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WHAT'S NEW ? DETAILS OF CHRISTMAS & NEW YEAR 2009/10 SERVICES IN THE PRESTON AREA Stagecoach is pleased to provide full details of Christmas and New Year bus service arrangements in the Preston area, CHANGES TO SERVICES IN FRENCHWOOD, BROADGATE, PENWORTHAM Following recent contract changes by Lancashire County Council, there will be a number of changes to services 3A, 21 and 29 from the above date. Service 21 will be replaced by revised Services 3A/3B, providing links to both Preston city centre and also now to Penwortham and New Longton! For more details on the changes affecting buses to New Longton, please visit the REVISED SUNDAY TIMETABLE ON SERVICE 35 FROM 11th OCTOBER 2009 (August 09) In order to make service 35 (Preston to Tanterton) more reliable during Sunday daytimes, we are revising the timetable to allow more time for buses to complete the route. As a consequence, we are pleased to announce that the frequency will be increased to every 15 minutes during the daytime shopping hours! The Sunday evening service will remain at every 20 minutes. The new timetable will be available to download nearer the start date. REVISIONS TO COLLEGE SERVICES DURING SEPTEMBER 2009 (August 09) Due to contract changes instigated by Lancashire County Council, a number of Preston College services will change from the start of the new academic year. From 3rd September 2009, the following services will be provided by Preston Bus, on behalf of Preston College: Service 119 to Preston Bus Station NEW SERVICES TO BROADGATE AND FRENCHWOOD (June 09) Following the withdrawal of services to Frenchwood and Broadgate by Blue Bus, Preston Bus is pleased to announce that we will be operating services 21 and 29 under contract to Lancashire County Council, with low floor, easy access buses. Timetable details can be obtained by using the Timetable menu above. REVISIONS TO SCHOOL AND COLLEGE SERVICES DURING APRIL & MAY 2009 (April 09) Due to contract changes requested by Lancashire County Council, a number of school and Preston College services will change. From 20th April 2009, school services 697 and 698 will be provided by other bus operators under contract to Lancashire County Council. Please contact the Lancashire County Council school bus unit for more details.
STAGECOACH ANNOUNCES A NEW, REVISED NETWORK OF BUS SERVICES Bus customers in Preston will soon benefit from a coordinated network of bus services, with many improvements from 22nd March. This is in addition to the improved fares structure which was implemented at the start of February. Full summary details of the service changes can be found by clicking this link and downloading the PDF file. You will need Adobe Reader to view the file. It is free and can be downloaded from Adobe.com. Timetables and further information will be available to download from our website soon - or call Traveline on 0871 200 22 33 for more details. STAGECOACH COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF PRESTON BUS (23rd Jan 09) Employee shareholders approve sale to Stagecoach Stagecoach, one of the UK’s biggest bus operators, today (23 January 2009) confirmed that it has completed the acquisition of Preston Bus Limited (“Preston Bus”) for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition was approved by employee shareholders of Preston Bus on 22 January and completed today. Preston Bus, which has around 300 employees and a fleet of around 120 vehicles, operates out of a depot at Deepdale Road, Preston. It operates on 14 key routes in Preston and South Ribble and the annual turnover of the business is around £11 million. Stagecoach already operates around 160 vehicles in the Preston, Chorley and Fylde areas. The Preston Bus operations will become part of Stagecoach North West, headed by Managing Director Chris Bowles, which employs a total of 1,400 people and operates around 530 buses throughout Lancashire and Cumbria. Bus passengers will benefit from plans for a more integrated network on all main corridors with the merger of the two operations, both of which have high quality low-floor bus fleets. Plans are in place to simplify fares and ticket ranges from next month, bringing lower cost bus travel for many people. Customers will also benefit from the inter-availability of day and multi journey tickets on Stagecoach and Preston Bus services from Sunday 25 January, allowing access to the whole Preston bus network. Stagecoach has confirmed that, while there will be some changes to management and administration roles as part of the acquisition, it has given a two-year no compulsory redundancies commitment to driving and engineering staff. Les Warneford, Managing Director, Stagecoach UK Bus, said: “Stagecoach has a long tradition of operating high quality bus services for people in Preston and Lancashire. “We are delighted to have acquired Preston Bus, which is a well-run business that is an excellent fit with our existing operations. We will be looking to build on the strengths and goodwill of the company to give local people access to a more integrated, sustainable, comprehensive, high-quality and affordable bus network. “In the past two years alone, we have invested around £4 million in improving bus services in Preston by introducing new vehicles, expanded high frequency services, better value travel and improved links into our wider bus network in the North West. "While there will inevitably be some changes for our employees and for some of our passengers, we look forward to working with staff and other local stakeholders to attract more people to the benefits of greener, smarter bus travel." Peter Bell, Managing Director, Preston Bus Limited, said: “I am proud of the contribution Preston Bus and its employees have made in serving the local community over many years. “The company faced an uncertain future as a result of the current economic climate and legislative changes, including the new Transport Act, the Government’s plan to change the fuel tax arrangements for bus operators, and suggestions that operators should not be fully reimbursed for carrying customers with concessionary bus passes. All of these issues could have seriously undermined the business and, as a result, the Directors decided it was in the best interests of employees and the business to approach potential purchasers. “We are pleased to have sold the business to Stagecoach, which offered the best opportunities for our staff. This is a positive move which will ensure the continued delivery of high-quality bus services to the people of Preston under new ownership.”
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