 | |
| Formerly | Stagecoach Group plc |
|---|---|
| Company type | Private |
| Industry | Public transport |
| Founded | 9 April 1980 (1980-4-9) |
| Founders | Brian Souter Ann Gloag Robin Gloag |
| Headquarters | Perth, Scotland, UK |
Area served | United Kingdom |
Key people | Ray O'Toole (Chairman) Claire Miles (Chief Executive) |
| Products | Bus, coach, tram and train services |
| Revenue |  £1,372.6 million (2023)[1] |
| £77.8 million (2023)[1] | |
 £23.2 million (2023)[1] | |
Number of employees | 24,000 (2023)[2] |
| Parent | Inframobility |
| Website | www |
Stagecoach Group is a transport group based inPerth, Scotland. It operates buses and express coaches in theUnited Kingdom.
Stagecoach was originally founded in 1976 asGloagtrotter, arecreational vehicle and minibus hire business. During the early 1980s, it took advantage of thederegulation of the British express coach market, launching services fromDundee to London using second-handNeoplan coaches, competing against the then state-ownedNational Express Coaches andScottish Citylink. Stagecoach purchased several recently-privatised national bus groups fromLondon Regional Transport, theNational Bus Company,Scottish Bus Group and various city councils, as well as pursuing those that had opted formanagement buyouts andemployee-owned corporations. During August 1996, Stagecoach acquired roughly one-third of all passengerrolling stock in the UK via the acquisition of the recently-privatised leasing companyPorterbrook; it sold the company on four years later. In 1997, Stagecoach was awarded the franchise to operate the recentlyprivatisedSheffield Supertram system. In 1998, it purchasedPrestwick Airport.
Following the sale of itsLondon bus operations toMacquarie Bank in 2006, Stagecoach UK Bus concentrated on the bus market outside the UK capital. During 2007, Stagecoach was awarded theEast Midlands franchise. In July 2007, it commenced operating theManchester Metrolink tram network. During January 2009, Stagecoach purchasedPreston Bus, a former rival in theLancashire area, but was promptly compelled to sell it by theCompetition Commission. In October 2010, it expanded further by re-acquiringEast London andSelkent, Stagecoach's former London bus operations. During March 2015,Virgin Trains East Coast, in which Stagecoach held a 90% shareholding, commenced operating theInterCity East Coast franchise; the franchise was terminated early three years later as it was unable to fulfil the agreed payments.
During April 2019, private equity house Variant acquired Stagecoach's US division in exchange for $271 million. In April 2019, Stagecoach was disqualified from participating in three rail franchise competitions by theDepartment for Transport after it submitted non-compliant bids. During September 2021, it was reported that rival companyNational Express entered into talks to acquire Stagecoach. In May 2022, a rival takeover offer from aDWS managed investment fund bought Stagecoach.
The origins of Stagecoach Group can be traced back to 1976, at which pointAnn Gloag and her husbandRobin Gloag established a smallrecreational vehicle and minibus hire business calledGloagtrotter based inPerth, Scotland.[3] Ann's brother,Brian Souter, an accountant, joined the firm and expanded the business into bus hire. In 1982, following the collapse of his marriage to Ann, Robin Gloag sold his ownership stake in the business and ceased any involvement. Around this time, the company would benefit greatly from thederegulation of the British express coach market in the early 1980s; specifically, theTransport 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 fromDundee to London using second-handNeoplan coaches. For a while, the company offered a very personal service with Brian Souter doing the driving and Ann Gloag preparing sandwiches and other snacks for the passengers.[4][5]
Between 1981 and 1985, the company grew significantly, successfully competing against the then state-ownedNational Express Coaches andScottish Citylink. 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 fromLondon Regional Transport, theNational 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 viamanagement buyouts andemployee-owned corporations when privatised. In 1988, Stagecoach withdrew from the long-distance express coach market, selling its operations to National Express.[6]
During theprivatisation of British Rail,Porterbrook was formed as one of threerolling stock companies owning around a third of passenger railway locomotives, multiple units and coaching stock running onNetwork Rail's system which is leased to various train operators.[7][8] Porterbrook was privatised via amanagement buyout before being purchased by Stagecoach for £825 million during August 1996.[9][10] The acquisition garnered some public controversy and political criticism for the low value returned to the taxpayer.[11][12] In April 2000, Stagecoach sold Porterbrook to the British banking groupAbbey National in exchange for £1.44 billion.[13][14]
In 1997, Stagecoach was awarded the franchise to operate the recentlyprivatisedSheffield Supertram system, from theSouth Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive, who owned the system. Stagecoach bought the remaining 27 years of a 30-year franchise in exchange for £1.15 million, which was substantially below the anticipated £80 million that the councils had hoped to raise to help pay off the accumulated debts to build the system.[15] The franchise, which expired in March 2024, was operated under the Stagecoach Supertram brand, the company 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; patronage subsequently rose from 7.8 million recorded passenger journeys in 1996/97, to 15.0 million during 2011/12.[16][17]
In 1998, Stagecoach diversified into another transport sector via the purchase of Scotland'sPrestwick Airport in exchange for £41 million.[18] By the summer of 1999, the company was rumoured to have been offered some £80 million for Prestwick. In January 2001, Stagechoach opted to sell the airport for £33 million to concentrate on surface transport.[19][20]
In late 2000, Stagecoach UK's bus operations were rationalised into twelve subsidiary companies managed from the group's Perth headquarters. The group was also rebranded in December 2000, with a new 'beachball' logo designed by Edinburgh design house McKinstrie Wilde Millhouse and a new fleet livery designed by Ray Stenning's Best Impressions design company for the group's buses. The new livery for regional operations consisted of 'swoops' on a grey base that retained the previous livery's red, orange, blue and white colours, while Stagecoach London buses maintained base red with blue and orange 'swoops' to the rear of the bus. A blue-based standard interior for new buses was also introduced, with the first UK buses featuring the group's new identity entering service in January 2001.[21]
On 21 November 2005, Stagecoach announced the sale of its New Zealand operations toInfratil.[22] On 14 December 2005, Stagecoach purchasedBarnsley based Traction Group (Yorkshire Traction) for £26 million, and also assume Traction's £11 million debt. Traction operated 840 buses inSouth andWest Yorkshire (Yorkshire Traction, Barnsley & District,Yorkshire Terrier),Lincolnshire (RoadCar) andAngus (Strathtay Scottish). Traction was the largest remaining privately owned independent bus operator in the UK.[23]
Following the sale of itsLondon bus operations toMacquarie Bank in 2006, Stagecoach UK Bus concentrated on the bus market outside the UK capital, focusing on organic growth and exploring acquisition options.[24] In September 2005, following competition with itsMegabus coach operation, Stagecoach launched a joint venture withScottish Citylink coaches. During October 2006, a competition enquiry instructed Stagecoach to sell some of its Scottish coach services.[25] Stagecoach was also active in the passenger rail market, having a 49% stake inVirgin Rail Group. During 2007, the group were successful in their bid for the newEast Midlands franchise, which had been created by amalgamating the previousMidland Mainline franchise with the eastern part of the formerCentral Trains franchise.[26][27]
During July 2007, Stagecoach commenced operating theManchester Metrolink tram network.[28][29] In January 2009, Stagecoach purchasedPreston Bus, a former rival in theLancashire area.[30] In November 2009, theCompetition Commission intervened, ordering Stagecoach to sell Preston Bus after it had adversely affected competition in the area.[31]
In October 2010, Stagecoach expanded further by re-acquiringEast London andSelkent, Stagecoach's former London bus operations.[32] During August 2011, Stagecoach sold itsManchester Metrolink concession toRATP Group halfway through its ten-year contract to operate the network.[33] In December 2013, Stagecoach boughtKing's Lynn basedNorfolk Green.[34] During March 2015,Virgin Trains East Coast, in which Stagecoach held a 90% shareholding, commenced operating theInterCity East Coast franchise.[35][36] The East Coast franchise was terminated on 23 June 2018 after it was revealed that Stagecoach had overbid and were thus unable to make the agreed franchise payments.[37][38]
During December 2018, it was announced that private equity house Variant would acquire Stagecoach Group's US division in exchange for $271 million; the sale was completed in April 2019.[39][40]
In April 2019, Stagecoach was disqualified from participating in three rail franchise competitions by theDepartment for Transport after it submitted non-compliant bids for theEast Midlands,South Eastern andWest Coast Partnership franchises.[41][42] One month later, the company announced that it would legally challenge the disqualification.[43]
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The Stagecoach Group rebranded its operations again in February 2020, with a new simplified 'beachball' logo introduced and a new set of liveries introduced for regional bus fleets. Three individual colour schemes were initially developed to distinguish bus services:
A slogan, 'Proud to Serve', was also introduced across the group.[44] Another rebranding of the Stagecoach Group's regional bus operations began to take effect during 2024, with buses repainted into a single-colour 'steel blue' livery and the 'Proud to Serve' slogan replaced by 'We've got you'.[45]
During September 2021, it was reported that rival companyNational Express entered into talks to acquire Stagecoach Group.[46] 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.[47] To satisfy theCompetition & Markets Authority, Stagecoach had planned to sell Megabus, its 35% shareholding in Scottish Citylink and the Falcon Coaches part ofStagecoach South West toComfortDelGro.[48][49] 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 aDWS managed investment fund.[50][51] Following this, Stagecoach instead sold Megabus and Falcon Coaches to Scottish Citylink and increased its shareholding in the joint venture to 37.5% in return.[52]
In June 2022, Stagecoach purchased London bus operatorTower Transit's Lea Interchange garage, withStagecoach London taking on 150 buses and 11Transport for London bus route contracts;[53][54] operations from Lea Interchange are managed under the Lea Interchange Bus Company Limited license.[55] Later in August, Stagecoach acquired the London operations of theHCT Group after the company had fallen intoadministration, with Stagecoach acquiring a further 160 buses, 17 TfL route contracts and two bus garages from the acquisition.[56][57]
In September 2024, Stagecoach was announced as the winning bidder to operate 'buses.gg' bus services on theBailiwick of Guernsey in theChannel Islands, taking over 20 public services as well as 24 school bus services and a fleet of 42 buses from existing operator Tower Transit, who themselves took over from the HCT Group.[58] Services on Guernsey commenced from 1 April 2025, with the buses.gg name and livery retained, twoOptare Solo SRs delivered to Guernsey on loan, and funding provision made for the delivery of six new buses, two of these beingbattery electric buses.[59][60]
Stagecoach Group plc was listed on theLondon Stock Exchange. Founder Brian Souter and his sister Ann Gloag were the largest shareholders with a combined 26% shareholding at April 2019.[61]
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 operations are as follows:[62]
| Division | Headquarters | Local brands | Legal name and other notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire | Carlisle |
| Cumberland Motor Services |
| Stagecoach East | Cambridge |
| Cambus Huntingdon & District 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 |
| Lincolnshire Road Car Co Go West Travel Co Cleveland Transit |
| Stagecoach East Scotland | Dunfermline |
| Fife Scottish Omnibuses Strathtay Scottish Omnibuses Have previously operated the Forth Fast hovercraft service fromKirkcaldy toPortobello. |
| Stagecoach London | Canning Town | East London Bus & Coach Co. South East London & Kent Bus Co. Lea Interchange Bus Company CT Plus (London) Stagecoach purchased theEast London andSelkent divisions ofLondon Buses when they were privatised in 1994. They were sold toMacquarie 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 reacquried its old London operations from Macquarie Bank in October 2010 for £59.5m and both were once again rebranded as Stagecoach.[63] | |
| Stagecoach Manchester | Cheetham Hill |
| Greater Manchester Buses (South) |
| Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire | Liverpool |
| Ribble Motor Services Glenvale Transport First Chester & The Wirral |
| Stagecoach Midlands | Northampton |
| Midland Red (South) (Warwickshire) United Counties Omnibus Company (Northamptonshire) |
| Stagecoach North East | Sunderland |
| Busways Travel Services Cleveland Transit |
| Stagecoach Highlands | Inverness |
| Highland Country Buses Orkney Coaches Rapsons Coaches |
| Stagecoach Bluebird | Aberdeen |
| Northern Scottish Omnibuses Ltd. |
| Stagecoach South | Chichester |
| Alder Valley Fleet Buzz Hampshire Bus Company Southdown Motor Services |
| Stagecoach South East | Canterbury |
| East Kent Road Car Company |
| Stagecoach South Wales | Cwmbran |
| Aberdare Bus Company Ltd Crosskeys Coach Hire Ltd Islwyn Borough Transport Parfitts Motor Services Ltd Red & White Services Rhondda Buses Ltd The Valleys Bus Company Ltd |
| Stagecoach South West | Exeter |
| Devon General Bayline Ltd Cooks Coaches |
| Stagecoach West | Gloucester |
| Cheltenham & Gloucester Omnibus Co Swindon & District Bus Co South Gloucestershire Bus & Coach Thames Transit Midland Red (South) (Banbury) |
| Stagecoach West Scotland | Ayr |
| Western Buses |
| Stagecoach Yorkshire & Chesterfield | Barnsley |
| Yorkshire Traction Co Yorkshire Terrier Andrews (Sheffield) |
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Apart from the ordinary bus operations and no-frills services, the UK bus division has the following brands that extend across operating divisions.
The Stagecoach Group number their buses using a system that applies for the life of the bus or until it is sold, as follows:[69]
Stagecoach commenced operating the newEast Midlands Trains franchise in November 2007 that took over all ofMidland Mainline's and some ofCentral Trains services.[70] During August 2019, it ceased operating when the franchise was taken over byAbellioEast Midlands Railway.[71]
In July 2007, Stagecoach took over the operation ofManchester Metrolink on a 10-year fixed-term management contract, beating competition fromKeolis,Serco andTransdev, to make it the biggest tram operator in the UK.[72] 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 toRATP Group in August 2011.[73]
Stagecoach operated theSheffield Supertram under a concession from theSouth Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive between 1997 and 2024.[74] Its average daily ridership is 33,700, equalling more than 12 million per year, well above expectations. At the time of the concession's expiry, there were threelight rail transit lines and a latertram-train service toRotherham. Future plans included schemes toDore,Fulwood andMaltby; following consultations, a reduced scheme with an extension toBroomhill was being considered as of 2017.[75] The concession expired in March 2024, with the operation of Supertram returning to the public sector.[76]
Stagecoach ran theSouth West Trains 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.[77] The franchise passed toFirstMTRSouth Western Railway on 20 August 2017[78]
In 1992, shortly before theprivatisation of British Rail, Stagecoach Rail briefly operated a modest InterCity operation betweenAberdeen and London. TwoBritish Railways Mark 2 passenger carriages were re-branded in Stagecoach colours and attached to a scheduledBritish RailInterCity sleeper service.[80]
Virgin Rail Group operated the CrossCountry franchise asVirgin CrossCountry from January 1997[81] until November 2007 when it passed toArriva.[82]
Virgin Trains East Coast, in which Stagecoach held a 90% shareholding, operated theInterCity East Coast franchise from March 2015 to June 2018.[35][36]
The group has held a 49% stake inVirgin Rail Group since October 1998. Virgin Rail Group operated theInterCity West Coast franchise asVirgin Trains West Coast from March 1997 until December 2019.[83][84][85]
In 1999, Stagecoach purchased the school bus operations ofSunbus in theCairns,Ipswich andSunshine Coast regions ofQueensland. These were sold in 2002 to:[86]
In 1994, Stagecoach created a bus-operating subsidiary in Hong Kong which operated residential bus services. It ceased operation in April 1996.[87]
During 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'sCitybus. Stagecoach acquired control ofCitybus Group, which provided franchised bus services onHong Kong Island and to and fromHong 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.[88]
In June 2003, the operation was sold toChow Tai Fook Enterprises, the parent company of the major rival operatorNew World First Bus.[89][90]
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. During 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.[91]
Stagecoach New Zealand was a wholly owned part of the Stagecoach Group, which provided bus services inAuckland,Wellington and theHutt 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 theNew Zealand Railways Road Services, brandedCityLine, 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 toInfratil and rebranded asNZ Bus.[92]
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:
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.[40][96][97][98]
Stagecoach Portugal had its origins in the re-privatisation of Portuguese bus and coach operation, which had been nationalised after the1974 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, whereCarris 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. During June 2001, Stagecoach announced the sale of their Portuguese operations to ScottURB for £14 million.[99]
In October 1996, during Stagecoach's International buying spree, it made its most important international acquisition at the time, buyingSwebus AB, the bus-company arm of theSwedish State Railways (SJ), for 1.2 billionkronor ($164 million), which also included operations in Denmark, Finland and Norway.[100] The operations in Norway included only city and regional traffic in three minor cities around lakeMjøsa, but several unsuccessful bids on operators in theOslo area led to Stagecoach selling out toNorgesbuss during 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 toConcordia Bus for £100 million, to refocus its bus operation on the United States and Asia.[101]
Stagecoach operate a number of so-called "no-frills" services across the United Kingdom and the United States. Applying the business model of thelow-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:
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Magic Bus was the first no-frills brand of Stagecoach. It was first used in red lettering on exLondon Regional TransportAEC 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 theManchester Piccadilly toEast DidsburyWilmslow Road bus corridor route inManchester, but also inNewcastle upon Tyne and East Scotland (as Magic Mini). In 2008Stagecoach Merseyside introduced a Magic Bus service competing with themselves andArriva 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 fromVolvo Olympians andDennis Dragons toAlexander ALX400 and East Lancs bodiedDennis Trident 2s.[102]
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 isNational Express, who have had to lower their prices to compete with Megabus. In the US, Megabus/Eastern Shuttle's main rival isBoltBus, which is 50% owned by Stagecoach rivalFirstGroup. 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 LondonVictoria Coach Station.[103]
On 14 November 2005, the Megabus concept was extended to certain rail services, with the introduction ofMegatrain between London andSouthampton, and London andPortsmouth, using a dedicated carriage on selectedSouth West Trains services. It was later extended to someVirgin Trains services (since withdrawn) and to selectedEast 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.[104]
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In September 2005, Stagecoach andComfortDelGro announced a joint venture in the provision of express coach services in Scotland, ending intense competition between ComfortDelGro's subsidiaryScottish Citylink and Stagecoach subsidiariesMegabus andMotorvator. 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.[105]
TheCompetition 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.[106] 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.[107]
To satisfy the commission, some Citylink routes were sold toParks Motor Group in early 2008.[108]
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.[109] InDarlington, 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 theMonopolies & Mergers Commission.[110][111]
In 2000,Stagecoach Manchester was found to have been employing bus inspectors to usher passengers away from competitor's services.[112] During 2005, alleged aggressive behaviour by Stagecoach drivers, seeking to compete with Scotbus, resulted in an arson fire at aStagecoach East Scotland garage.[113]
Between 2006 and 2007, Stagecoach Manchester andUK North engaged in abus war onroute 192 and on theWilmslow Road bus corridor that caused traffic chaos inManchester.[114][115] In November 2009, theCompetition Commission ordered Stagecoach to sellPreston Bus after it had adversely affected competition in the area; the sale was completed as instructed in January 2011.[116][117][118]
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 theSection 28 law. In 2000,OutRage! spokesman Peter Tatchell, called for a boycott of the bus and rail group.[119]
Stagecoach operate buses along theCambridgeshire 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.[120]
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