Stagecoach launch their new double deck luxury
day/sleeper coach.
Using, by now, the well tried Van Hool Astromega as
the basis for this new vehicle,
Stagecoach
introduces a totally new concept of a coach which can operate as a sleeper at
night and a luxury coach by day, bringing a whole new way of travel in this 10th
anniversary year of the megabus.com product.
A very high
quality wide leather seat is available to travelers by day and a most
comfortable bed by night. To add to the travel experience free Wi-Fi and power
sockets are provided and additionally an onboard concierge will provide
complimentary refreshments.
Ten of these fine coaches will be delivered by July
18th when a full service will be possible on the following routes. The first
service will be on May 1st between
The new coach poses in front of the o2 Arena at north
Greenwich on launch day.
The planned
routes for megabusGold.com will be:
Night
sleeper services:
Aberdeen -
Perth - Dundee - Cumbernauld – London
Day
luxury Gold service:
From July 18th
There are
eight duties and ten coaches for the total service.
Two drivers
will operate each coach with the second-man able to act as the
concierge/steward.
On the night
services tea, coffee, juices and water will be served on boarding.
In the morning
nearing the end of the journey, a further serving will be made.
On the day services, following the model of the
citylink
gold
service, tea or coffee and a
Chocolate Panini or croissant will be served on
departure and between noon and 6 pm sandwiches will be available. After
It is possible
that not all beds will be made up on the long night services, at the start of
the journey, as some customers may wish to sit up for the early part of the
journey. Their beds could be made up later during the evening. Operating
experience will prove if this concept will work in practice.
Price for the
long overnight services are expected be range between £15 and £60 depending upon
load factors.
The colour
scheme of the new coaches is overall maroon with gold writing and trim. The
interior and areas can be seen from the pictures is in restful colours enhanced
by maroon leather seats.
A significant
investment is being made in this new fleet of coaches introducing a major
improvement to an already highly successful brand.
Sir Brian Souter who attended the
launch commented “This takes us to a new level
of service and realises an ambition that germinated in my mind thirty years ago
when I purchased an old Bristol Lodekka which had been with Top Deck Travel. It
offered beds on trips out of the
He
further commented
“with the 24
beds on the current bendi-sleeper coaches we can make a break even but with 42
beds we can operate a profitable service, 40 being the break even”
“The coaches
were a hybrid of ideas meeting the challenge of how get the best out a coach,
day and night and improve comfort to the passenger.”
Those older
coaches have done well for Stagecoach in their operating days from the autumn of
2011 and they will still remain to offer additional capacity when required. In
fact the service has been popular with passengers recording a 98% success rate
on recommendation to a friend.
The incoming CEO, Martin Griffiths
said that he felt that megabus.com was the most exciting innovation in travel in
the 21st century and the new Astromega takes the concept to an even
higher level.
Sir Brian and Martin Griffiths are justly very happy with their new coach.
A wheelchair
facility is provided on the new coaches and this is located ahead of the
washroom facilities unlike the older Astromegas who have this facility ahead of
the rear door on the nearside. The
seats for two passengers are taken out and stored in
the luggage compartment, when the space for the wheelchair is required.
Seating capacities are as follows:
17 or 15 with
one wheelchair or 10 berths on the lower deck.
38 seats or 32
berths on the upper deck.
In day
use this gives a capacity of 55/53 or night use 42.
The coach is
to very latest design of the TX model and at 15 metres (49 ft 2 in) is the
longest variant of the Van Hool design.
The pictures
convey an idea of what the coach is like but the full impact can only be judged
from actually seeing for yourself.
The rear nearside of this fine coach.
Some pictures of the interior showing the day mode of the coach.
How the beds are made up for night travel.
The location of the wheel chair place with the day seats fitted.
London Manager, Mark Atkinson with two of his team pose in front of the new
coach.
Ones
mind is taken back to previous similar concepts.
To the best of
my knowledge this is the first time since the summer of 1929 that anyone has
tried a full sleeper coach service in the
The downfall
of that service was the low fares and limited use of the coaches and the company
faded away very quickly.
With thanks to
Vintage Bus Album edited by Ken Blacker.