Stagecoach has been short-listed for three top honours at the 2017 UK Coach Awards.
The transport group’s Express City Connect network has been nominated for the Top Express Operation at the UK Coach Awards.
Stagecoach East Scotland are hoping to retain the Top Express Operation award at the 7th annual event held in Manchester, as the company has been awarded the prestigious accolade for the last two years.
This year the network has also been short-listed for the \'Making Buses a Better Choice\' award, as well as the \'Coach Marketing Award\'.
Stagecoach East Scotland’s Express City Connect network operates high-quality coach services across Fife and into Edinburgh, Perth, Dundee, Aberdeen and Glasgow. Facilities such as leather seats, on board toilets, power sockets, air conditioning and free wi-fi have helped make the services an attractive alternative to the car, achieving increased passenger numbers.
The network offers a high standard of customer service. Staff are available at all connecting bus stations in Fife, Dundee and Edinburgh to provide information and assistance for passengers. Around 310 drivers are involved in the delivery of the services.
Following a total investment of over £12m in the past 5 years, high specification coaches now operate on all the Express City Connect networks between Fife, Dundee, Perth, Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Most recently, £1.8m was spent on 6 brand new coaches for various routes within the network to increase capacity and improve customer experience and a route extension was launched in August 2016 to include a direct service to Glasgow Airport from Fife.
In recent years the all new website, stagecoachbus.com was launched, providing detailed journey planning, real-time bus tracking, fare information and the ability to save and receive updates about regular journeys and the Stagecoachbus app was introduced last year to provide real-time journey tracking and mobile ticketing.
Stagecoach East Scotland Acting General Manager Jon Oakey said: “Being nominated for the prestigious \'Top Express Operation\' award at the UK Coach Awards for the third year running is a testament to the continued hard work of our employees who are at the forefront of delivering these express services to our customers all year round. This year\'s short-list also recognises the ongoing marketing efforts involved to promote our services as a desirable alternative to taking the car.
“We carry around 4.8 million passengers a year on our Express City Connect network and by continuing to invest in new vehicles, with free wi-fi, and delivering excellent customer service, we aim to continually attract even more people on to our greener, smarter coach services in the future.”
The UK Coach Awards recognises the dedication and professionalism of individuals and operators across the UK coach industry, with awards covering 16 categories.
Stagecoach East Scotland won the Top Express Operation award in 2015 and 2016. In previous years Stagecoach’s megabusGold.com sleepercoach service has won the Technology and Innovation award, while the company’s megabus.com operations have previously also scooped the Coach Marketing Award.
For more information about Stagecoach bus services visit www.stagecoachbus.com
Stagecoach East Scotland
Stagecoach UK Bus is part of the Stagecoach Group and is one of the largest bus operators in the UK, operating express and local bus services across the country.
