Fares on Magic Bus in Manchester

[northwichcat]

Is it true that now Magic Bus buses in Manchester charge no less than 10p less than Stagecoach Manchester fares?

For those who don't know Magic Bus were a cheap bus operator in Manchester who ran elderly buses. Stagecoach took over the operator and put up all the prices but kept the Magic Bus brand and keeps it fleet 'updated' with newer old buses cascaded down from Stagecoach operations.

 

[WestCoast]

Do they still do cheap(er) weekly/student tickets?

On the odd occassion I have to use the Oxford Road corridor buses, I don't bother with Magic since I have a plusbus so I can use any of them. I usually opt for Stagecoach mainline or Finglands. The competition is nothing like it was a few years ago.

Bring back UK North, with the drivers that couldn't speak English.

I remember asking for a system one daysaver (bus, tram and train). I got a single to Piccadilly Gardens....

Maybe not. They were lethal.

 

[northwichcat]

Bring back UK North, with the drivers that couldn't speak English.

I remember asking for a system one daysaver (bus, tram and train). I got a single to Piccadilly Gardens....

I told a First Manchester bus driver (who wasn't foreign) the road I wanted to alight and asked for a return if they sold one. He'd only sell me a £2.60 single despite the fact I said I was coming back and he could have sold me a day ticket for less than £5.20.

Then when the bus reached the start of the road I asked for (the road has 5 bus stops) the driver stopped and then didn't move off for a while. He then turned round and pointed at me and said "You're supposed to get off here."

I complained to First Bus about my experience and they sent me a generic letter back that wasn't very apologetic.

 

[gnolife]

Do they still do cheap(er) weekly/student tickets?

On the odd occassion I have to use the Oxford Road corridor buses, I don't bother with Magic since I have a plusbus so I can use any of them. I usually opt for Stagecoach mainline or Finglands. The competition is nothing like it was a few years ago.

Bring back UK North, with the drivers that couldn't speak English.

I remember asking for a system one daysaver (bus, tram and train). I got a single to Piccadilly Gardens....

Maybe not. They were lethal.

Yeah, they still do a £7 "MagicRider" for their buses only - the all Stagecoach "MegaRider" costs £11.50, and the Piccadilly - East Didsbury/Northenden "SmartRider" costs £8, but you need a NUS card or other University ID

 

[WestCoast]

I told a First Manchester bus driver (who wasn't foreign) the road I wanted to alight and asked for a return if they sold one. He'd only sell me a £2.60 single despite the fact I said I was coming back and he could have sold me a day ticket for less than £5.20.

Then when the bus reached the start of the road I asked for (the road has 5 bus stops) the driver stopped and then didn't move off for a while. He then turned round and pointed at me and said "You're supposed to get off here."

I complained to First Bus about my experience and they sent me a generic letter back that wasn't very apologetic.

I have had a couple of run ins with bus drivers before (one about plusbus, and another started having a go at me becuase there were two buses (same route) in a convoy but I flagged his bus down (the second one), because the first one was FULL and standing and that driver waved behind). I appreciate the job they do can be rather difficult and fustrating at times, however train staff are on the whole in a different league.

The situation you describe sounds similar to Stagecoach in Lancashire. I asked for a single for a 4.5 miles journey and was given one for £3.90. The day ticket is priced at £3.50...:roll:

In my area in the UK, the hordes of OAP pass holders (nothing against them, just that they make services very busy), late services, strange fares, long journey times, lack of info and unfriendly staff do nothing to persuade me away from the train on my local commute. I'd take the Northern Pacer anyday, even though the fare is higher (not with railcard though) and the services are less frequent.

 

[vectra33]

For those who don't know Magic Bus were a cheap bus operator in Manchester who ran elderly buses. Stagecoach took over the operator and put up all the prices but kept the Magic Bus brand and keeps it fleet 'updated' with newer old buses cascaded down from Stagecoach operations.

It was always owned by stagecoach,
It was originally set up using tri axle dennis buses returned from Stagecoach Hong Kong,and stagecoach malawi,
As no one wanted them ,they used them to set up magic bus ,originally on the oxford road "student " corridor.
They had half opening windows,instead of air conditioning,these windows had to be sealed in the uk but were not replaced.

 

[northwichcat]

The situation you describe sounds similar to Stagecoach in Lancashire. I asked for a single for a 4.5 miles journey and was given one for £3.90. The day ticket is priced at £3.50...:roll:

I used a Stagecoach Lancashire bus once where a woman got on a Manchester bound service at Blackpool showed the driver a ticket and the driver said that isn't valid from Blackpool and she'd have to buy another ticket as well. She had a right go at him saying she'd been sold that ticket after asking for a return to Blackpool and saying that the same thing had happened to her before.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

It was always owned by stagecoach,
It was originally set up using tri axle dennis buses returned from Stagecoach Hong Kong,and stagecoach malawi,
As no one wanted them ,they used them to set up magic bus ,originally on the oxford road "student " corridor.
They had half opening windows,instead of air conditioning,these windows had to be sealed in the uk but were not replaced.

I didn't realise it was Stagecoach originally. I do remember Stagecoach setting up a lot of companies not under the Stagecoach name to try and get in to new areas by offering low fares (although other companies they set up mainly used new buses.) A lot of people were against big companies taking over because they were looking to run competitive routes rather than the range of routes small companies were running, so if the small company went out-of-business the non-competitive routes could have seen cutbacks. So because they used other names people thought they were a new local company and then when an existing operator in the area went out of business, the new operator disappeared and Stagecoach buses appeared.

 

[mbonwick]

It was always owned by stagecoach,
It was originally set up using tri axle dennis buses returned from Stagecoach Hong Kong,and stagecoach malawi,
As no one wanted them ,they used them to set up magic bus ,originally on the oxford road "student " corridor.
They had half opening windows,instead of air conditioning,these windows had to be sealed in the uk but were not replaced.

That is true of the Manchester operation, however MagicBus first appeared in Glasgow in 1986. Stagecoach have also used the brand in Ayrshire, Inverness and Liverpool.

Stagecoach Yorkshire were looking to start MagicBus services to deter First's aggressive expansion, but with the QBPs both operators have signed up to, that looks unlikely.

 

[tbtc]

Stagecoach Yorkshire were looking to start MagicBus services to deter First's aggressive expansion, but with the QBPs both operators have signed up to, that looks unlikely.

We've got some ex Magic Bus vehicles at Rawmarsh (outside Rotherham), still in blue livery, which has sparked some predictable rumours, but the truth is that Stagecoach don't need the Magicbus brand in Sheffield because they have cheap enough fares already - routes in Barnsley etc aren't frequent enough to justify two Stagecoach "brands" on.

I do like the way that Stagecoach have innovated with a few brands - GoldLine/ MagicBus/MegaTrain/ TaxiBus/ MegaBus... not all have worked (though the taxi bus idea sounded a good one at the time), rather than the "one size fits all" policy that some do.