About Stagecoach Manchester

Key facts 

In 2019/2020

• £18 million investment in new buses 
• £1.2 million   capital investment   in buildings
• 96.2 million passengers 
• 26.2 million miles operated 
• 2422  employees 
• 91.1% of journeys started on time 
• 791 buses 

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Our passengers

Our services are a lifeline to communities; helping people to get to and from work, take the kids to school, get to crucial job interviews, travel to and from hospital appointments, get out of the house for leisure activities and venture to see the friends and family they care about.

In the last year over 96.2 million customers travelled with us. 90% were satisfied with our service*

* Transport Focus Survey 2019.

Our staff

We’re a major employer and our staff are fully trained in courses relevant to their professions. 

We have: 

• 2,422 staff 
• 1,956 drivers 
• 282 engineers and cleaners 
• 166 supervisors, managers and ancillary staff 

All of our drivers have or are in the process of earning a Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC). They also receive other internal training, such as cycle awareness and disability awareness. 

Each of our engineers is a skilled worker, and we employ apprentices to develop the workers and managers of the future. We currently have 18 engineering apprentices in training.

Our supervisors and managers have all completed relevant training courses for their roles. Many of our staff have shown an impressive commitment and loyalty to Stagecoach. 

In the last year an impressive 55 people in our team received a long service award, for a collective of 1,570 years’ service.

Our services 

Our services operated a total of 26.2 million miles over the year.

Our key measures of performance are the reliability and punctuality of our services. 

All of our buses are fitted with automatic vehicle location technology. In the past year 91.1.% of our services started their journey within five minutes of their scheduled time. Traffic congestion and roadworks continue to be the main reason for delays. 

We continue to seek improvements both through rescheduling our services and in discussions with Transport for Greater Manchester and our local highways authorities. 

Our fares 

We offer a range of value for money fares and a number of different ways to pay including contactless payments on all of our buses and mobile tickets available on the Stagecoach Bus App.  Fare information including single fares can be found  in the Plan your Journey or  Tickets section of this website.

Guide dogs and assistance dogs will be carried free of charge at all times.  The charge for all other dogs is £1.00 for unlimited travel all day.

Independent research by Transport Focus in 2019 rated Stagecoach Manchester amongst the best operators for value for money, with satisfaction of 63 per cent.

Standard Fare

All passengers are expected to have a valid ticket or pass for their journey. Failure to show this when requested may result in a Standard Fare Charge – the current Standard Fare Charge for  Stagecoach Manchester is £50. To avoid prosecution the Standard  Fare Charge must be paid within 21 days.

Our fleet

We operate a fleet of 791 buses, which includes

• 32  Zero emission, electric double decker buses
• 138 Euro 4 and 5 Hybrid buses
• 1 Euro 6 Hybrid bus
• 172 Euro 6 buses 

Last year we invested over £18 million in new buses and a further £1.2 million capital investment in buildings

Servicing our buses

All our vehicles are inspected by our engineers at least every 28 days, and maintained to high standards to ensure passenger safety and comfort. 

Every vehicle is cleaned daily and in response to customer feedback we also have in-service cleaning teams operating in Piccadilly Gardens, Chorlton, Stockport and various other locations. 

Independent research by Transport Focus in 2019 revealed 78 per cent of our customers are pleased with the condition of the bus exteriors, while 73 per cent were satisfied with the tidiness of the bus interiors.

Free Wi-Fi and USB charging points

Over half of our buses are fitted with free Wi-Fi and a number are also fitted with USB charging points for the convenience of our customers. 

Our environment 

In March 2020 we proudly unveiled Greater Manchester’s first zero emission, electric double decker buses. This fleet of 32 buses is now helping to ease pollution on some of Europe’s busiest roads. This investment, is one of the biggest single investments in electric buses in Europe, and represents our continued commitment to being central to the air quality solution in Greater Manchester. All of our buses also have GreenRoad telematics technology. This gives information to our drivers on the quality of their driving to help deliver safer and more comfortable journeys for our customers and more fuel efficient services.

Our community

Our staff live and work in the communities we proudly  serve and are committed to doing what they can to  support these communities. In the last year our two year  charity partnership with The Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital Charity concluded, with our staff having helped to raise over £31,000 to help sick children  across the region. Our current charity partner is Forever Manchester, and our staff are now helping to raise funds that will be used to support community activity across  the region.

In October 2019 we supported Prevent Breast Cancer’s bright pink BooBee Bus which was used for BreastFest, a month-long breast cancer awareness campaign. Our drivers helped tour the bus around Greater Manchester to inform and educate others about the disease.

In February 2020 we were proud to give our support to Rushbrook Primary School’s much loved  Breakfast Club, which runs in partnership with Gregg’s Foundation and provides a morning  meal for up to 120 school children each day.