Stagecoach MCSL - Chester & Wirral Depots

[chester285]

RE: First Chester & Wirral
This has now appeared on Stagecoach's website, similiar to Wigans

Stagecoach to take over the First Bus operations in Chester, Wirral and Wrexham

As customers may be aware, Stagecoach have agreed to purchase the First Bus operations in the Chester, Ellesmere Port, Wirral and Wrexham areas. We expect to take over the operations on 13th January 2013.

Please bookmark this page, as it will be updated regularly with information on how the transition will affect our customers.



Services

All bus services currently provided by First will continue to be provided by Stagecoach. There will be no change to the routes or timetables. New timetable leaflets will be printed by Stagecoach to replace the First versions and our colleagues at Cheshire West & Chester Council and Merseytravel will be re-printing their publicity in due course to reflect the ownership change. Our website will also carry the timetables and some maps. Not all new leaflets will be available immediately, but don't worry - as we said before, no times are changing.

Fares

Initially, we will continue to sell and accept the vast majority of the current First ticket range. The prices will also remain the same. This means that all weekly, monthly and annual tickets will continue to be accepted until expiry. We will continue to sell the full First ticket range, with the exception of First Month and First Year. Please note that the online, telephone and Paypoint First sales will cease. We will be announcing our own great value ticket range in due course, but due to the differences in ticket machine systems, this will not take place until further notice. We will advise all customers of our new ticket range in due course.

Buses

From the initial takeover, we will be operating a mixture of buses that will be in Stagecoach colours, either new, or transferred in from elsewhere. We will also be operating a number of the current First vehicles and these will appear in the existing First colours, but with Stagecoach names, until our programme to repaint buses is completed.

Keeping you in the loop...

We appreciate that the change of ownership may cause some concern for customers. As a result, we will do our best to keep everybody in the loop by uploading material to this website, placing posters on buses and producing printed material that will be available on buses and from outlets in the area. Our 'Customer Services' section of the website contains contact details in case you need to ask a question.

We will be uploading a PDF of the first edition of our 'Keeping you in the loop' newsletter very soon and copies will be available on buses after the takeover.



More information will be posted during as things move on, so don't forget to check back regularly.