Stagecoach’s £97m bus order
Stagecoach Group has announced vehicle orders worth £97m for the 2016-17 financial year. Most of the 480 vehicle order has been placed with ADL for their MMC Enviro 200 and 400 ranges. The order also includes a number of Optare Solos, Plaxton bodied Volvo coaches, Van Hool coaches and Mercedes-Benz minibuses. The latest announcement takes Stagecoach Group’s total orders of new buses and coaches to over £1bn since 2006/07, introducing more than 6,500 new vehicles.
Around £82m of the new bus and coach investment is for Stagecoach’s regional networks in England, Scotland and Wales. They will receive 278 ADL MMC Enviro400s, 71 ADL MMC Enviro200s, 13 ADL MMC Enviro200s, 11 Volvo B11R Plaxton Elite 6×2 coaches,
two Volvo B11R Plaxton Elite 4×2 coaches, one Volvo B11R Plaxton Elitei, 30 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter City 45 minibuses and six Optare Solo SR Slimlines. Around 65 of the new buses will be used for Stagecoach Gold services.
For London, it is investing £10m in 37 ADL MMC Enviro400 Hybrids, three ADL MMC Enviro400s and 13 ADL MMC Enviro200s. Around £4.5m will be spent on coaches for the Group’s megabus.com operations, with seven Volvo B11R Plaxton Eliteis and six Van Hool Astromegas ordered. All of the new vehicles will be fitted with Synectics CCTV and many will feature free passenger Wi-Fi from Icomera. Deliveries will commence in spring 2016.
Driver’s seats will be supplied by Chapman Drivers Seating Ltd and bus passenger seats by Lazzerini, the Plaxton coaches’ seats will be from Fainsa. The vehicles feature destination equipment from Hanover Displays and wheelchair lifts from PLS (Passenger Lift Services), with coach toilets provided by Shades Technics Ltd.
Stagecoach Group Chief Executive, Martin Griffiths, said, ‘Everything we do is about making travel even better for our customers. We are investing in state-of-the-art, cleaner, greener vehicles, digital technology and smart ticketing to raise the bar and deliver an even higher standard of service. These latest vehicle orders are an important part of our strategy to encourage even more people to take the bus.’