Sorry for the lack of posts over the last few days. A combination of trying to clear a large backlog of photos and also needing a few days break!
I did though manage to have a go on the new Falcon service last week
I have to say I am impressed with the coaches themselves. Very comfortable seats with reasonable leg room meant it was a very civilised ride to Bristol. I suffer from back problems and occasionally find that longer coach journies leave me in quite a bit of pain, but this was not the case at all with these coaches. I have heard reports that some of these rattle quite a bit but I cant say I noticed any at all on my trips. There was an annoying alarm that kept going off on one of the coaches but as I plugged my music in that didnt bother me either.
It was not all good news though. I found the wifi really dissapointing. On the way up there was no inernet at all and on the way back it was very hit and miss ( more miss than hit) with a limited slow connection available between Taunton and Exeter when it dropped again. The power socket though was really useful as it meant I could play my music all the way up and back on my phone.
I do hope that the operators eventually get wifi sorted as it rarely works reliably on any of the Citybus or Stagecoach buses I have used either.
Time keeping was not a problem for us on either journey with both runs arriving within 5 mins of their advertised timetable which on a long run like this is quite impressive, especially with so many roadworks around at the moment. Drivers were all very friendly and the coaches were all well driven. The lady on the coach coming home did “tell me off” in a frendly way for having a return ticket when I should have purchased two single tickets at £1 each - but did point out it was the drivers fault so she would accept it. (yes - I did get both trips for £1 - 50p each way!)
Loadings were pretty good too with aprox 25 on the way up and over 30 on the way back. I have heard a few reports of coaches being full and passengers being turned away on some journies. Stagecoach using Twitter to inform passengers when pick ups were being dropped (although I wonder how many passengers would have seen them). This should ease considerably when the proper fares kick in this week.
As for Bristol itself, I cant say I am a fan. My wife would have loved it for all the clothes shops but I am not a shopper and it was too cold to do much else. I basically had a three half hour trip up, then had a cooked breakfast, and a stroll around the park. spent a short whilke taking photos and then caught the coach back - having just two hours in Bristol, which was more than enough for me. Then a nice relaxing three half hours journey back. I cant remember the last time I just spent seven hours sitting back relaxing listening to music so for that alone I have to thank Stagecoach!
The garish orange and light blue interior does clash with the excellent livery from Best Impressions. Surely it's time for Stagecoach to up date its interior spec . Audi, BMW etc don't offer such poor interiors.
ReplyDeleteHave you been on a Falcon? The interior isn't 'garish', it's a calm mixture of blues and greys with the standard reddy-orange floor. Only the various handrails at the front are orange.
DeleteI actually like their cheery standard bus interior spec, it's much more bright and welcoming than that used by a lot of operators.
I agree with Bill E. The Stagecoach interior spec is now very dated indeed and looks cheap and tacky IMO.
DeleteIts a bus service .If they put expensive seats it bumps up the cost.If you are a businessman thats too much
DeleteIt is interesting what you say about being told off in a “friendly” way by the lady on the coach. Unless you spanned 2 days with your journey I am pretty confident that Stagecoach advertised their offer as £1 anywhere return on the Falcon service. The drivers (in my case) did issue a day return, although I don’t think the offer I saw actually specified a day return just a return. Don’t get me wrong this was a very generous offer and even at £2 return to Bristol from Plymouth it still was excellent value, however, I don’t think their advertising suggested that it was a £1 single journey.
ReplyDeleteI have written to Stagecoach to draw their attention to a problem with purchasing Explorplus day tickets at £8.50, valid on all Stagecoach South West services as far as Taunton, including the Falcon Service. When I tried to purchase one on the Falcon I was told by the driver that it cannot be purchased on the Falcon and I had to buy the £1 day return promotional ticket. It seems that it is also a bit tricky to purchase on other Stagecoach buses as many drivers seem to want to sell the £7.50 ticket that excludes Plymouth Citybus. I have queried this with Stagecoach’s customer services, however, I still have not received a reply from Stagecoach, being told that my query has been passed to their Operations department in Exeter. My moan is that why if Stagecoach make offers available do their employees sometimes seem to be unaware of the full range of them. Also why if the Explorplus day ticket is valid on the Falcon, it cannot be purchased on the Falcon service?
I would guess that before Stagecoach operated in the city area they were quite happy selling the £8.50 plus ticket but times change .. Do they really want to sell tickets for people to use Citybus? I suspect this ticket may be withdrawn soon.
DeleteWhy not? Stagecoach has the money, what does it matter to them what the customer does after that?
DeleteI cannot see why Stagecoach would be unhappy to sell their Explorplus ticket. Plymouth Citybus have their own version, called "Devon Explorer", this also costs £8.50 and can be used on all Stagecoach South West's services as far as Taunton.
DeleteGood news on the Explorplus ticket (well for me at least!). I had a reply from Stagecoach. The Explorplus ticket is to be made available for purchase on the Falcon, as well as continuing to be available to purchase on all their other South West (as far as Taunton) bus services. Thank you Stagecoach, I shall certainly continue to take advantage of this great ticketing option. Also many thanks for allowing me to share this on Plymothian Transit.
DeleteIts the programming that was not done properly.Dont forget its a new service.
DeleteAnonymous 29th February 20:48 you were right. The Citybus Devon Explorer and Stagecoach Explorplus tickets will be withdrawn on 1st April 2016 to be replaced by the Devon County Council initiative Devon Day ticket at £8.50 which is only available until the 30th September 2016 and is not valid on the South West Falcon
DeleteI wholeheartedly agree on all your comments! Very comfortable, and a really realxing journey up and back. Nice and quiet, smooth ride, very very relaxing. WiFi didn't work at all but to be honest i wasn't expecting it to as it never seems to really work on other operators as you said too. Safe to say my assumption wasn't wrong! Power socket was good, drivers vey friendly and helpful, and full of information to help passengers, like fares, giving out timetables etc. very impressive.
ReplyDeleteit was a very good journey, even at normal fares it should be popular, especially the bristol airport connection in one journey, something not possible with a train from plymouth. i found the journey exactly the same- good seats, great drivers, good power socket but as usual the wifi didn't work (but who can complain at £1 each way ). very relaxing and enjoyable, must do again.
Does anyone else think that Stagecoach is going to confusion hell with all its sub-brands? Gold, Falcon, Hop, Megabus, etc. Is there actually a plan or is it anything goes nowadays?
ReplyDeleteNo, not at all. Why should there be confusion? Each brand is separate and doing something specific in its own market. You could argue that there's some overlap/competition between Falcon and Megabus but so what, as long as the customer is happy with the fare he's paid and the service he's received.
DeleteSurely there'd be more confusion if all those brands were running buses in the same livery with different specs regarding type of seat, availability or not of wifi etc? I think Stagecoach is doing exactly the right thing, they *have* to make their products stand out. Apart from which, does a Joe Public non-enthusiast type person even care who's behind Falcon or Megabus? It's not the be-all-and-end-all, which is why the Stagecoach name is only used discretely on those brands - it's not a secret but it's not a biggie either.
Does it matter? Go North East and Reading buses use different brands and liveries for each route (or group of routes), and of course Plymouth Citybus is following a similar course.
DeleteStagecoach here heavily brand their route as "route 55" very, very few people know it as anything other than the 55 and even though buses carry Stagecoach livery no one associates it with Stagecoach.
Which is more important, a local image which people identify with, or being able to travel from Plymouth to Inverness and say "oh look, the buses are the same"?
Sub brands are ok.Look at Arriva Shires they have Sapphire Max and Greenline brands that compliment each other.Megabus will compliment the Falcon.
DeleteOff topic, but anyone know which of the Stagecoach P&R E400 MMCs was sent for respray works with Car to Coach Vehicle Refinishers? Pics can be seen on their FB page but no details on which vehicle it was.
ReplyDeleteWork appears to be respray to a handful of panels on the offside.
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DeleteI could not agree with you more. Stagecoach have a great reputation so don't need to be having all these various brands. Corporate livery is the best one anyway, in my opinion.
ReplyDelete