Member Article

Stagecoach boosts capacity to meet demand for Christmas shoppers

Stagecoach Merseyside, Cheshire and South Lancashire will give Cheshire retailers a boost, providing up to 2,500 extra seats on buses between Liverpool and Cheshire Oaks PER DAY in the run up to Christmas.

The company is expecting higher demand than ever this year from Christmas shoppers looking to travel between the retail hubs in Liverpool and Cheshire.

In order to accommodate this, Stagecoach will be swapping out the single deck buses on its 1 Service for double deck buses. The company will be running five buses per hour during the day Monday to Saturday between Liverpool and Cheshire Oaks and four buses on Sunday. Stagecoach also operates six buses an hour between Chester and Cheshire Oaks Monday to Saturday. Four buses an hour will also be running on Boxing Day.

Stagecoach’s evening services are available for people travelling to and from their Christmas parties or those looking to do a bit of late night shopping, with buses running until midnight seven days a week.

Stagecoach operates multiple services through Cheshire Oaks, providing connections to Liverpool, Birkenhead, Bromborough, Ellesmere Port, Chester and Mold. The extra capacity will also enable the company to carry more people between Liverpool and the Wirral in the period between Christmas and New Year when there is engineering work on Merseyrail’s Wirral Loop Line.

Last year, the company carried over 850,000 passengers over the Christmas week across the region and is expecting an even busier Christmas this year.

Rob Jones, Stagecoach Merseyside, Cheshire, and South Lancashire managing director, said: “Christmas is our busiest period, with hundreds of thousands of people travelling across the region to pick up a Christmas bargain, visit friends and family, and enjoy a festive night out.

“Our 1 Service runs between Liverpool, Cheshire Oaks and Chester, connecting these key retail destinations and this year we’re looking forward to helping even more people get to their destination and enjoy a fantastic festive period.

“As we know, bus travel is the lifeblood of our High Streets and retail hubs, and bus accounts for 30 per cent of High Street customer spend. We’ve bolstered our normal Christmas services by providing an additional 2,500 seats on our services between Liverpool and Cheshire per day, and we’re expecting one of our busiest Christmas seasons – which is great news for the regional economy and retailers across the North West.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Henry Roberts .