November 25th 2019: Busway livery or new livery?

25/11/2019

Stagecoach Group continues to maintain silence on its plans for a new livery and brand refresh. There is nothing new there as big companies and corporations strive to keep details of such activity under wraps to maximise the impact of a launch and unveiling. For many companies they may be able to keep details of the project secret until nearer a launch day.
Unfortunately not so for Stagecoach UK Bus. If it has been a secret project it has been the worst-kept secret. When three buses were subject to a trial painting earlier this year images reached the internet. At least much of my previous railway PR work and projects was pre-internet so they could be kept secret.
So back to Stagecoach and it would appear from the images that three colour schemes are/were being considered. Red for local bus. A dark purple for InterUrban and a pale green for non-standard operations such as Park & Ride.
New buses in Manchester and Oxford have already appeared with a modified interior colour scheme and the ‘Stagecoach Gold’ brand is it seems to be phased out. I can understand that. What were once selling points for the ‘Stagecoach Gold’ brand - Wifi, charging points and more are now standard on many new buses. That’s why the recent ADL Enviro 400MMC deliveries to Stagecoach Oxfordshire carry corporate, not ‘Gold’ livery and branding. This may deliver a hidden bonus for engineers since we understand that it can be a difficult task to match - or closely match - the gold colour when repairing damage on the vehicles.
Which takes me to Stagecoach East where the first of the 12 Enviro 400XLB double decks for Busway services have started to arrive. 13901 (BU69XYA) and 13903 (BU69XYC) are already delivered and have an all over pale green look about them. Could they be the first Stagecoach vehicles to receive the new livery, or is it the base colour for an refreshed Busway livery? We will know for certain very soon. In the meantime we have asked Stagecoach Group for an update on its re-livery and re-branding project.