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Stagecoach in Oxfordshire Gold-branded Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC operating route 7 in Oxford
ParentStagecoach
FoundedNovember 2007
Service typeLuxury bus
Routes49
FleetAlexander 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)
OperatorStagecoach 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
Websitewww.stagecoachgold.com

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

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

[edit]
Interior of a Stagecoach South Alexander Dennis Enviro300 bodied MAN 18.240 in February 2009
The original Stagecoach Goldline logo, replaced in 2009 by the current branding

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 Kickstart funding from the Department for Transport 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 a 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.

Routes

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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
Stagecoach Midlands Gold branded Alexander Dennis Enviro200 MMC

As of July 2024, there are 37 Stagecoach Gold routes (including night services).

No./Name Route start Route end Refs
Stagecoach South West
GOLD Paignton Plymouth
Stagecoach West
55 Chippenham Swindon [4]
63 Forest Green (Nailsworth) Gloucester [5]
94/94X/N94 Cheltenham Gloucester [6]
S3/NS3 Chipping Norton/Charlbury Oxford [7]
S5/NS5 Bicester Oxford [8][9]
S6 Swindon Oxford [10][11]
S7 Witney Oxford [12]
S9/NS9 Wantage Oxford [13][14][15]
Stagecoach South
1 Aldershot Old Dean [16]
Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire
125 Preston Bolton [17]
471/472 Heswall Liverpool [18][19]
Stagecoach South East
16 Hythe Canterbury [20]
Stagecoach Midlands
148 Coventry Leicester [21]
X4 Peterborough Northampton [22]
X46/X47 Northampton Raunds [23][24]
Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire
300/301 Carlisle Whitehaven [25]
Stagecoach Yorkshire
50/50A Chesterfield Sheffield [26]
X17 Barnsley Wirksworth [27]
Stagecoach South Wales
1/2/5/6/7 Cwmbran [28]
26 Blackwood Cardiff [29]
132 Maerdy Cardiff [30]
151 Blackwood Newport [29]
X24 Blaenavon Newport [31]

Other routes

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Scottish Citylink Plaxton Elite bodied Volvo B12M (right) at Inverness bus station in September 2011
No./Name Route start Route end Refs
Scottish Citylink
G9 Glasgow Aberdeen [32]
G10 Glasgow Inverness

Former routes

[edit]
Route Number Route Operator Notes
Gold Torquay - Dartmouth Stagecoach South West Totnes - Dartmouth section replaced by service 92.
7 Scone - Hillend Stagecoach East Scotland Gold status removed.
10 Lower Tuffley (Gloucester) - Cheltenham Stagecoach West Rebranded as Stagecoach Long Distance service.[33][34]
13 Cambridge - 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 Bedworth Merged back together as 148 between Coventry & Leicester[21]
48A Nuneaton to Atherstone via Mancetter
48L Nuneaton to Leicester via Hinckley, Barwell, Leicester Forest East & Hinckley Road
51 Selsey - Chichester Stagecoach South Gold status removed due to service rebranding.[35]
57/N57 Exeter - Exmouth Stagecoach South West Rebranded as Stagecoach Long Distance service.
66 Cheltenham/Stroud/Dursley - Gloucester Stagecoach West Gold status removed due to route changes and low passenger usage.
93 Arle Court P&R - Cheltenham Town Centre Stagecoach West Gold status removed, then service was withdrawn.
97/98 Cheltenham - Gloucester Stagecoach West Rebranded as Stagecoach Long Distance service.
120/130 Blaencwm - Caerphilly Stagecoach South Wales Gold status removed.
G1 Warwick - South Farm Stagecoach Midlands Service withdrawn.[36] Replaced by service 1.
S1/S2/NS1 Carterton/Witney - Oxford Stagecoach West Gold status removed due to Gold branding withdrawal.[37][38]
S4/H4 Banbury - Oxford/JR Hospital Stagecoach West Gold status removed due to Gold branding withdrawal and vehicle reshuffle.
S7 Carterton - Oxford/Headington Stagecoach West Gold status removed due to low passenger usage and route being discontinued.
S8/NS8/34 Wantage/Harwell Campus - Oxford Stagecoach West Gold status removed due to an operator change to Thames Travel.[39][40]
SW1 Carterton - 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 to Lakes Connection. [41][42][43]
X5 Cribbs Causeway - Weston-super-Mare Stagecoach West Service withdrawn in June 2020 due to low passenger numbers.
X14 Cribbs Causeway - Chepstow Stagecoach West Service withdrawn in June 2020 due to low passenger numbers.
X46 Exeter - Paignton Stagecoach South West Service withdrawn due to low passenger numbers.
1/X1 Liverpool - Chester Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire Rebranded as Stagecoach Local service. [citation needed]
5 Chester - Huntington/Wrexham Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire Rebranded as Stagecoach Local service. [citation needed]
9 Chester - Piper's Ash Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire Rebranded as Stagecoach Local service. [citation needed]
38 West Kirby - Eastham Ferry Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire Rebranded as Stagecoach Local service. [citation needed]

See also

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References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Millar, Allan (December 2007). "£2m two-town trial for Stagecoach's new luxury bus brand". Buses. No. 633. Hersham: Ian Allan Publishing. p. 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. ^ "Stagecoach Gold 55". Stagecoach. Stagecoach West. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
  4. ^ "63 Bus Route & Timetable: Gloucester - Forest Green". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  5. ^ "94 Bus Route & Timetable: Cheltenham - Gloucester". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  6. ^ "S3 Bus Route & Timetable: Oxford - Chipping Norton". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 25 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  7. ^ "S5 Bus Route & Timetable: Oxford - Bicester". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 28 August 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  8. ^ "NS5 Bus Route & Timetable: Oxford - Bicester". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 28 August 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  9. ^ "66 Bus Route & Timetable: Swindon - Faringdon". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  10. ^ "66 Bus Route & Timetable: Faringdon - Oxford". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  11. ^ "S7 Bus Route & Timetable: Oxford - Witney".
  12. ^ 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.
  13. ^ "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
  14. ^ "S9 Timetable" (PDF). Stagecoach Bus. Stagecoach West. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  15. ^ "1 Bus Route & Timetable: Aldershot - Old Dean". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  16. ^ "125 Bus Route & Timetable: Preston - Bolton". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  17. ^ "471 Bus Route & Timetable: Heswall Bus Station - Liverpool, Cook Street". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  18. ^ "472 Bus Route & Timetable: Liverpool, Cook Street - Heswall Bus Station". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  19. ^ "16 Bus Route & Timetable: Canterbury - Saltwood". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 25 February 2018. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
  20. ^ a b Harrison, Claire (22 February 2018). "GOLD buses to hit the streets of Nuneaton". Coventry Telegraph. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  21. ^ "Stagecoach Gold X4 - luxury at no extra cost". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 31 July 2017. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  22. ^ "X46 Bus Route & Timetable: Northampton - Raunds". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 25 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  23. ^ "X47 Bus Route & Timetable: Northampton - Raunds". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 25 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  24. ^ "300/301 Whitehaven - Carlisle (brochure)" (PDF). Stagecoach. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  25. ^ "Your Service 50 between Sheffield and Chesterfield is changing". Stagecoach. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  26. ^ "X17 Bus Route & Timetable: Sheffield - Matlock". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 25 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  27. ^ "We've gone gold in Cwmbran town". Stagecoach Bus. Stagecoach South Wales. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  28. ^ a b "Service 151 and 26 gold". Stagecoach Bus. Stagecoach South Wales. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  29. ^ "132 Bus Route & Timetable: Cardiff - Maerdy". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 25 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  30. ^ "X24 Bus Route & Timetable: Newport - Blaenavon". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 25 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  31. ^ "Citylink Gold - More than a Journey - times, tickets and prices". Scottish Citylink. Retrieved 18 July 2010.
  32. ^ "10 Bus Route & Timetable: Lower Tuffley - Cheltenham". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 15 September 2017. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  33. ^ "Stagecoach West introduces 21 new buses to Cheltenham & Gloucester fleet". Stagecoach. 21 June 2021. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
  34. ^ "Welcome aboard your new look Route 51". Stagecoach Bus. Stagecoach South. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  35. ^ "G1 Bus Route & Timetable: Warwick - South Farm". Stagecoach Bus. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  36. ^ "Carterton and Witney to Oxford by bus". Stagecoach Bus. Stagecoach West. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  37. ^ "Stagecoach in Oxfordshire announces roll out of new fleet worth £5 million". Stagecoach Bus. Stagecoach West. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  38. ^ "Oxford - Wantage NS8" (PDF). Marcham Parish Council. 22 October 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  39. ^ "Oxfordshire service changes". Stagecoach West. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
  40. ^ "X4 Bus Route & Timetable: Workington - Keswick". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  41. ^ "X5 Bus Route & Timetable: Keswick - Penrith". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  42. ^ "X5 Bus Route & Timetable: Workington - Keswick". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
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