Stagecoach Manchester low-floor bus 17665 in a revised Magic Bus livery. |
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| Parent | Stagecoach Group |
| Headquarters | Perth, Scotland |
| Locale | Liverpool, Manchester |
| Fleet | Volvo Olympian Dennis Trident 2 MAN 18.220 |
| Operator | Stagecoach Manchester Stagecoach Merseyside |
Magic Bus is the brand Stagecoach applies to local "no-frills" bus operations in the UK, usually operated on routes with strong competition from other operators.
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The name was first introduced in Glasgow, Scotland in 1986, where ex-London Transport Routemasters were used on a route to Castlemilk.[1] That operation was sold to Kelvin Central Buses in 1992.[2]
The brand was used in Newcastle upon Tyne around 1997 also when trying to eliminate smaller companies operating in the area. The buses were prone to breaking down due to their age and broken down Magicbuses in Newcastle upon Tyne were common sights.
The Magic Bus brand was reintroduced to Glasgow by Stagecoach West Scotland in 2002.[3] At its peak it was used on on three routes; one was withdrawn in 2005,[4] and the remainder the following year. It was also used more recently in Liverpool by Stagecoach Merseyside.
Today, most Magicbus vehicles are older double deckers cascaded from normal service work in the UK. A number of tri-axle double deckers reimported from Stagecoach's former operations in Kenya and Hong Kong were also used.
The Magic Bus brand is used for some Manchester city operations, especially along the Wilmslow Road bus corridor, by Stagecoach Manchester.
The brand was also used in Ayrshire for a time to compete against Ayrways in Ayr and T&E Docherty in Irvine. The Ayr operation used minibuses and larger single-deck buses branded as "Magic Mini", which were introduced in February 2004.[5] The brand has since been dropped in Ayrshire when the competing operators withdrew their services.
The "Magic Mini" brand was also engaged in a miniature bus war on the Black Isle to Inverness route in the Highlands with local operator Scotbus, with Stagecoach in Inverness adopting aggressive tactics such as scheduling buses five minutes before the rival operator and undercutting fares. Competition between the two operators was acrimonious, climaxing in an arson attack on Stagecoach's Inverness depot.[6]
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