Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire

Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire
'Lakesider' branded Wright Gemini 3 bodied Volvo B5TL open top bus in Ambleside in May 2018
ParentStagecoach Group
Founded2011; 14 years ago (2011)[a]
HeadquartersCarlisle, Cumbria
England
Service area
Service typeBus services
Depots7
Websitewww.stagecoachbus.com/about/cumbria-and-north-lancashire

Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire operates both local and regional bus services in Cumbria, Lancashire, Northumberland and Tyne and Wear, England, as well as Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is a subsidiary of the Stagecoach Group, which operates bus and coach services across the United Kingdom.

History

The company has its origins in the purchase of Cumberland Motor Services and Ribble Motor Services from the National Bus Company in the late 1980s.

The company's head office is based in Carlisle. It was previously known as Stagecoach North West until 1 September 2011, when Stagecoach Merseyside amalgamated with Chorley and Preston depots to form Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire.[1][2]

Overview

Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire predominantly operates commercial bus services in Cumbria and Lancashire, with some services extending into Dumfries and Galloway (79 & 179), as well as Northumberland and Tyne and Wear (685). The company also operate several contracted services on behalf of Cumbria County Council and Lancashire County Council.

Stagecoach in Cumbria

Stagecoach in Cumbria is the trading name of Stagecoach North West Limited, and predominantly operates services in Cumbria. The company has been formerly known as Barrow Borough Transport, Stagecoach Cumberland and Stagecoach Ribble.

Cumberland Motor Services was one of the first National Bus Company subsidiaries to be privatised in 1986; this was almost immediately after gaining the Penrith and Carlisle depots from Ribble.[3] The company was bought from the NBC by Stagecoach in July 1987,[4] who split it into two territories: CMS Carlislebus for services within Carlisle itself and CMS Cumberland for the rest of the services; eventually, both territories merged with Ribble's south Cumbria services to become Stagecoach Cumberland.[5]

In 2005, the company commenced operation of Cumbria County Council-secured service X35, which ran between Barrow-in-Furness and Kendal via Ulverston and Grange-over-Sands. In July 2012, funding was withdrawn and the service was taken over commercially by Stagecoach C&NL. At the same time, the service was renumbered X6 and the route was diverted away from Westmorland General Hospital.[6]

In July 2016, a fleet of twelve Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC double-deck vehicles were introduced on service 555, which runs between Keswick and Lancaster via Grasmere – an investment totalling £2.5 million.[7]

In July 2017, a fleet of open-top Dennis Trident/Alexander ALX400 were replaced by new Volvo B5TL/Wright Gemini 3. Branded in the two-tone green Lakesider livery, the vehicles operate on service 599 - branded as "Lakesider" by Stagecoach[8] - between Bowness-on-Windermere and Grasmere via Windermere and Ambleside, with occasional early/late connections to the depot in Kendal.[9]

In April 2023, service 555 was renewed with a brand new fleet of nine Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC double-deck vehicles.[b] This investment totalled £3 million, and saw seven vehicles from the existing fleet of similar vehicles dating from 2016, cascaded to Barrow depot to operate services 6 and X6, between Barrow-in-Furness, Ulverston, and Windermere or Kendal, and the remaining five down to Morecambe.[10]

The company has been frequently criticised for charging high fares – especially when the cost of a single journey is equated against a comparative journey in London.[11][12]

Stagecoach in Lancaster

Stagecoach in Lancaster operates services in and around the towns of Lancaster and Morecambe. It is the trading name of Stagecoach North West Limited, and consists of the former Stagecoach Ribble services, as well as those formerly operated by Lancaster City Transport – a municipal bus operator which ceased trading in 1993.

Fleet and operations

Depots

As of April 2022, the company operates from five bus depots across the region: Barrow-in-Furness, Carlisle, Kendal, Morecambe and Workington, as well as two outstations: Catterall and Penrith. An outstation at Ingleton was closed in 2022, following the withdrawal of services 80 and 81.

Vehicles

The fleet consists mainly of diesel-powered single and double-deck buses manufactured by Alexander Dennis, Optare, Volvo and Wrightbus. Some double-deck vehicles are open-top, including a fleet of Wright Gemini 3 vehicles, which operate within the Lake District National Park.[9]

Branding

Branding: past and present

As of May 2022, vehicles in the fleet are in the process of being rebranded into the new fleet livery, which was revealed in January 2020. It consists of a white base with blue, green and orange swirls, featuring the company's updated logo. The livery name is "Stagecoach Local".[13][14][15] The former livery was introduced over 20 years prior, and consisted of vehicles painted in a white base, with a blue skirt, and red and orange swoops - named "Stagecoach Beachball".[16]

Although the Lakes Connection livery was initially used exclusively on service 555, the 2020 Stagecoach group-wide rebrand has seen this livery implemented on all buses based at Kendal, as well as a select number based at Carlisle, Morecambe and Workington. Central Lakes open top service 599 is branded as Lakesider, whilst service 78 linking Keswick and Seatoller, is branded as The Borrowdale Bus.

Notes

  1. ^ The company previously operated as two separate entities: Stagecoach in Cumbria and Stagecoach in Lancashire.
  2. ^ The new buses will not be used on journeys operated via the M6, as said by Stagecoach in the Lakes by Bus PDF in small print under "One day adventures on the 555" section.

References

  1. ^ "Stagecoach announces UK Bus regional management appointments". Stagecoach Group. 11 August 2011. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
  2. ^ "UK Bus management appointments" (PDF). On Stage. No. 87. September 2011. p. 2.
  3. ^ "NBC carve-up is settled". Commercial Motor. Temple Press. 22 March 1986. p. 44. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
  4. ^ "Cumberland, Wessex sold". Commercial Motor. Temple Press. 30 July 1987. p. 22. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
  5. ^ "Stagecoach swapshop". Commercial Motor. Temple Press. 15 June 1989. p. 19. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
  6. ^ Lidiard, Emma (12 September 2012). "Campaign launched to bring back South Lakes bus link". The Westmorland Gazette. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
  7. ^ "New Enviro400 fleet for Stagecoach Lakes Connection 555 service". Coach & Bus Week. 4 July 2016. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
  8. ^ Lakesider 599 bus runs every 20 minutes from Bowness to Grasmere, connecting with mainline station, Windermere." https://www.stagecoachbus.com/promos-and-offers/cumbria-and-north-lancashire/open-top-buses
  9. ^ a b Addison, Mike (24 May 2017). "New fleet of open-top buses to operate in the Lake District". Westmorland Gazette. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
  10. ^ Deakin, Tim (26 April 2023). "Stagecoach high-spec Enviro400 fleet makes 555 debut". routeone. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  11. ^ Pidd, Helen (5 May 2019). "'Massively unfair' gulf in bus fares between London and rest of England". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
  12. ^ "Worker warns over unfair Lake District bus fares". BBC News. 2 March 2022. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
  13. ^ Deakin, Tim (2 February 2020). "Stagecoach new livery unveiled by group". Routeone. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  14. ^ "Stagecoach unveils people-powered new look buses as it marks 40 years of connecting communities". Stagecoach Group. 30 January 2020. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  15. ^ "Proud to Serve – Stagecoach launches new brand in Cumbria". Stagecoach Group. 6 March 2020. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
  16. ^ "Stagecoach mulls brand change". Routeone. 6 February 2017. Retrieved 25 February 2020.

Sources