25th Apr 2005 09:00
Stagecoach Group PLC25 April 2005 25 April 2005 STAGECOACH GROUP PLACES NEW BUS ORDERS FOR UK • 169-vehicle order supports passenger growth in and outside London • Total new vehicle investment in UK for 2005-06 reaches around £55 million Stagecoach Group plc announced today (25 April 2005) that it has placed neworders for 169 vehicles for its UK bus operations. The latest orders, following the announcement last month that Stagecoach wasbuying 340 vehicles, brings the total investment in new buses in the UK for2005-06 to around £55 million. The new state-of-the-art low-floor vehicles will be introduced in Stagecoach'sprovincial bus operations, which last year achieved passenger growth of 1.4%,and as part of new contracts run on behalf of Transport for London. Stagecoach will take delivery of the fleet of new vehicles between August 2005and March 2006. Orders have been placed with vehicle manufacturers Alexander Dennis, MAN,Optare, Wrightbus and Volvo for 35 single-deckers, 79 double-deckers and 55midi-buses. Details of the orders are: €49 Alexander Dennis Trident ALX400 double-deckers for London €30 Alexander Dennis Trident ALX400 double-deckers for provincial operations €28 MAN 18.220 single deck chassis/ Alexander Dennis ALX300 bodies €5 Alexander Dennis Enviro 300 12 metre single deckers €30 Alexander Dennis Dart Pointer midibuses €25 Optare Solo midibuses €2 Wrightbus Eclipse Commuter body/Volvo B7RLE chassis single deckers Les Warneford, Managing Director of Stagecoach UK Bus, said: "This latestinvestment reflects our success in generating organic passenger growth in our UKprovincial bus operations and in winning new contracts in London. MORE "Our key strengths of innovation, investment, targeted marketing and productivepartnerships with local transport authorities are attracting thousands of newcustomers out of their cars and on to our buses every week." All new vehicles are fitted with the latest environmentally friendly Euro 3 lowemission engines and will run on low sulphur diesel. They are equipped withmodern heating and ventilation, low floor access for parents with youngchildren, people with disabilities and elderly passengers, and many feature aspecial 'kneeling' mechanism to assist boarding from the pavement.The Wrightbus vehicles have a special roll-on access design for wheelchair usersusing a ramp in the main passenger entrance, rather than an expensiveside-mounted lift used on other high-floor vehicles. ENDS For further information, please contact: Steve Stewart, Head of Media and Public Affairs, Stagecoach Group Tel: 01738 442111 or mobile 07764 774680 NOTES TO EDITORS Stagecoach is one of UK's biggest bus and coach operators, connectingcommunities in nearly 100 towns and cities. The company runs around 7,000 vehicles from Devon in south-west England toInverness in the Highlands of Scotland, carrying around 2 million passengersevery day. Stagecoach recently set up a new telemarketing unit at its headquarters in Perthas part of its organic growth strategy and has launched targeted campaigns in anumber of locations in the UK to encourage non-users to switch to bus travel. The campaigns, which include the offer of a week's free travel and focus inparticular on mothers and car users, have seen up to one in five of thosecontacted switch to the bus. Stagecoach is concentrating on a new town or city every six weeks and intends totarget up to 20% of its bus networks in the UK over the next two years. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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