Stagecoach South East is the trading name of East Kent Road Car Company Limited, a bus operator based in Canterbury providing services in Kent and East Sussex in the south east of England. It is a subsidiary of Stagecoach Group.
History
Stagecoach have been operating in the Hastings area since their takeover of Hastings & District Transport in 1989. Stagecoach have made a vast amount of improvements to the Hastings bus network.[2][3][4][5] All the improvements are in partnership with Hastings Borough Council and East Sussex County Council.
Acquisitions
East Kent Road Car Company
Stagecoach acquired the East Kent Road Car Company in 1993 and operates many routes with different route branding.
Eastbourne
In early November 2008, local press reported that Eastbourne Buses was to be sold by the end of the year to either the Go-Ahead Group or Stagecoach Group. The employees' trade union, Unite, wrote to Eastbourne Borough Council to ask the Council to sell to the Go-Ahead Group, because of work conditions and a superior fleet.[6] On 25 November 2008, it was announced that Stagecoach was the preferred bidder to purchase. A few days later, it was announced in local press that the takeover had cost £4 million.[7] Stagecoach had run services in the town until late in 2000 before they were withdrawn, and at the time of the announcement operated services to Hastings and Bexhill from Eastbourne.
The sale caused a lot of controversy, with MPs criticising the secrecy surrounding the sale[8] and blaming each other's parties for the state the Eastbourne Buses got into, the Liberal Democrats claiming the Conservatives "failed to support Eastbourne Buses".[9] There has also been criticism of the low price the company was sold at - revealed at £3.7 million, lower than the original report of 4 - and criticism against Stagecoach, one MP saying that the company has effectively been "given away for nothing".[10] However, it was revealed that Go-Ahead had bid much lower at £2.85 million, so the council had to sell to Stagecoach to serve the taxpayer due to the £1.2 million difference in bids, despite the union's calls.[9]
Cavendish Motor
In January 2009, Cavendish Motor Services were bought by Stagecoach Group. Stagecoach announced redundancies for Cavendish staff.[11] The company was then merged with Eastbourne Buses and rebranded as Stagecoach.
On 13 May 2009, the Office of Fair Trading announced that it was referring the purchase of Eastbourne Buses and Cavendish Motor Services by Stagecoach to the Competition Commission.[12] Although the provisional decision found that the acquisitions had substantially lessened competition, the Competition Commission cleared the purchase in October 2009 after deciding that Cavendish would have chosen either to reduce its services substantially or even to close its operations altogether following Stagecoach's acquisition of Eastbourne Buses.[13]
The company also operates a number of high profile branded interurban services.
The Wave
"The Wave" is the brand given to services along the south east coast. The network is currently formed of four routes, which form a coastal corridor between Eastbourne and Dover:[29]
Services are generally operated using "Wave" branded Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC buses, although a number of these are currently being repainted into the new Stagecoach local livery.[31]
Services are operated using "Breeze" branded Scania N250UDAlexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC buses although a number of these are currently being repainted into the new Stagecoach local livery.[31]
Stagecoach South East also operate the Canterbury Park & Ride service on behalf of Canterbury City Council.
Buses operate frequently from Canterbury City Centre to three park & ride sites at Sturry Road, Wincheap and New Dover Road.[36]
UniBus
Stagecoach South East operate the UniBus service, in partnership with The University of Kent. The network is formed of two routes, the Uni1 and Uni2 which connect Canterbury City Centre with the university campuses.[37]
Stagecoach Connect
Stagecoach also operates a demand-responsive service called Stagecoach Connect in Aylesham and Whitfield.[38]
Depots
Stagecoach South East currently operate services from seven bus depots (and one outstation) across Kent and East Sussex:[18]
Stagecoach Stagecoach West Stagecoach Group Stagecoach South Stagecoach North West Stagecoach South East Stagecoach Merseyside Stagecoach East Stagecoach Gold Stagecoach South Wales Stagecoach Midlands Stagecoach South West Stagecoach Yorkshire Stagecoach North East Stagecoach West Scotland Stagecoach East Scotland Stagecoach Highlands Stagecoach Trail Stagecoach East Midlands Stagecoach Cambridgeshire 2021–2023 Stagecoach strikes Stagecoach Manchester Stagecoach in Oxfordshire Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire Stagecoach in Warwickshire Stagecoach Inn Stagecoach in Mansfield Stagecoa…
ch, Nevada Stagecoach (disambiguation) Stagecoach in Hull Stagecoach in Norfolk Stagecoach, Texas Stagecoach in Lincolnshire Stagecoach State Park Stagecoach Inn (Salado, Texas) Stagecoach X5 Stagecoach (1939 film) Stagecoach Gold bus route X4 Stagecoach Express Stagecoach Performing Arts Stagecoach (1986 film) Stagecoach, Colorado Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire Stagecoach London Stagecoach in Preston Stagecoach in Newcastle Stagecoach Bluebird Magic Bus (Stagecoach) Stagecoach Grimsby-Cleethorpes Stagecoach War Stagecoach Days Camp Floyd State Park Museum Overland Stagecoach Stagecoach Inn (California) Stagecoach (band) Stagecoach Ballroom Stagecoach Dam Texas Stagecoach Stagecoach to Monterey Stagecoach to Denver Stagecoach Festival Stagecoach Buckaroo Stagecoach Outlaws The Old Stagecoach Johnny Foreigner / Stagecoach Gray Line Montreal Old Stagecoach Stop Stagecoach Kid Stagecoach Hotel & Casino Stagecoach to Fury Stagecoach Gold route 1 Wranglers Roost Stagecoach Stop Stagecoach Gold bus route S3 Stagecoach West (TV series) The Phantom Stagecoach Stagecoach Express (film) Stagecoach to Dancers' Rock Sonora Stagecoach Stagecoach bus route 555 Stagecoach: The Texas Jack S