A Stagecoach in Warwickshire Dennis Dart/Plaxton Pointer in Warwick on service X17 |
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| Founded | 1993 |
| Headquarters | Rugby, Warwickshire |
| Locale | Warwickshire, Leicestershire, West Midlands |
| Service area | United Kingdom |
| Service type | Urban and interurban bus services |
| Destinations | Bedworth, Coventry, Nuneaton, Leamington Spa, Leicester, Rugby, Stratford-upon-Avon and Warwick |
| Operator | Stagecoach Midlands part of Stagecoach Group |
| Web site | Official Website |
Stagecoach in Warwickshire is the Stagecoach Group bus operator in and around the county of Warwickshire, England. While Stagecoach in Warwickshire is the brand image of the company, its legal name is Midland Red (South) Ltd. It was formed out of the purchase of the Western Travel Group by Stagecoach in 1993.
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The original company was Midland Red, formed on 26 November 1904. On 28 June 1935, the Birmingham & Midland Motor Omnibus Company (BMMO), known as Midland Red, purchased Stratford Blue for £15,000. Stratford Blue then became a subsidiary of Midland Red, but continued to operate under its own identity until 1970. In 1970, the National Bus Company (NBC) dissolved the Stratford Blue operation and it fully passed into the hands of Midland Red. All vehicles were immediately repainted, although the company name was retained to protect future use of the name.
On 5 September 1981, Midland Red was divided into six self-standing companies. The four bus operating companies became Midland Red (North), (South), (East) and (West). Midland Red South inherited garages at Rugby (which became and still is the Head Office), Nuneaton, Leamington, Stratford and Banbury. On 10 December 1987, after 6 years of National Bus Company ownership, Midland Red South was purchased by Western Travel Group, which also held the Cheltenham and Gloucester Omnibus Company Limited. During Western Travel ownership, Midland Red South opened a garage at Coventry.
Subsequently, Stagecoach Group purchased this operation in 1993, and rebranded it as its Stagecoach Midland Red subsidiary. It set about simplyfing the routes and improving the profitability of the operation, which included the closure of the depots in Coventry and Stratford in 1999. Upon national re-branding in 2000, Stagecoach Midland Red became Stagecoach in Warwickshire for operations from Leamington, Nuneaton and Rugby and Stagecoach in Banbury for operations in Banbury. For a long time Midland Red shared a management team with Stagecoach Oxford (Thames Transit Ltd), but this was split on 1 July 2002, with the Banbury operations becoming part of Stagecoach in Oxfordshire. Guide Friday, an operator of sight-seeing tours in Stratford meanwhile established a small number of local and tendered bus services in the town following Stagecoach's departure. This company was eventually purchased by Ensign, who rebranded the Stratford services by reviving the long lost Stratford Blue fleetname.
From 1 February 2007 Stagecoach purchased the Stratford operation from Ensign, once again giving them a depot in the town. On 12 November 2007, Stagecoach in Warwickshire introduced the second Stagecoach Goldline service in the UK, on route 66 (renumbered G1) between South Farm, Leamington Spa and Warwick, using Optare Solos.
The 'Unibus' brand is used for services operating predominantly between Leamington Spa and the University of Warwick, mainly direct via the A46, although variations exist at weekends.
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