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| A new Enviro 400MMC double-decker on service 1. Are there more on the way for service 100? |
When the Bus Users' Group spoke to Mark Whitelocks, Stagecoach Cumbria & N Lancs Managing Director earlier in the year about the new double-deckers that had recently appeared on services 1/1A he told us that he "hoped" to be in a position to announce more good news when he came to speak to us at our meeting in May. In the event Mark was unable to attend but his replacement, Operations Director Tom Waterhouse, was similarly upbeat although he still wasn't able to make a definite announcement.
But the BUG casts its net far and wide when seeking information on the likely prospects for Lancaster's bus passengers and a little research following Mr. Waterhouse's talk turned up this announcement from Steven Knight Media, which describes itself as a "PR, media and publications business, specialising in the public transport sector" and therefore seems as if it ought to know what its talking about!
On May 20th, its website reported:
Stagecoach UK Bus
Stagecoach has announced details of its new bus orders for 2019/20. The announcement was made this afternoon covers the provincial fleets and the order represents investment of £80m. The order comprises Details of the new orders are as follows... 131 ADL Enviro 400MMCs 11139-11156 Morecambe [Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire] 11157 Carlisle [Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire] 11158 Carlisle but currently with Stagecoach UK Bus for IT cloud evaluation [Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire] 11161-11162 Elgin [Stagecoach North Scotland] 11163-11175 Macduff [Stagecoach North Scotland] 11176-11191 Aberhill [Stagecoach East Scotland] 11192-11201 Hull [Stagecoach East Midlands] 11202-11215 Morecambe [Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire] (17) Northampton [Stagecoach Midlands] (21) Witney [Stagecoach Oxfordshire] (18) Sharston [Stagecoach Manchester]
(The post continued with details of further new buses for other areas)
Buses 11139-11156 are the 18 new double-deckers that came into service in January on services 1 and 1A and were brought forward from this year's order. But the buses to be numbered 11202 to 11215 really are NEW and the BUG understands that they will be deployed on services 100 and 2X, which interwork across Morecambe.
Of course, this still isn't an official announcement by Stagecoach and shouldn't be treated as such, but if it comes about then a fleet of no fewer than 32 new buses, all built to the latest ultra-low emission standards (Euro VI) will be in operation on the two most frequent services passing through lancaster and Morecambe.
Apart from the difference they will make to air quality in the town centres this investment shows a high degree of confidence by the company in the future of its Lancaster operations and the BUG looks forward to seeing the new buses in service soon.
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