Stagecoach South West celebrate the 20th birthday of their oldest operational bus!
This week Stagecoach South West are marking the 20th year of it’s oldest operational bus an ALX400 Trident, fleet number 17701, with a special in service birthday party. The event has been organised by Stagecoach South West Exeter driver, Damien Gardner who has a particular soft spot for the vehicle. Customer’s will be treated to birthday cake, a host of goodie bags plus get to see the bus kitted out with decorations!
Although the official anniversary of the bus’s registration was in March 2022, the special 20th birthday party was arranged to coincide with the school summer holidays while the vehicle is in operation on the 222 open top route, running hourly from Dawlish Warren to Teignmouth via Dawlish and the 95 route from Exmouth to Sandy Bay. Damien said “We wanted to aim for a nice sunny day, during the kids holidays, so that we can have as many people as possible join us on the celebration.’
This bus was new to Stagecoach Manchester in March 2002 as fleet number 1601, prior to the Stagecoach national renumbering scheme which saw it designated as 17701. This was the first of a batch of 30 Tridents bought new to support the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, before being deployed on regular service in the city
In 2006 was acquired by Stagecoach Devon and sent to Torquay to be repainted into a special green and black livery for the Torquay Marks & Spencer’s free shoppers' bus service, on which it would replace a step entrance Volvo Olympian which was bought new for the route in 1997. This bus operated all five Marks & Spencer’s routes; a different one each day of the week to a range of destinations such as Brixham, Dawlish, Newton Abbot and Kingsbridge. In 2011 the bus was repainted back into standard 'beachball' livery and continued to operate local services out of Torquay depot before re-joining it's sister vehicles in Exeter.
In 2013, 17701 was earmarked for open-top conversion to replace the ageing Scania step entrance buses in use on service 95 in Exmouth. This work was carried out by Bulwark Engineering in South Wales, and the bus was returned to Exeter and repainted again into Stagecoach 'beachball' livery in time for the 2014 Summer season – with branding added for 'The Big Beach Bus' which became the new brand for popular service 95 between Exmouth and Sandy Bay.
The brand was updated in 2018 to match that of service 122 in Torbay, and 17701 was treated to another repaint – this time into a new yellow & orange livery with updated branding for the 95 service. The following year, 2019, 17701 was re-allocated to Torquay for new service 222 between Dawlish Warren and Teignmouth. It was re-branded accordingly for the season and was used again on service 222 in 2021, albeit operated from Exeter, following a year in storage during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
In the run up to the 2022 Summer Season, 17701 was repainted into an adapted version of the new Stagecoach 'Azure Blue' local livery, which it carries today. It does not carry route specific branding now, so it can act as the spare vehicle for any of our open top bus services in the South West.
Today Damien, alongside fellow Exeter drivers Joe Mulloy and Ross Slocombe have come in on their day off prepare the bus ahead of the big day. “We wanted to make sure she looked her best! So we’re taking the time to give the vehicle a full valet inside and out.” The chaps are working tirelessly polishing and scrubbing to make sure the bus is sparkling for the big day.
Damien joined Stagecoach in 2015, having been a bus driver since 2006 working for Arriva North West. He works the open tops during the summer season along with Joe and Rob, where staff are handpicked based on their experience and customer service skills. He tells us; “The routes are unique as they attract a lot of tourists, so drivers need to have an excellent knowledge of the local area, and all of the timetables Stagecoach operate across the region- so they can offer the best information to customers visiting for the holidays.” Damien say’s; “Our team have a real pride in their work; we wear specially designed blazers, and spend our free time making sure the buses are polished and swept to provide the best experience for the customer we carry. We all have a huge amount of passion for what we do!”
The three came up with the idea earlier in 2022, they realised it would be the 20th year of the bus and wanted to do something special to celebrate the momentous occasion. The boys all agree the bus is special for it’s character and life. Plus the bus hold’s a special place in Joe’s heart, as it used to be his school bus!
Engineering Director Anthony Vincent says, “We’ve got a diverse fleet here in the South West with a variety of vehicle types. Strong pre pandemic investment brought 29% of our vehicles to Euro 6, while 72% sit at Euro 5 and above. We continue to look at plans for future investment and you’ll see more electric buses in future as we have a goal of having a zero emission UK bus fleet by 2035. However, it’s a testament to our skilled team of engineers that we can keep an older vehicle, such as 17701, running smoothly across the season. We have a stringent maintenance and servicing schedule across our depots, with continued investment in parts and labour to ensure our fleet is presented to the highest possible standard.”
