Stagecoach employees to play a key role at London 2012 Olympics
02 Jul 2012
• Large-scale bus operation to deliver athlete and media transport
• Additional rail services to operate for Olympic spectators
• Employees from Orkney to Dover to be part of Games
Stagecoach bus and rail employees from across the UK are to play a key role in supporting the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Employees from Orkney in Scotland to Porth in Wales and Dover in England will play an important part in delivering public transport for the global sporting event this summer.
More than 2,630 Stagecoach bus drivers and support staff will help provide transport for athletes and media throughout the Games after the transport operator was selected by the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG) to deliver one of the largest transport contracts for the event.
And Stagecoach Group’s rail franchises – South West Trains and East Midlands Trains – are among the UK rail operators providing additional services and extra capacity throughout the Olympic and Paralympic Games, as well as special tickets for Olympic Games spectators.
With more than 14,700 athletes and 21,000 media representatives heading to London for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Stagecoach’s UK Bus Project Team has been involved in detailed preparations with LOCOG for over a year. The transport group will provide around half of the 1000 buses needed to deliver the contract, with the remaining vehicles being provided by other bus and coach operators in the UK*.
Stagecoach’s involvement will require varying levels of support from its regional bus companies across the UK. The vehicles provided by Stagecoach will be a mixture of brand new buses and existing vehicles from its fleet which are able to be released for Olympic duty while at the same time allowing the company to continue running all of its normal services for passengers across the country.
Almost all of Stagecoach’s 100 depots across the UK will help provide resources for the Games – with staff heading to London from as far afield as Orkney.
The table below provides a breakdown of the number of drivers attending the Games from each Stagecoach depot across the UK.
Stagecoach Group Chief Executive Sir Brian Souter said: “The London 2012 Games are a once in a lifetime opportunity for our people to be involved in a global event on this scale. We are proud to be involved in the Games and look forward to helping make the event a success for spectators and athletes alike. We also send our best wishes to the British Olympic and Paralympic teams. The whole country is behind them and we all hope they are among the medals when the competition starts."
Stagecoach will manage two bus depots throughout the Olympic and Paralympic Games – one at West Ham and one at Beckton. Stagecoach West Scotland Operations Director Rob Jones and Stagecoach East Midlands Operations Director Richard Kay have been appointed as depot General Managers, while Stagecoach Midlands Operations Director Elizabeth Esnouf was seconded to the role of Olympic Project Director in 2011.
More than eight million people are expected to travel to the London 2012 Games venues and Stagecoach’s rail franchises will be instrumental in providing fast, frequent, reliable and affordable rail journeys into the capital city.
Special Games train tickets are still available exclusively to Olympic and Paralympic spectators through a dedicated website, www.nationalrailgamestravel.co.uk. The 2012 Games Train Tickets are designed to allow more flexibility by enabling spectators to change the time they return should an event be unexpectedly rescheduled, or if they simply wish to stay longer.
Stagecoach Group has a wealth of experience in providing transport to high profile, global events including the Ryder Cup, the British Grand Prix, the Wimbledon tennis championships and the 2010 Papal visit to Glasgow.
The Olympic Games run from 27 July to 12 August, with the Paralympic Games taking place between 29 August and 9 September.
For further information about Stagecoach UK Bus visit www.stagecoachbus.com or to find out more about booking rail tickets visit www.nationalrailgamestravel.co.uk
For more information about LOCOG visit – www.london2012.com
ENDS
For media enquiries, please contact: Stagecoach Group Communications on 01738 442111 or email: media@stagecoachgroup.com
NOTES TO EDITORS
|
Operating Company |
Depot |
Driver numbers |
|
STAGECOACH BLUEBIRD
|
Aberdeen
Buchan
Elgin
TOTAL |
17
12
17
46 |
|
STAGECOACH HIGHLAND
|
Aviemore
Caithness
Fort William
Inverness
Orkney
Portree-Kyle
TOTAL |
2
6
5
15
3
2
33 |
|
STAGECOACH EAST SCOTLAND
|
Aberhill
Arbroath
Cowdenbeath
Dundee
Dunfermline
Glenrothes
Perth
St Andrews
TOTAL |
18
11
10
17
24
19
14
8
121 |
|
STAGECOACH WEST SCOTLAND
|
Ardrossan
Ayr
Cumnock
Dumfries
Glasgow
Kilmarnock
Stranraer
TOTAL |
9
21
4
11
12
30
2
89 |
|
STAGECOACH NORTH EAST
|
Hartlepool
Slatyford
South Shields
Stockton
Sunderland
Walkergate
TOTAL |
10
41
24
23
32
44
174 |
|
STAGECOACH CUMBRIA & NORTH LANCASHIRE
|
Barrow
Carlisle
Kendal
Lancaster
West Cumbria
TOTAL |
16
29
3
29
22
99 |
|
STAGECOACH MERSEYSIDE AND SOUTH LANCASHIRE
|
Chorley
Gillmoss
Preston
TOTAL |
11
63
33
107 |
|
STAGECOACH MANCHESTER
|
Ashton
Hyde Road
Sharston
Stockport
TOTAL |
34
71
59
59
223 |
|
STAGECOACH YORKSHIRE
|
Barnsley
Chesterfield
Ecclesfield
Holbrook
Rawmarsh
TOTAL |
31
31
27
24
28
141 |
|
STAGECOACH EAST MIDLANDS
|
Gainsborough
Grimsby
Hull
Lincoln
Mansfield
Scunthorpe
Skegness
Worksop
TOTAL |
5
17
23
18
16
5
7
14
105 |
|
STAGECOACH MIDLANDS
|
Corby
Kettering
Leamington
Northampton
Nuneaton
Rugby
Stratford
TOTAL |
8
19
12
31
13
21
2
106 |
|
STAGECOACH EAST
|
Bedford
Cambridge
Fenstanton
Peterborough
TOTAL |
28
44
8
25
105 |
|
STAGECOACH OXFORDSHIRE
|
Banbury
Oxford
Witney
TOTAL |
5
20
8
33 |
|
STAGECOACH WEST
|
Cheltenham
Coleford
Gloucester
Ross-on-Wye
Stroud
Swindon
TOTAL |
14
4
23
6
6
21
74 |
|
STAGECOACH SOUTH WALES
|
Blackwood
Brynmawr
Caerphilly
Cwmbran
Merthyr
Porth
TOTAL |
14
8
9
27
25
21
104 |
|
STAGECOACH SOUTH
|
Aldershot
Andover
Basingstoke
Chichester
Portsmouth
Winchester
Worthing
TOTAL |
22
5
13
13
19
14
17
103 |
|
STAGECOACH SOUTH EAST |
Ashford
Canterbury & Herne Bay
Dover
Eastbourne
Folkestone
Hastings
Thanet
TOTAL |
16
20
16
20
14
16
22
124 |
|
STAGECOOACH SOUTH WEST
|
Barnstaple
Exeter
Torquay
TOTAL |
16
65
34
115 |
|
STAGECOACH UK BUS |
GRAND TOTAL |
1902 |
*List of transport operators involved in delivering the Olympic and Paralympic Games Athlete and Media contract on behalf of LOCOG:
Stagecoach; Allenby Coach Hire Ltd; Barnes Coaches; Baynes Travel; Bluebird Coaches (Weymouth) Ltd; Centaur Minicoaches; Country Lion (Northampton) Ltd; Coxy Travel Ltd; EYMS Group Ltd; Golden Boy Coaches Ltd; Guideissue Ltd t/a Bakers Coaches; Heyfordian Travel Ltd; Holmeswood Coaches Ltd; Impact Group Plc; Logans Executive Travel; London Borough Redbridge; Marshalls Coaches; Marshalls of Sutton on Trent Ltd; Matthews Coach Hire Ltd; Metroline Travel Ltd; National Express; Redline Buses; Regent Coaches; Safford Coaches Ltd; Simonds Coach & Travel Ltd; south Mimms Travel Ltd; Southgate and Finchley Coaches Ltd; Stephensons of Essex; Suffolk County Council Travel Services; Sullivan Buses; Thamesdown Transport Ltd; Thirlwell Coaches; Translink; Travel London Ltd (t/a Abellio London); W&H Motors Ltd; Wicksons.
Stagecoach Group
• Stagecoach Group is a leading international public transport group, with extensive operations in the UK, United States and Canada. The company employs 35,000 people and operates bus, coach, rail, and tram services.
• Stagecoach is one of UK’s biggest bus and coach operators. Around 2.5 million passengers travel on Stagecoach's 7,700 buses every day on a network stretching from south-west England to the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. The company's business includes major city bus operations in London, Liverpool, Newcastle, Hull, Manchester, Oxford, Sheffield and Cambridge.
• Stagecoach is a major UK rail operator, running the South West Trains, Island Line and East Midlands Trains networks. It has a 49% shareholding in Virgin Rail Group, which operates the West Coast inter-city rail franchise.
• Stagecoach also operates the Sheffield tram network.
• In North America, Stagecoach operates around 1,900 buses and coaches in the United States and Canada. Budget coach service megabus.com links around 80 key locations in North America. Stagecoach is also involved in operating commuter and transit services, as well as tours, charters, sightseeing tours and a small number of school bus services.