Батыс Англиядағы Stagecoach West автобус операторының тарихы

Bus operator in the West of England
the ABC television series from 1960/61

Stagecoach West is a bus operator providing services in Gloucestershire, Bristol, Swindon, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, North Somerset and Herefordshire, in the West of England. The company is a subsidiary of the Stagecoach Group.

On 11 September 1983, the National Bus Company (NBC) split its loss making Bristol Omnibus operation into three separate companies, with Gloucestershire based operations transferred to a new company named the Cheltenham and Gloucester Omnibus Company. The NBC's National Travel (South) coaching operation would be transferred to Cheltenham and Gloucester during 1984, while the Swindon and District bus operation would follow in 1985. In 1986, in preparation for the break up of the National Bus Company as a result of bus deregulation, all company assets were transferred to a new legal entity named Western Travel. Western Travel was the fourth NBC subsidiary to be privatised following deregulation, being purchased in a £1 million management buyout in November 1986. The Cheltenham and Gloucester and Swindon and District companies were maintained as subsidiaries, joined in December 1987 by Midland Red South following Western Travel's purchase of the company. Among other acquisitions in and around their operating area, the company would go on to acquire the eastern division of National Welsh Omnibus Services in February 1991, reforming the division as a reconstituted Red & White Services, which was based out of depots in Cwmbran, Chepstow, Brynmawr and Crosskeys, with an additional depot in Merthyr Tydfil opening in May 1993. After having also purchased the independent Circle Line of Gloucester earlier in the year, Western Travel was purchased by Stagecoach Holdings in November 1993 for £9.25 million Red & White's Welsh operations would be transferred to what is today Stagecoach South Wales, with the remainder of Western Travel eventually rebranded as Stagecoach West. Having worked in partnership with the company's owners from 2017 onwards, in September 2019, Stagecoach West took over the 53 vehicle South Gloucestershire Bus & Coach business for an undisclosed sum after the SGBC's owners decided to step down. This takeover saw 100 employees transferring to Stagecoach West, with Stagecoach taking on SGBC's existing local bus and private hire work in the Bristol area, as well as their Megabus contract. In February 2021, it was announced that Stagecoach West would merge with neighbouring Stagecoach Oxfordshire, with the headquarters of the combined operating company located in Gloucester. Stagecoach West would take on Stagecoach Oxfordshire's three depots in Banbury, Oxford and Witney and outstations at Bicester, Chipping Norton and Grove, along with around 500 vehicles and the Oxford Tube coach service between Oxford and London.

The Oxford Tube service is a limited stop express coach service between Oxford and Victoria Coach Station in London, using a fleet of 34 Plaxton Panorama double decker coaches on Volvo B11RLE chassis, uniquely equipped with solar panels on the roof, which began to enter service on the route from October 2020. The service was founded in 1987 by Thames Transit in competition with the Oxford Bus Company's X90 service, withdrawn in January 2020 as it had become unprofitable, and was originally operated by Stagecoach Oxfordshire before being included in the merger with Stagecoach West in February 2021. On 15 January 2024, the Oxford SmartZone was officially relaunched as an enhanced partnership between Stagecoach West and the Oxford Bus Company, with the aim to reduce bus journey times by 10%.