Fife Scottish

Fife Scottish Omnibuses Ltd, in Scotland, was formed as a bus operating subsidiary of the Scottish Transport Group formed in June 1985 from Walter Alexander & Sons (Fife) Ltd and is now part of the Stagecoach Group, trading as Stagecoach East Scotland (Stagecoach in Fife).

History

Stagecoach Fife can be traced back to 1909 and after buyout and mergers become part of Walter Alexander & Sons.^[1] In 1961 Walter Alexander & Sons was split into three separate companies with the Fife operations becoming Alexanders (Fife) with the colour red to be used as the main fleet colour.

Scottish Bus Group was prepared for deregulation of the bus industry in 1986, and eventual privatisation, which resulted in Fife Scottish Omnibuses Ltd being created. Of the seven original SBG subsidiaries, Alexanders (Fife) was the only company to survive the reorganisation intact; it lost none of its operating area to any of the new companies formed and nor did it gain. The only impact of the shake-up was the legal name change.

On its creation, the company kept the vibrant red and cream livery adopted by Alexander's Fife operations. The SBG corporate 'Fife Scottish' fleet name style was adopted, however, in an unusually large size, and larger areas of cream were the only visible differences. Some vehicles sported Best Bus In The Kingdom slogans as part of SBG's marketing drive, rather than Best Bus In Town or Best Bus Around; playing on Fife's proud history of once being a separate kingdom.

With the arrival of deregulation came the arrival of competition. Fife had previously enjoyed being the sole operator throughout much of the region and its response to the new operators showed the company's intention to remain so. Despite the cities of Edinburgh and Dundee being on the edges of its operating area, Fife concentrated on protecting its home market rather than expanding into the cities to compete against the dominant operators there. Rennie's of Dunfermline were the first challengers to Fife in and around that town, but by far the largest and most sustained competition came from local coach firm Moffat & Williamson LTD. Moffat & Williamson built up a substantial network of services throughout much of Fife, mirroring the larger operator's network. A "bus war" broke out across the region, and vehicles from both operators could be seen nose to tail on services such as that between Dundee and St Andrews. Fife's passenger base seemed loyal, however, and Rennies would soon withdraw from Dunfermline and Moffat & Williamson would scale back its operations, though retaining pockets of strong competition in the industrialised towns in the south of the region.

Despite the competition, Fife remained the most profitable of the SBG subsidiaries and was seen by potential buyers as the 'jewel in the crown' of the state-owned bus group. In July 1991, Fife Scottish was purchased by Stagecoach for £9.1m. The red and cream livery was replaced by the Stagecoach corporate look of red, blue and orange stripes on a white background. Stagecoach took a much more severe line with Moffat & Williamson, a strategy that drew criticism in the media for being predatory and uncompetitive. However, it was a strategy that worked. Moffat & Williamson would withdraw the majority of its competing services and Fife Scottish would once again become the sole operator in much of the kingdom, a position it enjoys today.

Now part of Stagecoach East Scotland, the company now trades as 'Stagecoach in Fife'.

During the 1980s, Fife Scottish provided coaches for Scottish Citylink LTD, mainly from Fife to other destinations in Scotland. Since privatisation, however, Fife Scottish has built up its own substantial network of express services under the Stagecoach Express banner.

Stagecoach in Fife has invested £4.5 million in upgrading the Express Network as "Express City Connect" and "Experience City Connect". These services received 20 brand new Plaxton Profile Volvo B7R Coaches with full leather trim and Wi-Fi Internet access, and in 2012, received new Plaxton Elite coaches (with leather seats & Wi-Fi Internet Access) for the X24, X26 and X59 routes. The 53/X53, 55/N55 and 57/X57 received nine Scania Omnilink Tri-Axle single-deckers again with full leather trim and Wi-Fi Internet access.

In March 2008, it was announced that Stagecoach Fife had bought Rennies of Dunfermline for an undisclosed sum. The Rennies fleet was 60 vehicles, and included 18 double-deckers, all leased from Stagecoach in Fife.

Operation

From its head office, initially in Kirkcaldy, Fife Scottish operated throughout the ancient kingdom of Fife and beyond to Dundee and Edinburgh. A network of express services also reach as far west as Glasgow.

Stagecoach is the largest operator in the region and is responsible for urban, rural and interurban services in the towns of St Andrews, Dunfermline, Cowdenbeath, Glenrothes, Leven and Kirkcaldy. Stagecoach operate to two park and ride sites in Fife, one at Ferrytoll just off the A90 towards Edinburgh, and the newly opened Halbeath Park & Ride, located off the A92 at Halbeath, which opened in November 2013 and has departures for Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Fife, as well as the Forth Valley Royal Hospital.

Former Depots

• Lochgelly (Auchterderran Road), now houses, closed 1982
• Cupar (Ferguson Way, now Argos Extra in a new building) closed 1981
• Cupar outstation (town centre car park, closed 1996, with buses coming from St. Andrews daily)
• Dunfermline (Market Street, City centre site closed 1960s, now occupied by Halfords, Carnegie Drive Retail Park. Later the street outside the bus station from 1985 until 2007 was also known as Market Street, but was not in the same location.
• Anstruther (closed 1981, building was then used by Fife Council roads department, until they moved out in 2007, building demolished, undeveloped)
• Kelty, closed 1978, was the last depot to go over to one person operation in 1977. Home of the famous Kelty Clippies, site demolished 2005, houses stand on site
• Cowdenbeath, closed August 2015, due to Fife Council services tendered to other operators.

See also

• List of bus operators of the United Kingdom

References

'Fife Buses: From Alexanders (Fife) to Stagecoach' by Walter Burt. ISBN 9781445609928

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stagecoach UK Bus.

• Stagecoach in Fife website
• history of fife scottish