Bus Cleaner to Chief Engineer

To celebrate International Men’s Day, we spoke to the Stagecoach Bluebird Chief Engineer who started his career cleaning buses after school.   

Sam McWalter from Arbroath originally joined Stagecoach in 2002 working as a Cleaner on part-time shifts in the evenings after school. Sam quickly realised he wanted to progress in the Engineering team and at the age of 16 started his apprenticeship at the Stagecoach Dundee Seagate depot. On completing his apprenticeship, Sam worked through the ranks holding a series of Depot Foreman roles before becoming an Engineering Manager at Stagecoach Strathtay in 2013.

Sam joined Stagecoach Bluebird in December 2019 and now holds the role of Chief Engineer. Sam is responsible for the overall maintenance and presentation of a fleet of over 200 buses and coaches operating from 8 depots in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Moray. Sam works closely with the Fleet Engineers at each of the depots to continually improve the presentation and reliability of the fleet.

Speaking about his career at Stagecoach, Sam said: “My passion has always been in the presentation of the vehicles and the impression this leaves with our customers when they choose to travel with us. In the 2 years I’ve worked at Stagecoach Bluebird I’ve been lucky to have a fantastic team in the depots and we’re now performing to the same standards as some of the best Engineering teams across the UK.”

Sam added: “Joining the Stagecoach Bluebird team at the start of the pandemic was challenging but I’m really proud of how much our depots have been able to support each other with the changes we’ve had to put in place. The teams have delivered a range of improvements from enhanced cleaning to different signage for customers on our buses and in our bus stations and depots.”

Commenting on the new electric fleet coming to Aberdeen in 2022, Sam said: “We’re all really excited at the depot for the new zero emissions buses. We’ve already started work preparing the depot and charging facilities and we’ll be making sure our team of Engineers are ready to maintain the vehicles as fully-electric buses will be a first for our team in Aberdeen.”

International Men’s Day takes place on Friday 19^th November and is a global day celebrating the positive value men bring to the world, their families and communities.