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Stagecoach East Scotland
Stagecoach Express City Connect-liveried Volvo B13RT Plaxton Elite approaching Halbeath Park and Ride
ParentStagecoach Group
Founded2008
HeadquartersDunfermline, Scotland, UK
Service areaFife
Tayside
Perthshire
Angus
Aberdeen
Edinburgh
Glasgow
Stirling
Service typeBus and coach
Depots8
Fleet477 (February 2025)[1]
Annual ridership28.7 million [2]
Managing DirectorDouglas Robertson
WebsiteOfficial website Edit this at Wikidata

Stagecoach East Scotland is a bus operator providing services in eastern Scotland, with its regional base in Dunfermline, Fife. The company is a subsidiary of the Stagecoach Group.

History

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Stagecoach began long distance express coach services in 1981 from its base in Perth, expanding into local bus operations when it bought McLennan of Spittalfield in 1985. Deregulation of bus services under the Transport Act 1985 in October 1986 gave Stagecoach the opportunity to expand operations in Perth, thus fierce competition with the dominant operator Strathtay Scottish began, which eventually saw Stagecoach's then-Perth Panther subsidiary emerge as the largest provider of bus services in the Perth area.[3] On the breakup and privatisation of the state-owned Scottish Bus Group, Stagecoach was successful in acquiring two of the subsidiaries, namely Northern Scottish in March 1991 and Fife Scottish in July 1991,[4][5] the latter of which would form the basis of Stagecoach East Scotland's operations following a protracted legal battle between Stagecoach and a management buyout team.[6][7]

In August 2003, the United Kingdom's first entirely commercial demand responsive bus service was launched by Stagecoach East Scotland in Fife. Trading as Yellow Taxibus and using the AA Buses Ltd legal name (transferred from Stagecoach West Scotland where it was purchased with the AA Buses operation in Ayrshire), the operation combined the benefits of a fixed bus route with the flexibility of pre-booked taxi pick-ups. Yellow Taxibus operated a fleet of eight-seater Mercedes-Benz Vito vehicles on a high-frequency service between Dunfermline and Edinburgh seven days a week;[8] however after a two-year trial, the loss-making service was withdrawn in November 2005.[9]

On 14 December 2005 Stagecoach purchased the Barnsley-based Traction Group, the largest remaining private bus company in the United Kingdom, for £26 million. The Traction Group owned Strathtay Scottish, which Stagecoach had pushed out of Perth some 16 years earlier.[10] The Strathtay operations bridged the gap between Stagecoach's Fife, Perth and Bluebird operations, giving the group a vast swathe of the country extending from Edinburgh through to Perth, northwards to Aberdeen and round to Inverness, with only Travel Dundee and First Aberdeen being the major non-Stagecoach operators within that area. Unusually, despite the Strathtay fleet receiving the corporate livery, fleet vehicles were branded with Strathtay with Part of the Stagecoach Group straplines.

In October 2007, Stagecoach in Perth commenced operations of the first of two Stagecoach Goldline services, operated as a trial for the wider Stagecoach Group in conjunction with a service run by Stagecoach Warwickshire. Stagecoach in Perth's Goldline service 7 was operated using eight new Alexander Dennis Enviro300 single-deck buses, fitted out to a higher interior standard and painted in a special gold and blue livery.[11] Since these trials, the brand, renamed to Stagecoach Gold, has expanded to Stagecoach subsidiaries across the United Kingdom. However, the aforementioned 7 route in Perth has since been stripped of it's Goldline status, however continues to operate alongside regular services.

In March 2008, it was announced that Stagecoach Fife had purchased Rennies of Dunfermline for an undisclosed sum, following the retirement of Rennies' owner. The Rennies fleet consisted of 60 vehicles, including 18 double-deckers which were all leased from Stagecoach in Fife.[12] Rennies were formerly based at Dunfermline (Wellwood Mill), before moving to Cowdenbeath in 2016.

In Spring 2014, Stagecoach entered the South Queensferry area, replacing a withdrawn service to Edinburgh which had been run for many years by First Scotland East.[13] However, the South Queensferry operation incurred huge losses and was withdrawn in June 2017,[14] with Lothian Buses subsequently taking it over.

In May 2023, Stagecoach East Scotland began operating autonomous Alexander Dennis Enviro200AV as part of the CAVForth scheme on route "AB1" across the Forth Road Bridge.[15] Following lower-than-expected passenger numbers, the AB1 route has been terminated as of the 14th February 2025[16]. Stagecoach noted that the demonstration service "has significantly advanced the understanding of the operational and regulatory requirements for autonomous services".[16] CAVForth plan to continue their research into autonomous public service vehicles.

Services

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Stagecoach East Scotland operates under six different brands:

  • Stagecoach in Perth, a trading name of Stagecoach (Scotland) Ltd, is used for services in and around Perth.
  • Stagecoach in Fife is used for services throughout Fife and beyond to Dundee and Edinburgh, and is a trading name of Fife Scottish Omnibuses Ltd. It has operated a number of experimental services including Yellow Taxibus.
  • Stagecoach Strathtay is the brand used for services within the city of Dundee and throughout Angus, with some services reaching Perth and into Aberdeenshire.
  • Rennie's, now based at former Fife Scottish Cowdenbeath bus depot operates tours and school buses with the company. Rennie's also provides fleet support (e.g: additional services during peak times) in the Dunfermline area.
  • The company also provides vehicles for Megabus and Scottish Citylink long distance express work within Scotland, and beyond to Manchester and London.

Express and Experience City Connect

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In October 2007, Stagecoach's Fife operations received a £4.5 million investment in upgrading the regional express network, with services branded as "Express City Connect" and "Experience City Connect".[17][18] Express services from West Fife to Edinburgh received nine new Scania OmniLink tri-axle single-deckers featuring leather seating and free Wi-Fi, while the rest of the network received 20 Plaxton Profile bodied Volvo B7R coaches, also equipped with leather seating and free Wi-Fi.

In 2011, further new Plaxton Elite coaches were delivered to Stagecoach to help deal with the increase in passengers on the X59 service,[19][20] with further examples being delivered between 2012 and 2017.[21] This has resulted in the City Connect brand receiving the accolade of Top Express Operation at the UK Coach Awards in 2015, 2016 and 2017 respectively.[22]

In 2023, Stagecoach ordered several brand-new Volvo 9700DD coaches for operation on services connecting Fife with Glasgow.[23] Most have entered service with the operator in late 2024 and 2025.

Park & Ride sites

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Since 1999, Stagecoach East Scotland has operated and provide numerous park & ride sites across their operating area.

Fleet and depots

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Stagecoach East Scotland's depot in St Andrews

As of February 2025, Stagecoach East Scotland operates 477 buses and coaches from eight depots:[24]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Stagecoach in East Scotland". www.stagecoachbus.com. Retrieved 14 February 2025.
  2. ^ "Stagecoach in East Scotland". www.stagecoachbus.com. Retrieved 14 February 2025.
  3. ^ "Scottish war heightens". Commercial Motor. Temple Press. 27 January 1989. p. 17. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
  4. ^ "Stagecoach selected". Commercial Motor. Temple Press. 7 March 1991. p. 22. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
  5. ^ "Stagecoach to get Bluebird Northern". Bus & Coach Buyer. No. 95. Spalding: Glen-Holland Limited. 9 March 1991. p. 1.
  6. ^ "End of road for Fife bus bid". Perthshire Advertiser. Perth. 16 July 1991. p. 4. Retrieved 3 March 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Stagecoach wins Fife Scottish". Coachmart. No. 648. Kingston upon Hull. 18 July 1991. p. 6.
  8. ^ "Stagecoach proposes yellow taxibus solution to boost social inclusion and cut congestion". Stagecoach Group. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  9. ^ "Stagecoach taxi-bus axed after losing cash". The Scotsman. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017.
  10. ^ "Traction Group bought for £26m". The Yorkshire Post. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017.
  11. ^ "New-look Enviro for Stagecoach Goldline route". Bus & Coach Professional. 31 October 2007. Archived from the original on 5 November 2007. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
  12. ^ "Recent BUS/COACH developments, no 3". A Transport of Delight. 24 March 2008. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  13. ^ "First concedes defeat at Stagecoach incursion". Passenger Transport. 5 March 2014. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  14. ^ Swanson, Ian (28 March 2017). "Stagecoach to pull South Queensferry's bus link to Capital". Edinburgh Evening News. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  15. ^ "UK's first driverless bus begins passenger service in Edinburgh". BBC News. 15 May 2023. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  16. ^ a b "ServiceUpdatesArticle". www.stagecoachbus.com. Retrieved 14 February 2025.
  17. ^ "Stagecoach marks 10 years of the Express City Connect brand in East Scotland". Stagecoach Group. Archived from the original on 29 November 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  18. ^ "Stagecoach celebrates 10 years of Express City Connect". Buses. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  19. ^ "Stagecoach celebrate £2.7million investment in new luxury coaches for express fleet". Here to There Publishing Blog. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  20. ^ "Stagecoach celebrate £2.5million investment in luxury coaches for express bus". Fife Council. Archived from the original on 29 November 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  21. ^ "Vehicle Upgrades for Stagecoach Express City Connect Network". Fife Chamber of Commerce. 27 September 2017. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  22. ^ "Stagecoach wins top coach industry awards". Stagecoach Group. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  23. ^ "Stagecoach introducing new coaches on West Fife route". Dunfermline Press. 12 December 2024. Retrieved 14 February 2025.
  24. ^ "Stagecoach in East Scotland". www.stagecoachbus.com. Retrieved 14 February 2025.
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