Stagecoach invests £4m in Newcastle

Stagecoach North East has invested £4m in 18 new ADL Enviro200s for its Newcastle fleet. The new single deckers for routes 30 and 31 feature improved seating for customer comfort, free Wi-Fi and USB charging points. It brings Stagecoach North East’s investment over the past five years to over 240 new vehicles, worth £37m and follows the launch of its smartphone app earlier this year, which provides real time journey updates. It has also introduced smart, multi-operator ticketing and has committed to delivering contactless payments in Tyne and Wear by the end of the year.

MD at Stagecoach North East, Steve Walker, said, ‘We continually look towards enhancing our fleet and we hope the addition of 18 new buses in the region will significantly improve the travel experience we offer our customers in Newcastle. With increased congestion and traffic on our roads, as well as offering a cleaner and greener way to travel, buses now provide an increasingly vital and efficient service for our passengers. Our customers want seamless journeys, from planning their trip and buying tickets, to getting real time travel information when catching the bus and we believe the investment in the new technology is now helping make life easier for all of our passengers, no matter how often or how little they use the bus. We’ll also continue to embrace further developments in technology to ensure we can deliver even better bus services for our customers in the future.’