Stagecoach Gold

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

ParentStagecoach
FoundedNovember 2007
Service typeLuxury bus
Routes53
FleetMAN 18.240/Enviro300
Alexander Dennis Enviro300
Scania K230UB/Enviro300
Scania N230UD/Enviro400
Scania N250UD/Enviro400 MMC
Optare Solo
Optare Solo SR
Alexander Dennis Enviro200 MMC
Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC
OperatorStagecoach East
Stagecoach East Kent
Stagecoach East Scotland
Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire
Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire
Stagecoach Midlands
Stagecoach Oxfordshire
Stagecoach South
Stagecoach South Wales
Stagecoach South West
Stagecoach West
Stagecoach Yorkshire
Websitewww.stagecoachgold.com

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 November 2019. Stagecoach South Wales owns the largest number of Stagecoach Gold branded vehicles with 76 in its fleet as of November 2019.

History
Interior of a Stagecoach South Alexander Dennis Enviro300 bodied MAN 18.240 in February 2009

The Goldline brand was introduced to try and win more middle class motorists to bus services. It was initially trialled in two areas, Perth and Warwick 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]

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.[2]

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
Stagecoach South West Alexander Dennis Enviro400 bodied Scania N230UD in Totnes in July 2014
Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC operating route 7 in Oxford
Two Stagecoach Oxfordshire Alexander Dennis Enviro400 bodied Scania N230UDs in Bicester on route S5 in April 2013
Stagecoach Midlands Gold branded Alexander Dennis Enviro200 MMC

As of May 2020, there are 53 Stagecoach Gold routes (excluding night services).

№/Name Route start Route end Refs
Stagecoach South West
GOLD Torquay Plymouth
X38 Exeter Plymouth
57 Exeter Exmouth [3]
Stagecoach West
10 Lower Tuffley Cheltenham [4]
55 Chippenham Swindon [5]
63 Forest Green Gloucester [6]
93 Cheltenham Arle Court Park & Ride [7]
94/N94 Cheltenham Gloucester [8]
97/98 Cheltenham Gloucester [9][10]
S6 Swindon Oxford [11][12]
Stagecoach South
1 Aldershot Old Dean [13]
Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire
1/X1 Liverpool Chester [14][15]
5 Chester Huntington [16]
9 Chester Piper's Ash [17]
38 West Kirby Eastham Ferry [18]
125 Preston Bolton [19]
471/472 Heswall Liverpool [20][21]
Stagecoach Oxfordshire
7/7A/N7 Woodstock/Yarnton Oxford [22]
S3/NS3 Chipping Norton/Charlbury Oxford [23]
S4/H4 Banbury Oxford/JR Hospital [24]
S5/NS5 Bicester Oxford [25][26]
S8/NS8/S9/X9/34 Wantage Oxford [27][28][29]
Stagecoach East
13 Haverhill Cambridge [30]
Stagecoach East Kent
16 Hythe Canterbury [31]
Stagecoach Midlands
48 Coventry Leicester or Atherstone [32]
X4 Peterborough Northampton [33]
X46/X47 Northampton Raunds [34][35]
Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire
300/301 Carlisle Whitehaven [36]
X4/X5 Workington Penrith [37][38][39]
Stagecoach Yorkshire
50/50A Chesterfield Sheffield [40]
X10 Leeds Barnsley
X17 Barnsley Matlock [41]
Stagecoach South Wales
1/2/5/6/7 Cwmbran [42]
26 Blackwood Cardiff [43]
132 Maerdy Cardiff [44]
151 Blackwood Newport [43]
X24 Blaenavon Newport [45]

Other routes
Scottish Citylink Plaxton Elite bodied Volvo B12M (right) at Inverness bus station in September 2011
№/Name Route start Route end Refs
Scottish Citylink
G9 Glasgow Aberdeen [46]
G10 Glasgow Inverness

Former routes
Route NumberRouteOperatorNotes
7Scone - HillendStagecoach East ScotlandGold status removed.
51Selsey - ChichesterStagecoach SouthGold status removed due to service rebranding.[47]
66Cheltenham/Stroud/Dursley - GloucesterStagecoach WestGold status removed due to route changes and low passenger usage.
120/130Blaencwm - CaerphillyStagecoach South WalesGold status removed.
G1Warwick - South FarmStagecoach MidlandsService withdrawn.[48] Replaced by service 1.
S1/S2/NS1Carterton/Witney - OxfordStagecoach OxfordshireGold status removed due to Gold branding withdrawal.[49][50]
S7Carterton - Oxford/HeadingtonStagecoach OxfordshireGold status removed due to low passenger usage.
SW1Carterton - LondonStagecoach OxfordshireService withdrawn in May 2015 due to low passenger numbers.
Severn ExpressBristol - Chepstow/NewportStagecoach WestService withdrawn in June 2020 due to low passenger numbers.
X5Cribbs Causeway - Weston-super-MareStagecoach WestService withdrawn in June 2020 due to low passenger numbers.
X14Cribbs Causeway - ChepstowStagecoach WestService withdrawn in June 2020 due to low passenger numbers.

See also

References
  1. Millar, Allan (December 2007). "£2m two-town trial for Stagecoach's new luxury bus brand". Buses Magazine (633): 6.
  2. Deakin, Lewis (29 November 2015). "Stagecoach wants to deliver golden service for Exmouth". Exmouth Journal. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  3. "10 Bus Route & Timetable: Lower Tuffley - Cheltenham". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 15 September 2017. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  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. "93 Cheltenham to Arle Court" (PDF). Stagecoach. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 August 2018. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  7. "94 Bus Route & Timetable: Cheltenham - Gloucester". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  8. "97 Bus Route & Timetable: Cheltenham - Gloucester". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  9. "97 Bus Route & Timetable: Gloucester - Cheltenham". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. 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. "1 Bus Route & Timetable: Aldershot - Old Dean". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  13. "1 Bus Route & Timetable: Liverpool Sir Thomas Street - Chester Bus Exchange". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  14. "1 Bus Route & Timetable: Chester Bus Exchange - Liverpool Sir Thomas Street". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  15. "5 Bus Route & Timetable: Chester - Huntington, Rake & Pikel". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  16. "9 Bus Route & Timetable: Chester - Pipers Ash". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  17. Grundy, James. "Stagecoach adds a touch of Gold throughout Wirral". The North West Bus Blog. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  18. "125 Bus Route & Timetable: Preston - Bolton". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  19. "471 Bus Route & Timetable: Heswall Bus Station - Liverpool, Cook Street". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  20. "472 Bus Route & Timetable: Liverpool, Cook Street - Heswall Bus Station". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  21. "7 Bus Route & Timetable: Oxford - Woodstock". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  22. "S3 Bus Route & Timetable: Oxford - Chipping Norton". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 25 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  23. "S4 Bus Route & Timetable: Oxford - Banbury". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 25 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  24. "S5 Bus Route & Timetable: Oxford - Bicester". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 28 August 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  25. "NS5 Bus Route & Timetable: Oxford - Bicester". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 28 August 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  26. 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.
  27. "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
  28. "Oxford - Wantage NS8" (PDF). Marcham Parish Council. 22 October 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  29. "13A Bus Route & Timetable: Cambridge - Haverhill". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  30. "16 Bus Route & Timetable: Canterbury - Saltwood". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
  31. Harrison, Claire (22 February 2018). "GOLD buses to hit the streets of Nuneaton". Coventry Telegraph. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  32. "Stagecoach Gold X4 - luxury at no extra cost". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 31 July 2017. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  33. "X46 Bus Route & Timetable: Northampton - Raunds". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 25 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  34. "X47 Bus Route & Timetable: Northampton - Raunds". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 25 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  35. "300/301 Whitehaven - Carlisle (brochure)" (PDF). Stagecoach. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  36. "X4 Bus Route & Timetable: Workington - Keswick". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  37. "X5 Bus Route & Timetable: Keswick - Penrith". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  38. "X5 Bus Route & Timetable: Workington - Keswick". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  39. "Your Service 50 between Sheffield and Chesterfield is changing". Stagecoach. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  40. "X17 Bus Route & Timetable: Sheffield - Matlock". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 25 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  41. "We've gone gold in Cwmbran town". Stagecoach Bus. Stagecoach South Wales. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  42. "Service 151 and 26 gold". Stagecoach Bus. Stagecoach South Wales. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  43. "132 Bus Route & Timetable: Cardiff - Maerdy". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 25 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  44. "X24 Bus Route & Timetable: Newport - Blaenavon". Stagecoach. Archived from the original on 25 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  45. "Citylink Gold - More than a Journey - times, tickets and prices". Scottish Citylink. Retrieved 18 July 2010.
  46. "Welcome aboard your new look Route 51". Stagecoach Bus. Stagecoach South. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  47. "G1 Bus Route & Timetable: Warwick - South Farm". Stagecoach Bus. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  48. "Carterton and Witney to Oxford by bus". Stagecoach Bus. Stagecoach in Oxfordshire. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  49. "Stagecoach in Oxfordshire announces roll out of new fleet worth £5 million". Stagecoach Bus. Stagecoach in Oxfordshire. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
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