Order includes 56 Plaxton Elites for Megabus and 15 TfL-spec Enviro400s
Stagecoach Group has announced an investment of more than £80m in new buses and coaches for services in the UK and mainland Europe.
A new fleet of nearly 470 vehicles will be introduced in the coming 2015-16 financial year.
More than £75m of new buses and coaches will be introduced in Stagecoach’s regional networks in England, Scotland and Wales. There is also a £2.7m order for new buses for London, as well as £6.9m of new coaches for the company’s expanding megabus.com service in the UK and mainland Europe.
The latest announcement takes Stagecoach Group’s total orders of new buses and coaches for its regional bus operations in the UK to around £630m in the last eight years. The Group has also ordered more than £20m of new coaches for megabus.com and £105m of new vehicles for its London bus operations since buying the business in 2010.
All of the new vehicles will be fitted with CCTV while many will also have WiFi installed.
The latest orders follow an annual competitive tendering process and the first of the new vehicles will be delivered from Spring 2015.
The investment consists of:
- 50 ADL Enviro400-bodied Scanias
- 30 ADL MMC Enviro400-bodied Scanias
- 57 ADL MMC Enviro400s
- 10 Wrightbus Eclipse-bodied Volvos
- 28 ADL Enviro300-bodied Scanias
- 89 ADL Enviro300s
- 33 ADL MMC Enviro200 11.9metre midibuses
- 27 ADL Enviro200s
- 23 ADL MMC Enviro200 10.8metre midibuses
- 42 Optare Solos
- 23 Optare Solo Slimlines
- 12 Volvo Plaxton Elite 12.5metre coaches
- 44 Volvo Plaxton Ellite i 15metre coaches (8 left-hand-drive)
- 7 TfL-spec ADL MMC Enviro400s
- 8 TfL-spec ADL MMC Enviro200s
All of the new vehicles meet Euro 5 or Euro 6 emissions standards.
Stagecoach Group Chief Executive Martin Griffiths said: “This new investment is all about delivering better bus and coach journeys for our passengers. We have the lowest bus fares in Britain and a strong track-record of investment over many years that has attracted growing numbers of people back on board the bus. We believe strongly in reinvesting our profits to continue that growth and our sector-leading levels of customer satisfaction.
“Buses are central to our communities, giving people a greener way to access work, health, education and leisure. They are also critical to our economy. I’m delighted that most of our new buses will be built right here in the UK, helping support British manufacturing and hundreds of jobs in the supply chain.”
