Stagecoach Gold is a luxury bus sub-brand used by various
Stagecoach
A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...
bus subsidiaries in the United Kingdom.
Stagecoach Gold (originally Goldline) was launched in 2007 and was designed to attract more middle-class passengers to choose bus travel as a method of transport as well as to reward passengers on some busy and popular routes.
Stagecoach West
Stagecoach West is the trading name of Cheltenham & Gloucester Omnibus Company Limited, a bus operator providing services in Gloucestershire, Bristol, Swindon, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, North Somerset and Herefordshire, in the West of England. ...
currently runs the most Stagecoach Gold routes, nine, as of August 2022.
owns the largest number of Stagecoach Gold branded vehicles with 76 in its fleet as of November 2019.
History
![Stagecoach Hants & Surrey 22744 interior](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Stagecoach_Hants_%26_Surrey_22744_interior.JPG)
The Goldline brand was introduced to try to win more middle-class motorists to bus services. It was initially trialled in two areas,
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
and
Warwick
Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and Whi ...
from November 2007, both on routes which received kick-start funding from the government to help establish the routes.
Stagecoach East Scotland
Stagecoach East Scotland (legally incorporated as Fife Scottish Omnibuses Ltd) ( gd, Stagecoach an Ear na h-Alba) is an operating region of Stagecoach UK Bus, with its regional base in Dunfermline, Scotland. The company operators under six d ...
invested £300,000 to demonstrate the idea to politicians.
Goldline routes have a luxury specification. Buses have hand-stitched leather seats, metallic paint, special flooring and free
WiFi
Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio waves ...
. Drivers wear special uniform and there is a Goldline customer charter.
[
In February 2009 the service was expanded to ]Aldershot
Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...
and in September 2009 to Cheltenham
Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...
and Gloucester
Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...
on route 94. At this stage the brand name changed 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 Translink (or TransLink) may refer to:
* TransLink (British Columbia), the public transport operator in Vancouver, Canada
* Translink (Northern Ireland)
Translink is the brand name of the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company (NITHCo), a ...
had the rights to the ''Goldline'' name, using it on their Ulsterbus coach services, and Stagecoach had to pay Translink a royalty.
In 2010, the Stagecoach Gold brand was extended to services run by Scottish Citylink
Scottish Citylink is a long-distance express coach operator in Scotland and Ireland (where it operates as Irish Citylink) and England (where it operates as Stansted Citylink). The company was formed as a subsidiary of Scottish Transport Group i ...
, where Stagecoach have a 35% shareholding, where the Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
to Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
and Glasgow to Inverness
Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...
services were designated as Citylink Gold.
In 2015, all brand new Stagecoach Gold vehicles came equipped with USB charging facilities underneath every seat which enabled passengers to charge their mobile devices whilst on board. USB charging first became available on the Stagecoach in Oxfordshire S4 service which was upgraded to Stagecoach Gold in September 2015.
As of 2016, all brand new Stagecoach buses, including non-gold vehicles, come equipped with high back leather seats, USB charging facilities and many with free onboard Wi-Fi. Subsequently, this means that many of Stagecoach's new non-gold vehicles are now at the same specification as the Gold branded vehicles. As a result, some non-gold routes now have higher specification vehicles than many of the Gold routes as prior to 2015, Stagecoach Gold vehicles did not come equipped with USB charging facilities.
2016 also saw Stagecoach take delivery of the first Stagecoach Gold branded Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC and Enviro200 MMC vehicles. The liveries on the new vehicles remain the same as the previous models; however, Stagecoach have slightly modified the interior upholstery with new style leather seats that incorporate a cream-coloured headrest as well as new wood effect flooring.
Routes
As of December 2022, there are 46 Stagecoach Gold routes (including night services).
Other routes
Former routes
See also
* Arriva Max
Arriva MAX is a premium brand used by various Arriva bus subsidiaries in the United Kingdom.
History
In September 2014, Arriva launched the MAX brand for interurban express services. The first services were launched by Arriva North East, which ...
* Arriva Sapphire
Arriva Sapphire is a premium brand used by various Arriva bus subsidiaries in the United Kingdom.
History
In February 2013, Arriva UK Bus announced that it would launch a premium service under the Sapphire brand for its bus services in the U ...
References
External links
Stagecoach Gold website
Stagecoach UK Bus website
{{StagecoachGroup
Bus transport brands
Luxury brands
Stagecoach Group bus operators in England
Stagecoach Group bus operators in Scotland
2007 establishments in the United Kingdom