Stagecoach Group have announced that it is investing over £6.5m in a fleet of new buses and coaches for its Cambridge operations.
18 new Plaxton Elite coached will service the popular X5 route which operates between Cambridge and Oxford. The new coaches have Euro 6 engines and can seat 57 passengers or 55 when the wheelchair space is required. The vehicles also feature toilets and free WiFi and are expected to go into service by the end of this year.
Stagecoach has ordered a further six Scania/ADL Enviro400 buses to go into service on the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway which connects Cambridge, Huntingdon and St Ives. These buses have Euro 5 engines, free WiFi, power sockets, air chill and are fully accessible.
The X5 route operates dozens of services a day between Cambridge and Oxford calling at St Neots, Bedford and Milton Keynes among other stops.
Managing Director of Stagecoach East, Andy Campbell said: “This is great news for our customers. The X5 service is used by 1.3 million passengers a year and provides a vital public transport link between Oxford and Cambridge.
“The Busway has proved to be a great success and we’re pleased to be delivering more new buses for the customers who rely on those services every day.
“Delivering high-quality, good value travel is what we do best and we look forward to attracting even more people on to our greener, smarter services in the months and years to come.”
The announcement follows the news that Stagecoach Group has placed a record £100million orders for new buses and coaches to go into service across the UK.
Both sets of new vehicles are expected to go into service by the end of 2014.
