Stagecoach in Norfolk (formerly Norfolk Green) was a bus operator based in King's Lynn in

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

, England. It operated public bus services in the counties of

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...

and

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

as well as numerous school and college services. It was a subsidiary of Stagecoach. In April 2018, Stagecoach ceased operations in Norfolk. Services were taken over by

First Norfolk & Suffolk First Eastern Counties is a bus operator providing services in Norfolk and Suffolk in eastern England. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup. It has seven depots which are part of five operating areas spread out across East Anglia. The five operat ...

, Lynx, Sanders Coaches, Stagecoach in Peterborough (the Interconnect 505) and West Norfolk Community Transport.

History

Norfolk Green was formed in 1996 with a fleet of four buses. In 1999 the

Saham Toney Saham Toney is a village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is North of Thetford, west of Norwich and north-east of London. The village lies west of the town of Attleborough. The nearest railway station is at ...

depot was sold to

Konectbus Konectbus is a bus operator based in Dereham in Norfolk, England. It is a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group and forms part of Go East Anglia. History Konectbus was formed in 1999 when the Saham Toney depot of Norfolk Green was purchased from wi ...

with four coaches. In April 2011, Norfolk Green purchased the King's Lynn based services of First East England. On 17 December 2013, Norfolk Green was sold to Stagecoach following the retirement of Ben Colson after ill health. Unusually, Stagecoach did not immediately apply its corporate brand, but retained the Norfolk Green trading name and livery, although the fleet received Stagecoach fleet numbers. All buses were rebranded between 2015 and late 2017. In January 2018, Stagecoach announced it was reviewing its operations in Norfolk in response to the challenging economic environment, blaming a combination of rising operating costs and pressure on public sector budgets. The company said it met with trade union representatives to minimise the impact on staff and launched a consultation with employees over the potential closure of its King's Lynn depot. The company hoped to relocate the majority of its staff with other operators or elsewhere within the Stagecoach East area, which includes Bedford, Cambridge, Huntingdon and Peterborough.

Routes

Routes operated by Stagecoach Norfolk included the very popular Coasthopper services between King's Lynn and

Cromer Cromer ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish on the north coast of the English county of Norfolk. It is north of Norwich, north-northeast of London and east of Sheringham on the North Sea coastline. The local government authorities are Nor ...

, the Interconnect 505 between King's Lynn and Spalding, a town service network in King's Lynn, a city service in Ely and many rural and interurban bus services across

and

Fleet

As at July 2013, the fleet consisted of 74 buses.Fleet List
Norfolk Green 19 July 2013 Fleet livery is two tone green. Twelve

Optare Solo The Optare Solo is a low-floor minibus/midibus with one or two doors manufactured by Optare in the United Kingdom since 1998. The Solo name is a play on its low-floor status, the manufacturer marketing its vehicle as having an entrance that is ...

Slimlines wear a dark blue, yellow and green livery for the Coasthopper group of services. A large proportion of buses are also named after local characters and personalities.Bus names
Norfolk Green Upon Stagecoach's purchase of Norfolk Green, in the summer of 2016 Stagecoach Norfolk went onto replace the fleet of Coasthopper Optare Solo's with

Alexander Dennis Enviro200 The Alexander Dennis Enviro200 (previously known as the TransBus Enviro200) is a midibus that was manufactured by TransBus International and later Alexander Dennis between 2003 and 2018. The original TransBus Enviro200 design was innovative bu ...

s. In addition, and later on, they purchased brand new Optare Solos. These new buses feature a new updated Coasthopper 'Flying Kite' livery, free wifi, USB charging points and leather seating.

References

External links

Company website
{{StagecoachGroup Stagecoach Group bus operators in England Transport companies established in 1966 Transport companies disestablished in 2018 1996 establishments in England 2018 disestablishments in England British companies established in 1996 British companies disestablished in 2018 Former bus operators in Norfolk Former bus operators in Cambridgeshire Former bus operators in Lincolnshire