29/10/2007

• Perth selected as test-bed for innovative service aimed at UK car users
• Passengers tempted by Italian leather coach-style seats and smart interiors
• Customer promise and hand-picked drivers to guarantee service standards
• Bus fleets equipped with CCTV and some of Europe’s greenest engines
• Major direct marketing campaign plus new website to promote product

Stagecoach today (29 October 2007) unveiled a new luxury bus concept to tempt motorists out of their cars with the promise of superior comfort, service guarantees and state-of-the art green travel.

The Scottish-based transport group launched a pilot of the new goldline service in Perth, with plans to roll the new product out to key locations across the UK if it proves a success.

Passengers travelling on goldline will benefit from a comprehensive package that includes:

• Stylish and comfortable hand-stitched Italian-designed leather high-backed coach seats
• Specially-designed flooring, track lighting and a softer fabric interior
• Customer promise and staff charter with guaranteed service standards and free tickets if passengers are delayed by than 20 minutes because of factors within Stagecoach’s control.
• Hand-picked friendly drivers, turned out in smart navy uniform, with staff encouraged to undertake specialist vocational training.
• Cleaner and greener Euro 4 engines designed to help cut carbon emissions and protect the planet
• All vehicles fitted with CCTV for added comfort and safety
• Independent performance monitoring and published quarterly reports on punctuality and reliability.

Brian Souter, Stagecoach Group Chief Executive, said: “goldline is a completely new concept and we are challenging people to rethink their expectation of bus travel. This is about far more than a bus with leather seats. It is a complete package offering passengers luxury travel and unrivalled first-class customer service on some of the greenest state-of-the-art transport in Europe.

“Our research shows that some people stick with the car because they like some of the comforts it offers. With goldline, they can get catch a little luxury at a fraction of the cost of commuting to work by car – and do their bit to cut their carbon footprint and save the planet. We believe there is significant potential to roll the goldline concept out to further locations across the country.”

Stagecoach - named UK Bus Operator of the Year for the past two years and shortlisted for the same award in 2007 - is investing a total of £2million in the Perth trial and a similar test of the concept in Leamington Spa in England.

A £100,000 direct marketing campaign will support the launch of the goldline service. Press and bus shelter adverts will encourage passengers to “catch a little luxury”. Door-to-door sales team activity is planned and a dedicated customer website, www.stagecoachgoldline.com, has also been developed.

A £1million fleet of eight 12-metre next-generation Alexander Dennis Enviro 300 buses will operate the goldline product on the Service 7 route in Perth.

Service 7, which runs on the Hillend-City Centre-Scone route, carries more than 20,000 passengers every week. It operates every 10 minutes Monday to Saturday daytime, and up to every 30 minutes in the evening and on Sunday.

Bus fares on the service will stay the same, with unlimited weekly travel using a megarider ticket from just £6.50. Stagecoach is also improving the frequency of services later in the evening from every hour to every 30 minutes.

ENDS

For further information, please contact:
Steve Stewart, Director of Corporate Communications
Stagecoach Group
Tel: 01738 442111 or mobile 07764 774680
email: steven.stewart@stagecoachgroup.com

Notes to Editors

• Stagecoach Group is a leading international public transport group, with extensive operations in the UK, United States and Canada. The company employs around 27,000 people, and operates bus, coach, rail, and tram services.
• Stagecoach is one of the biggest bus operators in the UK, running more than 7,000 vehicles in around 100 towns and cities from the Highlands of Scotland to south-west England.
• For detailed information about Stagecoach bus services, including timetables, fares and tickets, go to www.stagecoachbus.com.
• Furniture for the photocall launch was supplied courtesy Gillies, Mill Street, Perth.