One of the Stagecoach in Warwickshire Goldline Optare Solos on route G1 in Warwick. |
|
| Slogan | "catch a little luxury" |
| Parent | Stagecoach Group |
| Founded | 2007 |
| Service area | Perth, Hampshire, Warwickshire, Cheltenham and Gloucester |
| Service type | Bus service |
| Routes | 7 |
| Destinations | Perth Leamington Spa and Warwick Aldershot, Farnborough and Camberley Cheltenham and Gloucester Scotland |
| Fleet | Alexander Dennis Enviro300 Alexander Dennis Enviro400 Optare Solo MAN 18.240 |
| Operator | Stagecoach East Scotland, Stagecoach in Hants & Surrey, Stagecoach in Warwickshire, Stagecoach in Cheltenham, Scottish Citylink |
| Web site | www.stagecoachgold.com |
Stagecoach Gold, previously, Goldline is an experimental brand used by various Stagecoach Group bus subsidiaries in the United Kingdom. It was started in Perth and Warwick in November 2007. It was extended to Aldershot from February 2009, and in September 2009 Stagecoach West started a new Stagecoach Gold 94 service between Cheltenham and Gloucester replacing the existing 94 service. The Cheltenham and Gloucester route is however branded as Stagecoach Gold, not Goldline. This marked a change in the branding, with all past services being branded as "Goldline" eventually being brought into line with the new "Stagecoach Gold" name. In 2010, the Stagecoach Gold brand was extended to services run by Scottish Citylink, where Stagecoach are the minority shareholders, where two services were designated as Citylink Gold, those between the cities of Glasgow and Aberdeen or Inverness.[1]
Contents |
The Goldline brand was introduced to try and win more middle class motorists to bus services. It was initially trialled in two areas, Perth and Warwick, both on routes which has received kick-start funding from the government to help establish the routes. Perth's route 7 used £300,000 of its own money to demonstrate the idea to politicians.[2]
Goldline routes have a luxury specification. Buses have hand stitched leather seats, metallic paint, and special flooring. Drivers wear special uniform and there is a Goldline customer charter.[2]
The service was expanded to Aldershot in early 2009, and Oxford and Cheltenham to Gloucester in September 2009, and is due to be introduced into other areas. The September 2009 extension to Cheltenham and Gloucester on route 94 marked the change of the brand name from "Goldline" to "Stagecoach Gold", as well as the introduction of a new livery with brighter swoops added, as opposed to the previous gold and blue only livery. The reason behind the name change was that Translink had the rights to the "Goldline" name, using it on their Ulsterbus coach services, and Stagecoach had to pay Translink to pass every use of the name by themselves.
via Farnbourgh, Frimley and Camberley
The Aldershot service in the Blackwater Valley - between Aldershot, Farnborough and Camberley - was upgraded to Goldline status from 8 February 2009. It is on Stagecoach in Hants & Surrey's route 1 which runs like the Perth route every 10 minutes Monday to Saturday daytime and every 30 minutes on evenings and Sundays.
via Perth
The service in Perth started on 5 November 2007,[2] and is run by Stagecoach East Scotland. Perth is where the Stagecoach Group is based.[3]
It uses a fleet of eight Alexander Dennis Enviro300s, which were the first examples to be built to the new style.[2] The scheme operates on Perth city route 7, which was in its sixth year of growth following the kick-start funding, with growth continuing at 2% a year.[2]
Route 7 runs between Hillend, Perth city centre and Scone, and runs every 10 minutes on Monday to Saturday daytime, and up to every 30 minutes in the evening and Sundays.[4]
via Shrivenham and Faingdon
Announced on the Stagecoach website, the 66 service between Swindon and Oxford [5] advertises the service as being soon to be upgraded to Gold status at the start of 2012.
via Churchdown
Stagecoach Gold started operations on the 94 route between Cheltenham, Churchdown and Gloucester on 12th September 2009. The new service and buses were launched at Cheltenham Racecourse. [6]
The service uses a fleet of Alexander Dennis Enviro400s branded in Stagecoach Gold livery with the leather seats, suited drivers and other features which appear on all the previously introduced goldline services. The service is run by Stagecoach in Cheltenham.
The route operates every 10 minutes Monday to Saturday daytime and 30 minutes in the evening. Services operate every 20 minutes on Sundays.[7]
via Woodloes, Percy Estate, Leamington Spa and Whitnash
In Warwick, the service started on 12 November 2007, immediately after the buses were launched by Stagecoach Group chief executive Brian Souter.[8]
The service uses a fleet of 11 Optare Solos, on route 66 which was renumbered G1 following the introduction of Goldline.[8] The service is run by Stagecoach in Warwickshire.
The route operates at a frequency of 8–10 minutes Monday to Saturday daytime and every half hour on evenings and Sundays.[9]
via Brize Norton, Curbridge, Thorney Leys, Witney and Eynsham
In 2010, Stagecoach Oxfordshire introduced the Stagecoach Gold brand on its S1/S2 services running from Carterton Witney to Central Oxford.
Some of the buses were used prior to the Gold launch for passengers at the Cheltenham racecourse. The buses for this have also been used at the 2010 British Grand Prix event at Silverstone.
These buses have a mix of VX59*** and OU10*** registrations
via Water Eaton and Summertown
At the very end of 2011, and into the start of 2012, the S5 service between Bicester and Oxford also received brand new double decked Alexander Dennis Enviro400 Scania's as well as an improved frequency throughout.[10]
via Oundle, Corby, Kettering and Wellinborough
In November 2011 the Stagecoach gold expanded to the X4 route which covers Northamptonshire, Peterborough and Milton Keynes The X4 gold edition also includes free WiFi for it's customers, the route covers Peterborough, Oundle, Corby, Kettering, Wellingborough, Northampton and Milton Keynes.
The Citylink Gold brand is used for two Scottish Citylink services, the G9 between Glasgow and Aberdeen and the G10 between Glasgow and Inverness.[11] Service specifications are similar to that of the bus services branded as Goldline or Stagecoach Gold, but extra services include free wi-fi and free tea and coffee served all day.[12]