Stagecoach Midlands

Stagecoach Midlands is the name for most bus routes in Northamptonshire and Warwickshire. The legal name for the company is United Counties Omnibus Company Ltd in Northamptonshire and Midland Red (South) Ltd in Warwickshire.[1]

Stagecoach Midlands
Alexander Dennis Enviro200 in September 2020
FoundedJuly 2010 out of the merger of the Stagecoach in Northants part of Stagecoach East and Stagecoach Warwickshire [1]
HeadquartersNorthampton, Northamptonshire
Service areaNorthamptonshire, Warwickshire, Leicestershire, Milton Keynes
Service typeBus service
AllianceStagecoach Group
Routesvarious across Northamptonshire Warwickshire with routes to Milton Keynes Bedford Leicester & Peterborough
Stops100+
StationsNorth Gate Bus staition, Northampton
OperatorStagecoach
Websitehttps://www.stagecoachbus.com

In towns, local bus routes are mostly under their own branding. These are Connect Kettering, Connect Wellingborough, Corby Star, and Daventry Dart, while Northampton has no local name but is part of the Buzz[2] fare scheme.[3]

Depots

Brands

Matrix

The Matrix brand was used by Stagecoach Midlands Nuneaton depot for routes 55, 56 and 57 between Coventry, Bedworth and Nuneaton from 2008 until 2015 when the brand was dropped due to the age of the fleet of MAN Enviro200s that sported this livery.[4]

PrimeLine 48

PrimeLine 48 was the initial name given to the high frequency service 48 between Coventry and Nuneaton via Bedworth. The route has previously run with Dennis Dart vehicles and Alexander Dennis Enviro200s, until February 2018 when the service became a Stagecoach Gold route, running with long body Alexander Dennis Enviro200 MMCs.

The service runs at a frequency of every 10 minutes Coventry to Nuneaton, with every other service extending to either Atherstone or Hinckley, Earl Shilton and Leicester.[5]

Goldline and Stagecoach Gold
A Stagecoach in Warwickshire Optare Solo in the Stagecoach Gold livery for special service G1 (previously Goldline).
The logo used for the Goldline service.

In Warwick, the ’'Goldline'’’ service started on 12 November 2007, immediately after the buses were launched by Stagecoach Group chief executive Sir Brian Souter.[6]

The service uses a fleet of 11 Optare Solos, on route 66 which was renumbered G1 following the introduction of Goldline.[6] From mid-2015 this fleet of Optare Solos was displaced by 14 new Optare Solo SR vehicles, with a revised branding and livery to reflect the "Stagecoach Gold" brand name rather than the outdated "Goldline" name. It has since lost it's Gold branding and is numbered service 1.

The route operated at a frequency of around every 10 minutes Monday to Saturday daytime and every half-hour on evenings and Sundays.[7] With effect from 2nd November 2020, the service level was slightly reduced to every 12 minutes.

Services X46 and X47 also run as Stagecoach Gold services, running from Northampton to Wellingborough, Rushden, Higham Ferrers and Raunds. Buses did once extend further to Thrapston, though this part of the route was dropped due to low passenger numbers.[8] The Stagecoach Gold Brand was Dropped in 2020 with the changes in the brand.

Connect Kettering

Connect Kettering was the brand name of six bus routes in the town of Kettering in Northamptonshire, England. . Before Connect Kettering all buses were part of Stagecoach and all buses had the Stagecoach livery prior to gaining this livery, they are now been repainted to the standard Stagecoach colors.

Connect Wellingborough

Connect Wellingborough is the brand name of eight bus routes in the town of Wellingborough in Northamptonshire, England. The buses are operated by Stagecoach and as of 21 October 2019 Grant Palmer ltd . When the brand was established in 2006, the eight routes had new route numbers (which can be identified with 'W'), buses with new green colours, new bus stop signage, and later daily finishing times. Before Connect Wellingborough all buses were part of Stagecoach, all buses had the Stagecoach livery, and some routes finished at around 1500. There now exists no Connect Wellingborough name, and all local Wellingborough routes are now run by vehicles in standard Stagecoach livery.

Corby Star

Corby Star is the brand name for a bus service operated in the town of Corby in Northamptonshire, England. Services run to all estates in Corby,[9] with opportunities to transfer to Stagecoach services bound for Milton Keynes, Peterborough and Kettering. As of 2018 however, Stagecoach Midlands Corby depot was reduced to being an outstation for local routes only, with the main operations for Corby running from the Kettering depot. The amount of Corby Star liveried vehicles has therefore decreased, though it is currently the only sub-brand kept by Stagecoach, with Connect Wellingborough, Connect Kettering and Daventry Dart no longer existing.

Daventry Dart
A Stagecoach Midlands Enviro200 with Daventry markings for routes D1/D2/D3. Note the exception of "Daventry Dart", a sub-brand name no longer used.

Daventry Dart was the name for six bus routes in and around Daventry, Northamptonshire, England. Most services under this brand ironically operated using Dennis Dart vehicles. The sub-brand has however since been dropped, with buses receiving only 'D' suffixed route numbers to indicate that they serve the Daventry area.[10]

The X4

The X4 was formerly branded as "Cross Country", using the same name as Stagecoach East route X5 which it once connected with at Milton Keynes. The X4 became a Stagecoach Gold route in 2011. However, as of July 2018, buses have stopped running between Northampton and Milton Keynes in favour of the X7 service from Leicester running this part of the route, replaced by X6 in July 2019.

References
  1. Stagecoach press release, 23 July 2010 Archived 1 January 2011 at WebCite
  2. http://www3.northamptonshire.gov.uk/councilservices/northamptonshire-highways/buses/Pages/northampton-buzz-card.aspx
  3. Stagecoach Northants timetables Archived 17 December 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  4. 55/56/57 timetable, correct as of August 2018
  5. Stagecoach Gold 48 timetable, correct as of August 2018
  6. "Goldline Stagecoach style". Malcolm Crowe. 18 November 2007. Archived from the original on 1 January 2011. Retrieved 6 February 2009.
  7. "Goldline G1 timetable" (PDF). Stagecoach in Warwickshire. Retrieved 6 February 2009.
  8. Stagecoach Gold X46/X47 timetable, correct as of August 2018
  9. Corby Star timetable, correct as of April 2009
  10. Daventry local timetable, correct as of August 2018
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