Stagecoach in Devon

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Stagecoach Devon Ltd, part of the Stagecoach Group, is a bus operator serving the East Devon and Torbay areas of South West England. It was formed in 1995 with the purchase of Devon General and Bayline. Its headquarters is in Exeter. It has an authorisation from the Traffic Commissioner to operate 310 buses.

[edit] Summary

From a slow start Exeter has become one of the first cities in the UK to have a fleet of entirely low-floor buses after introduction of the buses to the A and H service; a number of radial services are also served with low-floor buses from Exeter such as the X46, 56, Culm Valley 1/1A/1B, the Sidmouth services 52, etc. from late 2006.

[edit] History

A Dennis Trident, bearing the "Culm Valley Connect" livery.

[edit] The original Devon General

The history of the company dates back to the formation of Devon General Omnibus & Touring Co. Ltd in 1919 to operate buses in Devon. In 1920 the Torquay Tramways Company, part of the British Electric Traction group, was facing competition from Devon General and purchased its own buses, and in 1922 purchased Devon General itself. Devon General therefore became part of the BET group. Torquay's trams ceased to operate in 1934.^[1]

In 1968 BET sold its bus interests, including Devon General, to the state-owned Transport Holding Company, and thus became part of the National Bus Company when it was formed in 1969. In April 1970 Devon General acquired the interests of the Exeter municipal operation adding another 60 buses to the fleet.^[2] But soon after, in January 1971, the National Bus Company transferred the operations of Devon General to Western National. The Devon General name was retained as a brand name of Western National.

[edit] Privatisation

To prepare for privatisation, the National Bus Company split Western National into four new companies in 1983, one of which was Devon General Ltd, operating in the territory of the old Devon General in south and east Devon. Devon General became the first NBC operation to be returned to the private sector in August 1986 under the 1985 Transport Act. The company was sold to its management, who later formed a new holding company, Transit Holdings, which acquired a small portfolio of bus operations in Portsmouth, Oxford (Thames Transit) and latterly in London (Docklands). Devon General from 1984 became a major user of small 16-seat Transit minibuses and replaced all the older big buses with small ones seating up to 29 in the case of buses used on longer runs. By 1996 Devon General had only one double decker, an old PD2 Leyland acquired in open top form from Portsmouth Transport.

In 1996 Transit Holdings, including the Devon General and Bayline operations, was sold to Stagecoach.

A van derived Ford Transit minibus with Carlyle bodywork, used on 'Bayline' Devon General Hail and ride service from 1986

[edit] Stagecoach

During the late 1990s and early 2000s many of the old fleet of buses were refurbished to get the modern look of Stagecoach: this involved new style seating, exterior and more recently the LED scrolls.

The small minibuses have now been replaced with a mixture of midibuses, double deckers, and coaches, the most recent buses being the Optare Solo, the Alexander Dennis Pointer Darts and Dennis Tridents, all Stagecoach Group standard bus types. Stagecoach injected some new buses after acquisition of the company including Volvo B6LEs (14), Volvo B10M coaches (6), Volvo B10M buses (7), Dennis Javelins (4) and Mercedes-Benz Varios (16) after which there were few more for some years. Stagecoach Devon's fleet was mostly cascades from other areas. Between 1997 and 2004 only 6 new buses entered the fleet (3 ALX200s for service 56) and 3 new Dennis Tridents for the 373 in January 2003). Since then however the company has invested heavily in new vehicles, taking on a large fleet of Dennis Tridents (21 initially) for the busy service 12 in Torbay and the new Culm Valley Connect services (formally route 54) — another 8 Tridents — and it was the launch customer for the Optare Solo Slimline with 30 going into operation on Exeter city routes. Later in 2006 the Exeter services were replaced with brand new buses; low-floor Alexander Dennis Pointers for the city services A and H displacing Solos onto other routes.

The company faced an industrial stoppage in July 2003 which caused cutbacks in the period afterwards. The company recovered strongly positing excellent growth in passengers and a steadily improving financial position underlined by innovative marketing, engaging in community activities, promotions including telemarketing and this in turn has led the company to be a finalist in the 'Bus Operator of the Year' awards in both 2005 and 2006 (winner both times being sister company Stagecoach West Scotland). The CPT operators' federation stated that PR2 became one of the fastest growing bus services in the country and the company dominated rankings for the 2005 CPT 'On the Move' publication.

An Alexander Dennis Pointer on route A in Exeter.

In this time passenger numbers have grown way ahead of the national average of 7.8%, 5.2% (2005/6) and the company is on track for 20% in 2006/7.

The company has also been a significant winner in the 'Kickstart competition': this is directly government funded to provide an upgrade to services which should eventually become self supporting. Stagecoach Devon won three such bids, the Culm Valley connect services in September 2004, the 12A South Devon College services in September 2005 and the upgrade of Exeter City services in spring 2006. It is quite unusual for a company to do so well from such schemes but they are reported to be doing very well and exceeding projections.

Additionally, the company has been active in gaining tenders outside the traditional boundaries of the Devon General area and has had buses based in Yeovil from 2005 and from September 2006 opened units at Barnstaple, Torrington and Bude after gaining many tenders in the County Council tender round.

The Company has had to deal also with the introduction of free concessionary fares to the disabled and those over 60 as well as the inherent organic growth in the business. This is putting considerable capacity demands on the company which is switching to double deck buses on many routes in order to cope; a series of older double decks have been imported for this purpose. The company has campaigned for a better settlement on the fare concessions and the reimbursement from the scheme is said to be amongst the weakest in the country whilst demand is also amongst the strongest. In six months concessionary demand increased 90% over the previous year.

[edit] Changes

Several Exeter City services are affected. Due to the increase of buses, Service P has started using Volvo B6LE's and the Alexander Dennis Pointers, but still also uses the Optare Solos. In December 2006 Stagecoach announced that in 2007 The Exeter City Service P will split into two different routes, P1 and P2, due also to requests from residents in Crossmead complaining that the St Thomas health centre was inaccessible following changes in April 2003. Stagecoach spokesperson Mark Whittle said:^[3]

"Details are still being confirmed but there will be a P1 and P2 and they will run in a loop, which effectively means that there will be a P bus running along Cowick Street every half an hour"

But in March 2007, it was announced that the new services would not begin operation until September.^[4]

Other services to be upgraded include the Torbay 32 which will become a 12 minute frequency from April 2007. There will be changes to 12/30 services in Torbay also.

Several of Exeter City's services have been upgraded through the past years, ranging from services F splitting into two, the F1 & F2, and service A having the first Dennis Darts with Pointer 2 bodywork vehicles in Exeter.

[edit] Cooks takeover

In May 2007 Cooks Coaches of Wellington were purchased by Stagecoach. However, in July 2007 the "Cooks Coaches" logos were removed from the buses, and replaced with the "Stagecoach" logo. And more recently some brand new 07 registration buses in Stagecoach Livery have appeared on Cooks routes especially Seaton Town Services. They are still being operated by the Cooks ex. staff.

[edit] Branding

An Optare Solo in Exeter

The fleet is branded as "Stagecoach" sometimes with the additional "in Devon". "Bayline" is still used in Torbay to brand low floor services (e.g. Bayline 12, Bayline 32) and "Cityline" is the low-floor brand in Exeter (Cityline A, Cityline H etc.) All services are colour coded and this follows through into all publicity including Torbay Council's own guide. In Northern Devon, most low-floor buses are branded with either "Atlantic Townline" or "Atlantic Coastline" depending on whether the bus in operating services within Barnstaple or out on rural routes

[edit] Controversy

[edit] Free fare scheme

In 2007 it was reported that Stagecoach Devon drivers were issuing more expensive tickets to those holding free bus passes. The effect of this would be in increase the amount payable to Stagecoach Devon by the Local Authorities within the county wide scheme. Whilst not affecting the current amount paid to Stagecoach Devon by the local authorities future negotiations over fare reimbursement will be based on these longer, more expensive, journeys^[5]

[edit] 2007 Route Changes

After several changes to routes in Exeter in September 2007, causing the service T to cease, and R and S to only run during daytime, caused outrage amongst residents of the affected areas. ^[6]

Following this, in October 2007 , Devon County Council announced that they would fund Stagecoach until March 2008, so they could run a partial service T and resume the R and S service in the evenings. This was due to the council receiving in excess of eighty letters from customers. ^[7]

The services are due to resume partially in late October ^[8] and fully in November ^[9] , before Devon County Council will review the service's usage once again.

[edit] Routes

Main article: List of bus services in Devon‎

Stagecoach Devon operates hundreds of different routes in Devon. They are classified in five different sections: Rural services, Stagecoach Cooks services, Exeter city services, School services & Rural school services.

[edit] Rural services

Route	Destinations	Wheelchair Access?
1	Culm Valley Connect - Exeter - Broadclyst - Cullompton - Willand - Uffculme - Tiverton Parkway Stn - Sampford Peverell - Halberton - Tiverton
1A	Culm Valley Connect - Exeter - Broadclyst - Cullompton - Willand - Uffculme - Halberton - Tiverton
1B	Culm Valley Connect - Exeter - Broadclyst - Hele - Bradninch - Cullompton - Sundays continues via Service 1 route to Tiverton
2	Exeter - Exminster - Starcross - Dawlish Warren - Dawlish - Teignmouth - Bishopsteignton - Newton Abbot
7	Paignton - Marldon - Maidenway Rd - Paignton
8/8A	Forches-Barnstaple Town Centre-Barnstaple Railway Station-Woodville(8)-Sainsburys(8A)-Roundswell
8E	Whiddon Valley-Newport-Barnstaple Town Centre-Barnstaple-Railway Station-Old Torrington Road-Roundswell (Evenings/Sundays/Bank Holidays Only)
9	Morrisons-St Michaels-Paignton-Oldway-Preston Down Road
10/10A	Whiddon Valley-Tescos(10)-Barnstaple Town Centre-Gorwell
12/12A	Bayline - Newton Abbot - Kingskerswell - Torquay - Paignton - S.D College(12A)- Roselands(12A) - Brixham
12B	Brixham-Paignton-Torquay-St Marychurch
17/17A	Brixham-Wall Park(17)-The Quay-Furzeham
21	Barnstaple - Barnstaple Railway Station - Fremington - Instow - East-The-Water - Bideford
22/24	Brixham-Higher Brixham-Summercombe(24)-Hill Head-Kingswear
25	Goodrington-Paignton-Stoke Gabriel
30/30A/30B	Brixham(30A)-Paignton-Castle Circus-Cuthbert Mayne(30A/B)-St Marychurch( From April 1, 2007 will become the 12B)
31/34	Torquay-Hele-Barton-Watcombe-St Marychurch-Ellacombe-Torquay
32	St Marychurch-Wellswood-Torquay-Chelston-Shiphay-Torbay Hospital
X38	Stagecoach Express - Exeter - Drumbridges - Ashburton - Buckfastleigh - A38 - Plymouth
39	Exeter - Chudleigh - Bovey Tracey - Newton Abbot
40	Chudleigh-Bovey Tracey-Newton Abbot-South Devon College
X45	Paignton - Totnes - South Brent - Ivybridge - Plymouth
X46	Exeter - A380 - Penn Inn Sainsbury's - Kingskerswell - Torquay - Paignton
50	Exeter - Cowley Bridge - Newton St Cyres - Crediton
51	Exeter - Exeter St David's - Crediton - Copplestone - Bow - North Tawton - Sampford Courtenay - Jacobstowe - Hatherleigh
52A/52B/52C	Exeter - Heavitree - Clyst St Mary Church 52C - Newton Poppleford - Sidmouth - Sidford - Seaton 52A - Honiton 52B	Not 52C
55/55A/55B/55C	Exeter - Stoke Canon - Rewe - Thorverton 55B - Silverton 55A/B- Tiverton 55/55A/55B - Cowley Moor 55/55A - Tiverton Business Park 55C - East Devon College 55C
56/56A	Exeter - Met Office - Exeter Airport - Woodbury Salterton - Woodbury - Lympstone (Higher Village) 56 - Jubilee Drive 56A - Exmouth
57	Mainline Exeter - Countess Wear - Topsham - Exton - Lympstone Marine Camp & Saddlers Arms - Exmouth - Hospital Corner - Brixington
57A/57C	Exeter-Exeter Airport-Woodbury-Jubilee Drive(56A)-Exmouth
58	Exeter to Littleham and Budleigh Salterton via Brixington
59	Exmouth-Pinhoe-Cullompton-East Devon College-Tiverton
60/60A/60B	Exeter-Exeter Airport(60B)-Clyst Honiton-West Hill(60A)-Ottery St Mary
60/61	Yeovil-North Perrott (60)-Crewkerne-Chard (61)-Ilminster (61)
66A/66B/66C	St Marychurch(66/66A)-The Willows(66)-Torbay Hospital(66)-Torquay Community College(66A)-Cuthbert Mayne(66C)-Torquay Grammar Sch(66B)-Foxhole-Roselands(66C)-S Devon CFE(66/66A/66B)-Goodrington(66C)-Kingswear(66A)
X64	Exeter - Newton Abbot - Totnes - Kingsbridge
70	Bideford - Weare Giffard - Torrington -Dartington Fields
70	(Certain Journeys Only) Taddiport - Torrington - Dartington Fields
71/72	Barnstaple - Torrington - Stibb Cross - Holsworthy(71)/Shebbear (72)
77/79	Newton Abbot - Buckland Estate and Newton Abbot - Sandygate - Rydon Estate
84	Teignmouth-Kingsteignton-South Devon College
85(N. Devon)	Barnstaple-Bideford-Holsworthy (Continues to Bridgerule & Bude on certain journeys only)
85C(N. Devon)	Barnstaple-Bideford-Holsworthy- St Giles on the Heath (College Service/College Days Only)
85C	Bishopsteignton-Teignmouth-Cuthbert Mayne School
88/88C	Newton Abbot(88)-Ashburton-Buckfastleigh-Totnes-South Devon College(88C)-Paignton(88)
95	Exmouth-Seafront-Littleham-Devon Cliffs (Sandy Bay)
96/97	Exmouth-Withycombe - Mount Pleasant (97)-Hulham Road (96)-Byron Way
98	Littleham-Moorfield Road-Exmouth
99/99E	Exmouth-Moorfield Road-St Johns Road-Dinan Way-Pines Road
111/112	Torquay-Torbay Hospital-Marldon-Totnes-Blackawton(112)-Dartmouth
120	Paignton-Goodrington-Kingswear (for passenger ferry to Dartmouth)
155	Exeter-Tiverton-Witheridge-South Molton-Barnstaple
157	Coasthopper - Exmouth Bus Station - Budleigh Salterton - East Budliegh - Otterton - Newton Poppleford - Sidmouth
173	Exeter to Moretonhampstead via Chagford
200	Torquay-Paignton Seafront-Paignton Bus Station-Paignton Zoo-Totnes
308	Waveline - Barnstaple-Chivenor-Braunton-Saunton-Croyde-Croyde Bay-Georgeham
315	Exeter-Exeter St David's-Crediton-Copplestone-Bow-North Tawton-Winkleigh-Dolton-Torrington-Bideford-Instow-Fremington-Barnstaple
319	Barnstaple-Bideford-Abbotsham-Clovelly-Hartland (Continues to Bude On Summer Sundays Only)
337	Barnstaple-South Molton-Bampton-Wiveliscombe-Taunton
357	Coasthopper - Byron Way (357)(evenings& Sundays) - Exmouth Bus Station - Cranford Avenue - Knowle Village - Budleigh Salterton
359	Exeter - Dunsford - Moretonhampstead
360	Exeter - Ide - Dunchideock - Christow - Bridford
379	Exeter-Exeter Airport-Ottery St Mary-Honiton-Sidmouth (Sundays/Bank Holidays Only)
380	Exeter - Clyst Honiton - Rockbeare - Marsh Green - West Hill - Ottery St Mary - Alfington - Honiton - Wilmington - Kilmington - Axminster
387	Sidmouth & Ottery St Mary/Exeter - Honiton - Taunton

[edit] Stagecoach Cooks services

This article or section is incomplete and may require expansion and/or cleanup. Please improve the article, or discuss the issue on the talk page.

Route	Destinations	Wheelchair Access?
FLY	Silk Mills Park & Ride - Musgrove Park Hospital	Unknown
FLY	Silk Mills Park & Ride - Taunton	Unknown
PR4	Exeter - Sowton Park & Ride - City Centre Paris St
9	Wiveliscombe - Wellington	Unknown
9A	Wiveliscombe - Taunton	Unknown
14	Chard - Tatworth - Thornicombe	Unknown
16	College Days's Only - Ilton - Yeovil College	Unknown
20	Taunton - Wellington - Culmstock - Hemyock - Dunkeswell - Honiton - Wilmington - Shute - Colyton - Seaton
50	Steamlink - Taunton Railway Stn - Bishops Lydeard WSR Station	Unknown
51	Taunton (Musgrove Park) - Stoke St Gregory	Unknown
97/98	Chard / Canonsgrove - Tanton	Unknown
99	Taunton - Chard - Crewkerne - Merriott	Unknown
204	Yeovil - Thorncombe	Unknown
343	Tiverton Town Service	Unknown
347	Tiverton - Bickleigh - Cheriton Fitzpane - Crediton	Unknown
348/349	Tiverton Town Service	Unknown

[edit] Exeter city services

Route	Destinations	Wheelchair Access?
A	CityLine - Thornpark Rise - Heavitree - City Centre - Cowick Street - St Thomas - Alphington
B	Digby Retail Park - Sowton Industrial Estate - Met Office - Pinhoe - Union Rd - Pennsylvania Rd - City Centre - Alphington Sainsbury's - Marsh Barton
D	Go Green - Digby - Digby & Sowton Stn - Heavitree - Exeter University St Luke's Campus - City Centre - Exeter Central - Exeter University
E	Lancelot Road - Old Tiverton Road - City Centre - St Thomas - Redhills - Exwick
F1/F2	Savoy Hill (F1) / Summerway (F2) - Stoke Hill - City Centre - Buddle Lane - Farm Hill Exwick
G	Hamlin Gardens - Ladysmith Road - City Centre - Quay Hill - The Quay
H1/H2	Met Office (H1)- Digby Tesco (H2)- Broadfields - RD&E Wonford - City Centre - Central Stn - Exeter College - St David's Stn - Cowley Bridge
K	Pinhoe - Whipton Barton - Pinhoe Rd - City Centre - Tospham Road - Countess Wear
M2	Operates instead of PR2 on weekday evenings, to stop at all stops en-route from Honiton Rd park and ride to City Centre
P	Crossmead to Pennsylvania via Okehampton Road and Blackboy Road
R	Clockwise Circular - City Centre - Heavitree - Rifford Road - Topsham Road - City Centre
S	Anti-clockwise Circular - City Centre - Topsham Road - Rifford Road - Heavitree - City Centre
T	Pinhoe - Whipton Barton - Pinhoe Rd - City Centre - Tospham Road - Countess Wear - Topsham
X	(Early morning special) Topsham - Countess Wear - Heavitree - City Centre - St David's Station
Y	(Early morning special) City Centre - Beacon Heath - Pinhoe - Whipton - City Centre - Marsh Barton
Z	(Early morning special) Alphington - Broadway - Redhills - Exwick - City Centre
PR2	Honiton Road Park and Ride to City Centre (Does not call at intermediate stops)
PR4	Stagecoach Cooks - Sowton Park & Ride - City Centre Paris Street.
PR5	Matford Park and Ride - Marsh Barton - Haven Banks - City Centre South Street

[edit] Exeter school services

Route	Destinations	Wheelchair Access?
969	Broadfields to South Lawn Terrace	No
970	Topsham - St Peters School Exeter	No
971	Okehampton Street • Exwick • Alphington • St Peters School Exeter	No
972	Pinhoe • Pennsylvania • Stoke Hill • Whipton • St Peters School Exeter	No
973	Okehampton Street • Exwick • Redhills • West Exe Technology College Exeter	Sometimes
976	Okehampton Street • Exwick • Whipton • St Peters School Exeter	No
980	Countess Wear • St Peters School Exeter	No
985	Exwick • St James School Exeter	Sometimes
50C	Dawlish • Exwick • Queen Elizabeth College	No

[edit] Other school services

Stagecoach Devon also operates some school services in other Devon areas.

[edit] Future

Later in the 21st century, Exeter is expected to have laser guided buses operating via two bus-only bridges crossing the River Exe. The plans have been drawn up for some months now. In 2005 the plans were halted, as funding was not available. However in December 2006 the plans were back on track, and work is due to start in 2007

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Stagecoach Devon website
• Traveline

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