Stagecoach East Scotland are finalists at the Scottish Transport Awards with a further 3 Stagecoach entries from across the country also short-listed.
The company\'s operations across Fife, Dundee, Angus and Perthshire have been short-listed for the prestigious Public Transport Operator of the Year award, the JET747 service has been short-listed for the Best Bus Service category and the Express City Connect network is in the running for the Travel Information and Marketing award.
Stagecoach East Scotland operate local bus and coach services across Fife, Perthshire, Dundee and Angus and into Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stirling and Aberdeen. The company employs over 1320 employees from 9 depots across the region and operate around 30 million miles per year using over 500 buses and coaches.
The popular JET747 service operates the only direct public transport link between Fife and Edinburgh Airport and carries over 5000 passengers per week. Last year the service was expanded to provide buses 24 hours a day, and just last week the frequency of the service increased to operate every 20 minutes on Mondays to Saturdays.
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, free wifi and kids activity packs have helped make the services an attractive alternative to the car, achieving increased passenger numbers.
Continual investment and development in the Express City Connect network has meant that ongoing branding efforts and engaging marketing campaigns have taken place over recent years.
Jon Oakey, Acting General Manager, Stagecoach East Scotland said: \"Our employees are at the forefront of delivering quality services to our customers all year round and we\'re very proud that their constant efforts can be recognised. We endeavour to operate frequent, reliable services for the communities we serve and we work hard to create a network of routes to meet people\'s needs. Right now we\'re asking people to comment on our proposals for some service revisions to take place in June and we hope we can create the best network possible.
\"Our JET747 has been popular since it\'s launch in 2006 and we continue to look at ways to improve the service, with investment in new vehicles planned later this year and a frequency increase having been implemented in time for the Easter holidays.
\"I\'m delighted that our marketing efforts in promoting the Express City Connect network have been recognised by the judges too. Investment in new coaches later this year will provide another opportunity to create awareness of the luxury services available and provide an improved customer experience.”
The Express coach network has won the award for Top Express Operation for the previous 2 years at the UK Coach Awards and the Coastrider X7 route, part of the Express network, has previously won the award for Best Bus Service at the 2015 Scottish Transport Awards.
Stagecoach nationally is in the running for 6 awards overall at the 2017 Scottish Transport Awards and, with involvement in a further 3 projects which are also short-listed.
Winners due to be announced at a ceremony in Glasgow in June, the awards are hosted by Transport Times Events.
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.
