Stagecoach in Stevenage

[riceuten]

Please move if there is a more appropriate heading.

Looking at the Intalink website, it seems as if Stagecoach have gone cool(er) on the Stevenage to Bedford routes (9A-9D), now reducing the frequency for each route to two hourly. Buses rarely seemed that full, and often used double deckers (a relative rarity in Stevenage) for the service. A couple of people have told me that Stagecoach are still refusing to accept "Stevenage only" Intalink day tickets on this route, which can't be helping loadings if this is indeed the case. Their customer services have assured me that they are valid, but that doesn't appear to have filtered out to the drivers and/or depot manager.

May 2026

This is a summary of the forthcoming changes to local bus services in Hertfordshire in May 2026.

www.intalink.org.uk

https://tiscon-maps-stagecoachbus.s3.amazonaws.com/Timetables/East/BEDFORD/BE-9ABD-310526.pdf

What's more interesting is that they propose to begin a new route at the same time - the SB12 running from Stevenage town centre to Chells, directly competing with Arriva's SB1 service (albeit only during the day and early evening). I assume one of the inbound services in the morning will run to the Interchange and then spend all day shuttling to and from Chells before returning as a 9 in the evening.

SB12 - Stevenage Bus Station - Stevenage Hudson Road

Stagecoach East

bustimes.org

https://tiscon-maps-stagecoachbus.s3.amazonaws.com/Timetables/East/BEDFORD/BE-SB12-310526.pdf

 

[markymark2000]

Buses rarely seemed that full, and often used double deckers (a relative rarity in Stevenage) for the service.

I'm not overly surprised with how long they take. A 9D end to end would take 1h 20 (based on the May timetable showing it being 1 hour from Shortstown to Stevenage, plus the 20 minutes it takes the 9A/9B from Bedford to Shortstown), compare that against the current 1h 40/1h 45 that the 9A/9B take. 20 minutes is a very big time difference for passengers. Not only affecting longer distance passengers but also shorter distance from Henlow Camp to Shefford or Shefford to Hitchin. The journey is 3-4x longer by bus than it is by car.

What's more interesting is that they propose to begin a new route at the same time - the SB12 running from Stevenage town centre to Chells, directly competing with Arriva's SB1 service (albeit only during the day and early evening). I assume one of the inbound services in the morning will run to the Interchange and then spend all day shuttling to and from Chells before returning as a 9 in the evening.

If the bus duties that Stagecoach have in their open data are right, it will be 3 buses interworking between the 9D and SB12, with excessive amounts of layover (every 3 hours, the drivers will have 20 minutes at Henlow, 40 minutes from the 9D onto SB12 and 12 minutes from the SB12 onto the 9D). It certainly feels like a strange thing for Stagecoach to be doing, and in my view doesn't set up the services for the best chance of success.
Especially the 9D, what a waste having it sat at Henlow Camp for 20 minutes when the bus could extend to Shefford. 5 minutes each way (based on the May timetable for the trips which do extend) gives 10 minutes to spin around and layover. Turnaround at Stanford Road or A600 roundabouts, or make it a little bit of a loop in Shefford on the northbound journey so then the bus faces the right way around without having to turn around. Either way, far better use of resources than sitting around at Henlow Camp.

 

[riceuten]

I'm not overly surprised with how long they take. A 9D end to end would take 1h 20 (based on the May timetable showing it being 1 hour from Shortstown to Stevenage, plus the 20 minutes it takes the 9A/9B from Bedford to Shortstown), compare that against the current 1h 40/1h 45 that the 9A/9B take. 20 minutes is a very big time difference for passengers. Not only affecting longer distance passengers but also shorter distance from Henlow Camp to Shefford or Shefford to Hitchin. The journey is 3-4x longer by bus than it is by car.

Indeed - I can't imagine that many people - if any - are doing Stevenage to Bedford. IIRC, the service is in effect an extension of the previous Hitchin to Bedford service. There is certainly capacity on the Hitchin to Stevenage route that Stagecoach could provide, particularly to the hospital from both ends. Indeed, half the Sunday service is just that.

They'll cut the service back to Hitchin to Bedford in time - there's zero marketing, the issue with (some of) them not accepting Intalink tickets, and an erratic service due to delays is certainly material

If the bus duties that Stagecoach have in their open data are right, it will be 3 buses interworking between the 9D and SB12, with excessive amounts of layover (every 3 hours, the drivers will have 20 minutes at Henlow, 40 minutes from the 9D onto SB12 and 12 minutes from the SB12 onto the 9D). It certainly feels like a strange thing for Stagecoach to be doing, and in my view doesn't set up the services for the best chance of success.

And they will not market it, or offer discount fares and it will fold within a couple of months "because no one uses it". I wonder if any of the 9A-D double deckers will make it onto the SB12, it will be strange to see the latter in Stevenage after many years of solely single deck operation throughout the town.

Especially the 9D, what a waste having it sat at Henlow Camp for 20 minutes when the bus could extend to Shefford. 5 minutes each way (based on the May timetable for the trips which do extend) gives 10 minutes to spin around and layover. Turnaround at Stanford Road or A600 roundabouts, or make it a little bit of a loop in Shefford on the northbound journey so then the bus faces the right way around without having to turn around. Either way, far better use of resources than sitting around at Henlow Camp.

You would assume they'd've done an amount of due diligence - but no. Arriva are no better with changes dictated from head office which neither the drivers nor the passengers can ascertain a reason for.

 

[Edvid]

Mods, please move these posts to the existing Stagecoach East thread.

Stagecoach East (Bedford, Cambridge, Huntingdon and Peterborough)

Big cuts to services around Cambridge announced by Stagecoach. This at the same time that Cambridge is proposing a contestation charge https://www.cambsnews.co.uk/2022/09/18/exclusive-stagecoach-axe-21-cambridgeshire-routes/ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-62926898

www.railforums.co.uk