History
The Goldline brand was introduced to try and win more middle class motorists to bus services. It was initially trialled in two areas, Perth and Warwick, both on routes which has received kick-start funding from the government to help establish the routes. Perth's route 7 used £300,000 of its own money to demonstrate the idea to politicians.
Goldline routes have a luxury specification. Buses have hand stitched leather seats, metallic paint, and special flooring. Drivers wear special uniform and there is a Goldline customer charter.
The service was expanded to Aldershot in early 2009, and Oxford and Cheltenham to Gloucester in September 2009, and is due to be introduced into other areas. The September 2009 extension to Cheltenham and Gloucester on route 94 marked the change of the brand name from "Goldline" to "Stagecoach Gold", as well as the introduction of a new livery with brighter swoops added, as opposed to the previous gold and blue only livery. The reason behind the name change was that Translink had the rights to the "Goldline" name, using it on their Ulsterbus coach services, and Stagecoach had to pay Translink to pass every use of the name by themselves.
Read more about this topic: Stagecoach Gold
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