Its been an open secret for some time now but Stagecoach’s plans for Plymouth include a brand new Plymouth - Exeter - Bristol service.
The always entertaining (and opinionated!) Public Transport Experience blog has the details we have all be waiting for:
The "South West Falcon" will provide a regular city link from Plymouth to the centre of Bristol calling at Exeter Park & Ride, Taunton Park & Ride,Bristol Airport and selected villages on the A38/M5/A38 corridor on a turn-up and go basis
More information will follow in the coming weeks, but we also wanted to share a sneak peak at the brand new 15 metre Volvo B11R / Plaxton Elite coaches that we will be running on the service in a striking gun metal grey livery with blue and green relief, and are nearing completition at the factory.
We atill await full details and timetables, and more importantly the fares for this ambitious new service. Calling in at the Exeter and Taunton Park & Ride sites rather than in their centres is an interesting choice in that it keeps the overall journey times down but does make it less conveniant for passengers in those towns. Maybe in Exeter at least they will come up with some through fares connecting up with local buses, although not sure if that will be possible in Taunton.
So, will it work? I for one certainly hope so and look forward to trying the service out when it starts. More details as they get released will appear here (and on Public Transport Experience!)
...........they don't say which P&R in Exeter, guess it will be Honiton Road, but could be others?
ReplyDeleteIn theory it could be any but Honiton Road is the biggest and by far the quickest to get on and off the M5 for, I really can't see them doing anything else. They don't say which P&R in Taunton either but that'll have to be Gateway as it's as good as next to the M5.
DeletePerhaps it's just me but I would have like to have seen the livery include red and orange trim rather than green. It looks too much like an Arriva livery than a Stagecoach one to me but I guess that's not so much of an issue in the SW as it might be in the rest of the country.
They tend to have colours that strike out .Look at the new Buchan link coaches or X5 ones .
DeleteHopefully Honiton Road although with the bus depot moving to Matford who knows. Surely Honiton Road being an existing Nat Express stop makes sense. Also they could get some trade as fun fares aren't available from Hontion Road on National Express.
ReplyDeleteDigby & Sowton P&R will be where the Coaches stop. Just off the Motorway
ReplyDeleteWell hopefully this will work for Stagecoach. Stagecoach SW have got quite a good track record with things like this so I am sure they have done their homework etc. I am sure this will lure customers off X Country trains whom are quite expensive as I suspect fares on this service will be quite low, and the Plymouth to Bristol Airport will be very popular I am sure!
ReplyDeleteOpinionated? Moi? Surely not? But I would prefer Falconry to Falconary. Pedantic? Moi? Surely not?
ReplyDeleteHa! you got me there! I wish my spell checker would come back!
Delete1st coach has apparently arrived at The Ride
ReplyDeleteSo while Citybus pick up the scraps left in Cornwall, Stagecoach are looking at expanding their long distance premium services. Good on them! Let's hope they make a success out of this.
ReplyDeleteThe link from Plymouth direct to Bristol Airport would definitely be useful and possibly much faster than the train to Temple Meads and then the slow shuttle bus back out of the city through all the traffic. If Stagecoach can do it for less than £35pp single (which is the very cheapest you can do it currently via train at an obscure time of day) then it should prove very successful.
ReplyDeleteElite big beast the braking noise is brilliant.It will be a success i know Stagecoach will make a fight of it .
ReplyDeleteElite big beasts wish they could use them on Megabus the braking noise tells you its an Elite on the way.
ReplyDeleteBraking noise?
ReplyDeleteSounds good that retarder lol.
Hope they get the custom they deserve, this will work for sure.
Pay on bus, first come first served? I would like to know I'm going to get to the airport at my desired time, not turn up at the pick-up point to find out the coach is already full and I will need to wait till the next one. Need some amount of pre paid tickets.
ReplyDeleteIf tickets are around £35 and it is all pay on bus, it means the driver could with a full load each way be c carrying over £5,000 on his return trip. Possibly an easy target for some criminals.
Good points all the way thru Buddy.
DeleteAgree with you there.
Fares could be paid in at select points but the Airport service and possibly a full coach, great point.