Stagecoach and the South West Falcon

[whole diary]

[Rapidash]

No, it's not a rip off of Han and Chewies piece of Junk

Plymouthian Transit

Its been an open secret for some time now but Stagecoach^s plans for Plymouth include a brand new Plymouth - Exeter - Bristol service.

The always entertaining (and opinionated!) Public Transport Experience blog has the details we have all be waiting for:

The "South West Falcon" will provide a regular city link from Plymouth to the centre of Bristol calling at Exeter Park & Ride, Taunton Park & Ride,Bristol Airport and selected villages on the A38/M5/A38 corridor on a turn-up and go basis

More information will follow in the coming weeks, but we also wanted to share a sneak peak at the brand new 15 metre Volvo B11R / Plaxton Elite coaches that we will be running on the service in a striking gun metal grey livery with blue and green relief, and are nearing completition at the factory.

We atill await full details and timetables, and more importantly the fares for this ambitious new service. Calling in at the Exeter and Taunton Park & Ride sites rather than in  their centres is an interesting choice in that it keeps the overall journey times down but does make it less conveniant for passengers in those towns. Maybe in Exeter at least they will come up with some through fares connecting up with local buses, although not sure if that will be possible in Taunton.

So, will it work? I for one certainly hope so and look forward to trying the service out when it starts. More details as they get released will appear here (and on Public Transport Experience!)

Pity Torbay is excluded, what with the bypass now making escape from the area very easy, but hey ho. The coaches themselves look pretty swish.

[TaplowGreen]

Bit of competition for FGW^▸ (First Great Western)?

[Rapidash]

Bit of competition for FGW^▸ (First Great Western)?

And for Megabus, bizarrely.

Actually it's not bizarre. Every time I've seen a mb in Exeter that's northbound has been very full, and a fair chunk of passengers are doing Plymouth/Exeter to Bristol. Some additional capacity was needed I guess!

[TaplowGreen]

Bit of competition for FGW^▸ (First Great Western)?

And for Megabus, bizarrely.

Actually it's not bizarre. Every time I've seen a mb in Exeter that's northbound has been very full, and a fair chunk of passengers are doing Plymouth/Exeter to Bristol. Some additional capacity was needed I guess!

.....and for National Express!

[JayMac]

I predict 4 years maximum before Stagecoach pull the plug.

Similar schemes in the west have been tried in the past. All were withdrawn/cutback.

[LiskeardRich]

This is pretty much Megabus (operated by Stagecoach) M6 service.

The M6 services I have travelled on have strangely always been busy from Plymouth/Exeter to Bristol and Bristol to London, but very few through passengers. The last few trips I'd estimate approx. 60-70% of passengers bailed at Bristol to be replaced with new ones.

Probably what has given Stagecoach the idea if my observations on the M6 service is more common than not then they will have the figures to show there is demand for a bus service Plymouth/Exeter to Bristol.

[6 OF 2 redundant adjunct of unimatrix 01]

Exeter-Bristol could take a decent amount from the railway.... think about it if you live on the outskirts of exeter are you going to drive threw exeter's horrific traffic and pay threw the nose to park at st davids... or would you use the cheaper park and ride option away from the traffic with a potential time saving and most likely significant cost saving? ... i know parking at a station on the outskirts is an option but lets be honest changing trains puts people off .... i think this is going to do better than some of you think

[JayMac]

Pre-deregulation Southern National tried it.

Management buy out Southern National tried it.

First Southern National tried it.

Now Stagecoach are trying it. Good luck with that.

[LiskeardRich]

https://www.stagecoachbus.com/promos-and-offers/south-west/fly-the-south-west-falcon

From Plymouth to Bristol & back again 24/7
The South West Falcon is a brand new coach service from Stagecoach South West connecting Plymouth, Exeter, Taunton, Bristol Airport and Bristol City Centre. Starting from 14 February the Falcon will fly up the A38 and M5 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Get your ticket for just ^1!

To celebrate the launch of Falcon any journey will cost just ^1 between 14 and 27 February*
Why not...

Try it over half term with the kids?

Take it to work one day?

Turn up at the airport in style?

You can buy your ticket direct from your driver.

All Falcon coaches have free Wi-Fi, USB charging points, power sockets and air conditioning so you can work, rest or play whilst on the move.

Tickets & timetables

Over the next few weeks we'll be revealing full details of our great value ticket range and our 24/7 timetable - so make sure you check back regularly.


*Any single journey between two points along the route

Where can I catch the Falcon?
We've listed the main stops for Falcon below. To keep it flying as fast as possible many of the stops are on or near the A38 and M5.

Plymouth (Bretonside)
Drumbridges (For Newton Abbot)
Exeter (Honiton Road & Sowton Park & Ride Sites)
Cullompton (The Weary Traveller)
Taunton (Gateway Park & Ride Daytimes, Heron Gate Sainsburys
Evenings, Overnight & Early Mornings)
Bridgwater (Huntworth Lane M5, Junction 24)
Brent Knoll (Fox & Goose)
Churchill Inn
Bristol Airport
Bristol (Cabot Circus)

[TaplowGreen]

I can see it being a popular option with students taking into account the huge and ever expanding population in Plymouth, much cheaper fares than the trains no doubt for probably a much more pleasant travelling environment.

Could well be a niche market to exploit.

[Puffing Billy]

As public transport from the south-west to Bristol Airport is virtually non-existent, this could be a winner, particularly if it offers an arrival time at the unsocial hour demanded by the popular early-morning flights. In fact, I wonder whether if there is much value in continuing to the city, rather than just turning round at the airport - through travellers are hardly likely to be attracted by the circuitous route, and the section from the airport to the city is hardly short of existing options.

[LiskeardRich]

In October it was as I've mentioned before easier and cheaper to get to Gatwick from Cornwall than Bristol by public transport for 5-6am outbound and midnight return flights.

This could now open a cheap possibility of train to Plymouth in the late evening, catch the Falcon to Bristol airport at say midnight-1am ish from Plymouth, returning at say 1am from Bristol airport to Plymouth for the first train into Cornwall in the morning.

Found a photo of the interior on Flickr, does look smart

https://www.flickr.com/photos/86759450@N07/24422155966/in/photostream/

[Puffing Billy]

The timetable has just been posted, and very ambitious it is, too. Will be interesting to see a) how well it loads, and b) how well it keeps to time.

[Red Squirrel]

I spotted a couple of Falcon buses with 'coming soon' banners doing driver training on Hotwell Rd the other day. They do look pretty spiffy - for diesel buses!

[LiskeardRich]

I've noticed once the promo fares are out of the way, the Falcon will be around ^10 dearer than megabus for Plymouth to Bristol Journeys, but intermediate journeys on Falcon are cheap. The T+Cs state split ticketing isn't permitted if you go full journey on the same bus. Split ticketing ok as long as get off at the split and join the next service