Stagecoach East
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Stagecoach East is the divisional name for the bus operations of the
Stagecoach Group Stagecoach Group is a transport group based in Perth, Scotland. It operates buses, express coaches and a tram service in the United Kingdom. History Stagecoach was born out of deregulation of the British express coach market in the early ...
in eastern England.


History

Under the control of the National Bus Company, ''Cambus Ltd.'' was set up when the Eastern Counties Omnibus Company was split in preparation for privatisation. The company was incorporated on 8 June 1984; it took over Eastern Counties' bus and National Express coach operations from garages in Cambridgeshire and parts of Suffolk (Newmarket and Haverhill) on 9 September 1984. On 5 December 1986, Cambus was sold to its management team, off-the-shelf company Minuteflush Ltd. being used for this purpose; Minuteflush Ltd. was renamed Cambus Holdings Ltd. In September 1989, Cambus's Peterborough operations were split off to form ''The Viscount Bus and Coach Company Ltd.'', while in May 1990 Cambus Holdings acquired most of the bus and coach operations of Cambridge-based Premier Travel Services, the exception being the Cambridge–London Airports coach services, which remained with the
AJS Group Transdev Blazefield is a bus group, which operates local and regional bus services across Greater Manchester, Lancashire, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire, England. Formed in August 1991, the group has been a subsidiary of French-based operato ...
as part of the new Cambridge Coach Services operation (which retained the old Premier livery). A reorganisation followed on 20 May 1990, with all coach operations (including National Express contracts) being transferred to Premier Travel, and Premier Travel's stage bus routes being transferred to Cambus. In February 1992, Cambus Holdings bought Millers Coaches of Foxton from its owner, Bernard Miller, on his retirement. Millers Coaches had been competing with Cambus on a number of bus routes, using the ''Millerbus'' name, and this operation became a new Millerbus Ltd. subsidiary, under the direct control of the Cambus management; the operation lasted for about three years before being absorbed into its parent. Meanwhile, Millers Coaches itself was placed under the control of Premier Travel, although the name was retained (and both companies adopted liveries using different colours applied in the same style). By the autumn of 1995, however, the operations of Premier Travel and Millers Coaches had been absorbed into the main Cambus company, although the Premier Travel name survived in use with Cambus a few years longer. On 25 November 1992, Cambus Holdings expanded in
Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...
, with the purchase of Generalouter Ltd., the holding company of
Milton Keynes City Bus Milton may refer to: Names * Milton (surname), a surname (and list of people with that surname) ** John Milton (1608–1674), English poet * Milton (given name) ** Milton Friedman (1912–2006), Nobel Prize, Nobel laureate in Economics, author ...
and Buckinghamshire Road Car - offshoots of former National Bus Company subsidiary
United Counties The Province of Ontario has 51 first-level administrative divisions, which collectively cover the whole province. With two exceptions, their areas match the 49 census divisions Statistics Canada has for Ontario. The Province has four types of ...
. Cambus Holdings was sold to the
Stagecoach Group Stagecoach Group is a transport group based in Perth, Scotland. It operates buses, express coaches and a tram service in the United Kingdom. History Stagecoach was born out of deregulation of the British express coach market in the early ...
on 6 December 1995, being rebranded as ''Stagecoach Cambus'' before ultimately becoming the ''Stagecoach East'' division. However, following a report by the
Monopolies and Mergers Commission The Competition Commission was a non-departmental public body responsible for investigating mergers, markets and other enquiries related to regulated industries under UK competition law, competition law in the United Kingdom. It was a competiti ...
, Stagecoach was required to divest itself of its
Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...
and Buckinghamshire operations, as well as United Counties' Huntingdon garage. In late 1997, new company
MK Metro MK Metro was a bus company operating in Milton Keynes from 1997 until 2010. History In 1997, Stagecoach Group, Stagecoach was ordered by the Office of Fair Trading to divest of its operations in Milton Keynes and Huntingdon. This followe ...
took over the Milton Keynes operations while Premier Buses took over the wider Buckinghamshire operations, both independent from Stagecoach. On 30 January 1998, the wider Buckinghamshire operations were sold to Sovereign Bus & Coach, owned by Blazefield Holdings. In November 2003 the operations were sold again from Blazefield to Cavalier Contracts of Long Sutton, Lincolnshire, trading as Huntingdon & District. The operations were acquired by Stagecoach on Monday 31 March 2008 when Cavalier Travel sold their interests in bus services of over 9 seats. At the date of sale operations were branded under the names Cavalier Travel and Huntingdon & District. In August 2010, the Stagecoach in Northants operation was transferred from Stagecoach East to
Stagecoach Midlands Stagecoach Midlands operates most bus routes in Northamptonshire and Warwickshire; the legal name for the company is Midland Red (South) Ltd.The company was previously split into ''Midland Red'' in Warwickshire and ''United Counties Omnibus'' ...
.Stagecoach press release, 23 July 2010
As of 2021, Stagecoach East uses the brand names ''Stagecoach in Bedford'' for the former Cambus operations in Bedfordshire, ''Stagecoach in Cambridge'' for the former Cambus operations in Cambridgeshire, ''Stagecoach in Peterborough'' for the former Viscount operations and ''Stagecoach in the Fens'' for the former Huntingdon & District operations.


Liveries

The original Cambus livery was light (Cambridge) blue with an off-white stripe, applied in the standard National Bus Company style. Dual purpose vehicles (Bristol REs) were light blue lower and cream upper, while coaches were cream and light blue with dark blue and light blue stripes (with those used on National Express work carrying full National Express colours). The fleetname "CAMBUS", written in dark blue with wavy lines through it (to represent waterways), was applied in the usual place, accompanied by the National Bus Company double N logo for the first couple of years. In 1986 a new livery was introduced, comprising dark blue, white and light blue (bottom to top), and including stripes on dual purpose vehicles and non-National Express coaches; this was soon followed by a new and bolder CAMBUS logo, written in a less fussy style. The strap line "It's much less fuss" was added later. In 1990 one single-deck dual purpose vehicle gained a maroon and light blue livery with a "CAMCOACH" logo, but this was not continued. With the spinning off of Peterborough services under the Viscount brand of Cambus Holdings, a livery of yellow and white with blue and grey stripes was introduced for this operation. Later there was also a ''Peterborough Bus Company'' version of the livery, using red and cream. Following the Stagecoach takeover, standard Stagecoach livery was applied to the fleet, with "Stagecoach Cambus" branding. The current Stagecoach livery with "Stagecoach in Cambridge" fleetnames appeared later. Vehicles used on Park and Ride services in Cambridge wear special liveries (there have been a variety), as do guided buses for use on The Busway; there have also been special liveries for certain other services. In early 2020, Stagecoach rebranded including a new logo and new liveries. Vehicles within Stagecoach East starting being painted into the new "Local" livery in late 2020.


Services

Stagecoach East are one of the two bus companies operating services on The
Cambridgeshire Guided Busway The Cambridgeshire Guided Busway, known locally as The Busway, connects Cambridge, Huntingdon and St Ives, Cambridgeshire, St Ives in the English county of Cambridgeshire. It is the longest guided busway in the world, overtaking the O-Bahn Buswa ...
the other being
Transit Systems Transit Systems Group is an Australian-based public transport company, which also operates overseas through its subsidiary Tower Transit Group. Transit Systems Group is a subsidiary of the Kelsian Group, formerly SeaLink Travel Group. History ...
subsidiary
Whippet Coaches Whippet, formerly Go Whippet, is a bus and coach operator based in Swavesey, Cambridgeshire, England. History Whippet Coaches was founded in Huntingdonshire by bicycle salesman Henry Lee in 1919. The first Whippet coach was converted from an ...
.The Busway official website
/ref> Buses for this service are operated under the Busway or Biobus brands. The X5 service operates between Bedford and
Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
via Milton Keynes,
Buckingham Buckingham ( ) is a market town in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire, which had a population of 12,890 at the 2011 Census. The town lies approximately west of Central Milton Keynes, sou ...
and
Bicester Bicester ( ) is a historical market towngarden town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Cherwell (district), Cherwell district of northeastern Oxfordshire in Southern England that also comprises an Eco-towns, eco town at North Wes ...
, and uses ADL Enviro 400MMC double deckers. Previously the service ran coaches, with the previous generation being
Plaxton Plaxton is an English builder of bus and coach vehicle bodies based in Scarborough. Founded in 1907 by Frederick William Plaxton, it became a subsidiary of Alexander Dennis in May 2007. In 2019, the maker was acquired by Canadian bus manufac ...
bodied
Volvo B11R The Volvo B11R is a 10.8-litre engined coach chassis available as both two- and tri-axle from Volvo since 2011. It was introduced as the second of the Volvo BXXR series, replacing the rest of the B12B range in 2011, and later its fellow BXXR pl ...
coaches. The X5 runs up to every 30 minutes most days. Until late August 2020, this service ran through to Cambridge but no longer does so; this leg is provided by a new 905 route. To assist the elderly and disabled, all routes have low-floor buses. The company carries over six million passengers per year, and its buses cover over 6 million miles. In 2021, in cooperation with the Combined Authority, Stagecoach began operation of 'Ting', a DRT system in West Huntingdonshire. The service is run by Fenstanton Depot.


Depots

Stagecoach East currently operates from four main depots, as detailed below. *
Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...
(St Johns Street) *
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
(Cowley Road) *
Fenstanton Fenstanton is a village and civil parish in Cambridgeshire, England, south of St Ives in Huntingdonshire, a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire and historic county. Fenstanton lies on the south side of the River Ouse. Known as ''St ...
(Cambridge Road) *
Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...
(Lincoln Road) The former Bedford outstation at
Biggleswade Biggleswade ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Central Bedfordshire in Bedfordshire, England. It lies on the River Ivel, 11 miles (18 km) south-east of Bedford. Its population was 16,551 in the 2011 United Kingdom census, and its es ...
closed in early 2018.


See also

*
List of bus operators of the United Kingdom :''This list is an alphabetically ordered index of current and past operators. For a structured list of current operators, see List of current bus operators of the United Kingdom'' This is a list of bus and coach operators of the United Kingdo ...
* Milton Keynes Coachway


References


External links


Stagecoach East websiteStagecoach X5 and 905 websiteInformation about services on The Busway
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stagecoach East Transport in Cambridge Transport in Peterborough Bus operators in Cambridgeshire Stagecoach Group bus operators in England Bus operators in Bedfordshire Transport in Bedford Flitwick Borough of Bedford