Bus Route & Timetable: Liverpool, Cook Street - Heswall Bus Station". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  25. ↑ "16 Bus Route & Timetable: Canterbury - Saltwood". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 25 February 2018. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
  26. 1 2 Harrison, Claire (22 February 2018). "GOLD buses to hit the streets of Nuneaton". Coventry Telegraph. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  27. ↑ "Stagecoach Gold X4 - luxury at no extra cost". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 31 July 2017. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  28. ↑ "X46 Bus Route & Timetable: Northampton - Raunds". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 25 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  29. ↑ "X47 Bus Route & Timetable: Northampton - Raunds". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 25 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  30. ↑ "300/301 Whitehaven - Carlisle (brochure)" (PDF). Stagecoach. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  31. ↑ "Your Service 50 between Sheffield and Chesterfield is changing". Stagecoach. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  32. ↑ "X17 Bus Route & Timetable: Sheffield - Matlock". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 25 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  33. ↑ "We've gone gold in Cwmbran town". Stagecoach Bus. Stagecoach South Wales. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  34. 1 2 "Service 151 and 26 gold". Stagecoach Bus. Stagecoach South Wales. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  35. ↑ "132 Bus Route & Timetable: Cardiff - Maerdy". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 25 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  36. ↑ "X24 Bus Route & Timetable: Newport - Blaenavon". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 25 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  37. ↑ "Citylink Gold - More than a Journey - times, tickets and prices". Scottish Citylink. Retrieved 18 July 2010.
  38. ↑ "10 Bus Route & Timetable: Lower Tuffley - Cheltenham". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 15 September 2017. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  39. ↑ "Stagecoach West introduces 21 new buses to Cheltenham & Gloucester fleet". Stagecoach. 21 June 2021. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
  40. ↑ "Welcome aboard your new look Route 51". Stagecoach Bus. Stagecoach South. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  41. ↑ "G1 Bus Route & Timetable: Warwick - South Farm". Stagecoach Bus. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  42. ↑ "Carterton and Witney to Oxford by bus". Stagecoach Bus. Stagecoach West. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  43. ↑ "Stagecoach in Oxfordshire announces roll out of new fleet worth £5 million". Stagecoach Bus. Stagecoach West. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  44. ↑ "Oxford - Wantage NS8" (PDF). Marcham Parish Council. 22 October 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  45. ↑ "Oxfordshire service changes". Stagecoach West. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
  46. ↑ "X4 Bus Route & Timetable: Workington - Keswick". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  47. ↑ "X5 Bus Route & Timetable: Keswick - Penrith". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  48. ↑ "X5 Bus Route & Timetable: Workington - Keswick". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.