On 11 September 1983, the National Bus Company (NBC) split its loss-making Bristol Omnibus operation into three separate companies, with Gloucestershire-based operations transferred to a new company named the Cheltenham and Gloucester Omnibus Company.[4] The NBC's National Travel (South) coaching operation would be transferred to Cheltenham and Gloucester during 1984,[5] while the Swindon and District bus operation would follow in 1985. In 1986, in preparation for the break-up of the National Bus Company as a result of bus deregulation, all company assets were transferred to a new legal entity named Western Travel.[citation needed]
Western Travel was the fourth NBC subsidiary to be privatised following deregulation, being purchased in a £1 million (equivalent to £3,701,000 in 2023) management buyout in November 1986.[6] The Cheltenham and Gloucester and Swindon and District companies were maintained as subsidiaries, joined in December 1987 by Midland Red South following Western Travel's purchase of the company.[7] Among other acquisitions in and around their operating area, the company would go on to acquire the eastern division of National Welsh Omnibus Services in February 1991, reforming the division as a reconstituted Red & White Services, which was based out of depots in Cwmbran, Chepstow, Brynmawr and Crosskeys,[8] with an additional depot in Merthyr Tydfil opening in May 1993.[9]
After having also purchased the independent Circle Line of Gloucester earlier in the year, Western Travel was purchased by Stagecoach Holdings in November 1993 for £9.25 million (equivalent to £23,800,000 in 2023).[10] Red & White's Welsh operations would be transferred to what is today Stagecoach South Wales, with the remainder of Western Travel eventually rebranded as Stagecoach West.[11][12]
Having worked in partnership with the company's owners from 2017 onwards, in September 2019, Stagecoach West took over the 53-vehicle South Gloucestershire Bus & Coach business for an undisclosed sum after the SGBC's owners decided to step down. This takeover saw 100 employees transferring to Stagecoach West, with Stagecoach taking on SGBC's existing local bus and private hire work in the Bristol area, as well as their Megabus contract.[13][14][15]
In February 2021, it was announced that Stagecoach West would merge with neighbouring Stagecoach Oxfordshire, with the headquarters of the combined operating company located in Gloucester. Stagecoach West would take on Stagecoach Oxfordshire's three depots in Banbury, Oxford and Witney and outstations at Bicester, Chipping Norton and Grove, along with around 500 vehicles and the Oxford Tube coach service between Oxford and London.[16]
Routes branded as Stagecoach Gold have vehicles of a higher specification and provide more frequent, higher profile or interurban journeys. These services are:
Gloucester depot's 10 and 97/98 services were previously among these Gold routes, however in June 2021, 21 new Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC bodied Scania N250UDdouble-decker buses in the group's replacement "Long Distance" livery were delivered for service on the routes.[17]
The Oxford Tube service is a limited-stop express coach service between Oxford and Victoria Coach Station in London, using a fleet of 34 Plaxton Panorama double-decker coaches on Volvo B11RLE chassis, uniquely equipped with solar panels on the roof, which began to enter service on the route from October 2020.[18] The service was founded in 1987 by Thames Transit in competition with the Oxford Bus Company's X90 service,[19] withdrawn in January 2020 as it had become unprofitable, and was originally operated by Stagecoach Oxfordshire before being included in the merger with Stagecoach West in February 2021.[16]
Stagecoach West's operations in the City of Oxford, in partnership with the Oxford Bus Company, are part of Oxford SmartZone joint ticketing scheme, launched on 24 July 2011 as a successor to the Plus+Pass scheme, which had ceased operations three years earlier. This ticketing scheme, introduced by Oxfordshire County Council following the passage of the Local Transport Act 2008, allowed for bus users in Oxford to buy and use one paper ticket until its expiry on services operated by both Stagecoach and the Oxford Bus Company, who worked with the council to introduce coordinated service timetables using a fleet of 46 new double-decker buses.[20]
On 15 January 2024, the Oxford SmartZone was officially relaunched as an enhanced partnership between Stagecoach West and the Oxford Bus Company, with the aim to reduce bus journey times by 10%.[20] Orders for battery electric buses have been funded for both operators, with Stagecoach West taking delivery of the first of 55 'electro'-branded Alexander Dennis Enviro400EVs for use in the Oxford SmartZone area in March 2024.[21]
^"Another NBC shake-up". Commercial Motor. Temple Press. 21 April 1984. p. 18. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
^"Fourth bus buy-out". Commercial Motor. Temple Press. 8 November 1986. p. 24. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
^"Wales tops NBC buyout league". Commercial Motor. Temple Press. 7 January 1988. p. 16. Retrieved 27 January 2024. Another part of NBC has gone into private ownership with Rugby-based Midland Red South being bought by Western Travel, which is the holding company for Cheltenham & Gloucester Omnibus Company.
^"Oxford route gets hot". Commercial Motor. Temple Press. 10 March 1988. p. 22. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
^ abSharman, Richard (23 January 2024). "Oxford's SmartZone gets smarter". Coach & Bus Week. No. 1161. Peterborough. pp. 20–25. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
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