Bob Dennison, Managing Director of Stagecoach South West

Stagecoach announces Plymouth bus network

Stagecoach has confirmed the network of services it will be running from 6th September 2015, following its takeover of the Plymouth & South Devon operations of First Devon & Cornwall from the same date.

The network will see new route numbers for some services, as well as delivering a number of benefits to passengers including:

More reliable timetables
Earlier morning and later evening journeys in some areas
The introduction of new cross-city links
An improved fleet of buses, including eight one-year old vehicles which go into service immediately and 26 new vehicles scheduled for delivery in early 2016

Key destinations served within Plymouth will include Derriford Hospital, Plymouth University, Mount Batten and Saltash across the Tamar. Stagecoach will also run services to the Park & Ride sites at The George, Milehouse and Coypool.

Outside of the city, there will be more frequent services to Tavistock and an hourly link through to Dartmouth. Stagecoach will also continue to run the local town services in both locations without any changes to the timetables.

Bob Dennison, Managing Director of Stagecoach South West, said: "We're really excited to be launching our Plymouth and South Devon network which is built on frequent services, good value fares, modern buses and easy to use timetables. We have a lot planned for the next few months so please bear with us whilst we get everything up to speed".

The new network will be as follows:

1/X1 Plymouth - Derriford Hospital - Yelverton - Tavistock (currently routes 83/86)
2/2A Saltash - Plymouth - Mount Batten (currently routes 1/1A & 2/2A)
3 Plymouth - Kingsbridge; Kingsbridge - Dartmouth (currently route 93)
48 Plymouth - Plymstock - Wembury
89 Courtlands Road - Tavistock - Bishopsmead
90/A/B/C Dartmouth - Townstall
91 Dartmouth Park & Ride
100 The George P&R - Milehouse P&R - Plymouth (currently route PR1)
101 The George P&R - Derriford Hospital - Milehouse P&R - Plymouth (currently route PR1A)
200 Coypool P&R - Plymouth (currently route PR2)
804-809 Schools Services

Stagecoach will also continue to operate their existing routes with some minor timetable changes: X38 to Buckfastleigh and Exeter and Stagecoach Gold to Ivybridge, Totnes and Torquay.

First are withdrawing from a small number of routes that Stagecoach will not be replacing. However, other local bus operators already provide services that match First's frequencies over most of these areas and, where this is not the case, they are working in conjunction with the City Council to make alternative arrangements.

The routes First are withdrawing are:

3/3A Plymouth - St Budeaux circular
6 Plymouth - Efford
15 Plymouth - Woolwell (although Plymouth - Derriford is still served by new routes 1 and 101 up to every 10 minutes)
76 Plymouth - Launceston
81/81D Plymouth - Torpoint

Stagecoach will offer a similar range of tickets compared to First, with unlimited weekly travel starting from £11.00. All existing First season tickets will be accepted by Stagecoach until their expiry date. Season ticket holders from areas that Stagecoach will not be serving may contact First for a refund on the remaining portion of their tickets.

Details of the new routes, timetables and tickets are now available at www.stagecoachbus.com. Printed timetables will follow shortly. Customers can also follow Stagecoach on Twitter @stagecoachsw.