Fife Scottish

Fife Scottish Omnibuses Ltd, in Scotland, was formed as a bus operating subsidiary of the Scottish Transport Group formed in June 1985 from Walter Alexander & Sons (Fife) Ltd and is now part of the Stagecoach Group, trading as Stageoach in Fife.

History

Stagecoach Fife can be trace back to 1909 and after buyout and mergers become part of Walter Alexander & Sons.^[1] In 1961 Walter Alexander & Sons was split into three separate companies with the Fife operations becoming Alexanders (Fife) with the colour red to be used as the main fleet colour.

Scottish Bus Group was prepared for deregulation of the bus industry in 1986, and eventual privatisation, which resulted in Fife Scottish Omnibuses Ltd being created. Of the seven original SBG subsidiaries, Alexanders (Fife) was the only company to survive the reorganisation intact; it lost none of its operating area to any of the new companies formed and nor did it gain. The only impact of the shake-up was the legal name change.

On its creation, the company kept the vibrant red and cream livery adopted by Alexander's Fife operations. The SBG corporate 'Fife Scottish' fleet name style was adopted, however, in an unusually large size, and larger areas of cream were the only visible differences. Some vehicles sported Best Bus In The Kingdom slogans as part of SBG's marketing drive, rather than Best Bus In Town or Best Bus Around; playing on Fife's proud history of once being a separate kingdom.

With the arrival of deregulation came the arrival of competition. Fife had previously enjoyed being the sole operator throughout much of the region and its response to the new operators showed the company's intention to remain so. Despite the cities of Edinburgh and Dundee being on the edges of its operating area, Fife concentrated on protecting its home market rather than expanding into the cities to compete against the dominant operators there. Rennie's of Dunfermline were the first challengers to Fife in and around that town, but by far the largest and most sustained competition came from local coach firm Moffat & Williamson. Moffat's built up a substantial network of services throughout much of Fife, mirroring the larger operator's network. A "bus war" broke out across the region, and vehicles from both operators could be seen nose to tail on services such as that between Dundee and St Andrews. Fife's passenger base seemed loyal, however, and Rennies would soon withdraw from Dunfermline and Moffats would scale back its operations, though retaining pockets of strong competition in the industrialised towns in the south of the region.

Despite the competition, Fife remained the most profitable of the SBG subsidiaries and was seen by potential buyers as the 'jewel in the crown' of the state-owned bus group. In July 1991, Fife Scottish was purchased by Stagecoach for £9.1m. The red and cream livery was replaced by the Stagecoach corporate look of red, blue and orange stripes on a white background. Stagecoach took a much more severe line with Moffat & Williamson, a strategy that drew criticism in the media for being predatory and uncompetitive. However, it was a strategy that worked. Moffat & Williamson would withdraw the majority of its competing services and Fife Scottish would once again become the sole operator in much of the kingdom, a position it enjoys today.

Now part of Stagecoach East Scotland, the company now trades as 'Stagecoach in Fife'.

During the 1980s, Fife Scottish provided coaches for Scottish Citylink work, mainly from Fife to other destinations in Scotland. Since privatisation, however, Fife Scottish has built up its own substantial network of express services under the Stagecoach Express banner.

Stagecoach in Fife recently invested £4.5 million in upgrading the Express Network as "Express City Connect" for all "X**" Services to/from Edinburgh and "Experience City Connect" for the 53/55 Dunfermline/Dalgety Bay services. The "X**" Services received 20 brand new Plaxton Profile, Volvo B7R Coaches with full leather trim and Wi-Fi Internet access. The 53 and 55 received nine Scania Omnilink Tri-Axle single-deckers again with full leather trim and Wi-Fi Internet access.

In March 2008, it was announced that Stagecoach Fife had bought Rennies of Dunfermline for and undisclosed sum. The Rennies fleet was 60 vehicles, and included 18 double-deckers, all leased from Stagecoach in Fife.

Operation

From its head office, initially in Kirkcaldy, Fife, Fife Scottish operated throughout the ancient Kingdom of Fife and beyond to Dundee and Edinburgh. A network of express services also reach as far west as Glasgow.

Fife is the largest operator in the region and is responsible for urban, rural and interurban services in the towns of St Andrews, Dunfermline, Cowdenbeath, Methil, Glenrothes, Leven and Kirkcaldy.

The depots are situated in:

• Dunfermline
• Cowdenbeath
• Kirkcaldy closed in 2004, still used for:
• Newburgh (Closed under SBG ownership, used now as an Outstation)
• Aberhill, Leven
• St Andrews
• Glenrothes Opening in 1984

Routes

Service 19 is the flagship route, running at a frequency of every 10 minutes from 7 am to 7 pm, with a 20 minutes on Sundays and every 30 minutes during evenings. The route runs from Rosyth - Dunfermline - Cowdenbeath - Lochgelly and terminating in Ballingry. Other Flagship route are 37/39 which provide a 10-minute service between Kirkcaldy and Glenrothes. From 2006, a new link between Ferrytoll and Airport was introduce, originally branded as "Airdirect" since January 2011 the service become "Jet". In 2010, the company introduced a new service: NoX42 in partnership with fife council help provide direct links between Kirkcaldy - Glenrothes - Cuper - Dundee.

City Connect

The current Express City Connect (Stagecoach Express) Routes are:

• X24 - St Andrews to Glasgow via Cupar, Glenrothes and Dunfermline
• X26 - St Andrews to Glasgow via Leven and Kirkcaldy
• X27 - Kirkcaldy to Glasgow via Dunfermline

• X51 - Dunfermline - Ferrytoll - Livingston ( Weekends only)
• X53/X57 - Kirkcaldy to Edinburgh via Dalgety bay
• X54 - Dundee to Edinburgh via Glenrothes, Dunfermline And Cowdenbeath
• X58 - Leven/Kirkcaldy to Edinburgh via Dalgety bay
• X59 - St Andrews to Edinburgh via Cupar and Glenrothes
• X60 - St Andrews to Edinburgh via Anstruther, Leven And Kirkcaldy
• X61 - Glenrothes/Kirkcaldy to Edinburgh (Peak Journeys Only)

The current Experience City Connect Services are:

• 55 - Dunfermline - Edinburgh

See also

• List of bus operators of the United Kingdom

References

External links

• Stagecoach in Fife website
• history of fife scottish